Chapter 131 - Reason For Fighting (4) (1/2)

I followed Kayone, asking students along the way.

On the first year’s floor, I was mistaken for a mugger. You don’t have to be so scared.

“This way?”

Apparently, Kayone was heading towards the gym.

The club students were finishing up their morning practice because homeroom will start soon.

I passed a club member in the corridor connecting the school building and the gym, and stopped.

“She’s not going to the gym, is she?”

There must be a lot of club members still in the gym.

I don’t think Kayone is the kind of person who acts in a way that is easy to spot.

Then how about the courtyard between the main school building and the gym?

The courtyard should be empty at this time of day. It would be crowded with students at lunchtime, but no one would be using that place in the morning.

I turned off the path in the middle of the corridor and headed for the courtyard.

I pass a few girls on their way to the school building.

As I pondered asking them if they had seen Kayone, I spotted the person I was looking for.

There were six benches surrounding a large tree in the middle of the courtyard.

Kayone was sitting on one of them.

With a flowerbed full of colorful flowers blooming in the background, she looked somewhat forlorn.

What should I do?

I came here, but I don’t know what to say to her.

There was no way I could come up with something clever, in fact, I might say something strange and step on a land mine.

I stopped and watched for a while, and then I heard the first bell ringing from the speakers throughout the school.

Kayone didn’t seem to move even though she heard it.

I don’t have a choice.

Since I came this far, I guess I’ll just skip school too.

“Kayone.”

I’ll just call out to her.

There’s no point in hesitating.

Kayone, who had been looking down pondering about something, slowly raised her head and looked at me.

I’m sure the slow movement is because she’s depressed.

“… Kazamachi-sama. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong.”

Kayone looked at me with a weak smile that was not a smile.

The areas around her eyes were slightly swollen and her eyes bloodshot.

There must have been something in Prince Atol’s words earlier that drove her to this point.

“Utai asked me to follow you because she was worried about you and couldn’t leave herself.”

“You’re such a worrier, Utai-chan. I’ll be fine. It’s all…”

Once more the shade fell on her beautiful face, and Kayone cast her eyes downward.

“… I’m just reaping what I sow.”

She muttered with a trembling voice.

“… Ah, if you don’t mind, could you tell me about it?”

“Eh?”

She looked at me again and was taken aback.

“What? Well, I want to know about the prince. Ah, we’re going to have a duel, right? I want to know as much as I can about the enemy, right? It seems like you guys are looking into my situation, and you know, that’s not fair.”

I don’t know about this excuse?

Was it too far-fetched?

“… Kazamachi-sama.”

“Hmm?”

Kayone continued to look at me with a puzzled look on her face.

“You’re a very bad liar, aren’t you?”

“… W-what are you talking about?”

It was obvious.

It seems that it was too forced.

“Fufu…”

Putting her hand over her mouth, Kayone laughed elegantly.

With her bulging chest and her height, she looked so mature that it was hard to believe she was the same age.

“W-what?”

“No, I was just thinking that your awkwardness is just like His Highness.”

I don’t like the idea of being compared with that abject prince.

“His Highness… used to be kind, too. He was not a good liar, but he was vain, and he was very hardworking and dedicated, and he couldn’t leave someone who was crying alone. That’s the kind of person he was.”

“Really?”

I can’t imagine it, as he is now.

He’s a pompous and irresponsible guy who frowns and is uncooperative.

That’s my current impression of Prince Atol.

“We’ve been together since we were very little. Before I could even remember. My mother was His Highness’ wet nurse. We were almost like siblings.”

“Childhood friends, huh?”

“Yes, His Highness’ mother became ill after giving birth to His Highness and passed away.”

… oh.

Well, I suppose we might be similar in that way.

“Don’t you think His Highness’ wings are different from ours?”

“Wings? Now that you mention it, they’re pure white.”

They’re bat-like wings.

While Kayone and Utai’s wings are blackish, Prince Atol’s are pure white.

I thought that was just the kind of race he was.

“In the Dailan royal family, there is a person who is born with feathers of that color once every few decades. It’s a sign that they have very strong magical power. The royal family members who have had white feathers in the past have achieved great things.”

“So, does that mean that he has great magic power too?”

Then why does he despise himself so much?

“… Yes. The magic is so strong that even His Highness himself cannot control it.. It’s probably the most powerful power in the history of our country. That is…”

Kayone closed her eyes and looked up at the sky.

She put her legs together, and clenched her fists tightly in her lap.

She pursed her lips in frustration.

“… His Highness is still tormented to this day.”