国产午夜亚洲精品AⅤ

Chapter 241

‘Hearing it isn’t pleasing at all. Instead, it sends a chill down my spine and makes my skin crawl. It’s an intolerable, uneasy feeling. It’s very unsettling.’

“Why do you keep calling me princess?!”

“... You are a princess, aren’t you?”

‘Well, I am. I’m the Grand Duchess of the Saint-Ouen Grand Duchy, which makes me a princess. In fact, I’ve been called “princess” more often than “grand duchess”. So I have no particular aversion to being called a princess.

‘But... Hearing the word “‘princess” come out of Reinhart’s mouth... It feels... It feels a bit... Disgusting.’

“Stop it! This is the Temple! We don’t mention titles here!”

“Well, it’s only forbidden when you’re using your title to enforce something. The title itself isn’t a big deal, princess.”

“Ugh, ugh!”

‘It feels like I’m being mocked. Why does the title of “Princess” sound so insulting?’

Harriet felt like she was going to lose her mind.

Princess. Your Highness.

It was a title she often heard.

Coming from his mouth, though, it sounded unbearable.

“I’m not mocking you; I’m just trying to be nice. Aren’t you a princess?”

“I am! But just don’t call me that!”

‘I’d rather... I’d rather just...’

“J-Just call me Thick-Skull! It feels a lot less weird!” Harriet yelled, her face red with embarrassment.

“Okay, Thick-Skull.”

“Y-You! You! That’s what you were aiming for all along!”

He’d kept calling her princess just to force this out of her own mouth, and she’d fallen for it again.

“Not really. But you really prefer being called ‘Thick-Skull’ over ‘princess’. That’s pretty legendary.”

“Le-Legendary?”

“Yeah, Thick-Skull. Yeah, this term definitely suits you better.”

“Argh! Argh!”

Thick-Skull... Harriet had to painfully accept that this had become her designated nickname. It felt more natural than being called princess.

“Ugh... Ugh... Ughhh!”

“Whoa... are you crying? Why are you crying again?”

Harriet cried, feeling truly distressed.

She hated being called Thick-Skull. But what she resented more was that “Princess” now felt like a derogatory term coming from Reinhart.

“You... you’re a real bastard...”

“Sorry. Should I just call you ‘Princess’ again?”

“No! Please, don’t!”

Many people called her princess.

Many called her grand duchess.

Many also called her Harriet.

But Thick-Skull... Only Reinhart called her that.

Harriet found it strange how accustomed she had become to that term.

With anyone else, “princess” would have been fine, but coming from this guy, she preferred “Thick-Skull.”

She hated herself for it.

***

Despite sneaking out late at night, Reinhart didn’t receive any demerits. He’d managed to attend all his classes properly. He also didn’t tell anyone what had happened, but Harriet soon found out.

“So, you had a fight with your father?”

“... Why are you bringing that up?”

“I mean, why fight with your parents over something like that? They do everything for us, you know.”

“What do you even know?”

“Just make up with him. Parents aren’t as straightforward as children. They worry a lot when they fight with their kids, you know?”

“...”

Reinhart knew she was in a cold war with her father, and he was suddenly urging her to make up with him.

Normally, she would have snapped back and told him it was none of his business, and to stay out of her family matters.

But Reinhart had no parents. She couldn’t bring herself to say, “What do you know?” or “Why are you interfering in my family matters?” to someone who never had parents.

Anything she said might hurt him.

‘... Fine.’

That was all Harriet could say.

She connected the communicator to the White Palace Arnaria.

After a brief delay, the call connected, and Harriet told her father that she felt she had been too harsh, and that she was sorry.

It was a long conversation.

After reconciling with her father, her mother came on the line.

—Oh my, our little girl knows how to apologize first now. You’ve grown up so much.

“... I’ve always been grown up!”

While she couldn’t claim to be fully grown, her family treated her like a child, especially her mother, who still called her “little girl”.

She disliked it.

—But, you know, that boy.

“That boy?”

—I don’t know much about him, but he’s handsome, and that’s enough for me. I approve.

“... What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

Which boy was her mother even talking about?

—Oh dear, it was supposed to be a secret... Oops, my mistake...

“... What are you talking about?”

—Oh, he asked me to keep it a secret, silly me...

“What on earth are you talking about?!”

Her mother often said whatever she wanted, leaving Harriet baffled by her strange remarks.

—Reinhart, of course.

“... Reinhart? What about him?”

Harriet mentioned Reinhart often, but her mother’s words seemed strange. She was speaking about his looks as if she had seen him in person.

—He came by recently. In the early morning breeze.

“What? You mean, to Arnaka?”

—Yes, he came to us directly and asked for the gate to be opened in the middle of the night. We were all quite surprised.

‘No way,’ Harriet thought.

Not only had Reinhart not returned to the Temple that night, but he’d kept his whereabouts a secret.

—He was so cute about it. How desperate he must have been to show up in the middle of the night?

“Wh-Why would he go to Arnaka?”

—Why do you think? Given his background, he must have felt insecure. Wanted to get approval, you know. He’s very serious and sincere for someone his age.

Harriet began to sense the outline of a massive misunderstanding.

“Approval? What approval?”

—The approval to see each other, of course.

“Seeing each other?”

—Hmm? Aren’t you two dating? You do like Reinhart, don’t you, my sweet girl?

“... What?”

‘What in the world is she talking about?’

Harriet felt like her brain had stopped functioning.

She had never said anything about her feelings, yet it seemed her entire family already knew about her feelings for Reinhart.

—So, it seems Reinhart came to Arnaka to see if it was okay to be with you. He talked to everyone, and we all approved.

“Wh-What... what exactly...”

Reinhart had supposedly gone to Arnaka to get approval to date her.

No wonder... No wonder he had been acting differently, calling her princess and trying to treat her well since he’d returned.

It felt weird and unpleasant, but... Was it because he wanted to date her properly?

No. It wasn’t that.

According to her mother, Reinhart already thought they were dating.

He hadn’t gone to ask if he could date her, but to confirm that it was okay that they were already dating.

There was no misunderstanding.

There was no other reason for Reinhart to go to Arnaka.

He had no affiliations or business there, except to visit Arnaria.

—Dad thinks it’s a bit early, but he’s even in favor of marriage. What’s the rush? Dad said Reinhart also seemed to be thinking that far ahead.

‘What? Reinhart and dad also talked about marriage beyond dating?’

—Still, since you’re both young and still students, don’t do anything reckless. Mom will be upset if you do. Got it?

“O-Okay...”

‘What on earth happened?’

—By the way, how long have you two been seeing each other? It seems the way you spoke about Reinhart changed after that trip to the uninhabited island.

Her marriage to Reinhart... A self-arranged meeting...

Harriet’s mind couldn’t process the absurdity of these situations anymore, and she mentally short-circuited.

She had become a real thick-skull.

Why would Reinhart suddenly go to Arnaria and have conversations about dating and marriage?

So, Reinhart believed they were already dating. The fact that he’d discussed marriage confirmed it.

‘Was I... Already dating Reinhart? Since when? How did I not realize it until now?’

Harriet felt her mind spiraling out of control.

***

Arguments that begin with conclusions were often prone to error.

Her family had assumed it was impossible for such a pretty and lovable youngest daughter to not be liked by someone.

They naturally inferred that Reinhart’s visit had been because of their youngest daughter. Thus, they had never even asked him why he was in Arnaka. Why? Because they believed it was obviously about Harriet.

Because of that, Harriet de Saint-Ouen was now in a state of utter confusion.

“Why do you keep staring at me? Do you have something to say?” Reinhart said.

“... It’s nothing. You jerk.”

Harriet felt her heart flutter as Reinhart snapped at her with his usual, slightly-irritable tone.

While he was acting all tough on the surface, he had apparently told her family he wanted to marry her.

Her mother had emphasized that this should remain a secret because Reinhart seemed to want to keep his visit confidential.

He must have been troubled by the difference in their status and had gone on a peculiar midnight trip to Arnaka.

Reinhart seemed to be under the misconception that they had been a couple for quite some time.

‘Since when, though? Since the deserted island mission? The Edina Archipelago? Or even before that?’

Thinking back, Reinhart had been somewhat considerate, constantly looking after her from a certain point onward.

‘Was it that? Like how one takes care of their partner?’

No matter how she thought about it, it didn’t make sense.

Even when she lost her composure with matters involving Reinhart, imagining him going to Arnaka at night to ask her parents for permission to marry her was beyond reasonable.

There had to be a misunderstanding somewhere.

Harriet had been away from Arnaria for quite some time now.

She knew her family tended to be overly protective and overly proud of her.

‘There must be a misunderstanding. Definitely.’

Harriet went through the day with these confusing, complicated thoughts swirling about in her mind.

***

It was time for her Practical Magic class.

Concentrating, Harriet completed all the calculations necessary to manifest her spell, and inside the protective barrier, she cast her spell.

Roughly five meters above her head, a massive sphere of blazing fire materialized. A fireball five times larger than a regular one.

Fwoooosh!

It sped towards the target dummy at supersonic speed.

BOOOOM!

The ground shook violently as a tremendous explosion engulfed everything within a twenty-meter radius of the point of impact.

On Harriet’s ears hung the earrings that Reinhart had given her.

“Cast time: 30.2 seconds, power: A-rank or higher. Mana Manipulation stability: A-rank or higher.”

The assistant instructor checked the spellcasting stats and nodded.

“Harriet de Saint-Ouen, you’ve successfully cast Flame Strike. Impressive.”

“Thank you.”

Despite her complex feelings, Harriet was the only one among her peers who could successfully cast the high-level destructive spell Flame Strike.

A fireball five times larger than a regular one, shooting out at supersonic speed and exploding upon impact, crushing everything in its path with searing heat and shockwaves.

She had demolished an orc with a regular fireball, but with this spell, she could obliterate an ogre.

Flame Strike, executed with flawless precision...

Although the others didn’t know, Harriet could already cast an even higher-tier destructive spell, Explosion.

A spell that created an immediate explosion at a specified location, as opposed to a projectile. She had already mastered Flame Strike during the vacation.

Yet all her peers were looking at her as if she was some sort of monster for being able to do “just” that.

Magic was a formula.

Once you memorized the formula for Flame Strike and manipulated your mana accordingly, the spell would activate.

As long as it wasn’t a spell that required an overwhelming amount of mana or a high degree of Mana Manipulation, Harriet could intellectually understand these spells completely.

These were formulas created by countless scholars and great mages beforehand. Harriet was merely following these preset formulas, rather than creating new ones.

Most mages were, therefore, copycats.

For Harriet, who had the potential to venture into the realm of creating new magic, copying existing ones was excessively easy.

She couldn’t understand why her peers couldn’t do something as simple as that.

It was so straightforward. Why couldn’t they do it correctly?

She couldn’t get it, and because of that, she used to look down on them.

Harriet was used to being above others. In status, and in her own abilities.

At least, until she met that strange person.

***

After all the day’s lectures had ended, they gathered at the Magic Research Club’s building.

Students like Harriet gathered in the club building to work on their assigned research projects. Reinhart, however, seldom visited unless there was a specific meeting, as he was often busy with his own work.

Cristina let out a sigh. “I just don’t get it. There are too many reagents required, and I have no idea how to remove the side effects.”

Cristina, who had been tasked with creating a special potion to improve mana sensitivity and manipulation, was groaning from the difficulty.

The same was true for Adelia, who had been assigned to create an artifact that would allow externally-stored mana to be used like internal mana.

“Can such a thing even be made in the first place...?”

Everyone was somewhat pessimistic. Harriet also thought it might not work. On top of that, she had been given the bizarre task of researching dimensional magic to find a way to another world.

At least the others’ projects had a clear value if they worked.

‘Dimensional magic? Why?’

Harriet didn’t understand, but Reinhart believed in her. He believed she could do it. Whatever had happened in Arnaka, this was at least a fascinating challenge for Harriet.

It was more interesting than classes focused on tweaking existing magic, a challenge where she didn’t even know what to do or where to start.

Harriet was becoming increasingly intrigued by the challenge, regardless of the outcome.

It wasn’t about learning something designed by others, but pioneering a field that didn’t exist. Though she was still lacking in many ways, just being able to try was something.

Of course, even the genius Harriet couldn’t fully grasp it yet.

She had gathered with the other students for a tea break after another fatiguing afternoon of research.

“Senior, are you feeling unwell?” Cristina asked.

The most senior and yet the youngest of the group, second-year A-1 Rudina, mumbled with a gloomy expression, “Mm... A friend of mine dropped out. Adriana...”

“Ah, isn’t she the senior who exercises with Reinhart?”

“Yeah.”

‘Adriana...’ Harriet thought.

Harriet knew this senior often exercised with Reinhart in the early mornings. She had seen them greet each other and exchanged words while passing each other.

‘She dropped out?’

“Reinhart went all the way to a monastery in the Grand Duchy of Saint-Ouen to try and persuade her to reconsider, but it didn’t go well...”

Only then did Harriet recall the conversation she had with Reinhart a few days ago.

—“Do you know the Art-Ouen Monastery?”

—“Art-Ouen Monastery? No, I don’t know.”

—“It’s in the Grand Duchy of Saint-Ouen.”

—“Do you think I know everything in the grand duchy? I don’t know it, you jerk.”

—“If you don’t know, just say so. Why get angry?”

—“I’m not angry!”

—“You were! Why do you always get angry when you see me? It’s hurtful!”

—“I said I’m not angry!”

That was right. Reinhart had suddenly asked her about the location of a monastery somewhere in the Grand Duchy of Saint-Ouen.

That night, Reinhart had gone somewhere in the middle of the night.

Only then did Harriet put the pieces together.

His objective hadn’t been to visit Arnaria, but to meet this senior, Adriana.

For some reason, he had wanted to talk to her about her decision to drop out.

Since the senior hadn’t returned, it seemed the conversation didn’t go well.

Then, Reinhart had abruptly asked for priority access to the warp gate. Whatever else happened, that part must have been true.

Priority access... He’d gone to the White Palace Arnaria for that. If he hadn’t, he would have had to spend over a day queueing for the warp gate just to return.

It was all a misunderstanding. It seemed her family had just overreacted. At least, that seemed to be the case to Harriet.

Marriage and relationships—Reinhart wouldn’t have directly mentioned those.

They simply inferred that from his words. That was all.

It was a relief.

A relief that she hadn’t held onto mistaken assumptions for too long, and that she’d learned the truth through someone else’s words, not Reinhart’s.

Harriet sat there holding her teacup, even while her tea grew cold.

***

That night...

“Ugh, my whole body aches...”

Harriet ran into Reinhart, who was staggering out of the training grounds, stretching and yawning.

“You’re not sleeping?” Reinhart asked.

“I’m going now,” Harriet replied.

It was all a misunderstanding.

She almost let her family’s misunderstanding take hold of her, and almost started thinking strange thoughts.

“Oh... um... did you talk to your parents?” Reinhart asked hesitantly, as if something had just occurred to him.

“Yeah.”

“Um, your father...”

“I know what you’re about to say,” Harriet said, cutting him off, feeling a peculiar sense of calm just as Reinhart was about to broach the embarrassing topic. “No need to say it.”

“Oh... uh, okay.”

Reinhart scratched his head awkwardly and looked at her. All that talk about marriage, and misunderstandings.

Harriet knew it was a ridiculous misunderstanding, but she didn’t want to hear Reinhart confirm it.

She felt like she’d get hurt if she did.

“Well... I’ll be going then.”

“Okay.”

Harriet didn’t want to hear Reinhart’s explanation.

She watched Reinhart’s retreating figure.

‘A misunderstanding...’

Maybe she wanted to hold onto that misunderstanding a bit longer.

Harriet took off the earrings she’d been wearing.

As soon as the calming magic lifted, Harriet covered her face with her hands.

She wanted to cry.