The Demon Prince goes to the Academy - Chapter 264

Flowers are actually a very inconvenient gift.

I couldn’t even fit it in my pocket, so I carried a single flower. Charlotte saw me do it and told me to throw it away. I don’t know if it was because it looked ugly or for some other reason.

I practically tossed the pansy Charlotte gave me into the flowers.

“Wow……. What a waste.”

Charlotte looked a little flustered.

“You said throw away ……?”

“No, you said it was a gift, even if what I gave you was crap.”

“I merely prioritized the orders of the Empress.”

“……you really. Why would anyone do that?”

“If you feel bad, you carry it back.”

“You know what, Reinhard? I told you to throw it away, and when you did, it was over.”

“This is a mistake.”

“In times like this, can you just recognize that it’s better for you to say nothing, and I’d hate to be the one to tell you that you’ve actually abandoned a topic you asked me to abandon?”

“…….”

“You can at least answer that!”

“Yes.”

Charlotte shook her head tiredly.

There are other reasons why I abandoned it, but I didn’t say them.

Just like Charlotte can’t tell me why she gave me Pansy. It’s just that it is.

Due to the cognitive dissonance spell, no passerby recognized Charlotte.

I met Charlotte earlier this year. But it felt like a lifetime ago.

A girl dying in prison.

I didn’t know who Charlotte was. Turns out she was an empress, and that got me in trouble, but it got me to the ecliptic.

If I hadn’t met Charlotte, would I have escaped the demon castle unharmed?

What would I have become if I hadn’t come to the ecliptic?

Hypotheticals are pointless, but I don’t know what I would have done if that had happened.

I had a vague idea that I would have lived as a nobody, or died wandering in the wilderness.

It all started when I met Charlotte in prison.

Charlotte is my beginning.

“……You have the eyes of an old man. What the hell are you thinking when you look at me?”

“My, my when!”

Charlotte looks at me, wondering if I’m offended. As we walked through the flowers, Charlotte said, “You know what?

“You’ve always been weird, but I think you’re even weirder these days.”

“……what.”

“I’m feeling vulnerable, anxious, and nervous.”

I’m not like Charlotte.

I can’t manage my facial expressions. So if something’s wrong, they’ll know, and if they’re worried, they’ll try to make you feel better.

“I don’t know what’s making you so anxious, but why don’t you take a little weight off your shoulders?”

Charlotte worries about me.

It’s hard enough to mind your own business, I think.

Now is the time for me to care.

You’ve got something going on.

I was torn between the impulse to ask, and the impulse that I shouldn’t say anything.

“Why do I have to exert more effort when I’m told to relax?”

Charlotte sighed heavily. Charlotte was walking a little ahead of me. It hadn’t been long after class, so it wasn’t quite sunset.

Charlotte’s platinum hair glistened in the fall sunlight.

Charlotte looked like she had regained her health. Needless to say, she was much nicer to look at.

“Whoa!”

Then, as we were looking at the flowers, Charlotte suddenly became very excited and grabbed my arm.

“What, what, what?”

“Burr, for bees. Phew…….”

-Boooowoong

It was the punishment that made Charlotte gasp.

It wasn’t a wasp, it was a bee. The bee flew from flower to flower and disappeared.

“I’m in trouble again…….”

“What! You’re serious. I seem to forget sometimes, but I grew up in a big house.”

Charlotte’s eyes widened when she saw my reaction.

It grew nicely.

She’s being overly modest by saying that in the first place. It’s already cute in and of itself when an empress says, “I grew up fine.

He’s a bit of a stretch even to say that. He’s had some rough experiences.

“……But you like flowers, are you afraid of bees?”

If you love flowers, you naturally see bees, right?

“…… I don’t have anything like that in my garden.”

I mean, the gardens of an imperial palace can be maintained to that level.

Still, after all she’s been through, punishment shouldn’t even be a stub of the toe, should it? Charlotte clicked her tongue.

“You’re being real. Bees are a fear of the unknown for me. I’ve never been stung in my life, and no matter what I’ve been through, the unknown is scary, okay?”

“Well, at least I know I’m talking a lot.”

“Is there really nothing you can’t say to an empress?”

Charlotte laughed in disbelief.

He said it, but he seemed to be in a good mood.

Charlotte loves flowers.

But bees are scared.

I learned something else. Charlotte saw many beautiful flowers along the Irine River, but as soon as she realized there were bees, she moved away from them.

Charlotte would have lived in a garden with only butterflies.

Sometimes I forget how precious he is, but this reminds me.

Charlotte laughed at how ridiculous it was that she couldn’t get to her favorite flowers because of the bees.

“Reinhard, have you ever been stung by a bee?”

“There should be.”

“How much does it hurt?”

“It hurts like hell.”

“Is that it?”

Charlotte looked at me, wide-eyed.

“I’m not going to die. Just a little sore.”

I’ve heard of people going into shock, like anaphylaxis or something, and that would be dangerous, but I was just sick.

“Do you want to be stung?”

Charlotte said, and moved closer to the flower.

“Why would you do that on purpose?”

“Is that so?”

Charlotte scratched her cheek and laughed a little silly. Charlotte watched from afar as the bees flitted among the flowers.

“The unknown is scary. Right?”

“……Yes.”

It’s scary to know, but it’s always scarier to not know.

Fearful of the unknown, Charlotte keeps her distance from the bee, lest she get too close to it.

Charlotte was afraid of something.

“Reinhardt.”

“…….”

“Thanks for playing today.”

Charlotte’s words were strange.

I’m the one who asked Charlotte to play.

Charlotte offered her time, not asked for it. I was the one who reached out first.

I wonder if it was actually Charlotte who wanted to spend time like this.

Charlotte looks at me with an amused look on her face.

“I have to go now. There will be an uproar in the palace if I come in too late. I live in a place with surprisingly high standards. I’ve been busy lately.”

Charlotte waved her hand as she said that.

“The route to the palace is that way, so I’ll go there.”

“Uh……. Yeah.”

If I wanted to go to the palace, I’d go that way, and if I wanted to go back to the temple, there was no reason for Charlotte to go with me.

It’s a bit abrupt, but not unreasonable. If Charlotte is late getting home, it’s going to be a real mess.

But.

I ended up saying nothing.

It didn’t ask me anything.

In the end, all I got from Charlotte was a single flower with an ominous message that I didn’t find acceptable in this situation.

“Hi, Reinhard.”

Charlotte’s words.

It felt like a goodbye.

I don’t know anything.

But.

I felt an overwhelming sense of certainty that if I lost Charlotte now, I would never see her again.

My chi sense says.

If you miss it, it’s the last time you’ll ever see Charlotte.

Therefore, I grabbed Charlotte’s arm as we headed back to the palace.

“Charlotte.”

“Huh? Huh? Why?”

“Hey, show me around your house.”

“……?”

Play with me, followed by Show me around the house.

I don’t know why.

I always wonder if the reasons are sincere, but the results lead to bizarre behavior.

* * *

Naturally.

There was a bit of a scuffle.

Going to a friend’s house falls into that category.

But when she’s the daughter of an imperial emperor and I’m a lowly peasant, it’s a different story.

“No. No. Really no. Why all of a sudden?”

Charlotte wasn’t offended by the sudden swarm, but she nailed it.

“Just. I wanted to see what a great palace you live in.”

Charlotte seemed stunned by my nakedness.

“Why the hell are you suddenly……. I’ll invite you later, on the weekend or whenever you’re free.”

“Today, absolutely today! I’m the kind of person who has to do it when I think of it, and when I fought the Orbis class, I did it when I thought of it, you know?”

“I know, I know, but what’s wrong with you all of a sudden…….”

I went wild, as one might expect.

Charlotte looked at me like I’d lost my mind.

I don’t know why I thought I could say anything and it wouldn’t work.

After saying no a few times, he finally sighed heavily and was on his way to take me.

I was surprised that they listened to me when I insisted.

Has the uproar over a dead man already died down?

“Hah……. Why the hell would I…….”

Of course, it wasn’t an easy decision, and Charlotte glared at me with an axe-eye.

“Why the imperial palace all of a sudden?”

“I told you, I just want to see what a nice palace my friend lives in.”

I don’t want to be this rude to an empress, even if we’re friends.

However.

He didn’t know anything, he couldn’t tell me anything, but I couldn’t let Charlotte go.

There’s even a new trait called Mood.

The strong sense of foreboding it sent was decisive.

You can’t miss Charlotte today, or you’ll never see her again.

It wasn’t a revelation, but it felt like one.

Not only did I not have a clue about the revolutionary forces, but I was on my way to the palace when I realized that Charlotte had gotten herself into another mess.

I wonder if this is an accident.

Or am I approaching it as an accident.

I hope this isn’t the wrong choice.

Charlotte looked uneasy, but she was taking me to the palace anyway.

* * *
The scale of the Emperor is larger than the Temple.

In other words, it’s well beyond the size of a single ward in Seoul. Charlotte walked me past the entrance to Hwangseong.

Here, the Empress’s face was an identity card in itself, and even I, a Temple student, could enter the Imperial City with her approval and endorsement.

The security measures for temples and imperial castles are the same.

Therefore, my true identity will never be discovered. If my cover through the Ring of Sarkegar was going to be blown here, it would have been at the Temple.

Charlotte didn’t say if she gave up or if she wanted to go back.

“I’m going to tell the palace that I brought you here by force, so you’re only going to serve me. If anyone else finds out, they’ll try to kill you.”

Charlotte’s eyes lit up at me, and I smirked and nodded.

“Of course. I do that with people, you know?”

“……Please, Reinhardt. I really, really dislike you sometimes, and this is one of those times. Can’t you at least not tell me that you’re being a jerk because I’m a jerk?”

“We’re friends.”

“Accepting you as a friend may be one of the biggest mistakes of my life…….”

I chuckled as I watched Charlotte sigh.

“At least it’s not the only mistake.”

“Shut up. You’re going to make me feel really bad.”

“Yes.”

I realized that Charlotte was trying to be sincere, so I quickly shut up. As soon as we passed through the main gates of the Imperial Emperor’s Palace, Charlotte and I boarded a waiting tram.

“There’s a tram here too?”

“Yes, because it’s wide.”

The tram was ready as soon as the empress’s arrival was announced.

There were only two of us on board.

I pretended not to know, but I did.

Ludwig was going to be in the castle, so he had to describe it.

There are three tram lines in the interior of Jupiter.

Routes for royalty, routes for nobles and bureaucrats, and routes for everyone else.

This was supposed to be an imperial route.

Like Temple’s tram, there were no handles for standing passengers, and there weren’t many seats in the pretentiously luxurious interior design.

Anyway, without anyone suddenly recognizing the Empress and clinging to her, Charlotte and I rode the tram as if we were sightseeing in the Imperial Palace.

Until this morning, I never thought I’d be in the Yellow Castle.

Hwangseong felt different from Temple.

Whereas Temple had a lively feel to it because it was still a predominantly student space, Hwangseong was solemn and serene.

The people coming and going were all solemn, and I couldn’t tell if they were aristocrats or bureaucrats, but I was pretty sure they were farting.

Charlotte was happy to have me and gave me a tour.

“See there? That’s the Tetra, the imperial palace where His Majesty the Emperor resides.”

Where Charlotte pointed, past the vast gardens and fountains, was the Imperial Palace.

It was a stiff palace that felt more solemn than colorful. In terms of opulence, the royal class dormitories were more opulent.

But it also seemed to represent the authority of the empire, with its solemnity and grandeur.

I don’t need to be fancy.

It seems to say.

There’s a sense of pride that comes from not having to pretend to be a continent.

It was a more elaborate realization of what I had in my head.

The tram circles the Tetra of the Imperial Palace in the center.

“Do you know anything about the planet Huang?”

“I know.”

I can’t help but notice.

Hwang Sung Emperatos.

The Gradian Empire was committed to the construction of imperial castles as they established the ecliptic.

Hundreds of layers of intricate magical connections were schematized and woven into the veins, not to mention the walls to keep out foreign invaders and impure forces.

“There are four palaces to the east, west, south, and north, centered around the imperial tetra. There are other palaces, but those four are the largest, except for the imperial palace. Starting in the north, they are called the Palace of Spring, the Palace of Summer, the Palace of Fall, and the Palace of Winter.”

“I heard that.”

“Do you know why it’s called that?”

“No? Is there a reason?”

“Yes.”

I know.

But Charlotte, who was explaining it to me, seemed to be enjoying it a bit, so I shook my head.

“In the early days of the empire, they were very concerned about the safety of the imperial city, which is why there were hundreds of layers of magical bonds.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, so the veins are twisted and the mana around here is unbalanced, causing anomalies.”

“So?”

“Suddenly there are four seasons on Jupiter at the same time.”

“…… for real?”

“Yeah, really.”

A side effect of a lot of magical power.

Except for the center, where the sun was, there were seasons all around: spring, summer, fall, and winter.

“Now, of course, it’s been a while, and it’s been maintained, and it’s gone, but I think they haven’t been able to fix it for quite a while. So instead of the original names of the palaces, they are now called Spring Palace, Summer Palace, Fall Palace, and Winter Palace according to the seasons in the area. They’ve been calling them that for so long that even Hwangseong has renamed them that way.”

The tram kept moving, and when a palace came into view, Charlotte pointed it out.

“That’s the Winter Palace, where Bertus lives.”

It was a straightforward palace. I had heard that it was called the Winter Palace, but it had a cold, bitchy feel to it.

Of course, she’s a saint compared to the High Epicurean.

The palace was lonely and somehow strong, perhaps because of the people who lived there.

Bertus plotting in the Winter Palace.

It looks like a good match.

Although the actual seasonal anomaly is gone.

“Isn’t that a bit of a waste?”

“What?”

“How I wish Bertus had lived in the Winter Palace, shivering and shaking.”

No.

How am I supposed to react if he says something like that out of the blue?

Charlotte covered her mouth and giggled as I panicked.

“Just kidding, otherwise Bertus wouldn’t be living in the Winter Palace in the first place.”

It was called the Winter Palace, but Bertus’s Winter Palace was now in autumn.

However, even though it’s fall, it feels like winter, and the reason is not in the palace, but in the garden.

Didn’t I mention that?

The expansive garden in front of the Winter Palace.

There were no flowers there. It was planted with brown, withering grass and shrubs, but not a single flower.

That’s weird.

It’s been a while, so I can’t remember, but were the gardens of Bertus’ Winter Palace that barren?

I don’t think I ever described it that way.

I’m pretty sure I said something about having flowers and flower beds.

But now I’m wondering why.

Charlotte said, sensing my mood.

“It sucks, right?”

“……I don’t know, that’s kind of a stretch.”

Or should I say, Bertus.

It was organized, but not fancy.

“I don’t see how it makes sense to not have a flower bed when the color scheme is garden.”

Charlotte crosses her arms and clucks her tongue.

“Isn’t it like a child to say that because I love flowers, I dug up all the flowers in her garden? When I heard that, I was more stunned than angry.”

I didn’t think so, but Bertus had a childish side.

Charlotte loves flowers.

Apparently that was enough reason for Bertus to hate flowers.

It turns out my memory wasn’t wrong.

If there are no flowers in Bertus’ garden, it’s because Charlotte, who loves them, is alive.

So the only reason there were flowers in the original Winter Palace garden was because Charlotte, who loves flowers, was dead.

Now that you have no reason to hate flowers, you can have them in your garden.

Or something like that.

When Charlotte dies, Bertus’s garden blooms.

It was childish, but also eerie because it spoke to their eventual hatred of each other.

This would also be a setting I was not aware of.

Charlotte gives me a sullen look and laughs.

“The look on her face when I brought the flowers I dug up to my palace and planted them was worth it.”

Bertus isn’t the only child.

Charlotte was a brat enough.

“Ah, here we are.”

The tram has arrived north of the Imperial Palace.

“That’s the ‘Palace of Spring’ where I live.”

Spring Palace.

Rather than a spring palace, it should be called a flower palace.

The garden was full of flowers in full bloom.

Not long ago, a man died there.

On the Yellow Planet, where everyone should be safe.

Someone died, especially in a place that should have been safe.

I was more interested in the flowers in full bloom in the garden. I was curious about what lay behind them.