CH 66

The other chapter will be released later.

My brain has been so jumbled up all day that it seems to have undergone a chemical change and become something else. But it seems to have made me more resistant to confusion, and I’m gradually becoming calmer.

I’m pretty sure Mist said earlier, ‘Why don’t you have a study session with me?’ This means that she knows that she is going to have a study session with Alfred, Claire and Alice.

Why does she know?

Sure, she could have heard that I was having a study session with Claire, since I was in the classroom, but would she want to help me with that? In this case, helping me meant getting me out of this predicament.

However, there is no doubt that I need to borrow the hand of a cat at this time. And if I can borrow Mist’s hand, there is a way that I can get out of this predicament.

But that’s only if Mist is the kind of person I tell to move how I tell her. It’s true that she followed my instructions at the birthday party. But that was because Mist had an advantage. There is no guarantee that it will work the same way this time.

Besides, asking for Mist’s help would be like buying a favor at a very high price. I can’t just ask her to lend me a hand.

What if Mist’s goal is not to sell me a favor, but to participate in the study group? Mist, in her own way, is offering to help me. If I can use that to my advantage and designate a course of action, then perhaps this study session will go well.

I’ve decided on a course of action. If Mist’s goal is simply to sell me a favor, I’ll ask her to leave. If she has a different goal and is trying to use me, I’ll just use her back and do something about this stupid study group.

Okay! Let’s just ask her about her purpose.

“What do you want?”

I asked, trying to be as calm as possible so that she wouldn’t notice the turmoil in my heart.

“You were in trouble, so I thought I’d lend you a hand, but you didn’t need it?”

I want it so badly!

I wanted to scream right now, but I desperately clenched my fists and held back. I can’t just accept it easily here. But it would also be fatal to miss out on Mist here. The worst thing I can do is to keep her here, even if it costs me a little favor!

The slightest glimmer of light distracted me from crossing the dangerous bridge.

“I might need a little help with that.”

When I said that, Mist turned her eyes to me and grinned, as if she was truly surprised.

“Wow. Chris, you’re amazing. You say it’s just a little bit that you can’t seem to keep a request from the princess of this country and the children of a powerful nobleman who could destroy you at any moment.”

Mist laughed.

I was annoyed by Mist’s somewhat testing and provocative tone, but I swallowed hard and endured it. As my anger subsided, I understood the meaning of what she had just said, and I became impatient and anxious.

Calm down. Why does Mist know my movements so precisely? The study session with Alfred is still understandable. It was on campus this morning. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone was listening and told Mist about it.

But how did she know that I was going to have a study session with Alice? The doctor should’ve helped her, if Mist wanted to eavesdrop, she couldn’t do it anywhere but in front of the room. This is probably a shakedown, and there is no way I would know. I’m not going to be so nice as to just ride along with you when you’re coming at me with a sickle.

“What are you talking about? I do study, but I don’t know any princesses.”

“Oh, no. It’s a shame you have to go through all that trouble, Chris.”

Mist let out an exasperated sigh and began to talk.

“First of all, the history teacher, he’s from my family. Well, if he didn’t have such a big backing, he wouldn’t have been able to expel the children of the nobles. He’s very serious and doesn’t want to tell me, the Count’s daughter, the solutions, but he’s very loyal. He told me he was going to give me a difficult question at the king’s request.”

I didn’t know there was such a thing. I can honestly say that I understand what Mist is saying with certainty. But rather than admit it at this point, I asked her to continue, hoping that she would let it drag on long enough for me to find out more.

“I see. I’ll have to study hard for that. How does that lead to a study group?”

“Chris, you’re a bad guy, you know that, but you don’t care. All right! I’ll give you a hand!”

Mist smiles and starts talking happily.

When I heard the history teacher’s words, I wondered why the king had said to make the history test harder. First of all, the history test is only for first graders. The most relevant person is of course the princess. The princess was not taught history or math so that she wouldn’t be able to understand the difficult situation of the royal family and their finances. And yet he made the test so difficult.”

Well. I suppose so. If that’s the case, I’m pretty sure it has something to do with Alice. Besides, he wouldn’t want the pretty princess to know about the current state of the royal family and its finances. But why does history need to be hidden?

“It’s obviously an act to make the princess get a bad score. Do you think he would deliberately do something to lower his credibility in the current power struggle with the Prime Minister? I don’t think even the current king would do such a foolish thing. Then why would he do such a thing? I thought that the royal family would be doing us a favor by expelling the children of noble families from school but this is not the case. No amount of power can be used against the history teacher. That’s why I was so worried.”

“What have you realized after all your troubles?”

“Hmmm! The answer was easy. I thought about it and I understand that all I had to do was look at the hints. That’s why I came to school early to check if there was anything unusual about the princess, and when I heard that all eyes were on Chris-kun, I guessed that Chris-kun was involved.”

Oh, I see. It’s Alice’s fault. I really don’t know what to do with that clumsy princess…….

“That’s what I found out by keeping an eye on you, Chris. Also, the doctor was a member of my family, and I was able to get the information out of him.”

Laughing hysterically, Mist continued.

“Well, the miscalculation was that the doctor fell asleep, since he knew that there was nothing wrong with the princess.”

I see. There is no such thing as a mentally strong person who would leave a sick princess and a mere student alone together and then go to sleep. It should have been obvious to me that the situation had been set up somehow.

“Huh. I guess you got the better of me.”

I let out a deep breath and dropped my head.

“Yes. Can I say that I won this time? Well, once you know that much, the rest is easy. The king can make the children of noblemen of the same age as his daughter get good marks on a difficult test in order to improve her reputation. The higher her reputation, the better the marriage will be.”

“So you’re using me to set up a room for your study group.”

“I think that’s probably it. I thought about the princess studying with Chris-kun and saying that she would do anything if she got a bad score, and then the king tried to make her get a bad score, but it was too ridiculous, so I left it out of my thoughts!”

Mist told a joke and laughed like it was really funny, as usual.

“Surely it’s not that ridiculous.”

I laughed at Mist’s joke, too.