How to Survive at the Academy
chapter-223

Poisoned Chalice (4)

TL: TangSanFan

ED/PR: Tanthus

“It’s a relief to see you looking so healthy. Pheonia.”

“No, Your Majesty. It must have been quite the ordeal traveling such a long distance. Father.”

The next scheduled event was a banquet at the royal residence where Pheonia was staying.

Given that the Emperor himself had come to inspect the accommodations of his youngest daughter, the interior of the royal residence was cleaner and more meticulously arranged than ever. The area where dinner was to be served was in a state of perfect cleanliness, seemingly determined to rid it of even a speck of dust.

With a feast prepared that could break the sturdy table legs, Emperor Clorel, along with Princess Sella and Pheonia, continued their meal.

“Persica didn’t come, I see. I thought she wouldn’t miss such an occasion.”

“Hasn’t she often missed imperial engagements because she’s holed up in the library whenever she finds the time? Your second sister has always been like that, absorbed in something and blind to everything else since she was young.”

Pleased by the conversation with his daughter, Emperor Clorel bombarded Princess Pheonia with questions about her recent activities.

Occasionally, he showed a gentle smile, clearly proud of Pheonia, who, despite her youth, had gone abroad to pursue her studies.

It was quite a change from the always stern presence in the audience chamber, now appearing quite approachable and laid-back. With hardly any subjects watching, there was no need to impose his majesty.

The Emperor seemed to have put down the weight of imperial duty and returned to being simply a father, which made Pheonia’s heart soften.

“Oh… At first, I was so worried about you, but seeing you adapt so well gives me peace of mind, Pheonia.”

Soon, Princess Sella chimed in with disingenuous words.

Among the three princesses, there was an unspoken rule: at least in front of Emperor Clorel, present themselves as loving sisters.

Of course, even Emperor Clorel knew that relations were somewhat strained between the sisters due to the imperial succession dispute.

Nevertheless, he didn’t want political strife to spill into social occasions. After all, they were still blood-related family.

“I was shocked when I heard you expelled the eldest son of the Rothtaylor House by invoking your authority not long after you started school.”

Then Princess Sella brought up another topic.

It was about the time when Princess Pheonia had excommunicated Ed Rothtaylor. Though it felt like a distant past, less than two years had passed.

“Seeing your kind self trample someone so actively was new to me, and so I thought perhaps you had changed a lot after coming into a new environment.”

“Sella, my sister.”

“That’s not to say it’s a bad thing. Those who rule cannot overlook injustice amongst their subjects. Just that…”

Princess Sella spoke politely as she sliced meat with a knife.

“That student Ed Rothtaylor you saw at today’s duel, it seems he’s still attending the academy in good health.”

“An expulsion from the house does not necessarily mean removal from Sylvania Academy. If I had insisted, I could have made sure he was expelled from the school as well…”

“So you didn’t. Well, after all, if a man is only a commoner, he would naturally drop out without further effort if he couldn’t afford the tuition.”

Nevertheless, Ed Rothtaylor stuck to Sylvania Academy to the end.

One would think he would have given up and left for the city to beg for a living.

According to what Princess Sella knew, the man named Ed Rothtaylor had set up a camp in a cabin in the Northern Forest and was living off the wilderness.

It was only a collection of fragmentary information gathered over half a day, but nonetheless, it had a certain level of reliability.

“And since he’s also been reinstated at the Rothtaylor estate’s social events… Essentially, he could be seen as having regained his original standing. Pheonia, did you just watch all this happen without doing anything?”

“I realized my judgment was incorrect.”

Sella knew Pheonia’s intent. It was a smear campaign.

She was trying to highlight that Pheonia had cornered a high noble and then ignored the repercussions using imperial authority.

Princess Pheonia went on the offensive with a straightforward approach.

“Ed Rothtaylor wasn’t a wretched enough person to deserve expulsion. My misjudgment made him waste years of his life in hardship.”

“Pheonia, as royalty, we can’t always make wise decisions. Often, someone’s life is cornered due to one wrong choice. Even at times, correct decisions could lead to the same consequences.”

“That may be the case. But that doesn’t mean that the harm caused disappears.”

Princess Pheonia stopped there and glanced down.

Sella laughed inwardly at the sight.

The scenario was too perfect.

Ed Rothtaylor, a man who had been reduced to crawling due to Pheonia’s wrongful judgment.

A mistake Pheonia herself admitted to.

Moreover, Ed Rothtaylor, who had suffered through the time of pain because of that mistake, had managed to regain his status through his own efforts.

And it was Ed Rothtaylor who praised Sella’s virtues at a dramatic moment at the end of the dueling event.

After the event, Emperor Clorel met with Ed Rothtaylor and praised his actions, alongside Princess Sella.

Emperor Clorel seemed to show great fondness for Ed Rothtaylor’s impressive demeanor.

The sight of Ed Rothtaylor thriving on his own emphasized Pheonia’s mistake while highlighting Sella’s role in putting him back on track.

Through the Emperor’s eyes, it would appear as if Sella had competently cleaned up after her inexperienced younger sister’s mistake.

Nothing would be more perfect than this.

Ed Rothtaylor was… in and of himself, enhancing Sella’s political position.

Moreover, watching Princess Pheonia appear somewhat less confident, Sella’s mind raced with new possibilities.

Pheonia seemed like a naïve idealist, always messing things up because she cared too much about the thoughts of lowly individuals.

An emperor must dominate.

Someone who vacillates out of concern for the views of their subjects is not fit to rule.

Could it be that Ed Rothtaylor also knew this fact?

Upon deeper thought, it was strange.

After all, Pheonia was the one who had cast Ed Rothtaylor to the depths, yet why was he attaching himself to Pheonia’s faction?

His actions so far suggested he understood the qualities of a sovereign, always calm and collected, finding answers instead of hastily reacting to minor setbacks or unforeseen circumstances.

To Sella, Ed Rothtaylor’s character was quite clear.

He was like a wolf, not easily tamed, and it was oddly abnormal for such a person to willingly enter into Pheonia’s circle, bowing his head.

‘Was he never truly loyal in his heart…?’ Sella thought, stroking her chin, and soon asked Pheonia in a probing way.

“Speaking of which, I heard that man is close to you.”

“In truth… we’re not that close. He scarcely comes to the royal residence, and that man is holed up in his cabin focusing on his own business. It seems he’s not particularly interested in the title of Duke either.”

The power dynamic in Pheonia and Ed Rothtaylor’s relationship raised the question: could it be that Ed held the reins?

As this possibility dawned on Sella, she struggled to suppress a burst of laughter.

The royal blooded being controlled by a duke’s son, it’s an absurd notion.

Especially as Pheonia seemed even more sincere than expected.

Pheonia had shown genuine anger at Sella’s attempt to use Ed as a political pawn, even slapping her at one point.

At the imperial conference, she appeared to be actively trying to reinstate the Rothtaylor Duke House.

One would think Ed Rothtaylor was lying flat before Pheonia in loyalty, but the reality was the opposite.

‘It’s come to this, Pheonia. The royal blood should be ashamed.’

Ed Rothtaylor was a powerful weapon, but meaningless in the hands of someone who did not know how to wield it.

It seemed Sella was beginning to grasp the circumstances around the man and the progression of events, including the seemingly random praise at the dueling event.

Perhaps Ed thought Pheonia would be easy to manipulate, just like herself.

However, Sella was not the same as Pheonia – whether one called it arrogance or overflowing ambition. Ed’s challenging attitude almost made her laugh.

If she desired, she could grasp that man in the palm of her hand, and even within the festival period, it wasn’t too difficult to conceive a concrete method to completely pull that man into Sella’s circle of power.

As she carved the meat with a knife, Princess Sella smiled deeply within herself.

* * *

Kadan and Silla stood with their mouths agape as they observed the lively cabin. They were accompanied by Lucy, who had no reason to return after the concert ended, and Belle, who felt compelled to follow due to the uneasy situation.

When they first forged through the forest path to the Northern Forest, they imagined a stately Rothtaylor manor house, hidden in the woods…

Regretfully, this cabin camp could hardly be called a manor.

“The second floor is my personal workshop for demonic engineering. The first floor is where I mainly live. Since most of my work is done near the bonfire, most of the tools… including the cooking utensils, are gathered around there.”

“This is very different from what I imagined. Ed, sir.”

“Well, it’s quite different if you imagined a glamorous lifestyle. After all, I prefer living like this.”

Ed said, putting his travel bag on the workbench and plopping down on a log near the bonfire.

“And… over there is your lady’s cabin.”

The shock that Yenika Faelover, thought to be indulging in luxury at Ophelius Hall, had been stuck in a corner of the forest, eking out a wild existence.

Kadan almost swooned at the thought, while Silla experienced a momentary dizziness.

“Since when…?”

“It’s been about a year.”

“A year…?! So that means…”

By the Faelover couple’s standards, if a young man and woman of age lived together for a year in such a place… it meant they had seen and done everything a couple could.

Could this be the world of nobility? Where such cohabitation is taken lightly?

Silla quickly glanced up and eyed Yenika, seated on a log across from them, wiping sweat from her brow.

“Why didn’t you tell us earlier…! Yenika…!”

“I… that’s…”

“This… such… such an enchanting school life…!”

Taking a bold approach and revealing the truth seemed to be the tactic Ed had decided on…

It wasn’t a mistake. Such matters only become more suspicious and complicated if you try to hide them clumsily. Kadan and Silla seemed to be the type of open-minded parents at a first glance. They were not the kind of parents who would harshly scold their daughter for spending some time in the wild and sticking closely to a man from outside their circle.

Eventually, Kadan clapped his hands warmly and laughed heartily.

“So it is… Yenika is already at that age…! Such a romantic camping life in the wild… It’s true, there could certainly be a romance in that…! I never thought she’d always be stuck in a rural ranch corner, milking cows like some country woman…!”

“Dad… your voice is too loud…!”

“Hahaha, who’s there to hear…! What a truly nice forest…! I see you again, young master Ed! I only imagined you as an aristocratic and old-fashioned person, but unexpectedly, you understand what a man’s life is about!”

“… There’s no need for such high praise. It’s just a camping life I had to start due to unavoidable circumstances.”

“Still, such an excellent hut and camp… surely, you must have grown fond of it. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to create such a dwelling full of love!”

Kadan himself was skilled in woodworking and handywork. He was responsible for repairing all the utensils at the Faelover Ranch. Therefore, he could sense the attachment Ed had to various parts of the camp. It was evident that Ed Rothtaylor had put a lot of affection into this camp.

“And to think… the man Yenika was talking about was young master Ed… I must wonder if I saved a country in a past life…!”

“Man that Yenika was talking about?”

“Woah! Wowowowowow! The weather! The weather is so nice!!! Anyway, mom and dad brought some meat to cook, right?! What are you going to cook?! Should I help?! Do you know where the kitchenware and stuff is? I feel like you’ll struggle a lot, so let me help! It’s not fun if Ed knows in advance, so just stay in the hut for now!”

Belle nearly teared up watching Yenika frantically trying her best. Belle pondered if there was any way to help, but after much thought, no viable solutions came to mind.

“What an uplifting feeling this is! I’m truly glad we came to Ackense Island! It feels like the most exhilarating moment of my life! I want to return to the village quickly and share this happy news…! Right, Silla?”

“Yes… sniff, our Yenika has already… grown up so much…”

With those words, Yenika’s face contorted as if she had been stabbed in the stomach.

It was all over. When she returned to her spiritual homeland of Pullan, the village women would undoubtedly greet and congratulate Yenika with dancing, as if they had been waiting for her.

“But then, young master Ed. Are you good at archery? This Kadan prides himself on his archery skills. If it wouldn’t be rude, I’d like to compete with you one day.”

“I’m just an average shot who has practiced for a while. It would be my pleasure to learn from you.”

“Darn it…! Tears are coming…! Are these tears of joy…? I never knew realizing a dream would feel so overwhelming…!”

For Kadan, who daydreamed of shooting arrows and enjoying a drink as the ultimate fantasy, it was a moment that brought tears to his eyes. It was difficult for Ed to follow the whirlwind of emotions he was witnessing.

“These are vigorously spirited people.” Ed simply acknowledged.

“I had thought that my daughter might be unhappy with a life so different from what she imagined.”

“Oh no…! Young master Ed! Do you see us as the kind of people to get upset over such matters? Rather, we’re proud to have a daughter who actively carves out her own life! She really has grown up, our Yenika!”

“That’s right, young master Ed! We are quite open-minded in this regard, so you need not worry too much! On the contrary, our only concern is that our lacking daughter might somehow be a burden to you. At first, we were a bit surprised, but now that we know someone as reliable as you is living with her…”

– Creeeak

Just then, the doors to Lortelle’s mansion inside opened.

It was late. The sun had already set.

It is common for Lortelle’s return to be much later. If delivery schedules are pushed or pulled forward, it’s not unusual for her to leave at dawn and not return that day.

Therefore, the thought of Lortelle being home when the sun had just begun to set wasn’t something they dared to imagine.

“Oh my, Senior Ed. Regarding today’s festival schedule…”

Dressed elegantly, Lortelle emerged from the door and was met by the sight of Yenika’s parents making a fuss, Yenika sitting demurely, Lucy lying on her back on a nearby tree stump, and Belle staring wide-eyed at Lortelle.

Lortelle’s early return from work was almost a whim. Coincidentally, there was no one present who could have anticipated such whims.

“Oh my…”

It was hard for Lortelle herself to make sense of the unexpected situation, and she stood briefly holding the doorknob, facing the gathered crowd.

“Hello, I’m Lortelle Keheln, the acting head of the Elte Trading Company and branch head of the Sylvania division, a second-year student at the Sylvania Academy. If you’re from Pullan, you must supply livestock products to the gate city of Klets, right? I have some acquaintances in the Elte branch there, and I’ve heard it’s a place with great air and water. Do they still sell bacon rolls with cheese in the market? They matched my taste perfectly, and I remember them being delicious.”

Lortelle had a particular talent for affability.

She could engage in smooth conversation with strangers, an essential quality for a merchant.

The Faelover couple, who had just been boisterously laughing and behaving heartily, began to sweat profusely upon Lortelle Keheln’s arrival.

The fact that there were two women living together was not mentioned.

Moreover, unbeknownst to them, the woman who suddenly popped out was a key figure in the Elte Trading Company, responsible for one-third of Toren Village’s livestock product distribution.

“Ha, haha… I see. Lortelle… Keheln sir…”

“Toren Village… I’ve heard a lot about Senior Yenika being from Pullan, but I never imagined it was Toren Village. Toren’s livestock products really are of high quality. They’re so good that even our Elte Company~ buys them in large quantities~.”

Yenika frantically paced back and forth as she watched her parents suddenly become gentrified in front of an influential figure.

“Dad, Mom..! Don’t feel intimidated…! It’s not like our livestock sales are down, so we don’t need to look out for others…! Your daughter has received a baronial title…!”

“That may be true, but… most people in the village deal with the Elte Company for their sales…”

“We can live comfortably, but it’s a different story for the village folks…”

Yenika felt her mind growing hazy.

For Lortelle, Yenika was nothing short of a sworn enemy. She didn’t want to bow her head for just a few coins…!

But… given the villagers’ livelihoods were at stake, it didn’t seem like the Faelover couple would raise their heads so readily…!

“Oh my, there’s no need for the two of you to be so uncomfortable~.”

Lortelle sat close beside Ed, holding a mug of herbal tea with both hands placed carefully on her knee, looking humble and refined. But behind that demure facade, it felt as if a ghost clung to her.

Ah… this was the reality of power.

Was it true that adults crumbled so helplessly in the face of money and vested interests?

It seemed that Yenika had just realized that fact, looking as if she had lost her homeland to return to.

“As you can see, since I’m living in the same camp as Senior Ed, what reason would I have to harm you, esteemed individuals he holds dear?”

Lortelle’s natural way of clinging to Ed didn’t resemble that of someone who had only known him for a year or two.

The Faelover couple, who had been scrutinizing the two from the corner of their eyes, soon began to sweat.

At first, when they perceived the ambiguous relationship between young master Ed and Yenika, they felt a great euphoria as if they had found paradise… But they had overlooked the fact that the private lives of the nobility are notoriously scandalous.

They failed to consider this possibility, captivated by Ed’s robust and honest appearance, yet he, too, was indeed one of the nobility.

“How… how many are there…?”

Kadan inquired with difficulty.

Before Ed could reply, Lortelle answered first.

“About seven…? No, maybe eleven now..?”

Lortelle answered with satisfaction, clinging to Ed’s side.

Barely anyone at the scene grasped the true intent behind Kadan’s question. Only Lortelle, with her quick wit and keen insight, had parsed the whole situation and provided an answer.

Lortelle was quick to judge what reply would be most advantageous for her in the moment. Truly a cunning woman, indeed.

Before Ed could even open his mouth, Lortelle added, “It’s not that many, right…? And all relationships are consensual…”

Silla Faelover’s face turned ashen with the implied impact.

She wondered how many Lortelle was, and what number Yenika was among Ed’s relationships, and where exactly did Lortelle, the de facto ruler of the Elte Trading Company, stand in the order.

Caught off guard by Lortelle’s impromptu improvisation, the Faelover couple entered a state of panic. Was this truly the way of life of the nobility?

Belle, sensing things were getting dangerously out of hand, stepped in to intervene.

“I’m… I’m so tired.”

Lucy, who had been lying quietly on the tree stump, suddenly stirred, yawned, and stretched in a cute display reminiscent of a drowsy squirrel.

And where was this accompanying magician going to sleep?

“I’m going to bed.”

With that, Lucy bounded off from the fireside with a bouncy gait charged by magic and entered… Ed’s cabin.

– Bang!

Lucy nonchalantly entered Ed’s cabin to sleep and shut the door behind her.

“…”

“…”

“…”

Belle stroked her face as if she was finding the situation too much to handle. Even for a top-tier maid like herself, managing such chaos was beyond possible.

Amidst all the confusion, with people awkwardly sitting around, and the crackling of the campfire the only sound to challenge the silence.