Interlude 3: Eleanora Hillrose
Eleanora Hillrose, the only daughter of the sole duke in the Kingdom of Valschein, reigned supreme over the female students of the Academy. It was natural for daughters from radical families to pay attention to her, but even the daughters from families in the king’s faction couldn’t ignore her presence. All this gave the impression that Eleanora was a tyrant who abused her family’s power. However, that was far from the truth.
Eleanora and her friends were gathered in the parlor after classes, as usual, chatting with tea in one hand.
“I’m thinking of holding a large tea party,” said Eleanora. “And I’d like to invite not only you ladies but other people as well.”
“That’s wonderful, Lady Eleanora! Who are you planning to invite?”
“Hmmm,” Eleanora pondered. “How about Amy? I haven’t spoken to her very much.”
The faces of Eleanora’s entourage turned grim upon hearing Amy’s name. The name belonged to the daughter of the Minister of Commerce—in other words, her family was a part of the king’s faction.
“I’d advise against that,” one girl replied critically. “I’ve only heard bad rumors about her.”
“Yes, I don’t think Lady Amy would be a very good choice,” another girl chimed in.
“Is that so? Well, if you all think so...”
Eleanora was ignorant of and unconcerned with the political issues between aristocrats. She believed that the girls in her entourage spent time with her because they liked her. The girls used that to their advantage to manipulate Eleanora and maintain the factions at the Academy. These girls were also the ones who told Eleanora that she could still marry the prince, despite being in a faction that opposed the king. But secretly, they were laughing to themselves about how easy Eleanora was to control. Unfortunately for them, an aberrant presence that began influencing Eleanora had recently appeared.
“Oh! We should invite Yumiella as well,” Eleanora said excitedly. “She turned me down the last time, but I’m sure she’ll come this time!”
“Yumiella? But... His Highness hates her.”
“That’s right. He could end up hating you as well, Lady Eleanora.”
“It’ll be all right. I feel like my relationship with Sir Edwin will progress by getting some advice from Yumiella,” Eleanora explained.
Despite her words, from the outside, it looked like she just wanted to be friends with Yumiella.
“I’m going to go invite Yumiella!” Eleanora blurted before suddenly standing up and leaving the parlor. The stunned entourage exchanged glances of confusion.
Meanwhile, Eleanora had made her way to the dorms and was now in front of Yumiella’s room. Usually, a servant would be sent over with an invitation letter, but she distinctly took action herself when it came to Yumiella. The maid poked her head out from behind the door to see who was visiting, and her eyes widened upon seeing Eleanora.
“You’re the daughter of the Hillrose family, correct?”
“Yes, is Yumiella here?”
“Y-Yes. Right this way.”
After slightly forcing her way into Yumiella’s room, Eleanora beamed when she saw Yumiella, who was currently reading a book. In contrast to Eleanora’s vibrant enthusiasm, Yumiella was expressionless as usual, even after having her room barged into.
“Yumiella, I’ve come to see you!”
“Well now, I see that you’ve gotten comfortable enough to barge into my room,” Yumiella said, making no attempt to hide her displeasure. Eleanora seemed to be completely unbothered by her tone and took a seat right in front of Yumiella.
“I’m going to hold a tea party. You’ll come, right?”
“I’ll refrain from attending.”
“There’s no need for you to refrain from anything with me!”
“Why do you pay me any attention in the first place, Lady Eleanora?” Yumiella’s question made Eleanora recall recent events.
Eleanora took notice of Yumiella when she was called to the Royal Palace when they first entered the Academy. She thought Yumiella would become her romantic rival after she was asked to marry Edwin during her audience with the king, and Eleanora was ready to fight over him.
Even after that misunderstanding was cleared up, Yumiella was still someone her beloved Prince Edwin didn’t like, so Eleanora disliked her as well. Those feelings changed after the incident where Alicia was bullied. Eleanora had never meant to go so far, but she ended up instructing some girls to hide Alicia’s belongings after being persuaded by those around her.
When Yumiella found out, Eleanora thought she was done for. She thought that the incident would spread, and Edwin would find out, leading him to hate her. But Yumiella didn’t reveal what happened to Edwin. Not only did she stay quiet, but she even gave Eleanora advice on how to proceed.
At the time, Eleanora was attempting to bake sweets. It started when her entourage encouraged her to try it after hearing that Alicia had given Edwin some homemade sweets. Eleanora was enthusiastic at first, but her sensitive palate led to disaster—she was completely unable to make something that she was satisfied with. However, the people around her kept praising her, saying everything she baked tasted the best in the world.
Eleanora had been concerned about the disconnect between her own impression and what the others were telling her, but Yumiella was the only one who gave an appropriate review, saying that the cookies she baked tasted strange. She was the only one who told the truth. And then, Yumiella even said that Eleanora could definitely marry the prince. She was used to her entourage telling her so, but it was refreshing to hear it from an outside party.
From then on, Eleanora would talk to Yumiella whenever she had the chance. Yumiella reacted differently from the girls in her entourage and from the other students, and seeing her reactions was just so much fun for Eleanora. Having never come across anyone who behaved so openly unfriendly toward her, Eleanora developed an endless interest in Yumiella.
After thinking back on the state of things, Eleanora answered Yumiella’s question.
“It’s because you’re different from others.”
“Well, that’s because I’m me,” Yumiella said with a sigh.
“That! That was so Yumiella-like!” Eleanora excitedly pointed out. “Also, it’s because you said that I could marry Sir Edwin.”
“I see,” Yumiella replied after a pause.
Eleanora began to talk about one of her favorite topics—tea—in an attempt to entertain Yumiella. She didn’t notice that her words were being ignored. Yumiella was lost in her thoughts, worrying about how she would break it to Eleanora that she had lied about Eleanora’s and the prince’s chances of getting married. The two of them were on completely different pages, but on the outside, anyone would just see two good friends.
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