Mistaken for a Masked Munchkin

"Rin Glacia. Not her."

"I don't know about the others, but she really is out of the question."

For some reason, Caitlin showed intense hostility toward Rin.

The girl had been prickly the entire time, as if she were in a bad mood.

Whenever Rin was involved, her viciousness seemed to multiply fivefold.

Even as she studied afterward, Caitlin kept turning over complaints under her breath.

"Glacia... that fucking ice-monster bitch..."

"Your viciousness is particularly concentrated today."

"You. Seriously, not her. Got it?"

"Just answer me! She's out of the question! That monster bitch... She treated me like that, yet she's happily wagging her tail at you..."

"I'm asking what exactly you mean by out of the question. I think I've asked around twenty times already."

"Just accept that she's out of the question! And you, stop going around flirting with girls!"

"I think this every time, but you really are a troublesome person, Miss Caitlin."

"What?"

"It's fine. That's part of your charm too."

How should I put it?

Like a cat with its fur standing on end.

She was quite a pain in the ass, but she had her own charm.

"There, there. Good girl."

"D-don't..."

I stroked the girl's head.

Her bronze skin crackled with electricity as her temper flared.

It was immensely satisfying to tease her.

"By the way, why do you hate Lady Glacia so much?"

"What?"

"You seem to despise her. It's common enough for you to dislike someone, Miss Caitlin, but I don't think I've ever seen you hate anyone this much. Did something happen between you two?"

"...Nothing like that. Her very existence just annoys me."

"When you say it in that tone, I can't help thinking something did happen."

"Ah, come on! Just let it go! That's your problem! You always bring up things you don't need to...!"

Crackle, crackle!

The electricity leaped fiercely, as though protesting.

I pulled back my stinging hand.

Instead, I pressed both of her cheeks with my palms.

Her soft skin squished beneath my hands, bringing Caitlin's face closer to mine.

"Whuh... wh-what are you doing...!"

"Miss Caitlin."

"W-why...! Wait, you're too close!"

"If something's troubling you, you have to tell me. Don't try to hide it."

"N-no, I'm saying you're too close! Why are you still... getting even closer... Mmm..."

"You tend to bottle things up too, Miss Caitlin. I'm always worried about you. If I don't know, I can't help."

Our faces were nearly touching.

Her yellow eyes trembled as though there had been an earthquake, then she squeezed them shut.

I could feel heat radiating from her cheeks.

Despite her bronze complexion, a faint blush bloomed across her face.

Our breaths mingled, and naturally, so did our scents.

I kneaded her cheeks a little more.

"All right?"

"......"

"If something's bothering you, you have to tell me. You're precious to me too, Miss Caitlin."

"......"

Unable to resist, Caitlin hooked her pinky around mine.

Once she was finally free, the girl turned over every curse she could think of.

Her head hung low, as if avoiding my gaze.

"Fuck... You piece of trash. This is why people spread those kinds of rumors about you..."

"I worried about you, and all I get in return is curses? Friendship really means nothing."

"Drop dead. Go die somewhere. Disembowel yourself. You lecherous bastard. You womanizing bastard."

"What did I do this time...?"

"The fact that you don't know is what makes you bad."

Mutter, mutter.

Caitlin returned to turning over all kinds of complaints.

Overwhelmed by her momentum, I had no choice but to suffer through it for quite some time.

'Do I have no choice but to hear what happened between them later...?'

If she found it difficult to talk about, there was nothing I could do.

I quietly gave up on the question.

That was how our brief chat came to an end.

Caitlin wasn't the only one who had taken an interest in Rin.

"Viktor."

"Yes, Your Highness."

On a dormitory bed, the Princess lay with her head on my lap and asked me a question.

Even as I stroked her silver hair, I diligently answered my liege's question.

"Rin Glacia... What do you think of that girl?"

"I'm getting quite a lot of similar questions lately."

"Well, you've been involved with her recently, haven't you? She even followed you down to Class E."

"It certainly was a shocking incident."

I nodded.

Even if one searched through the academy's history, there probably hadn't been another case like it.

"That girl is strange. I don't know whether to say she lacks vitality or that everything about her is dull."

"She is like a doll. Her emotions don't show much on the surface..."

"If I exaggerated a little, I'd say she doesn't even feel alive."

Rin was similar to Javert, yet different.

Javert wore armor around herself, tightly hiding her emotions.

Rin, on the other hand, seemed to have naturally faint emotions, so transparent that their color could barely be seen.

The difference between hiding something and not having it.

That was why Rin felt a little more like someone who lacked something.

If Javert was an unfeeling person, Rin seemed like a doll with feelings.

'It must be because of her family.'

Rin had been forced to live that way since childhood.

Simply because she had been born, her family had hated her in every possible way.

She must have heard nothing but that she was defective.

"I can't tell what she's thinking at all. Should I say that she doesn't seem like the kind of person who would cry or smile?"

"She's difficult to understand. Since she wasn't raised to be human, perhaps she's closer to a doll."

"She seemed indifferent to everything... Yet she wasn't indifferent to you, Viktor."

"I don't think it's interest in me as a man. It's more like interest in the literal sense of the word."

"Why do you think that is? It seems rare for anything to catch that girl's attention, whatever kind of interest it may be."

"Well."

I thought for a moment.

After a brief silence, I offered the most plausible theory.

"...Perhaps she admires me."

"Admires you?"

Even if Rin didn't look it, she was a girl starving for recognition.

Within her family and household, she had always been treated like she was invisible.

She must have heard nothing but that she was defective.

Then a genius who overwhelmed her appeared before her.

"I beat her during the midterms."

"I remember. It was a completely overwhelming result."

"It must have been a shock for Lady Glacia. She'd never experienced defeat against someone her own age. That was the first day she encountered talent greater than her own."

Talent beyond the level of a student, talent everyone had no choice but to acknowledge.

It must have struck Rin deeply.

"At the same time, she must have thought this. If she could catch up to me, perhaps her family would finally look at her..."

As if that would happen.

I swallowed those bitter words.

Carmilla looked blank for a moment, then shared her thoughts with a complicated expression.

"...What a pitiful girl."

"She is. Certainly."

"Then does that girl wish to defeat you, Viktor? Or does she wish to be acknowledged?"

"Even I don't know that much. She's a difficult person to read."

"Is that so..."

Poke.

Carmilla suddenly poked my cheek.

Her red eyes blinked in the darkness, and she looked somewhat displeased.

"Viktor must be happy. You receive attention from all sides."

"Mm... That's a little unfair to say."

"Hmph, enough. You lecherous retainer."

"Your assessment of me seems to grow harsher by the day..."

"That is because your womanizing grows worse by the day."

"You're always first to me, Your Highness."

"Don't sweet-talk me."

Hmph.

The Princess abruptly turned her head away.

Even so, she didn't remove her head from my lap.

"...I told you not to leave."

"I won't. Never."

"Liar."

"I couldn't mean it more sincerely."

"You're always good with words. That's what makes you more irritating."

Flop.

The Princess shifted as though cuddling closer to me.

I had no choice but to remain by her side until she fell asleep.

"Mmm... Viktor..."

"Sleep well."

As the girl breathed softly beside me, all sorts of thoughts passed through my mind.

Thoughts about the future.

'Rin... I should try talking to her when I go to school tomorrow.'

I'd been busy lately, so I hadn't had much chance to speak with Rin.

For now, I thought I should understand the girl a little better.

The final exams were just around the corner as well.

Various plans formed in my mind.

Afterward, I lay beside Carmilla and tried to sleep.

'Let's do this.'

I quietly repeated that resolution to myself.

* * *

A few days later.

A girl stood blankly in front of me.

Blue eyes stared vacantly up at me.

"Um."

Rin Glacia.

The girl hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"...Could you... pet me again?"

There seemed to be a faint plea in her eyes.

Unable to refuse, I raised my hand.

I gently stroked her blue hair.

With her eyes closed, Rin focused only on my touch.

"...Thank you."

"......"

A strange situation.

I could feel people around us whispering as they watched.

All I could do was mutter blankly to myself.

'What is this?'

What?

How did this happen?

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