The Perfect Knight and the Illusionist (BL)

MARIUS

Skylark was avoiding me.

I was certain.

In the morning, when everyone met up at the front entrance of the dormitory to walk to the main building together for classes, I noticed that Skylark was missing. Dimitri said that when he woke up, Skylark was already gone. Briant then said it was only because Dimitri woke up late that he saw Skylark leave the room quietly before that.

Was it... because of the things I said during dinner the night before?

I wasn’t sure.

I, too, had somewhere to go that morning before class, though. I had to go and meet the student council secretary to apologize for missing my appointment.

Just what kind of foolish nonsense had I been getting myself into lately?

"Ah, good morning, Marius Valenkraft," the student council secretary, a bespectacled girl—which was quite rare—greeted me as I entered the council room.

"Good morning, Ms. Secretary. I came to apologize for missing our appointment yesterday. And—just Marius is fine."

"You can just call me Hilda too—outside of official ceremonies, of course."

"Thank you, Hilda."

"So—what happened yesterday? I suppose you’d have a good reason for not keeping your appointment? I wouldn’t have thought you’d be breaking promises so easily," she said with a grin on her face.

Breaking promises.

Had I ever even done that before?

I knew she deliberately exaggerated it to tease me, but I felt genuinely guilty.

"I’m sorry. A friend needed urgent assistance. I should have sent someone to inform you. I apologize again if you had to wait long for me."

"I see. A noble cause, then?" Hilda said light-heartedly.

"I suppose you could say that."

"Now, Marius. It is actually fitting that we’ve stumbled across the topic of commitment and choices," Hilda said, taking her glasses off and cleaning them carefully with a frilly handkerchief she took out from her sleeve.

"I am listening."

"Frankly speaking—it is not a big deal that you missed your appointment. We’d like you to be in the student council nevertheless, so it won’t affect your chance of joining us. I guess I could say you are already accepted."

"Thank you. I shall do my utmost to fulfill my duties responsibly."

"But as you’ve found out—choosing one thing means giving up another. You chose to help your friend in need over attending a prearranged meeting with the council, and now, the president isn’t here, so you won’t get a chance to speak to him until later."

"I understand."

"Now, my question is—was it worth it?"

"Excuse me?"

"Was helping your friend worth risking your position as a candidate for joining the student council of Royal Knights Academy?"

Hilda stopped cleaning her glasses. She put her handkerchief back, but she held the glasses by the temples and paused for my answer.

I then thought about Skylark—how he said he was having fun exploring all the different clubs and their activities; how he laughed with joy; how he concentrated on drawing his dream.

"Yes, it was worth it."

I couldn’t possibly say no.

Hilda then put her glasses back on and said with a bright smile:

"Excellent. You made a good choice then."

"I’m not sure about that."

"And that... is precisely the work and responsibility of the student council. We collect feedback, assess data, evaluate, and make decisions. Let’s say we are organizing an autumn festival: we decide what activities should be included or excluded. We decide who gets the center stage, and at what time, for their singing or drama performances. Every choice we make—someone is favored and others lose out."

I listened carefully and nodded in acknowledgment.

"Now, Marius. When you are faced with such choices, what will you base your decisions on?"

I felt this was a straightforward question that I could answer honestly.

"I would do my best to ensure that everybody gets equal opportunities, as much as possible. If one club makes a concession on one thing, it would be compensated with something else."

Hilda shook her head rather theatrically and said,

"Wrong."

I wasn’t sure what I was wrong about.

"This is the first and the most important lesson you need to learn and keep in mind as you work on the student council, Marius. Such decisions... are to be made based on what benefits the Academy and the students the most. We don’t decide based on any romantic sentiments such as equality."

Those words stung, for some reason, but those words, coming from the student council secretary, also made me feel at home.

Why had I forgotten this?

I would have given the same answer as her if I had been asked the same question before I joined the Academy. What she said was very much in line with Father’s words.

Had I been straying away from the right path...?

"I understand. And I fully agree. Thank you for your advice, Hilda," I said with a bitter sense of gratitude.

"Excellent. I think that will be all for now. I will inform the president that you were here and ready to work with the student council. Our first meeting will be next Monday at seventeen hundred."

"Thank you. I will be here. Without fail."

Hilda then gave me a polite smile and a nod—which I returned in kind—to signal that I could leave, so I did.

On the way to the classroom, when I was almost there, I saw Skylark from behind.

His steps seemed light and his shoulders unburdened. Whatever awkwardness I might have caused yesterday didn’t seem to be bothering him now.

I was relieved, but as I thought I would hasten my steps to catch up with him to say good morning, I realized that I felt as if my feet were sinking into quicksand. And because of this moment of hesitation and delay, I missed my chance, and he disappeared into the classroom without noticing me.

’What’s gotten into you, Marius?’ I asked myself.

First I couldn’t think of how to answer Hilda’s questions well, and now I was being indecisive and losing my objective.

I realized I hadn’t been myself lately.

And I was getting too comfortable with it.

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