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A space that’s pure white—left, right, up, and down.

Chairwoman Mei’s private lecture room, which is said to utilize Psycho Matter, a substance that freely changes shape according to the will of those inside.

“—All right. With that, the make-up lectures for this past year… and indeed, for the entire year—are complete. Depending on how well you do on the report I’ll have you submit later, we should be able to return to our regular lectures without any issues. Still, this place—which, according to a friend of mine, is a ‘Mental and Time Room’ that stimulates the mind to allow learning at five times the normal speed—is a place where an ordinary person couldn’t last even fifteen minutes. It’s amazing that both of you managed to hole up here for eight hours every day without… losing your minds. You’re quite something.”

Chairwoman Mei, who had made the chairs, desks, and lecture whiteboard—all made of psychoresonant matter—vanish with a mere wave of her hand, casually tossed the make-up lecture handouts she was holding onto the floor. A hole opened up in the white floor, and they vanished into thin air.

“Haah, haah… Th-thank you… I’m sorry for the trouble.”

Did she just almost say ‘go crazy’? I thought, pressing my hand to my aching head from overuse, as I stood up and bowed. At least for today, to replenish the calories burned from mental labor, I figured it wouldn’t be a sin to lift my “one cake per day” limit.

“…………”

Meanwhile, beside me, Cestlavie, practically on his deathbed, rolled his eyes back and collapsed forward.

At first, he was bleeding from his nose at double speed and his brain vessels were on the verge of bursting, but now he’s somehow managed to keep up at five times normal speed —truly befitting a “child prodigy.” Human adaptability is truly amazing (though the Chairwoman, who pushed him through with just the words, “Even if he breaks down, you can fix him, Jill. No?”, is quite the slave driver too).
That said, the backlash seems to be pretty harsh; toward the end of every lecture, he twitches like a cicada at the end of summer, and by the end, he’s in a “Y*mcha” state…
Still, it’s quite something that he managed to see it through to the end.

Chairwoman Mei glanced at the now-familiar sight of Cestlavie and snapped her fingers. As always, Cestlavie’s chair transformed into a cot, and then doll-like girls modeled after black-haired, two-and-a-half-headed little girls—who had swarmed in from who knows where—carried the cot off to the infirmary with repeated cries of “Heave-ho!”
Although he was unconscious, with plenty of rest and an IV drip—and given his youth—he should recover overnight.

Then, before me, a sofa and a table draped in lace appeared. On it were a delicate, fragrant Earl Grey-style tea, a cake stand, a sandwich tray, sugar tongs, and a tea strainer.
Arranged on the cake stand were the classic cucumber sandwiches and scones served with strawberry jam and cream.

“I went with an afternoon tea style, but if you’d like something more substantial, I can have them prepare Welsh rarebit (Welsh-style cheese toast) and roast beef, too?”
“No, this is plenty. Besides, I have a fitting with the designer later, so eating too much would be, well…”
“Ah, I see—the dress for the Imperial Festival. Right, it’s that time of year already… Well, these days there’s no longer that ridiculous trend of cinching your waist to 45 Selmelt with a corset, but having your measurements taken while your stomach’s bloated must be mental torture, right?”

Nodding along, Chairwoman Mei devoured sandwiches and scones one after another like a horse. I can’t help but envy how she manages to maintain that figure. Could it be that once you become a transcendent, you’re free from waistline worries? If so, I’d seriously like to explore the path to evolution myself.

Lost in such thoughts, I nibbled away at my cucumber sandwich.

“That’s true. Why do custom-made outfits require so many measurements? Personally, I would’ve been fine with a uniform, but my maids were just so eager to help.”

On top of that, the designer is really fired up too, saying things like, “It is the utmost honor to be able to tailor a dress for the Shrine Maiden Princess!” Apparently, he had not only mobilized all his artisans, but he’s also gathered apprentices from all over the Imperial Realm—those who’ve branched out on their own—and they’re working on this in full battle mode. …What? That’s scary.

“Ah, well, competing in dresses is one of the highlights of the Imperial Festival, after all. It’s become a tradition for everyone to prepare their own custom-made dresses with great enthusiasm, so just accept it. Besides, in your case, nothing but a custom-made dress would ever fit you, right? How outrageous.”
“Um, what exactly are you looking at?”

Her gaze is piercing right through my chest…

“Not at all~. Ah, anyway, since the Imperial Festival is open to the public, the school plans to be on high alert, but please be careful not to get caught up in—or cause—any unexpected trouble.”
“Y-yeah… I’ll be careful, but the way you put it makes it sound like I’m the kind of person who causes or attracts trouble.”
“That’s you, pretty much. From what I heard, you came into contact with that Ragweed Princess of the Aulanthia family—or the *Thing* she supposed to be—this morning, didn’t you? Do you even realize just how dangerous that is?”

When Chairwoman Mei, who knew the circumstances, called me out on it, I had no comeback.

“Well… I do think I was being reckless myself.”
“Well, I understand that you’re worried about what’s happening at your former family home. Especially since your father was attacked and is seriously injured—I can fully understand why you can’t sit still. But as the saying goes, ‘Walls have ears and doors have eyes.’ From the moment King Aulanthia was attacked, it’s certain that information has been leaking from somewhere. There’s a possibility that there are traitors or spies even among the maids, pages, and knights, so it’s best not to get too close without being careful…”

Hmm, so are you saying I have to consider the possibility that Zoe, the aforementioned head maid, might also be a spy?
At first glance, she seemed a bit rigid, but I got the sense that she had firm convictions and an inner strength.—she struck me as a capable, independent woman, so I really don’t want to suspect someone like that…

As if she’d read my mind, Chairwoman Mei suddenly softened her expression and said:

“Well, as an educator, it’s wrong to tell students to distrust people or not to trust them. I suppose all the hardships I went through in the past have made me view things a bit askew. Oh dear, oh dear—I wonder if I’m just getting old. Enough of this old lady’s grumbling!　Making a big show of it isn’t really your style, anyway. You should just be yourself and walk straight down the path you believe in. It’s the adults’ job to clear the way for you.”

Saying that, she gave a light shrug.

I wasn’t entirely sure, but I figured it probably meant something like, “I’ve got your back, so do your best”… With that half-hearted thought, I stood up and bowed to Chairwoman Mei.

“Thank you. I’ll take your advice to heart.”
“Mm.”

Waving her hand dismissively as if to say, “Don’t worry about it,” Chairwoman Mei personally poured me another cup of tea.