Gacha Kingdom Building

After I finished my talk with Sabrina, I made my way back to the dining hall, where I saw Isabella talking with one of her new admirers.

Isabella: "...This is hardly the place for such talks. If your father insists on it, he can send an envoy to my estate and we can arrange a meeting at a later date."

Student: "C'mon, Isa, you need to at least-"

Isabella: "I need to?"

Student: "N-no... I didn't mean to say..."

Isabella: "Clearly. However, I meant what I said and my position will not change, no matter how much you embarrass yourself. Now would you please leave? I have more urgent business to attend to."

Isabella's words and the way she looked at the people coming at her became incredibly harsh.

Before, I wouldn't be surprised if she went along with this boy just to have someone to talk to while hoping to build a friendship, even if she understood his underlying intentions.

But now... She's not giving anyone any chances.

I can hardly blame him for being nervous, if anything, thinking about myself in the same situation makes me pity him a little.

Isabella: "I take it you have already finished your talk with Sabrina?"

Miwen: "Oh? Is that more urgent to you?"

Isabella: "...His family lives in a small territory in Evretis. Some of the population there has moved to a more prosperous territory and they want a reduction in tax proportional to the reduction in production. I've already looked into it, but I still need to consider a few things before making a decision... In any case, how was it with Sabrina? Did you have fun?"

She's an incredibly diligent girl.

She knew what it would entail when she assumed the position, and she has been doing her part splendidly ever since.

It bothers me to think that so much potential was being wasted just because she didn't have any innate talents.

It's not like she needs those anyway.

She can clearly make up for it through sheer hard work.

In a sense, that's in and of itself.

Miwen: "You could've told him that instead of telling him off like this..."

Isabella: "That would settle expectations in others that I'd do the same. I'm not confident I can do that, and frankly, it would be a waste of time. Especially since unlike their parents, they have no actual power. Discussing anything with the students is not very productive, so setting a different standard is better..."

That's true. They are a needless middleman and when it comes to politics, creating a telephone game like this can result in even more problems.

Cutting them off is the best approach, but it's hard to expect them to understand that if she doesn't explain it.

In the end, it is very bothersome...

Miwen: "Want me to get Olivia to lend you a hand? Or maybe-"

Isabella: "That would defeat the purpose. I'm fine, for now. If I ever need, I'll ask you."

One of the reasons for her to challenge her brothers for the duchy was to rise to a position where she could assist me in return for all the help I've given her.

It's not something that was needed, and frankly, since I prioritize her happiness above all, knowing the consequences this was going to have, I'd rather this scenario be avoided, but...

I can't lie.

It makes me quite proud of her.

Isabella: "So? Are you not going to answer me?"

Miwen: "Hm... What can I say? It was a little frightening."

Isabella: "What do you mean?"

Miwen: "That place... From the way the wind touched me, to the view around it... The silence, the company of a cute girl... I can only describe it as ideal."

It's scary how much it played into my preferences.

Almost as if it was built with me in mind, I could completely understand why any interaction would result in a positive response from the game's romance targets.

It's perfect, but... It's a little disturbing how much on the nose it is if you know its purpose.

Or at least, it is for me.

Miwen: "It seems like Sabrina is excited to start meeting me there frequently since she doesn't get many chances to talk to me, but I think there should be some chances for you to visit it as well."

Isabella: "Hm? Why should I?"

I'm simply interested in the place's effects on me when it's Isabella and not Sabrina who is in the gazebo, but I couldn't really tell her that since she doesn't know about the game's existence.

Miwen: "Well... It sounded like a good idea since you're so jealous~"

Isabella: "But I'm not? What you do in your free time, or who you choose to spend it with does not matter to me... In the slightest... Although I suppose it sounds like a relaxing place, so maybe I could take a look."

She's getting so good with the act that she's now able to use it to hide her true feelings.

However, it didn't work on me as well as she had hoped.

The change in her expression, from a solitary look to a vivid enthusiasm, made it obvious that she was happy to visit the gazebo and see for herself how nice of a place it was.

And with that decided, we made our way back to the classroom where she would take the last classes of the day.

Sadly, the good mood we were in was soon spoiled.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Diligent as always, Isabella was among the first to enter the classroom, but Sabrina came soon after her.

She's always talking with someone, so she usually enters the classroom at the last possible minute and this time it was no different.

However, as soon as she entered the room and took her seat, she suddenly panicked, looking everywhere for something.

Sabrina: "...The scriptures are missing..."

During her vacation, Sabrina had gone to Volan. With it being a holy city and her being recognized as the Saint, it seems like she obtained quite a few scriptures and spells.

Obviously, she had already shown the most powerful one even before she went there, but whatever the case may be, losing such important documents can be quite problematic.

Especially since Terith has just acquired an alliance with Cobierzh.

Mia: "...Why would she even bring such things to the academy?"

Even if she feels like she lacks the time to read them, it is undoubtedly a stupid decision.

However, even more annoying than that, was the fact that instantly everyone started looking towards Isabella.

I thought that perhaps this would change during this new semester, but the situation seems to have remained unchanged.

Even during her presentation, when she explained her efforts to acquire an alliance with Cobierzh, due to Prince Edmond's efforts in much the same direction, most people assumed her to be lying or trying to steal the credit since in their eyes, she must've spent her entire vacation plotting and executing the murder of her father and the takeover of the Duchy of Evretis.

Now that she's also acting in a condescending manner, the eyes that judge her are even more harsh.

It's almost palpable the pressure they-

Isabella: "Miwen..."

Without moving or speaking too loudly, she called my name as discreetly as possible.

When I looked at her hands, she had grabbed a small piece of paper.

She was clearly a little nervous about it, so it was obvious what those were.

Miwen: "...Throw them to Lana."

Isabella: "I can't. Too many eyes."

Miwen: "I'll create a distraction."

Whenever something like this happens to Sabrina, everyone assumes Isabella to be the culprit.

Normally we can easily dispose of the strange fake evidence that always somehow ends up pointing to Isabella, but this time, not only was it infuriating how much they were glaring at her with judgment in their eyes, but it had also become a problem for us.

So, I had no choice.

Mia: "...Hm?"

I started by landing my hand on Mia's head.

Nowadays, she doesn't seem to mind physical contact with me nearly as much, so at most, she looked at me with a bit of confusion in her eyes.

Mia: "Hey... Hey!? HEYYY! MIWEN!?"

I slowly moved my hand down. Once it reached her neck she looked a little displeased, but she barely complained.

When I reached her back she calmed down a little, but it was only for a moment as she realized I was still going.

By the time I reached her tail, she was already furious, and once I started grabbing it, she reached the boiling point, complaining loudly and pushing me away.

Creating just the commotion needed to divert the attention of the students in class and allowing Isabella to throw the papers to the ground, where they disappeared inside her shadow.

Miwen: "I apologize for my fiancée's behavior. She's very superstitious with religious matters."

Sabrina: "Pfft. Again with that joke?"

...Right. A joke.

Edmond: "...I'm dismissing the class for now. Let's search for the scriptures."

It made sense for Edmond as the Crown Prince of Terith to prioritize the scriptures over the class since losing them could cause a diplomatic incident.

Although they respect the authority of their teachers during class, the truth is that both Edmond and Sabrina can decide on a whim if class should be held or not and almost no one has the authority to question their decisions, so in cases like this, it's usually one of the two who assumes responsibility and leads the others.

Sabrina: "Do you mind if I search your belongings, Isabella?"

Isabella: "...As you wish-"

Miwen: "I mind."

Sabrina: "Hm?"

Miwen: "I mean... Why hers first?"

Name, age, seat place... There's basic no order in which Isabella comes first.

Unless of course, she's going from the most suspicious one to the least, but that would be the same as admitting that she suspected Isabella to be the culprit.

Sabrina: "Ah... That's... Random, I guess... But I thought it would be better for me to search the girls and Edmond search the boys-"

Miwen: "Uhuh. And why is Edmond not a suspect?"

Sabrina: "Eheh... Why would he-"

Edmond: "...He's just wasting time. Excuse me, Isabella."

In the end, I never got a satisfying answer.

But it seems like Edmond got quite angry that I was questioning his character.

However, I still think it's only fair.

Edmond: "Nothing..."

Hm...

Both of them looked a little surprised that they didn't find anything.

But then again, the same was true for the entire classroom. Everyone was a little biased against Isabella so it came as a surprise to them that she was apparently innocent.

Funnily enough, this has happened a bunch of times since we usually do a good job at defending her.

Only a few things get past us, but normally, they are too circumstantial to accuse her of anything.

Experience tales with empire

It took a while for everyone to calm down, especially since in the end, the scriptures were never found.

But after searching all the desks and student's belongings, the best Edmond could do was send his entourage to look for it throughout the academy.

As the documents were definitely not in this classroom, there was no reason to not resume the class.

The only one who still seemed a little agitated was... Mia.

She kept staring daggers at me and whenever I'd approach her, even by one step, she would create the same distance, just an arm's length away.

Isabella: "...She really likes you, huh?"

Miwen: "Does it really look that way to you? She's totally avoiding me now."

Isabella: "That's the least any girl would do after what you did. But considering she's a Snow White Wolf, that's especially mild. They would usually do anything to protect their backs."

Oh...

I didn't know that.

Back when we went to the beach, she didn't resist too much when I was putting sunscreen on her back.

Considering the nature of the whole thing, she was actually pretty okay with it.

Miwen: "...Maybe she likes me?"

Mia: "Shut up, you two."

Even though she was never interested in any classes before, this time, for some unknown reason, she avoided eye contact with me as much as possible and looked directly at the teacher, not once looking my way.

That did nothing to hide her embarrassment though.

When the classes ended, it was time to head back, but unfortunately, another incident happened.

Sabrina, who was walking down the stairs, ended up falling after some steps.

Since she was in front of Isabella, the people around her assumed she was pushed down.

Edmond was about to demand an apology, he seemed rather upset about not finding the scriptures and my attitude, so in a way, I could understand why he wanted a little payback, but...

Surprisingly, Sabrina was the one who defended Isabella.

She said she had just lost the strength in her legs for a moment and that it wasn't a big deal since she could heal herself.

However... It was hard to say if she was truly trying to defend Isabella or not.

Because of how quickly she acted to move past it, she actually made it seem like she was just afraid of causing more trouble.

It also took any chances from Isabella to defend herself without looking petty.

It was pretty obvious that everyone felt like Sabrina was just trying to be kind to Isabella, who was trying to hurt her.

Thankfully, this was the last incident of the day, but if things continued like that...

Miwen: "Can you smell anyone's scent on the scriptures?"

Mia: "Sabrina and Isabella's. But... there might be more. I'm not that good at this. At least not in this form."

We were already back in the capital's residence, so I tried to solve this puzzle as best as I could.

Miwen: "That's fine... You were with her the entire day, right?"

Mia: "Me and Lana. There was no time or opportunity for her to do it, Miwen."

Miwen: "...And did you see what happened on the stairs?"

Mia: "I can say for sure Isabella didn't push her, but I'm not sure about the other girls that were with Sabrina."

As usual, we didn't get any leads.

The person doing those things to Sabrina was always able to escape our grasp.

However... Considering how far we've come already, I think it's time I start preparing to deal with them.

Miwen: "Lana... I'll give you my phone for now. And a new mission as well."

Lana: "Hm? I thought yours wasn't good enough for the thingy?"

Miwen: "Yep. It's pretty bad compared to Claire's, but it is able to do the basics. You won't be playing the game though."

Lana: "Eh... Sure... But I want you to cook me a steak again."

Miwen: "Deal."

It's not something I was expecting to happen considering our first interactions, but since I'm keeping my side of our deal and she usually asks for me to cook her something in return for her efforts, working with Lana has become incredibly enjoyable for me.

She's also not afraid to get her hands dirty, so we actually make quite a good duo.

Or at least, good enough to unmask the person behind this scheme.