Power comes with obligations.
No matter how much you trust your friends, you must do what is required of you as a person in power.
As the head of the Craft clan, regardless of my diminished desire for revenge, if I have become the sole authority of the Academy, I must accept my duties, including the duty to avenge against the Cult.
Especially when it comes to heinous matters like terrorism.
“I believed in Ellie, but…”
Pastel’s expression turned sad.
Then she shouted brightly.
“I can’t let my personal feelings interfere with my public duties!”
Even if there is a ranking of bribes in my heart, I won’t indiscriminately accept them to the point of getting sick! No matter how much money is offered, I will not collaborate with terrorists!
Similarly, just because I like my friends, I won’t ignore the possibility of putting other friends in danger!
I am the great Pastel!
If you love power, you must also take on the corresponding responsibilities!
“Ah…”
Ellie had a vacant look on her face. Her black hair was messily disheveled. The confused gaze looked down at a cold cup.
Oh?
I just lightly stated the fact, but her reaction was more than I expected.
I’m sure smart Ellie had realized it was odd that Pastel, who is usually thorough in her public duties, was flying paper airplanes and hindering the work of her subordinates.
Of course, it was fun to do so, but occasionally sending them towards the desk where they were working to sneakily check what they were doing was a natural action of a manager.
It’s also common to use the indirect method of paper airplanes to avoid making them feel supervised.
It’s common sense for a manager who seems to be just having idle chat to also check whether the performance evaluations submitted by subordinates are indeed valid!
Smart Ellie must have obviously noticed that I had been caught a few times looking at the student roster while doing my work in search of the next Demon King.
We hadn’t said anything, but we had been mutually closing our eyes to each other!
A tragic relationship where a spy must hide their true intentions while a power holder must suspect their friends!
A friendship growing amidst the tragedy.
Since we are friends, I knew this much heartfelt feeling.
Ahem.
This is the popular Pastel!
I understand your feelings well even if you don’t say them~.
But, in truth, as a princess, she isn’t a poor spy who must suppress her true feelings due to orders from above; she is the decision-maker.
So now that we don’t need to hide from each other—I just thought, “Yay!”—I intended to say it outright…
“Ellie?”
Pastel looked at her anxiously. She held out her palm and waved it in front of Ellie’s eyes.
“Do you feel unwell?”
Was the banquet too long?
Moreover, it was similar to attending a half-demon’s banquet trying to rob the railway construction rights of the Demon Realm, and I had participated as a demon.
Maybe I had been unknowingly distressed. Did I receive scornful looks? Although not outright ridicule, maybe even a mocking gaze?
Gasp, that must have been the case!
I was lacking in consideration…!
Pastel suddenly felt sorry.
“I’m sorry! It must be tiring, and I talked too much about work at this hour! Let’s just rest well and talk after we return to school!”
Her expression brightened.
“As friends!”
Ellie covered her face with trembling hands.
“I just need a moment, a moment to gather my thoughts.”
Her voice was anxious.
“Please be quiet, Craft.”
Eh.
Pastel’s eyes widened.
Craft.
Craft, huh.
Has the title regressed?
Whaaa?!
Pastel suddenly felt aggrieved.
What did I do?!
All I did was fail to consider my friend!
How unfair!
Ellie picked up the cold cup of milk. The cup trembled, and the milk swayed. Her wandering gaze and subtle mutterings mingled within the movement.
“Where does the lie end and the truth begin… Where, where…”
Pastel tilted her head.
What’s going on?
Could it be that the mental strain is severe?
Could it be that after enduring too long the mocking gazes of the demons during the banquet, she’s become suspicious of her relationship with me?
Is she afraid that everything she’s shown until now is pretense and that behind it all, they might be laughing at her?
Gasp.
I’m not that kind of person.
Pastel reached out. Taking Ellie’s empty hand, she felt a tremor. Their gazes met.
The pink eyes gently closed.
“There’s no pretense!”
I may be a friend who finds expressing affection burdensome and sometimes thinks from my own perspective…
But my feelings, this relationship…
“Everything is real!”
I love money, cherish power, break the rules, and take joy in doing bad things, but…
My feelings, this relationship…
“Everything is real!”
Pastel smiled.
“The world is beautiful, and I must be more charming.”
My feelings, this relationship…
“Everything is real!”
You don’t need to doubt.
As much as you like me, I love everyone too.
As much as I love everyone, they will love you too.
For a moment, only the ticking of the wall clock was heard.
Before long, the real Ellie looked at me oddly. Her gaze fell onto the hand she was holding.
“No matter what you say, I don’t understand. Words are light, and promises are easily broken. The truth cannot be confirmed without experience.”
A smart statement.
Pastel pondered for a moment.
Her expression brightened, and she clapped her hands.
“Then let’s trust in the intelligence of you and me!”
“Intelligence…?”
“To sit on the calculative and shed light on our relationship! Whether this relationship loses sincerity due to pretense and trust due to gossip!”
She pointed at Ellie.
“After all, you are the administrative specialist and a princess!”
Ellie looked down at the cold milk.
Moments later, she fixed her messy side hair and sent a subtle glance.
“I see, so that’s how you make friends by calculating things. No wonder your major acquaintances seem too entangled in practical matters.”
Eh?
Pastel stumbled.
A slight silence lingered.
“That can’t be!”
Not at all!
The ever-popular Pastel does not calculate any gains or losses when making friends!
Though I have a ranking of friends and it gets updated, it does not change based on the total sincerity exchanged!
The reason Melissa is ranked first is absolutely not just because she is the heir of the southern feudal lord!
I went to visit Melissa’s house during vacation and saw her family’s finances and thought, “Wow! I want to become friends a million times more!” But that’s absolutely not it!
“My response is slow.”
Ellie looked at me incredulously.
“You say there’s no pretense, then you lie straight away.”
Gasp.
Silly silly Pastel froze in disbelief.
Ellie looked down at her milk cup. Then Ellie pushed the milk cup aside.
“I prefer green tea.”
Her voice sounded relaxed.
“I don’t understand why they drink black tea when there’s perfectly good green tea in the Empire. It’s not like we’re in an era where transportation would cause green tea to degrade into black. It’s foolish.”
After saying this, Ellie stood up.
“I’ll be stocking green tea in the Student Council room from now on, so please authorize it later. Pastel, you probably don’t care since you don’t know how to drink tea.”
“Uh? Huh?”
Pastel was perplexed.
“Green tea? Is it that different from black tea?”
Ellie shot her a momentary incredulous look. It felt like she had about 10% of the attitude she normally had when regarding Dustyn.
Gasp.
Only 10% of Dustyn’s level of incredulity.
Totally hopeless!
“I’ll be leaving now.”
Ellie turned her body towards the door.
Oh.
“Are you leaving?”
“I should get to bed. It’s already dawn. As you said, we’ll discuss future work after returning to school.”
Ellie left.
Pastel’s expression turned blank.
She glanced at Ellie’s untouched milk cup and her expression turned to one of sorrow.
Looking around, she saw the demon watching from a distance by the window.
“Demon! You should have given me green tea!”
The fact that I didn’t know Ellie’s taste after spending half a year together is all the demon’s fault!
The demon looked displeased.
“As a demon, I knew she would prefer green tea, but this guest room didn’t originally have any green tea. I couldn’t provide coffee at dawn, so I offered warm milk instead.”
“Then you should have pulled green tea out of thin air! Super ultra magic! Piyong! If you can’t do that, you’re unqualified as a servant! Disqualified as a great demon!”
“Just how much do you expect?”
Just stay as my protector for life!
Pastel boarded the carriage to go to the villa of the invited Count McKenna.
The property presentation was over, and although it was an invitation for collusion at the auction, it was a meeting unrelated to the auction in name, so the other friends did not come along.
“I realized immediately when I saw Count McKenna! This person is incredibly kind!”
“Oh? What made you think that?”
The demon crossed its legs, intrigued.
Pastel swung her legs in her seat.
“There was a signal! Signal! Signal! It came! People who are truly kind can feel each other’s aura! Count’s appearance is kindness itself, so at first glance, I thought, ‘Ah! He’s a person a million times kinder!’ Bam!”
“There are occasionally such people. In the temple, priests are taught to manage their outward appearances. The most important thing when persuading someone is to have a convincing appearance.”
“Exactly! Exactly!”
Pastel vigorously nodded. She grabbed the hem of her white skirt and shook it.
“That’s why I’m going not in formal attire but in my usual appearance! Pink pink, pink all over~!”
“Don’t lift your skirt.”
“Yes~.”
Her hair, slightly tied in two pigtails, swung left and right unnecessarily to the tune she hummed.
“However, that count does not look kind at all to me. Especially the gold accessories covering his entire body were the finishing touches that revealed his true nature. It’s best not to get too close to someone who likes that sort of thing. It’ll leave a bitter aftertaste someday.”
“Huh?”
That fashion sense is the key!
“The demon sometimes doesn’t understand Pastel’s kindness! If you hadn’t scolded me for singing out loud at night, I would have known!”
That’s right, right!
“The reason is very pitiful.”
Shiny golden treasures~.
So lovable that I want to bite them~.
Pastel leaned her upper body out the carriage window and looked around excitedly.
“We’re almost there! Wow! The villa is enormous!”
The count’s villa came into view below a gentle hill. The main gate and the fence stood alone like a border, and within, the garden stretched endlessly. It was a vast expanse that filled the horizon. A magnificent and huge villa building was faintly visible at the far end.
It would probably take dozens of minutes to get from the main gate to the main building.
No matter how far it is from the center, even if the land price is cheap, to have a villa of this scale!
“Wow! I can feel the Count’s kind heart!”
Just like me!
Pastel was overwhelmed.
There’s no way someone who makes money this well can be bad!
I must become totally close and spread his good influence!
Yes, yes!
