Chapter 62 – Sieglinde’s sudden joy

“Ah…”

I’m thrown for a loop by this sudden trial, but quickly move my eyes to register the features of the woman in front of me.

She has long, straight blonde hair. Her face is small, but her blue eyes are big. Her skin is beautiful, and she clearly looks after her overall appearance. She’s human. Judging by her luxurious bejeweled hair ornament and classy blue dress, there’s no doubt she’s rich. The way she speaks makes me believe we were classmates, or maybe we were in the same year.

The conclusion I reach based on this information is…

…………

……

“Weiss?”

“Medici. I haven’t seen you since last month’s party.”

I obviously can’t remember her, so Sieglinde interjects from the side. The smile on the woman called Medici disappears instantly, and she looks at Sieglinde with her eyes squinted and cold like a blade.

“…Assistant chief Sieglinde. As your classmate, I am proud of your ever so increasing activities.”

“All I do is take care of the business brought to me every day. It’s not a big deal.”

Sieglinde takes that icy voice and sharp eyes head on, and then turns to me.

“Don’t you remember her, Weiss? Medici Florencia… She was popular in class. I seem to remember you two getting along too.”

Medici Florencia.

Memories from my school days start flowing through my brain, as if being pulled to the surface by that name. Yes, I can faintly picture that classroom, and her with her hair a bit shorter as a central figure in it.

I don’t really remember interacting with her, but there’s no way someone who studied with me for years is going to completely disappear from my memory.

“It’s been a while. You’re as beautiful as ever.”

The lingering scent from my school days makes me speak more casually to her. She then takes her eyes off Sieglinde, and turns to me with a smile as bright as a flower.

“And I feel relieved to see you’re still as cool as you were. Although I would like to hear more about what is going on with you, considering we haven’t seen each other in ten years.”

She’s sitting with her upper body turned this way, and she uncrosses and crosses her long legs as she turns to Sieglinde and Ririi. She looks at Sieglinde with the same cold eyes as before, and Ririi with dark, prodding eyes.

“Are you two… Married? And… An elf… I’m pretty sure you weren’t in the capital, but what happened?”

Medici rapid fires, and I can’t respond immediately.

She went to school with us, so she knows Sieglinde isn’t the kind of girl that’s crazy about love. I’m sure that plays a part in her being surprised about seeing Sieglinde here.

In reality, Sieglinde just wants to be Ririi’s mother because she’s a rare high elf, but there’s no way we can say that. As far as people in the capital are concerned, Ririi is just an elf that was born with an unusual appearance.

That leaves us with…”

“…I’ve actually been in love with Sieglinde since back when we were in school.”

“Wha…!?”

For some reason, Sieglinde is the one to be shocked by that. She opens her eyes widely, and they start twitching.

…What’s with the weird face? This isn’t going to work if you don’t play along.

“I just got back to the capital recently, but I couldn’t wait to see her again. And so, I went to talk to her, and here we are.”

I point to Ririi and Sieglinde, and Medici has her mouth open like she can’t believe what she’s hearing. She looks back and forth between me and Sieglinde, and whispers.

“You’re kidding…?”

I know how you feel. It really must be unbelievable for someone who knew us back then.

But she has to buy it. If people start getting suspicious, that might lead to Ririi’s secret being discovered.

“It’s true, right Sieglinde?”

“Uu…”

I put pressure on Sieglinde with my eyes, to try to convince Medici.

I wink at her to go along with it, and she nods with her face completely red.

“Y-yes…! Weiss l-l-l-l-l… Me…”

“…What You?”

Medici’s eyes of suspicion pierce through Sieglinde. Medici knows her, so just hearing her talk about love at all is already unbelievable.

“Weiss… L-likes me…!”