#095. My Cheek Burned
“How are you going to do it?”
Alice asked with wide eyes. From the beginning, there hadn’t been much room to bully her, so wasn’t it that Medret was now on the verge of losing it?
Once she went into her room, they couldn’t drag her out by force. Outside, no matter how they tried to bother her, she simply didn’t pay attention.
Medret bit her thin lips, shifted her gaze slightly, and replied.
“She’s just a pampered child who’s been raised within the palace walls. If she gets slapped even once, she’ll break down in no time and burst into tears.”
Alice and Chesia both widened their eyes in shock at the unexpected remark.
“What? But that’s a bit…”
Given they were at the academy, and since all three of them were noble ladies raised with refinement, they had never once resorted to violence before.
For delicate students of academy age, there was no need to go so far. Simply isolating them was usually enough to make them crumble.
“I’m not trying to leave marks! Just lure her into the back garden, give her a slap or two, and she’ll be sobbing in no time. I’m only saying we should give her a little scare.”
Even Medret—who had been the subject of various rumors—didn’t intend to lynch Blanche, who was treated as a semi-royal. A child who had never once been struck before would collapse easily from the simple fact of having been hit.
“But if His Grace the Grand Duke hears about it…”
“That’s why we have to make sure she doesn’t even dare breathe a word of it!”
When Medret was stubborn like this, no one could stop her. She had lived a life where, whenever she threw a tantrum, she always got what she wanted.
Well, there were rumors Blanche Princess had quarreled with the Grand Duke after the hunting festival… And since this was far from the imperial family’s reach, maybe—if they made sure it never reached the court—things would be fine.
Alice and Chesia exchanged glances, wordlessly agreeing to Medret’s proposal.
“All right then.”
“If you want it, Medret, we’ll go along.”
Medret might have been petty and childish, but she wasn’t stupid. Surely she’d be careful enough not to get caught.
Which meant—they had decided to stop thinking about it.
A week had passed since the incident in the dining hall. In the end, it seemed that girl had decided their usual tactic of indirect pressure wasn’t working, so she had chosen to attack me head-on.
“Lady Blanche, Senior Heormitch asked you to come to the back garden after class today.”
The messenger was a girl who attended the same class as me, though I had never spoken with her before.
And this was her first conversation with me? I really was unlucky, meeting such people. It had already started things off wrong.
“Is that so? Thank you for letting me know.”
I kept my tone flat, not giving anything away.
“Um…”
While I was taking out the materials for the next lesson, the girl didn’t return to her seat. Instead, she spoke again, hesitating.
When I raised my head silently to look at her, she stammered on.
“You should just tell Senior Heormitch you’re sorry. If you bow down first, she’ll usually lose interest pretty quickly…”
I nearly clicked my tongue. Now I understood how this little factional game thrived in the academy. Everyone thought it was easier to just bow and yield, so they went along with it. That only made the bullies bolder, letting them torment the next unlucky one.
“Thank you for the advice.”
Perhaps she caught the nuance—that I meant only to accept it, not follow it—because she tried to add something more. But before she could, I cut her off.
“Lady Varandis.”
Her eyes widened in surprise; clearly she hadn’t expected me to know her family name. The entire first-year cohort shared the same fixed timetable. Did she really think I couldn’t memorize a few dozen names?
“Your advice is appreciated. But any further would be excessive interference.”
Even if her words came from goodwill, they weren’t words I needed to accept—especially since they weren’t about helping me, but about making me kneel.
“S-sorry…”
Lady Varandis quickly shrank back, lowering her gaze. For someone so timid, she had certainly been bold enough to offer advice.
Since we’d be sharing classrooms for a year, I decided not to crush her completely. Softening my tone, I added gently:
“I’ll take your words to heart. But class will start soon, so you’d better return to your seat and open your book.”
“Y-yes.”
Relief spread across her face, realizing I wasn’t angry.
As soon as she scrambled back to her seat and opened her book, the professor entered, and I was able to forget about the summons for the duration of the lecture.
It wasn’t worth holding in my head anyway.
To be honest, I had already calculated this move. People who wanted to bully me were predictable.
First, they didn’t want to dirty their own hands. So they used others to trouble me. But if I ignored it all without reaction, they grew restless.
They hated it most when I gave them nothing—no anger, no fear, no reaction. That drove them crazy.
So eventually, they had to step forward themselves. By then, they were impatient, careless, and bound to leave evidence. That was when I could strike back.
Which was why, once classes ended, I strolled leisurely toward the back garden. It seemed this was the favored place for seniors to torment juniors. I would make sure never to come here again.
“How polite—you came early to wait.”
If I’d had to wait, I might have been annoyed enough to leave a note and walk away. So this was convenient.
“I wasn’t waiting for you!”
“Oh? Then you were just passing by? Then go on, keep walking. I’ll stay here and enjoy a book.”
Really, if you summon someone, isn’t it natural to wait for them? What’s so embarrassing about admitting it? The girl standing in the middle—Heormitch’s daughter—was already flushed bright red.
“You, you—!”
See? The only reason such a simple-minded girl could keep strutting around was because others had spoiled her.
“Medret, hold yourself back.”
The girl on her left caught her arm. Honestly, if that was the plan, wouldn’t it have been better for just the two flanking girls to come pass along the message?
“Well then. If you’re going to summon a busy person, I expect there’s a reason?”
The situation was obvious enough. So I loosened my grip, letting my bag hang lightly from my wrist—ready to drop at any time.
“Let’s see how long you can keep that calm face.”
As she stepped closer, I dropped my bag and took my stance. Her hand rose—and my cheek burned. I let myself collapse without resistance.
“H-how about that! Feeling obedient now?”
Instead of answering, I lifted my skirt slightly to check my knees. Perfect. My deliberate fall onto the rough path had torn my stockings and scraped my skin red.
If you’re going to hit someone, you should at least choose grass. I had made sure to stand on stone. How careless of her to raise her hand without thinking.
When I displayed my bleeding knee right in front of them, their composure faltered, unease rippling through their group.
“Medret, that’s too much! You said you wouldn’t leave any marks!”
“I-I didn’t hit her that hard…!”
She was right. Medret had controlled her strength.
But here’s the thing.
I’d trained with the sword.
Learning martial arts meant I could easily deflect or absorb an opponent’s strike. If someone intended to cause ten points of harm, I could reduce it to one.
And in reverse? If they only meant to cause one point of harm, I could amplify it tenfold. Which is why using violence against a trained fighter is foolish—you never get the result you want.
Before their eyes could move away from me, I played my final card.
Spit.
Blood-tinged saliva splattered on the grass, red staining the green vividly. All I had done was bite the inside of my cheek when her hand came down. Drawing blood inside the mouth was almost too easy.
The flash of fear across their faces told me they hadn’t considered that. Slowly, I stood up.
“It was your side that picked the fight in the dining hall, wasn’t it?”
“I-I… that is—”
“And your side that raised the hand first.”
“T-that’s ridiculous, you’re faking it! Just from a single slap—”
The evidence was already written on my body. There was no reason to let her keep babbling. I shifted my stance and lightly struck Heormitch’s collarbone with my right hand. Had I used my left, the injury would’ve been far more serious.
“Kyaa!”
She stumbled, losing balance, and the other two rushed to catch her.
Had they left her, she would’ve crashed to the ground and made things even worse—enough that they could blame me. But no. Still too naïve.
I cracked my neck lightly.
“Consider this a lesson on how heavy the first strike is in a battle of legitimacy.”
And, while I was at it, I’d make sure they never dared to drag me into their childish faction games again. Closing the distance they had retreated, I stepped forward once more.
