Volume 1 Chapter 31, Part 2 Mean Villainess, Gaining Clues to the Dream
"That's right. I'm friends with Elena, as well as the sons of other Counts and the daughters of Viscounts and Barons."
"H-how did that happen...?"
"Elena was the first friend I made. Being around Elena naturally led me to become friends with others. Besides, I don't really think deeply about my own status. It's the nobles who are concerned about status."
Now that he mentions it, that might be true.
By becoming friends with Rudger, who is a commoner, the surrounding nobles also started to get along with commoners, but there were certainly nobles who couldn't accept commoners.
"I see..."
"Me too. If it weren't for Elena, I don't think I would have become friends with other nobles. After all, if we commoners offend a noble, we could be erased."
While saying that, I often see Rudger calling me by my name and potentially offending Ms. Parsley and the others. I wonder if that's okay.
"I also don't know if I would have become friends with other commoners if it weren't for Rudger. After becoming friends with Rudger, it seems that others stopped being afraid of me, thinking that the Count's daughter can be friends with a commoner."
"Being feared, huh? I see. But if I can make even one commoner friend..."
"That could be a breakthrough, and there's a possibility of gradually becoming friends with everyone, Sven. And, there's a perfect commoner right here."
As Sven and I turned our gazes to Rudger, he looked momentarily confused before realizing, "Is it me?"
"Well, if I'm good enough..."
"Really!? I-I'm Sven. Um, nice to meet you."
"Ah, nice to meet you."
And so, Rudger and Sven became friends.
"Well, since I'm going to see the books in the library, becoming friends should be an easy task, right?"
When I said that, Rudger smiled broadly.
"What, Rudger also wanted to see the history of clothing?"
"I want to see books about history, not just clothing. Especially if it's about the royal family."
Rudger said without taking his eyes off the book laid out on the table.
"You like history?"
"I like history, and I'm researching various things in Spell-ology."
Listening to the conversation between Rudger and Sven, I turned the cover of the book.
This book also starts with the newest items and goes back in history as you read.
Perhaps all history books on fashion follow this pattern.
"As expected of royal attire. It's flashy."
"Yeah. Hey Elena, how about we take a look at the 6th generation's outfit for now?"
For now, or rather, it seems like he's just really curious about the 6th king's outfit.
But since I'm also curious, I'll set aside the dream for now and switch my focus to Spell-ology.
"The 6th king's outfit should be around here..."
Flipping through the pages, I arrived at a page featuring an outfit heavily armored with protective gear.
There was definitely more hard metal and leather than fabric.
"With armor covering his body and surrounded by Six Magic Knights, what was the 6th king trying to protect himself from...?"
It makes me wonder if he was being targeted from all sides, the 6th king.
"The mystery only deepens."
Rudger said this in a somewhat cheerful tone.
Then, as he casually flipped the page, there was a costume and hair accessory that looked somewhat familiar.
"Fifth generation... queen..."
This old-fashioned outfit and hair accessory.
And the platinum blonde royal standing right in front of me.
No, but still, however.
"...Hey Sven, that hair color of yours would really suit this hair accessory, don't you think?"
When I said that, Sven looked puzzled.
"I wouldn't wear a woman's hair accessory. But well, this hair color is common among royals, so the queen at that time might have had this color, and the accessory could have been made to match."
Could it be that the person I saw in my dream was the fifth queen?
No, but if that's the case, I still don't understand why that person was apologizing to me.
"Wait a moment."
As I was internally confused, Rudger stood up and went somewhere.
"Rudger is a good guy, right? Elena."
"Huh? Oh, yeah. But he was a little wary of you, Sven."
"W-why!?"
"Well, when you insulted my attendant and when you used knights to set a trap and abduct me, he was right there beside me."
"That was..."
Sven visibly shrank at that.
But it can't be helped since it's the truth.
"I was desperate."
"Desperate?"
"I wanted friends. But everyone around me just looked at me like I was a spectacle, with curiosity... so I took it out on Elena."
He was aware that he was taking it out on me.
"Why are you so fixated on having friends?"
"When I was young, friends only existed in stories for me. I was surrounded by adults, and for a long time, the only conversations I had were with my tutor."
What about your parents?
I thought, but then I remembered that his parents were the king and queen.
"I thought that once I entered the academy, I could finally have friends that existed only in those stories."
I see, so your expectations were incredibly high.
"So that's how it was. But friends aren't something you should hunt for with such desperation; you should take your time to make them."
"Desperation."
"As Rudger said, I think there's fear involved. I feel a bit scared thinking about what would happen if I made Sven angry. It's something that can't be helped because of our inherent statuses."
"Yeah, I can't just throw away my status..."
"But you know, if Sven looks like he's having fun, I think people will gradually start to approach him. Just like when you see someone peeking into a box with a smile, you can't help but wonder what fun things are inside, right?"
"Hmm. I can kind of understand that."
"So, why not try to look as cheerful as possible while you wait?"
When I suggested that, Sven nodded with a bright expression.
"If it's okay with you, how about we play a game together sometime? I sometimes play after school with my childhood friend and my attendant."
"Is that alright?"
"Yes, of course. There's a really fun game that I plan to buy later today."
Just as I was inviting him to the witch's mansion, Rudger returned.
It seemed he was holding a slightly larger book.
"Welcome back, Rudger. What about that book?"
"It's an art book. It has a portrait of the fifth queen in it."
"Wait, does it have portraits of all the queens?"
Rudger laughed while flipping through the pages, saying, "No, it definitely doesn't have all of them."
"I'm not very knowledgeable about art either, but the fifth queen is in here."
Rudger opened the relevant page and brought the book closer to me.
And there she was, the beautiful woman I had seen in my dream.
"Th-this..."
"The fifth queen was very beautiful, and she is also known as the tragic queen in stories."
I could faintly hear Sven's voice in the distance.
My heartbeat was louder than the voices around me.
"The tragic queen?"
"Yeah. The fifth queen died from a stray bullet during the war."
"That's the first I've heard of it! Is that story in this library too?"
"Hmm? I don't know. It was in the library at the royal castle. Should I borrow it for you?"
"Please!"
That day, I couldn't go buy the game.
I was looking forward to it, but my mind was elsewhere.
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