Chapter 59: Protection and interference, if they go too far.

“Claudia-sama, what should I do with this part?”

“Ah, that one—”

The two in front of her were talking so comfortably together, and with both of them so beautiful, the scene looked perfectly natural.
A prince and a princess standing side by side—like something straight out of a fairy tale.

To Violet, it was already a familiar sight.

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It had begun the previous morning.

The usual family breakfast where only one person was left out.
A meal she normally got through by focusing every sense on enjoying the food; this time, something was different.

“By the way, Onee-sama, is it true you’ve been having study sessions after school?”

“…! Y-Yes, well…”

The risotto she had been about to swallow suddenly irritated her throat.
It was soft enough to swallow without chewing, yet being addressed by Mary-June still rattled her that much.

More than anything, the content of the question was the problem.

“I’ve been studying in the library ever since I learned about the tests, but I never ran into you, so I was wondering how you were managing. Then the other day I heard a rumor that you were studying with Yulan-kun and Claudia-sama and the others…”

“…I see…”

Her body temperature plummeted; the sense of taste that had been working so keenly vanished in an instant.
In exchange, her hearing grew painfully sharp; every single word from Mary-June reached her ears with perfect clarity.
She had wanted countless times to cover her ears, but she had never managed to do it.

That they were the subject of gossip was no great surprise.

Claudia had always drawn the attention of the entire academy.
Violet herself stood out.
And the fact that Violet had once adored Claudia was fairly well-known.

Just the two of them together would turn heads.
Add Yulan—who would normally never be seen with Claudia—and human curiosity went into overdrive.

So no, it wasn’t surprising.

It wasn’t surprising, but…
She had desperately not wanted it brought up here and now.

“Studying with friends is so much fun! You can teach each other the parts you don’t understand, and chat during breaks!”

There was no hidden meaning in those words.
She had simply heard the rumor, thought it sounded enjoyable, and said so.
That was all.

Mary-June, raised in a sheltered garden, possessed a purity that spoke whatever she wanted without expecting others to read between the lines.
So the fact that she hadn’t said she wanted to join meant exactly that; she didn’t.

What she didn’t know was the existence of people who would try to give her far more protection and help than she desired.

“Mary-June, you should join them starting today.”

“…Eh?”

“It will be much more productive than studying alone at home. Claudia-sama is excellent; he’ll be a great help.”

…Honestly, it was exactly the development Violet had expected.
From the moment Mary-June spoke, she could predict without thinking what their overprotective, blindly doting father would do.

His gaze on the bewildered, tilting-head Mary-June was soft, brimming with nothing but love.
If you took only that moment, he could almost pass for a good father who cherished his daughter.

If only every one of his pronouncements wasn’t made without a single person’s consent.

“Wait just a moment. Even if she were to join the study session, we would have to confirm with Claudia-sama and the others first—”

“Mary-June is taking her very first tests. As her older sister, isn’t it your duty to help her?”

The loving eyes that had been on Mary-June turned to contempt and stabbed into Violet.

He could not bear the thought of Violet receiving any benefit alone; his world was refreshingly narrow.
He could be objective at work, yet the moment it involved family—his wife and Mary-June—he believed without question that they were the center of the universe.

For Mary-June’s happiness, it was only natural that Violet be sacrificed; he didn’t even try to hide that mindset.

“Didn’t I tell you before to abandon the idea that as long as it’s good for you, that’s enough?”

“…Yes, you did.”

Had he? She wasn’t sure.
She had a feeling he had told her to offer everything for Mary-June’s sake.

Her clenched fists burned.
Her bones creaked.
She felt something snap inside, but she paid it no mind.

The food she had just eaten threatened to come back up.
Nausea from disgust told her she couldn’t eat another bite.
She felt bad leaving food the servants had prepared especially for her, but she had no room to worry about that now.

“…Very well. I will ask Claudia-sama and the others.”

Refusing would change nothing; the man would never recognize his own irrationality.
He was skilled at painting Violet as the villain, yet blind to how selfish his own actions were.

So she nodded.
She would not refuse.

The man who had looked down his nose at her as if laughing seemed satisfied.
The simple fact that it benefited Mary-June was enough for him to consider himself righteous.

What a wonderfully simple mind.

“But it’s impossible today.”

“…What?”

The gaze that had turned away came back to her.
The contempt had thinned; irritation now colored it thickly.
Violet met it with cold eyes.

“This isn’t something I can decide on my own.
I have to properly discuss it with everyone in the study group and get their agreement…
It wouldn’t do for only me to think it’s fine, after all.”

Canceling last-minute was rude, but so was adding people without warning.
How could anyone claim subtraction was bad but addition was always good?
“Bigger covers smaller” might be true in some cases, but size and increase were different things.

Above all, it was called a study group; it didn’t belong to Violet alone.
Skipping the shared discussion and consultation required for a gathering was the height of impropriety.

It was not something Violet could decide by herself;
she would return his own sophistry right back at him.

“You—”

“Excuse me, I’m feeling unwell, so I’ll have to leave first.”

She felt his irritation swell into anger and stood before it could explode.
She gave not a greeting but a notice of departure and turned away.

She had no interest in whatever he had been about to say next.

Because no matter what counterargument he offered, she could never understand it anyway.