Chapter 26: Smile of Happiness.

“Thank you very much for today.”

As they stepped out of the salon, it felt as though time itself had suddenly remembered how to move.
The session hadn’t been the kind that made one lose track of hours, yet every minute, every second had dragged with unusual weight.

“No, I’m the one who took up your time.”

“Even so… the black tea was delicious.”

“…I’m glad you liked it.”

Small talk, safe and inconsequential.
Whatever had happened inside that room was now filed away in both their hearts under the title To Be Forgotten.

Logically, all that remained was for each to go home.
Different grades, same single gate—there was no reason to abandon the other halfway.
They didn’t need to walk side by side, but changing pace wouldn’t change the destination, and trailing behind felt somehow creepy.

They weren’t close enough for cheerful chatter either, so the air between them could hardly be called clear.

The sprawling campus made even the simple walk home feel long.
Silence didn’t reign the entire way, but words were few and far between.

The earlier misunderstanding had been cleared up, yet it wasn’t enough to dramatically reshape Claudia’s impression of Violet.
All the prior behavior certainly hadn’t been erased.

Shoulders finally relaxed—on both sides—only when the gate came into view after that awkward stretch.

Claudia was about to offer parting words, turning to face her and lightly pinching the hem of her skirt in a curtsey—
when a voice called Violet’s name first.

“Vio-cha…!”

The delighted tone crashed to the ground in an instant.
A joyful smile froze in place, then darkened. Quite the skillful performance.
And it was only because Violet was there; had it been Claudia alone, he wouldn’t have bothered keeping up appearances.

“Yulan, why are you here?”

“Gear… a friend told me Vio-chan was looking for me. I saw the Varhan family car, so I thought if I waited here I’d catch you.”

“Ah, him… Even if you heard, it didn’t have to be today, you know?”

“Yeah, I just wanted to wait on my own.”

No matter the details, what mattered to Yulan was the fact Violet had come looking for him—and the reality that he had almost missed the chance to meet her.

Gear’s message had reached Yulan far earlier than Violet imagined.
To think he’d failed to greet the girl who had visited his classroom for the first time—all because of a tiny lag in timing. He nearly felt an irrational anger toward the friend who had summoned him.

Fortunately Violet hadn’t left the academy yet, and his ambush had succeeded…
except for one glaring irregularity he couldn’t overlook.

“So… why is Prince Claudia here?”

“I—”

The sweetness Yulan showed Violet vanished the moment his gaze shifted even slightly.
The change was almost refreshing in its completeness, yet he knew exactly where the line was so that no one could openly call it insolent. Experience, nothing more—and that thought wasn’t exactly pleasant.

Violet didn’t know what the two boys had discussed earlier today, and Claudia had no intention of telling her.
By the same token, he couldn’t reveal what he and Violet had just talked about.

Faced with the razor-sharp stare, Claudia couldn’t come up with a smooth excuse.
He didn’t flinch or panic and spill everything like a coward, but still.

It wasn’t simple anger… the closest word was probably hatred.
He didn’t like the fact that Claudia and Violet had been together.

The one who threw him a lifeline—perhaps pouring oil on the fire—was Violet herself.

“We happened to run into each other, and he treated me to tea. That’s all.”

“…Heh, I see.”

Happen to run into each other.
Yulan wasn’t stupid enough to swallow that whole.
If Claudia had been alone and offered the same excuse, Yulan would have poked holes in every opening.

But the one giving that flimsy excuse was Violet, and her words—whatever they were—left Yulan no choice but to accept them.

“It’s an unusual pairing, so I was surprised… but I’m glad, Vio-chan.”

“Yes. Thank you again, Claudia-sama.”

“I was the one who invited you—don’t mention it.”

Tension and calm coexisted in the air, yet the boundary was so stark it felt like two different dimensions pressed side by side.
Claudia’s presence tilted the balance heavily toward the prickly side.
He wouldn’t make the mistake of showing it, but the frustration had to go somewhere.

“But in that case… maybe I shouldn’t invite you today…”

“Eh?”

“I was thinking we could stop somewhere on the way home, but… let’s do it another time.”

When he’d heard the apology message, he’d seen an opportunity.
He was confident she wouldn’t turn down a casual invitation, but having a clear reason made her more likely to agree.

If they’d met up just a little earlier, he would have gone through with it immediately.
Now, though, there simply wasn’t enough time left.

His face still wore a smile, but the faint note of regret in his voice wasn’t Violet’s imagination.

“In that case… if you’re free tomorrow, how about after school tomorrow?”

“I’m completely free. I don’t have anything more important than Vio-chan.”

“What are you saying…”

The gap between his puffed-up chest and utterly serious expression was too much; Violet couldn’t hold back a smile.
It wasn’t a full smile of joy—just the corners of her mouth lifting slightly, her eyes narrowing—but still.

To Yulan it was unmistakably a smile…
and to Claudia, an utterly unforeseen expression.

Not coquettish flattery, not the assertive glamour of a dazzling noble lady—just a single drop spilled from tilted emotions.
Even the way her pale, slender fingers pressed to her lips was beautiful; a glimpse of gentle softness peeked through.

To Claudia, who had only ever known the ostentatious young lady who poured money and power into her appearance without restraint, it was a bolt from the blue.

He had never realized Violet could smile like this.
He had never even tried to know.

Was this her true nature…
or was it only because the person standing in front of her was Yulan?

“Then I’ll come pick you up after school!”

“It’s fine, we can just meet at the gate…”

“I want to go to your classroom… is that not okay?”

“…It can’t be helped, then. Do as you like.”

“Yay, thank you!”

An older sister indulging her little brother, and a love that transcended all categories—two parallel lines that never intersected.

The pair simply smiling at each other felt endlessly gentle, with nothing to snag on Claudia’s memory.

“Well then, shall we go… Excuse me, Claudia-sama.”

“Ah… y-yeah. Take care.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Cloud-gray eyes wrapped in doll-like hardness looked at Claudia.
There was nothing funny about it; it was a perfect recreation of the Violet he knew from memory, so there should have been no reason to feel uneasy.

And yet—
just earlier, those same eyes had looked like smooth, round silver.

“…………”

“You’re staring too much.”

“—!”

Only after Yulan’s voice reached his ears did Claudia realize her back—posture perfect down to the last wrinkle in her uniform—was already moving away, skirt fluttering.

He knew Yulan was right beside him, yet the voice made his shoulders jump.
The sweat trickling down his spine felt unpleasantly cold—not quite fear, but something very close to the panic of being cornered.
There was no reason to feel cornered.

The whisper, soft enough for only Claudia to hear, came from the same person who had been laughing happily moments ago—yet it didn’t sound like the same person at all.
Loathing, disgust, hatred. Every negative shade colored that clear voice; the moment it reached his ears, poison spread.
It wasn’t as direct as anger, yet far too vicious to be dismissed as mere displeasure.

Yulan stood shielding Violet from view, gazing down from his full height with emotionless eyes.
Claudia had nothing to feel guilty about—yet his heart felt squeezed in an iron grip.
Perhaps because the feelings he himself harbored toward Yulan were far from beautiful.

He somehow rallied his once-broken spirit and braced for the second blow.
He expected at least some cutting remark, even if not outright abuse.

But his expectation was betrayed; the silent observation ended.

“…I’ll be excusing myself as well, then.”

Neither gentle nor barbed—just a flat, emotionless voice delivering the most ordinary farewell.
He tilted his head slightly; even the sway of his hair looked artificial.

Beautiful, yes—
but the beauty of an inorganic object that held no trace of human warmth.
Behind the only place emotion had surfaced—his earlier smile—deeper still,
those dull-golden eyes glinted with mockery.

Every ray of light reflected in them carried intent.

Serve you right.

“—”

The first time he had ever been on the receiving end of such a gaze.
Whether it even qualified as emotion was doubtful—it had shape far too defined for mere feeling.
They were separated by a distance hands couldn’t reach, yet it tightened around his heart with vicious precision.

Judging that no reply was needed for a formulaic greeting, Yulan turned and walked away, leaving Claudia’s shaken thoughts behind.
Claudia had nothing—no material, no words—to stop him.

He didn’t even understand the meaning of that gaze.

×　×　×　×

Once he turned his back on Claudia, Yulan became aware of the smile on his lips—and the sediment pooling in his stomach.
A nauseating discomfort he wanted to spit out, mixed with a hard-to-swallow sense of superiority.

He understood Claudia’s feelings toward him and toward Violet as clearly as if they were written on his palm.

His precious, precious, beautiful Violet.
Claudia had just witnessed how sacred her smile was… but.

“Too late now.”

That smile belonged to him alone.
The privilege of seeing it unfiltered was the fruit of the long years Yulan had spent building it.

Let him cry over his own stupidity for clouding her with preconceptions and prejudice.

“Vio-chan, wait!”

“It’s only a short walk to the car.”

“Even so… shall we go together?”

Please.
Pouring that wish into his expression, he leaned in and tilted his head.
After a brief pause, she gave a troubled smile and said, “It can’t be helped.”

The outer corners of her eyes drooped; behind narrowed lids lay eyes a duller gray than her hair.
She claimed not to like them, but to Yulan they sparkled far more brilliantly than any precious gem.
The fact that his reflection existed in that gray was pure happiness.

“Fufu.”

“…? What’s so funny all of a sudden?”

“It’s a secret.”

“You’re a strange one.”

He would never yield her.
He would never hand her over.
He would never again be a step behind.

That smile—
he would absolutely, positively never let that man have it.