Chapter 43: Gratitude and Apology.

The scales tipped, toward whichever option delayed pain even a little.

Violet herself harbored no ill will toward Claudia.
She was aware that he probably did toward her, so she had decided it was wiser to avoid unnecessary contact, to prevent odd misunderstandings among others, and above all because everything about it felt like it would become a hassle.
That had been her judgment, and she had stuck to it.

But this time it was the opposite: she wanted to stretch her time at the academy even a little longer.

She nodded, and the two of them headed, naturally, not directly to Claudia’s workplace, but to the salon she had visited once before, the room just before the student council office.

This time Violet sat alone in the seat that had faced Claudia on that previous occasion.
He told her to wait and disappeared into the inner council room.

While she waited, a butler who seemed to be in charge of the salon prepared tea and small sweets.
She wasn’t here as a guest today, though. The steaming tea would be a shame to let grow cold, but for some reason she hesitated to touch it without Claudia’s permission.

Her worry proved needless.
Before she even had time to feel idle, Claudia returned carrying a stack of papers he could hug with one arm.

“Sorry to keep you waiting… Feel free to relax a little more.”

“Then… I’ll take you up on that.”

He must have seen her stiff posture and untouched tea set and assumed she was nervous.
It was true that her mind was braced for something rather ominous, but she wasn’t especially tense.

Still, she had unconsciously been sitting perfectly straight.
She didn’t visibly slump, but inwardly she felt herself loosen a fraction.
The cup she reached for was still pleasantly warm.

By the time Violet finished her first sip, Claudia had settled across from her, legs crossed.
He seemed far more relaxed than last time, probably because the purpose was different.

With a rustle, the stack of papers was spread across the table.
Visually it didn’t look like much, but the sound suggested a considerable number of sheets.

“Sorry for the sudden request. It’s peak season, and we’re short-staffed.”

“No, I’m happy to help if I can.”

Actually, she was the one who should be thanking him.
The biggest reason Claudia had suddenly asked an outsider like her for help was surely her own attitude earlier. Of course the staff shortage wasn’t a lie, but still.

“Just look through these, correct any typos, and… if any of the numbers seem completely outside common sense, let me know.”

“Understood.”

Taking the red-ink fountain pen, she began going through the pages one by one.

It seemed Claudia would work here too.
He scanned A-size sheets just like her, but unlike Violet he wrote copious notes in black ink or filled blank pages entirely. Even from the corner of her eye, she could tell he was busy.

Come to think of it, why were none of the other council members here?

“Um… are the others not around?”

“Mira’s out handling something else.”

“…And besides Mira-sama?”

“We haven’t decided yet who’ll replace the graduates.”

Now that she thought about it, almost all the student council members she knew had been third-years.
There hadn’t been a single person from her own year back then, and only Claudia and Mirania from the second-years.
With the new school year, the membership drop made sense.

“This time of year there should already be new recruits…”

Normally third-years selected candidates while still enrolled, and handovers began as early as before graduation.
Even if delayed, new members were supposed to be added right at the start of the new term.

It was the student council tradition to throw rookies straight into the deep end during the busiest season so they learned fast.

Yet they were still running everything with just the two of them…
Even Violet could see that was unreasonable.

“This year the selection standards are strict.”

“I… can understand that, but…”

When a prince was president, more attention and workload came with the position, and expectations rose.

“First and foremost, we need people who will actually do the work instead of fawning over me.”

“Isn’t that… the basic requirement?”

Doing the work wasn’t a condition; it was default equipment, wasn’t it?
Anyone aiming for student council should already possess that fundamental skill.

She almost rolled her eyes, but then remembered her own past behavior and felt a reluctant understanding, followed immediately by an inexplicable pang of guilt.

If the old Violet had somehow joined the council, she would have spent all her time trying to get Claudia’s attention, treating the actual work as an afterthought, or worse, becoming nothing but a hindrance.

There had probably been a flood of people like that.
And the serious ones had shrunk away, hiding where the fanatics couldn’t find them.

(I’m… sorry, somehow.)

She hadn’t done anything now, but as a former member of that same breed, she apologized in her heart.
It wasn’t atonement, yet she resolved to give the task before her everything she had.

Even if it was just checking documents, work was work.

Violet gripped the fountain pen tighter and reached for the next sheet.