The entrance ceremony was held several days later, and there Louise experienced her first failure as student council president. Following the example of her predecessors, she made several changes to the dean’s speech, but the dean read the ma.n.u.script he prepared for himself.
‘Dear freshmen! Lastly, remember this one thing’ was repeated seven times.
‘I hope to cooperate with the parents who have entrusted their children with us’ was repeated four times.
“At least ‘Dear guests’ only appeared three times.”
“The dean has to understand that one is enough.”
“That’s true. Here’s the menu from the caretaker.”
Dean handed over an important-looking red file. Recently, the caretaker had been less interested in experimental cooking. They praised her for her wonderful dishes, and a battle was likely to be averted this year. However, the report in front of Louise’s eyes shattered her dreams of a peaceful diet.
‘Roasted eggplant with chocolate.’
“Dean! We have to go to the caretaker right now!”
The students already had to endure the dean’s long-winded speech, and the students may turn riotous if they were forced to eat that ridiculous menu. If public sentiment was bad, learning efficiency would drop, as well the Academy’s reputation. A disaster was waiting to happen if Louise failed to stop the roasted eggplant with chocolate.
Perhaps this year’s student council will also be a group that fought against an unjust diet.
*
*
*
“Um…h.e.l.lo?”
Louise greeted the boy tentatively, looking at his hair that was as blue as a beautiful lagoon.
“My name is Louise Sweeney. I’m the student council president…ah, do you know what a student council president is?”
The reason Louise asked was because this young man was an international student from a distant kingdom. He had the opportunity to take the Academy entrance exam in his own native language, and he surprisingly took the top spot.
The boy thought for a moment and then nodded.
“I know.”
He had a subtle accent, but Louise was relieved that they could communicate.
“I came here to tell you about the Academy’s traditions.”
“Tradi—?”
“Traditions.”
“Trady-shuns…”
“Good enough. It refers to behavior that is handed down from generation to generation.”
“Ah, like customs!”
He clapped his hands and chuckled. It was cute to see him act so happily when learning a new word.
“It’s custom for the top student to work for the student council.”
Louise left out ‘relics of an old age’ because he wouldn’t understand.
“It’s like a relic of an old age, correct?”
Alright, how did he know those words without knowing what “tradition” was? In any case, Louise was more interested in his curious accent. This boy’s voice was pleasant on the ears.
“Yes, just like a relic.”
Louise gave a giggle.
“I’m sorry. I was just so amazed by how you spoke.”
“Is it adequate?”
He scratched his blue hair nervously.
“Yes. You know the word order, and the word choice is good. Your accent is fine too. But.”
“But?”
“You sound a little old-fas.h.i.+oned.”
“Huh?”
“I mean, the words sound old.”
“Ah, old!”
The boy smiled at the word he had just learned.
“Well, how is this?”
He took on a more casual tone.
“I like that, but it’s more natural to say, ‘How’s this?’”
“How’s this?”
The boy carefully imitated Louise.
“Now you sound friendlier.”
“It’s hard.”
“You’re doing great!”
Louise turned the topic back to the student council.
“Joining the student council is not mandatory, so if you don’t want to… ”
When she thought of it, learning to speak and write a new language was already difficult by itself, so having him work for the student council would probably be overwhelming for him.
“Basically, we help students, but you can also get help yourself.”
“I need a lot of help.”
“Well…I guess so too.”
“So I will obey the custom. No?”
“You can obey it. No, I mean follow the customs.”
He practiced the phrase several times, then he immediately looked squarely at Louise and answered her with a serious expression.
“I’ll follow you, President.”
Louise s.h.i.+vered. A strange phrase was spoken.
*
*
*
“President! Ah… You’re not the president anymore, but I already wrote it down so I’ll call you that. Anyway, how have you been? There are so many interesting people at the student council. This year’s top student is from another country. They’re very pretty when they learn the words so enthusiastically. They follow me around a lot, and I’m excited to have a younger sibling.”
“Teaching is the best way to learn. You have a habit of changing the word order when you’re fl.u.s.tered, so be sure not to confuse him. Teach him well.”
“We started preparing for the new semester banquet! This year will be even better than the last.”
“If by any chance Claire writes down slander about me and sends it to you, it’s all false.”
“Claire doesn’t say false things. Instead, give her at least a small vacation as she says she’s tired.”
“If Claire goes on vacation I’ll be dust. Anyway, how was the new semester banquet? I regret that we couldn’t go together last year.”
“We danced together though! This year’s banquet was a success. I danced a lot. This year’s top student dances as skillfully as you, so I was able to stay comfortable.”
Ian read Louise’s letter again, his eyes narrowed. She was comfortable with the top student?
“Claire.”
He called his young aide to his side immediately.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Claire answered, adjusting her new gla.s.ses. Her long hair was pulled into a bun so it wouldn’t interfere with work.
“Did you hear about this year’s top student?”
“You mean Louise’s new friend? I’ve heard rumors.”
Claire smiled as she remembered the neat handwriting of Louise’s letters.
“The top student.”
“Yes.”
“What kind of person are they?”
There was a strain to Ian’s words, and Claire peered at him carefully. His lips were trembling, as if he were trying to suppress his unease. Claire instinctively understood the situation. Ian was thinking that this new friend might be the kind women liked.
However, Claire answered in an expressionless tone.
“Very bright. Has a great personality.”
“And what else do you know? Do you happen to know the gender—ah no, their grades?”
“They are the top of the cla.s.s.”
“Just because they’re at the top of the cla.s.s, doesn’t mean anything! Ah, no, I mean…”
“I heard that they’re popular because of their blue hair and beautiful features. A bit clumsy, but that’s also an important factor in popularity. I heard that the caretaker was completely smitten.”
“What? That strict woman?!”
“Yes, he’s said to be the most popular boy at the Academy these days.”
“…Boy?”
Ian looked as if he had swallowed a bite of chocolate roasted eggplant.
“Yes, a handsome schoolboy.”
Claire didn’t mean to tease Ian, but she gave particular emphasis to her reply.
“He always sticks to Louise’s side and learns to speak from her.”
“N-no way…!”
Ian’s imagined a handsome male student clinging to Louise’s side.
Ian couldn’t do anything on the matter except count out the days before Louise graduated. There were too many left.