[Complete] Ch 14.2 The World of Otome Game is a Second Chance for Broken Swords (Patreon)

The World of Otome Game

 is a Second Chance for Broken Swords

Story Starts

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Chapter 14.2 -

The School Trip

Angelica borrowed a yukata upon arriving at the island and meandered through the town in the fading light of evening. The festival stalls lined the streets and red lanterns dangled everywhere, lending the town a warm, lively atmosphere.

"How beautiful…"

A drum and flute played in the distance, their melody joined by the voices of people enjoying the festivities. She'd never really had the chance to participate in her territory's festivals—there was always some obligation, some duty, some reason to remain at the estate whilst commoners celebrated below.

She hadn't spoken with Leon or Olivia since the morning incident.

Angelica couldn't help but blush at the memory.

She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the thought of how lar—

Slap.

Angelica slammed both palms against her cheeks as the mental image faded.

'Stop it. Stop thinking about it.'

She caught sight of Leon with some of the boys from his year and the upper years, clustered around a stall selling grilled squid. Daniel said something, and the group laughed. Leon's mouth curved into that slight, almost reluctant smile she'd grown familiar with.

She wanted to spend time with the two of them, but she couldn't bring herself to approach.

'Am I being too harsh?'

She already knew Leon and Olivia had developed their relationship. So it was understandable they were—

Her mind wandered again. How did that thing even fit—would it fit?

'Argh!!'

The lewd thoughts washed away, replaced by melancholy.

The gap between her and the other two seemed to have only widened.

Aromas drifted through the air, salty and sweet. A variety of games awaited as well, and Angelica paused to watch people scoop goldfish from a tub of water with paper nets. Children shrieked with delight when they caught one, and parents smiled indulgently. Fireworks burst overhead, and Angelica flinched as they coloured the night sky in brilliant reds and golds. She could call the scene nothing but beautiful, but she couldn't truly enjoy herself.

She remembered that night after the school festival. Just her and Leon, watching the fireworks from her dormitory.

Angelica could only sigh.

Despite her misgivings, she tried searching the crowds for Leon again, or Olivia, but couldn't find either. The festival had swallowed them up in its cheerful chaos.

'Is it really fine for me to interrupt those two in this setting?'

Whenever it was just the three of them, she'd been so happy. Now she felt pathetic. Embarrassed.

'Why do I make things harder for myself?'

Even Angelica didn't know the answer. Lately, nothing she did seemed to sit right. She wandered aimlessly, farther and farther from the festival's heart, until the lantern lights grew sparse and the cheerful noise faded to a distant murmur.

'Oh no… I'd better go back.'

But just as she thought that, she overheard the sound of people arguing.

"N-no! I won't give them to you! I don't care that you're a vassal knight for a noble! Please, stop!"

Unthinking, Angelica raced towards the sound. It had to be one of the students harassing a local. She burst into the narrow alley, even though she didn't yet know what she intended to do. "Uh, um…!"

"You there! What are you doing?!"

Angelica wasn't the only one who'd rushed towards the altercation. Leon charged into the alley from the opposite end, his yukata in slight disarray, one sleeve slipping off his shoulder. The two of them glanced at one another in surprise, and then, awkwardly, they turned to the source of the argument.

"Livia?" Angelica gasped.

"Really?" Leon deadpanned. "What in the world are you doing?"

Olivia was the one threatening the poor local. She glanced uneasily between them, her hands raised in what might have been either supplication or preparation for violence. "Uh, this isn't what—"

The local—a man wearing a festival mask pushed up onto his forehead—pleaded with them, nearly in tears. "Pl-please, help me! This vassal knight is demanding I give her everything I have!"

Both frowned at Olivia. In that moment, she looked just like some petty noble drunk on power, trying to rob a poor merchant of all his wares.

Olivia jumped to her own defence. "N-no! I told him I'd buy it all, so hand it over! I have the money!"

The man shook his head vigorously. "No! Other people are looking forward to these as well! It doesn't matter how much you pay me. I won't let you rob other people of their joy!"

He clung to several boxes of tiny objects folded inside slips of white paper, presumably meant to be sold at the festival.

"What are these?" Angelica asked.

The man brightened, clearly grateful for the intervention. "Charms my granny made. They're quite popular and provide many benefits. She makes all different kinds, and I wrap them in these white papers. What you get is entirely luck of the draw."

Olivia waved a roll of cash at the man. "That's why I said sell them to me. I'll buy them all. You want ten times the normal price? Done."

She was being awfully persistent.

The man cowered against the alley wall. "What's wrong with you?! This isn't a problem money can solve. I'm selling these because I want to see people's smiles!"

Olivia withdrew a coin purse from her pocket. "Here, how's this? Gold coins. Twenty of them. I'll give you this on top of my previous offer."

The man paused, his resolve visibly wavering, but then he shook his head firmly. "My granny made these to give people joy. I refuse to yield!"

"You've got guts. I like you!" Olivia's grin grew sinister. "Actually, I have some platinum with me too. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"I already told you, no!"

Angelica snatched Olivia's ear between her fingers whilst Leon sent a knuckle into the crown of Olivia's head.

Her fingers had moved before she could think better of it. Three days of careful distance, undone by reflex.

"Ouch! Owie! That hurts, Angie! Leon! I call abuse!"

"Now come on, we're leaving." Angelica glanced at the local. "We'll be taking this bother with us."

The man clutched his goods protectively. "Th-thank you!"

"Actually," Leon interrupted, "for your trouble, let me buy two for my two female friends here. Would that be acceptable?"

The man looked suspicious at first but then acquiesced. Leon appeared to concentrate as he picked through the charms, and finally settled on two.

He paid with a platinum coin as an apology for his vassal knight's behaviour. The man tried to reject the extravagant payment, but Leon insisted, and a look from him silenced further protest.

The man soon disappeared through the crowds outside the alley, making his way back towards the festival proper.

Even as Angelica maintained a firm hold on Olivia's ear, Leon said, "Extend your hand—no, just one hand."

Both Angelica and Olivia extended one hand, and Leon placed a small white-wrapped object in each palm.

Both girls opened the white wrapping. Angelica held a red charm whilst Olivia held a white one.

"I think each charm complements you," Leon said.

Olivia winked at him.

'They're being unfair.'

"Umm… Angie, about this mor—"

"Stop." Angelica interrupted Olivia. "Let's never talk about that. Agreed?"

"Talk about what?" Both Leon and Olivia asked innocently as they each grabbed one of Angelica's arms.

"Are you fine if we enjoy the night together?" Olivia asked.

Angelica could only smile as another firework flew into the sky and burst into golden chrysanthemums.

"I'd like that."

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The three of them wandered over to a shrine not far from the festival and plopped themselves down on the stone stairs. The cool steps pressed through the thin fabric of Angelica's borrowed yukata.

It was still somewhat awkward between them, but the silence slowly grew more comfortable.

"You really wanted those charms that badly?" Angelica peered into Olivia's face.

"I was looking forward to this day so much that I couldn't even sleep last night." Olivia wiped away tears. "It wasn't an act! My heart was seriously broken! I wanted everything!"

Leon could only sigh in exasperation.

"As long as he gets paid, who cares?" Olivia paused and stroked her chin. "Maybe I should have offered him one hundred times his asking price…"

"Livia, I already got the best ones for both you and Angie."

"Best ones?" Angelica asked.

"Remember, I have that magic called structural analysis. I picked the ones that would best suit you." Leon shrugged. "Though there wasn't anything that would help with Olivia's thread magic."

"Oh—yes, I forgot about that," Angelica admitted.

"May I?" Leon asked, gesturing for them to hand over both charms again.

Both Angelica and Olivia wore creased frowns, but they complied.

"Trace on."

Before their eyes, the charms morphed, their shapes flowing and reforming until they became elegant hair clips—one red, one white.

"Put it on me!" Olivia demanded, her tone imperious but her eyes bright.

Leon acquiesced, as he always did with her, and clipped the white ornament into Olivia's pale hair.

"Angie!" Olivia's smile stretched wide. "Does it look good on me?"

Angelica couldn't help but smile in return. She felt a twinge of guilt for avoiding them the past few days. "It suits you."

"Now you should place the clip on Angie as well!"

Leon and Angelica both froze.

Angelica hoped she didn't look too desperate or eager when she turned to Leon, but she could feel the heat spreading across her face and ears.

She tilted her head, offering access to her hair. Leon took the cue and gently clipped the red charm into place, his fingers brushing against her temple.

Angelica waited.

Leon scratched at the edge of his jaw. A hint of red coloured his face.

"It looks good on both of you."

Both Olivia and Angelica could only smile as they turned again towards the sky. More fireworks launched, painting the darkness in ephemeral colour.

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They were watching the fireworks and the festival beneath them from a comfortable distance when Angelica's former followers appeared from down the stairs, cutting the quiet short.

"My lady!"

Angelica stood. "Isolde, Beatrice. Was there something you needed?"

The two climbed the steps, followed by three men who looked to be third-years. Their expressions were not friendly.

"So it's you, Bartfort."

"Don't get cocky just because you've been climbing the social ladder lately."

Leon only raised a brow at them.

"Isolde, Beatrice, what is the meaning of this?"

"No, Miss Angelica, this upstart should hear this. It is our duty as supporters of your family for generations now. You have quite the nerve to pull down Lady Angelica to your level after your disgrace."

"Supporters for generations now, yet you betrayed her when convenient." Olivia laughed, deliberately provocative.

Angelica's face cooled. She let Olivia goad them and watched the way she had learnt to watch the court: who led, who followed, who glanced at whom before speaking.

She noticed the men involuntarily take a step back when Leon stood with his arms crossed. He didn't say anything.

"—you jealous because Angie likes me? Too bad for you." Olivia crossed her arms and smirked. "If you hadn't tossed her aside during the duel, maybe she'd like you instead. You do all right at reading the air at school, but maybe you should've focused on the political scene instead. Bit late to brownnose now. Don't you feel embarrassed for yourselves?"

"Enough!" Angelica's voice pierced through the argument.

"She's the one asking for a beatdown!" one of the boys bellowed.

"Isolde Fou Ashforde, was it?" Leon's voice was calm. The viscount's daughter stiffened.

"And Beatrice Fou Sinclair?"

She too stiffened. With how serious Leon's voice was, the two were probably thinking they might be challenged to a duel.

Strange, how memory worked. Angelica had been the one to challenge the prince that night, yet somewhere along the way the story had reshaped itself: Leon and Olivia the upstarts, Angelica the victim dragged down to their level. Of course it had. The honest version required her followers to remember standing aside.

"We were enjoying the evening," Leon said. "We are here on a school trip. Might I suggest enjoying it instead of randomly picking fights?"

"Tch, let's get going. He's pathetic, showing bravado after being humiliated in front of the kingdom. Let's leave them be." The third-year paused. "Miss Angelica, would you care to join us?"

"I had been enjoying my night until representatives of House Ashforde and House Sinclair interrupted it."

"Bu—"

"I think you have overstayed your welcome," Leon said, taking another step forward.

The group of five couldn't leave fast enough.

Once they were out of sight, the trio released a collective sigh. When they realised they'd done it in unison, all three started laughing.

Angelica had missed this. She frowned slightly, remembering why she'd avoided them.

She was about to apologise for the past few days when she noticed an old woman standing nearby, a cane in her hand. When had she appeared? Unsettling, how she'd come out of nowhere.

"Uh, who are you?"

Olivia's eyes widened as she followed Angelica's gaze.

The old woman laughed, the sound warm despite her sudden appearance. "No one important. My boy told me he ran into you."

'Oh. The man in the mask who sold charms?'

"Please," Leon started, "allow me to express my deepest apologies for—"

She slipped a small white bag from her pocket. "You're the first person who ever wanted my charms so badly they offered a fortune for them. Those charms my boy sells really are for the people at the festival to enjoy, but I feel bad after you paid so extravagantly. You're welcome to have this."

The woman handed the charm to Olivia, and the three of them peered inside.

"A battle charm?" Leon asked.

"You seem to know quite a bit about my work," she said. "That one was specially made. Do you like it?"

"Thank you. How much—"

She waved a hand. "No need. You already paid too much. Though please do visit the shrine and pray. The deity there binds people together. Quite effective."

The old woman turned and began hobbling up the stairs, her cane tapping against the stone.

'She must work at the shrine.'

Olivia stared after her.

Angelica and Olivia exchanged a glance, and as if they'd read each other's minds, they both turned to Leon. Olivia dangled the charm towards him.

Leon shrugged and accepted it with a small smile.

'It's been an eventful night—well, day—but in the end, I might just have enjoyed myself. As for the shrine?'

The three looked up towards the darkened building at the top of the stairs.

Far too spooky to wander up there at night. They agreed to go in the morning.

"Um, Leon," Angelica said, her cheeks flushed, "by 'binding people together,' did she mean…"

"It's probably a shrine for love and couples. Do you two still want to visit tomorrow?"

Angelica tried not to show her eagerness. She gave a small nod.

Olivia declared, "Yes!"

-=&<o>&=-

The following morning, the schedule allotted free time to sightsee with the condition that everyone return by noon for the ship's departure.

Angelica, alongside Olivia and Leon, hiked up the stone steps leading to the shrine. The traditional orange archway and the shrine itself were foreign in aesthetics, like the rest of the island—curved roofs and carved wooden beams quite unlike the temples back home.

They came across a shrine maiden along the way, sweeping the grounds—an adorable girl of about sixteen, dark hair tied back with a simple ribbon.

"Hello there. Does the deity of this shrine really help bind people together?"

She smiled and nodded. "That's right. The deity's blessing is beneficial for melee combat and magic, as well."

Any warrior or magician would love this deity, then.

Angelica thanked her.

The shrine maiden smiled and greeted Leon and Olivia as well. "You must be nobles from the academy. Um, do you know the proper method for praying here?"

Angelica shook her head, and the girl was kind enough to instruct them on the ritual: the bows, the claps, the moment of silent prayer.

That was how the three of them wound up standing side by side in front of the shrine's offering box.

"So, uh, you're supposed to give a donation, right? I wonder how much is appropriate." Angelica fished out her wallet and produced a couple of gold coins.

Olivia did the same.

A sharp breath came from somewhere behind the shrine.

"Is it strange? This is how much we normally give the temple."

"I think you should donate however much you're comfortable with," Leon said. He tossed a gold coin into the box, then clapped his hands together and closed his eyes.

As Angelica stood beside Olivia and Leon, the morning light filtering through the trees above them, the tightness she'd carried for days finally eased.

"O Lord of this shrine, I won't ask much of you—" Olivia began aloud.

"Livia—I think it's best to use your inner voice for this," Leon suggested, his eyes still closed.

Angelica's brow furrowed slightly.

Olivia looked as if she was praying fervently, her lips moving silently now. Angelica clasped her hands together as well. Unlike Olivia, she kept her expression calm.

She hadn't the faintest idea what Olivia was wishing for, and she supposed it was none of her business. As for her own wish—well. That was her own affair entirely.

'I wish that it would always be the three of us, no matter what happens.'

-=&<o>&=-

The three descended the stairs as Olivia fished for Angelica's wish.

"Come on, Angie, tell me!"

"I'm not telling you."

"But—"

Then both Olivia and Angelica bumped into Leon's back.

"Oof."

"Leon, what's wro—" Angelica followed where Leon was looking.

The grin vanished from Olivia's face.

Countless dots filled the sky, darkening the morning blue like a swarm of locusts. They hung there, waiting.

"Master." Luxion decloaked beside Leon's shoulder, his spherical form drifting into view. "There are thousands of monsters surrounding the island."

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End

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