The afternoon light streaming into the corridor cast the shadow of window lattices across the stone floor.
The covered walkway connecting the academy's east and west wings. It was between classes, and there were barely any students around. The faint sound of string instruments being practiced could be heard from a distance.
Estella walked toward her next lecture hall, accompanied by her lady-in-waiting. The incident in the garden yesterday had already begun spreading overnight. "Discord between the Crown Prince and the Duke's daughter." She could feel curiosity and wariness mingled in the gazes of the young ladies she passed.
Estella stopped in her tracks.
A young man stood at the end of the corridor.
He leaned against a pillar, holding several documents in one hand. He wore the academy uniform, but the tailoring was clearly superior. The person who had been watching her from behind a pillar's shadow in the garden yesterday.
Leonhardt von Legnica. The Second Prince.
Estella slowed for just an instant before immediately resuming her pace. As a duke's daughter, she couldn't just stop for no reason in front of royalty.
Leonhardt stepped away from the pillar and walked toward her. He lightly raised the documents in his hand to show her.
"Lady Granzheim. I have administrative documents addressed to the ducal house. May I give them to you?" His voice was calm and refined, but he didn't speak with the same kind of authority that Alvin carried. His speech was concise and to the point.
"Thank you, Your Highness. I apologize for the trouble."
Estella curtsied and accepted the documents. It wasn't unusual for a prince to personally deliver administrative documents to a ducal house within the academy. It fell within his normal scope of work.
During the exchange, her lady-in-waiting stood several paces away. A few other students passed through the corridor. They were not alone.
Even after handing over the documents, Leonhardt didn't leave.
"At the garden yesterday. Impressive."
Words delivered without preamble.
Estella's fingers twitched ever so slightly over the documents she'd received. Apart from that, she didn't show that she was shaken at all.
"Whatever do you mean, Your Highness?"
"You don't need to play dumb."
Leonhardt's gaze fixed squarely on Estella. He had the same look as yesterday when he had watched her from behind the pillar. His eyes were observer eyes, unswayed by emotion.
"Your tears... they were fake, weren't they?"
The aura in the corridor tensed for just a moment.
Estella's expression didn't change.
Being exposed for fake crying. That was equivalent to having the weapon she'd gained in yesterday's garden snapped at its base. If these words spread through the castle, Estella's tears would never hold power again.
She didn't yet know whether the person before her was an ally or an enemy.
He was someone she'd only exchanged formal greetings with at official events. She only knew that he served as an administrative aide. Given his blood relation to Alvin as his half-brother, he may well side with his brother.
Should I pile on another lie? Or should I deny it?
Estella hesitated for just a moment, and then chose not to deny it.
A clumsy lie would turn this keen observer before her into an enemy. There was no point in keeping up appearances with someone who had seen the entire event from a distance.
"Yes," Estella answered calmly without losing her smile.
"But they were better than that girl's tears, weren't they?"
Silence fell.
The footsteps of students passing through the corridor sounded like something that had happened in the distant past.
Leonhardt paused for a moment, then gave a low chuckle. It was a silent laugh that came from the back of his throat.
"You're honest."
"If my lies will be seen through regardless, honesty is more efficient."
"Efficient, huh."
Leonhardt folded his arms. His back remained straight, yet his shoulders were relaxed. The posture of someone who had learnt royal etiquette but wasn't bound by it.
"May I ask one thing? How long have you been preparing for what happened yesterday?"
"Since I received His Highness's summons."
"You're saying you planned all that in one night?"
"It took ten years," Estella surprised herself with how natural those words had come out of her mouth. It was the first time she'd let something about her past life's memories slip out so casually.
Leonhardt raised one eyebrow questioningly but didn't press further.
"Interesting."
There was no lip service with that single word. Estella gauged the temperature of his words with the intuition she'd honed through ten years of customer service in her previous life. It wasn't mere formality. This person was genuinely intrigued.
"There's one more thing I should tell you."
Leonhardt's voice dropped slightly, "The Elbach adopted daughter... Millefeuille, was it? There's something suspicious going on around her."
Estella waited silently for him to continue.
"I can't tell you what it is specifically yet, but you can see what people do by processing their administrative documents. There are several movements that can't be explained by her status as a baron's adopted daughter."
Leonhardt turned his gaze to the window in the corridor.
"I'm someone who judges things by facts and logic. People who act on emotion are...nothing more than subjects of observation."
She couldn't tell whether those words were directed at her or whether he was convincing himself of this.
"But you were different."
His gaze returned to her.
"You wield your fake tears rationally and wield emotions without being overwhelmed by them. You're a bit different from the court people I've observed."
Estella had already made a decision before answering.
This person could become a valuable source of information.
He was an administrative aide. He had connections with secretaries and civil officials. He was in a position where he knew the flow of information in the court. Someone whose reach extended to places Estella couldn't reach on her own.
And although he had seen through her lie, he didn't rebuke her for using her tears as a weapon.
"Will you become my ally, Your Highness?"
"I don't use the word ally," he replied immediately.
"I gather facts and make judgements based on them. If the result happens to work in your favour, then that's just how it is."
"That's more than enough."
Estella smiled genuinely this time, though even she didn't know when she stopped acting and started feeling what she really felt.
She hadn't experienced this feeling in her past life.
Estella had always kept a clear boundary between her own emotions and those of others throughout her ten years in customer service. Acting was acting, and her true feelings were her true feelings. Those two never mixed.
But she wasn't entirely sure what to do when facing this person in front of her.
She felt slightly perplexed, and she also slightly felt that something was off.
Leonhardt turned on his heel.
"We've talked too long for something as simple as handing over official documents," he remarked with her lady-in-waiting in mind.
He began walking toward the corner of the corridor, but stopped after taking a few steps. He turned his face slightly towards her without fully turning around.
"My brother's next move will come quickly. Be prepared," he said before turning the corner and disappearing.
Estella stood there for a while with the documents still in hand.
The lady-in-waiting spoke softly, "My lady. It's time for your next class."
"Yes. Let us go."
She began walking. Her stride was the same as always.
But a different tension from when she cried in the garden remained within her.
He wasn't someone she could lie to.
She had never met anyone like that in her previous life nor this one. He was someone who had seen through her lies, and had not judged the lie itself, but how it was used.
And if Leonhardt's warning was correct, Alvin's next move would come soon.
She had the charges dismissed yesterday in the garden, but Alvin hadn't given up. What form would his next move take?
Be prepared, he had said.
Estella handed the documents to her lady-in-waiting and quickened her pace towards her class.
She probably didn't have much time left before the next move was made.