363 Reassurance
"What should we do, Raphael? Should we help her out?" After the seniors exited the library, Iris whispered, as we were still in our concealed state. I briefly glanced at her, though she was invisible, before looking back at the girl. "Honestly, I don't know if we should get involved in this issue. From what I have understood, she must be the person whom the crown prince is seeing. If I'm not wrong, her name is Edith Felsvorder, a student of Class C, and a daughter of a baron."
"I see. So she is the one who's in the rumors. But a daughter of a baron, huh? No wonder why they treated her so badly."
Edith Felsvorder was a first year student here at the academy. Recently, she became a subject of hate on campus due to the claims that she was seen meeting up and going out with Prince Edward, the empire's crown prince, and already had a fiancee. Now that we knew that the girl was from the baronial family, it was clear why she was being bullied, especially by the female students. I was not sure how long they had been bullying her. Even though she was a fellow noblewoman, Edith still belonged to a relatively low rank, and she was latching on to the crown prince, someone even the daughters of earldoms could not reach. Due to that, she probably unintentionally stepped on their toes and made them jealous, which eventually became resentment. I did not know if she intentionally approached the prince or the other way around. She was in her first year and the child of a baron, so she probably did not possess enough knowledge of etiquette and know-how on campus. "I really want to stay out of this matter; that was why I did not intervene." "How selfish of you, Raphael." "Yeah, I might be that kind of person," I said. "However, as a person, I am concerned about her well-being, and I want to help her out. How hypocritical of mine." After that, we undid our Invisibility and walked to the other side of the library. Once we reached the last bookshelf, we found the girl still sitting on the wet floor with her uniform drenched in water. "Are you okay, Miss?" I asked.
Hearing my voice, Edith slowly raised her head. She had a grave expression on her face as she was trying to identify the two of us. She then looked at my face as if she recognized me. Upon closer look, I found out that Edith was a lean teenager with brown locks cropped up to her shoulder. Her facial features were average, and her round eyes were hazel and on the verge of bursting. For me, she was a plain girl with nothing special about her. The other girls, who were a lot prettier and more fashioned, were probably insecure about themselves since the prince paid attention to her despite being average looking. "Wait, I have seen you at the entrance ceremony," she said with a weak voice. "Aren't you the son of the Sword Saint?" (It seems like my parents are more popular and recognizable than I am.) I thought inwardly. (They are legendary icons, so it is totally understandable why she first recognized Mother before me.)
"Well, yes. My name is Raphael; Raphael Raevender." I said, putting my palm on my chest. "And this one is Iris Arcenciel."
Iris then put on a smile before she asked, "You are Edith Felsvorder, I assume?" "Yes..." Edith nervously bobbed her head twice for confirmation.
"It is unfortunate to meet you in your current situation, Edith," I said. "Are you alright?" "I am alright..." she said as she was slowly putting herself up. "I appreciate your concerns, but I can take care of myself. Please don't mind me." "We can't do that. Moreover, you are drenched, you might catch a cold. At least put this on." Soon after, I opened my Inventory and pulled a white towel out of it. Edith was surprised by it and gasped. I did not mind her, and I presented the towel to her anyway. "Please use it to dry yourself." "Let me do it for her, Raphael." "Thank you, Iris." I handed the towel to Iris, and then she wrapped it around Edith's body. As if embarrassed, Edith cowered her body as she embraced the warmth of the towel. "Um... there is actually no need for you to help me out, but thank you. I am sorry for borrowing this towel."
"No problem. It is actually us who should be apologizing for not taking action on stopping them." "We are very sorry, Edith." "It's okay. I understand that you did not want yourselves to get dragged into this issue." Like she said, I did not want to get involved with the matter and did not bat an eye on the inappropriate actions of those students. I do not tolerate bullying, but there were limits to what I could do. "But we still let that happen." "It is not like I am mad at you two or something. It just happened that I made the mistake of getting along with His Imperial Highness Edward, so I became their target."
"I see." I plainly said. "So you really are going out with the prince, huh?"
"Well, yes. But don't get me wrong, I did not seduce His Imperial Highness. I don't know what he saw in me, but he suddenly approached me one day and invited me for dinner. I know that he has a fiancee, but I could not just decline the offer of a royal."
"He approached you?" Iris asked.
"Sort of. I thought that he was just playing with me at first, as I felt like he was forcing himself. But as the days went by, every time we met at our secret rendezvous, I could feel that his sincerity toward me grew little by little..." Gongggg!!! Gonnggg!!!
As she was narrating, the sounds of the bell reached our ears and interrupted Edith's sentence.
"Oh, it seems like lunchtime is already over," I murmured.
"It seems so," Edith said. "You may leave now. Please let me dry myself here for a while." "Are you sure you are going to be okay?" Iris concerned. "Yeah. Also, I advise you to sway your distance from me. You might get involved if someone saw you interacting with me." "But how about you?" "I said it's fine." She smiled at us as if she could actually take care of herself. But that could not fully reassure me. "Well then, allow me to check your condition if you really are okay. Give me your hand for me to check your body." "Huh? That's fine with me." She was initially baffled before she decided to raise her right hand, which I gently grabbed with both hands, and I then began scanning her body for any irregularities. Iris seemed to be confused as well, but she remained silent and let me do what I wanted to do. "It seems that you are perfectly normal, Edith, you will not be catching a cold." After a few seconds, I let go of her hand. "If you could take care of yourself, I might consider following your advice."
"Thank you for understanding." Edith then bobbed her body. "Once again, I thank you for helping and understanding me. You should go now if you don't want to miss your class."
"Verily. See you next, Edith. Let's go, Iris." "Farewells, Edith." As soon as we turned around, for a fraction of a second, I could sense that Edith just curved a corner of her lip.
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