The Protagonist’s Party is Too Diligent – 34
EP.34 Student Council (4)
As soon as I met Crowfield’s gaze, one thought came to mind: How much does she know?
Given the Emperor’s personality, there was a chance he’d fully revealed his involvement. After all, flaunting his role in such matters was his style. He likely would have said something like, “I took care of your husband. So if you and your daughter want to stay safe, you’ll do as I say.”
In this era, recording devices were too large and inefficient, and while magic stones could serve as power sources, they couldn’t replace all parts of a recorder. So, even if the Emperor made such a brazen admission, there wouldn’t be any way to capture it as evidence.
Magic wasn’t all-powerful. Throughout the game, there were never any instances of surveillance devices being used, despite all the political and legal intrigue.
“…”
Both Alice and Charlotte could sense killing intent. In this world, terms like killing intent and presence were common, the kind of concepts you’d expect to see in martial arts novels or Japanese anime. Characters would exclaim in awe: “How could such killing intent be possible?” or “How could they hide their presence?”
…But I couldn’t sense any of that.
I couldn’t use magic, nor could I feel anyone’s presence or killing intent. If I could, my expression would have cracked ages ago. Lucas had tried to rattle me with his killing intent as much as with his swordplay. He stopped when he realized I didn’t even flinch—though in truth, I just couldn’t feel it at all.
“…”
Everyone’s gaze was now on me. Apparently, Mia Crowfield was directing her killing intent at me. Though she wasn’t a character who wielded a sword, and so her killing intent wasn’t overwhelming, they were probably amazed at how I stood there, unfazed.
“Are you participating in the student council, Princess?”
She asked, enunciating each word clearly while looking straight at me.
In the original story, Mia Crowfield had been a very quiet character. She knew that Alice’s father, the emperor, had murdered her own father, but she didn’t direct any excessive hostility toward Alice herself. After all, she likely didn’t believe Alice had personally killed her father. In the original plot, it was Claire’s doing anyway.
Mia later tried to kill Claire, but her desperate attempt was easily stopped, leaving her in painful screams.
“I’m curious about your intention in asking me that.”
I asked quietly, staring directly at Mia Crowfield.
…I didn’t feel entirely guilt-free. My actions had destroyed her family, after all. But at the same time, I didn’t regret what I’d done. Perhaps it was a way of rationalizing things, but I had never believed in killing anyone without cause.
Yet, I’d seen Count Crowfield in bed with a child who couldn’t have been older than eight.
Both the child and the count had been drugged, high on opium.
‘When I killed him’—of course, it wasn’t that kind of situation, but if I had let that man live, that event would have inevitably occurred in the future.
Afterward, such acts were strictly forbidden within Count Crowfield’s territory. Not because they were immoral, but because the countess, fearing further scrutiny, shut down all of their business dealings.
I wondered if the countess had felt disappointed upon learning the truth about her husband. Looking at Mia Crowfield now, it didn’t seem like she had.
“I…”
Perhaps Mia had just realized that everyone’s eyes were now on her. The look of hostility she had been sending my way—if it was even there—wavered as she cast a nervous glance around. She didn’t seem as composed as I initially thought.
That was consistent with the original.
“Is it because I killed your father?”
“…What?”
The atmosphere in the student council room froze instantly. What had been a somewhat relaxed mood suddenly tightened like a string about to snap. Even though I couldn’t sense killing intent, I could feel the room’s temperature drop several degrees.
Some here may have heard the rumors, but no one had ever openly confirmed them like this. Assassinations, after all, were most effective when they remained unnoticed.
“You… you killed…?”
“Yes, I did. I planted a bomb in the carriage. Twelve people died.”
“What… are you talking about?”
Alice turned pale, staring at me with disbelief.
“I’m talking about how I assassinated Count Crowfield. Did you not know?”
Alice shook her head.
She must have suspected something, even if she denied it now. But she would never have imagined that I was the one who killed Crowfield. After all, I was only twelve years old at the time.
“…What do you mean? Did you… kill someone?”
“I killed someone while escaping from the orphanage too.”
When I calmly answered Claire’s question, the others’ faces paled even more.
“What did you plan to do if you joined the student council… if we were in the same council?”
I asked, looking at Mia Crowfield again.
I looked at Mia Crowfield again and asked.
“…Why?”
But Mia’s expression was one of sheer confusion. The sudden revelation seemed to have left her in shock, unsure of how to react.
Was it because she had no weapon? She didn’t seem to be trying to kill me yet.
Thud.
Her legs gave out, and Mia Crowfield collapsed to her knees on the spot. No one moved to help her up. They just stared at me, wide-eyed, as if they were looking at a monster.
“Didn’t you already know? Wasn’t that the reason you were looking at me like that?”
I asked again, but Mia remained silent, her expression vacant.
“…You.”
As I continued to observe Mia, kneeling on the floor, a cold voice interrupted from the side. Charlotte, who had just set down her teacup, was glaring at me with an expression so icy it felt as though she could freeze the air around her.
“Are you saying the Emperor of the Empire killed one of his own nobles?”
Even in a moment like this, Charlotte maintained her manners—perhaps a testament to her rigorous etiquette training.
“Yes.”
I responded.
“Why?”
She asked.
“For the sake of the Emperor’s power.”
I replied calmly.
Alice’s face turned even paler. I had already made it clear to Alice that I fully supported her. Even if I were somehow designated as the next Emperor, I would only pledge my allegiance to Alice. Now, hearing the reason for Count Crowfield’s assassination, Alice might think I killed him to secure her power base.
“…Do you think it’s acceptable to do anything for power?”
Charlotte’s gaze was filled with genuine disgust.
“My personal judgment played a role as well.”
I added.
“Personal judgment…”
Claire echoed my words quietly.
“…What do you mean by personal judgment?”
Charlotte, despite the repulsed look in her eyes, continued to question me without interruption.
The princess of a kingdom, even in this tense situation, was trying to remain impartial. Perhaps she didn’t fully believe me. After all, I claimed responsibility for the assassination, but there was no proof. She might think I was only saying this because the Emperor had ordered me to, and the story would still make sense.
“The count was involved in opium trafficking. There was an opium den in his territory, and within it, a brothel that exploited children younger than ten years old. Even if the count wasn’t directly managing the operations, he was clearly one of the patrons of that establishment.”
“…What proof do you have?”
“I saw it with my own eyes.”
“…But what about an investigation and trial—”
“That was impossible.”
Had that been an option, such things wouldn’t have occurred in the count’s territory to begin with. No matter how powerful the Emperor was, the highest authority within a noble’s domain was still the noble themselves. The Emperor could have intervened directly in the territory, yes, but that’s exactly what he did. He wielded the power of violence to eliminate the count.
“Would it have been possible in your kingdom?”
I asked.
“…”
Charlotte fell silent at my question. The expression of someone who had been looking at me as if I were a monster had shifted slightly. It was hard to pinpoint exactly what emotion she was feeling.
“…Father… why…?”
Mia Crowfield muttered to herself, her voice barely audible after hearing my explanation.
“Mia Crowfield, I still haven’t heard your answer.”
I looked at Mia Crowfield and asked her again.
“What did you plan to do once you joined the student council? If you figured out that I killed the count, were you going to kill me?”
“…”
Mia Crowfield remained silent for a moment, staring at me blankly. Then, finally, she spoke.
“…I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you!”
She screamed.
“Even if your father was the kind of man who did such things? Even if he sacrificed countless children?”
“I don’t believe it! I don’t believe you!”
“Lady Crowfield!”
The student council president finally regained his composure and stood up abruptly. Mia had started to get up, as if ready to charge at me.
“So, you’re willing to believe that I killed your father, but you won’t believe that your father committed such heinous acts?”
I asked her.
“I will… kill you with my own hands!”
She shouted.
As the student council president tried to intervene, the other noble ladies rushed in to restrain Mia Crowfield.
“Hold on, Lady Crowfield! Please, calm down—”
“I understand.”
I said quietly, causing the entire room to fall into a tense silence once again.
“So that’s what you think.”
“Sister, wait a moment.”
Claire spoke up, her voice tense.
Just as I didn’t know how to sense killing intent, I also didn’t know how to project it. The best I could probably do was to glare at someone. But perhaps they thought there was something more behind it. After all, I had been killing people without flinching since I was twelve years old. Maybe they were starting to realize something was off. Perhaps they even thought I might try to eliminate Crowfield here and now.
Claire, half-risen from her seat, was watching me closely. Maybe she was thinking that more killing would be unacceptable. Her gaze wasn’t one of contempt or hatred; instead, it was filled with concern.
“Wait, Claire.”
Alice stammered, trying to calm the situation.
“Everyone, let’s take a moment to calm down. We don’t even know if everything that was said is true.”
Alice was doing her best to defend me.
Leo remained completely frozen, while Charlotte still looked utterly confused.
Hmm. So this was how they were all reacting, huh?
I slowly glanced around the student council room, taking in their faces and etching the moment into my memory.
And then—
Again.
*
“Nothing has been decided yet.”
I spoke to Mia Crowfield in a calm voice.
“Your Highness… no, Alice will decide. What do you think?”
“Oh? Uh, well, I’m considering it favorably.”
Alice replied, looking slightly flustered as her gaze shifted between Mia and me.
“In that case, I will also consider it favorably.”
I responded, taking a sip of my milk tea.
“…Then I too would like to consider it favorably.”
Mia Crowfield, who had been glaring at me earlier, finally spoke.