The Protagonist’s Party is Too Diligent – 79
EP.79 Mirror Therapy (2)
“……”
“……”
After lunch, we were on the train heading back to the capital. An awkward silence hung around me in many ways. No, to be precise, the entire train compartment itself was quiet.
When I traveled to the Kingdom of Velbur as the Emperor’s representative, my escort was equivalent to that of the Emperor himself. This meant that only Princess Alice, Prince Jaden, and Lucas shared the same train compartment as me. If it could be considered a room, we had an entire large compartment just for the four of us.
However, as a student of the academy, I couldn’t expect special treatment compared to other students.
Of course, the academy had rented out the entire compartment. Since the noble Class A had only fifteen students, there were plenty of empty seats in the compartment. Still, it was an ordinary first-class compartment, so while there were many empty seats, it wasn’t spacious enough to move around freely.
After hurriedly finishing my meal with Lena Meyer, as if running away, I retreated to my room. When the time came, I immediately headed to the train station. The first person I encountered there was, unsurprisingly, Lena Meyer.
I thought I’d arrived about 40 minutes early, but Lena had arrived even earlier and was already waiting for me.
No, maybe she wasn’t waiting for me specifically. She could have just been early because of her diligent nature, waiting for the train ahead of time.
Her expression remained as unreadable as ever when our eyes met.
Clack.
Once again, the sound of her crisp salute echoed. The sharp click of her heels meeting together could be heard clearly.
“……You don’t need to salute me every time we meet. Now that you’re in the academy, we’re just classmates.”
“Understood.”
……
That rigid tone.
I couldn’t get used to it.
It wasn’t my first time meeting someone with a stoic personality. In fact, Lottie, the maid who often accompanied Jake, had a similar demeanor.
But… something felt different here. Lottie was awkward when it came to showing emotions. Even in the game, it was the same; even if you became close to her, she wouldn’t suddenly become expressive or burst into laughter. Her personality was more like Charlotte’s—calm and cautious, though Lottie was a bit more safety-conscious and less prone to causing trouble.
That’s why, whenever Jake clung to her, she always responded with an air of annoyance or reluctance, regardless of her personal feelings toward him.
If Lottie smiled, people wouldn’t be shocked. It wouldn’t be a reversal of her character but just a natural expression shown to someone she was close to.
On the other hand, I was playing the role of someone who was “emotionally suppressed”—and somehow, Lena Meyer gave off a similar impression. Like she was wearing a mask, maintaining a constant, blank expression.
“……”
“……”
40 minutes early, the train hadn’t even arrived yet. This was the northernmost train station for civilian use in the Empire, and trains typically arrived 30 minutes prior to departure to wait at the platform. Although Lena Meyer’s homeland, the Autonomous State of Rickland, lay further north, the region near the border was too unstable for civilian trains to travel safely.
“……”
“……”
With two emotionless characters standing face-to-face, the conversation wasn’t going anywhere.
Was she feeling just as awkward as I was?
“Is this your first time visiting the Empire?”
“Yes, it is.”
At least when I spoke, she answered right away. Her response carried a strangely military-like tone—like she was an exemplary recruit, straight out of training camp. There was something about her posture that seemed overly disciplined.
Though she wasn’t technically a soldier.
“The atmosphere will likely be quite different from Rickland. Do you think you’ll be okay?”
“Yes, I am very much looking forward to it.”
She didn’t seem particularly excited. With that unchanging expression, it was impossible to gauge her emotions.
Was this what it was like for others when they looked at me?
Thinking back, there was a time when I woke up early to get ahead of Leo and Claire, who were heading out for a request, and reached the entrance of the road. When they arrived to find me waiting with the target’s corpse, did they feel the same way?
“……”
Well, maybe not exactly. Claire had always been delighted to see me. Even that morning, she’d greeted me with a bright smile.
It was Leo who had seemed uneasy.
Had I gone too far back then?
While I was lost in thought, the train arrived at the station. Leo and his party hadn’t arrived yet. In the game, the quest to meet the Sword Saint included an event where they arrived just before the train’s departure. Which meant I had to wait alone with Lena Meyer on the train until the others arrived.
We weren’t the only students who had arrived early, but no one seemed eager to approach us. With a princess who could kill without hesitation and a cold, expressionless girl sitting together, it was hard to imagine anyone daring to strike up a conversation.
Normally, I would have found comfort in the silence, but today, I was desperately hoping someone—anyone—would speak to us.
I had hoped that once we boarded the train, Lena Meyer would sit somewhere away from me. But, of course, that hope was in vain.
As soon as I took a seat by the window, Lena confidently sat directly across from me.
“……”
“……”
And then, more silence.
I couldn’t just change seats either. No matter how emotionless she seemed, everyone had feelings, and moving away like that would surely hurt hers.
If I had been the type to usually sit alone, perhaps people would think, “Oh, that’s just how she is.” But in truth, I usually roamed around with a group of friends. I wasn’t the one leading the group, but I was always surrounded by people. If I stayed in this seat, naturally, Leo, Claire, Alice, Charlotte, Mia Crowfield, and even Jake would gather around me.
If I left Lena Meyer here and moved to another seat to sit with my friends…
…It would feel like I was excluding her.
“……”
“……”
So, I had no choice but to endure the awkwardness and stay seated. Despite her expressionless face, Lena Meyer seemed to express her emotions through her actions… or so it seemed. I wasn’t sure.
Maybe she felt a sense of closeness because I was the first academy student she had talked to… but again, I wasn’t sure.
We sat in silence for about twenty minutes. As other students started to board the train, the compartment gradually became noisier. Still, there were fewer than ten students.
Thinking about it, the protagonist’s party alone made up more than a third of the class. In the original story, none of the protagonist’s party was ever depicted as being ostracized. In fact, they were the most powerful group in the class, capable of excluding anyone if they wanted.
About five minutes later, some kids rushed into the train, panting. These were the ones who had just come down from the mountain and returned with Jennifer by car.
Considering Jennifer, a teacher, was with them, they could have returned to the academy even if they missed the train. But knowing them, they were probably the type who couldn’t stand the idea of being late for anything and had rushed to catch the train on time.
“Sis! …Huh?”
Claire greeted me cheerfully and approached my seat, only to freeze in surprise when she saw Lena Meyer sitting across from me.
Lena shot up from her seat the moment she saw Claire, as if on reflex. Without waiting for me to introduce her, she executed another flawless military salute, the kind I’d already seen twice before.
“I am Lena Meyer. It’s an honor to meet Your Highness.”
“……Huh?”
Claire, dumbfounded, mumbled in confusion.
I had to fight the urge to run my hand down my face.
…This is embarrassing.
It wasn’t even happening to me, and yet I felt second-hand embarrassment.
Apparently, Lena Meyer had mistaken Claire for a different princess because she called me “sister.”
…Well, I guess that makes sense.
Among the Empire’s nobles, it was well-known that I didn’t have a drop of Fangriffon blood, but in smaller countries with less information, it was understandable. The Empire hadn’t officially announced that I was adopted. The nobles probably kept it quiet when meeting outsiders.
And considering that the Autonomous State probably had its hands full with internal affairs, they likely hadn’t bothered to thoroughly investigate the imperial family’s lineage in a neighboring country.
“……”
As Lena remained in her perfect military salute, the atmosphere in the train compartment froze for a while.