Caroline's designated venue for the tea party was set in the courtyard tea table where the tea party practical lesson had been held the other days.

The current weather was nice, so many of the ladies seem to have tea parties here, and in addition to the table Monica was ushered to, there were several other table sets available for people to spend time at their own leisure.

With all these people watching, it's unlikely that they'll be ganging up on her in an obvious way or splashing tea over her head.

Feeling a little relieved by this, Monica took her seat.

Besides Monica, three other young ladies seated at the table. Caroline was seated facing Monica.

Caroline was a young lady with big, bright eyes. Though she was the same age as Monica, she was more mature and had a glamorous air about her.

Huh? Why these people's eyes were…

Under the bright courtyard with the afternoon sun, Monica felt a small sense of discomfort.

But before Monica could mention her discomfort, Caroline's chambermaid handed out the tea.

Smiling, Caroline sipped her tea.

"Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to come here today, Miss Norton."

"T-Thank you for inviting me."

Monica, who has trouble making eye contact with anyone, kept her head down before speaking in hushed tones.

It made the young ladies next to her giggle behind their fans. Their laughter, like a chorus of series of small chuckles, was strangely disturbing. And yet, when Caroline opened her mouth, it stopped.

"Where do you come from, Miss Norton?"

"Rennac…"

"My, then perhaps you're related to the Counts Kerbeck family?"

Monica thought back to the setting Louis Miller had come up with.

According to his settings, she was the adopted daughter of the former countess. Then, it would be safe to say that she's related to the Count Kerbeck family.

"Y-Yes… The Count and his family have been very kind to me…"

Monica admired herself for being able to respond so well.

Despite her timidness and stuttering, she has made unbelievable progress compared to the Monica of the past. After all, she now was able to hold a conversation.

As Monica was thinking about this, the lady right next to her opened her mouth.

"Say, Miss Norton. What do you usually discuss with the student council president?"

"…huh? Well, it just… about…"

In fact, Monica never spoke to Felix, except when it came to student council activities.

Sometimes Felix tried to initiate the conversation with Monica, but she would just tell herself that she was a rock and sit quietly whenever he did.

"I envy you being able to serve by His Highness' side."

"Indeed, you can see His Highness' face every day, after all."

The young ladies gazed up into the air in fascination and let out a longing sigh.

As Monica watched the scene, she was deeply impressed by the power of the golden ratio in attracting people's hearts.

What would be the result if you put a golden ratio sculpture and a non-golden ratio sculpture side by side and took statistics to see which one was more desirable?

Thinking vaguely about this, Monica lifted the cup.

When that happened, Caroline and the others lifted their fans in unison to cover their mouths.

Is this… a basic move of a villainess that Lady Isabelle told me recently!?

The chorus of giggles coming from behind the fan had a precision that could only be a result of training. It was neither too loud nor too quiet, and the nastiness of the laughter that disturbed her ears was quite exquisite.

I see, so this is that move… while admiring something out of place, Monica sipped from her cup of tea.

The taste of the tea in her mouth was rather bitter. It was not astringent, but bitter.

I wonder if this tea is supposed to have a taste like this.

It was bitter, to say the least, but not undrinkable.

Monica, who was accustomed to drinking bitter coffee regularly, felt a little uncomfortable with the tea, but she drank it.

Immediately, the color of the ladies faces changed.

Hmm? Is there something wrong with me?

The ladies peeled their eyes open and looked at Monica as if they were looking at something uncanny. Their faces looked pale.

Monica took another sip of the intensely bitter tea to cover her impatience, wondering if she had done something wrong.

Miss Caroline made a small "Ah" sound.

Huh?

Her pounding heart sounded awfully loud. Her vision blurred and distorted, and their figures became blurred.

"Did she drink it?"

"Are you kidding me? That tea is so bitter, you know?"

"Oh, my God. I was expecting her to choke herself…"

The ladies were saying something quickly to each other in dismay. Their voices were certainly reaching Monica's ears, but her mind could not perceive their words.

Their voices slipped through her ears as nonsensical sounds.

What… is happening?

Her world distorted mushily. Distorting, zooming, blurring, melting, finally dyed by the tea color… No, this red was not the color of the tea.

This red… was of fire.

And behind the flickering fire was a silhouette of a person.

"…dad…?"

The figure of her father, tied to a tree, was fading into the flames. An unpleasant smell pervaded her nose. It was the smell of burning human flesh.

"Ah… Ah…"

The people surrounding her father raised their voices.

—Heretic! You damn heretic! You damned blasphemous sinner!

"…no… my father has done nothing wrong…"

Someone threw something into the burning fire. It was a huge amount of records that her father had written with all his might before he died…

"No… no… don't burn it… please don't burn it…"

The numbers were burning, the beautiful numbers and records that have been accumulated over the years were burned, turning to ashes in an instant.

I must memorize it, all of it. I must memorize all of the numbers that my father left me.

Monica stared intently at the records of the numbers being thrown at her without taking her eyes off the burning flames.

With Monica's unreliable eyesight, she could only see fragmentary numbers in the vast amount of data. Nevertheless, Monica burned the numbers she saw into her mind.

I have to remember it. I have to remember the records that my father left behind, even just a little bit.

The numbers she burned into her eyes were all left by her father. She would never forget them. They were the proof of her father's life.

"…18473726, 385, 20985.726, 29405.84739, 235. 2108877, 25…"

—All you do is talk about numbers. It's disgusting! Stop talking nonsense!

"I'm sorry, Uncle. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

—Because of my brother's stupid research, I now have to suffer the consequences! How can I be in business when I've got a criminal in my family? Stop screwing around!

"No… my father has done nothing wrong… my father is…"

—You've got to be kidding me! Try saying that shit outside! I'll beat you with an iron rod!

"I'm sorry, Uncle, please don't hit me, please don't hit me. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I won't say any more unnecessary things in public, I'll keep my mouth shut, so don't hit me, don't hit me. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm sorry…"

＊ ＊ ＊

The courtyard was in an uproar.

Monica Norton suddenly fell out of her chair, fainting in agony.

Her face was pale and she was breathing unnaturally, choking up and mumbling incomprehensible words in between.

Caroline and the others who were sitting with her looked at Monica as if they were looking at something uncanny.

In the midst of all this, a young lady quickly approached their table.

It was a tall, beautiful woman with straight black hair, Claudia.

Claudia wordlessly kneeled down in front of Monica and checked on her condition.

"…What did you give to her?"

At Claudia's words, Caroline shook her head and exclaimed in a shrill voice.

"I don't know! I have no idea! I don't know anything!"

"………"

Standing up quietly, Claudia closed the distance between her and Caroline—like a snake was creeping up on her—then shoved her hands into her pockets.

Her hand was searching for something.

"…an eye drop?"

"No! Give it back! Don't touch my things without permission! ….Hiiiek!"

When Caroline was screaming, Claudia silently grabbed her by the mouth. She then placed her other hand near Caroline's eyes.

Claudia then lifted Caroline's make-up-tinted eyelids forcefully and closely examined her eyes.

"Your pupils are enlarging… I guess it's belladonna or a similar poison."

"This is just an eye drop that makes your eyes look bigger!"

"It's poison."

After Claudia crisply dismissed Caroline's reasoning with a single sentence, she then fixed her eyes straight on Caroline's enlarging pupils, declared her statement.

"You… poisoned that girl."

"No… I just… want to have her choke up after drinking a bitter tea… I mean, how could I know that she would drink up something that bitter! That girl just is crazy!!"

Claudia did not look at Caroline anymore but kneeled down beside Monica. She then raised Monica's upper body and plunged her fingers into her mouth.

"…ah… ugh…"

"Throw it up."

Even though Claudia stimulated the back of her throat, Monica couldn't vomit it properly, only convulsing.

Claudia clicked her tongue and gave instructions to those watching in the distance.

"Somebody, bring me diluted saline water and some milk. And contact the infirmary and… student council members."