She’s so Cheeky for a Commoner!

stated, the palace tried to cover things up by presenting an alternate reality stating that Yuu-sama was sent there to be treated.
Despite their attempts, it was clear the situation had fallen out of the palace’s hands.
I didn’t think that we were too far off from a time where Yuu-sama could once again live freely.

“I have a message for you from Yuu-sama.『Thank you, I’ll make sure to thank you when I get the chance.』That’s what she said.”
“I see.
So? What about the situation surrounding her body?”
“Perhaps to be expected, that did cause a bit of a stir.
I mean, the people aware of her situation thought that it had just been a temporary lapse caused by the full moon.”

Yuu-sama had not returned to her female body during the Offering Dance only due to the full moon.
It was because we had treated the opposite sex disease with the Tears of the Moon.
Normally we would have needed two members of the church of rank of Cardinal or greater to access the Tears of the Moon, but because we had Lily-sama and Yuu-sama cooperating with us there were no problems there.
They had investigated Lily-sama as well, but she simply explained that she couldn’t deny a request from Yuu-sama.
This had also been one of Yuu-sama’s instructions.

“Lily-sama herself stands high on the social ladder so I don’t believe it will be easy for the palace to take punitive action.”
“How about Misha?”
“She’s in the middle of convincing her parents.”

It appeared that MIsha wanted to quit the academy and follow Yuu-sama to the same monastery, but of course, her parents were against the idea.
Misha was an outstanding student at the academy.
From House Yule’s perspective, they wanted to entrust their future to her, so they must have felt that having her abandon her studies to enter a monastery would be a waste.
That said, House Yule had other capable heirs as well so Misha’s mother had taken her side saying, “Can’t we allow our daughter to live as she pleases?” I believe the fact that Yuu-sama herself had said, “I want her by my side.” was a large factor as well.

“Up until now, Misha’s parents had put her through a lot of hardship, so it was difficult for them to take a firm stance.”
“That makes sense.”

From my perspective, it was clear that Misha had long held affections for Yuu-sama.
I felt that it was only a matter of time before Misha’s desires were fulfilled.

“Then, what about you, Claire-sama?”
“Nothing of note happened to me.
At the most you could say that my maid was taken from my side… It was a bit of an inconvenience.”

I put on airs, but in truth these last seven days had been more taxing than I had ever imagined they would be.
I was in a constant state of worry that something terrible may have happened to Rei, I just couldn’t contain myself.
I still couldn’t voice these feelings, but it really surprised me just how important Rei had become.
From the bottom of my heart, I felt relieved that this had not become a repeat of what had happened with my mother.

“Is that all? Didn’t you miss me or feel lonely?”
“Just how much confidence do you have in yourself?”

It was as though she had seen straight through my facade.
While trying to hide the inner turmoil, I lashed back harshly.
In response, Rei had a wide grin as if to say that she knew all along.
Really, she had such a twisted personality.

“Has Dor-sama said anything?”
“He hasn’t.”

Thinking about it, I tilt my head to one side.

“I was sure that he would fire you or at least take some sort of punitive action, but I’ve heard nothing of it… Rei, just what dirt do you have on my father?”
“It’s nothing like that, really.
Dor-sama simply has a very big and accepting heart.”

Or so Rei claimed, but I knew that there had to be something the two were hiding.
Neither Rei nor father would tell me anything about it, so I felt a little left out.
I could only wonder if they’d let me in on their secret one day.

We continued to talk, but then the prison guard came by.

“Claire-sama.
I beg your pardon, but it is time for us to continue our investigation.”
“Just what is left to investigate? Isn’t it already clear that she was only acting under Yuu-sama’s orders?”

Within my words I implicitly demanded for Rei’s prompt release, but the response I received surprised me.

“Well uhm… King Rousseau will be inquiring directly…”
“HIs Majesty will be?”

I couldn’t help but wonder what this was about.
I had assumed that King Rousseau was on Rei’s side, but…

“At any rate, this ends your visitation for today.”
“I suppose there’s no helping it.
I’ll come again.”

I very reluctantly left Rei’s cell.

　◆◇◆◇◆

That night, back at the dorms.

“So, basically, Lishe-sama has declared war! I think I’ll accept the challenge and strike back.”
“Poisoning someone’s food is at worst a warning~ Rei was allowed to bring a wand in with her, there’s no way that Lishe-sama wasn’t aware of that~”
“Even so! To think that she’d try to do something like that to my Rei!”
“Woah there, woah, calm down a little~”

In the end, my anger did not last very long.
There was no way that I could have predicted what was about to happen.
I never would have expected that His Majesty would expel Rei from the Royal Academy and appoint her as a Special Official who reported directly to him.