Epilogue

How did it even turn out this way…?

Several days after the kidnapping incident, Cecilia heaved a sigh as she made her way down a hallway. The students she passed by stared at her with curiosity, both boys and girls alike. The girls blushed, while the boys’ gazes were filled with both awe and jealousy.

And it was no wonder, because word on the street was that Cecil had somehow managed to shut down Heimat solo.

In reality, Marlin had survived and simply dissolved the organization, but there were some reasons why that couldn’t be the official story. Evidently, the nation’s top officials preferred to have the organization “shut down” rather than “dissolved.”

In that case, it should have been fine to say that it got shut down during the soldiers’ training maneuver, but putting it like that would just open up a different can of worms. The training maneuver was just practice—a drill. Announcing that the authorities had chosen to train the soldiers using an actual combat scenario would be a real problem.

With so many different, conflicting opinions in the mix, the version of events where Cecil resolved the situation alone was ultimately deemed the least offensive.

In Cecilia’s opinion, it was even more far-fetched that a single person could have driven an organization of assassins to destruction without any assistance. And yet, the official story basically went that Cecil used his knightly powers, then things proceeded well, then it all wrapped up nicely.

A masterfully opportunistic tale if she’d ever heard one. It might have been worse than something a kindergartner would write.

“But I didn’t actually do anything…,” she murmured to herself.

“You did save Marlin, though, which led to Heimat’s shutdown. Isn’t that close enough?” ventured Dante, who had appeared out of nowhere and started walking alongside her.

She jumped. “Don’t creep up on me like that!”

“Ah-ha-ha. Sorry, sorry.” Dante grinned, cheeky as usual. Any trace of the seriousness he’d showed when he’d come to rescue her had long since disappeared. Now he was just a cheerful, mischievous classmate.

“What happened to the Heimat people in the end? I heard some of them got captured as part of the practice maneuver.”

“Ah, yeah. Those were all the ones who betrayed Marlin. She still has the original members with her ’cause they’re all close.”

Marlin had originally created Heimat as an organization that would bring people without family together and give them work to do. At first, the group was contracted to work as guards. But over time, as Heimat got offers to do other types of jobs, it turned into an association of assassins who eliminated people who made others suffer, like slave traffickers and black-market dealers.

Thus, the original crew from Heimat’s early days were now more like family than coworkers.

“Anyway, are you sure you’re okay turning down Marlin’s offer?”

“Ah, that would kind of be too much responsibility for me…”

Marlin had started up another organization after dissolving Heimat. But it would be more accurate to say that she’d formed a spy group composed of an elite few—the original Heimat members. And she’d asked Cecilia if she wanted to be the new band’s very first head.

A dozen or so members in the spy group—with Cecilia at the helm.

Instead of a duke’s daughter, she would become more like a queen or even some sort of evil empress controlling the world behind the scenes.

Moreover, the members’ skills were all tried and tested.

Ordinarily, she would have jumped at the opportunity, but she’d politely turned Marlin down, citing the danger of the project. All she wanted to do was live out a carefree, relaxing life. Marlin had been adamant for a while but ultimately accepted her answer.

“But you can just think of it as a slightly large-scale bodyguard association!” Dante said.

“Yeah, too large-scale,” Cecilia instantly quipped. She wasn’t ready to be an evil empress yet.

He pouted in dissatisfaction. “Hmph. Well, she’s the type to repay a favor no matter what, so she’ll put you first if you ever need anything in the future. Great, huh?”

“Ha-ha-ha…,” she laughed dryly. No matter what anyone said, she didn’t need such larger-than-life bodyguards.

Should the worst happen and the Killer shows up, I may just have her return the favor, though…

But she had a feeling that wouldn’t be necessary.

Because it just feels like I’ll be able to figure something out with everyone’s help.

While that may have been overly optimistic, it was what Cecilia really believed. She would only call on Marlin’s organization if she were truly in a bind.

Cecilia and Dante walked along and into the dining hall together. Lean leaped from her seat and waved at them. “Lord Cecil! Lord Dante!”

Surrounding her were Gilbert, Oscar, Jade, and Huey—who had recently been promoted to the title of Lean’s boyfriend. They’d all made plans to study for exams together.

Cecilia sat down next to Lean, then whispered in her ear, “You’re going to keep calling me that?”

“Yeah! It has a nice ring, doesn’t it?”

“What ring…?”

Because Lean knew Cecilia’s true personality, this only made her feel uncomfortable. And even though her friend was aware of Cecil’s hidden identity now, she was still writing stories featuring a character based on Cecil—as the top, of course.

According to Lean, this was because “I like it when a guy who’s so pretty you’d think he’s the bottom comes on strong and dominates the other guy.”

Cecilia still found her logic utterly incomprehensible, just as she had in their previous life.

Gilbert smiled as he opened up a notebook. “Summer break is coming up once exams are over. Study hard, Cecil.”

“I—I will!”

“You guys are going back home, right? Be sure to let me see Cecilia during summer break.”

“What?! Oscar, you’re going to come over to our house?!” Cecilia yelped.

“It’s not your house. It’s Cecilia’s manor.”

“R-right…,” she stammered, cold sweat beading on her cheeks.

Oscar might have been a bit thickheaded, but he’d still definitely figure out who Cecil really was once he laid eyes on Cecilia.

“In that case, I’d like to come over, too!” cried Lean, shooting her hand up with a half smile on her lips. She was probably thinking there was no way she wouldn’t get a front-row seat to that.

“If Oscar’s going, I wanna go!” cried Dante.

“Well, if Lean is going, then…,” added Huey.

“I’ve always wanted to visit a duke’s manor once in my life,” chimed in Jade.

Cecilia paled. Her plans to relax over a nice summer vacation were disappearing fast. She racked her brain for a way to stop this from happening.

But aside from Cecilia and Gilbert, everyone else was excited about the idea of visiting Cecilia’s manor. It was too late now.

“My summer vacation…,” she whined to herself.

“Well, before that, you’ve gotta step up your studying, Cecil,” Gilbert reminded.

“Huh?” she said, looking up at him.

“Aside from question number four there, all your answers are wrong.”

“What?! Really?”

“Really.”

For the moment, she had to save thinking about summer vacation until it was summer vacation.

She used the base of a pen to scratch her cheek.

A wild summer break was just around the corner, bringing with it a world of trouble.