Living Up to Your Expectations - Chapter 3

“It’s finally happening, Laila!”

Before Via’s grand moment on stage, I whisper quietly. Yet my uncontrollable excitement still leaks through. Brushing aside the hair falling across my cheek, I glance briefly toward the salon.

The afternoon sunlight filtered through the stained glass, coloring this corner of the academy as if it were a theater. I straightened my posture just slightly.

“Indeed, Lady Felicia. I’m beginning to feel nervous now.”

Laila smiled softly beside me.

“By the way, Lady Felicia those opera glasses?”

At the sudden question, I gently raised the ornate opera glasses resting against my chest.

“One cannot properly appreciate theater without these. From a distance, you can’t read the characters’ expressions.”

With this, my preparations are perfect.

As I smiled elegantly, Laila made a clearly troubled expression.

“…I think you should put them away because they look suspicious.”

Suspicious?

I instinctively looked around. Indeed, the other young ladies were glancing our way.

Perhaps opera glasses were too much for the salon.

I let out a small sigh and put the opera glasses away.

“More importantly, Lady Felicia. Why don’t we observe from closer so we’re less conspicuous? The play is meant to be heard along with the dialogue.”

“Yes, you’re right! Let’s do that.”

We moved quietly, almost crouching, to seats behind a pillar where we could still hear the conversations. What caught my eye there were the young gentlemen gathered in the center of the salon, and the young lady surrounded by them.

And then, Via and the other young ladies approaching them quietly.

Where they were headed? Stood Lady Ally, the baron’s daughter.

“Huh? Lady Olivia and company? Why are you here?”

Lady Ally cried out in a frightened voice. Her trembling voice, teary eyes. Like a kitten about to burst into tears.

This… she’s been practicing. Her intonation and timing are truly masterful.

“What is it, Olivia? Do you need something?”

Elliot-sama, Via’s fiancé, addressed her warily. Via didn’t respond with a single word, merely smiled faintly and cast a cool gaze.

“…I’m scared, Elliot-sama. I thought I might be told something again. That perhaps people think I don’t belong here, that it’s inappropriate for my status.”

“Don’t worry. We won’t let anyone say anything to you, so rest assured.”

“…R-really? I’m so happy!”

Elliot-sama gently placed a hand on her shoulder. Lady Ally looked down, trembling slightly yet even that posture was perfectly crafted.

A magnificent “tragic heroine.”

Impressive, what a clever girl.

“I really wanted to be friends with everyone. But—”

“But they told you they didn’t want to, right?”

“…Not directly. But all my friends said they would, so it was hard to approach. Right, because I was a commoner.”

“That doesn’t matter!”

Yes, it doesn’t matter at all. She finds it hard to approach Via and the others, but she could approach Elliot-sama and his group that’s what this is about, isn’t it?

“But it’s fine. Because Elliot-sama and the others have become my friends instead.”

Lady Ally smiled. Her face looked very fragile, yet what showed in the depths of her eyes. Was the composure of a victor?

—Well played. However.

While secretly impressed, I shifted my gaze to Via.

Her lips curved up just slightly. But her eyes, weren’t smiling at all. As Via and the others maintained their silence, one of the young gentlemen, Lance-sama, finally lost his patience and raised his voice.

“…What the hell? You’ve been standing there saying nothing. Just three of you standing there. It’s creepy!”

If I recall correctly, he’s the son of a viscount, known for being somewhat emotionally expressive.

His voice held not so much irritation as a mix of confusion and fear. Faced with the three unmoving figures, his nerves couldn’t take it anymore.

However, Via didn’t answer his question immediately. She tilted her head slightly, blinking as if looking at something strange, then smiled softly.

“You said you ‘wouldn’t let anyone say anything,’ so we remained silent to avoid troubling you.”

Her voice was quiet, almost pleasant to the ear. Yet the coldness beneath was unmistakable. Even while smiling, it felt like pressing ice against one’s chest.

Without pause, the next to speak was—

“Indeed. Where we stand is our own business. The ‘freedom’ you all so often speak of, surely we’re allowed to use that word too?”

That was Carla-sama, Lance-sama’s fiancée.

Her clear voice held just the right amount of mockery. Her words contained sharp sarcasm aimed at the young gentlemen who had always used their “freedom as noble sons” as an excuse to do as they pleased.

And then, the last to speak quietly was Clarice-sama, daughter of a count.

“My father told me, ‘Have lunch with your fiancé.’ But since you seem uninterested, I thought I’d at least be in the same space.”

A rational and calm voice. Her composed tone instead made her true intentions stand out sharply. Her statement sent a ripple of tension through the atmosphere.

—And then, the salon began to buzz.

“My, are those the rumored ones?” “Is something about to happen?” “But leaving their fiancés standing like that, isn’t that rude?”

The audience stirred. Well now, the curtain has risen on our story.