Even as Leo spoke, his voice filled with certainty, Elliot ran to Matilda.
Matilda covered her head with her arms, as if she was afraid she’d be hit.
Her hair was the same as Leo’s: long enough to hide her face. Elliot reached out and grabbed it. Then he yanked as hard as he could. It didn’t take much strength; it rustled and came off Matilda’s head with startling ease. —It was a wig.
The hair and face that peeked out from beneath it certainly did belong to…
“You’re……Marcel!”
It was Marcel—a student in Elliot’s year, who lived in Elliot’s dorm—and his face was the picture of fear. Marcel had always been teased for being more suited to the girls’ uniform than the boys’, and even without the wig, the girls’ uniform didn’t look odd on him.
Of course, Elliot was startled.
However, the shock was probably greater for the girls who had shared their club activities with “her.” At first, a stunned silence hung over the group, but finally a spectacular “Eeeeeeeeeeeh—!?” rang out.
“Come on, Elliot, think back.”
Leo began to speak, in a tone that seemed to say, Can’t you even understand this? But it’s so simple!
“That threatening letter was delivered to Gerald in the boys’ dorm, and that’s also where he was pushed down the stairs.”
“……What about it?” Elliot looked puzzled.
“Just as the girls’ dorm is off-limits to boys, the boys’ dorm is off-limits to girls. It would be much too risky for a girl to go to the trouble of sneaking in, as I’m sure you know. If a girl was going to do something like that, it would have been much safer for her to make the attempt inside the school building. In other words, the culprit had to have been someone for whom being in the boys’ dorm wasn’t a risk: a guy.”
“Well, when you put it that way…”
Leo’s explanation had convinced Elliot, but those were still the only words he could get out.
Leo went on:
“When I heard their discussion from the corridor, all I thought was that they probably had a male accomplice somewhere. However, when we came into the room and I saw him, it clicked. …Well, if I hadn’t heard Marcel’s name from Gerald, even I wouldn’t have caught on.”
Leo glanced at Marcel, smiled cheerfully, and spoke to him: “That looks really good on you.”
Then he added:
“When we left Gerald a bit ago, he seemed set to barge into your room right away. I bet he struck out there and has completely lost his temper right about now. He’d never dream you were in the girls’ dorm.”
As Leo spoke, Marcel was silent, his shoulders trembling.
As if to speak for him, Josephine opened her mouth. In a voice that seemed to say the game was up, she accepted it, and she regretted her actions, she said:
“When he…when Marcel learned of the Blue Rose Club’s existence, he came and said he wanted to join. That was about half a year ago. I was troubled. You see, we conducted our activities quietly, surreptitiously. A group that was all girls save for one lone boy would stand out…… And so I thought I’d turn him away. However, his enthusiasm got the better of me.”
To that end, she’d informed him that, if he wore a wig, donned the female students’ uniform, gave a false girl’s name, and pretended to be a girl, he would be allowed to attend. She also said he’d been required to be quiet, speaking as little as possible during meetings.
And so Marcel had joined the Blue Rose Club as the female student “Matilda.”
Taking up where Josephine had left off, Marcel began to speak, haltingly.
“…I was the one who heard about last month’s vote and proposed Project Coronation to Josephine-sama. I’d always thought that Elliot-kun would make a much better prefect than stupid Gerald-san. If I was going to take care of somebody, serve somebody, I wanted it to be Elliot-kun. That’s why—”
Marcel was unable to continue past that point.
…Because Elliot had grabbed his shirtfront and yanked him up, forcing him to his feet.
Then Elliot pulled Marcel right up to him.
Elliot and Marcel faced each other, so close that the tips of their noses almost touched. A few of the girls seated on the sofas gave tiny, appreciative squeals, but when Leo looked at them, glasses glinting, they hastily fell silent.
Elliot took one slow, deep breath.
“—Marcel. I’m not going to hit you.”
His furious, merciless gaze bored directly into Marcel’s eyes.
Then he continued, his words frankly scornful:
“I won’t, because you aren’t a guy who’s worth hitting yet. I have zero interest in being prefect. However, if I wanted to be one, I’d use my own strength to take the position. It’s just like Leo said. You thought I’d accept being made prefect through underhanded methods like that. That means you could never be my valet. Quit playing me for a fool…!”
At this scathing condemnation, despair spread across Marcel’s face.
Elliot let go, shoving him away. Dropping back onto the sofa, Marcel said, “I’m sorry…” in a trembling voice. Then words seemed to fail him.
A heavy silence filled the common room.
Overawed by Elliot’s anger, no one seemed able to make a sound. However, in the midst of that silence, Leo fixed quiet eyes on Elliot. His lips moved very slightly, forming the words, Such a kind soul, but he didn’t say them aloud, and no one noticed.
Before long:
“And anyway—”
Elliot spoke as though spitting the words out, but there was a fearless smile somewhere in his prickly attitude:
“Valets are a pain in the butt. Leo’s the only one I need.”
After that declaration, he shut his mouth.
Behind him, Leo said, in his usual tone, “I’m well aware of that.” Then, as if to brush away the heavy atmosphere that filled the room, he continued cheerfully:
“Elliot’s a pain-in-the-butt master, too, you see, and you’re delicate, Marcel. I really can’t recommend him.”
Turning to glare at Leo, Elliot grumbled, “Can it.” However, something about his expression made it look as though he was enjoying himself. Then, abruptly, his face went grim again. This time he turned to Josephine, pointing at her.
“You people, too! Your whatever-it-was club. As of today, consider yourselves disbanded! You’re done!”
At that proclamation, Josephine gasped. She leapt up from the sofa.
“Please wait, Master Blue… I mean, Elliot Nightray-sama!”
“No excuses! I’m the one you were having fun chewing to pieces, and I say you’re done!”
“B-but! Would it not be sufficient if Marcel and I alone left—”
Josephine did regret her actions, of course. However, she didn’t seem able to accept that the entire Blue Rose Club should be punished, including the girls who had had nothing to do with the scheme.
That said, Elliot wasn’t willing to give an inch, either.
All Elliot would say was “Disband,” while Josephine kept insisting that no one except herself and Marcel had had anything to do with it. The girls watched this battle for the fate of the Blue Rose Club with bated breath. A threatening atmosphere filled the common room, and the matter showed no signs of being settled anytime soon.
Then: “Hmm……” Leo, thinking hard, seemed to hit on an idea. Slowly, his lips parted.
“In that case, let me relay the final message from Gardener ‘M’ to you.”
At those words, all the female students—and Marcel—stared at him in astonishment.
“Gardener ‘M’? What’s that?”
Only Elliot didn’t understand. “Later,” Leo told him, and continued:
“I also think you should disband. This incident was—”
When he’d gotten that far, Josephine raised her voice: “Wait just a moment!”
Leo looked at her. She was so startled she’d gone pale. In a hoarse voice, Josephine said:
&nb
sp; “You’re… You were Gardener ‘M’?”
When Leo nodded, Josephine whirled around to look at Marcel.
“Th-the letters said ‘Don’t pry,’ so I refrained from asking, but… I thought Marcel was the gardener… His name starts with M, after all……”
All the girls turned to Marcel, but Marcel shook his head.
“May I continue?” Leo asked, but there was no reply. Leo tilted his head slightly, perplexed.
“Mm, well, never mind. I’ll continue. —Even if this happened because a few members got out of control, it’s true that the existence of the Blue Rose Club caused it by inviting excessive fanaticism. For that reason, I can’t allow the club to remain, either.”
No one could argue. Everyone looked down, hanging their heads.
“However, each of you is free to consider Elliot something special, to think of him and about him. Even Elliot won’t intrude on your individual hearts and force you to change your thoughts. I really can’t imagine he would.”
“Well, I, uh……”
Emotionally, Elliot still objected, but he couldn’t say it.
As Elliot watched Leo speak in that matter-of-fact voice, he also seemed to see him as he’d been when he was still at the House of Fianna. Leo had called the younger children his brothers and sisters. When one of the older ones had been mean to another child, and Leo had reprimanded them, this was how he’d looked.
In contrast to Elliot, who’d faltered, Josephine hesitantly voiced her lingering regrets.
“But our precious assembly…”
“Yeah, I know. Listen.”
Speaking in a rather light tone, Leo approached Josephine and whispered something in her ear.
When, after a short while, Leo drew back, Josephine’s face wore a sunny smile.
“I understand. Today, as of this moment, the Blue Rose Club is disbanded.”
Her proclamation was delivered with good grace.
On hearing it, disappointment showed on all the girls’ faces. However, no one complained. “That’s that, then,” Leo smiled, turning to Elliot, and conversely, Elliot felt irritation start to build inside him.
It was true that the matter of the Blue Rose Club had been resolved. …But.
Leo had known about the Blue Rose Club.
Leo had introduced himself to the girls as Gardener “M.”
The girls had obeyed Leo’s words obediently.
They were master and servant, and friends on top of that, but it didn’t mean they had to reveal everything to each other.
However, having lots of secrets floating around didn’t feel good.
Irritably, Elliot struck the floor of the common room with the toe of his shoe, crossed his arms, and began the interrogation.
“…Hey. Hurry up and explain all this to me, starting at the beginning. I’ve got the right to hear it.”
“Yes, you do.”
Leo agreed easily.
“Are you planning to stay here, though? The common room may be built to make it hard to hear what goes on inside, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to camp. You were being very loud, you know.”
At Leo’s words, Elliot froze for a moment. Then, with an expression that said as plain as day that their circumstances had slipped his mind, that he’d forgotten they were intruders in the girls’ dorm, he muttered:
“……………………………………………………Oh.”
“Well, I technically did it for you, Elliot.”
They were in a narrow, pitch-black passageway, barely wide enough for one person, when Leo spoke. Elliot, who was walking very carefully ahead of Leo, asked, “For me?”
As Leo had guessed, the common room had held the entrance to a secret passageway. Josephine had operated the mechanism of the entrance to the corridor—which had been, she said, a secret handed down through the years, known only to girls’ dormitory prefects—and let the two of them escape.
As Elliot walked, feeling his way along the wall, he asked again, “What do you mean, ‘for me’?”
“I found out about the Blue Rose Club by chance, a while ago. It was a quiet group back then, but it also felt as if things could get out of hand at any time. I thought about telling you, but you’re terrible at dealing with things like that, so I didn’t.”
Disgusted, Elliot was silent. When he thought back to what had just happened in the common room, he had to admit that Leo had probably made the right call.
“I thought that, as long as they weren’t starved for information, the Blue Rose Club would stay quiet. To keep the pressure from building up, I sent them a certain amount of information from our end on a regular basis under the name Gardener ‘M,’ before they came looking for it. Information about you, I mean. Although, in the end, it looks like they got out of hand anyway.”
“W-w-wait just a minute. ‘Sent them information’………You did?”
“Right. I sent letters about how you tried to leave your vegetables at breakfast; things like that. Girls are really tough to understand, though. I didn’t manage to read them completely.”
“That’s not what I meant! What the hell were you doing, you jerk?!”
Elliot couldn’t help himself: He yelled. He turned around in the darkness, but although Leo couldn’t have been that far away, he couldn’t see him. That meant he couldn’t grab him by the shirtfront.
Leo spoke, calmly:
“If I hadn’t done that, they would have intruded further and further into your private life. Before long, they might have been peeping into our room. You didn’t want that either, did you?”
He spoke without hesitation, and the logic seemed sound. But, Elliot thought. Leo had, without a doubt, been at least a little entertained. “……Haaaaah.” Elliot gave a long sigh, then asked a question that had been on his mind:
“By the way, what’s with the ‘M’? You don’t have an M in your name.”
“Oh, it’s the first letter of ‘menace,’” Leo answered nonchalantly. “It means ‘threat,’ and similar things. —It meant that the gardener definitely wasn’t the Blue Rose Club’s ally.”
In the end, Elliot thought, it had been Leo’s words that had done away with the Blue Rose Club, so “threat” had been entirely accurate. His valet had a rather extreme side to him, and if words alone hadn’t done it, there was no telling what methods he might have used. He didn’t even want to imagine it.
Leo continued, smiling wryly, oblivious to what Elliot was feeling.
“Still, it ended up becoming a weird source of pocket money, and that was a problem.”
Pocket money. The word had come out of nowhere, and Elliot gave a foolish-sounding “Huh?
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“They said it was a gratuity for providing information as the gardener. They always left it where I left the letters.”
“…………I’m so appalled I can’t even— Whoa?”
Possibly because he’d been concentrating on his conversation with Leo, when the dark passageway turned into stairs leading down, Elliot lost his balance and almost fell. Somehow he managed to hang on. The stairs in the secret passage were steep, and if he fell, he wasn’t likely to walk away unscathed.
Now that he thought of it, Josephine had said to be careful of the stairs. Apparently a prefect had fallen down them and died once.
“Man, that’s not safe… Stairs, Leo.”
“Yeah. So you see, I did tell you it wasn’t anything important.”
“—???”
He didn’t know what Leo was saying. However, as he slowly descended the stairs, an unpleasant premonition began to well up in Elliot’s heart. Just maybe, he thought. He was a little afraid to ask, but he did anyway, praying that that wouldn’t be it.
“Do you mean, uh, that…”
“Right. That bookmark I gave you. I bought it with that pocket money. Since I’d earned it selling information about you, I thought that was probably the best thing to do with it. Come to think of it, I w
onder where that white cat went. I’d forgotten about it. Well, it’s probably dark outside anyway. I guess we won’t be able to look for it anymore. Right, Elliot? …Elliot?”
“………………………………………………………………………………………………”
No matter how many times he called him, Elliot was silent.
Even he couldn’t put a name to the emotion that churned inside him. It felt a bit like anger, and a bit like embarrassment, and a bit like futility… A little like all of them, or maybe like none of them. He just felt muddled, and dissatisfied, and as if it wasn’t fair.
“Hey, Elliot.”
When Leo called him again, Elliot answered in a voice so low it seemed to echo from the depths of hell.
“A thing like that… Even if we find it, even if I get it back…”
“You’ll throw it away? That’s fine, too; I don’t mind.”
Leo sounded as if he truly didn’t care.
Elliot gave a short groan. Girls entertaining themselves by picking apart his private life over their tea. Money earned in exchange. The bookmark, bought with that money. …In other words, he felt, carrying that around as if it was something important would be the same as approving of what the girls had done. He really and truly couldn’t accept that, and yet…
He’d gotten that bookmark from Leo. He’d been rather—no, very—fond of it.
He’d liked it so much he’d thought he had to get it back, no matter what.
But.
But.
But—
In Elliot’s mind, a balance that held the choices “Throw it away” and “Keep it” on its two scales wavered and rocked, back and forth. It was beginning to give him a mild headache.
They went down, down, down the stairs, until they reached the first floor. Then they made their way by touch again. They’d been told that the secret passageway came out behind the girls’ dorm, in a place that was almost always deserted. As they went, Elliot managed to squeeze out the words that were lodged in his throat, spitting them out by force.
“…That…stupid bookmark! I…… I’ll……I’m……gonna—”
PandoraHearts ~Caucus Race~, Vol. 2 Page 8