15 Leo gifts his hair. (3/3)

(O3O)/ – Here is Ch-15.2!!!

(-.-) – I’m not reading ahead of you guys, so if by mistake I change something important for the plot of the story and it doesn’t make sense in the future, I’ll go back and fix the chapters, Okay?

(OwO) – Enjoy the 2.0 version of Ch-15.3∼♥

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“Oscar∼!!! Oscar, Oscar, Oscar∼!”

The one who entered the second dining hall, while screaming and shouting, was Oscar’s best friend, Rolf Quantz.

“You’re noisy, and I can hear you even if you don’t shout.”

“Of course I can shout, right!? …Ah! That’s not it!”

Rolf was so excited, that his hands couldn’t stay in place and his whole body was shaking.

“It’s a miracle! My mother–”

Oscar was looking at his best friend with a small smile plastered on his face.

“–She finally woke up!”

By the tone on his voice and the look in his eyes, Oscar noticed that Rolf was holding back his tears.

Oscar then grabbed one of Rolf’s shoulders with his right hand and said–

“–I’m glad that she’s alright.”

“Yeah…*Sob*…Waaaaaaaa…!”

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Some time later, after Rolf finally managed to calm down.

“When you told me that Leonora-chan… you know… I thought you were joking, but her hair had a incredible amount of magic power.”

“Me too, I was really surprised when she gave me her hair. Though because of that, Camilla was able to recover.”

“And Camilla… is she okay?”

“She’s fine, more energetic than ever… my father even ordered her a new dress.”

“I see, it’s good to hear that.”

On the day that he received Leonora’s hairs, Oscar went to the church to ask for Harlet’s help in order to cure Camilla’s illness. Rolf’s mother was also diagnosed with the same illness, the Spirit’s Curse. The victim’s blood flow becomes gradually stagnant, making them die a slow and painful death.

And maybe because no one could find a cure for this illness, many doctors gave up on finding a cure just because of the rumor surrounding it: “The person who contracts this illness is destined to die, the spirits cursed that person.”

But in the first place, the Bernsteins had never believed in gods or superstitions, so Oscars’s father used his assets to research a cure for the Spirit’s Curse.

And the results of the research were…… rather astonishing.

Only the “Old Blood” had the power to cure this illness, which all High Nobles and Royalty possessed. But the Bernsteins had not only found the cure for the Spirit’s Curse, it was a Cure for all Diseases… even the diseases that didn’t have a definitive cure, could now be cured by using the magic power of the Royal family, or High Nobles as a catalysts.

After enrolling into the academy as a student, Oscar then contacted Albert and told him the researches his family was conducting, the situation of his sister and the cure that they had found. However, the rumored Benevolent prince refused to help.

Oscar begged, offered gold… but nothing changed, the answer was still a NO.

The theory behind the cure was easy to understand and Oscar had explained it so well, that even someone mentally crippled could understand. The catalyst needed to be a part of their body.

It was possible to understand the Royal family’s side of the story, they didn’t want to bleed themselves for Just that.

But to Oscar, the condescending words that Prince Albert said at that time–

“I know how you feel, but I can’t help you.”

–Were the trigger for a deep hatred.

After that, it didn’t take too long for Oscar to raise an Anti-Albert faction in the academy.

Oscar not only had an excellent brain, but also the influence of his father’s company, which was the biggest company of the whole Empire.

Lower Nobles like Rolf – who had similar circumstances – and some of the common people, joined hands to make this faction one of the great powers in the academy.

Even the religious side of the aristocracy, who were usually just watching the disputes between the other students, sometimes joined Oscar’s faction.

But everything changed after a certain girl with amethyst eyes enrolled into the academy… Leonora von Harkenberg, the rumored Altruistic Saintess.

Even though one strand of her hair was enough, she cut off almost everything she had and gave it to Oscar, who in turn, ran to his home at full speed to deliver the hair to his beloved sister.

After using the hair as a catalyst, Camilla’s blood flow returned to normal. Oscar was so astonished with the results of the experiment, that he didn’t even think twice before sending the remaining hair to Rolf, his best friend.

Because the Bernsteins weren’t a religious family, Oscar wasn’t an acquaintance with the term: “Give and you shall Receive.” The price Oscar had to pay, compared to how much he received from Leonora, was like buying a castle with a copper coin.

But perhaps Leonora just wanted to meet some of her old acquaintances, which Oscar could relate to, since it was a daily occurrence for him to slip out of the academy. But Leonora was a serious kid, so maybe this was like a great adventure for her.

‘Her new nickname – Altruistic Saintess – fits so well with her’ – Thought Oscar.

(Maybe she remembered her own mother and didn’t want the same thing to happen with my sister?)

If you stopped to think about it, Leonora was the owner of the most ‘Noble and Respectable Soul’ out there.

Even Rolf thought the same thing.

“That child really is a saint.”

“…I agree.”

Even Oscar, who’s usually just a sarcastic prick, agreed honestly.

“I know we have to keep this a secret because there’s not enough hair for everyone, but we must reveal the truth and help the others.”

And contrary to Oscar, Rolf, one of the heads of the Bernstein faction, was calmly analyzing this situation.

“You have a point there, but….”

“Then… what should we do, Oscar?”

Rolf was waiting for Oscar’s judgement on the matter.

“As our benefactor, we should protect her… but as the leader of this faction, maybe we should exploit her good will and use her?”

“……Haaaaaaaaaaaaah, Oscar, do you even think before saying those things?”

Oscar then rested his elbows on the table and crossed his fingers in front of his mouth.

“…I know she is not an inexhaustible font of magic power, and it is a shame to let a woman cut her hair so many times… but I didn’t mean to exploit her kindness, it’s just–”

“–It’s just that you need as much hair as possible, right?”

A cold voice suddenly poured down on Oscar and Rolf… and it carried so much killing intent that Oscar even stood up from his chair.

The one standing there in front of him was Albert, the Crown Prince of the Weiz Empire.

“…Well, well… look at what we have here. The Crown Prince himself came just to see me, what a lovely sight.”

And Oscar was…… as sarcastic as ever.

(If Albert has the balls to enter my territory like this, then he must be really angry)

“Today I’m here as the student council president, the protector of all the students…… and as the representative of a girl that I consider as my own little sister–”

Albert’s voice was becoming even more cold towards the end.

“–Whom was harmed by you.”

Albert had his reasons to be angry, but Oscar wouldn’t let himself be punished by something that he didn’t do.

Oscar then straitened his clothes, he was trying to think of a way out of this mess—

“Woah, woah, woah… calm down sunshine… I don’t know what’s going through your head right now… but I didn’t do anything wro—”

“—Do you really think you can fool me, Oscar?”
—But Albert didn’t even want to listen to his excuses. And Oscar knew why Albert was acting like this.

Although he has this nice smile plastered on his face all the time, Albert’s real personality is extremely cold towards other people.

The title of “Next Emperor” wasn’t just for show… Rolf was trembling because of the powerful killing intent that Albert was releasing.

“…Two days ago, Leonora stopped attending her classes. Even when Bianca went to her room, Leonora wouldn’t open the door. But today I found out why Leonora didn’t want other people to see her—”

In fact, Leo didn’t attend his classes because he didn’t know where to go, since he always followed Kai around the academy…… and Kai, well… after seeing Leo’s new haircut, he fell into a state of panic, insanity and then collapsed on the floor. And after two whole days, Kai finally woke up. He had to accept the cold and harsh reality of the matter.

Leo was finally able to attend his classes… but his new haircut shocked everyone—

“—She had a Bob cut….”
—Including Albert, whose voice tone was becoming even colder than before.

For High Noble families, having short hair was a dishonor, and cutting it yourself was considered one of the worst sins.

Women with short hair in the High Noble society were considered as nuns, prostitutes and/or criminals. But Leo, who was raised in the downtown of Richard, didn’t give a s**t about short hair… in fact, long hair annoyed him.

“Hahaha∼! That’s funny! Oh no∼, she told you to come here and avenge her∼, what I’m gonna do now∼, I’m a criminal∼”

Albert’s eyes became so sharp, that if his glare could kill a person, Oscar would be dead.

“…No, she never told me to come here. But when I asked what happened, she said: “I fell and hit my head”.”

“……(°-°) – (Is she really that naive?)…….”

That phase is commonly used when you’re being bullied, so of course Albert would misunderstand.

“And when I pressed her to say the truth, Leonora said: “I can’t, It’d hurt the other party’s dignity and honor”.”

*Whisper*

“…Haaah… that’s so like her.”

Oscar sighed, Leonora’s kindness knew no bounds, she even considered Camilla’s dignity as someone who caught the Spirit Curse. But in reality, Leo only helped Oscar because wanted to escape from the Prince and leave the academy.

However, none of this would go through Albert’s ears. After all, he’s really unreasonable when angry.

“Well… I think I don’t need a proof of who’s behind Leonora’s new haircut, right Oscar?”

Albert’s face was emotionless, not even the initial anger could be seen anymore… just a cold void.

“Tell me, Oscar… why did you harm that pure angel?”

“I–”

But Albert didn’t care about his reasons or excuses.

“–Well, it doesn’t matter… I’ll kill you two anyways.”

“Wait a moment you crazy psycho-! Listen to me-!”

It wasn’t working. Nothing that Oscar said would make Albert change his mind.

Oscar then looked in Rolf’s direction and said—

“—Go hide yourself!”

“B-but—”

“—Now dammit!”

“Ugh…! Okay, but don’t do anything crazy, you hear me!?”

Scary.

That’s the perfect word to describe the handsome man wielding an expensive sword right in front of him. It was so scary that Oscar could even see an illusion of himself dying over and over again, because of the powerful killing intent.

But Oscar wasn’t someone that would go down without a fight.

“Now listen here, you fu**er… I’m not making excuses, so I’ll say it only once… I didn’t hurt her, and I don’t need more hair….”

“You think you can foo–!”

“–Leonora heard me talking about my sister, so she gave me her hair. I didn’t take it by force.”

After mentioning his sister, Albert’s rage lessened a bit.

“You mean… Camilla?”

“Heee∼, so you remembered her name. Yes, that Camilla… my lovely sister… that you, so easily, discarded.”

“I didn’t discard her! I just needed more time to–!”

*Bang!!!*

Oscar then slammed the table and said: “Don’t lie to me!”

“–I told you how powerful that disease really is! My sister couldn’t wait any longer–!”

Albert was taken aback, he didn’t expect Oscar’s sudden outburst of rage.

“–Besides, how much more I’d have to wait!? Until she’s already dead, or when you feel generous enough to give her a few strands of your majesty’s hair!?”

“That’s why I said–!”

“–Don’t bother, It’s okay now–”

Albert couldn’t finish what he was trying to say.

“–Contrary to you, Leonora knows what real “Altruism” means.”

“Just to help your sister… Leonora….”

“Yes, she did… and thanks to that, my lovely sister was able to completely recover… without even needing the help of the Royal Family.”

“You–!”

Albert’s face was filled with despair.

“–H-have you… used her… hair?”

“And why are you asking me∼?”

“T-that’s…….”

The prince’s face became stiff. Oscar could see from Albert’s expression that he was jealous and worried at the same time, but Oscar didn’t care about him.

“I’m grateful for what Leonora did, so I won’t exploit her… ever…. Though I’ll kindly ask if she’s willing to help us again in the future.”

Rolf, who was watching the entire conversation, had a questioning look on his face. He didn’t understand what Oscar was trying to do by provoking Albert. But all of his questions vanished, after seeing his best friend grinning.

“Oscar please, wait a moment! Magic power isn’t something–!”

“–Your accusations were baseless in the first place, so now you want to preach me on what I can and cannot do?”

Albert was frustrated. It didn’t matter what he said, Oscar wouldn’t listen to him.

“…You know what Albert, now it’s your time to feel cornered….”

“Don’t you dare….”

The two were glaring at each other.

The killing intent had vanished…… but in it’s place, clear hostility could be seen in their eyes.

That Tea Party was something “Inoffensive” too, so Albert couldn’t punish Oscar for a sin that he didn’t commit.

On the other hand, Oscar always knew that becoming the enemy of the Royal family was akin to suicide… but if that was the only way to save the people suffering from Spirit Curse, then Oscar was more than willing to do it.

And in order to make those wishes come true, Oscar maintained the facade of a sarcastic prick… but with Leonora on his side, Oscar would be able to accomplish his goals. After all, he didn’t need Albert anymore.

“A sorcery presentation will be held here, at the academy—”

Oscar was smiling—

“—And I dare say it’s going to be the biggest sorcery presentation of all times—!”
—Making big gestures—

“—There’s even a ball afterwards! So it’s not surprising that a lot of foreign Nobles and Kings would attend the presentation—”
—And spinning in place, just to make fun of the event.

“—But guess what’s gonna happen∼?”

“…What are you planning, Oscar.”

“Fufufu, no∼thing much? I just thought that it’d be really funny to see your face contorting in despair, as I destroy your public image in front of all those foreign Nobles and Kings.”

“I’ll ask again…! What are you planing, Oscar!?”

Albert then released a bit of killing intent, he wanted to scare Oscar.

But Oscar knew that Albert was just trying to threaten him.

“Well, if you don’t believe me, then I guess you’ll have to wait until the presentation.”

The chairs in the back shook a bit and Rolf came out from the back of one of them, still a bit stiff.

Rolf couldn’t believe what he was seeing, Oscar wasn’t just defying Albert’s authority–

“Well then… see-ya, Albert. I have some classes that I need to attend.”

“Wait right there, Oscar-! If you leave-!”

–Albert was being completely ignored.

“Ahh! Wait for me, Oscar∼!” – Said Rolf, while running in his best friend’s direction that had left the second dining hall.

*Bang!*

*Crack!*

“The Prince is really angry, right!? He’s even breaking stuff!”

“Yeah, he is.”

“Then, isn’t this situation really bad!? I mean, REALLY BAD!?”

“Haaah… Albert may be angry right now, but he’s not a fool.”

It’d cause an uproar in the academy if Albert, the Crown Prince of the Weiz Empire, were to slash a innocent student out of nowhere… it could even start a rebellion.

“Did you just… bet in the intelligence of your enemy?”

“You’re right, I did… and right now, the tables have turned in our favor. If we spread the information about the new treatment for the Spirit Curse, many students will realize that Leonora isn’t the only one with the ability to help them… Albert has a lot of magic power, and many other High Nobles too.”

Rolf opened his eyes wide.

“You’re trying to avoid a faction war, while pushing all the trouble towards Albert!?”

“If we do this right, everyone will be on our side. But for this plan to work, our stage needs to be on the day of the presentation.”

“…And if we do everything right, we’ll even secure Leonora-chan’s safety.”

Rolf then grinned while looking at his black-haired best friend.

“Fufufu, for you to destroy the Royal family just to protect a girl… what a weird way of doing things.”

“\\\……\\\”

“Well, I at least think that you’re doing the right thing, Oscar.”

The two of them needed to prepare, because their plan had to be perfect.

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(O3O)/ – Thank you for reading or re-reading this chapter!!!

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