I Think My Fiancé Has Regressed

Chapter 48: Second semester begins (3)

Lady Sophia Wyre, daughter of a viscount.

She is the eldest of the three daughters of Viscount Wyre and a third-year student who is the current president of the tea ceremony club.

She took the idea from Charlotte and she’s also one of the three most annoying people among Miss Sierra’s existing forces.

Of the three, I’ve had quite a bit of interaction with Natalia since then, and she’s helped me quite a bit when I’ve taken out other factions.

We’ve remained quite close to this day in the aftermath.

Ms. Elaine also said hello to me a few times, and occasionally had a short conversation.

Our conversations are usually about books. We haven’t talked about history again.

Miss Sophia, however, is someone with whom I have had little interaction beyond passing greetings since the day she apologized to me.

Still, when Miss Sierra was still at the Academy, she was an active tea ceremony member, even going so far as to organize her own.

She hasn’t even held a tea ceremony since she officially joined my faction, and it’s almost as if she’s letting her performance slide.

That and the obvious evidence of foul play I found in the pile of papers today.

Maybe it had something to do with Miss Sierra, which is why I hurried up to the tea ceremony clubroom.

“May I come in for a moment?”

“…You mean now?”

“Yes.”

“Of course, Lady Ariana. Please feel free to look around.”

Ms. Sophia, nonchalantly ushered me inside, but I noticed a considerable amount of change in her expression.

An averted gaze, biting her lower lip, fidgeting fingers.

It was clear that she was hiding something.

Whether it’s something beyond mere embezzlement, or another indication of foul play, remains to be seen.

“Hmmm.”

As for the interior, I didn’t feel too out of place.

There are several different types of tea pots, a variety of tea leaves, and other accessories to enhance the flavor of the tea.

It’s called a tea ceremony, but it’s set in a western fantasy, so it’s a department that studies western tea culture, which is different from the usual tea ceremony.

Of course, it’s hard to tell if they’re actually studying tea culture or if they’re just putting on a show.

“Are there any other members?”

“Well, that’s….”

“…….”

“Well, everyone’s been gone for a while, so I’m practically on my own now….”

She’s getting a significant amount of club fees and it’s essentially a one-person club.

I kept smelling something fishy and it didn’t take long to figure out what it was.

“These are peppermint leaves, right?”

“Yes, yes….”

“Well, judging by the dried out tips of the leaves, they don’t look very fresh.”

“Yes, they are…….”

When storing mint leaves, the tips of the twigs should be dipped in water to keep them fresh.

But looking at the peppermint leaves stored here, I can’t say that they’re fresh or well stored.

“Darjeeling would go bad in a clear jar like this, too. Did you put it out there on purpose to pretend you’re active?”

“…….”

“I’ll take your silence as an affirmation.”

As Miss Sophia stammered in embarrassment, I calmly continued with my next point.

“And if you look closely, there’s an ingredient that doesn’t seem to have much to do with the tea ceremony…no, I mean ‘drug’ mixed in.”

“That, that’s….”

“Arginine is not a drug used in a tea ceremony by any stretch of the imagination, and neither is tyrosine. Is there any type of tea that I’m not aware of that has both of those drugs in it?”

“Oh, no….”

Apparently losing the will to make excuses, Miss Sophia nodded grimly and replied.

“As of today, the tea ceremony is closed, so if you have any excuses, please say them now.”

“…Uh, I don’t have one.”

“Oh, and one more thing.”

“…….”

“I’m also closing the Alchemy Club, of which Miss Sophia is the dual vice president.”

Miss Sophia’s eyes widened.

She hadn’t expected me to know anything about the Alchemy Club, and her bewildered look was transmitted to me.

“You didn’t think I wouldn’t know?”

“…….”

“Did you think I didn’t know that you were getting double funding from the tea ceremony and alchemy clubs, and that you weren’t really doing anything?”

“Oh, no….”

“Miss Sierra may have been able to accommodate you, but I’m not the type to do that.”

As for how this came to be, I already had a rough idea.

Up until last year, the student council had consisted of Alex, Kael, and Sierra.

The rest of the seats were filled with Ms. Sierra’s cronies, and Alex had even been brainwashed by her.

Kael was the only one actually doing his job, which probably made it easier for Miss Sierra’s faction to cheat in various ways in the past.

The embezzlement of Viscountess Sophia Wyre’s club fees must have been made in this context as well.

She put her name on two club presidencies that had no activity, and stole two clubs’ worth of fees.

At least when Miss Sierra was at the Academy, she could have organized a tea party under her orders and pretend to be active.

Now that Miss Sierra is gone, she doesn’t even need to organize the tea party, so she lost all the credit she could have gotten.

Only a bunch of unmanaged tea party items are left and I can see the whole story at first glance.

“Last time, you said you’d repented of your past mistakes and joined my faction, but perhaps you only meant it in words and didn’t really intend to follow me?”

“That’s not true, Lady Ariana, I just….”

“It’s no use, the Tea Ceremony and Alchemy clubs are both deadbeats, and the Academy’s finances aren’t rich enough to let go of clubs that aren’t doing their job.

“And I will also reclaim all the club activity funds you have been embezzling by yourself. If you do not comply properly… be prepared for the consequences.”

Just as I was about to leave the club room with those last words to Ms. Sophia, she grabbed my arm and suddenly said.

“Now, wait a minute, Ariana!”

“…….”

“Come on, at least leave the Alchemy Club for me, Lady Ariana!”

“……?”

At the unintelligible plea from Miss Sophia’s mouth, I briefly wondered if I’d heard wrong.

“I’m almost finished with my research! The tea ceremony can be closed, so please leave the alchemy club alone, Lady Ariana!”

“…….”

I hadn’t misheard her.

First of all, aside from the shameless request to keep the club, I wondered why she was asking to keep the Alchemy Club and not the Tea Ceremony Club.

The tea ceremony club would be a much more efficient way to get money for a gimmicky activity.

Besides, it’s almost finished.

So, Miss Sophia, you were actually taking the Alchemy Club pretty seriously?

“I know I’ve been cheating all this time, and I’ll admit that I deliberately used Miss Sierra to double my club fees, and then spent almost all of it on alchemy research!

I knew I was going to get caught eventually, and I’m willing to take the punishment! But please, please, please let me finish my last research before I get expelled, please, Lady Ariana!”

…What to do about it.

From the sound of it, it sounds like Miss Sophia was pretty serious about her alchemy club work, and that she was just a few steps away from making it pay off.

But it’s also possible that all of this is just a cop-out to avoid the situation at hand, and that there’s a good chance that this is something that could develop into something more troublesome later if not dealt with now.

Based on what she just said, it seems like she’s at least not lying about using her activity fees for the alchemy club.

…I’ll have to talk to her a bit more before I can judge.

“If Miss Sophia has indeed been working on your alchemical research, and is actually on the verge of making a breakthrough.”

“I really am! I’m just one last step away….”

“Show me that alchemical achievement that Miss Sophia has been working on.”

“Oh, it’s……”

Now, as I’ve said before, I don’t believe in unscientific disciplines like alchemy but in this world I live in, there’s plenty of unscientific stuff going on.

I just had to check it out one last time to see what she was working on.