Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 71

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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It’s the result of licking every single line where you appear in the novel. I can’t even say it like this—what do I do?
As I stood there at a loss for words, fortunately Princess Sera interjected with her usual reckless boldness.
“Seian! I don’t know anything about you besides your hobbies! Before joining the club, I had zero interest in you!”
“Shut up! What are you bragging about?”
“It’s not bragging, but it’s not really a flaw either! Everyone in the Imperial Palace doesn’t care about you!”
“Ouch!”
Stop it—Seian’s going to die from the facts alone.
I reminded both of them that today was a good day and put an end to their bickering. The moment they saw what I’d hastily pulled from my holster—my “effective tool for breaking up fights”—they linked arms and laughed together.
“Hey, come on, siblings can squabble. Why are you always so quick-tempered?”
“Calm down, Evan. If you fire that, we die. Calm down, Evan.”
“No. You won’t die. This is a special gun—the magic I’ve imbued in the bullets is what comes out.”
“That’s even worse, you lunatic!”
“Generally speaking, you die. Calm down, Evan.”
…Really? When I sparred with Magania and Hubert, neither of them died.
I pondered the difference in durability between beastkin and ordinary humans, then holstered the pistol. I see. I thought they’d just freeze a little. Humans just die, I guess.
“I apologize. There was a misunderstanding.”
“Your misunderstanding could cost someone their life, Evan.”
“I’ll remember that.”
I nodded quietly at Princess Sera’s warning to be careful with my strength. Coming from someone who’d caused accidents multiple times due to excess power, her words carried weight.
“Now that we’ve finished talking, shall we make a toast?”
Sunbird’s ability to organize situations is remarkable. He dismissed the commotion from moments ago as mere casual conversation, distributed fresh fruit juice to the club members, and raised his own glass.
“Don’t you have wine?”
“Your Highness is a minor.”
“I drank it at the Palace.”
“The attendants there simply obeyed Your Highness’s orders.”
Sensing pressure from the man subtly implying he wasn’t someone who simply followed orders, Sera laughed awkwardly and redirected with a toast.
“Then let’s celebrate Seian’s eighteenth birthday!”
“Nineteenth! I’m your older brother!”
“His nineteenth birthday! Cheers!”
So she really doesn’t know Seian’s age—she truly has no interest. I raised my glass with everyone else and drank the juice. After the modest party ended, with Princess Sera’s help, we moved the piano to Seian’s House.

“A bit more to the right! It’s too close to the window right now. Yes, there. Just set it down.”
Under Sunbird’s direction, Sera and I hoisted the upright piano and set it down in the living room. Carrying it had been grueling, but seeing it positioned here now felt perfect—as if it had always belonged in this spot.
Now this impoverished Crown Prince could finally indulge in his hobbies to his heart’s content.
“Give it a test run, and if it needs tuning, just say the word. I’ll have someone come.”
“Mm.”
That sound, in Seian’s language, meant “Yeah, sounds good. Thanks for your help.” We agreed to discuss any issues we encountered on Monday at the Dining Hall, and since it was getting late, we decided to part ways.
Ding dong.
The sun had set, the sky had turned ashen, and the evening looked so gloomy that rain seemed imminent—if no one had come to visit Seian’s House at such an hour, that would have been ideal.
“Yes! Who is it!”
“How strange. I wasn’t expecting anyone to visit Seian’s House. What’s this about?”
“Hey, I get visitors at my place too, you know?!”
While Seian protested loudly behind me, Sunbird and I headed to the intercom. Just as it had been at the Department Head Professor’s house before, a 3D holographic image burst forth from the wall pad—a group wearing blank white masks with no eyes, nose, or mouth. I nearly lashed out at the image.
“Please wait. We are attendants of the Crown Princess.”
Why does that unpleasant woman have to make even her servants unpleasant?!
I recalled the Crown Princess’s eyes—sunken like an abyss, murky as rotting mud—and shuddered involuntarily. Even during my time as Mitchell, I’d only encountered her a handful of times, but each time felt deeply unsettling.
Even a corpse wouldn’t look as eerie and terrifying. Just looking at her made one’s skin crawl.
Her black eyes were the same as Seian’s, and her hair fell past her waist just like his, yet somehow they were so different. It was almost grotesque that such a disparity could exist between siblings born of the same mother.
Princess Sera, despite being a half-sibling, seemed far closer to Seian. The key difference was that she appeared to be a living, breathing being.
“I am Aten Polat, a servant of the Third Princess. What brings you here?”
Sunbird stated his affiliation and inquired about their purpose, but the masked group simply stood in place, silent and ominous. As if this wasn’t the first time, Sunbird shrugged and gestured for Seian to step forward.
“It seems the Crown Prince himself will need to speak with them directly.”
“….”
Cheer up, transparent Crown Prince. Your older sister did send someone, after all. If I had a sister like that, I think one of us would have killed the other by now.
“Sera and you—keep your mouths shut. If word of this gets out, it’ll be a headache.”
Sera, sure, but why me?
I wondered why I’d be mentioned when I had no influence whatsoever on the succession struggle, but I decided to let Seian handle this and kept quiet.
The Mitchell part of my consciousness was recoiling at the thought of becoming entangled with that family.
Seian crossed the garden as light rain began to fall, met the Crown Princess’s attendants at the gate, received a gift box from them without a word, and returned soaked, his face thoroughly contorted.
“Did Cecilia send a birthday gift? That’s surprisingly thoughtful of her.”
Sera, you’re not just ignoring Seian—you’re calling everyone in the Imperial Court by their first names. That’s refreshingly straightforward.
“Well then. Since it might be a personal gift, should we withdraw?”
“No! Don’t go! Sera, you don’t go either, and neither does the bird!”
“My Aten is Sunbird! He’s not just some bird!”
“Same difference!”
Seian, you’re clearly terrified over this one gift from Crown Princess Cecilia. The man clung to my hand disgustingly, took a deep breath, and slowly opened the gift box. Inside the simple box was a card wishing him a happy birthday, and a long, pitch-black metal skewer.
“What is this?”
“Given Cecilia’s personality, she might have sent it as a symbolic threat to stab you to death.”
“I don’t think that’s it… Isn’t this a fire starter?”
At Sunbird’s suggestion, Sera and I exclaimed in agreement.
“It certainly looks like a metal skewer meant for starting fires.”
“Look, there’s even soot on the blade. It looks like something she actually used.”
“She gave you something used instead of new?”
“Well… knowing Cecilia’s personality, if you complained, she’d probably use Seian as kindling or something like that…”
“Do all Imperial Court people place so much meaning on objects like you do?”
“…? Other families don’t?”
“They do not.”
Sera looked startled, then mumbled something about how we’ve lived this way our entire lives.
That family really does live in a complicated way. Since they read meaning into everything, that must be why Father always told me to keep my mouth shut and not move a muscle whenever he brought me to the Imperial Palace.
“Get out.”
I glanced at Seian, intending to tease him about how just moments ago he’d been clutching my hand desperately, begging me to stay by his side. But the man’s face had turned deathly pale, and cold sweat was beading on his forehead.
“Seian. Are you alright? Are you sick?”
I wondered if he’d caught a cold during that brief time in the rain, but Seian raised his thin, paper-like arm and pushed at my back.
“Get out. Get out now! Leave this instant!”
“Understood. Calm down, Seian. If you hit us, you’ll only hurt your own hand.”
“Get out!”
His temperament, really.
I complied with Seian’s demand and led Sera and Sunbird out past the front gate. Then Seian slammed the door shut without so much as a farewell. How rude.
“Rude, really.”
“Nothing new about it, Evan.”
“True. Seian wouldn’t be Seian without being rude.”
“Right. His mood changes a dozen times a day—that’s Seian.”
For someone who’d only recently taken an interest in Seian, you certainly know a lot about him, Sera. I shook hands with her to reaffirm our friendship, while Sunbird gazed back at Seian’s house with a worried expression.
“Do you think he’ll be alright, Your Highness? He looked quite unwell.”
“Once his mood improves, he’ll come crawling out humming and whistling. That’s Seian.”
“Your understanding of Seian is still lacking, my dear Sunbird.”
“Well, I suppose that’s a relief, then…”
Sera and I assured Sunbird there was nothing to worry about, agreed to meet again during the next liberal arts class, and parted ways. As for Seian, I’d see him anyway during volunteer hours at the Dining Hall, so I could ask him about today’s events in detail then.
After the weekend passed, Monday morning at breakfast time. Seian did not appear at the General Studies Department Dining Hall.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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