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Chapter 22: Calm Before the Storm: A Smart Kid Beside a Trouble-Maker

The Grand Duchess told the old lady that she found Janice, who could make her son a "victim," absolutely lovely and was so grateful.

"Oh, children fight—it happens. ...Oh my, Auntie! This is a first for me. Saying something like this! I'm so moved. I never thought I'd get to say this in my lifetime."

The Grand Duchess dabbed at her torrential tears with a handkerchief.

The old lady, who had raised a son whose troublemaking rivaled Raymond's in his youth, patted her shoulder, saying she understood her heart.

And from that day on, Janice and Raymond met regularly to build camaraderie.

Every time they met, round two, round three, round ten... up to round forty would break out between them, but nobody paid attention to such trivial matters.

The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess needed a child who could be Raymond's "friend" on equal footing, without having to worry about the Emperor's pressure or favor. And the old Duke and old lady thought that if Janice became Raymond's "friend," the weakness of her illegitimate birth would be shielded.

Whether she was legitimate or not, Janice was the only heir of House Roman, and the house would protect her with all its might—but still, they wanted Janice to suffer as little as possible because of her birth.

"No! Why do you keep trying to attach that damned brat to Janice!"

"Ahem! Grand Duchess, in my opinion, there's no need to attach Lady Roman to our Raymond."

And amidst each side's calculations, Garren's and the Emperor's complaints and protests were lightly brushed aside.

But no matter how much the adults sought the best path for the children, Janice and Raymond—whose ill feelings toward each other had piled up to the brim—were never going to become friends just because the adults thought they should.

I admit my fault, but still—I'm wronged, hurt, and I hate the other person so much! That was exactly how both Janice and Raymond felt.

So they fought. Like dogs and monkeys—every single time they met!

"I hate you!"

"I hate you too!"

"Don't copy me!"

"You copy me!"

"Reflection!"

"I reflect too!"

"I reflect on your reflection!"

"I reflect on your reflection and reflect again!"

After about five hundred rounds of reflection, it would be time to say goodbye.

I'm a smart kid, so I hate childish things to death—but if the other side acts childish, what can I do? I have to match them!

And after five seasons of this, the causes and reasons for their fights faded from memory, leaving only mutual ill will.

Along with that—

"Pfft."

"What, is my mom outside?"

"I don't know."

"Ugh! She's here!"

—they also grew in understanding and perceptiveness of each other.

Though they hated each other, that's exactly why they knew each other so well. Because if the other person was happy, it was a sure sign that something bad was about to happen to them.

Unintentionally, a kind of camaraderie also formed.

"I told you I'd take you to the circus?"

"They said they'd take us if we didn't fight for a month."

"Ha! So you didn't fight?"

"Yes."

"Of course not."

Janice and Raymond learned to compromise with injustice for their own benefit.

Without speaking, they understood each other's minds; for their mutual benefit, they could coordinate without prior planning!

And so Janice and Raymond became something like friends. Even if neither would admit it.

"Hey, don't cross the line. That's my space."

"You stop creeping your feet into my spot."

"You wanna die?"

It was a constantly war-torn, unstable relationship—but at least outwardly, they looked like friends. And then one day—

Janice and Raymond sat side by side in the study, working on the Cambrian homework their tutor had assigned.

The weather was beautiful, they didn't want to study, and the news they'd overheard was temptingly fantastic.

Raymond, glancing at Janice, began to cautiously probe.

"Hey."

"..."

"Heyyy."

"..."

"Hey!"

"Ugh, what?"

Janice scowled in annoyance at Raymond, who kept nudging her foot with his.

Flipping her pen around as if to stab him if he touched her one more time, Janice rolled her eyes—making Raymond flinch.

But only for a moment. With an angelic face and a smile in his eyes, Raymond spoke to her.

"You know there's a cavalry parade today? All twelve battalions in the capital are marching."

"What are you saying? So childish."

"It's on Fifth Street."

"..."

On Fifth Street stood Janice's adoptive parents'—the Bakers'—house.

They'd known each other for over a year now. Raymond now understood why Janice had been so prickly when they first met. And what the Bakers meant to her.

Raymond glanced sideways at Janice and carefully opened his mouth:

"As you know, Fifth Street is on the way to the Imperial Library, right? We can say we're going to the library—you go your way, and I'll go watch the parade. What do you think?"

"Have you forgotten? His Highness the Grand Duke said if you cause one more incident, he'll send you to the frontier."

Janice scolded him, but Raymond ignored her and kept talking.

"I think we should leave in about an hour. Let's take your family's carriage. Our coachman is too sharp."

"That's because you cause so much trouble."

"I'll say my stomach hurts and ask to stop the carriage—then we'll sneak out. If we get caught running away, that's your fault, so don't blame me. I'll leave a note in the carriage, saying to wait at the fruit shop at the entrance of Fifth Street in two hours. Sound good?"

"...Make it three hours, not two."

Janice's resolve crumbled with comical ease.

She didn't want to team up with the troublemaker Raymond, but since the destination was Fifth Street, even good-girl Janice kept wanting to be a bad girl.

Lately, Garren had been strangely preventing her from going to the Bakers' house.

―Did you finish your homework? You can have it checked next week, but you need to finish it today. You can go to Fifth Street later—do your homework first!

―Hey, kid, going to Fifth Street is fine, but today come with me somewhere. Uh... your relative! Yeah, your aunt wants to see you. No, don't ask who. Let's just go. At least one of them will be home.

―My lark, today come out with Grandma for a stroll. Fifth Street tomorrow—yes, tomorrow, when Garren comes, you can go with him. Okay? Grandma has a place she wants to show you.

Garren and the old couple always said things like this: that Fifth Street would always be there, so today, come with them instead.

At first, Janice could understand once or twice. But the problem was that "today" happened far too often.

If she cried and threw a tantrum, they'd eventually take her—but every time, they'd only let her go to the Bakers' house with a swarm of bodyguards, and even then, recently, no matter how much she cried, they wouldn't take her at all.

That's why Raymond's mention of "Fifth Street" made her heart lurch.

There's a reason for it—once this period passes, they'll take you!

Garren and the old couple always soothed her that way—but they never told her what that "reason" was, nor when that "period" would end.

With only an endless, undefined wait stretching before her, the longing for the Bakers that Janice had been suppressing for months suddenly burst forth.

"Forgiveness is always easier than permission. So what if they don't forgive us? A spanking is nothing!"

I'm not agreeing with troublemaker Raymond, but maybe it's better to go and get scolded than to keep waiting like this?

That was the thought that made Janice decide to actively participate in Raymond's "trouble."

---

A trouble-maker's plan, joined by a smart kid—and that smart kid had the perfect, excellent indirect experience of "past-life memories."

"Idiot. When you run, you and I should go in opposite directions. You run right, I run left. Got it?"

"...You sound like you've run away a lot?"

"Hmph! Do I need to have done it to know?"

Janice said with a prim expression, flipping her hair behind her ear. Raymond made a disgusted face.

"You're really obnoxious, you know that?"

"You're the obnoxious one. I'm smart. Stop talking nonsense and come look at this map!"

Though it wasn't the highly precise map used by the military or the Police Agency, having grown up on Fifth Street from a very young age, the map Janice drew of Fifth Street was far more accurate than most private maps.

Using the map, Janice advised Raymond on his escape route.

Though Raymond's misfortune was Janice's happiness, since they were in the same boat, the later Raymond got caught, the better it would be for Janice too.

And so they became a team. With experience, knowledge, action, and execution fantastically combined, the two "friends" put their plan into motion an hour later.

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