Kaiden Astrea, the Empire’s Second Prince.
The moment I saw that name, the first thing that came to mind was the original walkthrough guide.
`Kaiden Astrea Route Unlock Requirements`
`1. A royal inspection event occurs after the Academy’s second semester.`
`2. Student council reputation of 60 or higher.`
`3. Enter at least one of the cathedral or mage tower routes.`
`4. Hidden Quest: Discover the Crack in the Golden Crown.`
The requirements were demanding.
That was why players called him this.
`The Prince Who Arrives Late.`
A character whose name appeared only like a shadow early on, who did not properly enter the story until the middle stages.
A romance target, but also the key that opened the political route and hidden endings.
And now.
That prince who was supposed to arrive late had called my name in the middle of the ballroom.
"Leon Cart."
The atmosphere in the grand ballroom changed.
The young nobles who had been whispering while watching us all fell silent at once.
Arsene Berhardt’s smile froze as well.
Liana Bell blinked, unable to grasp the situation.
Eveline tightened her grip on my arm.
Slightly.
But unmistakably.
Her fingertips were asking, ‘What are you hiding this time?’
I felt wronged.
I did not know either.
I really did not know.
It had only been a few days since I possessed this body in this world. What could I possibly have to hide from a prince?
The problem was that the system made me look more suspicious than I made myself.
`You have encountered Observer ???.`
`Partial information access authorization unlocked.`
`Kaiden Astrea`
`The Empire’s Second Prince`
`Warning: A hidden-route character is making contact ahead of schedule.`
Ahead of schedule.
I hated that phrase most of all.
I was using my knowledge of the original story as a weapon. If the original began to deviate first, that weapon would grow dull.
Kaiden stood before me.
He was not smiling.
Nor did he arrogantly raise his chin.
If anything, he was far too calm.
Which made him more dangerous.
Flashy nobles were easy to deal with.
Because their bluster was their weakness.
Angry nobles were easy to deal with too.
Because their anger told you where they were headed.
But quiet royalty was different.
They knew that even if they did not move, the people around them would.
Kaiden was that sort of person.
"May I speak with you for a moment?"
His tone was courteous.
But in a grand ballroom, a prince’s courtesy toward a commoner weighed more heavily than an order.
Refuse, and it was discourtesy.
Accept, and I would be led away.
Besides, I was Eveline’s escort tonight.
If I left Eveline behind to follow the prince at a single word, it would be over.
Everything we had built until now would collapse.
`He is my escort.`
I knew how much it had taken for her to say those words.
The moment I failed to uphold them, I would be neither her tutor nor her escort.
Just a commoner dragged away at a prince’s command.
I took a light breath.
"Your Highness."
I bowed first.
Not deeply.
But not discourteously, either.
I hoped my forty-six-percent greeting had risen above fifty percent by now.
"It is an honor to receive your words."
Kaiden’s eyes shifted slightly.
He knew I was choosing my next words.
"However."
The atmosphere in the grand ballroom froze again.
A "however" to a prince.
Not a good word.
But in noble society, structure mattered more than words.
A structure that let one refuse without being discourteous.
I had to create one.
I did not let go of Eveline’s hand.
"I came here tonight as Lady Rosette’s escort."
Eveline’s hand moved ever so slightly.
"If Your Highness’s words are an official order, I will obey."
I looked Kaiden directly in the eye.
"But if this is a private conversation, I cannot leave my escort alone and step away."
Silence.
Perfect silence.
Even the ballroom music seemed to have faded into the distance.
The young nobles held their breath.
Arsene was watching me.
Liana stood frozen, her lips slightly parted.
And Eveline.
She tightened her hand around my arm.
This time, it was not tension.
Surprise.
And something else, just a little.
If I called it happiness, she would probably step on my foot.
Kaiden did not speak for a while.
Then he tilted his head very slightly.
"If it is an official order, you will obey."
He slowly repeated my words.
"If it is a private conversation, you cannot leave your escort behind."
"Yes."
"You draw your boundaries well for a commoner teacher."
"Because I am a commoner, I have to draw them even more clearly."
For the first time, a faint spark appeared in Kaiden’s eyes.
Interest.
Not good.
A prince’s interest was more often a disaster than a reward.
He looked at Eveline.
"Lady Rosette."
Eveline’s shoulders stiffened.
But she did not lower her head.
She greeted him at the proper angle dictated by etiquette.
Exactly as much as she had practiced.
"I greet the Empire’s Star, Your Highness."
Her voice was a little cold, but steady.
Kaiden spoke.
"May I borrow your escort for a moment?"
This time, he was asking Eveline.
It was more difficult.
The prince was asking permission directly.
Hard to refuse.
But if she granted it immediately, Eveline would be taken from him again.
By Arsene.
By high society.
By the prince.
I did not interrupt.
This was Eveline’s lesson.
Do not move first.
Ask first.
Smile last.
Eveline fell silent for a moment.
Then she spoke.
"Is what Your Highness wishes to say to my escort something I should not hear?"
Good.
Very good.
She had not refused directly.
She asked.
She made him explain his reason.
Kaiden’s gaze brightened a little more.
"No."
"Then I will listen as well."
Eveline smiled briefly.
This time, it was quite natural.
"Since it concerns my escort."
A faint murmur rippled through one side of the grand ballroom.
Eveline Rosette had not backed down before the prince.
Yet she had not been discourteous, either.
The unruly young lady who had been dancing only moments ago looked, at least in that moment, like the eldest daughter of Count Rosette’s house.
A system window appeared.
`Eveline Rosette maintains self-control under pressure from royalty.`
`New trait applied: [Sword That Rises Again].`
`Preliminary Ball counterattack route success rate has increased.`
`Current success rate: 84%`
Kaiden nodded.
"Very well."
He pointed toward the balcony to one side.
"Then both of you, if you would come with me for a moment."
At that moment, Arsene moved.
"Your Highness."
His voice was gentle.
But slightly hurried.
"I will show you the way. This is a Berhardt family event, after all."
Kaiden’s gaze turned to Arsene.
"Arsene."
One word.
That single word stopped Arsene in his tracks.
Kaiden did not smile.
"I appreciate the host’s consideration, but I am past the age of getting lost."
The grand ballroom fell into an icy silence.
Arsene immediately bowed his head.
"Forgive my presumption, Your Highness."
A brief defeat.
It was not obvious, but it was undeniably a defeat.
Arsene had likely believed he held the board in this ballroom.
But the prince had stepped onto that board with a single sentence.
Host and guest.
A marquis’s house and royalty.
They were on entirely different levels.
Eveline watched the scene.
I felt her gaze waver for the briefest moment.
Perhaps it was the first time she had seen Arsene being pushed back.
Good.
That was a lesson too.
There were powers in this world greater than her anger.
And even before those powers, Arsene corrected his smile.
We followed Kaiden toward the balcony.
More precisely, it was a half-open winter garden connected to the grand ballroom.
It was not a fully enclosed space.
The grand ballroom was visible through the glass doors, and from inside, our figures could be seen faintly as well.
Smart.
If a prince, a commoner teacher, and a villainess disappeared completely, the rumors would grow.
But if they remained in sight, he could conceal the content of the conversation while controlling the image.
Kaiden had this kind of social instinct ingrained in him.
Cold night air pooled in the winter garden.
There were not many flowers.
Instead, trees with silver leaves glimmered faintly beneath low magical lamps.
Kaiden stood beside the railing.
"Your dance was impressive."
Eveline answered with a guarded expression.
"You flatter us."
"I do not. Judging by skill alone, it was immature."
As expected of royalty.
He offered praise balanced on a blade.
Eveline’s brow twitched.
I murmured quietly.
"The rule."
She clenched her teeth.
"Ask first."
Then she looked at Kaiden.
"Then what, precisely, impressed you?"
Kaiden’s eyes gleamed once more.
He was interested in Eveline.
No.
More precisely, he was interested in the way Eveline had changed.
"Though you were inexperienced, you did not collapse."
Kaiden said, "You nearly failed to keep up with the fast song, and there was interference with your movement. Yet you did not fall."
He looked at me.
"You translated swordsmanship into dance."
A chill ran down my spine.
He had seen it.
He had not merely watched us dance.
Deflecting.
Receiving.
He had seen Eveline’s corrected swordsmanship woven into the dance.
Kaiden Astrea truly was dangerous.
"It was a coincidence," I said.
"A lie."
His response was immediate.
Eveline’s gaze turned toward me.
Kaiden continued calmly.
"Someone who learned by coincidence does not teach like that. And someone who dances by coincidence cannot read the position of incoming interference that quickly."
His gray eyes fixed on me.
"Leon Cart. What is it that you see?"
He struck directly at the heart of it.
I did not answer at once.
People’s habits.
The flow of mana.
Original-story events.
System windows.
Ruin routes.
I saw too much.
And most of it could not be spoken aloud.
Especially not to a prince.
I chose the least dangerous answer.
"The point where they collapse."
Kaiden’s eyes narrowed.
"The point where they collapse."
"Yes."
I looked toward the grand ballroom.
Arsene was watching us from afar.
Liana stood beside him with an anxious expression.
"People generally try to show where they are strong. But what truly changes the result is where they are weak."
Kaiden listened in silence.
"Some people collapse at the wrist when they grip a sword. Some collapse in their forms of address when they speak. Some collapse in their eyes when they smile."
I looked at Eveline.
"My lady collapsed after defeat."
Eveline’s expression hardened slightly.
But she did not shy away.
"So I trained that point."
Kaiden was silent for a moment.
"Interesting."
A prince’s interest.
As expected, not good.
This time, he looked at Eveline.
"Lady Rosette. Do you trust this teacher?"
Eveline did not answer immediately.
This was a difficult question.
Trust.
An unfamiliar word to Eveline Rosette.
She glanced at me.
There was irritation, caution, grievance, and a little dependence in that gaze.
After a long while, she spoke.
"He annoys me."
Kaiden raised an eyebrow slightly.
"That is an unusual answer."
"He keeps poking at people’s weaknesses, makes me do what he tells me not to do, and says things I do not want to hear."
"And yet?"
"Still."
Eveline paused.
She fidgeted with her handkerchief.
She did not crumple it.
"I do not think he wants me to be ruined."
The winter garden fell quiet.
Those words suited Eveline more than the word trust ever could.
She did not say she trusted me.
Instead, she acknowledged that I was not someone trying to ruin her.
At this stage, it was the greatest thing she could say.
A system window appeared.
`Eveline Rosette’s trust in Leon Cart has increased.`
`Expression method: negative-form acknowledgment`
Was even the system making fun of me?
Kaiden smiled very faintly.
It was the first smile I had seen from him.
Cold, but not mocking.
"Then I am even more curious."
He looked at me again.
"Why do you help Lady Rosette?"
To survive.
That was the most accurate answer.
But saying it outright would make things strange.
For the money.
That was true too.
But insufficient.
To prevent the original ruin route.
I could never say that.
I considered it for a moment.
Then I answered.
"At first, it was to survive."
Eveline’s eyes turned toward me.
"And now?" Kaiden asked.
"Even now, it is to survive."
It was not a lie.
I continued.
"However, it is no longer a matter of me surviving alone."
Eveline said nothing.
Kaiden watched me, then slowly nodded.
"It is not a good answer, but it is an honest one."
"I am not at ease enough to give you a good answer."
"You are bold for a commoner teacher."
"That is the second time I have heard that today."
"Who was the first?"
"Count Rosette."
This time, Kaiden definitely smiled.
Briefly.
"It is remarkable that you survived."
"I think so too."
Eveline spoke under her breath.
"You two seem to get along far too well."
Her voice was cold.
I immediately shut my mouth.
Kaiden did not miss that reaction.
"Lady Rosette seems to value her escort quite highly."
"I do not."
Eveline answered instantly.
Too fast.
So fast that it was suspicious instead.
"He is simply still useful."
"Useful, is he?"
Kaiden looked at me.
"Teacher Cart, congratulations. That is an appraisal difficult to hear even in the imperial household."
"Thank you."
"Do not thank him."
Eveline gritted her teeth.
The tension eased just a little.
But it did not last long.
Kaiden spoke quietly.
"There is one thing I must address, however."
The air turned cold again.
"Today, you changed a scene that was originally meant to happen."
My heart gave one heavy beat.
A scene originally meant to happen.
That phrasing was far too dangerous.
Eveline looked as though she did not understand.
I looked at Kaiden.
"What do you mean?"
"Arsene Berhardt protects Liana Bell, Eveline Rosette becomes enraged, and high society remembers the scene."
Kaiden’s eyes gleamed coldly.
"That was the intended course of this ball tonight."
I nearly stopped breathing.
The intended course.
This man.
How much did he know?
The system window flickered.
`Warning.`
`Kaiden Astrea is aware of part of the original story’s flow.`
`Caution: The information gap is unstable.`
Eveline asked sharply, "What do you mean, the intended course?"
Kaiden turned his gaze to her.
"It is political language, Lady Rosette."
A lie.
He had wrapped it in political language, but that was not what it was.
He knew something.
At the very least, he could read the flow.
I did not know whether he saw the system like I did.
But Kaiden Astrea had been the key to the hidden route in the original story.
What if he was someone who sensed the cracks in the world?
What if he had noticed my interference?
Kaiden looked at me.
"Leon Cart. Are you someone who changes the flow?"
The question came straight at me.
I delayed my answer.
If I said no, it would be a lie.
But if I said yes, it would be dangerous.
I looked at Eveline.
She was looking at me.
Confused, but eyes that did not run away.
Eyes that, whatever I said, wanted to hear my answer now.
I spoke.
"I do not change the flow."
Kaiden’s eyes narrowed.
"Then what do you do?"
"I pull out those who are being swept away."
Silence.
Kaiden looked at me for a long time.
Then he nodded.
"I like that answer."
Good.
I had probably survived.
At least for now.
Then loud applause and laughter erupted from the grand ballroom.
It seemed the next part of the program was beginning.
Kaiden looked through the glass doors.
"We will leave it at this tonight."
Eveline immediately asked, "Why did Your Highness approach us?"
I wanted to know as well.
Kaiden seemed to consider for a moment.
Then he answered.
"I wanted to confirm something."
"What?"
"Whether Eveline Rosette truly had not been broken."
Eveline’s expression stiffened.
"And."
Kaiden looked at me.
"Whether the commoner teacher beside her was merely a coincidence or not."
"And your conclusion?" I asked.
Instead of answering, Kaiden took out a small card.
A black card.
Stamped with a silver golden-crown emblem.
He held it out to me.
"When you come to the Academy, show this at the student council inspection office."
I had not even gone to the Academy yet.
And already an invitation to the inspection office had arrived.
Not good.
Very not good.
I did not take the card.
"Your Highness."
"Why will you not accept it?"
"The moment I accept it, it may look as though I belong to Your Highness."
Kaiden looked at me with interest.
I continued.
"Tonight, I am Lady Rosette’s escort."
Eveline’s hand moved slightly.
Kaiden remained still for a while, holding out the card.
Then he turned the card toward Eveline instead.
"Then I shall give it to Lady Rosette."
Eveline narrowed her eyes.
"To me?"
"Use it when your escort needs it."
He truly was no easy opponent.
When I would not take it, he gave it to Eveline.
This way, I would not be the prince’s man. I would be someone whose means of contacting the prince was kept by Eveline.
Much better.
And much more complicated at the same time.
Eveline looked at me.
I gave a tiny nod.
She accepted the card.
"I will use it if necessary."
"I look forward to it."
Kaiden turned away.
Then he stopped and spoke one last time.
"Ah, and Teacher Cart."
"Yes."
"Arsene will not intend to end things here tonight."
As expected.
I asked, "What do you mean?"
Kaiden looked toward the center of the grand ballroom.
"He hates losing before others. Especially on a board he set himself."
At the end of his gaze stood Arsene.
Arsene was smiling.
And Klaus Dean stood beside him.
The bastard who tripped us.
He was whispering into someone’s ear.
Kaiden said quietly, "The next attack will be more blatant than the dance."
With those words, Kaiden returned to the grand ballroom.
Only Eveline and I remained in the winter garden.
Eveline looked down at the black card in her hand before speaking.
"You."
"Yes."
"Do you have something going on with His Highness?"
"Today was the first time I saw him."
"Sounds like a lie."
"That is how it feels to me too."
"This is seriously irritating."
"I agree."
Eveline tucked the card into her dress.
Then she looked toward the grand ballroom.
Arsene.
Klaus.
Liana.
And now even Kaiden, the Empire’s Second Prince.
The board had become too large.
I had come to stop one ball from going wrong, only to find myself gripping the doorknob to a hidden route.
I sighed inwardly.
"My lady."
"What?"
"The next attack is coming."
"I know."
She took out her handkerchief.
She did not crumple it.
"Do not move first."
"Yes."
"Ask first."
"Yes."
"Smile last."
"Yes."
Eveline looked at me.
This time, her eyes did not waver.
"Then let’s go."
"Where to?"
"To my ruin route, or whatever it is."
She began walking toward the grand ballroom.
"You said we would break it here tonight."
I stopped for a moment.
Had I said that?
I had.
And Eveline remembered it.
Good.
The unruly young lady was beginning to accept her ruin not as someone else’s words, but as her own goal to overcome.
We entered the grand ballroom again.
At that moment, a system window appeared.
`Early contact with Kaiden Astrea has been completed.`
`Hidden route detection has increased.`
`The Preliminary Ball’s final confrontation is being prepared.`
`Opponents: Arsene Berhardt / Klaus Dean`
At the center of the grand ballroom, Arsene looked at us and smiled.
That smile differed from before.
A little more blatant.
A little colder.
And in his hand, he held a white dueling glove.
I cursed inwardly.
Ah.
So we were going that far after all.
The word I had most wanted to avoid at a ball.
A public challenge to a duel.
It was coming toward us.
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