Boris returned to his dormitory and flung the grimoire in his arms onto his desk.
"Damn it. What on earth was that earlier? Lady Roienthal’s mana stabilized like that, when even my master had given up on her?"
Throughout the long history of magic, there had been those born with immense mana—and, at the same time, incomplete vessels incapable of containing it.
The sage who had taught Boris had sighed upon seeing Cecilia. A girl who could have achieved greatness, if only her vessel had been whole.
Crunch.
The girl who might originally have occupied the position Boris now held was none other than Cecilia Roienthal.
"Don’t be ridiculous."
Boris muttered that such a thing would never happen. He remembered the mana rampage Cecilia had caused a year ago.
As he protected Elysia after she was caught up in it, he had somehow come to truly love her.
"For this position... and to protect Elysia..."
Cecilia Roienthal was an obstacle. Boris’s gaze turned to the grimoire on his desk.
"More... I need more power...!"
**
"Thank you for escorting me back, Your Grace."
Before the entrance to the women’s dormitory, Ran and the maids bustled behind Cecilia, carrying in the clothes they had brought from the dressmaker’s.
"And those clothes as well... I’m so happy."
"They are nothing compared to the clothes you wore at House Roienthal."
"No!"
Cecilia vigorously shook her head and suddenly stepped close in front of me. The scent drifting from her nearly made my mind go blank.
I barely managed to compose myself and look ahead, only to find Cecilia’s violet eyes shining as she gazed up at me.
"It’s the first time I’ve received a gift from someone who wasn’t family."
Her fiancé never gave her a single gift? Damn Crown Prince Baron. Drop dead.
Cursing Crown Prince Baron inwardly, I scratched my head.
"Next time..."
"Pardon?"
"Please look forward to... a birthday gift."
"...Ah."
I barely resisted the urge to touch her flushed cheeks, then turned and began walking toward the men’s dormitory.
"I’ll be going now, then."
As I fled the scene, I turned my head to look at Cecilia. When I gave a small wave to Cecilia, who was staring at me blankly, she waved back as though she could not have been happier.
"Honestly..."
She was so adorable that I could hardly believe she was a year older than me.
"Ahem. Your Grace?"
"...What is it?"
Rushe had come up beside me at some point, watching me with a meaningful smile.
"What sort of magic did you work while Ran and I were away for a moment, to grow so close to Lady Cecilia?"
"Nothing happened."
"For nothing happening, though..."
"What?"
"It looks dangerous, how the distance between you keeps shrinking."
"..."
"It is a relationship that will eventually break apart because it’s only a contract, isn’t it?"
Faced with the reality Rushe had pointed out, I frowned slightly and looked up at the sky.
Tsk.
"Your Grace."
"No. You’re right."
What I felt now was nothing more than my own selfish desire. I should not do anything that would hurt Cecilia.
"I need to remain levelheaded."
"...Is truly getting engaged not an option?"
"It cannot be."
"Why not?"
"The north is... too dangerous."
"That..."
Could Cecilia really endure a life where her husband had to risk his life on the battlefield every single day?
No. She would not be able to bear it forever. She would surely reach her limit.
I have no way to stop her mana rampage. If anything, I would only make it worse.
It ended today. Once tomorrow came, I only needed to put these feelings away and treat her accordingly. Learning how to control my heart was one of the survival skills I had acquired while living at the Baron’s estate, so I was used to it.
"Your Grace carries far too much alone."
"Heh. Why say that now?"
The moment I decided to survive, I had already made that decision. For my own happiness, I would never do anything that put the person I loved in danger. It was both my selfish desire and my wish.
If I want the woman I have fallen for to be happy, I cannot keep her by my side. That’s all there is to it.
"More importantly, what about the matter I asked you to handle?"
"Hahaha. It was taken care of without a problem. Just as you said, I put a little pressure on the headmaster and the academy administration, and they agreed to it."
"Well done. Let’s return now."
**
When Cecilia entered her dormitory room, she found that her roommate had already settled in.
"Hello. I’m Cecilia Roienthal, and we’ll be living together for the next year. I look forward to getting along with you."
"Um... hello..."
The female student approaching her with a shy expression seemed somehow young and possessed an untainted innocence.
...What? I heard she was a young lady from Crown Prince Baron’s faction.
For a daughter of an aristocratic family from the Imperial Capital and a member of Baron’s faction, her attitude was remarkably friendly.
"I-I’m Lucille Jeremiah, from the north! It’s an h-honor to meet Lady Cecilia, the Grand Duke’s fiancée!"
Lucille bit her tongue and garbled her words, then lowered her head with a red face.
"I-I’m sorry! I-I was so nervous that my pronunciation..."
"It’s all right. But you said you are from the north?"
"Yes. From House Jeremiah, a baronial family in the north..."
"Um... the information I received about my original roommate was different."
"Ah, I heard the academy granted a request from the Grand Duke’s side."
"What?!"
Cecilia sank down in shock.
"The Grand Duke..."
As heat rushed to her cheeks, Cecilia covered them with both hands, afraid someone might see.
"Yes. I heard he firmly demanded that measures be taken for the sake of his fiancée, who needs peace and stability."
"Ah..."
"Um, are you all right?"
"Yes... I’m fine. If I get some air on the terrace for a moment, I’ll... feel better soon."
When she opened the terrace door, the cool night breeze struck Cecilia’s burning cheeks.
"Haa..."
With that brief sigh, Cecilia began to feel the beating of her own heart.
Thump. Thump.
A pleasant reverberation, and Viktor’s face filling her mind.
"...Why are you so good to me, Your Grace...?"
It was only a contract, yet it was unfair of him to give her so much of his heart.
"How... should I repay him?"
She had received far too much. Yet there was so little she could do for him. She could not even seek help from her family, House Roienthal. Here, all she was was one helpless girl.
"That can’t be right."
Cecilia shook her head. She recalled Viktor as she had seen him at the estate she remembered. He was someone who accepted any gift for him with a smile. A man who gratefully accepted even a flower crown made by a young maid or ordinary sweets brought by the gardener’s wife.
"That’s right, Cecilia. What matters is the feeling behind it. And if it’s something I can make for him..."
Returning to her room, Cecilia opened a manual on crafting magical tools from the bookshelf.
"Found it..."
Wherever he was, she had to be able to help him. And the first thing she needed to solve for that was...
"Found it... a magical tool that tracks someone’s location..."
Cecilia murmured that she needed to always know where Viktor was, and that this would be a gift for that purpose.
"Will the Grand Duke... like it?"
**
The second day of academy life. While students of every year, including the freshmen, made their way to their respective classrooms...
"Hm."
I sat absentmindedly on a bench in front of the dormitory, waiting for Cecilia.
"Your Grace."
"Hm."
"Aren’t you warmer than you said you would be yesterday?"
"Don’t misunderstand. I’m doing this because of the contract."
"Yes... of course you are."
As I looked at Rushe staring at me as if I were pathetic, I was considering whether to write Jester at the estate and inform him of Rushe’s misconduct.
"Ah, Your Grace."
Looking at the little white puppy running toward us in the distance... no, Cecilia, I nodded.
"You have arrived."
"Have you... been waiting long? I’m sorry."
"Not at all. I only just arrived."
"Um... you don’t have to come looking for me like this."
"Isn’t that our contract?"
"Yes... it is."
Cecilia looked a little dejected. She was probably worried about what lay ahead.
I’m worried whether there are any friends among the second-years who will still stand by Cecilia and help her...
"Cecilia!!"
"Ah!"
A female student suddenly ran up from ahead and laughingly threw her arms around Cecilia.
"Wasn’t it cruel of you not to contact me at all during the break?"
"Sorry... Chloe. I had so much on my mind that..."
"Goodness... Do you know how worried I was—hm?"
The female student, her platinum-blond hair falling to her neck, came up before me and stared at me intently before finally nodding.
"Could it be?"
"Mm-hm. Your Grace, this is my friend, Lady Chloe Rista. Chloe, this is my fi... fiancé, Grand Duke Viktor Walterheim."
"It is an honor to meet you, Grand Duke Walterheim!"
"The honor is mine. I am pleased to meet the young lady of House Rista, whose name I have heard only in rumors."
"Ahaha... What sort of rumors have you heard?"
"Your renown as a genius with the makings of an exceptional knight has spread even to the north."
"Hehehe... Is that so?"
Chloe Rista, who was grinning foolishly, was a villainess who stood against Elysia, the female protagonist.
That said, isn’t she just a pitiful person whose fiancé was stolen from her...?
Well, that was how romance fantasy stories went, wasn’t it? I decided to let it pass.
"Still, I had no idea the two of you were close."
"Hehe. I’m not very good at getting along with young ladies like that."
"Then..."
Just as I was about to ask whether that would not make it even harder for her to get along with a proper young lady like Cecilia—
"Ahem. Well, that’s how it is. We found common cause as fellow comrades... ahaha."
"Ah."
A miraculous alliance formed because the betrayals that should have happened at different times had all struck at once.
"I see... It’s a strange combination, yet one that somehow suits each other."
"Right?"
Chloe smiled and pulled Cecilia into her arms.
"C-Chloe."
"Mm. Cecilia’s herbal scent has gotten stronger."
"M-My scent?! Y-Your Grace, no! I-I don’t smell like that!"
"You didn’t know, Your Grace? Cecilia’s fragrance?"
"I did."
"...Pardon?"
"Mm?"
"It was difficult to describe what it smelled like, but an herbal scent... that is the perfect way to put it."
"Right? As expected, you really know your stuff!"
"W-Wait, when did you... smell me?"
"Yesterday..."
"Yesterday... Ah... Aaaah!!!"
Cecilia suddenly ducked her head and began to run away.
"E-Excuse me, I’ll be going ahead!!"
"C-Cecilia? Wait!! Your Grace, please excuse me as well."
"Lady Chloe."
"Yes?"
"...Please take good care of Cecilia."
Chloe stared at me blankly for a moment, then smiled brightly and nodded.
"Leave it to me! While Your Grace is away, I, Chloe Rista, will protect Cecilia!"
"Yes. I entrust her to you."
"...Oh-ho."
"What is it?"
"Nothing. I see. So that’s why. Hmmm!"
Leaving behind Chloe as she ran off with a somehow sly smile, I arrived at the First-Year Class B classroom.
When I opened the door, everyone’s attention converged on me.
"...Hm."
Ignoring their stares, I returned to my seat and looked at the desk beside mine. There, I found Princess Luisilla trembling all over.
"W-Why am I... here...?"
"..."
"Eek."
With a desk partner like this for the next year, it seemed my academy life would not be easy.
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