"Hmm. Those are the eldest and second sons of House Walterheim?"
In the VIP seating of the arena where the Academy’s graduation examinations were being held, Luisilla watched the graduates’ match and shook her head.
"Sigh."
"Is something the matter, Your Highness?"
At her maid’s question, Luisilla pointed to the two men clashing swords—the Walterheim brothers, representing the graduates and the current students respectively.
"What a disappointment. They cannot even compare to Grand Duke Proud, whom I saw during my inspection of the north."
"...Still, both of them did graduate top of their class at the Academy..."
"Sigh."
Luisilla shook her head at the maid, who knew nothing of the truth. Those two were nothing more than obedient little dogs being played by the perfect show put on by the imperial family.
If those two return to the north blind to the truth, the north will collapse before long. And whoever takes it completely into their hands...
Would become the heir to sit in her father’s seat—the highest seat of all.
"I should start making preparations soon. More importantly."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"What information do we have on the third son?"
"There are widespread rumors that he is a discarded child and the defective product of the grand ducal house. He stays with the collateral Baron Boliven family and does nothing but hunt."
"So he is not worth worrying about?"
"That appears to be the case."
"All right. Then we shall put that matter off until later. What matters is the ones over there receiving all that applause right now..."
"The little dogs," Luisilla muttered.
**
I was insane... I was insane!
Glancing sidelong at Viktor seated beside her, Luisilla regretted her own ignorance in the past. Viktor’s actions on his first day had been
so unprecedented that they were frightening. He had made an enemy of the crown prince and clashed with the mage tower sage’s disciple, yet his face showed
not the slightest emotion, as if it were nothing of consequence.
I should have considered that information about the north might have been controlled!!
The two people young Luisilla had seen were dogs whose wild nature had been neutered. This man, meanwhile, was undoubtedly a wolf who had survived alone in the wild.
The previous grand duke hid him away. He used the eldest and second sons as shields to protect the son most like himself...!!
Survival of the fittest and the law of the jungle were the way of life for northerners. The price of failing to account for that had now come for her. Luisilla
bit her nails, wanting to run away at once.
"Hm?"
"Eek!"
When Viktor turned his head and looked at her, Luisilla let out a startled shriek.
"Your Highness? Are you all right?"
"Don’t..."
"Don’t?"
"Don’t bite me..."
"..."
"Hic."
**
At the princess’s words, the students in the classroom all turned to stare at me.
"Bite...?"
"The princess?"
"What?"
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Didn’t they say Grand Duke Walterheim already has a fiancée?"
"My goodness, the princess?"
"He has only been here for a few days!"
"Ah, come to think of it, that talk about biting yesterday... Could it be...?"
No. It is not like that, you Academy students with romance-addled brains.
"Sigh. Your Highness."
"Y-yes?"
"Unless Your Highness provokes me, I will not bare my teeth at you."
"R-really?"
"...The previous matter has been formally protested, so it is over. What matters is what kind of relationship we will have going forward, is it not?"
"Y-yes... I understand."
Having said what I needed to say, I sat down and opened my book. Once they heard my words, the gazes directed at us from around the room
began to die down.
"What? So it was not like that..."
"Sigh. I heard they did not get along..."
"But doesn’t that make it burn even hotter?"
"A forbidden relationship..."
It is not, you lunatics with romance brains installed.
"It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Professor Oberan, and I will be in charge of Class B from today onward. I look forward to working with you."
The students’ murmuring fell quiet when their homeroom professor entered. Professor Oberan began handing out the papers he had brought
to the students.
"Now, let me explain the changes taking effect this year. Starting this year, rather than following a schedule arranged by the Academy,
students will create their own schedules and attend the lectures they choose..."
Hmm... So this is a setting my sibling added after getting pissed off at comments asking why the protagonist had so little interaction with this character.
I could picture my sibling’s furious face at the thought of me leaving a comment saying they were forcing the plot ahead with a convenient setting.
What a shame. I should have left a 5,700-character comment before I died...
"Um... excuse me?"
"Yes?"
I gave a slight nod toward Luisilla, who was trembling beside me as she held out a sheet of paper.
"Thank you."
"Hic."
Watching Luisilla flinch at my every move, I could not help feeling sorry for her, despite her being part of an enemy faction. Just how strict had the imperial family’s upbringing been to make her this timid?
"Princess."
"Yes?"
"Does your maternal House Candler give you a difficult time?"
"..."
"If things are difficult, tell me anytime. I will help you."
With that, I began writing down the classes I would take on the paper laid out on my desk.
First, swordsmanship is an absolute pass.
**
I... I knew it. He knows about the request Grandfather made of me!!
Watching Viktor casually write down the Academy courses he would attend after giving her that warning, Luisilla swallowed dryly.
...I have truly... truly gotten entangled with a dangerous man...
**
At lunchtime in the Academy, Cecilia was making her way lightly toward the dining hall when she overheard the conversation of some young ladies passing by. The topic they discussed as they walked past her, as though they wanted her to hear, was Cecilia’s broken engagement with the crown prince. Just as Chloe, walking beside Cecilia, frowned and was about to stop the young ladies,
"Chloe."
"Cecil?"
"It is all right."
Cecilia stopped Chloe with a faint smile.
"Hey, you are not angry even after hearing that? Whenever I hear people say things like that, I want to go straight over and..."
"It is all right, Chloe. It is a thing of the past anyway."
No story involving the crown prince could shake Cecilia’s heart now.
He is now a stranger with whom I have no connection. And at the same time...
To Cecilia, Baron was the man who had humiliated her and turned House Roienthal into an enemy.
More than that, I just want to see Viktor soon.
As Cecilia walked along, imagining herself having lunch with Viktor, she heard another group of female students talking nearby.
"Really?"
"I am telling you, it is true! Princess Luisilla and Grand Duke Walterheim..."
"Eek. He may look cold, but the grand duke has a beastly side to him."
Snap.
As though something inside her had broken, Cecilia stopped in her tracks.
"Cecil? What is wrong?"
Chloe, puzzled by her friend’s sudden stop, examined Cecilia’s face. It had gone deathly pale.
"C-Cecil? Are you all right?"
"Ah... ah... ah..."
Her heart pounded. What had that conversation just been? Why was there talk like that between the grand duke and the princess? Why? Why?
"Lady Cecilia?"
In Cecilia’s field of vision, clouded by countless stray thoughts as she stood frozen in place, she saw Viktor walking toward her from a distance.
"...Your Grace."
"What is the matter? Did something happen in your class?"
When Viktor looked to Chloe and asked, Chloe rapidly shook her head from side to side, denying that anything had happened.
"Then what in the world... Could your illness be acting up again?"
"No."
"Lady Cecilia?"
"Your Grace."
"Yes."
"There is something I just heard."
"Yes."
"What is your relationship with the princess?"
"...Pardon?"
Viktor wore a bewildered expression, while Cecilia’s violet eyes trembled.
"Sigh."
When Viktor sighed, Cecilia flinched and lowered her head.
Ah... what am I doing? Viktor and I are only bound by a contract, after all. I have no right to say something like this...
"We are classmates who sit beside each other. Nothing more and nothing less."
"Really?"
"Do I look like a shameless bastard who would touch another woman when I have an official fiancée?"
"No."
"That is exactly it."
"...That is... a relief."
"Hmm?"
Having observed the pair beside them, Chloe suddenly pressed a hand to her forehead and began to stagger.
"Ahh... I suddenly have a headache, so I should go to the infirmary for a moment~"
"What? Chloe, are you all right?"
"Yes. I am fine, Cecil, so have a lovely lunch with His Grace, all right?"
"W-what are you saying?!"
"Well then, bye~"
Watching Chloe walk away, Cecilia’s face reddened.
I-I told her it is not like that!!
"Lady Cecilia."
"Y-yes!"
"Let us go. And..."
Tap.
At the rough sensation against her hand, Cecilia looked down. There was
Viktor’s hand, tightly holding hers.
"Y-Your Grace?"
"It seems I will have to make it clear, or my fiancée will be anxious."
"..."
"I should properly show the Academy what kind of relationship you and I have."
"..."
"Let us go."
**
On the way to the dining hall, I inwardly breathed a sigh of relief as I looked at Cecilia tightly holding my hand.
Those damned romance-brained idiots, causing something like that around Cecilia!!
She had only recently had her engagement broken off over another woman, and now people were going around spreading stories that her new fiancé was involved with her former fiancé’s younger sister.
Do the young ladies at this Academy have no consideration at all...? No. They probably never had an environment where they could learn such manners.
I resolved that, when I had children someday, I would make sure they were raised properly. Holding white-haired boys and girls who ran around in front of me, along with two children with red eyes like mine, in my arms...
[Viktor...]
"Urk!!!"
"Y-Your Grace? Are you all right?"
The image of Cecilia as the grand duchess, with its devastating destructive power, made me let out an involuntary cry.
"My apologies, Lady Cecilia."
"Yes? For what..."
This was all because of the plotting of those romance-fantasy young ladies, too. I had meant to leave after only seeing that she was getting along with Chloe, but it had turned out like this. What on earth had happened to my resolve from yesterday?
What distance would let me act coldly while also minimizing Cecilia’s emotional turmoil?
"Your Grace?"
"Yes."
"Do you not like the meal?"
"No, that is not it."
I forced food into my mouth. Perhaps because Cecilia was sitting in front of me, I could not taste a thing.
"As I thought..."
"Hm? What is it?"
"The food we ate at Walterheim Estate was more delicious."
"Ah, is that so?"
"Yes. I want to go back soon."
Cecilia ate with her cheeks puffed out like a hamster. In the novel, she had shut herself away in her laboratory and become painfully thin because she could not even manage regular meals. But now vitality overflowed from her body. It was thanks to Hans properly teaching her
the joy of eating.
I should tell them to give Hans a bonus.
"It is good to see."
"Pardon?"
"You look healthier than when you first came to Walterheim Estate."
"...Is that so? I heard noblemen prefer thin women, so I have not eaten properly since I was young."
"Hmm."
"Um, Your Grace..."
"I..."
I continued while staring directly at Cecilia.
"I like women who eat well and are healthy. Like you are now, Lady Cecilia."
"..."
"Oh."
"A-ah..."
Ah, I think I may have made some kind of mistake? I lifted my head and looked at Cecilia’s face. Covering her reddened face with her hands, Cecilia rose from her seat.
"I-I will be going first!!!"
"..."
Honestly... What an idiot I am.
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