The second day of the spring festival.
Cecilia was running toward Viktor, who was waiting for her at the main entrance to the dormitory, a radiant smile on her face. Watching from behind, Chloe grinned.
"They are having a good time."
"Lady Chloe."
"You startled me!!"
Chloe let out a sigh when she saw the male student who had appeared behind her.
"What is it? Oh, it is you, Orca."
"...Sigh. Are you following your friend again today? Do you never get tired of it?"
"Not at all. It is always new. Thrilling, even."
"..."
"And you?"
"Naturally, I came to escort you, my lady."
"An escort? From a fellow student, and a first-year junior at that?"
"If you do not like it, take it up with the Count."
"Damn it..."
"I heard that Young Lord Ryan came to see you recently."
At Orca's words, Chloe shook her head with a bitter smile.
"Do not worry. It was not like that. He was not interested in me at all."
"Tch."
Seeing Orca frown in a manner unlike him, Chloe smiled and poked his side repeatedly.
"Hey, loosen up that expression."
"This is how I always look."
"Pfft."
"What is so funny?"
"Nothing. Even if everyone else changes, you truly stay the same."
"..."
"You are always by my side, unchanged."
"Because I am your escort knight."
"Oh, please. You only became my escort knight this year."
"Are you not going, then?"
"Hm?"
"You have lost them."
"Aahh!! Let us hurry and catch up!"
In front of the plaza, where the spring festival was in full swing, Chloe watched Cecilia and Viktor walking hand in hand with a foolish smile on her face.
Orca walked beside her at a discreet distance.
"...Hey."
"Yes."
"Why are you keeping such a distance?"
Not liking that distance between them, Chloe puffed out her cheeks in displeasure.
"Because I am your escort knight."
"Hey. Before you are my escort knight, are you not my childhood friend?"
"Tch."
"You clicked your tongue again!"
"It is frustrating to watch a tomboy who has not changed in years. You should worry about your own love life."
"T-Tomboy!! And what do you mean, love life?! You—mmph."
The sauce from the grilled skewer shoved into Chloe's mouth touched her tongue, and she could not hide her surprise.
"W-What is this? They did not have anything like this last year."
"I heard a famous shop from the territory of a student who enrolled this year came here to set up a stall."
Orca, now with a grilled skewer in his own mouth, answered Chloe's question. Seeing her happily devouring the skewers held in both hands, he gave a quiet chuckle.
"You look good when you smile. As always."
"Hm? I smile every day, though?"
"It was merely an expression."
"What is that supposed to mean? Go on, tell your big sister plainly. If there is something you want to ask of me, you little brat, little brat."
"Tch."
"You clicked your tongue again!"
**
"...Wow."
"Mm."
Cecilia and I had somehow ended up following Lady Chloe and her escort knight, who were walking along while creating a world of their own.
"Cecilia."
"Yes."
"Lady Chloe and that escort knight named Orca are..."
"Chloe and he have been childhood friends for a long time."
"I see."
In the original story, Chloe and Ryan's relationship had been nothing more than a political marriage meant to unite their houses.
But for ten years, she had carried feelings she did not even recognize herself. Chloe had fallen for Ryan. Unlike Cecilia, when Chloe fought Elysia for Ryan's true love and lost, she entrusted Ryan to Elysia and left...
But what about now, when the novel's story had gone completely off the rails?
"Cecilia."
"Yes."
"Lady Chloe's feelings for Young Lord Ryan..."
"She hates him terribly."
"Ah."
"As much as I hate Crown Prince Baron."
"Oh."
So she hated him that much.
"I see."
"Yes. If you had seen the things Young Lord Ryan did last year, Viktor..."
"If I had seen them?"
"...You would have told someone to bring you a bow and arrows."
"To that extent?"
"Yes. He is a complete ignoramus who has spent his entire life doing nothing but swing a sword. Chloe was far too good for him."
His stubbornness might have been admirable in another light, but he had failed to cultivate it properly at the Academy and had been bewitched by a wicked woman.
"No wonder she fell apart."
"...Never."
"Pardon?"
"Never be alone with Elysia."
"If you mean our previous meeting, that was—"
"Not that one. What about when you met before the festival?"
"Ah."
"..."
"How did you..."
"You are avoiding my question?"
"Well..."
"It is all right. I know you resolved it well, Viktor. But still."
Cecilia gripped my hand tightly and lowered her head.
"...Do not make your fiancée anxious."
"All right."
She was adorable. So adorable that I wanted to pull her into a tight embrace, but there were far too many people watching.
Endure... Endure... I have to endure...
"Eek!"
At Chloe's scream from ahead, Cecilia and I both turned to look at her.
"H-Huh?"
"...Wow."
What came into view was Chloe trembling in Orca's arms.
"Sigh."
"W-What is it!"
"You still hate fish, I see."
"..."
"It is nice to see you trying to overcome it."
"I am not trying to overcome it."
"Then what are you doing?"
"You."
"Yes."
"Smile a little."
"..."
Orca scratched his head and let out a deep sigh.
"Hey! Why are you sighing?"
"You truly have not changed at all, Chloe."
"...Do not speak casually to me. I am still your elder, you know."
"You are not telling me to call you my lady, at least."
"Hmph."
The tips of Chloe's ears were bright red as she slipped out of Orca's arms.
"Wow..."
Cecilia tugged at my clothes with one hand and covered her mouth with the other as she murmured,
"V-Viktor, I have never seen Chloe that flustered before."
"Is that so?"
It was clear they were not merely childhood friends. And on top of that...
"With her engagement broken off, she is starting to see the boy she once regarded as a younger brother as a man."
"Wow..."
"It is one of those situations where he says, 'You are my woman.'"
"..."
"Cecilia?"
Cecilia stared at me, then pointed her index finger at me.
"One more time."
"Pardon?"
"Say that line from earlier one more time."
"...Uh."
"Quickly."
"..."
"It is urgent."
"You are my woman?"
"...I like that."
"Ha ha..."
"Still, Chloe used to complain so much that there were no men around her, yet there was someone like that right beside her..."
"She probably never realized it, but now she is being swept up in the magic of the festival and beginning to understand."
Cecilia looked at me, her eyes sparkling.
"Viktor!"
"Yes."
"I would like to change our plans a little today..."
"That sounds entertaining."
"Oh?"
"There is nothing more entertaining than watching someone else's romance and meddling in it."
Cecilia nodded vigorously, pulled me by the hand, and started after Chloe.
...It feels as though the relationship of the people we originally intended to observe has somehow been reversed.
But as long as Cecilia was having fun, there was no problem.
**
Chloe began stealing glances at Orca's profile as he walked beside her.
...What is this? How did he change so much in just one year?
The boy who had once been shorter than her had grown so tall that Chloe now had to look up at him. His sharply defined jawline was proof that he had grown from a boy into a man. Even his eyes had become a little sharper.
It is irritating. Who does Orca think he is? He is younger than me.
They had never gone around the Academy alone together. Chloe rarely attended official events, so there had been no reason for her to bring Orca along.
But now...
"Ugh."
"What is wrong?"
"I am annoyed, that is all."
As if voicing her displeasure, Chloe jabbed Orca's side with her elbow. Orca sighed and shook his head at the sight.
"You really have not changed."
"Hey! I have changed a lot too, you know?"
"Have you?"
"Yes!"
"Then that is a relief."
"Honestly... you do not have a single cute bone in your body."
"Whose fault do you think that is?"
"Hm?"
"I was finally giving up on my feelings, but then you—"
"..."
"Tch."
"Hey. What were you about to say—"
"Oh? Lady Chloe?"
"..."
When Chloe and Orca saw Elysia and Ryan blocking their path, they both frowned at the same time.
"My, are you on a date?"
"Ha."
Ryan narrowed his eyes as if he found the sight absurd and began looking Chloe and Orca over. Irritated by that gaze, Orca stepped in front of Ryan.
"Orca?"
"What do you want?"
"Do not look at my lady that way."
"...Ah. I was wondering who you were. It is you, the brat from a baron's house who used to trail after Chloe."
Ryan scoffed and shook his head.
"You certainly are loose, Chloe."
"What did you say?"
"Elysia told me that the way you look at male students is so lewd that it is unpleasant to watch."
"R-Ryan, there is no need to go that far..."
For an instant, Chloe saw Elysia snickering at her from an angle Ryan could not see.
"...You damned bitch."
"I told you not to approach Elysia."
"Did you see the expression that woman just made—"
"Elysia, are you all right? Did she frighten you?"
"Sob... Ryan, I am so scared of Lady Chloe."
"...Haa. It is not enough that you ignored my warning. You even threatened Elysia in front of me."
Step.
Ryan placed a hand on the sword at his waist.
"You deserve to die a hundred times over."
"Young Lord Ryan. I will consider your present actions a threat against my mistress."
"You think an escort knight like you can stop me?"
"I... am merely protecting my lady."
"Fine. Then protect her well. Your weak—"
Thwack!
"..."
"Huh?"
"Ah, my apologies."
Viktor emerged through the crowd and into the heart of the commotion. Wearing a pleasant smile, he faced Ryan.
"The arrow's trajectory curved, you see."
"...Grand Duke Walterheim."
Ryan removed the toy arrow lodged in his head.
"Making a disturbance at the spring festival is a nuisance to everyone, Young Lord Ryan."
"This is none of your concern."
"How could it not be?"
Viktor looked at Cecilia, who stood behind him at Chloe's side.
"You insulted the friend of Cecilia, my fiancée."
"An insult?"
"Do you think such words are appropriate between a man and woman who have no relationship with each other?"
"What do you know?! Chloe insulted and threatened Elysia!"
Viktor clicked his tongue as he watched Elysia pretend to tremble behind Ryan.
"A knight with no eyes to see the truth. Things are truly headed for ruin."
"What..."
"Anyone who lays a hand on my fiancée's friend will be regarded as an enemy of House Walterheim."
"..."
"What will you do, Young Lord Ryan von Meyer?"
At Viktor's declaration, the air in the plaza froze. An overwhelming pressure. Before the killing intent of the Northern Grand Duke, who had fought at the boundary between life and death, Ryan unconsciously swallowed dryly and tightened his grip on his sword.
"Relax your hand."
"..."
"You will die. Truly."
Viktor held nothing more than a toy bow and arrows. So why was Ryan trembling in fear to this extent?
This is my range... So why?
Why could he imagine nothing but death should he step in? Ryan ground his teeth.
"Ryan..."
Ryan turned his head and saw Elysia looking at him anxiously.
"I-I... If I apologize, it will all be over, so..."
At the pitiful sight of Elysia with tears welling in her eyes, Ryan's reason was paralyzed. The pride and anger that had been crushed beneath Viktor's killing intent burst forth at once and began to blaze.
"This is not Elysia's fault!!!"
Whoosh.
Thud!
Ryan removed his glove and threw it straight at Viktor. The people in the plaza gasped in shock at the sight.
"T-That is...?"
"No way?"
"Grand Duke Walterheim! I cannot forgive you for making Elysia cry! In the name of my house, I challenge you to a duel!!"
"Wow... What a lunatic. He really threw it?"
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