0&1 Ch 22.1

Face-to-face

I realized it when I left the restaurant. I forgot to ask her about the clothes again.

In the game, Idella wore the same clothes every day except on special occasions. When you selected the wardrobe tab, it was a simple outfit called ‘casual wear.’

She wore her school uniform when she went to class.

I think the clothes that were torn when Idella fell were that casual wear.

I tried to recall what Idella was wearing at the restaurant just now, but I couldn’t remember. Does that casual outfit have a restore function?

If this game is sane, it probably doesn’t, but I couldn’t be sure.

“Your Highness, did you know?”
“What?”
“About my family.”
“The Montblanc Trading Company?”

“You don’t know?”Lowell smiled wryly. He seemed to have a story.

Lowell was also a character to be conquered, so of course he had a story.

Would it be as extensive as Edward’s and Joffrey’s? I didn’t need to know. I wasn’t going to pursue Lowell Montblanc. 

I hoped it wasn’t a story about the secrets of his birth or his lineage.

Edward, Joffrey, and Alex already had similar backstories.

“Aren’t you going to ask? Why did Pavel Sanson say that? Aren’t you curious?” Lowell was smiling brightly.

Was he asking me to ask him? It seemed like he was waiting for me to ask.

I appreciated him seeing me as a great Prince, but I still found it difficult to understand his indirect way of speaking.

Did I misunderstand? I looked back at Alex.

Alex wasn’t even looking at Lowell. He was looking around intently, searching for something.

He pointed to a sign in the distance.

“Your Highness, they say they sell home-cooked meals at that restaurant.”

Aren’t you too uninterested?

“Then shall we go there? Do you like that restaurant?” I turned to Lowell. Lowell looked flustered.

“Your Highness, my question was…”
“I’m not curious.”

“I knew you would say that, Your Highness.”

Lowell smiled and said, “Shall we go in? It looks nice.” Alex agreed.

When I returned to my room after dinner, it was late at night. Good. Edward should be gone by now.

When I opened the door, I saw only Grey. He was reading a book by candlelight.

“You’re late.”

“Why aren’t you asleep yet?”

“I thought Your Highness would be late.” Grey closed his book. “I was waiting for you.”

Good. I had something to talk to Grey about, too.

“Grey. Let’s talk for a moment.”
“Yes, of course.”

For some reason, I had a feeling of déjà vu. Grey must have felt it too, because he looked uneasy.

“Let’s make some rules for sharing our room.”
“What?”
“I feel like we spent our first day together too casually. We’re going to be sleeping in the same room for a year.”

“Your Highness just slept through the first day. What rules do you think we need?” Grey asked, grumbling.

“Nothing weird, just basic manners. Like not letting friends into our room.” 

Friends like Edward, for example.

“It’s uncomfortable when strangers are waiting outside the door. So let’s make our meeting places outside the dorm.”
“…”
“The dorm security isn’t very reliable, so how about we change the locks to triple locks so no one can break in? I’ll cover the cost.”

“That’s not a rule.” Grey took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“Then let’s treat it as a privilege granted by the Prince. How about installing locks on all the dorm room doors? The other students will like it too. It will also prevent any unfortunate incidents that may occur between students.”

“Your Highness.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll just tell Prince Edward myself. Tell him not to come to our room.”
“Will you do that?”
“…”

It was the first day of the new semester.

Edward opened the envelope with a paper knife and read the letter in one go. The contents of the letter were as he had expected.

Everything was going according to plan at the royal palace.

Edward had no need to be anxious. There was still plenty of time.

Was there really enough?

Edward recalled Joffrey’s reaction. When he looked at him, he avoided his eyes, and when he reached out his hand, he pulled away… He was full of caution.

The bed opposite Edward’s was empty. His roommate had decided to take a leave of absence from the academy for some reason.

Since the first day, Edward was the only student who had entered this dorm room. He had no intention of sharing his bedroom with anyone else. How could he expose himself in his most vulnerable state to another person?

Edward opened his closet. He changed into comfortable clothes and looked at his reflection in the closet mirror.

It was a decent-looking face. The best thing about it was that it had an effect on Joffrey.

It might even look pitiful. Joffrey had liked Edward’s face since he was a child.

“How could you not recognize your own face?” Edward smiled slowly. He thought about moving his muscles and made a facial expression, and a gentle smile appeared in the mirror.

He remembered Joffrey’s reaction to that expression.

Edward closed the closet door with a straight face. He went out into the hallway.

The first class was basic sword fighting. It was time to see if Grey’s report was correct.

Enrolling in classes was difficult. Alex declared that if I didn’t take sword fighting, he wouldn’t either.

But sword fighting was Alex’s major.

“Then you won’t be able to graduate,” I said cautiously. I was grateful that Alex had decided not to leave my side.

Still, he should graduate, right?

“It’s okay.”

What’s okay?

“No, you have to graduate.”

“Would you be ashamed to have someone who didn’t graduate from the academy as your knight?”

Should I say no?

“Yes.”

Alex looked at me with a shocked expression. 

But if I said I wasn’t ashamed, he would obviously say, ‘Then I won’t graduate.’

“Graduate.”

“I don’t want to.” Even in shock, Alex insisted stubbornly. “I can’t leave His Majesty alone. If I have to give up protecting His Majesty now for my future, then I have no choice but to give up my future.”

Alex’s nose turned red. He started blinking his eyes. Am I tormenting him?

“Wait, don’t cry…”
“Even if I can’t become Your Highness’s knight…”
“What are you talking about?”

In the end, we agreed to take basic sword fighting lessons. Even if Edward were to take them, he wasn’t likely to take basic lessons.

The basic sword fighting lessons weren’t even suitable for my level, or even Alex’s level.

When Idella took basic sword fighting lessons, I remembered how she used to run around the playground in the game.

Huh? Isn’t this what Count Baumkuchen made me do? Running around the playground…

So the Count actually had systematic lessons in line with the academy’s curriculum?

It took a week for the new students to move into the dormitory, get their uniforms, and adjust to the academy. During that time, the upperclassmen began to arrive at the dormitory one by one.

The students who had arrived first were now burning with a sense of duty to tell the new students that the Prince had enrolled.

Thanks to them, Alex and I were caught up in a whirlwind of noise, glances, and finger-pointing wherever we went.

It wasn’t only the upperclassmen who had arrived at the academy. There was also a letter from Dot.

Dot wrote that he had heard that His Highness was second in the academy rankings and that he had told the Queen, who was very pleased to hear the news.

He did not write how the Queen reacted after confirming that Edward was first in the academy rankings.

I see. She was pleased.

I borrowed a new sheet of paper from Grey to write a reply. I left the sheet open for several days without touching it.

‘I’m fine. Take care,’ would have been enough, but even I thought it was lame for my first personal reply.

If I wrote a reply to Dot, I would have to send a letter to the Queen as well.

That thought prevented me from writing a single word.

Then the first class began. It was a basic sword fighting class.

The instructions said to wear comfortable clothes for the sword fighting class, and the upperclassmen advised us to do so as well.

I knew what kind of class it would be, so I wore comfortable clothes that Dot wouldn’t be able to stand if he saw me.

Of course, before leaving the dormitory, I made sure that Edward and Idella weren’t around.

The academy is a dangerous place. I won’t forget that from now on.

I just need to check twice or three times before moving to avoid dangerous people.

There were four students on the playground besides Alex and me.

Three of them were gathered in one place, and the other one was standing apart, as if he didn’t belong there.

That one was Edward.

Why are you here?

“Hello, Joffrey.”

Edward greeted me. He didn’t smile.