27 – Dispute
“Graduate and come into our family.”
“Pardon?”
The somewhat blunt words that Johanna suddenly blurted out were echoed from my mouth.
To gather my thoughts, I drank the cold water next to me. After drinking all the cold water at once, my head hurt a little, but I could still gather my thoughts.
“What do you mean by ‘come into our family’?”
“The guy who argued with you earlier, he’s a prince of the Arshen Kingdom.”
Now I remembered. That jerk was a prince of some country. The Arshen Kingdom, as far as I could remember, was not a kingdom that had a significant influence on the story.
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“What does that have to do with me entering the senior family?”
“Once you graduate from the academy, he will use the power of the kingdom to mess with you.”
It was then that I finally understood why Johanna had asked me to join her family.
“If I join the senior family, he won’t be able to mess with me recklessly, right? In that case, the invitation to join the family means…”
“After graduation, do you want to become a knight of the family?”
Even though the Burge is a royal family and Johanna’s family is a duke’s family, this side is the empire. They wouldn’t dare to meddle with a duke’s family from the empire.
“Ah! What are you saying again? I misunderstood because you suddenly told me to join the family!”
······!
At first, Johanna seemed not to understand what I said, but after a moment of thought, she realized that her words could be misunderstood, and her face turned red.
“Senior’s proposal is too much for me, but I don’t have any intention of becoming a knight!”
“But.”
Johanna seemed worried that the kingdom might trouble me, but I was really okay. Even though I can’t confront the kingdom now.
“Don’t worry. Senior said it himself. The kingdom won’t bother me once I graduate.”
As long as I’m in the academy, the kingdom can never lay a hand on me. At most, the Burge prince might bother me a little.
“Senior, I believe there are three things people look at before messing with each other. Power, force, and wealth.”
I said to Johanna, who still looked worried about me.
“If you have any one of these overwhelmingly, the kingdom can’t touch you. And I plan to obtain all three before graduation.”
This time, Johanna listened to my words and made a blank expression.
“How?”
“Of course, that’s a secret.”
But it’s not a lie. I really plan to obtain all three before graduation.
“You can look forward to it. Senior will show you how to get those three things from the best seat. Just watch how I obtain them while sitting in the first-class seat.”
······Yes.
Finally, Johanna seemed relieved.
The face was flushed, perhaps still because of what she had said earlier? It seemed even redder than before.
When I stared at Johanna intently, she turned her head for some reason. With her head turned, Johanna asked the question.
“What are you thinking of doing after graduation?”
After graduating. Until now, I had only thought about academy life and moved accordingly; I hadn’t really thought about what would come after.
“I haven’t really thought about it. Well, traveling wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
“You’re not going to the Adelian family, right?”
I don’t know why the Adelian family suddenly came up.
“You’ve heard about it, haven’t you?”
“Why?”
When I mentioned the Adelian family, Johanna spoke in a cold voice. Moreover, she seemed slightly annoyed.
‘What does Johanna have to do with the Adelian family? As far as I know, there’s nothing special between them.’
“Well, they did bestow quite a favor on me.”
Although I treated the Adelian Duchess, the Adelian family gave me more than that.
If I hadn’t heard of the Adelian family back then, I might not be here now.
“If you’re going to the Adelian family, consider the Freya family too.”
“What?”
Upon my response, Johanna spoke with a disappointed expression.
“You won’t come?”
Seeing that expression, I couldn’t refuse.
“I will definitely go!”
I heard from Johanna how wonderful Freya Territory is while having lunch.
.
.
.
After finishing my meal and parting ways with Johanna, I headed towards the special class located in the basement.
Perhaps because it was lunchtime, unlike the bustling first floor, there was no sound coming from the area with the special class.
As I walked through the quiet underground, I suddenly arrived at the special class. I opened the door and entered.
Except for Clara, there was no one in the classroom.
“Ms. Clara, did you enjoy your lunch?”
I spoke to Clara, who was reading a book, and she shifted her gaze from the book to me.
“Why are you so late?”
Clara asked me, closing the book she was reading. It seemed like the kind of question you’d ask someone you were waiting for.
It was a pure inquiry about why I was late. When I left the cafeteria, Clara was still eating.
But I guess she’s curious why I came so late.
“hahahaha, I got a little caught up in a conversation. By the way, where did everyone else go?”
After lunch, I continued to hear about the advantages of Freya Territory from Johanna. Eventually, I could say that I’ll definitely visit later.
“The others went out to explore the academy.”
Well, it’s a place we’ll be attending regularly, so it’s natural to want to take a look around.
“Why didn’t you go, Ms. Clara?”
“I already explored in the morning.”
For some reason, Clara seemed different. Should I say she was a little kinder in her response? Why is she acting like this?
As I pondered over the reason, someone opened the classroom door and walked in.
Suddenly.
“It looks like the two of you are together.”
The person who entered was Elysia, the homeroom teacher with ash-colored hair.
“Teacher, did you enjoy your meal?”
“Yeah, I heard the commotion from the cafeteria. Is there something I can help with?”
“Nothing in particular!”
Unless the entire kingdom goes crazy and tries to drag me into the army, there’s no reason for me to ask for help from Professor Elysia.
“But Professor Elysia? It’s fortunate that we’re together, what does that mean?”
“You two will have the afternoon class together. Just follow this note and move to the designated classroom.”
Come to think of it, the afternoon class was supposed to be divided for the special class students.
After finishing her words, Professor Elysia left the classroom.
“Why didn’t you ask her?”
As soon as Professor Elysia left, Clara said to me.
“Yes? What are you talking about?”
“Why didn’t you ask the teacher for help?”
Now I understood. Clara’s unusual kindness was because she was worried about me, who was marked by the vulture.
“hahahaha.”
“What, what’s wrong with you?”
As I left the classroom, laughing like a maniac, Clara took a step back.
“Clara, are you really that worried about me?”
“No, not really.”
Although Clara replied right away, I could tell she was embarrassed.
“Oh, come on, don’t deny it. How much were you worried about me?”
“I wasn’t,” she said.
Teasing Clara like that, I spent some time until other students who had been touring the academy came in.
Lucas also approached me with a worried look. Other students, too, sent me concerned glances.
“Roki, are you okay?”
“Lucas, do you really think I’d be scared of just a prince?”
I laughed as I spoke, and Lucas seemed a little relieved.
“Well, you’re not the type to be scared of that.”
I waited for all the special class students to gather.
After a while, all the special class students gathered in the classroom.
“Everyone!”
I moved to the front of the podium and called the special class students. As I spoke, they all looked at me.
“I’m not the one who’s caught the prince’s eye.”
This time, I planned to tell the special class students not to worry.
“The prince has taken an interest in me. So you don’t need to worry. If you’re going to worry, worry about the prince who’s taken an interest in me.”
As I said this as if it were nothing, the worried look in their eyes seemed to fade a little.
Of course, not everything disappeared, but it would soon vanish completely.
.
.
.
“Clara, who couldn’t even sigh because of worrying about me, shall we go together?”
“······”
Ignoring my words neatly, Clara walked to attend the class, and I followed her.
Thud,
While following Clara, someone bumped into my shoulder.
“Why are you bumping into me? If you can’t walk straight, take off that mask.”
“What a nuisance is my saying.”
I was clearly looking ahead and walking. Nevertheless, the reason our shoulders collided was probably because that guy intentionally bumped into me.
There’s a high chance these guys are from the Arshen Kingdom too. Perhaps Veruge ordered them to harass me.
Unless I go myself, bow my head, and apologize, they’ll continue to send people to harass me.
Thinking about what might happen next, I covered my mouth and shivered.
“······Kick.”
If I didn’t do something like this, it seemed challenging to hold back the laughter trying to burst out.