Asteria von Caelum.
She was the second princess of the imperial family, to which my family barely belonged, and one of the heroines of the original story.
As the illegitimate daughter of a low-ranking maid who had once served the Emperor, she should never have been given any right to succession. However, she had shown remarkable political talent from an early age, and with all of her half-brothers being fools without exception, there had been constant talk of her potential succession to the throne.
She herself harbored ambition for power and had a personality that refused to give up on anything she set her sights on. Once she became aware of her ambiguous lineage and uncertain position within the imperial family, she threw herself wholeheartedly into gathering talented individuals who could become her strength.
The fact that she had come to the Academy, despite having no real need to, meant only one thing. She was here to recruit capable people to become her hands and feet.
And in the process, she was likely searching for a potential husband as well.
“The second princess is the student council president? That’s so cool…”
Yeah. He was the one saying that with wide-eyed admiration, not having the slightest clue what was going on.
Swoosh—
When the second princess raised her hand, the thunderous applause vanished as if it had never existed.
In that moment, when she commanded the crowd with nothing more than a hand gesture, I truly felt what it meant to possess real charisma. It was a genuine “power”.
“…Dear students,”
Her speech began with a familiar greeting.
The content was typical of what you’d expect to hear at an entrance ceremony. Some routine words of welcome and a subtle warning that things wouldn’t be easy.
Amor Academy, open not just to nobles but also to commoners (as long as they could afford it), had long been recognized as one of the continent’s most prestigious institutions. It produced numerous historical figures throughout the years.
Since the Academy wasn’t a mandatory institution, there was no real problem if someone didn’t attend due to their family circumstances or personal reasons.
However, if a student were to be expelled during the semester for failing grades or poor behavior, society often saw that as a disgrace, treating the individual as a shame to the Empire.
Naturally, graduating from the Academy was considered a highly valuable career milestone, and since graduates were respected wherever they went, most nobles treated Academy graduation as a tradition.
What’s more, for commoners with high grades, it was not only a chance to make a name for themselves but also an opportunity for social advancement. Because of this, internal competition was fierce, and the passion of students trying not to fall behind others burned through the campus each day.
Well, I just need to get through it and graduate eventually~
Since I had no real concerns about my grades, I was half-listening to the student council president’s speech with a relaxed mindset, treating it like a nostalgic trip back to my school days.
“And so, our Acade… my… is…?”
Just as our princess was scanning the audience and her gaze reached my direction, her words suddenly slowed, and then, as if a system crash had occurred, her mind seemed to come to a complete halt.
“What’s wrong with Her Highness? Is she feeling unwell?”
Unwell? Oh, she was unwell, all right. Lovesick, to be exact.
Your looks are a terrible disease that causes serious internal damage to the hearts of women.
“A-Ah, ahem! I apologize. I had a brief lapse due to not feeling well. I’m sorry. As I was saying, our Academy—”
But like a true professional, our princess smoothly brushed off the momentary freeze and managed to finish her speech without issue before stepping down from the stage.
For a second, it seemed like our eyes met as she descended the stage. But she must’ve been looking at him, not me.
The person in question, of course, was too busy thinking about what came next to even notice what had happened.
While others bent over backward just to get a speck of attention from Her Highness, he had stolen her heart in an instant with nothing but his face.
My life felt like it was stuck in nightmare difficulty… Wasn’t it about time for a serious balance patch?
Doing my best to ignore the intense gaze I could still feel from the princess, I silently prayed for this entrance ceremony to end peacefully.
***
After the ceremony, I made my way to the class I’d been assigned to.
They said having classes on entrance ceremony day went against the way of the martial world….so how could anyone go so far as to defy the natural order of things…?
“Hehe. I really want to find out what we’ll be learning at the academy. Aren’t you excited, Mars?”
At this point, it was just scary. Honestly, he was like a madman with innocent eyes.
To Pollo, who enjoyed the process of learning something new, even this moment seemed to be a source of joy.
Ahh, Master Xunzi… your theory of innate evil was correct after all…
– Nyaaaanng…
“Was that a cat?”
At the faint sound of a cat’s weak meow, my butler radar instantly activated, and my head turned on its own.
When I looked in the direction of the sound, I saw a limping cat under a tree in a flower bed about twenty meters away.
Judging by the lack of significant blood loss, it didn’t seem seriously injured, but with small wounds across its body, matted fur, and what looked like a hurt leg, it probably had a rough encounter with a bird up in the tree and fell down.
Even I felt a pang of sadness seeing it, but I doubted the academy infirmary would lend a bed to a stray cat. On top of that, if I took it there myself, I might end up late for my very first class. So, swallowing my regret, I decided to walk past the cat.
“It’s unfortunate; there’s nothing we can do. It’s just the way of nature, so we have to accep—Hey! Where are you going?!”
Tap tap tap—!
Before I could stop him, Pollo had already run toward the cat.
He calmly approached the cat and immediately began checking its condition.
“Are you okay? Does it hurt a lot?”
– Nyaaaanng…
“Don’t worry. I’ll take you to the doctor right away.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
Startled by the sudden voice of a woman, I quickly turned just like Pollo and we saw a silver-haired beauty with a mysterious aura walking toward us.
“Could you let me take a look at the cat for a moment…?”
“Ah, sure.”
Perhaps overwhelmed by her presence, Pollo obediently handed the cat he had been holding over to the woman.
– Nyaaaanng…
“There, there. It’s all right. It doesn’t hurt at all.”
Fwaaaa—
“What the hell…”
Silver hair and half-closed sleepy-looking eyes. And with a divine power so immense it radiated like a halo…
She was another of the original story’s heroines, besides the imperial princess.
“The Saintess…”
Saintess Hertia.
Abandoned by her parents and raised in a monastery, she was a girl who awakened immense divine power from an early age and was recognized as a saintess.
Since she became a saintess at a young age and had no friends to confide in, she accepted the suggestion of the current Pope, who was like a teacher and parent to her, to experience life at the academy. That’s why, according to the setting, she had started attending the same academy as us this year.
The Saintess makes things a bit uncomfortable…
Given her role as a servant of God, her faith was incredibly devout.
She wasn’t a fanatic who forced her beliefs on others, but the way her demeanor would completely change whenever religion came up made things a bit awkward for someone like me, who didn’t follow any faith.
On top of that, I didn’t exactly have pleasant memories when it came to religion…
Sure, it might sound ridiculous to be reincarnated into another world and still not believe in gods. But even if they did exist, I personally didn’t think they were the kind of beings worth putting my trust in.
– Nyaa? Nyaa-yaa!
The cat that was now fully healed by a single touch of her hand began leaping around joyfully before rubbing itself affectionately against the Saintess’s ankle.
I think that was how cats usually showed affection.
“Fufu, how cute.”
“Thank you for healing the cat. I wasn’t much help at all…”
“That’s not true. I saw you run over to check on the cat the moment you realized it was hurt. That care you show for life….that’s what makes you truly admirable.”
Pollo looked embarrassed by the Saintess’s words.
Guys. I’m all for the rosy atmosphere, but at this rate, we’re going to be late, you know?
I really don’t want to stand out by getting marked as late on the very first day. I just want a quiet academy life!
“Pollo! Let’s go, if we’re any later, we’ll be late!”
“Oh, right! I’m sorry, we’ll be going now! Thank you for treating the cat!”
Pollo hurriedly said his goodbyes to the Saintess and then dashed off with me toward our assigned classroom.
As the two of us rushed off toward the classroom, the Saintess gave us a curious look. But I was too focused on getting there on time to care about that kind of gaze.
***
“Huff! Huff! We’re not late, are we?”
When we arrived at the classroom, students were gathered in small groups chatting, and there was still no one at the teacher’s podium.
From the looks of it, the professor must’ve been held up by something and was running a bit late.
Relieved, Pollo and I found two empty seats in the middle of the room and sat down side by side.
There was a bit of a stir as some attention shifted to Pollo’s appearance, but I was so used to scenes like that. Sitting by the window, I just stared outside, hoping the day would pass quickly.
“Hey, commoner.”
Commoner, huh. The entrance fee must’ve been pretty steep. How did someone like that even get in? Maybe they had some exceptional talent to make up for it.
“I’m talking to you. Yeah, you—commoner.”
…But why does the voice sound so close?
When I turned my head toward the voice, I saw a petite sharp-eyed beauty glaring at me. Her glossy brown hair swayed as she moved.
“So you’re finally looking this way, huh?”
“…Are you calling me a commoner, by any chance—”
“Who else could I be talking to here besides you?”
Goddamn it. If you were going to reincarnate me, couldn’t you at least have let me customize my appearance first?
What was I supposed to do with a face that didn’t even measure up to the bullseye of a ten-point target?
And now, thanks to this face, a classmate had already mistaken me for a commoner. You better take responsibility for this.
“Sorry, but I’m a noble. A baron, actually.”
“What? With that face?”
Sorry I’ve got this face, you brat.
You think the emperor hands out titles based on looks?
“Hmph, whatever. Doesn’t matter. Just get out of that seat.”
“Huh?”
I almost cursed out loud, but I held back.
The bold young lady in front of me was the treasured daughter of a duke’s household.
The rank of a baron was so far beneath hers, that I wasn’t even supposed to lift my head in her presence. She was Selene Eus, the second daughter of the Eus family, known as the emperor’s right hand.
If I did anything to get on the bad side of someone from a founding noble house like hers, life at the academy would become seriously difficult.
What’s worse, she was also the last of the three main heroines in the original story, and she was destined to cross paths with Pollo. Acting up around her or behaving rudely might lead to some very bad outcomes.
“Understood. Then please, have a seat here.”
In the end, I bowed to power and gave up my seat, dragging myself to the only other empty spot.
Thud—
Thud—
…? Why did that sound like it came from both sides?
Sensing that something felt off, I turned to the side. And there was Pollo, sitting there with a bright, innocent smile.
“…Why are you here?”
“Hmm? Because you sat here, Mars?”
He sounded like someone climbing a mountain just because it was there.
Hey, that seat next to you is basically a VIP spot for the noble lady, you know.
“Why are you sitting next to me instead of next to the lady?”
“Huh? But the lady wanted to sit in your seat, didn’t she? And I want to sit next to you.”
…This guy….he’s not that way, is he?
I hadn’t played the game properly, so I wasn’t sure if the original story had ended up with a deep, dark conclusion, but the way he kept clinging to me felt incredibly suspicious.
Then again, considering how he’d hidden a sexy photo album from the back alleys deep in his bookshelf back home, he clearly did have some interest in women.
Whoosh—!
“Ah.”
Out of instinctive male fear, I had completely forgotten.
The noble lady who believed I had stolen Pollo from her (at least in her own mind), was now glaring daggers at me. With eyes burning with fury and jealousy, as if she was blaming me for his rejection.
If looks could set someone on fire, I’d already have been a perfectly grilled appetizer with all the fat cooked out of me by now.
“You—!”
Clatter—
“Oh, looks like everyone’s here. Sorry I’m late. I’m Idrus, and I’ll be in charge of Class A.”
Just as the noble lady Eus was about to unleash her fury on me, our class professor made his timely entrance, bringing her tyranny to an abrupt end.
If he had been even a little later, my family might have been branded as one that had fallen out of the duke’s favor.
And so began the academy’s orientation and our first light lesson.
Throughout the class, the noble lady’s sharp gaze kept shooting toward me, but I acted like I didn’t notice a thing.
Just for today, I was a model student.
“Mars, I think the lady has a thing for you~ She keeps staring at you!”
…What am I supposed to do with this dense protagonist…?
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