Class 1-C of the Imperial Royal Academy was the kind of class one could see in a typical academy.

Roughly three Imperial citizens admitted as special students.

Roughly twenty children of Imperial nobles.

And among them, one child of a great noble house whose status surpassed even the academy’s professors.

Of course, not every class was like this, but unless royalty was present, most classes were generally formed this way and rarely strayed far from that framework.

Because of that, first-year academy classes were basically not very noisy at the beginning of the semester.

The nobles had generally attended social gatherings, but since the Empire’s territory was so absurdly vast, there were nobles everywhere, and most of their classmates were people they did not know.

The only ones who opened their mouths early in such a place were, though it did not exactly fit the common image of an academy, the children of great nobles who could be called nobles among nobles, and those trying to flatter them.

The other nobles mostly watched the mood, gauging who they should make friends with.

And after that, they worried about what topic to bring up.

The most important thing among those was the latter.

The topic of conversation.

Something too heavy?

At a point when they were only just trying to make acquaintances, they did not have enough trust between them to bring up such a topic.

Even if it was a different kind of heaviness, it would only make the conversation uncomfortable.

Then would something light be better?

That would not do either.

Ordinary people might be fine talking about such things, but nobles were liable to be looked down on if they spoke that way.

......Of course, that was only what the first-years who had just entered the academy thought.

In any case, what mattered most to the students at the present moment was what topic they should bring up with the person who would become the friend beside them.

And in that sense, Alon was not someone likely to become a topic.

The third son of House Baron Telia.

Telia Alon.

A noble from the northern borderlands of the Empire.

That much was all the information Aman, an Imperial citizen student in Class 1-C who had worked hard in advance to research the nobles’ information so he could befriend them, had.

In other words, it was safe to say most people here knew nothing about Telia Alon.

Among nobles, he was ordinary.

“That’s disappointing. You should take care of your fiancée first.”

......Until his fiancée appeared, that was.

““.......””

The students stared at Alon, who was looking at his fiancée with an expression that made it impossible to tell what he was thinking.

Every single one of them.

All of them.

Fiancée.

In truth, engagement was a natural culture in the world of nobles.

Even so, the reason their gazes gathered like this was because of the fiancée’s face.

‘She’s pretty.’

Aman thought it without realizing.

That was not Aman’s personal thought.

Looking around now, everyone was blankly staring at the face of the fiancée who had appeared.

Some of the nobles had even opened their mouths without dignity, going, heh.

A face beautiful enough to make even nobles look dazed for an instant.

Even the girls were staring blankly at her face.

But that lasted only a moment.

The students who had been looking at the fiancée until just now turned their gazes back to Alon and filled them with questions.

Naturally so.

Because Alon was utterly ordinary.

Of course, Aman knew well enough that appearance was not that important in noble engagements.

But that was only true for nobles who played in the capital-class circles, and borderland nobles had a slightly different feel from nobles of that level.

And thinking from that standpoint, Alon’s fiancée was strangely pretty enough that it felt like a waste to engage her to a provincial noble.

With her appearance, even if she was from the borderlands, she could have been engaged immediately to nobles in the capital.

......Of course, if her family was too minor, it would be difficult with nobles truly at the top, but—anyway, just as everyone’s eyes filled with questions—

“Excuse me. Isn’t that statement a little incorrect?”

The students turned toward the voice that suddenly rang out and swallowed their breath once again.

Because another woman was entering the classroom.

With blazing red hair, and an impression that looked somewhat hysterical, as though matching that color.

......And yet, she was a woman beautiful enough to draw another small exclamation from everyone’s mouths. She stepped inside.

“......I’m Alon’s fiancée. You’re the ‘former’ fiancée, aren’t you?”

Then she naturally stood beside Alon and said those words.

““?????””

Immediately, the students’ gazes filled with question marks.

“???”

Aman was the same.

“......Huh?”

Someone’s small exclamation rang out.

Among nobles, engagement was natural.

Because of that, broken engagements did exist.

But nobles young enough to have just entered the academy did not break off engagements as often as one might think.

To begin with, breaking an engagement was the kind of thing that required more awareness of the people around you than expected.

“Oh my—what are you talking about, Lady Colina? Alon is my fiancé, you know?”

“Lady Arsenna, but your engagement is scheduled to be broken soon, isn’t it?”

“......The broken engagement hasn’t been completely decided yet, has it? Besides—Lady Colina, you haven’t even held the engagement ceremony yet, have you?”

Rine answered with a smile.

“The agreement between the families has already been finished, you know? Besides, even his own wishes are clear, aren’t they?”

“I don’t think that’s true.”

“But—Alon chose me.”

“.......”

At the following words from Lady Colina—no, Penia—a low exclamation escaped the students’ mouths.

Of course, there was no way they knew how the situation was actually unfolding.

But being at an age where they frequently spread the wings of imagination, they easily interpreted the situation before their eyes with the information currently released, in their own arbitrary and plain way.

Lady Arsenna, who loved her fiancé but had been abandoned by him.

Lady Colina, who had not even held an engagement ceremony yet, but had already been seduced by Alon.

And Alon, who watched the fight between the two without much interest—while actually being in utter chaos—and had seduced women who looked like they could be engaged to capital nobles, to the point that they even lost face and clung to him.

......That was the conclusion.

Along with it, gazes rushed toward Alon.

And then—

“......How’d he do it......?”

When everyone sympathized with someone’s tiny murmur—

“......Ah.”

Alon gained a realization.

The realization that his academy life probably would not become easy.

For about three hours after that.

Once the entrance ceremony fully ended, and the homeroom teacher assigned to Class 1-C finished giving introductions, Alon escaped from class.

No—

“.......”

“.......”

“.......”

Having escaped from the various gazes of the students, Alon opened the door and looked back and forth at Rine and Penia, who were smiling as though they had been waiting for him, then spoke quietly.

“......We need to talk.”

“Of course, Alon.”

“I had something to say anyway.”

The two nodded as though they had been waiting for those words. Alon moved with them, avoiding his classmates’ gazes, and headed to a private room inside the library where no one’s eyes could reach and they could speak quietly.

And then, a short while later.

After entering the private room and activating a shielding artifact along with several detection spells, he let out a sigh.

‘......That’s a relief.’

......In truth, he did not know whether he should really call this situation a relief, but anyway, perhaps thanks to the performance they had shown during the entrance ceremony, the students did not seem to find it strange that the group was moving around together.

......If there was a problem, it was that the academy life he had definitely intended to keep quiet until he found the Church of War had begun far too flashily.

“First, what exactly happened?”

So Alon looked at Penia and Rine and asked.

“......That’s actually what I want to ask.”

“Me too.”

“......?”

The two of them also looked at each other as if somewhat confused and opened their mouths.

####

A little while after that.

Alon understood how this situation had happened.

“......So you mean neither of you knew about each other?”

“Yes.”

“That’s right. To begin with, the special notes said I was someone he was going to be engaged to.......”

“......Mine said I was his fiancée.”

At Penia and Rine’s words, Alon let out a short sigh and looked at the papers in his chest.

Telia Alon’s details, but without any content about an engagement—

No, to be precise, it had been written there.

Rustle—

He simply had not noticed it.

“.......”

With a hollow expression, Alon looked at the final sheet stuck between the papers.

Because page two had ended in such a perfect place, he had thought there was nothing else, but in truth, it had been stuck to page two like one surface, so he had failed to see page three.

And there, all sorts of special notes about Telia Alon were written.

‘......Engaged to Lady Arsenna, then broke the engagement. Reason: Lady Arsenna’s excessive obsession. At the present time, preparing for an engagement ceremony with Lady Colina...... huh.’

Alon wore a thoughtful expression for a moment.

‘......It can’t be helped.’

If he followed his heart, he would have wanted a quiet school life, but since things had ended up like this, there was nothing to be done.

On top of that, Alon also thought this situation was acceptable to some extent.

There was a saying that if you wanted to hide a tree, you should hide it in a forest, and another saying that it was darkest beneath the lamp.

In other words, this happening at the beginning of the semester might actually make it easier to hide their identities.

So—

“......First, it seems the situation is like this.”

Alon lightly explained the current situation to the two, who were still looking at each other.

“Ah.”

“I see.......”

“That could have been a serious problem.”

“Exactly....... Good thing we answered well.”

Seeing the two nod as though they understood his explanation, he spoke.

“......There is one thing I want to ask, though.”

“Yes?”

“Was there any need to reveal that you were my fiancée right at the beginning?”

At Alon’s question, Penia answered.

“Well—this seemed like it would be more natural.”

“......More natural?”

“Yes. If we’re engaged, it’s natural for us to stay together, isn’t it? And it wouldn’t be strange.”

Penia said with a smile.

......Though her smile was a little awkward, it was a reasonable statement, so Alon nodded.

“......That is true.”

“I thought the same, Godfather.”

Rine followed.

After hearing her words, Alon spoke about the current situation.

“......I was planning to explain it in detail when we all gathered in a few days, but traces of the Church of War have been found.”

“As expected—”

“Our prediction was right.”

“Yes. We’ll discuss the details in a few days, but before then, try to search for traces if you can.”

At Alon’s words, the two nodded as though they understood.

But only for a moment.

“By the way, Godfather.”

“Yes?”

“So, who should play the fiancée role?”

“......Fiancée role?”

“Yes. It would be best if I did it, wouldn’t it?”

Rine said.

However—

“Um, wouldn’t it be better if I did?”

“Why?”

“Mm—according to the setting, Lady Arsenna is the one he’s about to break the engagement with, right? But it would be strange if you two went around on good terms. Wouldn’t it make more sense for Lady Arsenna, who is only just preparing for the engagement now, to play the fiancée role?”

“Even if I’m someone he’s going to break the engagement with, the engagement hasn’t been broken yet, has it? Besides, a broken engagement can often happen not because of the two people’s love, but because of pressure from their families, can’t it?”

“Then Lord Alon and Lady Rine would have to explain every single time, wouldn’t they? Rather than constantly having to explain because you’re the ‘former fiancée,’ wouldn’t it be better if I, the plain ‘fiancée,’ did it?”

Penia smiled.

“.......”

Rine also smiled.

......Looking at that, Alon briefly thought, wasn’t the reason for breaking the engagement with Lady Arsenna not family pressure, but obsession? But he deliberately did not say it out loud.

And at that point—

In Rosario of the Allied Kingdoms—

“......Look at these things......?”

Someone with red eyes—

“Sergius.”

“Yes. Yes, yes......?”

“I’ll be going out for about three months. Oh, of course, keep it a secret that I’m leaving.”

“......Three months, you say?”

“Yes.”

“Why......?”

—had begun preparing to head to the Empire.

With a deep smile that somehow did not seem to be smiling at all—

“It seems it’s time to settle things.”

Yutia Bloodia.