“……”
Whether or not she felt embarrassed for calling soone else “Your Highness” instead of , there was no way to tell. Her expression hadn’t changed at all.
I could rewind ti if I had to, but she couldn’t.
“yer, yer…”
Alice, the *actual* princess, sat beside , furrowing her brows slightly as she muttered.
“Oh, right. The commander of the autonomous state’s military is Felix yer.”
As a princess, Alice hadn’t neglected her studies on neighboring nations, and she quickly deduced Lena yer’s background.
Hearing her comnt jogged a faint mory in , too, of the na buried deep in my mind. But it wasn’t a na from the original story or the ga’s lore. In the ga, the only Riklant figure given a proper na was the governor, Maximilian Schmidt.
In *Legend of Azerna*, if a new character’s na wasn’t explicitly introduced, they were labeled as “the woman with black hair” or “the rough-looking man.” This applied not just within a single series but across the entire work. Even if characters from previous installnts appeared, unless they were introduced or t the protagonist’s party, they’d be described with vague titles.
It was almost amusing sotis, like when a character’s face, known to everyone—even from the opening—would be half-concealed and described as “the young man with red hair,” as though it were a big mystery.
Anyway, Felix yer was a na I’d only heard since coming to this world, so it was a bit different from all that. He might have been the na of so background extra next to the governor in the original story.
“Yes, I’m the only child of the yer family, a military family in the Riklant Autonomous State. I look forward to working with you all.”
Though her expression was blank, her tone showed a subtle hint of pride anyone could have picked up on.
“A transfer student? But isn’t Class A already full?” Alice asked.
“Thanks to His Majesty’s grace, I was able to transfer.”
“My father’s?”
Alice frowned slightly.
Lena yer probably didn’t fully grasp Alice’s relationship with the Emperor. She might have imagined it was a typical father-daughter relationship.
But Alice had actually gone to confront the Emperor herself before joining the academy.
I wasn’t sure exactly what happened, but given Alice’s expressions whenever the Emperor ca up, it was clear she didn’t view him favorably.
Alice’s gaze moved between Lena yer and .
“We t this morning at the dining hall.”
Not that we did much more than a basic introduction. Other than that, we just sat in silence, waiting for ti to pass.
Thanks to that, I hardly rember what I ate for breakfast.
“Oh… really?”
Apparently, deciding she wouldn’t get much more from , Alice turned back to Lena yer.
“So… how do you feel about attending an academy in another country? I’ve heard Riklant has a few prestigious academies of its own. Isn’t it a bit odd to co all this way?”
“It doesn’t feel that way,” Lena answered imdiately.
“Even in the autonomous state, the Royal Rondarium Academy is highly renowned. I consider it an honor to be granted a special transfer here.”
“But if you were attending another academy, wouldn’t you have had to leave your friends?”
“I’m still a year too young to enroll in any academy. However, both the governor and His Majesty saw value in my abilities, so I was allowed to transfer. My only goal is to avoid being a burden.”
“Hmm… is that so?”
Alice glanced at briefly, hearing that Lena was a year younger than us.
Though she wasn’t particularly short or undeveloped, Lena yer’s face had a slightly younger look. Since the academy's entry age was fifteen, she must be fourteen if her birthday had already passed.
Alice leaned back into her seat with a casual air.
“Well, if my father allowed it, he must have had his reasons.”
If anything, knowing the Emperor was involved made Lena yer seem even more suspicious.
Despite Alice’s scrutiny, Lena’s expression remained unchanged.
“How was it, eting the Swordmaster?”
I attempted a change in topic. We still had a long way to go before reaching the academy, and I wasn’t eager to spend the trip sandwiched in awkward silence between these two girls.
The one small blessing was that there were only four seats here.
Charlotte and Mia Crowfield were seated a few rows over, while Jake and Leo were on the other side. With so many seats open, splitting up in pairs still left plenty of room.
Jake and Leo sat far from us, but Charlotte and Mia Crowfield were across the aisle, close enough to overhear our conversation.
Sitting on the aisle side instead of by the window showed their interest in the discussion.
After all, they had co to the academy partly to find ways to keep the Emperor in check. There were even a few willing to consider more drastic asures.
“The Swordmaster…?” Alice looked at .
“Oh, right, Sis! The Swordmaster really does live up to the title!” Claire interrupted excitedly before Lena yer had a chance to register any reaction, stealing my opportunity to observe Lena’s expression.
“After just one night of training, it felt like my eyes had been opened! He watched us spar for just a mont and instantly pointed out our weaknesses, correcting us. We trained almost all night!”
“...and I’m still exhausted because of it,” Alice added, running a weary hand over her face.
“Oh, co on. You improved a lot. You’ll thank him later for it. And he did invite us back.”
“Considering how far it is from the capital and the fact that you have to drive for hours and then hike up a mountain to et him, do you really think we’ll visit regularly?”
“Why not go during vacation?”
“...It didn’t look like that small hut had room for anyone to stay.”
“So? Just climb up every day. It only takes a few hours anyway.”
If we got up at four every morning, there’d be plenty of ti to climb and train.
Of course, Alice didn’t seem thrilled at the idea.
“...If that’s the plan, maybe count out.”
“Really?”
Claire’s expression showed a hint of disappointnt, but her eyes soon sparkled as she looked at .
“...Still, considering it’s the Swordmaster, it might be worth visiting him again soday if I have the ti.”
Unable to ignore that gleam in Claire’s eyes, I nodded.
“Good thinking!”
“The Swordmaster… are you referring to Sir Frederick?” Lena yer, who’d been listening quietly, suddenly spoke up as soon as Claire finished. She seed to have been holding back until now.
“Yes, that’s right,” Claire replied without hesitation, leaving Lena looking slightly dazed.
“To think… the Swordmaster is that close…”
He may have been in hiding, but he was far from unknown. Among those who trained in swordsmanship, his na was as famous as any royal or noble title. He was, after all, the *Swordmaster*. Before aiming to surpass the Emperor, even Lucas had initially set his sights on defeating the Swordmaster.
Now, for so reason, I seed to have taken that position.
“If you’d like, you could join us on a visit soti,” Claire offered, displaying her usual boundless friendliness even to this stoic new girl.
“Would… that be all right?”
...If she got any more excited, her carefully maintained deanor might break.
Though her expression remained blank, I could see the faintest twitch in the corner of her mouth.
“I don’t see why not. Whether he teaches you or not is up to him, but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind eting you.”
“……”
He did seem like the sort to allow it. If soone he’d already accepted as a student brought another, he’d welco them. Though he preferred his solitude, he wouldn’t turn down soone interesting.
“Thank you!” Lena yer responded enthusiastically.
“……”
And silence fell over us once again.
...Why did I feel so unsettled?
I was certain I was keeping my own “character” better than anyone here.
But a deep-seated unease slowly crept up inside .
The real problem was, I had no idea where this feeling was coming from.
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