The Villainess in the Romance Fantasy Is Strange

21. Unwanted attention, unexpected development (3)

A day later. The first practical class for freshmen in the first year.

I was surprised when I came to my seat after riding the carriage with Lia and going to Bern Academy.

Because the desk was filled with a pile of letters with [Dear Cain Reinhardt] Written on the outside of the finely folded envelope.

Even if you roughly count them, dozens of these letters, of course, were not bittersweet love letters.

Perhaps they were in a hurry, the deadlines were rough, and most of the letters were scribbled. These were the arenas sent to me by the 2nd and 3rd graders.

As proof of that, if you peel off the envelope, the words are all unified with the word [Dueling field]. The content is incendiary, ‘Cain Reinhardt. I will defeat you in a duel and take your seat as an executive of the student council.’

“…… But they are nobles, and they follow the etiquette very well.”

According to the etiquette of the empire, nobles duel in front of each other’s faces, so engaging in a verbal battle with a mani is considered indecent. So, in an indirect way like this, he must have sent the arena to the duel by mobilizing all the words that seemed elegant to me.

Of course, there are exceptions, such as the sophomore boy who got into a fight in the student cafeteria yesterday, but that person is strange. If a noble wants to duel, it is standard for him to confidently reveal his identity and negotiate with the other party before engaging in a duel.

Well, anyway. I looked through the callers of the arena piled up like a mountain.

I was checking to see if there were any students I knew who were suspected of being characters in the original work or religious believers. There were no names that stood out in particular.

“Mmm.”

I was a little disappointed that there were no fish with rice cakes, but this is within the expected range. In the first place, I didn’t expect to be able to find one after another of the cult’s followers with one cheap provocation.

If you want to catch a member of a sect acting secretly in the shadows, you need a bigger shot. Wouldn’t that be so, wouldn’t they move their hips in a hurry only when the instep of their feet was on fire?

I’m going to make a secret deal with the student council president, Edwin. I will show that the exhaustive tax audits I have declared are not mere rhetoric. You have already set your goals.

First of all, it’s not an organization affiliated with the student council, and its size is moderately large, so if you shake it off, dust will pour out-.

“Over there.”

At that time, someone from behind tried to put a hand on my shoulder. I quickly turned around and reflexively slashed the unknown opponent’s hand.

I wondered if it was an unexpected surprise attack, so I looked at the front so that I could counterattack at any time. There was a certain blonde man there, and as soon as my eyes met, he was startled. He raises his hands with a look of bewilderment.

“Whoa, wait! Surrender, surrender!”

I tried to subdue him if he made a mistake, but he said he surrendered. I thought something was strange so I stared at it.

The blonde man ─ probably a classmate judging by the color of his tie ─ opened his mouth, still holding his hand up, as if he had no intention of fighting.

“Kain Reinhardt, right? His back was turned, so I was just trying to talk to him. I had no other thoughts, really.”

“You mean that, right?”

“Oh, seriously. I’m serious with my family’s honor.”

Your face looks like an aristocrat at first glance, but it seems to be sincere enough to stake the family’s honor on it. After all, nobles are the kind who value face the most.

I took my hand off the handle of the sword and relaxed. The blond man, as if relieved then, put on a face that seemed to have taken a breath and let out the breath he had been holding back.

“Ugh, be bloody. I tried to talk to you once, but I was surprised to find out that you were leaving the world.”

“Small talk is over, so what’s the matter?”

I asked coldly, and the blond man looked me up and down before grinning.

“Before that, let’s introduce ourselves first. I am Bern von Ed. He’s the second son of a viscount at the bottom of the continent over there.”

“Bern von Ed, say?”

“Yes. Bern von Ed. But feel free to call me Bern. I like that one better too, isn’t it the name of a founding hero who built an empire?”

Hearing Vern smile while extending his right hand as if asking me to shake his hand, I felt a sudden déjà vu.

Chu Im-sae said, ‘Isn’t that the name of a hero who built an empire?’ He is a line that I have seen impressively somewhere.

After thinking about it for a second, he immediately came to mind.

That line, Vern von Edgar, the sub male protagonist of the original work. These are the words I mumbled savvy when I first met Stella, the heroine of the original work.

And Bern von Ed. No, ‘Bern von Edward’. He is the second prince of the Empire who secretly entered Bern Academy while hiding his true identity.

…… Then, did I just slit the wrist of the second prince of the empire?

“… ….”

Imperial offense, execution, guillotine.

I felt sick to my stomach when I realized what was going on, but I had to make an excuse. So, first of all, I’m going to grab the second prince’s hand and ask for forgiveness.

“…… Cain!”

Lia, who had been watching me since when, came closer and grabbed my sleeve.

“Cain, what were you talking about?”

Lia, pulling her sleeves up, asks me with her face that says she doesn’t know anything.

I tell Lia that the second prince of the empire is right in front of us. So I wanted to give you a hint that you should be careful of her behavior.

Lia, not sure if she knew what I was thinking, turned her head around and spoke to Vern.

“Do you have any business with Cain?”

“Our Cain…… ?”

The second prince of the empire, Bern, looked at Lia and me alternately. Then, like someone who noticed something, he nodded her head with an understanding face.

“Ah, that was true. Were the two of you very close? Yes, that’s right I think I saw them together at the entrance ceremony.”

Vern, who picked up mumble mumble, muttered to himself, and served her, reached out her hand again.

“Nice to meet you, Miss Leah von Eleves. I am Vern von Ed, with Cain Reinhardt here.”

Berne took a moment to moxibustion, then asked a hint.

“Friend, it is not yet. Shall we just say that they are classmates in the same class, Cain?”

“Oh, uh. That is… ….”

“…… Cain, what are you doing? Hurry up, join hands, and make friends!”

Just when I was about to agree to Vern’s words, Lia, who was close to me, whispered.

So, without realizing it, I grabbed Vern’s hand and did as Lia told me.

“Oh, no. Friend, friend. If we have a conversation once, aren’t we all friends from then on?”

The second prince of the empire. Vern stared down at the hand that was clasped with mine, then smiled as if he looked very similar to someone I saw yesterday. Shook it gently

“Oh, good friend. Yes, then, if it’s okay with Miss Leah. Shall we all be friends from today? The kind of people who eat delicious food together and share nonsensical small talk. Friend?”

“Yes, I like it. Because Cain will finally have a friend. Cain, are you okay too?”

“Uh, yes. Good, good ok let’s be friends friend.”

hahahahaha, I was going to laugh, but I stopped because I thought it would look too awkward. My tone is already awkward enough.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Vern didn’t seem to notice my awkwardness. Is it the first time dating a friend of the same age as the 2nd prince? They just hold hands and shake them vigorously and say they like it.

“Oh, yes! Look at my mind Cain, shouldn’t we stop by our student council room?”

“Huh? Student council room?”

“The student president stopped by in the morning and told me to go, don’t you remember?”

Frowning, Leah closed and opened one of her eyes cutely and tugged at my sleeve. In response, I quickly nodded her head and agreed with Lia’s words.

From noble mtl dot com

“Mmm, right. You said you had something to say about student council work, and you told me to stop by no matter what, right?”

“Yeah, right? He told me to stop by no matter what. So, Vern, we’ll go to the student council room to show our faces for a while. It’s the president’s order, so if you ignore it, you’ll be in big trouble.”

“Ah…. Okay. I can’t help it if it’s the president’s words. Bye. Cain, Miss Leah.”

The only woman a noble man can call with honorifics is his family or a woman close enough to him.

For that reason, I left behind Bern, who sent off friendly and courteous to Lia. We got out of the classroom.

After descending the spiral staircase, Lia and I stood on the first floor landing. At the same time she let out a deep, loud sigh.

“…… And.”

I’m not joking, I almost got into trouble. To treat the second prince of the empire like that? If it had been done in the imperial palace, it would have felt like an immediate execution. The offense of disrespecting the imperial family was such a serious crime that it was ignored.

It is fortunate that this is inside the Bern Academy, where everyone is equal regardless of class.

Of course, it’s a nameless school rule, but wouldn’t it serve as a minimum safety device? At the very least, they won’t be able to execute me on the basis of the offense of disrespecting the imperial family committed within the academy.

According to the description in the original work, cold sweat runs down the back of her neck, despite knowing that Vern is not a great person to deserve.

I wiped the sweat with her handkerchief and looked at Leah. Lia must have been just as nervous as I was.

“Whoa…. I’m glad, I’m really glad It’s a relief that the second prince didn’t notice….”

“…… Yes?”

Leah caught her breath and her words opened her eyes. She’s the second prince, could it be that Lia had noticed?

When I asked with only her eyes, Leah nodded her head coolly.

“Yeah, I knew that. Is that why you went to talk?”

“Ah…. Did you? Thank you, Lia.”

Somehow, the timing was too good. You must have been watching from afar.

However, as I was expressing my gratitude, I suddenly had a question.

According to the original description, the fact that Berne is the second prince is treated as a top secret.

So it only becomes an open fact by the time we become sophomores. How did Leah know that in advance?

“By the way, how did you know Bern was the second prince?”

“Huh? Yes, you know because you saw it, right?”

“You saw it?”

I asked back without realizing it.

Did you see it? What did you see

“What do you mean?”

As far as I know, there shouldn’t be any clue that Bern is the second prince of the Empire.

I looked at Lia quietly.

“… ….”

Lea’s face turned as white as a sheet of paper.