episode_0194

In the Argentia Empire, Prince Valtoria the 5th had four wives and nine children.

Well, to be precise, he had them.

Among the four wives, there were five princes and four princesses.

Just by looking at the number of royal descendants, it was enough to ignite the flames of the royal power struggle. In fact, in the world of the Luminor Academy, that power struggle was ongoing.

Of course, even if there were four wives, it was common to have a legitimate wife and a crown prince. Even if the wives didn’t get along, there was usually no reason for conflict to extend to the next generation.

The presence of the first wife, who was the legitimate wife of Prince Valtoria the 5th, and their first son, Prince Philipson, had prevented the rift from forming until a few years ago.

Although there was a verification process to ensure that the crown prince would not cause a civil war by giving up the emperor’s seat to the crown prince, the qualification test to become emperor was usually easily passed by a royal heir.

If there were several royal heirs who passed the qualification test, it was usually natural to pass the emperor’s seat to the first crown prince. Regardless of how well the other heirs performed in the qualification test.

And Philipson, although barely, passed the qualification test and obtained the qualification to become emperor.

Of course, in terms of the game’s story, inheriting the position in such a mundane way was not an entertaining method. Moreover, using this kind of succession method would prevent making Seraphine, the main heroine of the Luminor Academy, the empress.

Therefore, in the Luminor Academy, starting from the first wife, the first legitimate wife of the first crown prince Philipson, being executed in the middle of the first part of the story, a fierce royal power struggle began among the royal descendants.

Already, all the characters had ambitions, big and small, as they were all from noble backgrounds, so a full-fledged power struggle was an inevitable reality.

Therefore, except for the youngest princess who was too young to participate in the succession competition, the remaining eight children had no choice but to jump into the succession competition regardless of their own wishes.

Among them, there were exactly four people who were most sensitive to the succession competition at the current point in time.

The second prince, the first princess, and the third prince and princess.

Among them, the third princess was Seraphine, the main heroine of the Luminor Academy, and she was the only collaborator in the royal family who supported the protagonist in all aspects.

What about the remaining three out of the seven royal heirs who were supposed to participate in the competition?

What could they do? They just lived as usual, seemingly uninterested in the succession competition.

The second princess, Lucetia, the fourth prince, Machart, and the fifth prince, Antonio.

They were the types who were not interested in the royal competition in the story. More precisely, they were humans who were satisfied with just living as nobles rather than being interested in the royal competition.

Machart, who indulged in a luxurious lifestyle relying on his face and family.

Lucetia, who was not interested in anything other than a luxurious lifestyle despite being the older sister of Seraphine and their mother.

And even Antonio, who was the youngest among the competitors and inherently lacked enthusiasm for the royal competition.

Excluding these three, overcoming the obstacles posed by the remaining three and making Seraphine the empress was also one of the main stories of the work.

…So, why did they suddenly start talking about the family relationship between the royal family and Seraphine?

Well, of course, it was to talk about the protagonist of today’s banquet, Antonio.

Originally, in the work, he did not have much influence on the royal power struggle and was, in fact, the fifth prince, Antonio Robert Valtoria, who, despite being a royal, had little activity in the work.

Actually, he was just going to be the host of the banquet today and had no intention of meeting separately to talk with anyone…

But with the ridiculous behavior he had just exhibited, I found myself inevitably involved with Antonio.

“Two years ago, from the moment I first saw you at the palace, I fell in love! So please, I ask for your hand in marriage!”

“……”

“……”

“……”

Antonio’s declaration left Jangnae and me speechless, and we watched the scene in disbelief.

Even Serafin and Kettmjoshegi, who were conversing a little further away, seemed to be staring at the scene in disbelief, indicating that they were equally taken aback by the situation.

The noisy nobles around us, as well as the busy servants moving around the banquet hall, added to the chaotic atmosphere.

Everyone was waiting for the response of the person being confessed to by Antonio.

…Just to clarify, I was not the one being confessed to.

Initially, I almost mistook Antonio’s sudden confession as directed towards me, but his gaze was clearly aimed at the other lady beside me.

Even now, as I hear the name of the confession recipient, I couldn’t help but wonder if I was still dreaming.

“Please accept my heart, Agnes Elizabeth Blaze!”

“……What?”

…If this is a dream, it’s definitely a nightmare.

***

About an hour before Prince Antonio publicly confessed to Agnes.

The prince’s birthday celebration was proceeding relatively smoothly with a calm atmosphere.

At the beginning, MacHeart approached me once, then distanced himself, and there were no further confrontations or arguments between us.

Since the banquet hall was quite spacious, it was a bit difficult to accidentally run into each other unless one had a specific purpose, and for some reason, it felt like MacHeart was intentionally avoiding me.

We tried to move around without overlapping paths with MacHeart, and it seemed like he didn’t want to meet me again.

Perhaps he had the image of being a troublesome woman compared to other ladies.

If that was the reason, it was fortunate in many ways. Ultimately, the reasons for MacHeart to approach me disappeared.

It’s tiring to get involved with a character destined for doom for no reason.

“I sincerely thank you all for attending my birthday celebration today. Even though I may be young, I am also a prince of the Argenitia Empire…”

After that, I listened to the speech that Antonio had someone else write for him, and chatted with Edan on the side.

After some time, Agnes also quietly approached me.

“……”

“Oh, Agnes. Have you met all your friends?”

“…Yes.”

It was clear that Serafin was busy talking to other nobles after the formal banquet began, so she slipped away to join us.

If our level of intimacy had been normal, she would probably have been by the side of the hero instead of me. But seeing her come towards me, it seemed even that was not going well.

It was probably because of the incident with Natalie that was still making things awkward between the hero party and Agnes.

After graduating from the academy, I would have to spend a few years in the Demon King subjugation party with the hero, so it wasn’t a good sign.

“I’ll have to join the hero party somehow because of the Elizabeth family issue anyway.”

Nevertheless, if you are going to join us, it’s better to join in a friendly atmosphere. It will be difficult to coordinate in real combat if things are too awkward.

However, getting too close might lead Agnes to fall for the hero, so maintaining an appropriate distance was important.

Even from our first meeting, he was a friend who made me unnecessarily nervous.

“What are you drinking? Alcohol?”

“Oh, yes. Just a light cocktail.”

“Light? Really?”

“Just in case, I should mention that Agnes doesn’t drink. It’s just my intuition, but I think Agnes is the type who can’t handle alcohol well.”

“…I know.”

Contrary to what one might expect from someone stubborn, he readily admitted his lack of alcohol tolerance.

Perhaps due to the Natalie incident, he had become more cautious about alcohol. Maybe he secretly drank alone where others couldn’t see.

Unlike Natalie, Agnes vividly remembered what happened when he got drunk, thanks to his good memory.

Since winter break was long, if I had ever gotten really drunk at some event unknown to me, at least I wouldn’t have thought about drinking at such a public gathering.

“Blaze Youngae, by the way, I heard you’ll be taking a few classes with Lily this semester too.”

“…Lily? Oh, ah…you mean Lillis? Yeah, got it.”

“Can you let me know how Lily is during class? I also take two classes with Lily, both more practical than theoretical. I’m curious about what Lily is like in the classroom.”

“Just normal. Listens attentively and takes notes diligently. Seems a bit tired and dozes off slightly during Monday afternoon lectures.”

“It must be because the morning lecture is on magic swordsmanship. Lily’s skills with the dagger are improving day by day. Recently, I’ve been able to spar with her occasionally as her skills have gotten better. Of course, I give her a slight handicap…”

“Tell me more. How is the magic spell class?”

“Do we really need to talk privately with the person in front of us?”

The two continued their conversation smoothly, without feeling too awkward, as if they were somehow in sync. Although most of the conversation seemed biased towards one side.

Even if Ethan liked me since we were young, I don’t really understand why Agnes suddenly became interested in my personal life.

I’m not sure if she still appreciates that I helped her contract the fire spirit as her first elemental.

Until then, I thought Prince Antonio’s birthday celebration would end after a reasonable exchange without any major incidents.

A large-scale event that could turn the situation upside down suddenly occurred.

“Oh, there you are. Finally found you, my mademoiselle.”

“Huh?”

“Yes?”

“….”

Just as Ethan and I were deep in conversation, Prince Antonio appeared before us along with Agnes.

Although Ethan showed a slightly guarded reaction due to the recent Machart incident, it was important to show respect to the prince first.

Just like what happened with Machart, if he suddenly curses in front of him again, the atmosphere will become hostile once more.

“Hello, Prince Antonio. I am Lelise Blackwood Rosewood, the daughter of the Blackwood Duke family.”

“I am Ethan Richard Blackwood, the eldest son of the Blackwood Marquis family. Also, I am engaged to Lelise.”

After my introduction to prevent my minor noble background from standing out, Ethan promptly continued with his own introduction.

In his consideration, Antonio secretly felt grateful and pondered how to handle the situation. Surprisingly, the prince, who made an awkward comment not typical of himself from their first meeting, responded calmly to my and Edan’s replies.

“Oh, yes. Nice to meet you, Miss Lillis. I am Prince Edan.”

“Oh, yes, it’s an honor for me too….”

“…It’s an honor for me too, Prince Antonio.”

“So… I didn’t catch the name of this beautiful lady over here, but….”

“….?!”

“….?!”

Antonio, referring to Agnes as a ‘beautiful lady’ while I was standing next to him, caused both Edan and me to turn our gaze towards her simultaneously.

Of course, the most surprised would have been Agnes herself, hearing those words directly from Antonio.

“….Me?”

“Yes, my Mademoiselle.”

“Oh, Agnes Elizabeth Blaze….but….”

“Oh, your name is beautiful as well….!”

…No, it’s just a normal name.

I almost mistook him for someone else, seeing Antonio transformed into a completely different character from the original.

With his hairstyle and eye color, it seems undeniable that he is indeed Antonio.

As I struggled to figure out where things went wrong this time, Antonio’s ‘confession’ to Agnes continued.

“From the moment I first saw you at the palace two years ago, I fell in love! So please, I ask for your hand in marriage!”

“….”

“….”

“….”

“Please accept my heart, Miss Agnes Elizabeth Blaze!”

…The story comes full circle, back to the beginning.