Ch.3636. The Imperial Invitation (Forced)

Celia Rubetia.

I was aware that she was always sticking close to me.

But I didn’t think it was strange.

In the original story, she was a genuinely introverted person who couldn’t make a single proper friend until graduation, and even now, she was reluctant to meet new people.

There were occasional instances when someone would approach her, but she would fiercely chase them away.

Because she was like that, I thought she was just particularly attached to me as her only close friend.

That’s what I had been thinking, but…

“C-Celia! Have you really decided to go all out now?”

“Hmm? I don’t know what you’re talking about, Ms. Lilith. I’ve always been like this.”

“Don’t lie! Your face is all red from embarrassment right now!”

“Ugh… no, it’s not…”

I couldn’t help but be flustered by her suddenly closing the distance between us.

What’s really going on? Honestly, it’s hard to understand.

The game I played was basically story-focused.

While multiple endings existed, it was designed to follow a main framework.

And throughout it all, the protagonist never experiences a proper romance before reaching the conclusion.

That was a characteristic of this game. There was a favorability system, but no romance system implemented.

More precisely, raising favorability allowed you to see character-specific stories, but they didn’t lead to romance.

At best, you’d become friends and get slightly different dialogue when talking on the street? Because of this, there were quite a few people demanding that a dating sim be developed.

Anyway, knowing the game’s content, I thought these characters weren’t interested in such things.

But… looking at this now, even someone as dense as me can tell. That she’s interested in me.

While I was grateful that such a beauty thought well of me… honestly, it was burdensome.

Because she’s a princess? Because she’s an important character in this game’s story?

No. If I was going to be burdened by such things, I would have tried to stay unnoticed since the entrance exam.

The reason I felt burdened was… because of her age.

Although she was mature for her age group, no matter how mature she was, in my eyes she was still a minor.

Of course, my current body is the same age as hers… but I didn’t want to be the kind of despicable person who would use that as an excuse.

No matter how much she could captivate someone with just a smile…

“Ludion. Lucky you, huh? Having such a pretty girl following you around saying she likes you.”

“D-don’t say it like that…”

“What’s the big deal? I bet he’s happy about it too! Ask him!”

“…Ludion. Is that true?”

…Could I hold out? I was scared because I couldn’t trust myself.

Fortunately, I was able to avoid answering the question. It was thanks to Professor Reina who entered with perfect timing.

Celia didn’t want to show that side of herself to the professor either, so she quickly returned to her usual distance.

Afterward, when Professor Reina revealed the truth about the recent rumors, everyone glanced at us.

But perhaps because they had witnessed the scene just now… their expressions were less surprised and more like “Well, of course~”

Right… this is the age when kids are into this kind of thing.

“…Why are the kids reacting like this? Did something happen?”

Only Professor Reina, who hadn’t witnessed Celia’s antics, was left wondering.

After that day’s lecture ended, Celia led me somewhere.

I wondered where we were going, and it turned out to be the academy plaza we visited yesterday.

As soon as we arrived, numerous gazes turned toward us, but it seemed the issue had been properly resolved as there were no more of yesterday’s unfriendly looks.

However, the number of gazes seemed to have increased compared to yesterday… and the cause was obviously Celia.

She was just clinging to one of my arms.

“Hey, Celia. Everyone’s staring. Move away a bit.”

“Hehe. Ludion. I’m not afraid of anything anymore.”

I’m the one who’s afraid, so please move away.

You don’t know this, but there are people who secretly admire you? The person who reported this incident was probably one of them.

However, she showed no intention of letting go of my arm. Instead, she pulled my arm and took the lead.

Normally, she would have felt burdened by this situation where everyone was watching and would have wanted to leave, but today she showed no such signs.

It was truly a surprising change… as if some wind had blown overnight.

She pulled me to a bench in the corner of the plaza, sat me down, and then sat right next to me.

Sitting side by side like that, time passed without any conversation, and gradually, one by one, the gazes directed at us fell away.

When interest in us had almost bottomed out, Celia carefully turned her head toward me.

“Ludion. Thank you.”

“For what all of a sudden?”

“Just… for everything. From being friends with me, a princess, without any awkwardness, to trying to protect me this time.”

She seemed uncomfortable saying these things, fidgeting with her hands and feet as she struggled to continue.

“When I’m with you, I find myself smiling even when nothing happens. Thanks to you, every day lately has been so enjoyable.”

“I’ve been aware of these feelings for quite some time, but honestly, I’ve been restraining myself. After all, I’m a princess, you’re a commoner, and this is the academy, right? I didn’t want to cause worry to the imperial family with unnecessary rumors.”

“But you know. Seeing you try to protect me without caring about others’ gazes made me change my mind a bit.”

Celia slowly moved her body to stick close to me.

“I want everyone to know about you. I want everyone to know that you’re not lacking in any way to be with me, a princess, and that you’re actually an even more amazing person.”

“Wait, Celia. I’m not such an amazing person…”

“Ludion? I’m speaking right now.”

“…Yes, please continue.”

Seeing my response cut off, Celia chuckled and then took out a letter from her bosom and handed it to me.

“So when this incident was reported to the imperial palace, I sent a letter of my own along with it. This is the reply.”

Looking at the letter, it indeed had the imperial seal on it.

“But… the person who delivered the reply said that I should read it together with you.”

“…Wait.”

I pointed at the letter she handed me and asked.

“Did you build all this up just to read this one letter together?”

“I don’t know what ‘build up’ means, but probably yes.”

…Sigh, I thought she was about to make a sudden confession and got scared.

Receiving a confession aside, I was sweating at the thought of how to reject it, or if I could reject it at all.

I’m really relieved. Honestly, if I had received a confession in this atmosphere, I might have unconsciously agreed…

“Why? Were you nervous thinking I might confess?”

…She’s completely seen through me.

“I’ll be honest. I was thinking about it. Because I know that if I push, you’ll eventually accept. But you know…”

Celia paused for a moment and then carefully looked up at me.

“I felt that… forcing my feelings on you would be unfair.”

I understood what she meant. In the end, she’s saying she’ll wait until I make a move.

How can she be so earnest… Even though no one would say anything if she acted selfishly, she’s grown up so properly…

With such thoughts, I lightly patted her head.

Perhaps because it was skinship I had never given her before, she jumped like a startled cat.

“Eep?! L-Ludion?”

“Sigh… do as you please. I’ll do what I want too.”

“Yes!”

At this point, it didn’t make sense to distance myself from Celia, and I didn’t want to either, so I decided to accept the whole situation as it was.

As long as she doesn’t suddenly want a progression in our relationship, I’m fine with anything. I’m leaving it to fate.

Since that part of the conversation seemed to be over, I decided to focus again on the letter Celia had handed me.

Earlier, I had just noticed the imperial seal, but looking closely, the texture of the letter itself felt very luxurious.

Carefully taking out the paper inside, I saw these words written in very red ink:

-Ludion. Get away from our daughter immediately. If not, I will kill you.

…Oh. That’s intense.

“Hmm. It seems my father is playing a joke.”

No, he’s not? He seems more serious than anyone right now.

Celia herself seemed to know that her excuse didn’t make sense, so she carefully changed her words.

“…Shall we pretend we never received this letter?”

“How could we do that?”

If we say we didn’t receive a letter sent directly by the emperor, what would happen to the person who delivered it?

“Oh? Wait a moment. I think there’s another page behind it?”

“Hm? Oh, you’re right.”

As Celia said, there was another page hidden behind the threatening letter.

With a slight tension, I carefully revealed the second letter, and there, unlike the fierce handwriting that seemed ready to tear apart anyone who read it, was a neat and tidy handwriting with quite a long content.

It was a letter befitting royalty with all sorts of flowery language, but to summarize it in three lines:

-Greetings. I am Celia’s mother. Ignore my husband’s letter.

-Since our daughter likes you so much, shouldn’t you at least show your face to the family?

-After the midterm exams, if you have time, come to the imperial palace with Celia. It’s not a demand, but I’d appreciate it if you could come. You know what I mean, right?

Yes, this was a glorious imperial invitation (forced).

“Um… Celia?”

“That’s great! Let’s definitely go!”

“…Sure, let’s do that…”

I looked at her hoping that Celia might object, but she had an extremely positive reaction.

When she’s sparkling her eyes like that, it’s not easy to refuse.

Although a schedule I hadn’t even thought about was suddenly decided… I don’t have the right to refuse, so I’ll just have to accept it.

“…Hm?”

Now I noticed that there were small letters written in the corner of the letter.

Wondering what it was, I read it and found this content:

-Ludion, was it? Since our daughter likes you, I’ll let it slide for now, but if you hurt our daughter even a little, I won’t let you live. Do well.

Celia was too distracted talking about the schedule to visit the imperial palace to see it, but I didn’t think I needed to show it to her, so I quietly folded the letter in half.

…I really don’t want to go.