Chapter 36 : Invitation to the Royal Court (Forced)

Seria Lubetia.

I was aware that she always stuck close to me.

But I never thought it was strange.

She was a genuine introvert in the original story, someone who couldn’t even make a proper friend until graduation, and she still avoided meeting new people.

Occasionally, someone would approach her, but she would aggressively chase them away.

Because of that, it was understandable that she would stick to me, the only person she was close to.

That was what I thought… but then…

“Se-Seria! Are you seriously going all out now?”

“Hmm? I don’t understand what you mean, Lilith. I’ve always been like this.”

“Don’t lie! Your face is all red because you’re embarrassed, right?”

“Ugh… No, it’s not…”

Her sudden closeness caught me off guard.

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

The game I used to play was primarily focused on the story.

It had multiple endings, but it was designed in a way that followed a general framework.

And in that story, the protagonist never managed to have a proper relationship before the ending.

That was one of the features of the game. There was a favorability system, but there was no actual romance system.

To be exact, if you raised the favorability, you could view character-specific stories, but that didn’t lead to romance.

At best, you would get to know each other better, and if you talked on the street, the script might change a little. Many people even complained that the game should have developed into a dating sim.

Anyway, since I knew about this game’s content, I thought these people wouldn’t be interested in those things.

But… looking at her now, even someone like me, who lacks any sense of awareness, couldn’t help but understand. She was interested in me.

It was nice that such a beautiful person liked me, but… honestly, it was overwhelming.

Was it because she was a princess? Because she was an important character in the game’s story?

No, if I were going to be overwhelmed by that, I would’ve kept a low profile since the entrance exam.

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

She was more mature for her age, but no matter how mature she was, to me, she was still a minor.

Of course, my body was the same age as hers, but I didn’t want to be the kind of person who used that as an excuse.

No matter how beautiful she was, with just a wink she could make anyone fall for her…

“Rudion. Must be nice, huh? A pretty girl like her following you around, saying she likes you.”

“D-Don’t say it like that…”

“Why? You like it, don’t you? I bet deep down, you’re happy. Why don’t you ask her?”

“…Rudion. Is that really true?”

…Can I endure this? I was scared because I couldn’t trust myself.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to answer the question. Thanks to Professor Reina coming in at the right moment. Seria, too, seemed not to want to show such a side to the professor, so she returned to her usual distance.

After Professor Reina revealed the truth behind the rumors, everyone casually glanced at us.

But maybe because they had witnessed everything, the expressions weren’t surprised but rather had a sense of “I knew it~”. Yeah… these people probably enjoy this kind of thing.

“…Why are they acting like this? Did something happen?”

Professor Reina, who hadn’t witnessed Seria’s antics, was the only one left puzzled.

After the class ended that day, Seria took me by the arm and led me somewhere.

Where were we going? It was the academy plaza we visited yesterday.

As soon as we arrived, many people’s gazes turned to us, but thankfully, the unpleasant stares from yesterday were gone.

However, it seemed like the number of gazes had increased since yesterday… and the reason was, of course, Seria.

She had latched onto one of my arms.

“Hey, Seria. Everyone’s staring. Could you back off a little?”

“Hehe. Rudion, I’m not afraid anymore.”

I wanted her to back off because I was afraid.

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

But she didn’t seem to have any intention of letting go. In fact, she tugged my arm and led the way.

Normally, I would have felt burdened by this situation, with everyone watching, and would want to leave, but today, for some reason, I didn’t feel that way at all.

It was a surprising change that happened in just one day.

She dragged me to a bench in the corner of the plaza and sat down next to me. We sat side by side in silence for a while, and as time passed, the gazes from those who had been watching us slowly faded away.

When the attention had almost dissipated, Seria cautiously turned her head toward me.

“Rudion. Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Just… everything. From treating me like a friend even though I’m a princess, to trying to protect me this time.”

She seemed awkward saying this, as she fidgeted her hands and struggled to continue speaking.

“When I’m with you, I can’t help but smile, even if nothing special happens. Thanks to you, every day has been so much fun.”

“I’ve known about these feelings for quite some time, but honestly, I’ve been holding back. After all, I’m a princess, and you’re just a commoner, and we’re in an academy, right? I didn’t want any unnecessary rumors to reach the royal family and cause them worry.”

“But… when I saw you, Rudion, trying to protect me without caring about other people’s opinions, I started to change my mind.”

Seria slowly moved closer and pressed herself against me.

“I want everyone to know about you. I want them to see that I’m with someone who is more than enough to walk beside a princess, someone who is even more remarkable than anyone else.”

“Wait, Seria. I’m not that remarkable…”

“I’m telling you.” Rudion?

“…Yes, please continue.”

My attempt to stop her was interrupted by Seria, who let out a small laugh and pulled a letter from her bag, handing it to me.

“So, when the royal family is informed about this incident, I also sent them a letter. This is their response.”

When I took the letter, it definitely had the royal seal stamped on it.

“But… the person who delivered it told me that I should read it with you.”

“…Wait a second.”

I pointed at the letter she handed me, asking:

“Are you telling me you built up all this just to read one letter together?”

“I don’t know what ‘build-up’ means, but that sounds about right.”

…Phew, I almost had a panic attack thinking she was about to confess her feelings. Not only would I have to deal with the confession, but I also wondered how I could reject it, or if I could even reject it, which made me break out in cold sweat.

Thank goodness. Honestly, if I’d been in that mood, I might have said yes without realizing it…

“Why? Were you nervous thinking I was about to confess?”

…She’s got me figured out.

“I’ll be honest. I was thinking about it. I know if I pushed you, you’d probably accept it in the end. But…”

Seria hesitated for a moment, then cautiously looked up at me.

“That said… I thought it would be wrong to force my feelings on you.”

I understood what she meant. She was basically saying she would wait for me to take the initiative.

How earnest… Even though she could probably act however she wanted and no one would say anything, she’s grown up so well…

Thinking this, I gently patted her head.

Maybe it was because it was the first physical contact we had, but she jolted like a startled cat.

“Whuh?! Ru-Rudion?”

“Ah… Do whatever you want. I’ll do what I want too.”

“…Okay!”

At this point, keeping my distance from Seria didn’t make sense, and I didn’t want to either, so I decided to just accept everything as it was.

As long as she wasn’t suddenly trying to force our relationship to progress, I didn’t mind. I’d let things unfold.

With that part of the conversation seemingly over, I turned my focus back to the letter Seria had handed me.

Earlier, I had only noticed the royal seal, but now, I realized the texture of the letter itself was quite luxurious.

Carefully pulling out the paper inside, I saw it was written in bright red ink with the following message:

• Rudion. Stay away from my daughter. If you don’t, I’ll kill you.

…Oh. That’s quite threatening.

“Hmm. It seems like my father is just messing around a bit.”

I don’t think so. It seems like he’s being completely serious.

Seeing that Seria herself knew her excuse didn’t make sense, she quickly corrected herself.

“…Should we just pretend we never received this letter?”

“You think that’s possible?”

If we claimed we hadn’t received a letter personally sent by the Emperor, I could only imagine what would happen to the messenger who delivered it.

“Wait a second. I think there’s another page behind this one.”

“Hmm? Oh, you’re right.”

Just as Seria had said, there was indeed another letter hidden behind the threatening one.

With a slight sense of tension, I carefully revealed the second letter, which was written in a neat and refined hand, very different from the fierce tone of the first one. It was much longer and contained quite a bit of information.

Despite all the royal flourishes, the summary of the letter in three lines would be:

• Hello. I’m Seria’s mother. Ignore my husband’s letter.
• If my daughter likes you that much, shouldn’t you at least show your face to the family?
• After midterms, if you have time, come visit the royal family with Seria. It’s not a demand, but I’d like it if you did. You understand what I mean, right?

Yes. This was a glorious royal invitation (with some pressure).

“Uh… Seria?”

“Let’s go! Definitely!”

“…Alright, let’s do that…”

I looked at her, wondering if she would oppose this, but she seemed incredibly enthusiastic.

With her eyes sparkling like that, it wasn’t easy to object.

Though an unplanned trip had been decided so suddenly, I had no authority to reject it, so I just had to accept it.

With her eyes shining like that, it wasn’t easy to argue.

The schedule I hadn’t even considered was suddenly decided for me, but… I had no right to refuse, so I had no choice but to accept it.

“Hm?”

Now that I looked more closely, there were some small words written at the corner of the letter.

Curious, I read them, and this is what it said:

• Rudion, right? Since my daughter likes you, I’ll let it slide for now, but if you hurt her in the slightest, I won’t let you live. Do your best.

Seria was so focused on talking about the schedule for the royal visit that she didn’t notice it, and since I didn’t need to show her, I quickly folded the letter in half.

…I really don’t want to go.