Chapter 8: My life was a romance novel

It goes without saying that a medieval fantasy world operates on a social hierarchy. Well, my past life wasn’t so different, even without the titles. Officially, it wasn’t a class-based society, but it felt similar, and though difficult, one could climb the unofficial social ladder through merit.

Over here, it’s not impossible to break through the class barrier. It’s just harder than in my past life. If you smash through everything with sheer skill like the Sword Emperor, your social standing will find you. The Sword Emperor even rejected the status that others desperately craved, but most commoners wouldn’t miss that opportunity. Even the Sword Emperor’s eldest son, who achieved Sword Master, received a countship from the Empire.

Conversely, the highest title one could achieve in a single generation was Count. And even that wasn’t simply handed out.

You needed to be at least a Sword Master or a 7-Star Mage, the minimum requirement for a Tower Master. And that only applied to the individual achiever. The next generation would be demoted to Viscount. Of course, if the next generation also reached Sword Master or 7-Star Mage, or achieved comparable feats, they could maintain the Count title. But maintaining a Countship across generations was rare. Most families couldn’t uphold the achievements of a single genius and gradually declined.

That’s how unforgiving the noble society was. It was a class-based society where your status was determined at birth.

In such a world, royalty held immense significance. They were the potential rulers of a nation.

The line of succession was already established in the Leon Kingdom, and Prince Ellen was far from inheriting the throne, but the possibility wasn’t zero. You never knew what life would throw at you. History was full of instances where entire royal families were wiped out in wars, and distant relatives from noble families inherited the throne.

Even without considering the worst-case scenario, a royal’s romantic relationship was no small matter. Even if they claimed it was pure love, the royal family would investigate the other party’s background and current status. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the Leon Kingdom. So, as the prince’s Royal Instructor, I had to conduct a preliminary investigation.

“Tell me everything about your encounter, from the beginning.”

“I-I first met her when I got lost on the academy grounds.”

They say geniuses are all a bit eccentric, and in that sense, Prince Ellen was a true genius. He had a terrible sense of direction. He’d often get lost even in the Leon Kingdom’s Royal Palace, his own home. I’d returned earlier to speak with the Commander, and he’d apparently gotten lost again in that short time.

“I was just standing there, lost, and everyone pretended not to notice me.”

That was understandable. Barely a day had passed, but rumors about Prince Ellen would have spread throughout the academy. Even I, just going to the cafeteria, heard the surrounding murmurs.

An unknown swordsman from the Leon Kingdom defeated the Little Sword Emperor. That alone was surprising, but then someone else effortlessly defeated that swordsman? And that someone was a prince of the Leon Kingdom? Even if I were an ordinary Imperial Academy student, I wouldn’t approach a foreign prince standing alone. And if that prince was Ellen, who became the undisputed top student in the Swordsmanship Department on the first day, I would have run. So, I couldn’t blame them. In fact, I wanted to commend them for not running away.

“And then… she approached me.”

Highly suspicious. I was certain she was either incredibly naive or a gold digger.

“Her name was Daisy.”

Damn, even her name was a flower.

“What about her family?”

“I-I don’t know yet.”

This was frustrating. Daisy wasn’t an uncommon name. There were probably at least fifteen Daisys in the first year alone!

“You need to know her last name.”

“I-I was too embarrassed to ask.”

He might be a tyrant with a sword, but normally, he was too shy to even speak to strangers.

“Go on.”

And yet, this shy prince, with unusual sparkle in his eyes, began recounting his fateful encounter. He described it as a beautiful, destined meeting…

“It doesn’t sound like much.”

Despite the prince’s flowery language, it boiled down to a girl kindly giving directions to a lost Prince Ellen.

“W-Well, that’s true.”

“And realistically, wasn’t she just promoting her club?”

She didn’t even try to hide her intentions. Not to seduce a prince of a foreign nation, nor to impress the top student of the Swordsmanship Department. It was just a simple club promotion for a struggling Flower Arranging Club. It was absurd, but that’s probably why she could approach a foreign prince, the most talked-about student in the academy. She probably didn’t even know who Prince Ellen was. She likely saw him as a potential new member.

“S-So, anyway!”

Prince Ellen gulped, but…

“I’m not going.”

I cut him off, anticipating his request.

“B-But you haven’t even heard me out yet.”

“You’re going to ask me to join the Flower Arranging Club with you, right?”

Come to think of it, even his club activities involved flowers. She was a perfectly themed friend.

“Well, that’s…”

He stared at me with wide, pleading eyes, but I wasn’t going.

“I’m not joining any clubs.”

Or rather, I couldn’t.

Club activities. They were the highlight of academy life, a place where students from different backgrounds and academic levels could interact. You could join up to three clubs, and most students either focused on one or joined three to expand their network and participate in various events.

“I’ll be doing individual training.”

I was serious. There were swordsmanship clubs, and many benefited from interacting with seniors there, but the duel with the Little Sword Emperor made me realize something. Prince Ellen was something beyond a monster. A cosmic horror in the world of swordsmanship. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if he gained enlightenment even while arranging flowers. It was a joke, but the thought sent chills down my spine. I couldn’t afford to leisurely arrange flowers when I had to deal with such a monster. Unlike Prince Ellen, I wouldn’t gain enlightenment from flower arranging.

“Flower arranging… sounds fun.”

“You’ve never tried it.”

It probably was fun. Judging by Prince Ellen’s expression, he would find anything fun as long as he could look at Daisy.

“You like her that much?”

“…Yes.”

His shy reply made my head spin. I was genuinely curious now. How beautiful could she be to make Prince Ellen, with his discerning taste in both faces and swordsmanship, fall for her at first sight?

“S-So, I’m going to sign up tomorrow…”

He was probably worried about finding the clubroom, since he couldn’t even find his dormitory or classroom.

“I’ll take you there, but that’s it.”

At his hesitant words, I nodded with a resigned sigh.

“W-What about when I come back?”

“Find your own way.”

Or ask the kind Daisy to accompany you. At my words, he blushed and looked flustered. We ate at the cafeteria, and then I returned to the dormitory and dropped a bombshell on the Commander, who’d said we’d talk next week. Yesterday, I learned that the royal family was in a frenzy, investigating Daisy’s background.

After that, I slept. Woke up early for morning training. Attended two unimportant lectures. And as soon as the lectures ended, I led the bright-eyed Prince Ellen to the Flower Arranging Club’s room, tucked away in a corner of the old school building. And then…

Damn.

“…”

I exercised superhuman restraint to prevent the words from escaping my lips.

“Oh.”

Honestly, I was curious. What kind of face could captivate Prince Ellen, a prodigy renowned for both his looks and swordsmanship? But the face I saw as the door opened was very familiar. Someone who had given me quite a shock just yesterday.

“Little Sword Emperor.”

“…Call me Aslan.”

His curt reply, different from yesterday’s demeanor, caught my attention, but I couldn’t focus on him alone. The other faces in the room were also familiar.

“…”

What the hell.

I took a step back and checked the nameplate on the door.

-Flower Arranging Club

The flowers I’d imagined were roses, chrysanthemums, things like that. It seemed this club collected a different kind of flower, ones that bloomed in a strange, otherworldly landscape.

****

Naturally, I was attending the Imperial Academy solely for Prince Ellen. And, with a touch of self-interest, for my own improvement. And this was the Elleras Empire, not my home, the Leon Kingdom. I barely knew anyone in the Leon Kingdom, let alone the Empire.

So, familiar faces shouldn’t be gathered here. Or rather, if they were gathered, it should be for important academy events, not in a small clubroom for flower arranging. The familiar faces I recognized were individuals deemed important enough to influence continental affairs by the royal intelligence agency.

“…”

First, there was the Little Sword Emperor, staring daggers at me.

“A new applicant, I see.”

And the prince of the magic-obsessed nation, acting like a senior despite having just applied himself, pondering whether to accept the new member.

“…”

And the son of the Margrave, guarding the border between the Empire and the demon realm, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, seemingly indifferent.

“With so many applicants, she will be pleased.”

And the imperial prince, who’d joined the day before and was the only official member here, whose presence I couldn’t comprehend at all. Wait, I think I understand. This was a classic ropan setup. Miss Daisy, were you the female lead?

Suddenly, dozens of reasons to join the Flower Arranging Club popped into my head. And simultaneously, dozens of reasons not to. The former stemmed from my duty as a Royal Instructor to observe and report everything happening in the club. The latter stemmed from the countless incidents I’d read about in fantasy and ropan novels. Damn, should I join or run? As I was agonizing over this…

“Oh?”

With a creak, the old door opened, revealing two women and a man. Probably the female lead’s friend and another potential male lead. I looked at the man first, and as expected, his face was familiar.

The heir to one of the continent’s three largest trading companies. I’d wondered why he was at the academy instead of running the family business. So, he was aiming for a spot as a male lead in this ropan.

“…”

Then, I turned my gaze to the two women.

One was a blonde with a bright, cheerful aura, fitting the image of a ropan’s female lead. The other had long, purple hair, resembling the female lead’s best friend. Damn, I was screwed.

Everything looked like a ropan scenario now.

“Are you new members?”

The presumed female lead, or rather, the presumed Daisy, spoke.

“Ahem, yes.”

“I met you earlier…”

“We met yesterday…”

As the Little Sword Emperor, the magic-obsessed prince, and Ellen replied simultaneously, a voice in my heart screamed:

“No, I’m not.”

Run. With that answer echoing from deep within, I quickly fled the clubroom.