episode_0039

As soon as the day broke, I grabbed Shasha’s hand and ran towards Deron.

Shasha said it was already over, but even if the parties involved didn’t care, I couldn’t stand it.

In a class society, when nobles harass commoners, it’s best for the commoners to keep their mouths shut.

But keeping your mouth shut is just a sign of weakness when you don’t have the power to speak up.

Things would be different if you had the power.

＂So, you want me to scold them for you?”

“No?”

At Deron’s questioning gaze that made me uncomfortable, I nodded.

“…What?”

“That’s the most comfortable thing to do, but there’s still the matter of your position as a prince.”

Royalty must always maintain neutrality.

I remembered what Fran had told me when he came to me before.

It would be like a bizarre picture of commoners using a prince to oppress nobles if I helped them out just this once by getting involved in their fight.

It was actually very dangerous for Deron to directly confront them.

I was angry now, but I wasn’t so immature as to let my anger get the best of me.

I was a mature adult, and instead of expressing my anger, I could think of a solution calmly.

“…So you want me to help?”

“No, how would you react if you took the request for help as a request for a fight?”

That would be really dangerous.

I don’t think I would actually fight even if asked to, but if a fight were to break out because of my words, it would be a huge problem.

A commoner asking a prince to fight against nobles.

It would be a big deal to create such a malicious rumor.

When I hesitantly nodded, Deron finally relaxed his expression.

It seemed like he really understood my request for help as a request to fight on my behalf.

“…No, is it really that extreme?”

“If someone comes in the morning and asks for help, isn’t this usually how it goes…?”

“…It’s usually like that, but would you really ask a prince for such a favor?”

“You have a history.”

“Yes?”

“You dared to demand the use of soldiers from me…”

I had nothing to say when he brought that up like that.

But it was definitely a different situation.

That was a matter of life and death for the child, while this was just simple harassment.

“That’s that and this is this…”

As I hesitated and only pointed my finger, Deron shrugged his shoulders and spoke to me.

“If it’s not that kind of demand, then it should be fine… So, what did you ask for help with?”

“Can you show a slightly exaggerated friendly side with Shasha for the day?”

When I thought about the reasons why they had harassed Shasha.

I could think of two main reasons.

They were friends with the prince, but their friendship varied, so they didn’t feel that close.

Or they wanted to pressure Shasha with their momentum so that she wouldn’t complain to Deron.

For now, since the first possibility was possible.

I had asked Deron for help to rule out the first possibility.

“…Exaggerated?”

Deron tilted his head at my request.

I gave him an example because it seemed like he didn’t quite understand what I was asking for.

“…Like, eating together? Or having a long conversation together?”

“Isn’t that something you usually do?”

“But, we’ve never done it just the two of us, right?”

I always met Deron with Shasha or met Shasha with Deron.

It was one or the other, and as far as I knew, there weren’t many times when the two of them met separately.

It wasn’t awkward, but it was a relationship where they both had mutual feelings but it was ambiguous to play together just the two of them.

“Shasha, stick by the prince’s side all day today.”

“…Do I have to go this far?”

“Yes.”

When something happens, I knew very well that it’s best to deal with it quickly to end it cleanly.

I had seen too many cases where things blew up because people thought, ＂Oh, it’ll be fine.”

“If you actively show that we’re close, most idiots wouldn’t dare to touch us….”

I could guess where Deron’s words were leading, so I put on a fake smile and pretended to be unfazed by society.

“There are always idiots who go beyond the limits.”

“What will you do if they still mess with us even though we’re close？”

“…Why ask, we should choose the easiest way.”

“The easiest way?”

“We’ll report it to the professor.”

“Retaliation will come.”

“We’ll report it again.”

Harassing others is a minimum of 20 points worth of penalty.

It will continue to accumulate.

When the moment comes to earn money by doing the work yourself because all the money brought in has run out, they will realize what they have done.

“I thought you would fight in anger, but you surprised me.”

“Well, I don’t win when I fight.”

I lack physical strength compared to others, and naturally, I am weak.

Maybe, if I sneak up from behind with a sharp stone-like object and hit their head, I might be able to knock one down.

But then, I won’t survive.

No matter how trashy I am, they were nobles, and I was a commoner.

In this country, noble assault is punishable by death.

Unless you dream of killing them and disposing of the body completely.

Physically clashing would be nothing but suicidal for me.

I nodded my head and gestured to Seina, who had arrived at the classroom.

Seina noticed us and quickly came over to sit next to us.

Her hair seemed a bit messy, so as I fixed it, she blushed in embarrassment.

No matter how much I thought about it, the only thing that suited the villainous young lady was that weird drill-like hairstyle.

Moreover, it seemed to be getting looser and looser.

It was likely to completely unravel soon.

“You had plenty of time, why did you come out so hurriedly?”

“Lia had plenty of time, why didn’t you dry your hair until I told you to?”

When Shasha attacked this morning with work, Seina smiled brightly when I avoided her gaze.

“…W-what were you talking about?”

“Yesterday, Shasha received some harassment. We were discussing how to deal with it.”

“…Who did it?”

Seina whispered softly.

The air seemed to have cooled slightly.

“…Well, you shouldn’t fight without reason.”

I don’t know why she suddenly wants to fight.

Fighting without reason among nobles can lead to quite troublesome consequences.

“You can create a reason.”

She casually said something terrifying.

The way she spoke confidently, looking me straight in the eye, made me wonder if this was the same girl who was embarrassed about having her hair fixed.

“It’s really okay. If I try everything and it doesn’t work, then I’ll ask for your help.”

If I were to accept this without hesitation, it would definitely lead to unfavorable results, so I wiped the cold sweat off my forehead and declined.

“Yes, of course….”

Seina seemed crestfallen by my rejection, bowing deeply.

Feeling sorry for her, I reached out and gently stroked her neatly arranged hair.

＂Still, thank you! Because you thought of us!”

“…Y-yes!”

As Seina gently embraced her, wiping her tears away, Deron cleared his throat and spoke.

“So, today you want to spend time mainly with me and Shasha, right？”

“Yes, that’s all I ask for today.”

Although we always acted together, the purpose now was to show those who were bothering Shasha how close she was to Deron by spending time separately.

It was a kind of warning sent to those who had bothered Shasha.

It meant to see how close the target they had touched without much thought was to the prince.

“Well then, we should sit separately for now.”

“Please take care of her.”

I bowed my head to Deron, meaning to take good care of Shasha,

And in response, Deron gently grabbed my cheek.

“…There’s no need to go that far.”

“If this job goes well, I’ll let you touch my head again!”

If you ask someone to do something, you should also provide compensation.

Even in a friendship, this was a matter of common sense, so I put my hand on his waist and leaned forward slightly.

Since last time, whenever he touched my cheek, his hand always went towards my head, then came back down to grab my cheek.

I didn’t know what was so great about my head, but I had already noticed that Deron wanted to touch my head.

Reaching out, I grabbed Deron’s hand and lifted it above my head, smiling mischievously.

“What…?”

“I don’t have anything to give you as compensation, so I’m repaying you with my body.”

As soon as I finished speaking, Deron’s expression contorted in a way that was indescribable.

It wasn’t that surprising.

As I looked around with a smirk, not only my friends but also the people around us were shocked and staring at me.

I shrunk my body in embarrassment.

“Why?”

What did I do wrong?