Apparently, Her Highness Princess wants to keep her relationship with me a secret (what does she even mean by 'her relationship with me'?)

3-12

The Client is a Former Classmate

With my mind left in disarray, my scattered thoughts refused to come together. I left the dormitory and walked along the familiar tree-lined path I took every day.

She hasn’t given up on her dream?

Even though I faced forward, yet my eyes were unfocused, seeing nothing.

In this Westminster Academy, I belonged to the lowers class, the baron. After I arrived at the school building, I headed for the stairs. As my classroom was on the third floor.

As I walked along the edge of the hallway, a group of female students appeared from the front. While almost half of the male students came to school in a still half-asleep manner, on the opposite, the girls were already perfectly tidy, leaving behind a faint fragrance of perfume as they passed.

And…

“Good morning, Orgott-kun!”

A cheerful voice rang out as someone passed by.

Wait—did someone just call my name?

As I hastily turned around, I spotted her—her demeanor already full of energy.

I missed my chance to reply. But… this was definitely a change. On fulfilling her request successfully, I gained someone who would actually greet me by my name.

“…Good morning.”

Her name is Julianne. People still whispered about how she had used me as a meat shield, but she showed no sign of regret. After giving her all to win against Harold, it seemed she’d broken through some kind of barrier within herself.

I opened the classroom door and entered. My classmates who had already arrived shot me brief glances, but quickly resumed their conversations. They had no reason to waste words on some baron’s son. That’s just how things were.

I set my bag down on my desk and took my seat.

My head was as always, full of the messages from His Excellency.

I had always known that she was alive. But if she hadn’t given up on her dream, then that meant, she is also most likely a fellow student here at Westminster—just like me.

Why hadn’t I realized it sooner?

That girl would never ever abandon her dream.

“Itose-kun! Hey, Good morning~! Ah, your hair’s sticking up over here you know.”

“Ah, Good morning to you too, Jina sama.”

My body moved in reflex to greet Jina sama.

One of the rulers of the Class 2-C.

My instincts warned me—never make an enemy of her.

“Arre… Itose-kun, don’t you seem different from usual?”

Jina sama leaned in close, inspecting my face before plopping into the seat next to me—the one belonging to Princess Emma. But since the princess always arrived late, in conscience of Jina sama, she clearly didn’t see any issue at all. Well, our princess is weak to the mornings it seems.

“Perhaps, did something good happen?”

“Eh…? No, it’s the same as always.”

“Come on, now, don’t play dumb~! You’re totally different from usual, you know.”

Sitting on the seat which belonged to Princess Emma, Jina sama tilted her head cutely in curiosity, as she commented.

Something good? Well, if I have to recall, only one thing came to mind though.

Still, I thought I had been careful enough to not to let it show on my face.

“Eh~ I know you know what yourself as well, rigghhht~? Or what is it~? Are you saying Jina’s imagining things here~? Tell meee alreadyyy~!”

“—You’re being noisy, Jina! That’s Princess Emma’s seat! Look there, Princess Emma is already—”

“Aah! Sorry, Emma-chan~! Since you’re always cutting it close to the last minute, so I thought~.”

“Nope. …It’s fine really. I just came a little early today… Ah, good morning… Orgott-kun…”

In this classroom, Princess Emma and I were complete strangers. That was supposed to be the setting.

“Good morning, Princess Emma.”

Until morning homeroom began, my mind kept racing about that.

I liked my life as it was now. Just knowing that, somewhere, under the same sky, she was also alive. Knowing that felt lucky enough for me.

…I guess I am quite greedy. To think that, I wanted to find out what she was thinking right now…

If I climbed the rankings, I’d gain access to more information.

If I earned His Excellency’s trust as one of his pawns, I might eventually uncover the truth behind the incident that had been buried in darkness—and maybe even learn her whereabouts, where she was right now.

That goal had always been somewhere at the back of my mind.

But I never expected to receive news of her this soon, this easily.

—— I guess, I’m being walked right into His Excellency’s well woven trap.

And yet, the fact that I couldn’t bring myself to resent him—was probably because I admired him so deeply.

I wanted to speak with His Excellency as soon as possible. But His Excellency is a busy man, and wore countless faces, and a mere student like me could never even seek him out on a whim.

The contact made from His Excellency had always been his own terms.

Yet, during that morning homeroom time, when His Excellency himself strode into our classroom in place of the homeroom teacher, I couldn’t help but pinch my own cheek—half-convinced that I was still watching a dream.