"Excuse me…"
I stayed hidden at the corner of the corridor and watched.
Up to now, everything was unfolding exactly like in the game. Layla coming to see Alfred. Loid provoking Ronald. Carla showing up to argue with Layla.
It was surreal.
I knew all of them first as characters and dialogue boxes, and yet at the same time I'd known them since childhood in this world. Same faces. Same habits. Same voices.
Those guys hadn't changed at all.
I was probably the only one who had.
-BAM!
"Arghh!"
Right on cue, Ronald, already in a foul mood, punched Jayden. Caught off guard, Jayden was sent rolling and crashed into a couple of stunned bystanders.
"Who do you think you are?"
"Jayden!"
Milleia rushed over and knelt beside him, checking his face. His cheek was already red and swelling.
"Arh, it hurts…" Jayden grimaced, poking at the bruise.
This guy…
Why the heck was he so calm about this?
I'd have already snapped in his stead.
Right, he was just like in the game. Even the early 'choices' the player had with him were all spineless. The illusion of choice, nothing more.
Milleia's hands trembled as she inspected his injury. Then she bit her lip, stood up, and faced Ronald.
"Apologize!"
She shouted out.
Every head in the corridor turned toward her.
The noblewomen present immediately gasped, shocked. A commoner and yet she was just as stunning as Layla and Carla, maybe even more reachable. It was rubbing them the wrong way somehow.
The boys, on the other hand, were delighted. Three top-tier beauties in one hallway. It was a feast for their eyes.
"What did you say…?" Ronald glared at her.
"I asked you to apologize!" Milleia said, not cowering at all under his glare. "Why did you hit him?!"
"He touched me," Ronald said.
"I–Is that a reason?"
Milleia stared at him, genuinely baffled.
She'd met nobles before, but extremely high-ranking, prideful ones like Ronald were rare in her world. His 'reason' might as well have been a joke.
I sighed inwardly and shook my head.
She needed to get used to that fast.
This wasn't her village.
"Is that a reason, you ask?" Ronald snorted. "You're just commoners. Know your place."
"…!"
Milleia's eyes welled up with tears hearing his cutting words.
If I didn't have emotional armor against girls like her, I might have ran over and hugged her on the spot. With tears streaming down her pretty, innocent face, she instantly drew the sympathy of every decent guy watching.
"W-Why do you despise us so much…? What have we done wrong…?" She asked, wiping her tears with the sleeve of her blazer.
Even Ronald's expression faltered.
As expected of Milleia.
Her tears could shake even Ronald Trueheart's stone heart.
And Ronald wasn't just some side mob either, he was a [Pretender], with a route where he could steal Milleia from Jayden.
But among all the men present, one was staring more intensely than anyone else.
Prince Alfred Owen Celesta.
"..."
Mouth slightly open, his gaze locked on Milleia's teary figure.
Yeah, this was just like in the game.
This was also the moment Alfred would develop an interest without saying a crush on Milleia.
I knew Alfred. He'd grown up surrounded by noble girls and pampered commoners who groveled at his feet.
A girl like Milleia, in tears, but still standing up to the Chancellor's son for the sake of another commoner was a revelation.
You might think her tears showed weakness. They didn't. The fact she was crying while resisting him, instead of shrinking away, was proof of strength.
I turned my eyes to Layla, who had stopped bickering with Carla.
Damn.
She was staring at Alfred with dark, narrowed eyes.
Not at Milleia.
Her amused smile was gone.
That guy was certainly going to suffer…
I'll pray for his soul.
But he wasn't going to be the only one.
"Enough, Ronald."
Alfred finally moved.
"What?" Ronald snapped.
"You should not overuse your status in the academy," Alfred said with a stern gaze.. "Did you forget the rules? You hit someone for no good reason and made an innocent girl cry. Aren't you ashamed of yourself?"
His blunt rebuke sent a ripple of shock through the crowd.
"Alfred, you—"
"Enough."
Before Ronald could explode, a tall golden-haired man stepped out from the corridor behind Alfred.
He looked a lot like Alfred, same hair, same eyes, but older.
Well, obvious.
"Uncle…"
"I'm not your uncle at the academy, Alfred," the man said calmly. "I am your teacher. The homeroom teacher of the [Dragon Class]."
This was Walter Celesta, the King's younger brother and a dangerous monster in his own right.
I sharpened my focus.
"Ms. Sophren. Mr. Rayena," Walter said, his eyes sliding toward Milleia and Jayden. "May I know why you are standing in front of the auditorium reserved for my class? Did Ms. Donner perhaps send you out?"
"We weren't kicked out," Jayden replied, shooting Ronald a glare. "We just got lost looking for our classroom, and when I tried to ask for directions, he—"
"The Basilisk Class is in the southern wing of the building," Walter cut in, ignoring whatever had happened before. "You should leave immediately. Ms. Donner is not someone lenient about tardiness."
"Yes..."
Both of them answered at once though Jayden clearly seemed a bit annoyed.
Milleia hastily wiped her tears, helped Jayden back to his feet, and the two of them hurried off.
"I don't think I need to remind you where the Pegasus Class is, Ms. Tarmias," Walter added, still without turning around.
"It's not necessary, teacher," Layla replied through a smile before spinning on her heel and leaving.
"You should head to your own class as well…"
Walter's gaze shifted.
Straight toward the corner where I was hiding.
Where I was.
At least he had the decency not to say my name out loud.
I met his eyes for a brief second, then turned away and left in silence.
[
'Why should I?'
"I might've earned some Affection Points, sure, but if I stepped in, Jayden and Milleia's relationship wouldn't deepen the same way."
[
My face twisted.
Cleenah had a nasty habit of saying the exact thing I didn't want to hear.
But she wasn't wrong.
I needed Jayden to gather his harem if I wanted to avoid the worst endings. At full power, that party was almost absurdly strong. I'd used them at the end of the game. They were broken.
Almost.
I say almost because even then, people still died.
This wasn't one of those soft stories where the protagonist struggles a little, defeats the villain, and ends up living happily ever after with the heroine. No. The game had been cruelly realistic about that.
I headed for the southern wing, where the Basilisk Class auditorium was located.
I walked without any urgency.
I was going to be late anyway, so what difference would another minute make?
…
…
-Knock.
I tapped lightly on the door engraved with the snake emblem and waited.
"Enter."
A woman's voice gave permission.
I opened the door and stepped in.
Dozens of eyes landed on me at once.
To my left, rows of seats rose in a semi-circle. To my right stood a stunning woman in her mid-twenties, right in front of the board. Her black hair was tied into a neat bun, her green eyes sharp, and her long skirt with fitted blouse was exactly the style she wore in the game, only the colors were different. Today it was a black skirt and a pure white shirt.
"Mr. Edward Falkrona," she said, crossing her arms. Her expression made it clear she wasn't pleased. "Late already on your first day? You're not the only one, but I had hoped you, as a noble, would at least set an example for your classmates."
"Professor Kornus stopped me to ask about you, Professor," I lied without hesitation. "That delayed me."
Yes, I threw the Pegasus Class homeroom teacher under the carriage.
Don't judge me.
I knew she'd believe it.
Why?
Because Erwin Kornus had a crush on our class professor, Almona Donner. Almona knew it too, but acted as if she didn't. A classic.
"Ah."
Understanding and annoyance flashed across Almona's face.
"That man…" He muttered under her breath.
My apologies, Professor Kornus.
But as a student, I had a duty to avenge generations of sufferers, whether from this world or Earth, who had been tormented by teachers. Including myself. For once, it felt good to be the one causing trouble.
"You may take a seat," she said.
See? Called it.
"Thank you."
I turned toward the rows.
And my smile died instantly.
Only the front seats were still available.
…Fuck.
Are there only idiots in this class?
The first four rows were barely occupied while the back rows were full.
Up ahead, Jayden and Milleia were waving enthusiastically at me from the second row, signaling for me to come sit with them.
I pretended not to notice.
[
'What fate!'
The fate of being constantly called on?
The fate of never being able to doze off when I was tired?
The cursed destiny of the front row?
"Mr. Edward?" Almona asked. "Do you want me to choose your seat for you?"
"N-No need to trouble yourself, Professor," I answered quickly.
Swallowing down my despair, I forced my legs forward and took a seat in the third row, directly behind Jayden and Milleia. Their heads at least provided partial cover from Almona's direct line of sight.
Maybe, if the gods had even a shred of pity left for me, I'd still manage to steal a little nap.
And while I was at it…
I scanned the room.
Let's see if she's here.
There was another heroine assigned to this class besides Milleia.
And I had every intention of figuring out exactly where everyone was seated.
I let my gaze drift from row to row as subtly as possible.
Unfortunately, 'subtle' seemed to have a different meaning in my head than in reality.
A few girls who noticed me looking in their direction suddenly straightened up, some blushing, others whispering to their friends. A couple of boys shot me wary looks, as if I had personally marked them for death.
I ignored all of them.
This was important.
If the plot had already started shifting because of my presence, then I needed to keep track of every variable I could. Who sat near whom. Who spoke to whom. Who noticed whom.
One wrong interaction was enough to derail an entire route.
Especially in a class like this one.
Jayden and Milleia in the same room was already a major flag.
If the other girl was here too, then Basilisk might actually end up far more troublesome than I remembered.
Of course, that assumed she had been placed here exactly like in the game.
And if she had—
then I needed to know before the day went any further.
Because in this academy, seating arrangements weren't just seating arrangements.
They were battle lines.
They were relationship maps.
They were future disasters waiting to happen.
And since fate seemed determined to drag me into every single one of them, I might as well know where the mines were buried.
So I kept looking.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Trying very hard not to look like a complete creep while doing it.
Which, judging from the increasingly strange reactions around me, I was probably failing at.