After reminding us for what felt like the hundredth time that we were all in the same promotion and were supposed to cooperate, Mona kept talking for another hour, piling on rules, structures, and warnings before finally dismissing us. A long lecture followed by a social, conflict-heavy lunch scene is a clean way to vary pace and keep attention from flattening out.
Lunchtime at last.
"Edward, I will never forgive you!"
"Are you a kid?" I asked, standing up and stretching my back.
"A kid? The whole class is making fun of me!"
"Not Milleia, though."
"Eh?"
Milleia blinked, caught off guard when I dragged her into it. I just wanted to redirect Jayden's anger a little. Sorry, Milleia.
"Milleia laughed too!" Jayden protested.
"S-Sorry! I couldn't help it!" Milleia said, bringing her hands together in a tiny bow of apology.
"Now everyone thinks I'm going to disguise myself as a girl…" Jayden muttered with a hollow laugh.
"J-Jayden, I know you won't do that. Don't worry," Milleia said, patting his back with a bright smile.
"Milleia…"
And there he went again.
Frozen solid.
This guy… did he already fall for her?
[
I was not doing this for him.
It was revenge.
Honest, justified revenge.
She made it sound like I was running a full-time emotional support service for the protagonist.
"Oh? Isn't that Edward?"
"Hm?"
We turned toward the voice and saw the curly blond-haired beauty herself: Lyra Kertalir.
One of the heroines of Princess And Dragon.
"Edward, you know her?" Milleia asked.
"Yeah. Go ahead. I'll meet you in the cafeteria."
"Okay…"
Jayden and Milleia nodded and left.
Normally, they would have introduced themselves right away, but Lyra radiated noble-lady pressure from ten meters away. After what Ronald had pulled earlier, they were naturally more guarded around nobles.
Me being the strange exception.
"Lyra…"
Lyra Kertalir.
I'd spoken to her a few times over the years at banquets and social events. She was the type who chased anything remotely interesting to break the boredom of noble life. From my perspective, as someone who had known her since childhood, she was just… normal. Social, sharp, and always hiding behind that cool-girl front of hers.
"Wow. You really changed, Edward," she said, stepping closer and looking me up and down.
She stroked her cheeks looking at me from head to toe.
"Did you slim down to impress Aurora? Too late, you know. She already broke off the engagement."
She shrugged like she was disappointed for me.
"I didn't do it for her," I snorted, turning toward the door.
Lyra immediately fell into step beside me.
"Then for who?" she asked.
"For my own well-being."
"No way."
"Shut up."
She giggled.
"The real reason, then?" She probed.
What real reason was she wanted to hear?
I stopped walking, turned, and stepped toward her.
"...!"
Lyra's hand shot up, ready to smack me away. She clearly thought I was about to try something, like the old Edward might have.
I tilted my face aside, caught her wrist gently, and leaned closer.
"I just want to beat the shit out of Alfred, Loid, Thomas, David, and Ronald," I whispered.
"Eh?"
She stared at me, dumbfounded.
I stepped back and grinned.
"That's all."
It wasn't even a lie.
Those five idiots had made my life miserable at every banquet.
Not Edward's resentment.
Let's give it to Nyrel's personal very petty personality.
Lyra burst out laughing.
"I can't believe I'm hearing that from you, Edward!"
She wiped at the corner of her eye.
I shrugged and resumed walking.
"Hey! Wait for me!"
"No."
"Do you even know where the cafeteria is?"
"Yeah."
"Then let me walk with you."
"Is that how a noble lady behave? You are a Marquis's daughter, right?" I asked her.
Lyra smiled at that.
"At least let me act normal when nobody important is around, Edward," she sighed. "Look."
She pinched the hem of her pinafore skirt.
"I wanted the blazer uniform, but Father refused."
"Why? It suits you," I said.
"Of course it does. But I liked the one your friend wore more."
"Milleia, yeah."
"Yeah… speaking of her." Lyra glanced sideways at me. "I never thought you'd make commoner friends."
Her eyes narrowed.
Don't tell me she thinks I'm after Milleia's body.
[
Didn't need the confirmation, useless Goddess.
"Listen, Lyra," I said. "I might have been like that before, but that's over. I'm not doing that anymore. Milleia and Jayden are just people I met and got along with."
"…"
She stared at me for a few seconds, searching for a lie.
"Okay. I believe you."
"I don't care whether you do or not."
"Harsh."
I shoved my hands into my pockets and kept walking.
She kept following me.
What exactly did she want?
"Why are you still following me?" I asked.
"Hm? You're the only person I know in our class, and I'm going to the cafeteria too."
"Don't play dumb. I know you."
"Oh? Is that a confession?" she teased.
"You're a pain in the ass."
"Wasn't it you who complained about how I talk?" She shot back. "Look at yourself. No blazer, no tie, shirt untucked, wandering around like some delinquent. If your sister saw you—"
"What is going to do? Cry and scream how despicable I am?" I cut her off.
"Hm, knowing Elona possible," she nodded.
I glanced at her. "You know I left the house, right?"
"Yes. I heard Duke Falkrona threw you out and chose Simon as the new heir."
My teeth clenched.
I left on my own, damn it.
Lyra tilted her head.
"Aren't you angry about losing your status as heir?"
"What? I don't care about that," I said flatly. "Managing a territory is a pain. That jerk Simon can have it."
"…"
…
…
The cafeteria was inside a large oval building between the fourth building to the north and the first-year building to the west.
It was impossible to miss. Students were flooding into it from every direction.
First years. Second years. Third years.
All packed together.
Thankfully, no one had to wait long. The academy had over two hundred chefs working like a military unit to keep food moving.
Five floors.
Each floor had a kitchen section and a huge dining area filled with tables, already laid out with cutlery and condiments.
How the hell was I supposed to find them?
I scanned the first floor.
-Clink!
The sharp crash of a plate hitting the floor rang through the room.
There it is.
The cafeteria incident.
I hadn't known what floor it would happen on in this version of events, but fortunately it was the first floor. At least I didn't need to go hunting upstairs.
The higher the floor, the more 'prestigious' the crowd tended to be. It wasn't an official rule, but the fifth floor had a garden, so nobles loved to eat there.
And the people I was thinking of, obviously, were the [Main Characters].
Those attention-seekers always liked eating on the fifth floor.
[
[Yes.]
'It's not the game now!'
That useless Goddess really only spoke to annoy me.
"Won't you help them, Edward?" Lyra asked, tapping my shoulder.
"What?"
"I mean them." She pointed.
Milleia and Jayden were staring at the floor. Their trays had been knocked over on purpose by three smirking, textbook young masters. From the dark green emblem on their sleeves, I recognized them as Basilisk students.
My class.
Just like in the game.
Except…
They felt even more aggressive now.
Why?
"Edward?"
"Leave them," I said quietly. "I'm not their babysitter. They need to learn how to deal with this. It's going to happen again."
Even with the Student Council and Executive Board around, there was still plenty of noble bullying.
"W-Why…?" Milleia's voice trembled.
She looked down at the mess on the floor, clearly shaken.
A stab of guilt hit me.
[
No way in hell.
It was just… Milleia's character.
Maybe because I had played the game, I felt like I already knew her.
"You! You did that on purpose!" Jayden finally snapped, grabbing the leader by the shirt.
"Hey. Do you even know who you're touching?" One of the cronies barked.
"He's Teen Masta, son of Viscount Masta. You'll be expelled from the academy, and your pretty girlfriend too."
"Nah, we're generous," the other one snickered. "We'll keep the girl. She should be honored to entertain us."
His eyes crawled over Milleia in a way that made my fingers twitch.
"You…!" Blue sparks began crackling around Jayden's arm.
"No, Jayden!" Milleia grabbed him desperately.
"But, Milleia—"
"Please, let's just leave," she pleaded. "We can find another table…"
"Milleia…"
Jayden bit his lip and let go.
Milleia forced a smile for him, but it was obvious it hurt.
Lyra looked openly disgusted, and every now and then she shot me a glare.
I ignored it.
If she had time to glare at me, she could just go over and intervene herself. What was she waiting for? To see if I really had changed or something by watching if I would step up for commoners?
I continued to watch.
Milleia bent down, picked up a broom from the corner, and started sweeping up the spilled food. She didn't need to. Staff would handle it.
But she did it anyway.
"Hmph. Do you think, just because that good-for-nothing Edward is your owner, you can do whatever you want?"
…Never mind.
The second that third-rate bastard dragged my name into it, every bit of my carefully built reasoning vanished.
I stepped forward.