I finally did it!!
The long-awaited, boring entrance ceremony!
Ah, it finally came… I hate this…
The one thing I"m happy about though is that I get to spend everyday with Bern and Katerina.
Bern is two years older, while Katerina"s a year older, so this year was especially lonely for me.
Since I can only see him during spring and winter break when school"s out, the minute they go on break, Bern quickly gets on his horse and comes home, just barely holding out until that moment. Thanks to that, his horse-riding skills are the best in the school. Congratulations.
Both my parents and the servants send me off to school, crying. It feels like I"m being sent to be executed.
Man, I don"t know what everyone"s thinking… Tia told me that she was happy her workload was going to decrease, while my mother said,
“I"m so jealous~! You get to spend your school days with your fiancé! I also fell in love with your dad at school,” showing tremendous excitement. Father blushed up to his ears. He doesn"t seem to like it.
Don"t drag me into this.
In the five years before I entered the school, I want to mention the various things that have happened.
First off, the second prince, Selim, was born.
Thanks to that, that took up the Queen"s attention instead, and the incidents with Bern suddenly stopped. Because of that, Bern started calling me embarra.s.sing names.
Next, it seems like Lila"s been more active than she was in the game.
I heard this rumor through Katerina, but after having met two love interests during Thanksgiving, she became quite close to Alois and Johann.
Alois is Count Donitz"s second son, rumoured to be a popular playboy. Even though he has yet to become an adult, he"s said to be involved with multiple ladies. That part sounds more like a lie than anything else.
The other person is Johann, successor to Count Drexler, the Knight Commander famous for his battle prowess.
Well, despite their ranks being so-so, because they"re love interests in the game, they"re also famous for being handsome men. Additionally, because the both of them don"t have fiancées, women have been targeting them.
If those two met Lila at the festival just like in the game, then they shouldn"t have been able to contact each other until their reunion at school. But reality was quite different. Lila calls Alois onii-sama, and because she became childhood friends with Johann, they both visit each other"s houses quite frequently.
Because of that, she came to have a bad reputation but there rarely was someone who spoke badly of her.
I mean, she looks pure. Innocent. Kind to everyone, a girl with no ill-will.
Most likely, either Lila, or someone close to her is a reincarnated person, the same as me.
If possible, I"d like it to be the latter.
The reason being that she captured two ikemens with promising futures, which caused her to attract the envy of women. Despite being the heroine of the game, she"ll be the target of rumors.
Or maybe someone"s trying to correct the game this way. No way, that"s stupid.
If for some reason, Lila"s a reincarnated person, then she"s either a saint-like angel inside, or conversely, a stubborn one. Well, even if she was the type of heroine that sends mixed signals, that doesn"t mean she"s easy.
Ah, for some reason, my stomach hurts…
Nonetheless, it"s not like I could put off coming to school.
Taking sidelong glances at the white walls of the school, having often seen it in the game, as well as the fountain, I sluggishly make my way towards the auditorium where the entrance ceremony will take place.
To be honest, I don"t know where I am, but I wonder if I"ll be fine if I just follow the crowds of freshmen. That"s what my previous life"s common sense tells me to do.
Suddenly, a crowd of current students who came to look at the new students showed up. Oh, is His Highness visiting?
As I casually thought that, a black agile shape appeared, slowly getting bigger.
“Lizzy!”
“Geeeehh!?”
I realized it was Bern, and in the next moment, he tackled me and held me up in his arms.
With my point of view suddenly being so high up, I shrieked without thinking.
Ah, that scream just now sounded exactly like a dying goblin from a fantasy film, if I do say so myself.
Even though he"s just holding me up in public like this, I was still embarra.s.sed. Bern, who was still holding me in his arms, swung me around.
You, this isn"t a Hollywood love comedy movie, okay?! Stop it!
I once again, without any charm whatsoever, seriously screamed, and as if having slightly reflected, he stopped.
By the way, since his hand was holding down my skirt, no one was able to see the color of my underwear.
“I was lonely.”
I, who had always been looking up at Bern, am now looking down at him, and noticed his eyelashes. They"re so nice. I"m so jealous that his eyelashes are long.
“Stop lying! We just saw each other during winter break. Jeez, put me down!”
“You"re so cold Lizzy.”
Don"t think that I"ll forgive you if you look at me with a sad face! But I will forgive you! Because I was lonely as well!
In just a few years, Bern"s height rapidly grew, and compared to others his age, he was really tall. And his voice deepened as well. Despite having said that, it seems that the way he acts towards me is inversely proportional, with him acting more like a kid each year.
Nevertheless, he listens to me, so he reluctantly put me down.
Even though the entrance ceremony has yet to start, it"s Bern"s fault that I"m already standing out. The indifferent gazes that had been surrounding us changed to something similar to observing a rare animal.
“What am I gonna do if I can"t make friends because of you?”
“Eh, do you want friends?”
“On the contrary, why wouldn"t I want friends?”
“That was a joke. You"ll be fine.”
I"m the one who"ll be dealing with it, not you.
“At last, I get to meet Bernhardt-senpai"s Lady Luck.”
A man with brown hair suddenly appeared behind Bern, grinning. Since he suddenly stood beside Bern, and he doesn"t seem to hate him, I guess he"s not a bad person.
Wait a minute, why does he know that name!?
Ever since the Second Prince was born, Bern has been calling me Lady Luck. Even though I told him to keep it between us and to not mention it in front of others…!
Although I stared at Bern, sending a silent protest, the person himself was just staring into s.p.a.ce, absentmindedly. Conveniently becoming absentminded at this time!
“I"m a second year, Ionius Muller. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
Even though he knew what our relationship was, since Bern had told him about me, he still introduced himself.
Oh yeah, this is Ionius. I"ve mostly heard about him from Katerina last summer.
“I"m Marquis Rietberg"s daughter, Lizia.”
As we were exchanging introductions, I then notice a beautiful, silver-haired female walking elegantly towards us. Speak of the devil.
“Katerinsama!”
“Lizia!”
At the same time, we ran towards each other, and hugged each other tightly. As expected, girls are soft and wonderful. Bern"s no good. I don"t mind if it"s her, but Bern"s a little too firm.
Katerina gracefully congratulates me, and as if she was a different person, points her fan in front of the two men. ‘Ah, you haven"t changed at all," I thought, strangely relieved.
“Tsk! For both of you to leave me, how cruel!”
“Didn"t you say that you"d be troubled if you were escorted by anybody other than His Highness?”
“Ughh! You"re a really unpleasant man.”
“Yes, I get it.”
With it being an old habit of hers, I watch as she hits his arm, her fan mercilessly cutting through the air over and over.
Katerina attacks with a frustrating desperation, and Ionius tries to dodge the fan attacks with all his might. I understand how he feels, since I"ve received her fan attacks for many years, enough that I"ve gotten used to it.
Well, it"s not that I purposely don"t avoid it, but it"s more like I just let it hit me? It"s not because I can"t avoid them. No way.
Despite this Ionius coming from a Viscount family, he"s also one of Bern"s friends. A commendable person who watched over Katerina. Wait, the person he"s watching over is Katerina…
Well, it looks like it"s going okay.
“Lizzy.”
I looked up, and there was Bern, smiling softly, his black hair rustling in the breeze.
“Congratulations on getting in.”
“…Thanks. I"ll do my best.”
Yeah. Let"s do it.
Anyways, all we had today was the entrance ceremony and moving into the dorms.
Ah, but I made a friend! My roommate.
Her name"s Clarissa Ohm. Not the King of Insects Ohm*.
The type of lady that would keep quiet in the corner. I hope I can get along well with her.
Actually, I was planning on getting my own private room, but that sounded a little too lonely, and because I was finally living in a dormitory, I got a double room instead. Ah, I"m glad she"s nice.
I was worried that I"d be put in the same room as Lila, but she seems to have gotten a private room instead. Even though she had a double room in the game.
I quickly put away the few luggage I had and went to the front of the Fifth Building, having promised to meet up with Bern.
The old Fifth Building had art rooms, music rooms, and workshops. Students are able to use them when cla.s.ses aren"t in session. Even now, I hear faint sounds of a piano and a violin playing. There are many n.o.ble kids who play instruments as a hobby.
I decided to wait for Bern on one of the benches lining the front of the Fifth Building.
With the maple tree to the side rustling, the subtle light filtering through the trees casts a geometric-like pattern on the water"s surface. It"s such nice weather today.
Suddenly feeling as if someone was watching me, I raised my head and met a girl"s gaze from far away.
Light blue hair and a dainty figure. It"s Lila.
Having not expected to meet her at all, I looked at her like an idiot. And like a flower blooming, she smiled. I smiled back in return, confused, but because of that, my smile might have looked a little weird.
As I was contemplating whether or not I should go talk to her, Lila called out to someone. I remember that red hair. It"s probably Alois.
Lila"s smile didn"t look like it had any ill-will in it. She really looked like a cute, innocent girl. Her sweet smile seemed fitting for being this world"s leading heroine.
I was probably thinking too much about it.
“Lizzy.”
“Ah, Bern.”
“What"s wrong? You look like a catfish.”
“A catfish…”
Was my mouth half-open? Hmm?
Yeah. I"m just glad whiskers didn"t grow out of my face.
Holding hands, he showed me inside an art room. It seems like there are people inside that he wanted to introduce me to. Oh yeah, Bern told me that he created a club when he was a first-year.
In this school, they had a system where students could create a club as long as they had five other members and an advisor. There were the usual Wind Instrument Club, or the Tea Ceremony Club, but there were also clubs like the Prince Edwin Fan Club.
The door opened, and inside were ten students.
Inside was Ionius who was playing chess in the back of the room. He waved his hand at me, and impishly said.
“Welcome to the Hidden Student Council!”
“Ah, thank you.”
Automatically, I bowed down, but then I noticed. Hidden Student Council?
Hidden!? What do you mean ‘Hidden"!?
This Bern. I knew he was making something so that he could spend time with me and have fun, but not like this. He carelessly just–!
For the time being, I just murmured, ‘Wow~." I"m not sure what it means, but what I"m sure of is that I look like a catfish right now.
*That bug thingy from the Nausicaa Studio Ghibli movie.
They"re both so adorable. Bern"s a gap moe lol.
Also, if you like the story, do upvote and maybe even give it a review on NU. And if you"d like to support the author, you can also buy the light novel version as an ebook on Bookwalker. The ill.u.s.trations are cute and worth it in my opinion ^^