I couldn't say a word when I learned that the Fire Wrapper was originally destined to be an Ice Wrapper. Even more shocking was the fact that she had been recognized as a legitimate consort by the Dale royal family.
It's not because a demon race suddenly became "formerly a demon race."
Just...
"Does this even make sense?"
...I thought about it.
"...Actually, it does?"
When I recalled the opening scenes of romance fantasy novels from my previous life, this was surprisingly plausible. Just thinking about novels where the villainess is the protagonist made it clear.
From the very first episode, doesn't the crown prince, her fiancé, publicly announce their breakup at a party filled with nobles? And typically, the villainess getting dumped is a duke's daughter, usually the child of an incredibly powerful figure in that country. To top it all off, the cause of the breakup is usually a commoner or a baroness from the lowest nobility.
"Was it like that?"
After this realization, I asked Purple, but received an unexpected answer.
"You didn't know?"
"The character Ma—I mean, Marie barely appeared in the original work."
"...What?"
This was shocking. I thought she'd at least be a supporting character, but she was just an extra.
"Like I told you before, the only person from your side whose name I remember is Aeryun. Everyone else appeared as special agents or secret agents."
"We're really undervalued."
"...Isn't that actually proper treatment? Having the names of special agents publicly known would be the real problem."
"I guess so?"
Well, it makes sense that novels focus on the main characters' narratives.
"But there was a part that felt somewhat similar."
"What kind of feeling?"
"There was a hint that Prince Arwen, who was believed to have no fiancée, actually had one."
It's funny that the Fire Wrapper wasn't his fiancée despite that narrative.
Well, they probably couldn't openly reveal that he had transferred the royal magic to someone else.
After all, being Dale's guardian was a secretive position known only to a select few, just like us.
So even if they couldn't openly call her his fiancée,
They must have given hints to that bastard prince.
And if they heard news that the prince had eyes for another woman, Dale should have taken action.
"What was it about?"
"Ruel Dale. She's..."
Fortunately, it was a name I recognized.
"I know. She's the princess of Dale."
"How do you know that?!"
Purple's shocked reaction was ridiculous.
Anyone would think I was an idiot who couldn't remember people's names.
"Wasn't she?"
I don't understand why he's surprised.
I call the Magic Wrapper "Magic Wrapper" because that's what he is.
And I call the Fire Wrapper "Fire Wrapper" for the same reason.
But Ruel Dale, the princess of Dale, is different.
In a country that wraps magic without romance, she pursues romance.
How could I not remember her name?
"So, what's the general story?"
"It felt like the author changed direction due to negative feedback. But when Ruel Dale first entered the academy..."
Purple began wracking his brain to recall everything he could about Ruel from the original work he'd read in his previous life.
* * *
Rewinding time to the early days of the academy.
"Hmm."
Ruel—the princess of Dale associated with magic, the younger sister of Arwen Dale who was one of the early romance fantasy male leads, and a character the reincarnated duo would later focus on—was spying on the Flower Arrangement Club with wide eyes.
"There's definitely something strange about that place."
At first, she started watching to see the stupid brother who abandoned her sister Marie and the saint Daisy who had bewitched him.
But the more she observed, the more she realized something was off.
"Is it some kind of exile?"
First, the status of the Flower Arrangement Club members was unusual.
Not to mention the second-years, but even the first-years were princes and princesses of countries that might be middling compared to the Empire, Dale, or Leon, but were still royalty.
These were people who would be treated with deference in any other club, despite the Imperial Academy's claims of "equality" among students.
That's why Ruel initially suspected the Flower Arrangement Club was a kind of exile where royalty agreed to join for the sake of other students.
Although academy regulations didn't strictly prohibit them from joining other clubs,
proportionally, most ended up in the Flower Arrangement Club!
But the more she observed, the more she realized her misunderstanding.
These bastards were just... full of personal interests.
Not just her brother, but other royalty and princesses too!
Amusingly, the only people in the Flower Arrangement Club without personal agendas were Saint Daisy, whom she had thought was a vixen, and her childhood friend Violet.
Except for them, everyone else was trying alchemy with plants instead of flower arranging.
Seeing the saint's anguish over this, Ruel gradually felt her resentment toward her fading.
"No one looks even when she shows them..."
The men stared at Daisy instead of the flowers.
The women stared at the men, then at Daisy with jealousy.
And Violet, the only one who watched Daisy's flower arranging and tried to follow it... well, she seemed to be trying hard, so it was best to let her be.
Perhaps Daisy had realized this too.
Having realized there was no hope, Daisy took the Flower Arrangement Club out for volunteer work.
And they beat up the famous villain, the Liberator Bellerex.
"...?"
Watching from a distance, Ruel decided to change her plan.
If necessary, she had considered using force to separate Daisy from her brother, though it would be extreme.
"Okay. Assessment complete."
I can't win.
She didn't even need a mage's cold analytical skills.
Even the most foolish person could see what was happening before their eyes.
Not just Saint Daisy, but the skills of the second-year Flower Arrangement Club members were beyond belief.
Especially her damn brother, whose abilities seemed to have doubled since he was in the kingdom.
"Is the Imperial Academy really that good?"
She had thought Dale's magic was the best in the world, but her brother's skills had advanced beyond her sight.
Not just him—even the saint's childhood friend, who had been massacring flowers in the club, was more skilled than her.
The only consolation was that the first-year students weren't showing much activity...
but that was only because they were facing the formidable Bellerex; they weren't weak by any standard.
"..."
But as time passed, what became frightening wasn't their combat power against Bellerex.
"Um, how long are they going to keep hitting him?"
On the surface, it looked like a one-sided battle.
But looking closely, she could see the Flower Arrangement Club was desperate.
The moment their assault stopped, if Bellerex landed even one proper strike, the tide would turn.
To prevent this, they were desperately pushing Bellerex back.
The problem was that this had been going on not for 5 or 10 minutes, but for hours.
...It was approaching 2-3 hours, not just one.
"Is this the Empire?"
She didn't mean it in a good way.
It was closer to a curse.
She had heard about it, but while this wasn't the center of the Imperial Academy that the Empire boasted about,
it was nearby, and the great villain Bellerex had attacked the academy chapel, yet no one had come to help!
"...Or not?"
Realizing this, Ruel looked around and noticed people standing by.
They seemed to be waiting, not wanting to disrupt the perfect coordination by intervening unnecessarily.
They weren't just standing idle.
Once she realized this, she could see more.
The Imperial Prince, who was separate from the group, was recruiting passing students.
Despite sending them to fight the clearly dangerous Liberator Bellerex, not a single person refused or resisted.
No, they went to fight Bellerex with joy, as if it were an honor.
She had wondered how they could hold out against Bellerex like that.
When she came to her senses, she saw that behind her brother was a group of mages almost like a magical battalion.
"Is this the Empire?"
This time, it wasn't a curse.
It was pure admiration.
If this was the Imperial Prince's leadership, it was astonishing.
If not, it meant the academy students were volunteering on their own, which was equally amazing.
As she watched Bellerex gradually being pushed back, she continued to admire the scene.
Suddenly, a professor in uniform and a student came to take her brother away, and Ruel pondered.
Should she continue watching the Bellerex raid?
Or should she return to her original purpose of monitoring her brother?
"ARRRGH! You think this is the end?!"
As if to resolve Ruel's dilemma, Bellerex screamed.
It wasn't just a scream from being beaten; his body began to swell.
So Ruel sat back down again.
She had been watching her brother's blunders all this time, but nothing had happened.
Surely nothing would happen.
With that thought, she continued watching the Bellerex subjugation, which was worth it.
And as for her brother's side, as expected, nothing...
"Lady Marie said she's done for..."
Or so she thought!
"What on earth happened?!"
Her guardian, friend, sometimes like an older sister and sometimes like a younger sister,
Erika's bombshell announcement shattered everything.
"I don't know. She just said she's finished, that there's no hope..."
"That's all the same thing!"
"That's how shocked she seemed!"
This was bad.
Marie, her number one candidate for a new sister-in-law, was broken.
She couldn't understand what could have happened to make such a cool and smart person fall apart.
But one thing was clear: a crisis had hit her love life.
"Damn that brother bastard!"
That's why her term for him evolved from "jerk" to "bastard."
It couldn't be helped.
No, Ruel thought her brother should be grateful she was still treating him as a human bastard.
"After all sister went through!"
The Fire of Karma, one of the seven arcane magics passed down in the Dale royal family.
As an arcane magic, it's closer to being "acquired" than "learned."
But acquiring the Fire of Karma and other arcane magics isn't the end.
A fire that, once ignited, never extinguishes until its target reaches complete death.
Extremely difficult to handle, and if misused, could consume the user.
A fire that cannot be extinguished by one's will until mastered to the extreme.
Therefore, until one masters the Fire of Karma to the extreme, they are assigned a guardian who has mastered the Eternal Glacier, the only thing that can control the Fire of Karma.
That's right.
Marie Ecked.
Her family had raised guardians for Dale for generations, traditionally mastering ice magic.
Marie showed remarkable talent among them, which is why she was chosen as Arwen's guardian!
"Sister gave up everything she learned because of that bastard's whims. And he..."
"It's not yet confirmed that it's Prince Arwen's fault, Princess."
"His very existence is a mistake!"
"..."
Since affirming or denying that would be insulting the royal family, Erika kept her mouth shut.
After fuming for a long time, still unable to overcome her anger,
Ruel went to the academy the next day with a sulky expression.
"Would you help the Fire Wrapper with her love life?"
A crazy person approached her.
"I don't ask for much. Just please use the name Marie when you first meet someone."
And there were two of them.