# That day was just an ordinary day.
Except for the rain falling from the sky and the fact that it hadn't been long since the new students arrived, it was the same day as any other.
*Shhhhhhhhhh.*
As always, Princess Shartia was working in her office. She was wrestling with mountains of paperwork, and from outside the door, she could hear the excited chatter of new students.
"The history professor is really weird...! Who assigns homework on the first day of class..."
"I don't know~! We can just fill it in with a free assignment later. But... isn't that first-year from the Swordsmanship Department handsome?"
"Who? The silver-haired one?"
"No, the red-haired one. I don't like the silver-haired one because he looks too feminine. That red-haired one is totally my type. He seems to have a good body too."
"What are you saying... he wasn't even wearing the school uniform."
"That's what makes him charming."
The Academy was noisy since it hadn't been long since the new students arrived. The Academy, full of new classrooms and new friends, must have been more interesting than their boring hometowns.
A faint, wistful smile formed on Shartia's lips.
"Hah... I should narrow down the list. Even working all night wouldn't be enough to fill the positions left by the graduated seniors."
This year's freshmen included many prodigies.
There were new students with more divine power than priests who had prayed their entire lives, and students who were selected as scholarship recipients at the Academy for their talent with the sword.
The direct disciple of the Master of the Magic Tower, who was receiving public attention, had also entered this class, and her half-brother had entered the Academy as well.
It was a class full of major talents. This class, that is.
The professors had high expectations, thinking there would never be another class like this at the Academy, and she needed to bring them into the Student Council before the upperclassmen snatched them away.
As always, she would be stuck in her office, but...
"Yaaawn..."
Honestly, she envied them.
The students enjoying their youth.
Because when she was a freshman, she couldn't play like that.
It was inevitable to feel regret about her past school life, when she had just rushed forward to establish her unstable position. She had to do that to be able to live in the Imperial Palace.
"I'm jealous."
Drinking after exams.
Drinking farewell drinks before summer vacation. Regrets now were meaningless when she had reached the point where she didn't even receive invitations anymore.
"Maybe I should get some fresh air."
With the rain falling, she felt even more depressed, so she thought she should pause her work and get some fresh air.
Shartia sighed deeply and looked at the window.
*Shhhhhhhhhh...*
It was the first time the early spring rain felt so melancholic.
"Let's go out quickly. Before I get even more lethargic."
Just as she was about to reach for the umbrella next to her desk.
*Thump thump thump thump thump.*
A loud noise began to come from the hallway. The sound of someone running urgently, as if being chased, was approaching with heavy footsteps.
Even though classes were over, they would get scolded if a professor caught them.
"They're not children anymore..."
Annoyed, Shartia sighed as she pushed her hair back. She wanted to go out and say something, but she decided to endure it because she didn't want to waste her precious time. It would probably be someone she wouldn't have to deal with anyway.
"Tsk."
Just as she clicked her tongue at the thought that immature students were lowering the quality of the Academy.
*Thump thump thump thump thump!!!*
The sound of running footsteps was getting closer to her.
"Haa... really!"
Just as she was about to go say something because of the loud noise.
*Rattle!!!*
"Huh?"
That's when he appeared before her.
The red-haired man greeted her roughly as he opened the door to the Student Council President's office. A strange man who was wearing a butler's uniform while being an Academy student.
"Oh... no one's here."
"...?"
"Ah."
The man saw her face and smiled brightly.
"Hello."
Her first thought upon seeing the man wasn't anger but disbelief. She couldn't understand who would open the door without permission. The way he just greeted her was also absurd.
"...Haha."
Seeing the bright smile of the man who was making mistakes that even commoners wouldn't make, she was thinking of asking which department he was from to deduct points.
"Nice to meet you."
"..."
"I'm Ricardo, a first-year in the Swordsmanship Department."
The man just went ahead and introduced himself.
"...Ha."
This was a type of person she had never encountered before.
She prided herself on having experienced many types of people, but she had never met someone who smiled so brazenly with such thick skin.
She thought she might have seen his face during the entrance ceremony, but annoyingly, she couldn't recall it.
'A noble...?'
No, he definitely wasn't a noble. There were no nobles who didn't know her face. At the very least, their parents would have made them memorize her face, and it would be unacceptable for a noble to commit such disrespect.
The man was approaching Shartia, who was frowning.
Shartia watched with surprised eyes as the red-haired man approached while she remained seated in her chair.
"What... what are you doing? Step back."
"You're as beautiful as the rumors say, Princess Shartia."
"Huh...? You know me?"
"Of course."
"Then why are you doing this...?"
The man chuckled and began to take something out from inside his clothes. Strangely, she wasn't worried that he might have a weapon. Oddly enough.
"I've been a fan for a long time."
"...What are you saying?"
The red-haired man who had flattered her placed a rectangular object that he had taken out from his clothes firmly in her hand.
"This is my gift."
"..."
"Please keep it."
"..."
With those words, the man opened the window and threw himself out. Without an umbrella on a rainy day.
"Hey!!!"
Shartia, who had been looking out the window, looked at the object in her hand with a puzzled expression.
And.
"Chocolate?"
She burst into laughter because an unexpected item was in her hand.
"Puhahaha!"
If he was going to make a move, he should have done it more honestly. What's with the chocolate...
Shartia was secretly pleased with the unexpected confession. After all, she was still a woman.
Although she couldn't accept his feelings due to her status, she decided to overlook the rudeness of the man who had caused her trouble.
It seemed like the man had fallen in love with her appearance at first sight during the entrance ceremony and was awkwardly expressing his feelings.
"Hmm hmm..."
Just as she was about to laugh at the shy and aggressive man's confession.
"How cute."
*SCREEEEEECH!!!*
This time, a loud shout was approaching, echoing through the hallway.
"What... what is it?"
It was a voice filled with anger. The woman who was approaching while shouting as if filled with all the anger in the world was running with heavy footsteps.
*Eeeeeek...!*
Whispered conversations could be heard from where the woman had passed.
"Eeeek?! Have you seen Ricardo?"
"N-no?"
"How dare you speak informally to me!"
"Huh...?"
At the same time, the woman's voice was getting closer to her.
"Ricaaaaaaardo!!!!"
Shartia trembled with the chocolate in her hand. She felt inexplicably uneasy.
"...No way, right?"
Somehow, she felt that the man who had jumped out the window might be related to the woman outside the door,
And she had an ominous feeling that the reason the female student was shouting loud enough to shake the hallway might have something to do with the chocolate in her hand.
*Eeeeeek!!!*
*Click.*
"Ah."
*Click... click...*
The woman walking in the hallway stopped, and Shartia's anxiety soon became reality.
*Rattle.*
"..."
"Eek?"
"First-year student."
"Ah, right, greetings... Ricardo told me to do it properly..."
"Hello."
The black-haired female student who opened the door placed her hand on her navel and greeted politely. "Hello," she said.
Just as the tension was easing due to her surprisingly polite behavior, which was nowhere to be seen in the hallway earlier...
[Oli...]
An ominous feeling suddenly came over her when she saw the name on the student's nameplate.
'It looks familiar...'
It was definitely a familiar face, like someone she had seen many times before. Although she was too far away to see the name on the nameplate, the face full of annoyance seemed like one she had seen somewhere before.
'Who is it...'
"Excuse me, have you seen Ricardo?"
'I feel like I should remember...'
"Ricardo took my chocolate..."
'A name starting with Oli...'
"Eek...?"
[Olivi...]
'Wait a minute...'
An ominous name flashed through Shartia's mind as she was thinking.
The living demon of the Empire.
The most different child among the nobles' children from the very beginning.
'Desmunt Olivia'
Shartia looked at the female student in front of her with trembling eyes, and the moment she saw the face of the young duchess staring intently at the chocolate in her hand, Shartia's world collapsed.
"That's mine...?"
"..."
"Eeeeeeeek!!!!"
*
"Puhaha!!!!"
The Guild Master who was listening to the story burst into laughter as he looked at Shartia.
"No way, what kind of first meeting starts with passing a bomb?"
"I know, right? You have no idea how hard I tried to find that guy the next day..."
"He really seems like someone who can't be stopped. I'd like to meet that Ricardo person once."
Shartia responded with a bitter smile to the laughing Guild Master.
"You've probably already met him."
"What...?"
"I think the Guild Master has unknowingly met him as a client. Maybe asking about the Empire's political situation or requesting to find someone..."
"..."
Shartia stretched as she glanced at the Guild Master with his frozen expression.
"But he's not such a bad person."
"..."
"I once had my life saved by him."
Shartia raised her teacup with a calm smile.
"I almost died."
"..."
"Really..."