Lunch break.
In the corridor toward the courtyard, a small girl approached at a half-run from the other side.
Flipping the hem of her uniform, holding a notebook before her chest, that figure wore a somewhat tense appearance.
Her hair swayed softly, and her bouncing bangs grazed her forehead.
"Rigel-san!"
A lively voice rang in the corridor.
She was E-class's star of hope.
An existence that quietly piled effort in a corner of the classroom, not standing out yet giving off light.
Some called her "guts girl," but she herself had an extremely modest personality.
"…What, it's Char."
"Isn't that way of speaking harsh!"
Char who raised her voice puffed her cheeks slightly, but her eyes were smiling.
While pretending to sulk, that ring was somehow bouncing.
She seemed to be blaming him, yet she could not hide her happiness.
The fact that he treated her without reserve was a little ticklish and proud.
"I don't need to play the cat anymore. …So? Do you have some business?"
Rigel's tone was calm, but the corner of his mouth had loosened slightly.
Among the many miscellaneous people not worth dealing with, one of the few he let his guard down with.
That was Char to him.
"Um… Again, congratulations."
As if choosing words, carefully.
But in that voice straight respect and joy were packed.
While flushing her cheeks a little she looked straight up at Rigel's pupils.
"What about?"
"The matter of becoming runner-up."
"It's not something to congratulate."
Rigel answered immediately.
Dry words with no hesitation or decoration.
He continued just like that.
"Being noticed is annoying. You of all people should understand I'm not happy."
A way of speaking like shrugging lightly.
There were thorns in the words, but the feeling packed there was rather honest.
The surrounding praise and expectation were worthless to him.
Even so, that he told her "you should understand" and Char was chosen. That itself was more than enough answer for her.
"Fufu, that's right. …But everyone looks happy. That Wistaria Kingdom's future is bright."
"People who leave it to others. Telling me to play the role of a torch or something."
Char looked only an instant at the profile of him who returned that mixed with self-mockery.
Then she smiled small, looking troubled.
In the gesture of holding the notebook again a little hesitation mixed.
But she immediately returned her gaze and became a serious face.
"By the way… spring break, will Rigel-san return to your family home?"
Char suddenly changed the topic.
Making it look unrelated, in truth it was her own way of stepping in.
Beyond this she might be refused.
Even so she wanted to know.
The path he would advance.
"That's the plan."
"You'll come back, right?"
As if praying, as if asking.
That was not words anyone could say, "Can we meet again?"
Her own true feeling wrapped in inoffensive words, a special feeling.
"…Who knows."
Rigel lowered his eyes a very little and averted his gaze.
It was not to pretend disinterest, nor to look cold.
He was wary somewhere of the "relationship" that would be born by putting it into words.
"Who knows."
Char asked back mixed with a bitter smile.
In that voice exasperation and loneliness mixed half and half.
But there was nowhere a feeling of blaming him for that.
Because she knew well that he was that kind of person.
"I'll do as I want. How long do you intend to stay in a lover mood? I won't allow prying or orders."
Rigel and Char's association was reasonably long.
He frankly found her figure of striving pleasant.
Her looks were reasonably to his taste.
That was why he disguised himself as a wicked noble and raped Char.
Being accepted after the identity reveal afterward was unexpected, but that too became a good stimulus.
But.
In the end it was only that much.
He had no intention at all of discarding his future rape life out of consideration for Char.
"Yes, I won't give orders. But… I have things I want to do on my own."
Char smiled.
It was not bluff. A certain will dwelled.
Not merely obeying.
Not merely thinking of him either.
She intended to walk in her own way.
"Things you want to do?"
Rigel's brow moved slightly.
In that single line certain interest mixed.
It was a little rare for him to have interest in another person outside of rape relations.
"I'll talk about the details eventually. Then that's it for today!"
After lowering her head politely with a pekori, Char spun on her heel.
Light footsteps as if cutting the wind.
On that back there was no hesitation anymore.
In the remaining space her leftover heat remained faintly.
That was not mere temperature.
A strange feel that made one want to stand there for a while.
"…She's unexpectedly thick-skinned. Well that's interesting in its own way."
Rigel muttered small like a soliloquy.
It was neither spat out nor pushed away.
Just words that spilled very naturally.
A ring that was somehow amused, and a little warm.
He laughed with only his mouth, and eventually left that place.
One day's after school.
The instant Rigel passed by the side of the committee building, a chilly air stroked his fingertips.
She was there.
Seven Treasure Sword. "Condemnation Execution" Aria.
Rumors called rumors, and the alias kept people away.
That was why only this place was unnaturally quiet.
"…Aria, huh."
"What, it's Rigel."
"Preparing condemnation again?"
"Well yeah. It's my hobby."
"A guy with a bad hobby."
"I don't want to hear that from you. No, seriously."
Aria shrugged.
Condemnation execution and rape.
Which was the worse hobby was a little delicate, but she too probably had something she would not yield.
Rigel exhaled and spilled it like a soliloquy.
"About my 'hobby.' I'm standing out too much and there's a bad effect."
"Naturally. Then will you withdraw from the academy? If you go to land that doesn't know you, you can do as you like again."
"Don't say it so easily. I'm attending the academy on His Majesty Wistaria's order."
"You did say that. But you've about finished the first-year curriculum, and you should have stored a fair amount of knowledge."
"Well, yeah."
Rigel answered short.
A beat there.
He took his gaze off and said it as if lightly shifting the topic.
"…You who say that are third year so it's graduation time. Has your path been decided?"
"Offers of various kinds have come from the Academy Martial Arts Tournament results. Pick and choose."
"I see. Well do your best as you like."
Rigel did not step in deeper than that.
A somewhat distant tone.
In that single line there was either no room to pack feeling, or he feared packing too much.
Rigel turned on his heel and began walking.
Toward his back Aria said nothing.
She only moved her brow slightly.
Another day, the training ground.
A blue-haired girl alone was driving her fist into the wall.
Martial girl Testarossa.
The alias was simple, but the movement was tremendous.
"…Training again today."
When Rigel called out, Testarossa turned vigorously.
Her pupils burned.
There was a pure passion there as if flame were rising from inside.
"Rigel-kun! You came!!"
"Wrong. I just passed by."
"Either is fine! Come on, let's do it!!"
She was already trying to enter a stance.
Force as if any conversation were only a preliminary skirmish.
"I won't."
"Eeh! Why!?"
She puffed her cheeks and closed in like a child.
At that appearance Rigel responded mixed with a sigh.
"Why nothing… There's no merit for me, right."
"There is! Merit!"
"What kind?"
"If Rigel-kun wins you can do as you like with me—hey! Where are you going!?"
"I'm going home."
Rigel said it as if throwing it away.
But in that voice a faint bitter smile seeped.
He was used to this kind of exchange.
While turning on his heel Rigel continued in a half-exasperated voice.
"You know my hobby, right. 'Doing it' on mutual agreement isn't my style."
"Muu! Did I get the invitation line wrong…"
Testarossa pointed her lips and gripped her fist again looking frustrated.
But the next instant she immediately returned to her usual heat.
"Well fine! I know I still can't win!!"
Declaring that she began punching the wall again.
A dull sound chased his back. Rigel left the training ground just like that.
What remained on his back was not awe.
It was heat.
Further several weeks later.
The completion ceremony ended, and the long spring break began.
Students who came from the provinces held luggage, laughed, cried, made a racket, and headed toward the gate exchanging promises.
Farewell greetings resembled the end of a festival somewhere.
Lingering attachment and a sense of liberation mixed, and the air bounced.
But Rigel did not enter that circle.
"Hey, is Lord Rigel returning to his territory?"
"I'll go together too…"
"Don't get close!"
Near the gate.
Outside the clamor Rigel alone looked back at the academy.
That noisiness looked like a different world from himself from the start.
"Farewell greetings… are a pain and I don't need them. We should meet again after spring break."
Rigel muttered quietly.
While looking at the human wave and clamor unfolding before his eyes as if it were someone else's affair.
Classmates who should have spent the same time laughed together, cried, and headed toward the gate holding hands.
But he had no reason to join that circle.
More than that, he had something to do first.
He put a hand in his breast.
At his fingertips the feel of paper.
A high-quality seal without a single fold.
On the sealing wax the royal family's crest was stamped.
Rigel passed through the gate and went outside the academy.
The outside air was a little light.
Though light, the depths of his chest were heavy.
"…Now then."
Before opening the seal another sigh leaked.
He took out the letter.
The letters were concise, the order clear.
From King Wistaria to Rigel von Gousel.
As soon as the completion ceremony ends, present yourself at the royal castle.
That was all.
There were no extra words at all.
But in that one sentence even the king's prestige, responsibility, and the pressure of the future were included.
While staring at the paper Rigel neither laughed nor grew angry, and only quietly muttered.
"…A summons. Directly from His Majesty."
Beyond the gate farewell voices still continued.
The liveliness of the start of spring break was distant.
Rigel returned the letter to his breast and began walking.
"…What a pain. Really."
Only the last of the soliloquy was a very little amused.
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