Kays Translations

Chapter 151: Chloe’s Fiancé

Princess Daniela looked as beautiful as ever standing beside Brother Alex. Brother Cain was practically staring at her. Still, there was a shadow over her expression. I could guess what had happened. Princess Chloe and Princess Daniela were close, so it was probably weighing heavily on her. Even so, she would have to come to terms with it someday.

“Good day, Your Highness.”

“G-Good day, Your Highness.”

Brother Cain hurriedly followed my lead, and the two of us bowed as subjects. Since Brother Alex had spoken to me first, I had answered him before greeting Princess Daniela. Maybe that had been a mistake. Her reaction wasn’t very good.

“Good day, both of you. Please raise your heads.”

We both looked up at the same time. Princess Daniela’s expression was unchanged, but Brother Alex looked slightly troubled. He was probably being consulted by Princess Daniela and didn’t know what to do about it.

“Have you heard about Chloe’s prospective fiancé?”

“No, this is the first I’ve heard of it. By any chance, is she to be engaged to a prince of the neighbouring Kingdom of Lund Al?”

Princess Daniela nodded silently. Brother Alex must already have known, because he didn’t so much as twitch. Brother Cain, on the other hand, was desperately suppressing the urge to cry out in surprise.

“You don’t seem surprised.”

“Once we discovered that the Lazar Empire on the neighbouring continent had little connection to the Kingdom of Lund Al, I thought something like this might happen.”

“Julius is clever. Yes, that’s right. It seems His Majesty the King intends to strengthen the relationship between our kingdom and the Kingdom of Lund Al even further.”

Well, of course. In the end, noble children were political pieces. That was even more true for members of the royal family. Depending on how those pieces were moved, an entire country could be ruined. Normally, children like us weren’t given the freedom to simply fall in love with whomever we wanted.

Princess Daniela had been fortunate. Her own feelings and the kingdom’s political interests had happened to point in the same direction. But apparently that was exactly why she felt guilty. She was happy, while Chloe was…

“I don’t think strengthening our ties with the Kingdom of Lund Al is wrong. A closer relationship between the two kingdoms would also benefit House Heine, since we guard the border. Isn’t that right, Brother Alex?”

“Yes, that’s right. I heard this summer was quite difficult. Father wrote that, thanks to Julius discovering the spies, it didn’t become a major problem.”

So the situation in the Heine Margraviate had already reached Brother Alex as well. That might be why he looked so troubled by Princess Daniela’s melancholy. He wanted to reassure her properly, but he didn’t want to say anything that would make her feel worse. Oh dear. Was he already being led around by Princess Daniela?

Princess Daniela let out a breath. She understood the necessity in her head, but her heart hadn’t accepted it. Still, there wasn’t anything I could do about that.

Surely she wasn’t going to ask me to steal Chloe away, was she? Impossible.

“Chloe won’t go to the Kingdom of Lund Al until she comes of age. Until then, please continue to be a good friend to her.”

“Yes, as long as circumstances allow.”

What should I do? If Chloe and I became too close, wouldn’t that only cause problems later? I felt as though keeping a little distance might be better, but I really didn’t know. I would ask Brother Alex once we got home. Romance and noble engagements were far outside my area of expertise. At times like this, I should ask the brother who seemed good at romantic matters.

Would he get angry if I put it like that?

Brother Alex and Princess Daniela had apparently only been taking a break and were about to return to the student council room. They asked whether we wanted to come and observe, but Brother Cain refused flatly. He looked extremely displeased with the very idea. At that, Brother Alex’s eyebrows curved in obvious distress.

Ah, I see. Brother Alex was planning to bring Brother Cain into the student council, wasn’t he? Maybe Brother Cain had already realised that, which was why he refused to go anywhere near the student council room.

Good luck, Brother Cain. You may be joining the student council whether you like it or not.

House Heine was attracting more and more attention because of Brother Alex’s connection to Princess Daniela, a member of the royal family. The same went for Brother Cain… and for me as well.

I really should stay inside the Heine Margraviate as much as possible.

After parting from Brother Alex, we made our way to the academy’s shopping street. Brother Cain’s spirits were low. Compared with how excited he’d been while choosing a sword, the difference was enormous. Like the moon and stars. Heaven and hell. Quite the contrast.

“Hey, Julius. Do you think I’ll be put on the student council?”

“I’m sure you will.”

“…How do you think I can avoid it?”

“Leave the academy…?”

I tilted my head and presented him with the ultimate choice. Brother Cain, you’re a member of House Heine. You’re going to have to get over this. The time had come when he couldn’t spend all his time doing nothing but practising swordsmanship.

I crossed my arms, tilted my head the other way, and stared at him. Brother Cain let out a big, big sigh.

He really hated the idea. Just how much do you dislike the student council, Brother Cain?

“I don’t want to leave the academy. Then I suppose I’ll just have to do it…”

It seemed Brother Cain had a special attachment to the academy. Was there someone he liked? Or perhaps a dear friend? Maybe both. Either way, I thought it was a good thing. I had finally gained people like that in my own life too.

“Brother Cain, do you really hate the student council that much? If you do, why not change the student council into something you’d actually like?”

His eyes widened and his mouth fell open. He seemed to have realised something.

The moment I saw his face, unease began creeping over me. Maybe I’d said something I shouldn’t have. Had I just given unwanted wisdom to my brother, who was perilously close to being a muscle-brain?

“I see… Change the student council. I’ve always thought it was strange that there’s only one swordsmanship tournament a year. We should hold one every month. If everyone has the goal of winning a tournament, we can push one another through friendly competition. Besides, in the future we may have to fight monsters as knights or mages. We ought to gain more practical experience while we’re still students, right? That’s it. We should also work more closely with the students in the mage course. It’s not good for the relationship between the two sides to remain as awkward as it is now…”

Brother Cain began muttering to himself, idea after idea spilling out.

Oh no. I definitely said something unnecessary. I’d thought he was a complete muscle-brain, but apparently he wasn’t quite as bad as I’d assumed.

Should I apologise to Brother Alex in advance?

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