Summer Vacation Plans
As always, I finished class alongside Princess Reina.
The four of us—myself, the princess, Tanya, and Aria—gathered in her chambers to enjoy a light, chilled dessert and wrap up the day’s affairs.
I glanced out the window. Under the blazing sunlight, a faint haze shimmered across the entire world. Before I knew it, the semester was drawing to a close and a new season had arrived.
“It’ll be summer soon,” I remarked.
“Indeed it will.”
“Does Your Highness have any particular plans for the break?”
Reina took a bite of her parfait and fell into thought, her eyes rolling about before she answered.
“I have nothing urgent to attend to. Should anything arise, I might spend a short while with my younger sibling or perhaps visit the southern resort.”
Ooh! A southern resort…! Let’s follow Aslan. This is our chance.
What chance?
The chance to sample the backdoors of all those southern beauties!
I ignored Beres’s completely unserious comment and refocused on the princess. She was staring at me, her eyes clearly asking what I had meant by the question.
“Ah, I don’t have any specific plans for summer either.”
“I-is that so…! How wonderful! Ahem.”
She lit up with joy for a moment before quickly hiding her true feelings under Tanya’s sharp gaze. The swordswoman addressed me with a cool expression.
“Kael. The person before you is none other than Her Highness Reina von Kshanberg, Third Princess of the great Kshanberg Empire. I would ask you to choose your words with care so that no misunderstandings arise.”
She wasn’t wrong. To a third party, it might have sounded as if I intended to tag along on the princess’s personal vacation.
When I fell silent, Reina—clearly uncomfortable with the sudden tension—swiftly stepped in to smooth things over. She seemed genuinely delighted that I had no plans and would be alone during the break.
“In that case, why don’t Baron Cleanberry and Sir Tanya join me at my southern villa?”
“If Your Highness is going, then as your escort knight I will accompany you anywhere. There is no need to ask about such matters.”
Tanya immediately agreed. Now it was my turn. Reina looked at me with earnest, almost pleading eyes.
I laughed and answered, “If you would extend the invitation, I would be honored to join you.”
“Excellent! Then it is decided. This summer break, we shall all travel together to my villa in the south. Aria, will you come with us as well?”
“Meow~!”
And just like that, our summer vacation plans were set.
The south would be teeming with unfamiliar creatures—perfect material for a new thesis. Easy enough to gather.
While we’re at it, we can also sample those southern backdoors. By the way, Aslan, what do you think? During this break, shall we go ahead and claim that married woman?
Who? Tanya?
Yeah. Didn’t she say she and her husband still don’t have a child yet?
That’s right. They’ve been married three years, but the lack of a child is causing her considerable stress. I’ve heard as much.
Then let’s take this chance to heat up their marital bed for them—nice and thick. How about it? You in?
If that’s the game, I’m more than happy to play. Of course I’m in!
After the festival, time flew by in a blur. The reason was the new potion professor, Leisha Bisain.
She was known to have almost no connection to the First Prince’s faction, and I had been moving busily to investigate her. The existing academy faculty were familiar enough even if I paid them little mind—we had shared time together, after all—but when it came to her, I truly knew nothing.
The problem was that Aria was in the same boat.
“Lady Leisha has almost no public record. She has never once participated in high society, and when I pressed the people working under her, they all clammed up.”
“Hmm… I see.”
As I sank into thought, Aria—who was lying beside me—gently traced my chest with her fingertip and continued.
“From my personal experience and intuition… I judge her to be an extremely dangerous individual.”
“So it seems.”
Now the three of us—myself, Beres, and Aria—all viewed her as a threat. We couldn’t afford to lower our guard.
So in the end, the academy is headed for a three-way power struggle.
Isn’t that good? A chaotic melee might actually work in our favor.
True. Our faction is still the smallest.
We would simply sow discord between them, stoke the flames, and devour them one by one. Before they could force us into an unfavorable choice, of course.
The three of us were deep in discussion when someone suddenly knocked on the door.
Who could it be? Bella? Or the princess? It was around dinner time, so anyone might stop by.
I dressed quickly and opened the door, only to pause. A familiar face was waiting.
A woman with white hair tinged with a soft blue hue. She was the maid who attended to Freyer Ron Icecrown, the hostage prince from the Ice Crown Kingdom.
What was her name again? It had been a while and the memory was fuzzy.
“Greetings. I am Prielle, the one who serves Lord Freyer Ron Icecrown.”
Ah, that was it. Prielle.
But she’s a maid—why does her hair color match the royal family’s?
That’s due to special circumstances… I’ll explain later.
It would be rude to keep someone standing at the door while I spaced out. I offered a pleasant smile.
“I am Kael Cleanberry. What brings you here?”
“I heard you came looking for us while we were briefly away from the academy.”
Ah, right. After my first meeting with Freyer, I had gone to see him but found him absent. Something urgent had called him away, apparently. I had stopped by several more times, only to miss him each time, and had asked the staff to notify me when he returned.
It had already been nearly three weeks. So he was finally available.
Had something happened?
“Does that mean I can see him now?”
“Yes. I will escort you to where His Highness awaits.”
The northwestern edge of the academy.
A massive building stood there, constructed in a style completely different from the rest of the campus. Even as summer drew near, a cool aura emanated from it so strongly that faint frost drifted in the air around it. This was Freyer’s private residence.
Unlike the other students, he lived alone in the building—a special privilege granted because he was the heir of the Ice Crown Kingdom. At least, that was the official story.
In truth, it was a gilded cage designed to remove any reason for him to wander outside the academy grounds.
I passed through the stone walls studded with ice crystals and stepped inside. The chill hit me so suddenly it felt like winter had swallowed me whole; my skin tightened instantly. It wasn’t just me—Aria’s fur stood on end and Beres shrank back tightly.
I picked Aria up and tucked her inside my shirt, then teased Beres.
Hey, are you cold too? Why are you shrinking like that?
If I say I’m cold, will you find me a warm backdoor to crawl into?
…Better not to engage.
I hurried after Prielle, who was waiting at the entrance. She moved swiftly across the icy floor—slick enough to make anyone worry about slipping—and led me to a particular room.
It was one I had visited a few times before: the most important chamber in the entire residence. Freyer’s private quarters.
When the woman opened the door, an even colder draft than the rest of the mansion flowed out.
“Your Highness, I have brought the guest.”
The door closed behind me the moment I stepped inside. I paid it no mind and slowly advanced, eyes fixed forward.
The room was enormous—easily a quarter the size of the Practical Magic training hall. On one side sat a massive bed, and right in the center of it, the person I had come to see was waiting.
“It’s been a while, As… I mean, Kael.”
Apparently deciding there was no need to create problems by calling me Aslan, the child smiled brightly and corrected himself at once. Since Aria was also present, I was grateful for the quick thinking.
Aria was still a noble, after all. The moment she realized I was a commoner at heart, her attitude might shift drastically.
I’ll have to ask later how he figured out I’m Aslan.
Yeah. I completely forgot Aria was here.
I walked to the bed and sat on its edge. Strangely, although the sheets and blankets were made of cloth, they radiated intense cold. It went beyond refreshing and straight into freezing. If I kept touching them, my fingertips began to sting.
“So you came because you were curious how I realized it?”
“No. Today I came because I was worried. You suddenly disappeared from the academy for several days… That’s never happened before.”
“Hehe…? Hearing you say that makes me kind of happy.”
The child laughed, but his complexion looked rather haggard. He seemed exhausted.
“What exactly happened?”
“Haha. Well… on the day of the festival…”
“The festival?”
The child lowered his head deeply, then spoke in a tiny, mouse-like voice.
“…I think I got too excited and ran around too much.”
Huh?
“They said it was… a cold. So I received treatment at the imperial palace. Hahaha.”
“Wait, what kind of cold requires several days of treatment? Be honest. You were scampering around like a little kid and ate something weird, didn’t you?”
“That’s not it!”
After listening to the full story, the truth became clear.
The royal family of the Ice Crown Kingdom suffered physical strain when exposed for too long to places without cold air.
“That’s why we almost never leave our kingdom. We can’t endure leaving the cold.”
The child whispered the words into my ear. My eyes widened and I glanced around nervously. What he had just told me was high-level information that couldn’t even be properly ranked.
“Freyer! Can you just tell me something that important?”
“It’s fine~ It’s fine! I’m only telling you because it’s you, As… I mean, Kael. Haha!”
This kid… really was impossible to pin down.
He shifted sideways, lifted the blanket, and patted the spot beside him invitingly.
“Come in. I’ll specially allow you to sit next to me!”
“I’ll pass. If I get in there, my whole body will ache all night.”
“Haha! Funny joke!”
“It wasn’t a joke…?”
“Aww, come on~ Hurry!”
The child grabbed the back of my neck from behind and yanked hard. I had been sitting on the edge of the bed, so I ended up falling flat onto it.
A refreshing sensation enveloped my entire back. Like an early-autumn breeze, a pleasant coolness wrapped around me. A faint, sweet scent tickled my nose, along with something soft and… yielding.
“…Huh?”
Why are you so surprised? I told you before, didn’t I?
I quickly tried to pull the child’s hand away. Or rather, I attempted to. But this little rascal was surprisingly strong.
“Hehet. It’s no use~ Even if my arms look this thin, our people have naturally high muscle density!”
That wasn’t the issue right now!
The soft, squishy sensation pressing against my back sent blood rushing straight to my groin.
Wait, wait…! Beres, stop that. I said stop…!
Hmm~ But I don’t want to!
The child, who had been laughing while clinging to my neck, finally noticed the massive tent rising in my pants and froze solid.