An Unexpected Visit
The silence stretched between us.
“……”
“……”
I had been watching them, but they had been watching us just as closely. And if I wasn’t imagining it, the corners of their eyes were trembling. Both Ernen and Sebastian. ‘…What is this?’ Their reactions were far from normal. ‘This is rare.’
While we weren’t exactly close, I knew these two very well. I had used them to the point of exhaustion in the game. As far as I could tell, both of them were masters at controlling their emotions. To what extent? Enough that even someone like me—who had played the original story until I was sick of it—had almost never seen either of them swept away by feeling.
It wasn’t that they lacked emotions. They were simply exceptionally skilled at managing them. Perhaps they had been born that way, but their positions as a prince and the heir to one of the empire’s greatest noble houses had undoubtedly honed that trait to perfection. After all, the imperial social scene was not a forgiving place.
In any society, openly displaying one’s joy, anger, sorrow, or pleasure is rare, but those who must show their faces in high society are even more restrained. In that barren world, revealing emotion itself could become a fatal weakness. So it would not be an exaggeration to say that the emotional control these two had cultivated over a lifetime had reached the level of mastery.
Yet here they were, displaying their feelings with startling clarity. No—they had gone beyond that. They couldn’t even regulate them properly. For me, it was nothing short of surprising.
…Wait. I glanced toward Sebastian. ‘…Why is that guy…?’
As I had said earlier, their reactions were unexpected. But if I had to pick which of the two was more surprising, I would choose Sebastian without hesitation.
Sebastian Ebenros.
This was the first time I had faced him directly like this, but of course I knew him. In fact, I was practically familiar with him. That bastard was a performance character on par with Bellard—no, in some ways even superior. The next heir to the Ebenros family, a house considered equal to the Berwen in prestige. A young master who had been chosen early as the successor, a genius whose talent could not be adequately described with mere words like “outstanding.” On top of that, unlike Bellard, his personality was gentle and kind.
A character with flawless background, ability, and everything else. And unlike Bellard, he wasn’t particularly difficult to recruit as an ally. In every sense, he was a perfect character. Both in the game and in reality.
The problem was—
‘Why the hell is he here?’
And his reaction was anything but normal. It was completely unlike the ever-composed Sebastian I knew.
Of course, it wasn’t as if I couldn’t guess why the two of them had come here.
‘…This seems to involve me.’
Their gazes directed at me didn’t feel the least bit friendly.
While I was turning the current situation over in my head, Ernen took a step forward.
“So this is where you were, Saintess.”
He tried to speak and smile as usual, but the difference from his normal demeanor was obvious. He clearly hadn’t managed to suppress his emotions.
In response to Ernen’s words, Lana smiled and asked,
“Yes. Did you come to see me because you have business with me?”
Her smile was the same one I had always seen, yet…
‘Hmm…?’
I felt a subtle sense of dissonance. I couldn’t pinpoint exactly where it came from, but something felt different from usual.
Ernen, however, didn’t seem to notice.
“Business…”
He murmured the word as if tasting it, then spoke immediately.
“…Yes, I do have business.”
Ernen’s gaze suddenly snapped away. Straight toward me.
With eyes burning with an unreadable emotion, he said,
“Recently, unpleasant rumors concerning the Saintess have reached my ears.”
‘…Ah.’
Only then did I understand the situation. Why they had come here, and why they were sending me such unusual looks.
“Unpleasant rumors?” Lana tilted her head. “What sort of rumors are you referring to?”
Her voice was as gentle as ever as she asked Ernen the question.
In response, Ernen said,
“The rumor that the Saintess has been associating with a person of rather poor character.”
‘As expected.’
It was exactly what I had anticipated. Truthfully, I wasn’t particularly shocked. A part of me had already considered that a moment like this might come—someone meddling unnecessarily in my relationship with Lana.
What I hadn’t expected was that Ernen and Sebastian would be the ones to move. They weren’t the type to do something like this. I never thought they would stoop to such direct methods, or choose this particular approach.
The versions of them I knew would never have chosen such a blunt tactic. They would have confirmed the facts only through subordinates, and even if they decided to interfere, they would have done so indirectly, subtly conveying their opinions.
Yet the two men standing before me now were completely different from the characters I remembered.
What on earth had turned them into this?
As I pondered that question, something occurred to me.
‘Now that I think about it…’
I recalled a moment from the past. Come to think of it, there had been one previous occasion when Ernen had shown eyes like that. It was when Julia and I had become entangled.
Of course, it hadn’t been this intense back then. He hadn’t lost control of his emotions. Still, there had clearly been agitation, and his gaze had been far from ordinary. Even that would have been an unusual sight for the Ernen I knew.
At the time, I had wondered whether Ernen might be harboring some other intention. But I hadn’t suspected him too deeply. There simply hadn’t been enough evidence.
Now, at this moment, that suspicion was resurfacing.
If Ernen had shown such behavior only toward Julia, I might have assumed it was romantic interest. But he was displaying the same reaction toward Lana as well. It could no longer be interpreted as simple affection. The suspicion that he had another purpose only grew deeper.
Of course, it wasn’t impossible for someone to be drawn to multiple members of the opposite sex—but ‘That doesn’t apply to him.’
At least, the Ernen Lihel I knew was not the kind of person to be swayed by a fleeting crush. That man was more obsessed with power than with love. His goal was to surpass his older brother, the crown prince, and become emperor. If ascending the throne required it, he would gladly abandon love or anything else.
Would such a man become this agitated, lose control of his emotions, over mere romantic feelings? It wasn’t impossible. After all, the Ernen I knew was only the version from the game. The real person might be different.
Still… ‘It doesn’t feel right at all.’
Something told me that wasn’t the case. In fact, my speculation had already tilted heavily toward the idea that Ernen had some other objective. That he was targeting the saintesses with a separate purpose in mind.
‘……’
My mood sank. Of course, I still didn’t know for certain. I didn’t know what his goal was, and it was possible that, in the end, it wouldn’t harm the girls. But even so—
‘I don’t like it.’
I didn’t like it one bit. The very idea of approaching these children with impure intentions and trying to use them.
If it were up to me, I would beat the truth out of Ernen right here and now. ‘There are two guards…’
At first glance, only Ernen and Sebastian were visible, but I could sense two more presences. From their positions and their auras, they appeared to be Ernen’s escorts.
After gauging the strength of the two guards, I reached a conclusion.
‘It would be difficult.’
It wasn’t that I lacked confidence in subduing them. Their skills were excellent, but I was certain I could take them down—even accounting for Ernen and Sebastian joining the fight.
The problem was the time it would take. If the guards focused solely on tying up my feet, the chances of Ernen and Sebastian escaping were high. And if that happened, the whole situation would become a complete mess.
In other words, I shouldn’t attempt it. Not in the current state of affairs.
‘Tsk.’
I clicked my tongue inwardly, but I wasn’t particularly disappointed. ‘I wasn’t planning to do it right now anyway.’
I had simply been calculating the odds. From the beginning, I had never intended to act on it. No matter how angry I was, choosing that path would likely ruin everything unless I had a solid enough foundation to ignore all consequences.
In the end, there was nothing the current me could do. Threatening them into revealing their true intentions or driving them away with words was impossible.
‘Because it’s the truth, after all.’
I could already guess what that bastard would say, but I couldn’t refute it. Even though I hadn’t done those things, it was true that Kyle had caused all sorts of trouble in the past. I couldn’t deny it, and trying to force a denial would only worsen Lana’s impression of me.
Therefore, I could only quietly watch their conversation unfold.
“A person of poor character…”
Lana quietly repeated Ernen’s words.
“Who exactly are you referring to?”
Once again, she posed the question to Ernen in a calm, composed tone.
Ernen, apparently convinced that Lana was paying close attention to his words, spoke with a firmer expression.
“That would be…”
He looked at me and continued.
“Kyle Berwen, who stands right here.”
“……”
Since I had already expected it, I felt no surprise. No resentment, no irritation. Only—
I was a little worried.
‘How will Lana react?’
I couldn’t predict what kind of reaction she would show. For that matter, how much did Lana even know about me? The possibility that she knew nothing at all was… low, I thought. There was no one in this academy who didn’t know my reputation. It was highly likely she already knew about it.
Then why had she continued to meet me every day? It must have been because of the treatment. Since she had made a promise to Julia, she probably didn’t have the option of stopping the treatment halfway, no matter what kind of person I was.
During all this time, she had never shown any sign of avoiding me or finding me unpleasant, but that didn’t mean anything was certain. It was possible she had simply chosen not to reveal those feelings. What was clear was that I was not someone special to Lana.
If she was the Lana I knew, no matter what she heard from Ernen here, the chances were high that she would continue the treatment until the end. But the problem came after that.
I didn’t know what the original Lana had planned to do. Perhaps she had intended to treat me normally without caring about my reputation. However, if someone openly expressed concern and issued a warning like this, it wouldn’t be strange for her feelings to change somewhat. Especially if the ones speaking were a prince and a high-ranking noble.
There was a very real possibility that, after hearing their words, Lana would begin to distance herself from me.
‘…That would hurt a bit.’
If that happened, I would feel rather sad. I was confident I could endure being hated by others without batting an eye, but if the girls—including Lana—treated me that way, it would sting quite a lot.
However—
‘There’s nothing I can do about it.’
It couldn’t be helped. As I steeled myself with that thought, Lana finally opened her mouth.
“Really, now…”
And then came words I had not expected at all.
“How rude.”