First Meeting at the Enrollment Celebration Banquet
There, among the crowd.
She could see Louis Wallenstein.
The first time she met him had been at a banquet celebrating enrollment into Helon Academy.
Helon Academy was called the finest academy in the empire, so the nobility of the empire naturally sent their children there. Wealthy commoners likewise did everything they could to get their sons and daughters into Helon Academy. Gifted youths from every corner of the empire also fought to pass the entrance examinations by any means necessary. In short, the academy was the place where all the wealth, power, and future talent of the empire gathered.
Plenty of cadets, whether by parental command or their own ambition, were already looking to build connections early. Among the nobility, hosting banquets like this beforehand was nothing unusual—a chance for noble-born cadets to cultivate friendships even before the academy gates opened. That banquet had been one such gathering.
Lucy had come along with her older sister, who was entering the academy. Her sister was famous, renowned as a genius. In skill, in reputation, even in looks, Felice outshone her. Pushed into the shadows by that brilliance, Lucy had always been treated as an afterthought—even at gatherings like this. At every family event, she was left on the sidelines. Everyone’s attention went to Felice, never to her.
Lucy herself was by no means plain among the young ladies of her station, but her sister’s fame was simply too overwhelming. Worse still were the men who, unable to seize a moment with the wildly popular Felice, approached Lucy instead with eyes that treated her like a substitute. In those moments she felt utterly wretched. That night’s banquet made it even more unbearable. It was, after all, a celebration for those about to enter the academy, and famous noble heirs thronged the hall in addition to Felice.
It was there that Lucy first laid eyes on Louis Wallenstein. He almost never appeared at banquets, so she watched him with open curiosity. Between the rumors of him being a wastrel and the weight of the Wallenstein name itself, his reputation had plummeted to rock bottom. Yet contrary to every whisper, he was remarkably well-behaved. And more important than that—
He’s handsome…
The words slipped out of her before she could stop them. A few other young ladies were already stealing glances at him as well. Had he not been a Wallenstein, they all would have tried to get closer. Among the noble daughters, Leo Epsilt of the Epsilt ducal house was the famous beauty, yet to Lucy’s eyes the young man standing over there was far more refined and striking. He also looked lonely—just like her. Few people would want to befriend a Wallenstein, after all. Watching him linger alone in a corner of the hall, she felt a sharp kinship.
I wish I could at least talk to him…
She glanced toward her sister. People clung to Felice without pause while Felice answered them with a blunt, clearly irritated expression. The sight sparked something stubborn in Lucy. Her sister monopolized every scrap of attention Lucy never received—from family, from strangers—and yet she had the gall to look annoyed?
No one paid Lucy any mind. Everyone who spoke to her had gone to Felice first and only drifted over after being crowded out, as if Lucy were nothing more than a free extra. She hated all of it.
She slipped quietly from her place and headed toward Louis. When she finally reached him, he looked mildly surprised.
“Ah… Lady Lucy Ansberg?”
Lucy was a little startled herself.
“You know who I am? I don’t believe we’ve ever met…”
“Ah. I almost never come to places like this, so this is probably the first time.”
He scratched the back of his head with an awkward little smile. It was thoroughly un-noble behavior, yet she far preferred it to the men who approached her with false courtesy while clearly not wanting to. And contrary to the wastrel rumors, he seemed to have a genuinely good nature.
“Why are you standing here alone?”
“Well, people seem more reluctant about the Wallenstein name than I expected. Are you all right, Lady Lucy?”
“Yes… I suppose we’re both rather lonely, aren’t we?”
She answered with a faintly hollow smile.
“Mm…? Why would that be?”
“Because everyone is only interested in my sister, not me…”
Lucy nodded toward Felice. She wondered what on earth she was doing, unloading this on a complete stranger, yet she was a little flushed and the words kept spilling out. After all, this was the first time she had ever spoken alone with a man this handsome. A man this good-looking, this kind, this… appealing…
“Oh, is that so?”
Louis Wallenstein answered as if he truly didn’t understand.
“You’re not telling me you don’t know who my sister is, are you?”
“That’s not it. You’re more than beautiful enough yourself, so I just find it strange that everyone only pays attention to your sister.”
Lucy’s face burned crimson. No man had ever said something like that to her. Some of them even stood right in front of her and only praised Felice. Did they honestly think that would make her happy? The sudden, straightforward compliment left her flustered—not because it was unpleasant, but because she liked it far too much.
“Ah… i-is that so…”
Ugh, so embarrassing. Why am I stammering!
When the banquet ended that night, Lucy could not sleep for the pounding of her heart. Was this what the other young ladies meant when they spoke of falling for someone at first sight?
No! Even so—we only met today!
She denied it fiercely. Yet from that day on, Louis and Lucy began exchanging letters. Count Ansberg had strictly forbidden any association with a Wallenstein, but defying the father who never paid her any attention brought Lucy a secret thrill of its own. That was how close they had grown—and why Lucy had believed Louis’s warning without hesitation this time.
And yet Louis had entrusted the matter to her personally… only for her mother to try to hand all the credit to Felice. Felice, who had always stolen every bit of attention that should have been Lucy’s. Lucy had never been able to blame her sister before, because it had never truly been Felice’s fault. But now Felice was trying to snatch even Louis Wallenstein’s achievement. This time it was Felice’s fault. This she could not endure.
At last Lucy reached Louis’s side. After a brief internal struggle, she seized his hand.
“Hieek…! L-Lady Lucy?”
“Young Master Louis, would you come with me for a moment?”
As she spoke, she thought,
Even the way he gets startled is cu— No. Not the time.
She began pulling him toward a place with fewer people. A few glances followed them, but she paid them no mind.
I was thoroughly flustered right now.
Lucy had suddenly walked up to me and grabbed my hand! For a lifelong single guy like me, the stimulus was way too much…
Anyway, she started dragging me somewhere.
Hold on, Lucy? This is exactly when your father is about to get buried in the dirt…
But she moved so fast I never got the chance to stop her. Before I knew it she had hauled me off to a quiet corner of the lord’s castle where no one else was around.
There, Lucy bowed her head to me.
“Young Master Louis, I am truly sorry.”
Once again, I was thrown.
“Uh, Lady Lucy? Why all of a sudden…”
She answered my question.
“You heard them too, didn’t you? The things people are saying.”
“Which things, exactly?”
“That… thanks to my sister Felice Ansberg’s prior warning, the damage was reduced…”
Lucy’s face flushed with shame. Her voice shrank as well. Well, knowing the truth, I would’ve been mortified too.
The moment I heard that, my expression hardened. Lucy seemed to read it; she bowed her head again.
“I really am sorry! I told them everything exactly as it happened…”
I looked at her in puzzlement.
“You told the truth, and yet…”
“Yes. But my sister and my mother…”
Lucy began explaining everything that had taken place. When her story finally ended, my face twisted.
“Haa… so let me get this straight.”
At my sigh Lucy flinched.
“Felice lied and claimed she had given the warning herself, and the countess just… decided to give Felice the credit…”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, Lady Lucy, you have nothing to apologize for. There was no way you could argue with your mother’s decision…”
Even as I said it, my voice grew quieter. I muttered under my breath, half in disbelief.
“Ha! ‘If it’s a Wallenstein, he might use this as an excuse to squeeze us dry’… Fuck, seriously.”
The curse slipped out before I could stop it. Lucy’s expression kept darkening.
“Well, anyway. Thanks for telling me.”
The countess wasn’t entirely wrong, either. Using the compensation money that would have gone to our house to treat the wounded and relieve the territory’s people? That was the proper thing to do. The thing was, I had never wanted that kind of compensation in the first place. A simple thank-you, the way Lady Lucy had given me, would have been enough. Instead the countess decided I might demand too much and handed my achievement over to Felice.
I looked at the girl in front of me. She hadn’t done anything wrong, yet a flicker of irritation made me ask,
“Lady Lucy, what do you think I should do?”
It wasn’t a test. I simply wanted to know how she felt. Lucy hesitated a moment, then spoke with a look of fierce resolve.
“It may be difficult right now, but someday I will find a way to repay you. And if you wish it, Young Master…”
She was about to say more, but a voice from behind cut her off.
“That is not what you should do, Lucy Ansberg. Once you learned the truth, you ought to have revealed it to everyone at once.”
We both flinched and turned. Standing there was the imperial princess.
“You appear no different from Felice or your mother.”