For Honor's Sake
For honor's sake, a long silence lingered between the two men. Outside the barrier, Bellion watched them quietly with an awkward expression. Merlin was the first to speak.
"Anyway, if Arthur's in that state, I should drop by sometime."
"Arthur's still waiting for you."
"Waiting...? Your words are a bit curt."
"What? Aren't we close now?"
Merlin stared at Kyle with amusement before breaking into a light smile and stepping back. With a tap of his staff, the barrier dissolved. Bellion, who had been watching their conversation from outside, quickly rushed over.
"What the hell, you two? What were you talking about that took so long...?"
"Your Highness. You've got yourself quite an interesting friend."
"Huh? Merlin, what do you mean...?"
"I'll be taking my leave now. You two should finish your conversation."
Merlin cut the prince off mid-sentence and vanished in an instant, just as he had when he arrived. Kyle let out a dry laugh as he watched Merlin use teleportation as casually as breathing—something even the northern duke, Valter Grace, rarely employed.
'I'd lose if we fought, wouldn't I?'
In close combat, a swordsman could never beat a mage who could teleport away at will. Such mages were so rare that the scenario had never arisen before. It had been the same when he faced the Apostle of Pride, and it was the same now. Kyle felt the need to develop a countermeasure against opponents who could teleport.
"—Kyle?"
"Yeah, what?"
"What were you two talking about?"
"Hmm. Should I even tell you?"
After a moment's hesitation, Kyle decided it was fine and gave a filtered version of the story. He mentioned that he had helped Arthur before, but omitted the fact that Arthur was a woman or that she had a Dragon's Heart implanted in her. Those were secrets, after all. Even without those details, the mere fact that Kyle had a connection to Merlin was surprising enough.
"A connection to Merlin...? Does that mean you have exceptional magical talent? Then why are you in the Knight Department instead of the Magic Department...?"
"Hey?"
"Huh? Ah, sorry. I got lost in thought for a second. Oh, right. You and Arthur were pretty close, weren't you?"
"Why do you ask?"
"When we get back, could I talk to her for a bit?"
Kyle nodded, indicating there was no problem. Bellion smiled and thanked him. It was time to return to the academy.
* * *
"Please fill out this document and this one, and sign here... and here."
"Ah, yes."
Upon returning to the academy, Kyle headed straight to the administrative office. He needed to get his attendance sorted after missing classes for several days. Fortunately, Kyle didn't have to exert any effort. Bellion, the imperial prince, had promised to handle any attendance issues, and he had kept his word.
"That one's over here."
"Y-yes! Please wait just a moment...!"
"Take your time."
At Bellion's words, the staff member who had been handling all the paperwork beside Kyle nodded with trembling hands. The employee finished the documents at a speed they had never shown in their entire life. It was obvious they were rushing, but Kyle didn't bother pointing it out.
A moment later, the staff member returned with two sheets of paper.
"You'll need to submit these to the department heads."
"Thank you."
"Thanks."
"Ah, have a good day."
Leaving the trembling staff member behind, Bellion and Kyle quickly exited the office. The moment they left, Kyle stretched and loosened his body while watching his fellow knight department students running on the training grounds in the distance.
"After class, right?"
"Huh? What is?"
"You said you wanted to meet Arthur."
"Ah, right. Yeah. After class."
"Then I'm off. My body's aching, so I can't hold back anymore."
With that, Kyle left Bellion behind and headed for the training grounds. Even though he didn't need to attend class since his absence was covered until today, he joined anyway. When he slipped into the middle of the lesson, the professor looked puzzled upon hearing that Kyle had just finished his mission.
"Kyle Meyer? I thought you said you couldn't make it today..."
"Ah, I just finished and came straight here."
"You could've rested until today, you know?"
"As a knight, how could I be negligent or indulgent? I'll train with everyone."
"K-Kyle...!"
Moved by the knightly declaration, the professor teared up and shouted at the students who were training.
"All of you! Take a lesson from Kyle! Even on a day when he could rest, he refuses to neglect his training! And what about you lot? You were trying to skip training just because class was boring—you, and you!"
The professor pointed at several students who had been running well and started harassing them for no reason. Kyle felt a bit sorry for the students who got singled out and joined the formation to start running. Watching the punished students from afar, he resolved to buy them something delicious later.
"Kyle!"
"Ah, Arthur."
"You're early. I didn't think I'd see you today."
"I came early because I wanted to see you."
Arthur grinned at those words. The students nearby who had been eavesdropping on their conversation made sour faces and started glancing at the two of them. It clearly wasn't the kind of conversation two guys would have. While Kyle was being suspected of being homosexual, the conversation continued without pause.
"Arthur, do you have time after class today?"
"Yeah, I'm free. Why?"
"There's somewhere I want to go with you."
"Sure! Anywhere with you is fine!"
Arthur was now under suspicion as well.
* * *
After class, I took Arthur to the meeting place with Bellion. It was an expensive cafe in the academy district—one that only accepted reservations and catered exclusively to the highest-ranking VIPs. Upon entering, I glanced around to find Bellion. There was no need to search. A staff member approached us the moment we walked in.
"Welcome. Do you have a reservation?"
"Under the name Bellion."
"—He's waiting inside."
Following the staff member's guidance, Arthur and I entered a private room where we found Bellion sipping coffee. He set down his cup and greeted us warmly.
"Welcome."
"Hey."
"What would you like to drink? It's on me, so don't hold back."
"Then I'll have a vanilla latte, iced."
"I-I'll have the same."
"Got it. Did you hear that?"
The staff member nodded knowingly and left. Before they had even disappeared, Bellion turned to Arthur with a greeting.
"How have you been?"
"Y-yes! I've been well!"
"Why are you being so formal? We're friends, aren't we?"
"F-friends? How could I be friends with Your Highness the Prince...?"
"Hmm... Arthur, you're friends with Kyle, right?"
"Yes? Yes, that's right."
"And I'm friends with Kyle too. So if I'm friends with Kyle, and you're friends with Kyle, then you and I are friends too, right? That's how the logic works out."
Arthur began to stammer in confusion. Seeing her flustered, I sighed and stepped in to block Bellion.
"Stop teasing her. She's about to cry."
"Come on, why would a famous knight department student cry over something like this?"
"I said stop."
"...That was a bit much. Yeah, sorry, Arthur? But I meant it when I said I wanted to be friends."
As he offered a light apology, the staff member returned with the drinks at the perfect moment. Arthur and I took our iced lattes and sipped while watching Bellion. After pondering for a while, Arthur quietly nodded.
"...Then... shall we be friends?"
"Haha, what's with the 'shall we'?"
"W-will we?"
"You've been saying that since earlier."
Arthur slowly began to speak casually to Bellion. Dropping formal speech meant closing the psychological distance. Gradually, very gradually, her heart began to open up to him. As they talked casually, Bellion encouraged Arthur to speak more. He listened attentively, responded warmly, and made her feel comfortable sharing.
"Heh, I see."
"Y-yeah. That's right. Life in the countryside is so hard... I wish the nobles would understand that."
"Yeah. I'll make sure to pay attention to that."
"A-ah! I-I didn't mean you when I said that...!"
By the time she was even making jokes about the imperial family, Bellion suddenly asked a question.
"By the way, do you know someone named Merlin?"
"Merlin...? Merlin the old man?"
"He's the imperial court's mage. He mentioned you the other day."
"Really!? The old man talked about me?"
"Yeah. What was it again? Hmm... I can't quite remember."
"It was probably about my condition!"
"Condition?"
"Yeah! He put a Dragon's Heart in my chest..."
Arthur flinched as she belatedly realized this was supposed to be a secret. However, Bellion continued naturally as if he had already known.
"Ah, that? He told me other things too."
"H-huh? R-really? I guess being a prince means there are no secrets..."
"Yeah. What else is there?"
"W-well, that's... I—"
"That's enough, Bellion."
Having quietly listened to their conversation, I cut Arthur off and stared at Bellion. He smiled as if to ask what the problem was. I sighed while meeting his gaze, then turned to Arthur.
"Arthur, do you not understand the concept of secrets? What are you doing telling him everything?"
"H-huh? But Bellion already knew..."
"That's a lie. How would he know that?"
"What? R-really?"
"Yeah. So don't tell him anything else."
Bellion smiled in amusement, but I ignored him and focused on protecting Arthur's secret. I couldn't reveal that her classmate was actually a woman in disguise. It was for her honor—and for mine as well.