Interlude

"Hoo......"

Only after parting with the two imperial princesses did Claire let out a deep breath, as if a weight had been lifted.

The students who had been gathered around watched Claire and Leo for a moment after the princesses left, then went on their way. They all wore expressions that said they'd just seen something interesting, but Claire paid them no mind.

"Thank goodness......"

"What's thank goodness!?"

Claire placed a hand over her chest and murmured, and Leo, having heard that murmur, nearly shrieked.

Students passing beside them glanced over at Leo's outburst, but he had no attention to spare for their stares.

"They're imperial princesses! And one of them's the real imperial princess! How can you just walk up and talk to them like that!? What if we get on their bad side!?"

Claire's expression remained utterly unchanged despite Leo's rapid-fire wailing.

"It's fine. The imperial princess...... no, Alice said it herself. Here, everyone is a student. So we can treat them the same as anyone else."

Claire started walking toward the classroom, and Leo, following behind her, clutched at his head.

"No, that's obviously just a polite front, isn't it? We've been to banquets too. What do you think would have happened if we'd actually spoken casually just because some duke or count told us to speak comfortably?"

"A ball and a school are different. A ball only lasts one evening."

"Which is exactly why we have to be more careful! The academy lasts four years!"

Yet even after hearing all of Leo's cries, Claire merely said,

"...... Did she cut her hair? Or is short hair just more comfortable for her? Back then, was it not that she didn't cut it, but that she couldn't?"

"...... Hey, are you listening to me?"

Leo waved a hand in front of Claire's face as she began muttering to herself and asked.

"Listen here, little sister."

At those words, a deep crease immediately formed between Claire's elegant brows. Of course, it wasn't the sort of deep-set wrinkle an adult would get, but it was unmistakably clear that her mood had just soured considerably.

"You, whose birthday hasn't even passed yet, calling yourself my older brother? I was born first, so I'm the older sister."

The two had bickered over that fact ever since they were children.

Strictly by birthday, Leo was born a few months later than Claire. But from Leo's point of view, Claire was someone who had "joined the family later." In their childhood, Leo had indeed looked after Claire in all sorts of ways. Claire, new to life in a noble household, had truly known nothing at all back then.

So from that caretaking position, Leo considered himself Claire's older brother, while Claire, relying on the birthday she remembered, insisted that she was the older sister.

The result of their many duels over the subject currently stood at three wins, three losses, two draws. Since both had identical records, there was no point in bickering over who was older.

In truth, Claire's birthday was only the date she remembered, so it wasn't accurate. Why Claire considered that day her birthday, and from what point she'd thought so, even Claire herself didn't know. The one certainty was that she'd already remembered that date as her birthday before entering the orphanage on the Grace family estate.

"Looks like your head's finally back on straight."

"My head is always clear and lucid."

"A clear and lucid head just charges at two imperial princesses?"

"Who charged at anyone?"

"Obviously you, Claire Grace! The baron's daughter!"

Leo raised a hand and pressed hard against the bridge of his nose.

"...... Fine. The imperial princess said—"

"Alice."

"What?"

"She told us to call her Alice. That 'imperial princess' you mentioned."

"......."

Leo squeezed his eyes shut and pressed the innocent bridge of his nose even harder, as though a headache were pounding there.

That's definitely going to leave a mark.

Claire thought as she watched Leo.

"Fine, that imperial princess Alice, no matter how much she said 'the people of this school are equals.' You saw it too. No, you, of all people, must have seen it more clearly. The imperial princess didn't bow her head to the headmaster."

"......."

When ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Leo put it that way, she really had no counterargument.

"Once a soldier, a soldier even in death." It was a famous saying, said to embody the military spirit of the Empire...... though no one knew who first said it, or when and where.

Even if it couldn't quite be called a maxim, it was a phrase commonly understood among imperial soldiers. It meant that once a person became a soldier and began to offer loyalty to someone or to some organization, even if they later left the profession, they should still uphold the dignity of a soldier so as not to bring shame upon the one they had sworn loyalty to.

And naturally, conducting oneself with absolute courtesy when meeting the object of that loyalty was part of that same soldier's spirit.

And this school's headmaster, Abraham Fitzgerald Winterfield, had once been a soldier. A living legend whose name anyone who'd studied even a little about the Empire's wars—in other words, anyone with the education to attend this academy—was certain to have heard.

Machine-gun emplacements, trenches, the modernization of the old bolt-retaining plates once used on machine guns into the modern ammunition belt, turreted tank design, and the pioneer of modern infantry and armored tactics.

He was, in the most literal sense, a living legend and a hero. So much so that the main battle tank currently in imperial production even bore his name: the Abraham.

So the honor his presence commanded went beyond simply being an academy headmaster; it wouldn't be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠an exaggeration to call him a "walking history of modern warfare."

Yet Alice Fangriffon had not bowed her head before him.

Because even though he was retired, he was still, in the end, a soldier who had sworn loyalty to the Empire. Should any threat to the Empire ever arise, he would charge forth and stand proudly on the front lines without a second thought. In that sense, he remained a soldier loyal to the imperial house.

"......."

"See, nothing to say, right?"

Leo heaved a deep sigh and spoke.

"Think about it. You spoke casually, but if the other noble kids use the most extreme formal address...... no matter what the imperial princess herself said, won't it make the contrast look terrible?"

"...... Hmm."

For a very brief moment, Claire wore a slightly troubled expression. But then,

"Alice did not seem like that kind of person to me. This is only a guess, but she will probably be colder toward the children who use Polite Speech with her."

"......."

Leo dragged a hand down his face with an expression that said, 'I'm talking to a brick wall.'

"...... Anyway."

Leo, who had been walking silently beside Claire in the corridor, finally spoke up.

"What did you mean earlier when you said 'thank goodness'? Don't tell me......"

"That's right."

Claire beamed brightly at Leo and said,

"She said her name was Sylvia. My big sister's name."

"...... She said Sylvia 'Black,' didn't she."

Leo corrected her. His eyes darted about as though an earthquake were going on inside them, scanning the corridor intently. A few stares were directed their way, but none of them appeared to be seriously eavesdropping. More likely, it was simply the sight of a boy and girl walking together in the corridor that had caught their attention.

"But I'm Claire 'Grace' too, aren't I? No one complains when I introduce myself that way."

Of course, the title and house would pass to Leo. That was something Claire had never been concerned about in the slightest.

"That's exactly the problem."

Leo scratched the back of his head roughly and went on.

"Even if she is...... this 'Sylvia' you talk about."

"No, she is."

"......."

Leo shut his mouth and gathered his breath for a moment. In truth, Leo believed that the overlap in their names was purely a coincidence.

Living in House Grace, one occasionally heard tales of the imperial family. After all, the Grace barony held a title directly bestowed by the imperial house itself.

As such, fairly specific rumors about "the emperor's children" also reached their ears. The baron and baroness shared those rumors with Leo, in particular, as the future heir of House Grace.

And Leo knew very well that carelessly blabbing such rumors could quite literally ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cost him his head. He didn't look it, but he'd been nobility from birth.

The fact that "the emperor's children" did not carry the emperor's blood was famous enough that no one needed to dig for rumors, but their unclear origins were, admittedly, somewhat unsettling. The imperial house's official position was that they were "descendants of a lesser noble house whose family perished" or "children of a military couple who died honorably in battle," yet honestly, the only people who would swallow that story at face value were provincial barons in some remote corner of the country too rustic to tell a commoner from a noble.

Or perhaps commoners. And only those with no proper education at that.

According to the whispers that circulated discreetly among the nobility, the emperor was secretly raising a corps of assassins, and the current "emperor's children" were the ones who had survived that assassin training...... and so on.

Whether there was any truth to it or not, such superhuman existences were certainly not simply children who'd gotten lost on a street corner.

From Claire's memories, this "Sylvia" child was something almost superhuman herself, but honestly, how much trust could anyone place in the memory of a young child?

The simplest and most realistic explanation was that the Sylvia Claire remembered had simply gotten lost or been left behind during Claire's own journey to the barony and had vanished forever.

Besides, it wasn't as if Claire had never met another person named "Sylvia." She'd even met some with the same black eyes and black hair, and one who was genuinely named "Sylvia Black." At first, Claire had been full of hope, approached them, tried to talk, tried to draw out her memories, and had always, inevitably, been disappointed.

The more times that cycle repeated, the more the anticipation and excitement faded from her face each time she encountered a new "Sylvia." In the last two years or so, she hadn't even brought the name up at all.

Leo had witnessed all of that from right beside her.

And that was precisely why he found her present absolute certainty so strange. For what possible reason?

...... He'd look into that a little later.

For now, Leo decided to deliver the words he absolutely had to say to Claire first.

"Fine, let's say you're right for the sake of argument."

Claire's cheeks puffed out slightly at the words "for the sake of argument," but Leo ignored it and pressed on.

"Is it really the right thing to do, to openly expose that kind of past belonging to someone in the position of an imperial princess? Would she even like that? You need to think about that first."

"Ah......."

She'd been so caught up in the thought that she'd finally found her long-lost older sister that her mind apparently hadn't reached that far.

Leo let out another pointed sigh and continued.

"And even if you remember, there's a chance she might not. If you just barge up and start talking to her out of nowhere, you might end up branding yourself with some kind of weird image."

"...... That's true."

Claire, who had looked subdued for a moment, nodded seriously.

Then a bittersweet expression quickly spread across her face.

"...... Well, don't worry too much."

Leo, unable to simply leave her looking like that, offered a word of comfort.

"If she really is the person you say, she'll remember you. Even if she doesn't recall right away, she'll be able to remember clearly eventually. Someone with her level of ability should still hold onto childhood memories."

"Okay."

Leo shrugged as he watched Claire clench a determined fist as if to say she'd do her best.

He himself never imagined that that Sylvia might reappear as an imperial princess. In truth, Claire had even spotted her once already on the way back from the exam. Had she simply passed by without much reaction then because she'd only caught a brief glimpse?

Besides, the Sylvia that Claire had always spoken of from childhood seemed to be a far more warmhearted person than this Princess Sylvia. Though they'd only just met for the first time, Leo simply could not picture someone called "Sylvia Fangriffon" sitting a small child in front of her and telling stories of a distant past.

"Ah, anyway, we didn't end up in the same class as those two, did—"

"Oh, you didn't know?"

At Leo's words, Claire's eyes went round.

"The class ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and seat assignments are already done. Both of us are in the same class as Alice and Big Sis Sylvia."

"Ack."

The color drained from Leo's face, which had only just returned to normal, all over again.