A Change of Heart
Two-thirty.
The time glowed clearly on the Watch strapped to my wrist.
Thanks to catching a ride in Elice's car — something that hadn't been part of the plan — I'd made it back to the academy far earlier than expected.
I've got somewhere to be. See you later.
Elice, who'd been with me until moments ago, had already vanished, claiming she had another appointment.
"…Do I really have to go in?"
The only option left to me seemed to be heading back to a lecture hall where class was already in full swing.
If I'd known it would turn out like this, I should have just walked from the start.
The thought of dragging myself back into that classroom now made my chest ache.
Someone might say that walking into class and sitting through the lecture, even this late, was simply a student's duty.
Well.
Was it, really?
Could anyone still say that after understanding exactly how the academy treated a person named Rian Tryce?
I could already picture the future unfolding in my head.
The future that waited if I walked into that classroom right now and tried to sit through the rest of the lesson.
…You're late, Rian Tryce. You've been keeping a low profile for a while — starting up again, are we?
That would be the beginning: the professor's icy voice the moment I opened my mouth to apologize.
It's him again?
Just like the professor said — things were quiet for a bit, but… a scoundrel's a scoundrel.
That would be the second act: other students murmuring loud enough for me to hear, especially in a quiet lecture hall.
And then, the finale.
…
The contemptuous, fierce glare of the one person I least wanted to face right now.
Yeah.
Just imagining it was enough to make my skin crawl.
Honestly, the first two I could probably handle. A year of living in this body had dulled me to that sort of thing, and I'd heard it all so many times that the words barely left a mark anymore.
…But that last one, though.
The third never got easier, no matter how many times I endured it.
There was something in those eyes that defied description. Something that made whoever stood before them feel infinitely small — that could make you feel guilty even when you'd done nothing wrong.
I didn't know why.
Why a gaze belonging to someone so beautiful could make me feel that way every single time was a mystery I couldn't solve.
Maybe some fragment of the original Rian's feelings still lingered inside me.
Or maybe it was because she had been my favorite character in the novel Academy's Sword.
I'd turned the question over in my mind countless times and still hadn't found an answer.
"…Guess I'll just go to the library."
And so I turned my feet away from the lecture hall and, like a coward, headed for the library instead.
"Hello."
"Welco—…me."
The moment I stepped inside, I was greeted by the librarian's voice — a voice that faltered the instant she realized who I was.
She'd started to offer the usual warm welcome she gave every student who walked through the doors, then caught herself mid-word once she recognized me.
I was used to this, too.
You had to go through it more than once or twice before it stopped stinging. Honestly, this barely even registered. It wasn't outright contempt. It wasn't someone telling me to my face to get out.
If they'd ordered me to leave the library on the spot, that might have actually hurt.
But I was still an academy student.
No matter how thoroughly the scoundrel image had been stamped onto me, a student was allowed to use the library.
Yeah. Exactly.
After that little round of mental gymnastics, I let my feet carry me toward the section I always visited.
"…History of the Empire. Economy of the Empire."
Whenever I came to the library, the books I usually read or borrowed were the kind that built useful knowledge for surviving in this world.
Once I'd accepted that I'd been transmigrated into a web novel, I'd decided to treat this life as a second chance. I'd tried to think about both the present and the future, and put in the work accordingly.
Effort to shed the image the original Rian had built.
Effort to prepare for whatever came after completely escaping the scoundrel label.
The reason I'd started studying the novel's setting more carefully in the library was the latter. Just because I'd read the original and woken up inside it didn't mean I knew every piece of lore and background the author had constructed.
What I already knew wasn't enough to live on here.
Once I'd faced that reality head-on, I'd worked toward a life beyond the scoundrel's reputation.
"…Maybe I'll try something different today."
Of course, looking back on it now, none of it had meant a thing.
What good was studying harder?
What good was putting in more effort to change how people saw me?
People's perceptions were harder to shift than mountains, and even if they did change, I wouldn't be in this world by then anyway.
Wouldn't it be better to read one more book I actually enjoyed?
Wouldn't it be better, even now, to read one more of the books I'd always loved?
The thought struck me out of nowhere — and just as it began to pull me toward a different shelf—
"Planning to look for books somewhere else today?"
"…"
"You, who always read nothing but volumes on the Empire, turning away from that shelf. How curious."
"…I greet Her Highness, Princess Laila."
Laila von Felias.
One of the heroines of this novel, and the Crown Princess of the Empire, was looking at me with those sapphire-gem eyes of hers gleaming.
Truth be told, I was a little startled.
I'd run into Crown Princess Laila in the library often enough, but I'd never considered us close enough to actually hold a conversation.
Hearing my formal greeting, Laila gave a slight shake of her head.
"There is no need for such formality. Only you and I are here."
"How could I possibly fail to observe proper courtesy before Your Highness?"
"Is that so? I seem to recall that when I first laid eyes on you, you spoke to me in the most casual of tones without a second thought."
…Rian Tryce, you absolute lunatic.
Of all people — he'd pulled his scoundrel act on Laila too?
I wanted to tip my hat to the sheer magnitude of original Rian's degeneracy, but this was hardly the time.
"I was a fool back then."
"Nay, there is no need to apologize. It was the first time anyone had ever done such a thing to me. I found it rather fascinating."
"…Allow me to offer my apologies once more."
I bowed my head to Laila again and, inwardly, cursed the original Rian one more time.
This crazy bastard. Seriously.
Just how much of a scoundrel did you have to be for the Crown Princess herself to find your behavior interesting?
Whether my sincere apology had gotten through or not, Laila at least laughed — bright-eyed and open-hearted.
"Very well. If that is how you feel about it now, I suppose that is enough."
"I am grateful for Your Highness's generosity."
"Then, returning to the matter at hand — may I ask why you did not choose a book from this section today?"
"…You're curious about which books I pick?"
"Every time I encountered you in the library, the volumes in your hands always came from this very shelf. And from the look of things, you have not attended class today either. I simply wondered what change of heart might have brought this about."
So she already knew I'd skipped class.
Why did so many people at this academy seem to know everything about me?
Elice was one thing — she was always plugged into every scrap of information. But how did she know?
I briefly considered brushing it off with some vague excuse, but she'd already caught me ditching class. There didn't seem much point in lying.
"…I've lost the will to study."
"Lost the will to study, you say. Whatever else one might claim, those are not words that ought to leave the mouth of an academy student."
"I won't deny it."
"Saying you will not deny it — that means you understand I may yet put further questions to you, does it not?"
"How could I dare to bar Your Highness from asking whatever she wishes?"
It wasn't empty flattery.
The person standing across from me was the Crown Princess who would one day become Emperor. I was nothing more than the son of a mere count.
Even within the academy's internal hierarchy, the gap was just as hopeless. She was the first imperial princess ever to enroll. I was the academy scoundrel that underclassmen, classmates, upperclassmen — even the professors — all treated as a problem child.
That was an undeniable fact, and the princess still watching me with those bright eyes knew it just as well as I did.
"I find you truly fascinating."
"…"
"The Rian Tryce of rumor was a scoundrel beyond all hope of reform. And when I first laid eyes on you, I thought you the living proof of every word."
"…Is that so."
"Why you suddenly abandoned those scoundrel ways — and why, today of all days, you have lost the will to study — I am exceedingly curious. But I have no hobby of tormenting those whose hearts are already in turmoil."
"…"
"I shall leave you be for today. A person needs time to settle their own heart. I will speak to the professor and see that your attendance is arranged."
"…I am grateful for Your Highness's kindness."
"Then we shall meet again. Club activities are about to begin — I must make my way to the student council office."
"Until next time, Your Highness."
With that, Laila turned without a shred of lingering attachment, her gleaming golden hair streaming behind her as she walked away.
"…"
I stood there staring at the spot where she had vanished, unmoving, until the broadcast announcing the end of regular classes and the start of club activities finally echoed through the halls.