Volume 2 - Chapter 20 - Yumina's Doubts (Part l)

(Yumina's Perspective)

"Do you have something on your mind, your highness?"

A familiar voice interrupted my thoughts. Turning my head, I saw Shinika, who shared my room, had returned from outside.

Her neck was draped with a towel, her hair was a bit damp, and her breathing was slightly unsteady, clearly indicating she had just showered after a sweaty workout.

School dismissed quite early, and Shinika always used this free time to practice until evening. Due to her family's upbringing, she had become a true "Sword Fanatic."

Personally, I wished she would rein it in a bit and do things normal students do, like making friends, going shopping, or even dating. Swordsmanship could easily be put aside for a day or two.

In fact, Shinika and I have known each other since childhood.

Because Shinika's father, Marquis Arnold, was highly esteemed by the Royal Family and frequently invited to the palace, it was natural for us, being of similar age, to become close.

Compared to other great nobles, the Arnold family had no irritating qualities, and interacting with them was very comfortable.

The only minor flaw was that Marquis Arnold, as a martial artist, was a bit stubborn, and this trait had unfortunately rubbed off on his daughter, Shinika.

"I've told you many times not to call me 'Your Highness.' At school, we are simply classmates."

"I can't do that. Father would scold me if he found out."

"...Forget it."

I sighed in resignation.

Originally, as a member of the royal family, the school intended to arrange a luxurious private room for me, but at my request, Shinika became my roommate. I thought that living together would take our friendship further.

However, Shinika instead felt she had been entrusted with the sacred mission of protecting the royal family, leading her to practice even more fanatically than before, making me feel as if I had done something wrong to her.

Even on the day the class assignments were announced, Shinika directly knelt before me in the dormitory...

"I am deeply sorry! Princess Yumina! Because of my incompetence, I was not assigned to the same Class A. As your guard, this is a dereliction to my duty as a guard! At this point, I can only atone with death!"

"Huh?! I say, you! Put that weapon down!"

If I hadn't desperately stopped her, she would have truly bled on the spot that day.

I initially thought Shinika, like me, would enter Class A with excellent grades.

But I forgot she was a swordsmanship idiot. Even if she crammed a lot of academic knowledge the day before the exam, she couldn't achieve outstanding results in the academic test.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Although regrettable, I didn't actually need a guard. School wasn't a dangerous place.

As long as we could live in the same dormitory, not being in the same class wasn't a big problem. There would be plenty of opportunities to spend time together outside of class.

Of course, being in the same class would have been the best outcome, but neither Shinika nor I ever considered pressuring the school to achieve this goal. We weren't those kinds of people, and we disliked such behavior.

However... that Marquis's son named Robert dared to play such petty tricks right under my nose. Seeing him, I couldn't help but cast a cold glance his way.

And this was what I was currently bothered about.

"Today, I asked Teacher Klaus about the entrance exam, asking why he gave Robert Von Anglus a perfect score on the practical test. He just replied that he couldn't explain it to me now, but I would know sooner or later. It's truly baffling."

"Ah, that matter."

Unlike my expected reaction, Shinika seemed indifferent to the matter.

"Don't you care? He's also from a Marquis Family, just like you, yet he performed like that and still got into Class A while you went to Class B."

"The Shinika I know isn't someone who would ignore something like this. In terms of noble prestige, your Arnold family is far superior to the Anglus family. You're not afraid of offending the Anglus family, are you?"

"Of course not. Didn't the teachers say their grading wasn't influenced by external factors? So, Teacher Klaus must have his reasons for giving him a perfect score; it's just inconvenient to say. I've known Teacher Klaus since I was little; I know what kind of person he is."

"Isn't being inconvenient to say proof of a guilty conscience?"

"Not necessarily. It could also be that he thinks no one would believe it if he said it."

"Then what could it be...? Shinika, do you know the real reason?"

Shinika wiped her damp hair with a towel, then sat on the bed facing me.

"This is just my guess: Robert is a dual practitioner of Magic and Martial Arts. He didn't use Magic like the rumours say, instead he relied on Physical Strength and Swordsmanship to beat Teacher Klaus."

"That was... Pure Physical? How could that be, even the Second Order Martial Artists don't have that kind of exaggerated Physical prowess. And does he really know Swordsmanship?"

"It's probably true because of his physique is special. Even my eyes couldn't keep up with his movement and I only saw some vague shadows. I guess Teacher Klaus also saw through it, but it's understandable that others didn't."

Teacher Klaus said he couldn't explain because students wouldn't understand. So that was it. I don't know much about Martial Arts and Swordsmanship, so I couldn't tell he had genuine skills.

"Assuming he relied on his own strength, then why didn't he deny the rumours afterwards."

"Didn't that student named Toke get ridiculed by everyone for not knowing anything? I saw him with Robert before. It's possible he was trying to cover up for his friends."

"No, no, no, that's too absurd. How could such a fool exist in this world?"

"Especially the young master of the Anglus. I've met Marquis Bahod, and I've heard about the school reputation of his eldest son, Lucius Von Anglus."

"Such a family environment couldn't produce such an overly kind person."

I shook my head repeatedly, finding Shinika's imagination overly rich.

"I'm not entirely sure either. He could have other reasons too."

"Yes, yes, yes, he must have his own agenda. As the second son of the Anglus family, he couldn't possibly be that kind."

I believe in Shinika. So what she said must be true. Robert must have some real strength. Now it seems Robert simply performed too well and teacher Klaus recognized this. So he gave him a perfect score.

In the end, it seems I misjudged him. He himself didn't intend to use the back door, did he?

Seeing that I seemed to have reached a conclusion, Shinika pulled back the covers and lay down on the bed, preparing to sleep.

"Your highness can think whatever she wants. The only thing I can say is that Teacher Klaus's phrase 'you'll know sooner or later' probably means he wants us to interact with him for a while. Once we understand his character, we'll know the true answer."

That's true. I was only judging Robert based on my impression of the Anglus family, and I hadn't even spoken to him in person yet.

Although I still didn't believe Robert would be such a rare, self-sacrificing noble, it was necessary to verify whether my thoughts were right or wrong.

This opportunity came quickly.

...