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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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While Eldmia was still kicking Lagnis in the shins on his third day of academy life, Esmée was having a life-changing conversation with Esselua.
“Sister, we must absolutely stay together.”
“T-Together?!”
Esselua hadn’t thought much of it when she first heard that Esmée was visiting.
After all, it was Esselua who reported all incidents to Esmee.
She had been maintaining a strict distance, thinking it would be easier to appear as if all siblings were engaged in a battle of nerves before the coronation ceremony, as was usually the case.
She thought Esmée’s visit was just to see her face in person under the pretext of work.
That’s why she involuntarily stiffened at Esmée’s incredibly serious face, even before they exchanged welcoming hugs upon entering the room.
“Eselua.”
“Y-Yes, Sister Esmée.”
But when she blushed and threw out the topic with a serious face, it was Esselua, not Esmee, who became incredibly serious.
“…H-How do I make a good impression on a man?”
“SisterpleaseLetssitdownanddiscussthisindetail.”
[T/N: damn that’s a long ass word]
She wanted to have a lengthy discussion with her siblings about this historic event by any means necessary, but the person Esmée was talking about was none other than Eldmia Egga.
It was truly a race against time.
Esselua was certain that given Esmée’s position, if they missed this opportunity, it would be extremely difficult to create another connection.
That’s why she had brought up the topic, but just hearing about it made Esmée blush, which made Esselua feel like everything was going dark.
“Well, sister, what do you absolutely lack?”
“Time… right?”
She was still sharp even in this situation.
“That’s right. Time. You’ll have to deal with the aftermath today, so even if we start from tomorrow, you only have four days. Until now, Lord Eldmia hasn’t left the mansion provided by Marquis Vender after the academy ends, but that’s probably because he’s tired from being involved in incidents almost every day. Sister, you need to get as close to him as possible, not just within the academy but also during his remaining leisure time.”
A commoner without roots?
A foreigner?
What did any of that matter?
The man in question had defeated even Sieg, the hero, in a duel, and Esmée was a genius comparable only to historical figures.
There was no one in the empire who could judge the partner she had chosen for herself.
“B-But if I push too suddenly, won’t he think I’m an easy woman…?”
Although it seemed like romance wasn’t included along with swordsmanship…
Esselua was sure that if they just got the beginning right, her genius sister would figure everything else out on her own.
Esselua barely suppressed the urge to slap her forehead and quietly shook her head.
“This is not the time to worry about such things. Even the Margrave of Levien is looking at him with unusual interest. His earring, I heard it’s a guardian charm from the High Elves?”
“Y-Yes, that’s right.”
“I heard a bit from the Margrave of Levien that Lord Eldmia was the only survivor of a village that disappeared due to a demon invasion when he was young. Apparently, it was an elf who has been supporting him all that time.”
Long-lived races were never to be underestimated.
Whatever the reason for maintaining such a relationship, they were not a race that continued to see someone they raised as a child even after they had grown into an adult.
“Entiere was shocked when she saw it, and I found out after asking her various things. Apparently, it’s usually given only to lovers. He seems completely unaware, but the reason why the elves at the academy don’t even approach him and rather avoid him is entirely because of that.”
Entiere had explained that the Blue Vine clan was particularly aggressive among elves, and if one wasn’t careful, they might lose their head in a love quarrel.
Of course, that would only apply among elves themselves.
“In other words, sister already has two potential competitors, and they’ve been with him for much longer.”
“…I see. So there’s no time to be picky about hot or cold water.”
“Yes. The war has already begun, sister.”
The fighting spirit that had flared up in Esmée’s eyes, which had been unusually hesitant, dimmed again.
“B-But wouldn’t it seem a bit off-putting to cling to him like this in just one day…?”
“Sister. Among the stories Sieg told us, there’s one called Romeo and Juliet.”
Esselua gripped Esmée’s shoulders firmly and looked her straight in the eyes as she spoke.
“The protagonists of that story fell in love at first sight, experienced major events over five days, and ended up committing suicide together due to the differences between their families.”
“Th-That’s quite a terrible story.”
“The point of the story is! Isn’t it that falling in love in just one day is not strange at all?”
Esselua was greatly satisfied to see Esmée’s fire rekindled.
“I shall start with Rudra first.”
“I’ll help you as much as I can!”
And so, as Eldmia’s third day at the academy ended, the fourth day began.
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Esselua sincerely loved Siegfried, but sharing her family’s love life was a separate matter.
That’s why Siegfried had to face the situation unfolding before his eyes without any warning, and as a result, the world seemed very unreasonable to him.
Of course… whether he had the right to feel that way was another question.
“Hey, baldy. Are you kidding me? You act like a jerk to me but then…”
“I have never acted like a jerk towards you.”
“Baldy, do you really want to get scolded?”
“Please stop acting so cheap and show some manners, Hero. Even friends have lines they shouldn’t cross. How can someone who isn’t even a friend be so disrespectful?”
“Th-That’s right! Indeed, Eldmia, you always say the right things!”
Siegfried could only grab the back of his neck as he watched Esmée, who was nearly 40cm shorter than Eldmia, happily linking arms with him as if he was to be escorted, while trying to suppress the corners of her mouth that were trying to curl up.
Aish, that damn baldy is so annoying.
It was the least he could do with what little conscience he had left to not say that he had acted like a jerk to everyone around him.
There was a reason why her nickname was the Iron-Blooded Princess, wasn’t there?
In the nearly four years he had spent at the academy after his reincarnation, frequently visiting the imperial palace and meeting with Esmée, he had never seen that little one act so much like a real child, dying of happiness.
Every time he saw her, she seemed like nothing but a born tyrant, so savage that he wondered if she might be a polymorphed dragon cub.
Of course, since she was incredibly good at politics, it was unfair to call her just a tyrant.
While it was pitiful to see such a small person already becoming hysterical, working day and night to stabilize the empire, seeing her go crazy in all areas, being a genius despite not even being a hero, made him want to tease her.
After all, it was the empire as a nation that he had issues with, not Esmée as a person.
In fact, every time he went on various dispatches, he checked if Esmée was involved and played a prank on her once.
Given how much bad karma had accumulated, wasn’t it too much that the temperature difference between Eldmia, whom he had met just a day ago, and himself was beyond imagination?
If Eldmia was the type to give one more rice cake to his cute little sister, Siegfried was the type to steal even the existing rice cakes.
Although he had treated her like he was teasing an irritable little sister.
To feel such a stark difference in treatment now…
Somehow, somehow it felt unfair.
Siegfried was defeated even by the spirit’s common sense.
“Did you have another conversation with the spirit and get scolded, which is why your expression has soured?”
“How does our little sister know me so well when it hasn’t even been a few days?”
“Please stop being so disgusting.”
“What? Disgusting? Hey baldy, did you hear that? Your prince just cursed.”
“You deserve to be cursed at. Even I often swear when dealing with work, so what’s the big deal?”
Although he tried to answer nonchalantly, the fact that he didn’t even refute being called a prince and just blushed made Siegfried feel like his internal organs were twisting to death.
In the midst of such agony, Siegfried had a belated realization.
Ah! I’m becoming the common target for these two, serving as a medium to strengthen their relationship!
“In that case, it’s time to escape, damn it. Adios, you two!”
“What nonsense are you spouting again on the way to the same class? What’s ‘adios’ supposed to mean?”
“It’s an unidentified farewell greeting that the hero occasionally throws out.”
In the end, from the very first class, Siegfried had to endure being cursed at by both Eldmia and Esmée, on top of the disappointment of not being able to attend classes with his own women.
“I’m the hero! The hero! Show some love!”
“You seem to have become a complete child in the time we haven’t seen each other. I’m deeply concerned that Esselua’s indulgence might have ruined your character.”
“From the feeling, it seems to be just nonsense. It doesn’t seem like he really wants us to like him.”
“Oh? How do you know?”
“It’s less creepy.”
Siegfried thought that perhaps only the Margrave of Levien could put an end to this situation.
It was a day when the first period felt excruciatingly long.
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[LOVE WAR LOVE WAR LOVE WAR LOVE WAR LOVE WAR LOVE WAR]
I think that Eldmia’s perspective is GREATLY needed to interpret the event of Esmee personally coming to escort him 😂
I hope the age for marriage is 15, because we can’t forget that there’s a 3 year age gap here, but fantasy worlds tend not to care about the little things
Thank you for the chapter!
This chapter is a little confusing because referring to the princess as baldy seems to have resulted in some confusion about the pronouns used to refer to her. Specifically, “if his dating can reduce how much he nags me,” should be “if her dating can reduce how much she nags me,” I think the next paragraph should be “she had acted like a jerk to everyone around her” (not as sure about this one, that sentence is a little confusing), “whom he had met just a day ago,” should be “whom she had met just a day ago.” There’s a few other places where it’s a bit confusing but I can’t objectively say if it’s mixed up, too.