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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Mod7
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In Tesha’s room.
The academy had begun its summer break. Tesha lay on her bed, lost in thought.
‘Think about what you did wrong there.’
That low voice directed at Reus. She could still hear it clearly in her mind.
‘…Ethan. I understand your feelings now.’
Ethan had been hovering around her. He liked her. If she wasn’t a princess of the empire, she wouldn’t have ignored his feelings.
After all, it was rare for someone to dislike someone who liked them.
Tesha’s heart was wavering too.
‘If I become emperor, then maybe Ethan and I…’
She could accept his feelings. They could date slowly, getting to know each other’s hearts, and if they suited each other, they could even marry.
“…My heart is so confused.”
Still, she wanted to thank him. He had helped her not once or twice, but three times.
Tesha got up and stood in front of the mirror by the washbasin. Her hair had grown to cover her nape without her noticing.
It was long enough now to be called a bob cut.
‘My hair has grown quite a bit.’
She picked up scissors to cut it. Suddenly, she remembered that men liked long hair.
Tesha put the scissors down.
“I wonder if Ethan likes long hair too?”
It wasn’t something she could just ask directly. Tesha took out her communication crystal and texted Ethan.
―Ethan, thank you for saving me the other day! ٩(•̤̀ᵕ•̤́๑)૭✧
I’d like to treat you to a meal, are you free? ๑’ٮ’๑
If you’re busy then I guess it can’t be helped, but I feel indebted… (๑•͈ᴗ•͈)
This makes three times now that Ethan has…
·
·
.
He had roughly planned out what to do during summer break.
Train by sparring with Lien, the Chaos Knight.
And visit the Dragon’s Nest.
Those were his two goals for this break. It was time to gain new power.
Buzz.
Ethan turned to his communication crystal at the vibration.
There was a fifteen-line long message from Tesha.
“That’s really long.”
To summarize, she wanted to treat him to a meal.
Ethan sat up and looked around the room.
Arthur was sitting on his bed, staring at his status window.
―Sure! Tesha, I’m free. ˙ᵕ˙
Ethan sent the message. Not long after, another message came from Tesha. It was quite long again.
―Then shall we meet today? ٩(｡•ω•｡)
I’m planning to start training in earnest since it’s break!
I’ll be turning off my crystal completely when I start training.
If you’re busy we can find another day to meet!
Ethan chuckled at the message.
Summer break was when all the supporting characters in the novel would grow stronger.
‘If I remember correctly, Tia and Sepia will be getting tutored by high-level spirit users and mages respectively. Tesha and Anya will train alone.’
―Alright. Shall we meet for lunch?
He was feeling tired right now.
Ethan set the meeting time, set an alarm, and flopped down on his bed.
‘I’ll take a nap and then go get treated to a meal by Her Highness.’
He had an appointment with Sylvia in the evening, but having lunch together wouldn’t make him late for that.
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Buzz.
Tia’s crystal vibrated once.
It was probably a message about her father hiring a spirit user for the break.
“A message! A message!”
“I know, Crow.”
Tia checked the message with mixed feelings. As the only daughter of the Erze Trading Company, she received unlimited support from her father.
Spirit users were rarer than mages in the empire.
Getting tutored by a high-level spirit user was not an easy thing to arrange.
―I’ve arranged a 6-star spirit user for this break. Train under them to improve your skills as a spirit user.
Just as she expected.
Tia’s prediction was right once again.
―Yay! Daddy! Thank youuu~! I’ll repay you properly after I graduate!
As she typed the message, Tia felt a wave of cringe.
Even her writing style didn’t match her personality.
‘What if I suggested training together with Ethan during the break?’
She wanted to do that if Ethan wouldn’t refuse.
Tia admired Ethan.
She wanted to support him unreservedly, but she wasn’t sure how he would view such an offer from the company.
After being refused several times, even thinking about it made her energy drain away.
Eventually, with her unsettled feelings, Tia decided to go for a walk.
“Crow, I’m going for a walk.”
“Walk! Have a good walk!”
Outside, Tia wandered through Eastvan.
The influence of the Trading Company could be easily seen everywhere in Eastvan.
As the only daughter of a wealthy merchant, she had grown up wanting for nothing.
But the empty feeling wouldn’t go away.
Ah.
Walking along, Tia suddenly stopped.
Her eyes caught Ethan and Tesha walking side by side.
Tesha had grown out her hair and was wearing a dress she rarely wore.
One word popped into her mind. Date.
‘Are Tesha and Ethan on a date?’
Tia blinked stupidly for a moment. She wanted to follow them.
She wanted to know where they were going, what they were doing. But she remembered her promise to Ethan.
She had promised never to spy on him again.
But there was no need to follow them. They disappeared into a famous restaurant.
‘That place is famous for couples.’
Tia stared blankly at the restaurant entrance.
She knew it as a place where not just couples, but people who were interested in each other would go.
They had been marketing it that way recently.
If you share a meal here with someone you like, your love will blossom.
Of course, it was nonsense, but people with crushes would try to subtly express their feelings by having a meal together there.
‘Tesha is a princess. And Ethan is destined to become a noble hero.’
They matched perfectly.
Tesha was of noble birth and had grown up lacking nothing, far beyond what she, just a wealthy merchant’s daughter, could compete with.
‘Yes. Ethan and Tesha. I should just support them…’
That’s what someone who admires another person should do.
‘But why do I feel so strange…’
For some reason, Tia felt a bitterness in the corner of her heart.
Biting her lower lip hard once, Tia turned around.
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I was now at the restaurant with Tesha.
After we each chose our lunch menu, the waiter smiled at us before withdrawing. After the waiter left with our order, Tesha spoke.
“Ethan, this is the third time you’ve helped me.”
“Ah, is it?”
“Yes, yes. That’s why I wanted to treat you to a meal, like I mentioned.”
Tesha giggled, scratching her cheek somewhat shyly.
“How’s your body? Your arm was broken during the exam.”
“Thanks for worrying. But I’m actually quite sturdy. After all, I’m just a commoner from the countryside.”
Ah… Is that so.
How long is she going to keep up this commoner cosplay.
I felt like teasing her a bit to see her flustered.
“From the countryside? Where exactly?”
“Um…? Yes?”
“No, I’m just curious. Wondering which countryside, what kind of work…”
“Well, I’m… from Westros, about half a day’s horse ride southwest of Westvan. My father is a farmer and my mother runs a small watermill.”
But contrary to my expectations, Tesha recited her background fluently.
“Father is strict but caring, and mother is always overflowing with love…”
Wow. She’s really committed to this concept.
I was secretly impressed.
I had hoped to see the princess flustered, but…
“And just to add so you don’t think it’s strange, I learned swordsmanship and magic from a retired knight from Westros.”
“Oh…, right, I see.”
In the novel, they had glossed over Tesha’s background, so the settings for Tesha’s fictional persona were never properly revealed.
But it seems the princess had prepared more thoroughly than expected.
Well, she would have had to leave records of Tesha’s identity in the enrollment documents.
“What about you, Ethan? Are you from the Logness Territory?”
“Um…. Well, yes?”
“Have you always served the Logness family?”
That question left me blank for a moment.
I had looked into Ethan’s character out of curiosity too.
But I couldn’t properly know Ethan’s past.
If there had been a diary I could have read it, but there wasn’t one.
And it’s not like I could directly ask Vivian or Sepia.
“Your meal is served. Please enjoy.”
Just then, our food arrived. The conversation naturally ended, and I twirled some tomato sauce pasta onto my fork and put it in my mouth. It was warm and soft.
“By the way, Tesha.”
I called out to Tesha casually. Actually, this was what I wanted to talk about when meeting her.
“Yes? What is it?”
“There have been three demon attacks so far.”
“Yes, yes, that’s true.”
“I think you’re the common factor in all three attacks.”
Tesha’s golden eyes, reminiscent of the warm afternoon sun, wavered. I continued speaking slowly, holding my breath.
“I’m not sure exactly why the demons are targeting you. But it’s clear that you were at the center of all three attacks.”
Tesha had probably noticed this herself, but it wouldn’t hurt to warn her directly like this.
“Are you worried about me? I’m… curious why you worry about me.”
Well, because you’re the princess and the empire’s only hope.
But I couldn’t answer like that.
“Because we’re friends.”
That seemed like the most standard answer.
“Friends…. We’re friends. Ethan….”
For some reason, Tesha seemed quite moved. But her expression soon darkened.
She seemed to feel guilty about not being able to tell her secret to a friend.
But what could she do.
It’s not like she was hiding her identity because she wanted to.
“To such a friend, I…”
I pretended not to hear her quiet mumbling.
We finished our meal and left the restaurant. At the entrance, we ran into Sister Dania. Nia had been walking along humming when she spotted us.
“Ah! Ethan, long time no see! But who’s this with you?”
Nia looked back and forth between me and Tesha as she asked.
“Ah, hello. I’m Tesha.”
“Oh, Tesha. I see. But what’s your relationship?”
“What?”
“Huh? No? Well, don’t take this the wrong way, but this restaurant is quite famous as a place where couples…”
This was news to me. I glanced at Tesha. Her pupils were shaking like there was an earthquake.
Seems she didn’t know either.
Dania briefly explained about the restaurant. That it was a place where couples would come, or where people would bring someone they liked to subtly express their feelings.
Tesha was really flustered by this.
“I, I really didn’t know until now!”
Tesha’s cheeks turned bright red as she panicked. It was kind of cute.
“Ah, right. By the way, Ethan.”
Nia spoke up as if remembering something.
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Tesha is best girl.
Tesha is best girl? Seems Mod7 has a thing for M’s…
All the girls have flaws, but it probably is between Tesha and Sylvia. (Although one of them is an M, and one is an S. Hmm…)