Chapter 70

Chapter : 70

The day after the festival. Since it was a weekend with no classes at the Academy, Navier came to find me early in the morning.

She seemed to think I would be dying of curiosity over how things had turned out between the two of them. Since I had watched them from the rooftop of the Magic Tower, I was inwardly calm, but I reacted enthusiastically and listened to Navier’s story.

“His Highness the Crown Prince said I had caught his eye from the first time he saw me at the ball. That move you made, Lord Raphael, worked perfectly.”

“I see!”

“And then he said he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me....”

“Yes. I see.”

For about an hour, I listened to the events I had watched yesterday, edited from Navier’s point of view, and then heard several more boasts on top of that.

Navier seemed satisfied by my abundant reactions and smiled even more broadly. She seemed extremely pleased with yesterday’s result. From morning onward, the corners of her mouth were practically hooked over her ears.

“Thank you so much for helping me. I was able to come this far thanks to your help, Lord Raphael. I do not know how I should repay you....”

“Please put in a good word for me with His Highness. About me.”

“Yes. I will certainly do that.”

Navier returned with a happy expression, and a few days later, I heard an amusing piece of news.

It seemed Navier had put in a very good word for me with Kartea. What exactly had she done? It was not as though she could confess everything we had done all this time.

The information she could tell Kartea was limited, so how had she explained my innocence within that and made him understand how hard I had worked to bring the two of them together?

I did not know the details, but Navier had done something.

Kartea said he would give me the Medal of Amikanbo.

Amikanbo.

It was a medal granted to those who had personally aided a member of the Imperial Family.

I did not know much about it, but Katarina said Amikanbo was an extremely great honor to the people of this place.

“What meaning does this have? It is only a name. It is not as though he is giving me land.”

“Are you serious? Hey. Are you really a noble?”

“I am serious, and I am really a noble. If this is converted into money, roughly how much value does it have?”

“It would depend on the person. If it were someone like me, who has already made a name for herself, then perhaps not, but otherwise, it is something to boast about for a long, long time. Why are you calculating even this in money?”

I had received something greater than I expected.

I would have been satisfied if Kartea had merely let go of his anger and shown me a slightly friendly attitude, but he publicly announced his friendship with me.

Outwardly, giving me the medal was because I had followed him on the previous Path of the Emperor, but it was obvious that it was thanks to Navier. I went to find her and asked.

“What did you say to His Highness?”

“Just... something like you listened well when I asked for romantic advice. I think he wanted to show quickly that he could do something for me. And he seemed to feel sorry about something.”

“Ahh....”

The medal also carried the meaning of compensation for the way he had picked fights with me and taken out his anger on me before.

“You did well. Thank you.”

“Not at all. In truth, I felt uncomfortable too. You were only helping me, yet you suffered for it.... I finally feel a little relieved now.”

“When are you getting married?”

“Hahaha.”

At my question, Navier swayed back and forth as she laughed. It was as though the weight of her head had suddenly increased, and she could not steady herself. Even so, she kept laughing, which showed just how happy she was.

“Probably around the time we graduate from the Academy?”

“That is still far away.”

“Yes, so please set one day aside around then.”

“Why?”

“You have to act as the host.”

“Me? I have never done anything like that.”

“What is so difficult about it that you are trying to back out?”

“I will think about it.”

“You must. Absolutely.”

---

Ian walked over with a frown on his face. Why was he sulking? I had a guess. He had whined so much about staying away from Navier, and yet I had been acting friendly with her since morning, had I not?

Look at this.

“You are still meeting that girl, I see.”

“What about it?”

“Do it properly if you are going to do it. Either tell her you like her even now, or give up cleanly. Do not act so timidly.”

“How many times do I have to say it? I told you, it is not like that.”

“As if....”

How was I supposed to clear up this misunderstanding?

I did not lose anything from him arbitrarily guessing and pitying me, but I felt wronged. I was telling him it was not true because it was not true.

Ian snorted and said,

“Then why are you still hovering around her?”

“She is just a friend.”

“All right. Let us say that is how it is. I will not concern myself with it anymore.”

The kid was sulking.

I thought I knew the reason. He did not believe me. From his point of view, it could look as though I was only telling lies. Certainly, I had met Navier so often and stayed so close to her that Kartea had become jealous.

To make it clear, I spread both arms and appealed to him.

“No, look at my current state. Hey. Does this look like heartbreak to you? I am perfectly fine. Does this look like acting?”

“That... no.”

“See? Let us stop with this.”

Ian reluctantly accepted it.

After that, I received an apology from Kartea. Rather than summoning me, he came to see me personally and spoke. My eyes opened wide. He was the heaviest-footed person of them all, so I was surprised that he had come all this way.

“I am sorry for how I acted all this time. I was narrow-minded.”

“No, you were not.”

“There is no need to pretend it is fine. I know my own status. I know how sensitive people are to each small action of mine. For no reason, I childishly regarded you as a competitor and acted petty. I am sorry.”

“Haha... It is truly fine. I thought it was a misunderstanding that would be resolved anyway, so I was all right. You do not need to feel that sorry.”

Kartea smiled and shrugged. He placed a hand on my shoulder and spoke.

“The medal I am giving you this time is a gift containing my gratitude and apology. But just as the medal says, let us be close from now on.”

“Yes.... I will do that.”

Kartea said he would give me the medal next week. It felt awkward to receive a medal merely for following him on a journey, but if he said he would give it, who could say anything?

---

I chewed on Karlen confections one by one and reviewed the situation. Kartea had been handled cleanly. Without even the smallest variable, I had prevented him from ever ending up with Bishot, so I had eliminated one of the four male leads. Three remained.

Agares, Ian, and Jefrin.

The first two still did not have partners beside them, but I had erased the common points that might tie them to Bishot, so it was safe to feel relieved for a while at least. What remained was Jefrin.

What should I do about him?

“That kid is really difficult....”

In the original, he was a person who had kept Bishot in his heart from the very beginning. Even if I did something now, there was no way he would give up his feelings, and even if I pushed away the male leads one by one like this, Jefrin alone would remain in the end.

Somehow, it even felt as though all the effort and hardship I had gone through until now had been moving for Jefrin’s sake. Since I had driven away the other male leads, had he not benefited all by himself?

Of course, I could not allow things to go well for him until the end. Later, Jefrin would grow all the way to Sword Master. There was no guarantee that I would be stronger than Jefrin even then. So I had to separate the two of them this time.

How?

There was no proper move. Before I could even act, he had already built a friendship with Bishot, so what could I do about that? Driving a wedge between the two of them was difficult too. The best I could do was prevent them from getting any closer than they were now.

They had already been meeting just fine from before. How am I supposed to stop that?

Clap!

I clapped my hands. Jefrin was dangerous.

In the original, being pushed around here and there was his everyday life, so deep down, I had calculated that he was lacking compared to the other male leads. Because of that, I had underestimated him, but the one most likely to end up with Bishot was him.

Jefrin would reach Sword Master. He would swing Aura Blade around. What would I do if he came to kill me with Aura Blade blazing in radiant light? Just imagining it sent a chill down my spine.

Whatever happened, I had to make a move soon.

---

Bishot heard the rumor that Kartea would grant Raphael the Medal of Amikanbo. The justification was that Raphael had accompanied Kartea on his Path of the Emperor this time.

At first, she doubted her ears. It was hard to believe. Raphael was not someone who should receive that kind of medal. What kind of name was Amikanbo, that it would be granted so lightly?

Amikanbo. If one traced its etymology, it meant close friend. A close friend who had formed a deep bond with an Imperial Family member. Raphael, he was an ugly person. Yet a friend of the Imperial Family? It made no sense.

Bishot set down the completed alchemy treatment. The medicine inside the test tube flashed. Now all she had to do was tell Raphael and feed it to Ellen. Then her connection with Raphael would be over forever. Was this good? Bishot gently shook the bottle containing the treatment. Was this good?

It was certainly something she had desperately longed for all this time. She had prayed every night that she could sever her connection with him. Now that it was right before her eyes, why?

This was not something to end here. Raphael had to be punished. He had to pay the price for the wrongs he had committed. Everyone had to know what he had done.

Then what should she do?

She had no choice but to speak herself. She was the only one who knew exactly what had happened back then.

‘I have to move.’

When? Where?

Even as she thought about how to strike Raphael hard, she worried about the consequences on the other side. Raphael’s retaliation would come. Right now, he was pretending to be good and blending in among people, but his true nature remained asleep within him.

Bishot called Jefrin.

“If Raphael fights, can you win?”

Jefrin wanted to confidently assert certain victory, but he remembered his defeats all this time. Why had he lost? There had been many variables. Then, if they fought again, could he win?

Jefrin did not want to lie in a place like this, and not to Bishot of all people.

“Probably, the odds are half and half.”

“Half and half?”

“Yes....”

Bishot nodded. That was enough.