Chapter 6
Seeing Briseis freeze in shock, Calisten glanced at her and then smiled.
“Please take care of me today. I heard status doesn’t matter here, so feel free to treat me casually.”
After saying that, he looked toward the professor’s fingertips.
“You can sit in that empty seat over there.”
“Are there assigned seats, by any chance?”
“No. You can sit wherever you like.”
Smiling with his eyes half-closed, he walked over and sat beside Briseis. She always sat in the very front and studied harder than anyone else.
“I’m going to sit here. Saturn… or is it Eubis? Perril.”
“E, Eubis! Got it!”
Saturn and Eubis were identical twin brothers. Unlike the oblivious Saturn, Eubis was quite close with Briseis. In fact, Saturn and Eubis were more awkward with each other than with anyone else.
“Thanks.”
“…You….”
“Seeing you again, I’m really glad. Bri. It must be fate.”
He smiled brightly at her, and Briseis looked at him, shook her head slightly, and then faced forward again.
“Today’s homeroom has no special announcements for the academy. However, since the war between the Kingdom of Merbenia and the Viaten Empire has ended, students who participated in the war must attend remedial classes.”
At the professor’s words, sighs rose from all around. After barely surviving the war, they now felt like they would die from studying instead.
“There’s no helping it if you want to graduate, everyone.”
The professor chuckled as he spoke, and Briseis looked at the empty seat Damian had occupied yesterday.
“A victory parade will be held this evening, so nobles are encouraged to attend and grace the occasion with their presence.”
And so, the uneventful homeroom continued.
Briseis remained silent until the first period began.
“Well then, everyone, apply yourselves to your studies.”
The professor in charge of Class 1 said this and left. The students who had been curiously watching Calisten still looked at him, but none approached him.
Everyone knew. Calisten had annihilated the Viaten Empire and brought back the head of its emperor.
It was an extraordinary feat. Yet Calisten, as the crown prince, was also widely known for what kind of person he was.
He was someone who, after his mother’s death, rose to the position of crown prince by his own will. Though he appeared neutral, in truth he was backed by the Marquis House of Philia, which supported him, and the power of the Principality of Pendleton—his maternal family. He was like a wild colt running rampant.
But that colt was not merely a reckless troublemaker; he was someone who proved his own capabilities and could accomplish anything.
Naturally, people preferred not to attract the attention of such a “capable troublemaker.”
“How did you manage to attend as an observer? It’s not even a period for observation classes.”
“Is there anything I can’t do if it means seeing you?”
“Why did you even come?”
“I told you. I came to see you, Bri.”
He was a capable rogue. He had a photographic memory, never forgetting anything he had seen. On top of that, he was a monster who always secured victory in war.
His strategies were highly unconventional. He used unpredictable, bizarre methods, yet none of them had ever failed.
However, in this war, everyone had expected him to lose.
Yet he defied all expectations and returned with a historic victory—one that could not be achieved with the number of troops he had taken.
An achievement that even past emperors might not accomplish in their lifetimes.
At just twenty years old.
“Bri.”
“…….”
“Look at me. If you don’t, it’s too painful.”
Briseis instinctively glanced at the hem of his trousers, then flushed red at the clinking sounds he made when he moved.
“Sit somewhere else.”
“Should I sit somewhere else? Who should I tell to move?”
“You go somewhere else.”
“If I’m not going together with you, I won’t go.”
He smiled lazily like a fox, resting his chin on his hand as he looked at Briseis. She found it hard to keep looking at him because her face felt too hot.
“Bri.”
Thinking he would keep bothering her, Briseis looked back at him. He smiled sweetly and said,
“It hurts more now.”
“Then close your eyes.”
At her words, he obediently closed his eyes like a well-behaved dog.
“Now that my eyes are closed, I can smell your perfume.”
“Please just stop talking.”
“Do you like quiet people? Then I’ll be quiet.”
He opened his eyes again and continued to look at her with a smiling face.
Soon, the first period began.
“Good day, everyone.”
The professor for the first-period subject, Law and Punishment, entered the classroom.
“Since there have been two consecutive wars, I’ll be teaching you a topic related to those events. The Krophus Empire is an empire frequently engaged in warfare.”
At the professor’s words, Briseis picked up her fountain pen and began writing in her notebook.
“As usual, the student who answers best will receive one bonus point.”
She placed her book on the left and her notebook on the right. To her right, Calisten sat with his desk pulled right up beside hers.
“Do you know what is done first when a war ends?”
Briseis raised her hand.
“Reparations are demanded once the war ends.”
“That’s correct.”
“When a war ends, reparations are requested. If reconciliation occurs during the war, neither side is clearly divided as victor or loser, so one side may end up with an advantage. However, once a clear winner and loser are determined, reparations are decided beyond mere degrees of advantage.”
Briseis quickly took notes. She had already previewed the material.
As she wrote, Calisten watched her for a moment, then wrote something in his own notebook with his fountain pen and passed it to her.
「 You look beautiful even while studying. 」
She ignored the note and continued focusing on the lecture.
“When a war ends, war criminals are punished according to the reparations process.”
Briseis was recalling judgments related to war crimes in her mind, when Calisten passed her another note.
「 Watching you concentrate makes my heart race. If I were a book, you’d look at me like that too, right? 」
Again, she ignored it and looked toward the professor. The professor posted a map on the blackboard and continued speaking, pointing to a certain area.
“This region was once the site of a war. Does anyone know about it?”
Briseis raised her hand again.
“It’s the Lamerdin War. It began when the local lord abandoned the people of Lamerdin and fled, leading the people to revolt.”
“That’s correct.”
The law professor smiled approvingly at her answer. Though he looked at her with pride, he did not openly praise her—after all, she would undoubtedly earn the bonus point again.
“Can you tell me what happened to the fleeing lord of Lamerdin, Briseis?”
“The lord abandoned his people, so he was forced to relinquish his fief and had his title stripped. Additionally, evidence showed the rebellion was due to economic hardship, so the Lamerdin baron family was demoted to commoners and exiled to Resis Island.”
“Correct. Precisely so.”
Suddenly, Calisten noticed the gazes of several male students watching Briseis.
The atmosphere of the class had subtly changed. Briseis alone remained unchanged.
Now that Damian had openly brought his consort with him, the noble young men who had harbored feelings for her but had kept them hidden no longer felt the need to conceal them.
“As in this example, as the master and ruler of a domain, one must never abandon one’s territory—even at the cost of one’s own head.”
The academy had an uneven ratio of young lords and ladies—roughly nine to one.
“The assignment for today’s lesson must be submitted as a report in two weeks. It must exceed twenty pages. It is worth two points total, so be sure to complete it properly.”
And thus, the first period ended.
“Where are you going?”
“To prepare for the victory parade.”
Calisten stood up as soon as the professor left.
“I came because I wanted to see you.”
“…….”
“And now that I’m leaving, I want to see you again. Could you tell me not to go?”
“Go. Please, just go and don’t come back.”
At Briseis’s words, Calisten smiled brightly.
“I’ll be back, Bri.”
She did not reply, and Calisten waved at her before heading off toward the victory parade.
❖ ❖ ❖
By the time the third period began, Damian and Delilah returned.
“Hello, Bri?”
Delilah greeted her in a friendly tone, and Briseis responded gracefully with a smile.
“Yes, hello, Lady Delilah.”
“My husband came back late—aren’t you curious where he’s been?”
Damian said this in a crooked tone as he sat in the empty seat with Delilah. As he sat down, he tapped his thigh, signaling her to sit there, and Delilah, pretending to hesitate, sat on his lap.
“I’m sure you handled things appropriately, Your Grace.”
“How cold. You’re still upset, I see.”
Briseis disliked how easily his words continued to wound her, so she chose not to engage further.
“Oh, right. Bri, I heard you’re the top student of the fourth year?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Delilah smiled.
“This time, that won’t be the case. I’ll be the top student.”
