#13.
At Sloran Public School, there was one place every student dreamed of attending at least once.
It was so famous that some students even wished for nothing more than to exchange a single word with someone from there.
The place in question—Sloran Public School’s highest-level class: Class A.
Regardless of status, those who graduated from Class A were said to have no worries about making a living anywhere in the magical field.
‘I’ve heard about it in general…’
Veronica stared at the gently swaying reeds, lost in thought.
After sitting in on Class A’s lessons for a day—
‘For something so highly praised… it’s kind of… lacking.’
Even when she’d been alive in her previous life, she’d felt the same way. Now, much younger and hearing it again after a long while, nothing had changed.
Was this lesson really worth all the hype?
‘It’s probably one of the reasons Shion finds school boring.’
If he felt the same as she did, school lessons would be nothing but meaningless, pointless time-wasters to him.
Perhaps because of the dull class, or because she had been outside for so long, Veronica was feeling extremely tired.
‘And it’s only the end of morning classes.’
Yaaawn—
She rubbed her eyelids with her tiny hands.
There were plenty of reasons she was so tired today.
First, Arthur kept coming over during every break to gush about how cute she was.
If it had stopped there, it might have been fine—but with Shion constantly butting heads with Arthur over her, she hadn’t been able to rest at all when she should have.
Even Lana, who she had hoped might give her a break, was no different.
Sitting right next to Shion, Lana seemed eager to win Veronica’s favor, whispering all class long about how adorable and charming she was.
It had gotten so bad that even Shion, annoyed, had picked Veronica up mid-study session and seated her on his other side, away from Lana.
‘What a tiring day…’
The real problem was, the tour wasn’t over yet.
Which meant she had to get a good rest during lunch break if she wanted to endure the rest.
She had to… and yet—
Veronica gripped the rail of her portable crib and peeked her head out.
Her big blue eyes narrowed slightly, fixing on three silhouettes: Shion, Arthur, and Lana.
‘Why, of all places, are they having tea time right where I’m supposed to rest?’
Worse yet, for over thirty minutes, the “tea time” trio hadn’t exchanged a single word.
If they had been chatting and laughing, she might have been able to relax—but no, they sat there in tense silence, making it impossible for her to rest.
Thankfully, Lana broke the awkwardness first.
“Th-the tea is nice.”
‘…Maybe the silence was better.’
At least Arthur seemed to appreciate Lana’s effort, unlike Shion, who showed no interest.
“Yeah. It tastes even better since it’s been a while since I was invited for tea.”
“…Invited?”
Thud!
The sound of Shion sharply closing the thick book he’d been quietly reading echoed through the air.
His half-lidded crimson eyes glared at Lana and Arthur.
“Who invited you?”
“…You?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Then why are we here?”
“Don’t you know?”
Shion shot Arthur a sharp look.
“You’re here to be warned.”
“Someone who’s done nothing wrong has no reason to be warned, Shion.”
‘No, big brother, you’ve committed a major crime.’
Veronica puffed out her lips and glared at Arthur.
In her mind, Arthur had three crimes:
First, needlessly provoking Shion.
Second, attempting to lighten the mood but instead creating a “meeting square” that disrupted her precious rest.
Third, inviting another rest-disrupter into the mix.
Veronica quietly ground her baby teeth.
‘You’re a prime offender.’
“And why do you think you’ve done nothing wrong?”
It seemed Shion felt the same way as Veronica—though for different reasons.
“I’ve told you multiple times not to interfere with me. Is that so hard to follow?”
“But it ruins the atmosphere of the class.”
“Yeah. I figured you’d say that.”
Shion smirked crookedly.
“You know, I know your type better than anyone.”
“…”
“When I first asked the student council president—you—not to let gossip about me spread, you said it was impossible.”
“Well… I can’t forcibly control everyone, can I?”
“Right. So I compromised. My next request was for you to simply not take an interest in me at all.”
A perfectly manicured finger poked Arthur square in the chest.
“And you’re here today because you broke that.”
“Shion, that’s—”
“Don’t make excuses. The type I hate most are people who pretend to care but have no intention of helping, full of hypocrisy and pretension.”
“H-hey… you two?”
Flustered by the escalating tension, Lana tried to intervene.
But Shion’s venom didn’t stop.
“Let me guess—the principal promised you some kind of reward if you achieved something involving me.”
“What?”
“But that’s just your delusion. Do you think I wouldn’t be able to quash something like that?”
“Wait, wait!”
Unable to take any more, Arthur waved his hands and cut him off.
He took advantage of the brief pause when Shion caught his breath to speak quickly.
“Shion, I think you’ve got it wrong… We’re not even ten years old yet.”
“So?”
“I mean—who would make such a cunning deal with a nine-year-old kid?”
“…”
“Do I really seem like some sly schemer to you?”
Arthur’s baffled expression made it clear he couldn’t follow Shion’s logic.
“All I meant was I couldn’t follow your previous order—‘shut everyone in the class up.’”
“…Pfft.”
“You’re laughing?”
“Ah—no!”
Lana had burst out laughing because Arthur’s impression of Shion’s tone was too accurate.
Shion shot her a sharp glare, and she froze, horrified at having been “blacklisted” by her one-sided future groom.
Arthur spoke again to calm her down.
“Anyway, that’s all there is to it. You could call it meddlesome if you want. But I swear on the Mirhana family name—I’ve never received anything from anyone in exchange for my connection to you.”
“…Then why do you insist on bothering me?”
“Well… uh… because we’re friends?”
Arthur shrugged and looked at Shion.
The one and only prince of Sloran’s royal family, shining alone and untouchable—most Class A students probably saw Shion that way.
But Arthur’s view was a little different.
Yes, Shion was still a prince—but to Arthur, he was just a quiet, irritable classmate in the same grade.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Sure, their worlds would diverge after graduating from the academy, but until then, Arthur genuinely wanted to be friends.
“They say if you have no expectations, you won’t be disappointed, right?”
“…”
“I admire how cool and talented you are… but that’s it.”
That was why Shion’s behavior never seemed strange to him.
“Should a prince act like that?” “Should a prince do that?”
Those kinds of comments were meaningless to Arthur.
To him, Shion was just another normal nine-year-old—one who got angry when annoyed, sometimes acted spoiled, and occasionally threw tantrums.
So when he got touchy or irritable on bad days, Arthur didn’t find it strange.
“I still want to be friends with you.”
Arthur smiled.
Lana, inspired by his words and hoping to score some points herself, quickly chimed in.
“M-me too!”
“…That kind of thing is annoying.”
“Then… can we annoy you a little?”
“No matter how I think about it, the answer’s no. Just get lost.”
Shion suddenly stood up.
Lana hurried after him.
“Sh-Shion! That’s a mean thing to say.”
“By the way, Shion, you sure read a lot of these books.”
Not to be outdone, Arthur followed as well, speaking as they entered the lounge’s academic section.
“I can read them for studying, but for fun? No way.”
“If you don’t keep using your brain, you get stupid. Like someone I know.”
“Th-that’s not nice, Shion.”
“It’s fine, Lana. At least he answered.”
“…You sound a little arrogant, you know?”
“Guys, don’t fight, okay?”
In this near-explosive mix—Lana fussing to calm them down, Shion growling at every opportunity, and Arthur smiling like he was enjoying himself—Veronica couldn’t help but wonder:
‘How on earth do these three keep talking?’
Their personalities didn’t match at all, and their topics flipped like a coin, yet the conversation somehow continued.
‘Still… maybe that’s a good thing?’
She smiled faintly.
Despite being so mismatched, none of them seemed likely to drift apart.
If Shion really found them annoying, he wouldn’t respond to them at all—or even come here in the first place.
Lana would keep hovering around Shion because she liked him, and Arthur—meddlesome or not—probably wouldn’t turn his back on him.
If they kept this up without incident, the three would probably become good friends.
‘Big brother! Your little sister is proud of you.’
“Come to think of it, we’ve been playing just among ourselves…”
Arthur then walked to Veronica’s crib and held out his arms.
“Can I hold you?”
‘…Nope.’
“No.”
‘Told you.’
Veronica glanced between Shion and Arthur and shrugged.
But Arthur didn’t seem ready to give up.
“How about just once?”
“Don’t make me say it twice. Too much trouble.”
“Wow… our young lady—no, Princess Veronica—your hands are so soft.”
Oops—sounded like Lana had just spoken her true feelings out loud.
She gently tapped Veronica’s hand with her fingertip, smiling bashfully.
“Like cotton.”
“I wanna touch too.”
“No. Not you.”
“What? Hey, that’s not fair.”
“Quiet.”
Shion dismissed Arthur’s protest without a second thought.
Arthur pursed his lips, then stepped closer to Shion.
“Alright, how about this—if you let me hold Veronica just once, I’ll make sure no one in class says a word about you today.”
“Didn’t you just say you couldn’t do that?”
“Arthur, that’s abuse of authority.”
Before they knew it, Lana was cradling Veronica, rubbing her cheek against hers with a blissful expression.
Like the softest mochi—there was nothing in the world to compare to it.
“I wanna lie in the crib with her and take a nap…”
“…I guess once wouldn’t hurt.”
“No, not you.”
Shion slipped between Arthur and Lana, blocking the way.
Seeing Arthur’s frustrated expression, he grinned.
“Wasn’t it a no at the start of class?”
“I can just carry her back.”
“Says who?”
Shion turned and looked at Veronica.
“Come here.”
“Okay!”
Veronica hopped from Lana’s arms straight into Shion’s.
A victor’s smile tugged at his lips.
“Let’s head back.”
“You’re really paying me back like this?”
“Pay you back for what?”
Shion scoffed.
“What’s weird about me carrying my own sister?”
‘…Whoa.’
Veronica blinked up at him.
Had she just heard that right?
“Th-then we’ll look way too much like siblings.”
Shion had just confidently called her “my sister” after once telling her not to act too much like siblings.
“…Oppa.”
“What.”
Shion replied in an overly gentle, big-brotherly tone, obviously for Arthur’s benefit.
He wore a smug, relaxed expression—right up until Veronica looked him square in the eye, puffed up her cheeks, and shouted:
“Cha-rang-hae!” (I lub you!)
“My, my… Princess, you’re just too adorable. If I had a little sister like you, I’d never leave home—”
“Then you can carry her back.”
Shion’s expression abruptly froze. He handed Veronica to Lana almost like tossing her, then walked away.
Startled, Lana blinked after him.
“Wh-what’s with him all of a sudden…?”
“Beats me.”
“Princess, do you know?”
Veronica shook her head, then grinned.
“No idea!”
