Strongest Survival by Otome Game’s Heroine (LN)

Part 2 – Academy Arc Iron Rose Princess V

Chapter 1 False Heroine

Royal Sorcery Academy. Only those who had reached 13 years old this year and were related to nobility were permitted to enroll into the academy. The majority of noble sons and daughters would enroll into this academy. It was an education establishment with the longest history in Claydale Kingdom.

The reason of its establishment at the beginning was to make noble sons and daughters with huge capacity of mana to learn how to control it. But at the present time, more than a hundred years since Dandall and Melrose, the former neighboring dukedoms had been absorbed into the kingdom. In the past the difference in asset that each noble house possessed cause difference in education between nobles to occur. In order to fill that gap and raise the quality of the whole country from the foundation, the academy was turning into an education body where nobility went through the compulsory education for three years.

Speaking of that sorcery academy, the hot topic there for these several years was about the crown prince Ervan who enrolled last year. The gossipy people talked about how he was a gentle prince who lacked ambition, but last year he got three fiancées from influential noble houses within the country and the basis of his authority was starting to be formed smoothly.

At the year when Ervan enrolled, the daughter of Duke Fudale, Patricia who was considered as the one who would be the third queen in the future was also still there as a third year, the highest year in the academy. The daughter of Margrave Dandall, Clara who was considered as the one who would be the first queen in the future also enrolled at the same year. That year became quite an exciting year inside the academy.

But this year, the academy would surely become even more festive with the arrival of the new students.

Many nobles who wanted to get closer with the royal family gave birth to children at the next year after the crown prince Ervan was born, so this year the academy would be blessed with many more students than the average year. In addition, outstanding girls that couldn’t be found in ordinary year like for example Ervan’s little sister the first princess Elena, or the daughter of Count Lester, Carla who was considered as the one who would be the second queen in the future were also passing through the gate of sorcery academy at the same period.

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「Waa, how lovely! So this is the academy that will become my “stage” from today!」

The beginning of the year was when the high society season opened. Among the many students heading to the opening ceremony, a single girl who was accompanied by a boy in butler uniform was walking excitedly at the center of the open path.

She had reddish dark blond hair and blue eyes.

Nobles tended to grow up quickly due to their mana, but this girl had petite body which made her looked conspicuously younger compared to other students. Coupled with her behavior that lacked any calm, the impression that she gave off was like a fledgling chick.

That “girl” clearly looked like “odd” to the students who had been raised as noble since they were born.

Her features should be more accurately described as adorable rather beautiful.

She had large eyes with droopy corners which made her looked somewhat sleepy. Coupled with her petite body, even though the length of her skirt would make other noble lady called her “shameless”, she gave off a mysterious atmosphere that would make others thought that “it can’t be helped if it’s her”.

「Seo-kun, please look! I’m going to enroll into a splendid academy like this! How wonderful!」

「My lady, please calm down-, let’s walk closer to the side. Also, if you can let go of my arm……」

The butler who was a Cruzian boy had his arm tightly held by the girl. He muttered those words with a troubled expression.

The middle of the path was empty so that the path would be clear for the high class nobles who were riding on carriage. The low and middle class nobles were intentionally avoiding that part of the path.

The boy――Seo was warning the girl because he felt the criticizing gazes on them. But the girl strengthened her hold on the arm of Seo who was trying to get out of her grasp, and then she cautioned Seo who was one year younger than her with the air like a big sister.

「That’s no good Seo-kun. Like I keep telling you, use the pet name [Licia] when calling me. After all we are already like family, so don’t act like a strange like that.」

「……My apologies.」

Someone with positive thinking might perceive the scene as [a lady who treated even servant like family], but the girl’s coquettish tone and the sense of distance that was scandalous for noble youths put the girl with childish look in an alluring light.

The out-of-place scene and awkward mood started to gather the attention of the surrounding students. It was then a black coated carriage arrived. A black haired young lady wearing a deep blue dress and a crimson robe over it came down from it.

Even students who didn’t know “her” identity got overwhelmed by her abnormal atmosphere and sickly appearance and they got out of her way in a hurry. Then she calmly formed her words toward Seo and the girl who were in front of her.

「――You’re in the way――」

The “atmosphere” changed in that moment. The color of the stage was blotted out.

That voice wasn’t a loud yell or a weak whisper. It was just a voice with normal volume, and yet it drowned out the surrounding voices.

Seo sensed the vast mana from that girl that was accompanied by an overflowing “killing intent”. He stepped forward in order to protect his mater the girl. Seeing his action, that girl put on a smile that was like thin ice.

「Move aside. You might accidentally get burned if you’re blocking the way like that you know?」

「M-my deepest apologies-」

Seo obediently bowed his head toward the young lady who was giving them such dangerous warning. He did that not because he realized that the other side was a daughter of a high class noble, but because his survival instinct was driving him to act like that in the presence of the strong.

But, there was also someone who didn’t feel that.

「This street is big you know? If you want to pass through then there’s still a lot of space left over.」

The girl said that with a wide smile. She said that not as an argument but as though she was simply stating the obvious. It caused Seo’s brown skin to turn pale, while the young lady’s eyes that were surrounded with dark circles were narrowed as though she had discovered an unusual “toy”.

Seo and the other watchers turned pale seeing that. At this rate something not good would definitely happen. While everyone was thinking like that――

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「What is going on here!」

A male student who was accompanied by several students appeared from the direction of the opening ceremony’s venue and broke that place’s chilling atmosphere. He cut in between the two sides to act as mediator.

The boy was wearing a dress suit like and a crimson robe over it like a knight. He saw that young lady who was facing the girl and her butler and his eyes widened just a little.

「……Carla? What are you doing at this kind of place?」

「How do you do in this fine day, Er-sama. My fiancée didn’t come to accompany me, so I arrived here by myself just now.」

「That’s……forgive me. I had to prepare to give a greeting as the senior student representative so……」

The crown prince Ervan averted his gaze as though he was making an excuse. It made the smile of Carla who was one of his fiancées to deepen in delight even more.

「Yes, I don’t mind. I shall ask for a suitable compensation later on in exchange but……, you two, how long are you two planning to block my sight and Er-sama?」

「O-our apologies! My lady, this way……」

「Eh, yes. Ah」

When Seo urged the girl, the girl who was staring fixedly on Ervan’s face suddenly tripped on her feet and fell in front of him――

「Watch out-」

Ervan saw that and reflexively caught the girl.

「……Are you alright?」

「Yes-」

The girl replied. But instead of separating from Ervan, she leaned into her arms even more. Seeing that Carla lost her interest and walked past Ervan’s side. Ervan saw that and reflexively called at her.

「Carla, you too are my fiancée, so I ask you to please not speak or act threateningly with the other students……」

Carla stopped walking because of those words and looked back across her shoulder toward Ervan with only her gaze.

「My, I don’t know what you are talking about Er-sama.」

「Act with common sense as one of the future queens……」

Carla hid her lips behind a fan and chuckled in respond to that sentence from Ervan.

「I think that I am acting with more common sense compared to a man who is embracing another woman in front of his fiancée though?」

「That’s-……」

「Then, have a good day, Er-sama. Let’s meet again later. Fufu.」

Carla walked toward the opening ceremony’s location with a good mood for some reason. Ervan saw her off with a slightly pained look before he lent a hand to the girl to help her stood up.

「Can you not think badly of her? Perhaps she’s in a slightly bad mood……」

「Yes, I’m fine-. I’m used to it after all-」

Ervan tore away the girl who was saying such strange thing and entrusted her to the young butler. It was then he finally saw the girl’s face clearly from the front.

「I have done you many discourtesies. Are you perhaps a new student?」

「Yes-! I’m enrolling into this academy starting from this year-!」

The girl stepped away a little from him and pinched the bottom of her short skirt with her fingers. Then she courtesied which caused more of her white thighs to be exposed while giving a smile like a flower.

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「I am Alicia Mercis! My best regards, please take care of me from now, senpai-!」

It was the meeting between the weak hearted but kind prince and the young lady who was ignorant of the world.

The scene was like a “stage” that was written by “someone”. Princes Elena who came down from her carriage while holding my hand was watching that scene in exasperation with cold eyes.

「Let’s go Aria.」

「Yes, Elena-sama.」

That young lady got her hand pulled by Seo and he forcefully dragged her toward the auditorium where the opening ceremony would be held. Carla who chased them away noticed us and sent a meaningful thin smile toward us. Then she walked toward the direction of the auditorium without even a single person accompanying her.

「……She hasn’t changed at all.」

「True. That is her flaw and also her virtue. She is a really problematic character, but just this time I want to sympathize with her.」

The little sister was staring with a cold gaze toward her big brother who not only was incapable to refuse the advance of the girl just now, he was also incapable to criticize the girl’s insolence, and not only that, he was defeated by the girl’s pushiness. That big brother, Ervan finally noticed the gaze and entrusted the two people who came with him to deal with the surrounding before approaching us.

It seemed the companies of the crown prince Ervan were both high class noble, but I remembered seeing one of them from somewhere. It seemed that person also came to the same realization. He left the task of holding back the surrounding to the other person, a red haired boy, and stared at me with a dazed expression.

「Elena-」

「How do you do, Onii-sama. You should be busy right now. Is your preparation already finished?」

「No, ……I’m sorry that I couldn’t pick you up.」

It seemed that Carla’s sarcasm from just now was effective. He bowed his head awkwardly. That gesture made Elena’s gaze to instantly turn dangerous.

「Onii-sama……a crown prince of all people mustn’t lower his head so easily even if it’s toward his little sister. You don’t need to do that, I don’t mind it at all.」

「……Is that so?」

In her previous political setting, Elena was a little sister who was so attached to her big brother and idolized him so much that she would get jealous to other girl who approached him, but the necessity to do that had lessened at this time, so her involvement with the crown prince faction itself was also weakening.

But, Ervan still hadn’t realized that Elena’s behavior from before was just a setting. He was making an expression that looked slightly bewildered from the change in his little sister.

「We were always together until several years ago. This makes me feel a bit lonely……did something happen?」

「No, Onii-sama. I’m simply becoming a bit more mature.」

「I see……. By the way, she became your servant Elena?」

His gaze slightly glanced toward me. In respond I wordlessly bowed toward him.

「It’s something like that. Please don’t take her away from me okay? After all Onii-sama already has Clara and Carla right?」

「You’re……right.」

Ervant nodded a little with conflicted expression in respond to Elena’s words.

The unknown last [Gift holder] from the dungeon was the daughter of Margrave Dandall, Clara who became the lead fiancée of the crown prince. She officially became the [lead fiancée] was mainly because of that achievement. That was what I heard from Elena.

Carla also obtained a [Gift], but she was appointed as the second fiancée, which was something that couldn’t be helped because she had that kind of personality. The expression that Ervan made when he heard Carla’s name was slightly different than before.

「Well then, I too have to give a greeting in the opening ceremony as the new student representative, so I shall take my leave now. I hope that Onii-sama too will do well with your own greeting later. Let’s go, Aria.」

「As your highness command.」

「Ye……yeah. Do your best too Elena.」

I also bowed toward the crown prince’s slightly bewildered group before following behind Elena. We were gathering a lot of gazes from them and the surrounding.

A lot of people would surely realize Elena’s talent in the not far future. Until then Elena needed to deepen her connection with the influential nobles just like until now, and at the same time she needed to win over the capable people inside the academy to her faction.

Even so it might result in increasing the number of her enemy if she rushed it too much. There would also be those who wanted to get closer with Elena even if they had to use forceful method for that. In case something like that happened, it would be my job to remove those people.

While I was thinking about such thing, Elena seemed to guess what was in my mind and whispered with a small voice.

「I’ll leave it to you, Aria. I’ll turn a blind eye to what you do as long as you don’t cross the line.」

「Roger.」

I muttered that with a voice that only she could hear and reverently bowed my head as her highness the princess’s “close attendant”.