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nI so wanted to say that she was my little sister from my previous life.

n“Love is wonderful, isn’t it. I’ll acknowledge your spirit of going as far as to cast away your right to the throne in order to obtain it.”

n“…!”

nJulian wasn’t an idiot. He indeed knew about that.

nEven though he knew, he still chose Marie.

nWait. In that case, didn’t that make him worse than the average idiot?

n“Would you indeed go as far as to throw away your current position?”

n“Are you having a foolish laugh? Still, I would do that much for this girl. I don’t need status or prestige. Having her is enough…”

n“I think that people want you because of your status and prestige, though. I believe people would take no notice of you if you weren’t the crown prince, but just an ordinary Julian.”

nWould Marie take no notice of him if he lost his status, prestige, fortune, and everything? I couldn’t help but think so.

nShe’s the type that may hang out with him because of his good looks, but wouldn’t think about marriage.

n“That can’t be true! Marie would accompany me. Marie would still be with me──with us.”

nI was saying all of this because Marie was a terrifying girl. Her mimicking of the protagonist’s actions speaks for itself, doesn’t it? So much so that I think Marie had a talent for these kinds of things.

nI don’t think what that guy had was genuine love.

nIn the first place, if it really was love, then there wouldn’t be six boys around her.

n“How nice it must be. However, if you lose, you’ll have to refrain from associating with her from now on.”

nI let go of the prince and hit him as hard as I could with the shovel.

nThere was a dent in the white armor, and the prince greatly shook inside, throwing him off balance.

nLuxon informed me of the preparations being ready.

nAnalysis complete. Securing the safety of the pilot is possible.

n“Going easy on you is a pain. Here, this will end it.”

nI let go of the shovel and used my right hand to make contact with the chest of the prince’s armor. Once touching it, Arroganz’s right arm started shifting. Its interior glowed, leading up to the next moment.

nImpact.

nAs soon as Luxon declared that, an impact blew the prince’s armor away into pieces. The audience shrieked once the armor had broken apart.

nThe armor had been smashed up, but the prince inside appeared to be safe.

nIt was nice that he didn’t put up any resistance since he had fainted.

nOnce the right arm reverted back to normal, I retrieved the shovel I dropped and shouldered it.

nThe arena fell silent.

nWhen I looked at the referee, he sent a doctor before announcing the victor.

nThey took priority in confirming Julian’s safety.

nWhen they realized that he had fortunately only fainted, the victor was declared.

n“The winner is Leon Fou Baltfault…and therefore, the victor of this duel is Anjelica Rafua Redgrave. In accordance with the oath of a duel, the two──”

nThe declaration ended with them saying that the duel’s loser had to obey the victor. At that moment, the blue tickets signifying the bets made on Julian and the others had fluttered about within the arena.

nThe arena was engulfed in the quite pleasant sounds of shrieks and jeers.

nIt was indeed pleasant to hear these boos directed at me.

n“Give me my money back!”

n“Cheater! As if such a duel can be acknowledged!”

n“Give it back. Give back my money!”

nI raised my shovel, and slowly turned around while recording the faces of the audience.

nSo many of them had the expression of despair, but some that had bet on me tucked their important red ticket into their pockets.

nThen, I addressed the audience.

n“Everyone…gamble responsibly!”

nAfter saying that, they got agitated and started throwing trash at me. However, I magnificently avoided them while making a loud laughter and returning to where Olivia and the others were.

nAfter landing the armor and appearing out of it, the armor automatically stored itself into a box and returned to the sky.

n“…I wonder if I’ll be able to collect my earnings.”

nWouldn’t that be a matter of course?

nThe box disappeared into the sky, and I put on a coat that Olivia handed to me.

n“How was it, my fair lady? I made a great success.”

nAnjelica had a complex expression.

nWell, it made sense that she had complicated emotions after seeing me beat up the prince she loved.

n“Right. Thank you.”

nHer face did not say that she was thankful. Her complexion was pale, and it seemed that she was concerned about the prince.

nSo, I spoke with a serious expression. I didn’t poke any fun.

n“He has no injuries. He really just fainted.”

nIf something went wrong, it would have been Luxon’s fault. Not my fault.

nOlivia also had a complex expression. Above all, she seemed to feel a sense of impending danger as she looked at the people around.

n“H, hey, was that really alright? There’s something about the gazes from the people surrounding us.”

nThe students were glaring daggers at me.

nThere were those that were booing, and those that were crying.

n“What am I supposed to do?! What happened to my entire fortune was because of you!”

n“I beg of you, return it to me! I’m in debt. I made bets using borrowed money!”

n“Who would acknowledge such a bet like this?!”

nThis was a good lesson for the children of nobles who make fun of society. I heard people talking about borrowing money, but those people were stupid to try doing it.

nThey were stupid for gambling when they didn’t know who the winner or loser would be. They would be better off if they only gambled when they were sure of winning, like I do.

nHmm? Wait a minute…these guys made bets since they were absolutely sure that I would lose, didn’t they…? Well, it doesn’t matter to me anyways. I won against five people and won a bet. That was the result.

n“It’s fine to ignore them. Those people did bet all they had. They reap what they sow. If they study and do well, the academy might cut their tuition costs.”

nAnjelica sighed.

n“Well said. Those people bet on a large amount, knowing that things could possibly turn out this way, right? You really saved me this time. Thank you…I’ll show you a token of my gratitude afterwards. I’m going to head over to his Highness shortly.”

nAfter seeing Anjelica disappear as she quickly headed towards there, we walked to the changing rooms.

nOlivia was worried about me.

n“Leon, why did you say such cruel things to his Highness and the others? Wouldn’t it have been better to say nothing?”

nWe talked along the way there, but it seemed that Olivia held some kind of delusion about me. She seemed to think that I could have done better.

nActually, why was she this kind towards me? I had no recollection of doing many special things.

nPerhaps it was just the protagonist being open-minded or caring? At any rate, wasn’t it a problem that I was the only one she was close with?

n“People are harboring hate towards me, just as planned.”

n“Is that okay? U, um, I think your marriage situation will be unstable from now on. Everyone’s really angry at you.”

n“Aah, that’s fine. I’ll be dropping out of the academy.”

nOlivia made a odd voice, saying “Huh?” towards what I said.

nHowever, she was quite the beauty. Even that expression she had looked cute.

n◇

nIt was just Anjelica and Julian in the medical office.

nJulian had only fainted and had no injuries, so the doctors and nurses read the mood and left.

nAnjelica shed tears when seeing Julian’s figure.

nHe sat on the bed, and feebly hung his head, heard the result of the duel, and was shocked.

nAnjelica knew that he didn’t agree to it.

n“Your Highness, I’m really glad that you’re safe.”

nJulian turned towards Anjelica with an emotionless gaze.

n“Stop your shameless acting. Wasn’t it your duel representative that drove me this far into a corner?”

nAnjelica couldn’t reply to him.

nHe was saying that what happened was her fault.

n“…Your Highness, please listen to me. What is it that I can’t do? I…I’ve been doing my hardest for your sake.”

nAnjelica had tried hard to be a woman suitable for the crown prince. She made so much effort towards it that it became her pride.

nAs someone of a duke household, she had undergone severe training from morning until night in order to one day become a queen. It began with the numerous mannerisms of etiquette related to culture and the fine arts, and Anjelica kept persevering to become someone suitable for Julian.

nThat was why she couldn’t accept girls like Marie who were able to be near Julian with no effort at all.

nAnjelica had to sacrifice many things for the sake of Julian and put in hard work since she was a child. Even so, she lost in face of girls like Marie who just suddenly showed up.

nJulian made a slight laugh.

n“For my sake? I think it’s just that you want the position of being the crown prince’s woman.”

n“T, that’s not it! That’s not my relationship with you!”

n“I’m not wrong. You’ve never seen me for who I was. I have proof too. Do you even know what my favorite dish is?”

n“I, I do! It’s that soup──”

nShe described Julian’s favorite dish, but the reaction she got was negative.

n“──Wrong.”

n“Huh?”

n“I like the grilled skewer foods that I get to eat when I sneak outside disguised. They tell me that commoner foods aren’t suitable for me, so I couldn’t say it to you though. I’m sure that you would also want to deny me from such things.”

nShe couldn’t say what Julian’s actual favorite food was.

nWhen hearing that, Anjelica wiped her tears.

n“I wouldn’t! If you told me that, I would have immediately──”

nHowever, Julian interrupted her.

n“Marie noticed it without me even saying. When we went outside together, she understood me and invited me to a cart.”

nWhen hearing that, Anjelica’s tears fell to the floor in large drops.

n(…I didn’t notice it, and yet that girl did? I’ve been by his Highness’ side all this time, though.)

nPerhaps feeling guilty, Julian made an apology towards Anjelica.

n“…I know that this is rude towards you, and your household. However, the only one I love is Marie.”

nAnjelica’s sobs intensified.

n“T, that much is still fine. As long as I get to be your side your Highness──Julian.”

nJulian shook his head.

n“I…cannot love you.”

nAnjelica, realizing Julian’s feelings, decided to step back. She turned around to leave the room.

n“Your Highness, I’m sorry, I won’t say anything anymore. However…I’ll be rooting for your happiness from the sidelines.”

nJulian made a cynical remark once Anjelica left the room.

n“There’s no use saying that at this point…I wanted to hear that from you sooner.”

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