It was the day before I entered the Academy.
The joy of passing the difficult entrance exam was but a fleeting moment.
Thinking that I would have to leave my home and live in a strange place made my heart feel cluttered, and I couldn’t sleep all night.
It felt like a mix of excitement and anxiety swirling together.
The Academy is undoubtedly the best educational institution on the continent.
There would surely be an overwhelming number of commoners and low-ranking nobles like me everywhere.
There might even be people of noble birth who are hard to even glance at.
I would have to endure four years in such an environment.
It would be a lie to say there was no pressure.
However, my younger sister seemed to have her own worries.
“Oppa, listen carefully… all women are foxes.”
She came to me in the dead of night to say something like that; it seemed rather useless.
I yawned and made it clear that I wasn’t interested.
Still, Liya insisted, “I’m serious?! You mustn’t let your guard down. If a girl approaches you, you have to fend her off! There will definitely be people who will approach you for your status and wealth!”
“What could a second son of a country baron…”
“No, no. That’s because you don’t understand the world of women… There are probably women who will approach you just for a moment’s amusement. They will want you to support them!”
That wasn’t particularly enlightening advice.
Seeing my expression, Liya struck her chest in frustration.
Could it be that I’m starting to resemble Selin?
After several years of interaction, it seemed plausible.
“Anyway, keep this in mind. All women are foxes; they are beings to be careful of!”
“Then what about dating?”
“Don’t do it!”
Liya shouted like a cat whose weakness had been discovered.
“After all, you decided to live with me later! Why would you need a girlfriend?”
“Yeah, yeah. I got it.”
At that time, I let Liya’s warning slip by.
I was on the verge of sending off my beloved older brother.
It was no surprise for my younger sister to behave adorably, and to prove this, I didn’t struggle with romantic relationships at all over the next few years.
However, today, I felt the memories of that day surfacing for some reason.
In front of the soundly sleeping junior.
Seria, who had fainted, only let out faint whimpers. The small dew forming around her eyes stood out to me.
In Seria’s embrace was a doll that resembled me.
Naturally, it wasn’t something I had given her.
As soon as I laid her on the bed, Seria instinctively pulled it to her chest as a habit.
Seeing this, I sighed long and hard.
Even I, who had no sense of observation, could tell.
The special feelings Seria had for me were clear.
In a world where genders are treated equally, women were still the ones who faced stronger moral expectations.
There was no need to weigh the weight of a man’s sympathy and a woman’s purity on a scale.
Undoubtedly, women were at a disadvantage.
Especially when the woman was a high-ranking noble, the chances of an equal exchange were even slimmer.
And what all these facts pointed to was simple.
Even if they lost their reason, there is no woman who would request to share a bed with someone they didn’t have feelings for.
Seria would be no different.
Silence enveloped me as I pondered this awkward conclusion.
“Ian-senpai…”
Unaware of my troubled heart, Seria merely continued to sob softly.
To murmur my name even in her unconscious state.
Seria’s feelings seemed to be deeper than I had imagined.
The more I thought about it, the more complicated my heart felt.
Yet, I already had potential romantic interests lining up.
Not just one, but several.
For instance, Senior Elsi, who confessed to me first.
Or the Lady Virgin Saint, whose originally pure body had been touched here and there.
And I couldn’t leave out Senior Delphine, with whom I had spent my first night.
But it was just at this moment that I learned of Seria’s feelings.
For me, it was a sudden and vexing situation.
I brushed my hand through Seria’s hair as she slept peacefully.
Seria was now groaning and sweating profusely.
It seemed she was having a nightmare.
“Seria…”
I knew rationally that I should refuse.
But I couldn’t help but be concerned about the obsession she had shown before fainting.
It was an abnormal scene by anyone’s standards.
In shock over losing me, she was trying to bite her thumb or calling her respected sister a “bitch,” and ultimately losing her mind to try and pounce on me.
Of course, I hadn’t only interacted with women while sober.
I had also made some bold advancements under the influence of alcohol with the Lady Virgin Saint and Senior Delphine.
However, Seria was losing her reason far more than that.
It was a level that could not simply be explained away with intoxication.
So, I had to faint her.
It was partly due to the shock of the sudden situation, but fundamentally, it was to calm Seria down.
There is no way to engage in anything with a woman who isn’t in her right mind.
As I continued to sigh deeply, I sensed someone lightly opening the door and peeking in; soon, a girl stood beside me, her eyes wide open in shock.
The Fifth Imperial Princess of the Empire, Shi-en.
She was the one who testified that something was wrong with Seria. It seemed she had come to my chamber out of curiosity about the situation.
“Goodness, Sir Ian… How did this happen? Why is Senior Yuridina…?”
“There are circumstances.”
My mind was already troubled.
My voice in response to the Princess even looked pained.
It was an unspoken signal for her to stop asking.
But Shi-en was not one to easily pick up on hidden messages.
“It seems Senior Yuridina has been going through a lot. She’s already lost weight… It’s pitiful how she doesn’t seem to have any strength and is in such a daze.”
I remained silent even against the Princess’s continuing sympathy.
What could I possibly say?
I didn’t even know what I should do right now.
I could only silently gaze down at Seria’s face.
Then, again, a tender voice slipped through the girl’s lips.
“Ian-senpai… please, don’t abandon me…”
The Princess’s gaze grew even more somber.
A melancholy thought had surfaced in her gray eyes.
In a darker tone, she murmured, “I knew it.”
“…Did you know?”
I asked in surprise, looking at the Princess.
In truth, I was a bit self-deprecating.
If the Princess had caught on, it meant that most people, aside from me, were aware of Seria’s feelings.
And for matters concerning romantic relationships, it meant that I was less sensitive than the Princess.
Neither of those were particularly welcome news.
But, as always, the truth can be cruel.
“Well, it’s obvious. No matter how much of a senior she is, following someone around all day is impossible without ulterior motives. Especially between men and women.”
Then, the Princess began to glance at me more frequently.
When I cast her a questioning look, she cleared her throat and composed herself.
A cute little cough.
Then she added with emphasis, “You understand, right? No matter how much of a senior she is, following someone around like that is impossible without ulterior motives!”
“Ah, yes. Well… I understand.”
I nodded, somewhat dazed and agreeing.
I wasn’t sure, but it seemed the Princess was more knowledgeable about romantic relationships than I was.
So perhaps she was indeed right.
However, the Princess continued to look at me with an expression of discontent.
It was a reaction I found hard to understand, but she shifted her gaze back to Seria, changing the atmosphere once more.
Sympathy began to fill her expression again.
“When I faced Senior Yuridina, I felt an emotion I had never experienced before. It was dark and sticky, like a wave of feelings that seemed about to engulf me. I was frightened and immediately ran to you, Sir Ian, but now I see another emotion as well.”
The Princess didn’t bother to specify what that emotion was.
I had already guessed it myself.
The disturbing noises began at that moment.
“Did you give an answer to Senior Yuridina?”
“No, I didn’t have the chance…”
“Ah, so you fainted, unable to resist your emotions.”
The Princess was now on the verge of tears.
She seemed deeply immersed in Seria’s situation.
“Even if you’re Sir Ian, you couldn’t possibly utter a word in response to that heartfelt confession. In the time you hesitated, Senior Yuridina fainted, right?”
My mouth instinctively tightened into a thin line.
While I had indeed hesitated, the actual reason Seria had fainted was something else, and I could say nothing.
“After all, how could you be so harsh to such a delicate girl… You couldn’t even rebuff her touch or say anything harsh.”
Ahem, I cleared my throat, revealing my discomfort.
That was a signal toStop this topic.
Of course, the Princess was as oblivious as ever.
She couldn’t possibly grasp my unspoken intentions.
Thus, the tirade against me continued.
“Surely, there couldn’t be a man who would lay a hand on a woman confessing her love? If there is such a man, he would be trash. A bad man!”
“Still, it’s fortunate that Senior Yuridina’s beloved is Sir Ian. At least Sir Ian wouldn’t act in ways contrary to chivalry, right?”
“How did you comfort Senior Yuridina? Did you hold her in your arms and whisper warm words…?”
Each word was a lethal blow.
I trembled at first but couldn’t take it anymore and shouted.
“Enough!”
The sudden outburst startled the Princess, and she stared at me blankly.
She looked completely unaware of why I was reacting like this.
At that moment, I felt a stab in my heart as guilt crept in.
It would have been strange if I wasn’t feeling annoyed.
But at the same time, it felt ridiculous to scold the Princess.
She wasn’t wrong in her statements.
If anything, I was the one in the wrong.
Moreover, she was the Emperor’s own daughter. The fact that she was oblivious didn’t justify me reprimanding her.
So, after much hesitation, I finally sighed in resignation.
I decided instead to have a more constructive discussion with the Princess.
“Let’s talk about work for a moment.”
The decision that would determine the fate of the Yuridina Clan.
There was only one suitable person who could represent me before the Emperor.
And once this issue was resolved, we could discuss Seria’s feelings as well.
That day, I had to work with the Princess until Seria woke up.
