Hearing the voice of the Queen Scarlett and I promptly made our way down stairs, inside the massive living room of the royal castle filled with the best furnishers and paintings there was the Queen and Hinata seated in one of the many couches that was placed inside the room, Hinata was dressed in her school uniform for the academy, the colour of the uniform was different from what Scarlett had worn, she was dressed in a blue and white shirt and wore a bright blue skirt that was slightly above her knees her radiant white thigh was slightly exposed, her long red hair tied in a pony tail and went down her back. Seeing the Princess dressed up like this, I widened my eyes. She showed a charm different from Princess Scarlett; I couldn't help but stare.
"Ouch!"
Scarlett thrust her elbow, striking my chest with great force. My face grimaced as I let out a small groan while gently massaging the place where it hurts. She then turned her face away in a huff. Did I do something wrong? I wondered.
"Fufufu... it seems my cute little sister also has a jealous side to her; it's the first I'm seeing this, so I must thank Sir Haruto for allowing me this chance."
Hinata said, covering her mouth with a small giggle, the Queen seated on her left also seemed to be surprised by seeing that side of her daughter, as she had a look of astonishment on her face. She then cross both her arms and stared at me for a brief moment before speaking.
"My, my, it seems Haruto will be the one to make this ship set sail, and just when I thought my little Princess wasn't interested in romance... it seems I failed to notice development."
She said with sparkling eyes, with the expression of a mother who wants the best for her daughter. Scarlett's face became bright red as she protested against them while swinging both her arms.
"Hey! W-what are you two talking about, don't just jump to a conclusion on your own!"
"My, my, who exactly is jumping to conclusions here. I'm just saying what my eyes see."
She said with a look of amusement on her face. Grinning while watching the tinge of red on her sister's cheek. I don't even know what to say anymore, but holding my tongue is probably the best choice in this situation. I really don't want to dig my own grave by saying anything weird. I thought.
"Now then, you guys should be going now."
With that, we made our way towards the two-sided castle gate. The endless azure sky came into view as the cold morning air caressed my skin. It was still really early in the morning, so the outside was quite cold. The only warmth that was available was the warmth of the sun radiating from the sky. We stayed underneath a massive tree measuring roughly 30 feet that was growing in the open field at the front gate. We waited roughly 10 minutes until the sound of a horse-drawn carriage entered our ears. The sound gradually became louder as the carriage came into view and stopped by the castle gate.
It was a beautiful carriage with a mix of gold and silver marked with the royal family crest. There was also a large four-legged creature pulling the carriage from the forefront.
"It seems our ride is here, shall we go?"
Hinata said while turning to face us from behind.
"Yes."
"Of course."
We both replied eagerly. We then went towards the giant golden two-sided gate. Seeing our arrival, the knights promptly opened the gate to let us through. We then boarded the carriage and went on our way. To pass the time, I turn my gaze to the window on my left outside, viewing the scenery of the capital of Watanabe. 20 minutes went by, and we finally arrived at the school gate. And went to the school campus, which was already filled with noble children.
"Well, I'll be heading to the Council office if you need me."
She said before heading into a blue and red building, which was constructed extremely well. It was a building I didn't see many people entering and leaving, so why did she need to go there? I wondered.
"She's the head of the school council, so she's probably going to have a meeting with the other members."
Scarlett said, noticing my interest in the building. I see I remember meeting two people who were from the council the last time I was here. I think their name was-
"Lady Lissa Kadoya and Shiba Temagami, I think."
"Oh? So, you're already familiar with their names. I'm impressed."
She said while gazing at me with a look of amazement. Oops, it seems that while I was pondering, I accidentally said their names out loud.
"Well, I did run into them once when I was going to the bathroom; they really helped me out a lot."
I said, awkwardly remembering the event that played out back then. I hope I don't run into that Yuba guy. I thought.
"I see, Lady Lissa Kadoya is one of my sister's followers. She is from a very influential noble family. As for Sir Shiba Temagami, he's from a lower noble household, but his family is famous for their mastery of swordsmanship."
Scarlett said while keeping a fixed stare at me, so they're both from really famous houses. But they don't seem to flex their statuses onto commoners; maybe their nobles who actually have good morality here. I thought. However, I notice there are a lot of nobles gazing at the Princess around the vicinity. I then leaned in close to her ears to whisper.
"Maybe we should go? We're attracting too much attention here."
I murmur so only Scarlet could hear. She then looked around her surroundings and noticed she was being watched by many of the nobles and nodded her head in response. We then made our way towards the classroom. Just like the last time, all nobles were having lively conversations in their own seating order. For some reason, it seems like there are more of them than last time.
"Oh, you two are here."
Among the crowd, a gentle voice could be heard calling out to us. The figure of Chelsey could be seen coming towards us with a brisk but elegant gait. Her brown hair was tied with a beautiful flower clip as her blue ocean eyes sparkled.
"Good morning, you two."
"Good morning, Chelsey. I'm happy to see you."
The two greeted each other with pleasant smiles on their faces. She then turned her gaze to me and showed a bright smile.
"Good morning, to you too, Sir Haruto."
She said, bowing her head slightly. I returned the bow before giving my own greetings.
"Yes, same to you."
The class finally noticed the arrival of their Princess Scarlett and burst into chatter. The room became even noisier than when we first came in here. I really can't get used to this. I sighed quietly. Before long, Mr Albert arrived and quieted down the noisy children. We then took our seats as last time.
"It's been a while, Sir Haruto, though I guess it hasn't really been that long."
Sofia said, sitting elegantly on her chair.
"Yes, though for me it seems like a long time, even though only a few weeks passed."
I said with a tired look, so many things happened to the point that it feels really long. Seeing my expression, she chuckled to herself.
"Judging from your face, it seems you had quite some trouble. I heard you were challenged by Sir Hindu."
She said, showing a soft smile, though I could tell she was pitting me a little, words do travel fast, huh... it wasn't that long since our duel, though I'd rather not remember it.
-I don't see why you're so bothered by it, you did win that duel after all, shouldn't it be something you're proud of?
Alya asks seemly confused, why do we have to have this conversation now?
(I don't like being hit with flames; you know)
-I already healed all those injuries. You should be celebrating your victory, not complaining.
She said, yelling inside my head.
(Hey, could you stop shouting so much? You're giving me a headache)
I said, sighing.
"That guy was a complete pain."
I said, dropping my head to the desk.
"Well, I can understand he's known for always going after beautiful girls or women he sees attractive."
She explained while frowning, well it seems I'm not the only one bothered by that guy.
"Now, class, there will be an announcement today. Can everyone head towards the auditorium?"
Mr Albert requested all nobles to head towards the auditorium, which was located next to the gym. It was an extremely massive room which could fit up to hundreds of people and still have more rooms left. Each teacher directed their respective class towards their seat. Boys and girls were separated into different rows, boys on the right while girls on the left.
Once everyone had seated themselves, three people made their way towards the stage directly before the chairs.
A beautiful girl who seems to be in her mid to late teens with long blond curly hair that reaches her waist and golden eyes, wearing a blue and white shirt and a deep blue skirt that goes a bit above her knees, went on stage.
"Oh, my it's Lady Lissa."
Girl: "She's so beautiful."
"Hehe... as expected from one of the top beauties of this academy."
"I wonder who will win her heart."
Loud cheers came from all over the auditorium; the cheers were louder from the male nobles; it seems they favoured her quite highly, as for the females, they all applauded with a look of admiration, while some sent her envious gazes.
Reaching the stage, she bowed once before moving to the side. A handsome young man then made his way towards the stage after her, his long silver hair glittering with the lights of the auditorium. His glasses were fixed neatly on his face as he gazed at those seated before him, bowing his head and moving to the side.
"Mr Show off... Damit why does it seem like he's looking down on us?"
"I hope you drown in a pit of flames."
"Ahh... Sir S-Shiba, he's really close. This is a dream; I haven't been able to see his face close like this before."
"He's too great to be mixed with these other noble men."
Loud cheers once again rose from those who were seated; the females all voiced their admiration while the males voiced their disgust. I think he's a rather cool guy; he doesn't seem to have a bad personality like some people who have high positions.
Once the noise had calmed down, the one who made their way towards the stage next was Princess Hinata. The room became even louder than it was a moment ago; all those present voiced their admiration together. It was quite difficult to make out what they were saying since it was jumbled. Princess Hinata held out her hands to quiet down the noise.
"Thank you all for coming today. I have an important announcement to make: each class will be teaming up into groups of two and is going on an expedition in the forest of dreams."
She said calmly.