At that moment, Isidor experienced a strange phenomenon in which only one person seemed to flow slowly among many people.
"Ah, what is it? Oh, I'm sorry."
"Just now, a very handsome man…"
"I was a bit surprised."
Running quickly through the crowd in the plaza, he stopped in front of the woman in a black robe.
"…?"
Inside the robe, ruby-red eyes widened with surprise.
Isidor was also surprised.
He already knew her destination and route during the Spring Flower Festival, so he could figure out who she was even if he only observed a little.
But now it was purely a coincidence.
"Oh…"
She blinked slowly as she stared at him.
The long purple eyelashes fluttered slowly as if they were falling petals.
His heart pounded and the nape of his neck heated up, perhaps because he ran quickly.
"Sir Isidor?"
***
Seeing Isidor appear suddenly, I felt like my heart was sinking into a distant place.
‘Why can't I get used to that beauty at all?'
And his clear smile, which she had just seen, was stunningly beautiful.
"Princess Deborah. We happened to meet like this. What were you doing?"
He cleared his throat once and asked.
"Oh, I was just taking a walk. And what about Sir Isidor?"
I spoke dazedly, in a state of confusion.
"I was on my way to the training ground."
Come to think of it, the barracks of the White Knights that Isidor belonged to were relatively close to the east gate.
"Next week is the opening of the fall semester."
His unannounced reminder of the start of the semester brought me to my senses.
The academy was divided into two quarters, the spring semester and the autumn semester, with the fall semester starting next week.
"Did you have a good vacation?"
"It was alright. And Sir Isidor?"
I asked his regards.
If, according to my assumption, he was the only key to approaching the Master's identity, I decided that it would be better to get closer to him than to be wary.
"It was good."
Isidor curved his eyes and smiled lightly.
‘Have I been too vigilant? I feel guilty because he's happy about nothing.'
"Actually, I've been busy treating my colleagues for a while. Thanks to the Princess, who wished me luck."
"Congratulations on winning the tournament. My congratulations are late."
"Everyone bet money on Diera without any consideration. Did the Princess also bet on him by chance?"
"O-of course not. Your performance was really amazing! Ha. Ha."
As he hit the bull's eye, my body stiffened.
Isidor's eyes showed an obvious embarrassment as he noticed my poor acting.
"I was joking, but are you serious?"
"The world of competition is cold-hearted."
I looked at the distant mountains.
"You even gave me a handkerchief… Of course, I thought you were supportive of me."
"Honestly, I didn't expect you to be so good because your face is so handsome."
"You're cheating all of a sudden."
Isidor must be tired of hearing that he is handsome, but he seemed to be in a good mood as he rubbed his long neck.
"You are very popular."
I thought I was at a private concert hall, not a jousting arena.
"Did you realize that now?"
"Haa, let's just stop this conversation. Don't you have to go to the training ground?"
"I still have a lot of time. I went to a troublesome match and honored the Knights, so they should turn a blind eye even if I'm a little late."
‘A troublesome match?'
"You didn't want to go?"
His white-gloved hand flinched.
Seems like he said it unconsciously.
"Even if it's troublesome, I was going to go because the winning prize was good. It was a fairly useful sword."
‘If it was because of the prize, why didn't he go to the tournament in the novel?'
A third-generation chaebol should be able to buy hundreds of swords. Besides, he's an only son, so he won't have to distribute any money to his siblings.
I looked up at him in a suspicious mood, but Isidor looked down at me quietly.
"Can you tell it's a lie?"
"Huh?"
"The jousting tournament. It's nice to act cool. Is it a little childish?"
Although he spoke in a light tone, I felt embarrassed as if there was an additional heavy thump in my heart.
My brain was now beginning to refuse to think. It was a strike.
"I'm a little hungry since it is tea time. Why don't we go there?"
Isidor changed the topic and pointed to Armand.
"Let's… let's go."
The effect was high if Isidor visited the shop, so, the truth is, I had to ask him to stop by once.
"I'm a regular there. The atmosphere is not bad."
He giggled at my words.
"I guess I have to be a regular, too."
‘I should be pleased when a celebrity becomes a regular, but I keep getting headaches.'
That day, I returned home after having tea and dessert with Isidor.
‘Weird.'
I thought I would try to figure something out from him, but the conversation was trivial and ordinary, and he ordered a variety of cakes and pushed them in front of me.
Looking back, it felt like we were on a date, so I got confused.
"It feels like I always get caught up in his pace."
Covering myself with a blanket, I let out a sigh while rubbing my reddening face.
***
Knock, knock.
"Come in."
After only three hours of sleep, I was very tired.
While I was sitting with a sunken look and writing the ledger, the servants appeared, holding something arduously.
‘Is it some kind of gift?'
I was speechless.
When I opened the packaging, there was a box containing high-quality tea leaves and a congratulatory card from Isidor.
[Congratulations on being the Academy's Top Student.]
The 5th Princess also sent a gift and a card.
What she sent was chocolate and an expensive-looking wine.
It seemed that everyone was aware that I was the top student, perhaps because my name was hung up in the academy's hall of fame or something.
I received not only gifts but also letters.
I was beginning to feel that my position was better than when I first fell into this tragedy novel.
‘I didn't get any gifts or invitations at first because I was in disagreement with everyone. It has evolved a lot.'
The first letter came from Marquis Bert, Dean of the Department of Magic.
He was asking me to stop by the dean's office when the fall semester started.
In fact, I wanted to stay away from studying and focus on my business, but I was afraid that the marriage conversation would pop up if I turned my back on my studies.
My uncle replied that although he didn't know what kind of business I had, there was nothing good about obstinately putting the academy behind me and that he would see me soon.
The other was an invitation to a small tea party from a social club.
‘A tea party?'
I thought it was probably a group letter written by a servant, but only now did I get the feeling that I had joined a social club.
It was quite exciting for me, as my only club activity was to study theses about mana with the 5th Princess in a place that looked like a haunted house.
‘What should I wear?'
Contrary to my worries, that afternoon, my exclusive designer Helen brought me clothes to wear for the fall semester.
The clothes arranged in a row were showing the latest fashion in the social world.
‘They're really pretty.'
I looked at the wonderful dresses in a happy mood, and then stopped at the very last one.
Maybe because it had a less decorative feeling and the arrangement of the fabric was bold, it was the most modern dress out of all the dresses so far.
I didn't think it would look out of place even if it was hung in a department store.
As I stood still in front of it, Helen's expression suddenly turned white.
‘What's wrong with her?'
"P-Princess, that's a new style of dress."
"Hmm."
"O-of course it may look simple, but the asymmetric shirring changes the monotony and the bright blue sapphire highlights the elegance."
‘The skirt is not very wide, and the fabric is soft, so it looks pretty comfortable.'
"It's a dress that doesn't match the Princess' splendid beauty, so I will put it aw…"
"Why put it away? I will take them all. You can leave."
"T-thank you! Then, I will take my leave."
‘What are you thankful for?'
Well, since my evil reputation is big, there were a lot of people who were grateful to me just for not being wicked.
The professor of history, for example.
At the end of each lesson, he said thank you, and then left the living room like he was running away.
‘I feel it all the time, but this is the life of a ruffian. It's not bad.'
I crossed my arms and slowly nodded my head.
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