The eminence in shadow: A Mob's way out of polygamy 6

Chapter 6: Confessions and their aftermaths

It was a peaceful morning in the capital of the Midgar Kingdom. The sky was clear, the flowers were blooming and people were walking to their resepective working place. Even for a medieval-style like hierachy in this age, there were over a million people residing in the capital. Of course there some who have more money and status here and were obviously divided into two different areas where they live. The more successful ones were living high up just near the castle and the academy.

On the other side of the coin there were people like me. Bottom feeders who only got to be here just because the were born with a little of status. Our dorm was down some hills where you would had to walk up an incline that takes all of your energy before you even get to school. But luckily trains and tram were invented just at the right time when I arrived. I mean, I don't have anything against the incline itself, but rather the seniors who were complaining about it and were making fun of us as we're the ones suffering in their stead.

But their dorm was just one hill above us, so it didn't really make drastic differnce if you ask me.

I'm currently in my room right now, almost ready to get out and get to school. Seven months have passed since my arrival in the capital and I did my best to pass off as background character K, someone you wouldn' take notice with if don't you don't concentrate really hard. I was so good at it to the point that society looks at me like I should just stay in my room and do nothing important for the rest of the story. But that's where my shadowbroker life will come in and nobody will ever expect it to be someone like me.

Trying to fix my bed hair with my hand mirror, I just give at the end. While I could have stopped sooner, I wanted to waste some time. Grabbing my sword the school gave us to defend ouselves in emergencies, I finally head out. Going down the dorm stairs, meet up with my mob friends.

"Thanks for waiting!"

I put on a cheerful and carefree tone as I thank them for waiting in front of the dorm.

"Hey. Whoa, what happend to your hair?"

"We're going to be late, Cid."

The first one to greet me was Skel Etal. He is the second son of the Baron Etal and a tall but very slim student. He puts some effort in looking fashionable, for example styling his blonde hair to look a little bit better. But he ultimately fails to get even one girl to fall for him, as he always fumbles in the most important situation. But I won't tell him that. Between us three, he's supposed to be the more outgoing one who tries his luck with the ladies.

The second one who talked after Skel is Po Tato. He's also the second son of the Baron Tato, but unlike Skel not tallest one. Rather, he has bony and small figure. He was forced to get a bald haircut so that he can save money when he's in the capital. That's what he told us, but I think he just failed at cutting his hair so bad that he had to shave it all off. His family speicalizes in farming potatoes and are one biggest providers of food in Midgar. Even with such a status, nobody has ever heard of the Tato's and their important support for the kingdom. Like Skel, Po also tries to woo some girls but is even worse than Skel sometimes, as he didn't put any points in fashion or just his appearance in general.

But there's one thing that they have in common. They're the absolute most ordinary... mob characters! On my first day at the academy, I looked around for people that way too unnoticable but still outgoing enough that they leave some traces of their name in rumors and so on. And I found the jackpot.

Skel and Po are so ordinary, to the point that they wouldn't be able to change anything in the story even if they wanted to. And unlike me who does it intentionally, it's just the way how they were born and raised to be mobs.

"Sorry."

And in midst of that, there's me. Also a second son of the Kagenou barony. I manipulated my body in such a way, so I would look above average at best. I play the role of the carefree middle friend who is not too tall but not to short either. My academics are below average, as I sometimes hold myself back in some classes. For example when we had a class where we're supposed to practise of magic output and measure it by hitting a wood block with a sword. Of course it would be impossible for a mob to suddenly unleash a strike that could destroy the whole school, so I lowered my output so low that outsiders would think that I had not a trace of magic in my body.

But there were also cases where I just wasn't able to score higher than I wanted. The stuff they teach in the academy is so outdated and 90% inefficient for combat that I stopped listening to it at one point. And because of that I would always sit in an exam where I don't have any idea what to write down.

Sometimes I freestyle it. But most of the time I just cheat off the guy in front of me. I deliberately sat behind one of the smartest looking people in the classroom for situations like this. But I only copy half of the stuff that he's putting down on his sheet, as I don't want to seem suspicous. The other half are my own answers and as the guy I cheating off isn't perfect, makes his mistakes my mistakes in the exam. So ultimately I get an below average score, but still good enough to pass and don't get extra credits for failing.

We make our way out of the dorm and get to the tram station. We have to hurry as we see that doors are already getting closed, but we just make it in time. The tram is already full of people but there is just enough space where we fit in.

"C'mon, hurry!"

"Hey, wait for me!"

We catch our breaths from the short sprint we just did. The door behind us gets closed and the tram makes his way towards the school without problems.

Huh, that's neat. I didn't think there would be trains or trams in this time of age in the middle ages. I wonder if something happened differently...

"Damnit! I wish they'd let us live in the dorms on campus like all the upper class kids."

Skel starts complaining about having such a long way to the academy. Truly a mob way to start a conversation. I have to take notes from them...

"There's no place for bottom-of-the-pile nobles like us in the exhalted abode of Her Highness and her kind."

Po refutes Skel's wish with a logical argument. And honestly, I don't want to live there. There are two major factors that hinder me of ever approaching such a place. One is...

"If we could get to be honor students like my sister, then they'd let us in the dorms up there."

...Claire. After one completing her first year in the academy, she was already overqualified for everything the school had to offer. So they put her in the best Bushin class and the best academics class, so the she would bloom under this environment. And she did. Claire is rumored to be the second strongest Dark Knight in school with the exception of the student council president.

"What, like become champions at the Bushin Festival? Not a chance."

I smile at the response from Skel. He, Po and I know what our positions are in society. So we don't really make the effort to do something special. For me that is. I don't know about Skel and Po, but I don't think they have the ability to make a move that would change the story.

I did a great job of blending in with the background characters. Nobody notices me, and a special day of reckoning has arrived.

"Anyway, you remember the penalty for the guy who scored worst in yesterday's test, right?"

"We expect you to honor your word."

Both of my mob friends look at me with a smug face as they won a bet they made. To be completely honest, I purposefully lost so that I can do a mob event like this. However, I didn't expect it to be that close of a match. When we compared our tests, Skel and Po's scores were only a bit higher than mine. Even though I didn't write a single coherent sentence that had something to do with the topic.

Even in these situations, my mob friends never fail to suprise me with their mobness. I'll also reach that level someday, I swear.

"I know, but..."

The penalty in question:

Is to confess your love to the most sought-after girl in school and suffer her brutal rejection.

This is exactly the kind of background character event I've always wanted to experience! I knew for a fact that this was a thing in my old world from hearing rumors when I was going to the toilet. Who the girl in question was, is something I'll never know. I think her name was... Nishimura... or was it Nishitani... something along those lines.

From listening later on I knew that they were all rejected by this girl. But I was really suprised at the news of the rejection in some cases. As a shadowbroker in training in my old world, I had to memorize all important characters that were around me. For example: The handsome football ace of the school, the student council president who had perfect marks in everything, the baseball ace who brought his team to Koshien and lastly: the popular actress whose father almost owned everything in town.

So when I heard that this girl rejected both aces without a shred of doubt I was a little bit suspicious about the whole thing going on. But I ultimately decided that it wasn't worth it and went on with my training becoming the Eminence in Shadow.

So I'm particularly excited about this event because I wasn't able to do it in my last life. I was way too focused on becoming a shadowbroker and countering a nuke with my right hook, that I completely neglected my mob life in the background and didn't have any friends because of that. Doing something like this alone is also boring, as you need somebody in the story to make fun of your rejection. Then you console the unfortunate one with ramen and achieve a happy end as a background character.

The tram abruptly stops as we arrive at our station. The people are pushing us from behind because they want to get out as fast as possible. But honestly, it doesn't really matter if you're some seconds or minutes late. The classes begin at the same time for all people. So why do you have to rush?

Despite my rambling, we three idiots are the first ones to get pushed out as we lose our balance and fall out. The tram station isn't directly connected to the academy so we had to walk a bit to finally reach the entrance.

It seems that no matter in which life I am, students are always buzzing around like bees when they reach the entrance. Some greet their friends, some just hurry into their respective classrooms to do their homework before the deadline, some are just here to study and some are just loners who spend their school life alone. Voluntarily or not is something I don't need to know. I even considered making friends with a loner group so that I can be even more bland, but I realized my mistake thinking that.

Loners are also protagonist material in some stories! It got really popular all of a sudden because the readers were finally able to relate with such a character instead of a OP handsome all knowing guy who gets all the girls or a hero who always has the right moral compass no matter the situation.

So I threw my idea away and made some friends with some perverts and no names.

But let's get back to the punishment game itself. Normally, there's only one girl who is considered the most beautiful and most sought-after. But this is an Isekai in an mediavial setting. So there are some princes and princesses running around here and there. After some research, I found no prince but two princesses in this academy and a third princess who already gratuated from here. So there are two different royalties studying here.

That just screams for the main character to show up and seduce all of these girls, so that he can build up his harem of all powerful girls around himself.

Speaking of which...

"O, most beautiful Princess Alexia! Goddess of our campus! I humbly ask you to join me in pure and upright courtship!"

After we shortly pass the entrance, we spectate a public confession to Princess Alexia. She's the second princess of the Midgar Kingdom and in the same year as me. The guy purposefully picked out a small place with grass and trees and in public so that he can have a better chance of getting a positive answer. Really manipulative that guy. Picking out a pubic spot so that the princess has a harder time rejecting him, huh. But there's something he miscalculated.

Events like this, are supposed to be held at the afternoon, you idiot! Just when the sun is setting and where you can have a private conversation so that it doesn't feel awkward doing something like this in front of the whole school! Think about the feelings of the person you're confessing to!

He's also holding a bouquet full of roses to make his confession even more romantic than it should be. There are some cases when girls would accept his confession in a heartbeat, just because they liked him before or would crumble under the expectations from everyone around them.

But in this case...

"Not interested."

The princess just closes her eyes and gives him her rejection to his confession. Not even waiting one second, she turns away from the guy and walks in the opposite direction while the guy dramatically crumbles down as if his whole world just shattered. If I remember correctly, this guy is the son of a major noble, right? And he's even handsome in comparison to those around him. I wonder if popular girls just have their own preferences.

"That's a princess for you. I know she's destined for political marriage after she graduates, but..."

"He wasn't a bad choice for someone to mess around with."

I know, right? I don't get popular girls.

"N-now don't go getting cold feet on us now, okay?"

Yes, you guessed it. My punishment for getting lower marks than these two is a fake confession to Princess Alexia and getting brutally rejected. She has a reputation of turning down guys without mercy. The other candidate would have been the student council president, who also is a princess from another country. But there are rumors that she's too nice for her own good and so Skel and Po decided to go for the safe route of getting me rejected.

"Don't worry. I spent all night figuring out how I was going to do it."

That's not a lie. I really spent the whole night thinking about the most mob way to confess to someone. I used all of my brain cells, scraped all of my knowledge from my old life from media like manga, tv series and rumors to find the most ideal way.

Nothing can stop me now!

...

I suddenly get the chills in my back as if someone put ice cubes on my back without me noticing. All of my hair strains are standing up. This feeling, this sensation... This could only mean...

"I have to go! See you later!"

I run as fast as I can from the scene and try to get to my class as soon as possible. If I was in a shoujo manga, I would have a toast in my mouth and then bump into the main love interest when running around the corner, but I'm just a mob. While running off, I pass Princess Alexia and I weirdly feel her eyes going after my direction.

Huh, weird. Better not think too much about it and get the out of here as fast as possible.

Third POV:

"You think he has to poop?"

"Maybe. He also could have forgot to do his homework."

"We had homework?!"

While Skel and Po were talking about mundane stuff, they failed to notice a presence approaching them from behind. Not that they would have sensed her even if they turned around.

"Excuse me?"

Turning their back to the female voice, both of the idiots were already grinning from ear to ear in their minds as a girl finally spoke out to them without them having to act out first. What they saw was a beautiful and stunning girl with a figure that could rival the first princess, Iris Midgar, even though she's the same age as them. She had long blonde hair going down till her lower back and sky blue eyes that could captivate any men she wanted. Well, except for one, actually.

Skel who was perplexed by this whole situation of a beauty talking to him willingly, could only stand up straight and uptight and didn't dare to make one unnecessary move that could shun her away. His friend Po to his side did the exact oppsite. He was rather delightend by her talking to him and didn't suspect and ill intent. He looked so happy, like the time he and his family harvested a bunch of potatoes and got to keep 35% of it to take it with him to the Midgar Capital.

But the beauty didn't seem delightend at all. She looked rather irritated about something and frowned just looking at them. The two idiots didn't know at that time, and never will, but she ranked these two below trash in her mind. She didn't have a reason for that feeling though. It was just her intuition and instinct that told her to stay away from them as far as possible. But they had one answer that she could work with if she plays her cards right.

"H-h-how c-c-can w-we h-hee-elp y-you?!"

Stuttering, voice cracks, wiping his sweat from his palms away with his pants. Skel wasn't nearly at the level to talk to someone like her.

"Yeah! We are always ready to help you if you need it. So don't be shy to ask!"

Po was rather enthusiastic by talking to the oppsite sex. And while his positive personality only shined when talking to a woman, he wasn't able to leave a positive memory in most of the girl's mind he talked to. Female classmates, his schoolmates around him and even the female teachers were creeped out by him. And just like before, they didn't have any particular reason to feel like this. But there was just something screaming at them to stay as far away as possible.

The girl, Amelia Hikari, decided to be brave and talk to them a bit longer, so that she can recieve her information and get out of here as fast as possible.

"Thank you. I just wanted to ask if you had seen Cid Kagenou around here?"

Both of their expressions, the nervous and the happy one, were replaced by a confused face towards Amelia.

"Cid?"

"He just went to the toilet real fast."

"Hey! Don't say it like that! And we don't even know whether he even went to the toilet or not!"

"Then what was I supposed to say then?"

Being immersed in their bickering, they failed to notice the irritated aura coming from Amelia. She really wanted to keep their conversation as short as possible and they didn't give her a clear answer. How useless they are! She had to interrupt them before some strange rumors spread that she's making friends with people like them. Not that she avoided peasants, no her childhood friend is one, but these two were especially on the 'Do not approach' list.

"So can you please tell me where he went?"

"Oh, I think he went in this direction. Why do you ask?"

"Oh nothing. Thank you for the information!"

Sensing the attempt of the small guy to carry on the conversation, she immediately escapes from them before she gets trapped. Her mother taught her all sorts of skills of speech and how to recognize them and her father taught her self defence and the way of the sword so that she could fight for herself and theh people around her.

Basically, if things were to escalate and they wouldn't let her go, then she would have to resort to plan B. Making them disappear without any trace and then call it a day. She was really waging if she should do it, for the sake of society and the safety of all the women in the world. But she decided against it, as tempting as it was. She wouldn't do unnecessary murder if they didn't do anything yet.

But if they do...

Speed walking towards the direction the baldy showed her, she passed the second princess of the kingdom. Amelia only knows her from parties held at the capital where she was forced to attend. At first she didn't mind as the capital was arguably the most nicest place in whole Midgar and the parties itself weren't so boring if you just made one friend there who you could talk to. That was until she met Cid.

After learning of his disinterest of attenting such balls held by the king as his nobility not being enough to get invited, she always suggested to her father to take Cid with them so that he can get the experience to be there one time. But her request was denied as her father brought up the argument that it would be better to take the older Kagenou sibling with them, so that she can showcase her skills to the nobles and maybe get sponsored by them in the future.

This caused a huge argument between father and daughter, which ended in the father's victory but also his loss. Winning the argument was one thing, but being ignored by his daughter for a whole month took a toll on his soul.

But in retrospect, she was glad that she wasn't able to convince her father to take Cid with them. She feared that if Cid was at a ball with other nobles, daughters from Dukes, Marquess, Earls and so on would notice his charm and would take him away from her. When they first arrived in the Midgar Capital, she feared that such a situation would inevitably come. But after seven months of attending the academy, she hadn't heard a single thing about Cid Kagenou, which made her glad.

She really should have asked for the specific directions because she didn't have any clue where she was going right now.

"Grrr. Just you wait, Cid. I'm going to find you!"

The girl was determined to not let the boy get away from her. Especially after her proclamation seven months prior.

Seven months before:

That's really bad. And I mean REALLY BAD. I expected everything except this! I'm having a panic attack right now before we even begun. Is this the end of my mob life already?

Why is Amelia here? Why haven't Mom and Dad said anything who my partner is? Am I the only one who gets excluded here?

There are so many questions in my head that are left unanswered. At first I didn't mind the idea of an marriage interview. It would be the perfect start to my background character career, to bomb my marriage interview so badly that she doesn't have any other choice than to be disgusted with me.

But my plan failed at the appearance of this particular person. When I heard the news that she'll leave me alone for the two years until we go to the academy, I was overjoyed. The thought of not being bothered at all times and finally dedicating myself to my shadowbroker training, had me butterflies in my stomach. So why is she standing in front of me again? Especially with a smug look on her face?

She doesn't waste any time and takes a seat to sit directly in front of me. She even moved closer with her cushion to close the distance between us. I immediately backed away to get some distance between us. It's only a marriage interview after all. There's no need to be intimate already.

She begins to form a pout on her face after my action.

"We haven't seen each other in two years. Don't you think it's appropiate to give each other a hug first?"

She isn't exactly wrong, but... I can feel something sinister behind her sentence. All of my instincs are screaming at me not to listen to her!

"Errr.... We can do that later, okay?"

"But I want it now!"

What are you? A child?

I don't give her a response to showcase that I'm not bulging from this spot. I mean, she can just walk around the table and give me a hug if she really wants to. But the moment she does that will be my chance to escape from her trap. If she decides to come to me, I'll quickly run around the table and lock the door behind me with a chair that I saw outside the room. While I know that she can easily break through such a weak defense, it'll be enough time for me to escape or to hide from her for the time being.

So I'm just hoping that she'll be blinded by her greed and come to me.

But she doesn't.

"I know what you're thinking. You'll escape the moment when I reach you, right? It was my mistake to not let someone guard the door so you wouldn't escape but I can fix that later in the future."

Curses! My plans were seen right through her! How does she even know that I could escape?

"I don't know what you're talking about? But if you want to postpone the hug, then I don't have a problem with that."

I have to think about other plans. Plan A failed already, so I have to get creative if I want to get out of here without being enganged to her. I don't want to walk the route of an Rom-com protagonist! These stories are way too cliche for my taste and I wouldn't be able to play my shadowbroker role the way I wanted. The moment I get a special someone who lives with me and loves me romantically will be the moment I lose my freedom.

I won't let history repeat itself! I have enough of people laughing about my dreams without hearing me out first! I'll make it, no matter the cost! And if this "special someone" in the future blabbers out my dreams to the outside world, then I can say goodbye to my mob life.

I trailed off a little bit there. Back to the topic: Plan B. Maybe I can distract her for just one moment so that I can flee? But if I do that, it'll be very uncharacter like for a mob who's supposed to be just mediocre at best. Not to mention the friction that will be generated if I move at too high speeds. It'll blow the whole room away.

Okay that doesn't work. Plan C. Maybe I can try to slowly fade away, erasing my presence bit by bit until she doesn't even notice that she's talking to a blank wall. But I've never practised that. I know that Epsilon has a trick like this in her arsenal but I was too busy (lazy) doing other stuff. So there's a fifty percent chance that I fail. That's too high.

I need to come up with other plans! How about plan D. Distact her with something and the moment she looks away will be the moment when I cling to the ceiling. Just like Spiderman in my old world. She'll never expect me to be hanging off the ceiling like a spider and if she does, then she'll be weirded out by me so much that she doesn't want to marry me anymore. No, that sounds too optimistic for me.

Then what about...

"Cid? I can see you're not listening to me."

Hm?

"Sorry about that. I was just immersed in my own thoughts. What did you say?"

Maybe I can redirect the whole situation to my favor so she loses interest in me.

"I was just talking about, how we can catch up to each other. We haven't seen us not a single time in the last two years, you know? You must have felt lonely without little old me."

Rather the opposite. I enjoyed every single second of it. But I won't say that. Cid in this situation would say...

"Of course I missed you! How could I not? How can I not miss someone as beautiful and charming as you?"

Okay, that was way cheesier than I intented. But I finally know that uncomfortable feeling that nagged me, when I was spouting lines like this. These are just lines from a prince character in an Otome Game! I can abuse that!

"Ho, ho? If you missed me so much, then why haven't you visited me once the last two years?"

Ah-

"Ehm... I was busy preparing for my academy debut, you know? Do you remember how hopeless I was in fighting and academics? I wanted to focus all my attention to that."

"And there wasn't a single break time where you possibly could have visited me?"

"No."

Silence.

A very familiar tick mark is appearing on her forhead. I can feel the temperature rising to her face. Uh oh. She's angry.

While I normally would find these news to be greatly bad for me, I couldn't help but smirk to myself. I pulled off plan E. Distracting Amelia with some random topic so she gets mad at me. I know that there's a small chance of her forgetting the engangement, but if I can just redirect her focus onto other things, I can give myself enough time to think about a solution how to flee.

Amelia suddenly stands up and I expect her to go over to me to give me a smack to my head. But she doesn't. Instead, she just streatches her arms out and takes a deep and long breath. Her red face turns back into her normal tone of skin and she takes her seat again.

"I see."

She has an absolute calm expression to her face! That isn't a good sign! Whenever somebody does that instead of being angry, they'll plan out something devious. That's why I find it easier to handle Claire instead of Amelia.

Amelia knows me too good at one point. She can almost tell whenever I tell her a lie. And my acting skills aren't bad for your information.

"Let's get back to the topic on hand. What did you do during the two years where we haven't seen each other?"

"I was training and studying, just like I said before."

It's not exactly wrong. I did train more than I studied, though. There was also the fact that I did a tour to Madlid with my family. But my real intentions during my trip were making a fortune with truffles that are in the ground. I even had Delta helping me finding some. But after a while it got pretty boring to just blow up some holes and see if I was lucky, so I gave up after some time.

Nonetheless, I did make some extra money there. So it wasn't a complete waste of my time.

"Just that? Nothing else?"

If I say that I went on a trip somewhere without her, she'll definetely get angry at me.

"Yup, nothing else."

"Huh, that's strange. My parents were delivered letters of how your family went to Madlid a year ago. Your parents were pretty happy to see you finally begging to go somewhere."

Mom! Dad! Why have you forsaken me in these times?!

"O-oh, I just forgot about it! Sorry about that."

Amelia didn't say anything after that. She only stared at me with the coldest expression that she could muster on her face. And I have to admit, it was pretty chilling. She almost on the same level as Alpha when Delta and Zeta are bickering again.

After a while she just sighs and changes the topic.

"Our parents planned for us to get married, if you haven't noticed already."

Now that I think about it. Why did my parents decide to wed me off? Wouldn't it be Claire first to find a partner of a higher ranking? Especially for the reason that she's the more talented one between us. So why did they think it would be a good idea to have me engaged first?

"No, I already got the news from my parents that I'm supposed to meet my future partner here."

"And that's exactly right!"

No, it's not!

"Wait a moment. Pause. Don't you find it weird?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

She looks at me as if I just told her that water shouldn't be drinkable.

"I mean, how did it even come to this? How did my parents convince your parents to have you marry me?"

That's a legitimate question. What did my parents offer her family so that they wed off their daughter to a lower ranked family like mine? That just doesn't make any sense!

"They didn't- *cough* I mean, you shouldn't worry about stuff like that. You should rather be overjoyed at the oppurtinity to be married to someone like me!"

"But that's exactly my question! Why would your parents wed you off to someone like me? You're way too high spec for my caliber. Did they ever think about their public image, how it would look like if some random son of a baron gets married to the daughter of a popular duke and duchess?"

"Oh."

And it's back. Her face is heating up again. It's even more red than before. You could compare her with a tomato and wouldn't see any difference, except her hair of course. But her face doesn't stop there. It reaches levels of red that I considered impossible, as too much blood will just come out any moment if you concentrate too much into your head. A beet is the only thing that I can think off how to describe her state right now.

And there's this grin. She even laughs to herself in a creepy way. Way to raise a red flag for me. Sometimes enough is enough. But I can see her calming down again. The smile on he face remains, though.

"Like I said, don't worry too much about the details. Just be happy that marry into a wealthy family that can support you your whole life."

Wait... She has a point here! Her family is absolutely loaded with money! If I can just have a connection to the funds to the family fortunes, then I won't have to worry about money for the rest of my life anymore!

"Yeah, you get the benefits of living in our house, getting your own big room, having a personal butler by your side at any time (I won't allow maids, they're too risky), you get the best food served in the Kingdom..."

That sounds pretty convincing in my opinion-

"... and lastly: You get to live with me at all times!"

-and I take it back. I completely forgot the condition for getting so much money...

I was completely blinded by the idea of finally getting rich. But you can't blame me. If I want to finance my 600 year old life, then I have to find a massive income of money. I don't want to spend my long life searching (robbing bandits) for money.

Amelia must have seen the drastic expression change in my face, as she suddenly sulks.

"Why are you making such a face when the condition is getting married to me? Other men would see it as the best benefit of this marriage, you know?"

"I just have other priorites."

"Like what? Money? And everything else just comes second? Even me?"

Especially you.

"I wouldn't say it like that. There are still important things in my life that I can never give up on. These things are the only motor and support that make me continue the things I do."

"And am I included in this list of yours?"

"Yes."

No.

"Liar! I can see it clearly on your face! Tell me, what do I have to do so that I can join this list?!"

As if suddenly exploding out of her seat, she began to grab me by the collar and shoved her face near mine. It's worth to mention that she had bloodshot eyes, as if she desperate about achieving something. I don't like her sense of distance. Or more like lack off.

I have to change the topic again.

"That's not important right now. Can we just discuss aobut this whole marriage thing first? I still have all my stuff at the carriage that I want to unload into my dorm."

Fortunately she lets me go and then has a contemplating look on her face.

She's thinking too deep about something. That was always one of her habits. Good grief when will she learn...

All of the sudden she looked up to me, as if she had the realization of her life. I'm probably exaggerating, but I can see stars in her eyes like a certain idol from my past life. Speaking of idols, I wonder what happened to my old world after I died? Meh, it doesn't matter anymore, as I finally have magic at my disposal.

Amelia looks at me with the widest grin that she gave me today and said her thoughts out loud.

"I have the best idea for us! It'll benefit you and me, I can assure you that!"

Oh? Now I'm interested. I'll listen to her for now.

"Your dorm is probably the dorm that is located at the lowest point, right?"

"Yes? And why is that important?"

"You see... what would you say about a chance of getting to live with the nobles or just having a dorm room on the campus?"

While that could certaintly cause some problems for my shadowbroker life, I think I could manage it. I still have to ask Eta to make me some soundproof pads.

"I don't have anything against it."

"Perfect!"

But I can feel a catch here. Nothing in this world is so convenient where you could just live between the higher ranking nobles sons and daughters without a catch. Especially for someone like me. I've heard how Claire made it up there with sheer will and effort alone, but she's also the prodigy of our family, so that was expected of her.

But me? I still haven't shown any outstanding abilities that could make my parents, my sister, the maids and butlers in the estate and Amelia change their mind about me?

So let's ask to be sure.

"But is there a catch to this? I can't see why I would be suddenly shoved towards the rich kids section without any reason."

"There isn't a catch, you dummy! You just have to live with me up there!"

That's a pretty big detail that you left out here!

I really wanted to complain to her about trying to decieve me, but I remembered something. Since the beginning when I first met Amelia I already suspected her trying to scam my money. What other reason could she have to use her time to spend it with me? But after that moment I finally realized it.

My suspicion turned out to be true. But I let my guard down. She slowly built up her trust with me so that I won't be suspicious of her. She knew that. And that's why, during these long years where she tormented me excusing it with playing around, she finally striked at the moment where I have no escape routes.

That was her plan all along! Luring me out here and then forcing me into a sham marriage so that I can't escape from her, and then I'll be overworked like a slave until I die! I can't believe that I fell for that!

He couldn't be more wrong.

I have to decline before she takes my silence as a yes!

"Oh, you didn't say that before. I'll humbly decline your offer as I can't imagine myself mooching off a woman during my academy days."

"But you said that you don't have anything against it! Just think about it for a moment! We can practise living together during our school days and after we graduate, we won't feel so awkward at the beginning of our newlywed life together! Don't you think it makes more sense for a couple to live together than be seperated?"

Why are we already married in your imagination? I still haven't consented nor agreed to anything!

"Woooow. Slow down there. First of all: we aren't married yet. Second of all: I didn't agree to anything yet. Third of all: You're skipping some steps to a healthy relationship there."

"Did you just say 'yet'?"

Are you only hearing the things you want to hear?

That girl is seriously hopeless. But I have to tip off my hat to her. Being so dedicated to scamming a mob to the extent to marrying him and even living with him, even though you don't love him? I knew that Amelia is a perfectionist, but that is rather extreme for my taste.

Let's deescalate the situation first.

"Doesn't matter. What about things like dating, going on a first date, introducing yourself to the others parents, planning a life together?"

"Didn't we already do all of that?"

Wait.... She has a point. If you count the times when she dragged me along with her as dates then that would be checked off. I even met her parents and she's already on friendly terms with my mother. But what about planning a life together?

"I already laid out a plan for you of how you will be living your life once we get married. First, we graduate, while you don't have any other relations to other women. Second, you and I get a job at the Crimson Order made by Princess Iris. Third, we go into war and fight for our Kingdom. Fourth, you will protect me from a slasher at the last moment at the risk of your own body, but you'll miraculously survive. Fifth, we retire from the Crimson Order and find a nice farm and house on the country side. Sixth, we build up a big family of 11 and then..."

She's absolutely crazy! Which part of this is planned 'together'? She just made up some fantasies and put me in there!

I really can't believe what my ears are hearing right now. Normally, I would ask if that was a joke, but one look on her face was enough to shut me up. There was a confidence in her fantasies, a look of absolute certainty and a fire in her eyes that she will achieve her dreams.

And just for a second, only for a little second, did I root for her. I can understand the feeling when you plan something big and awesome in your mind, only for people around you to critize it and kicking you down a peg. I'm very well familiar with that.

But then I remembered that the price of her fantasies is my freedom. So that was pratically a no brainer move what I did next.

"Please stop there."

Amelia immediately shuts up. She seemed to have ranted on and on while I wasn't listening. I can her muttering something about: "But there are still 76 plot points left to do with you." , but I'll ignore it for now. So let's go over the facts that I picked up today.

First: She was patient enough to plan a scam for over seven years.

Second: She planned out a future where I didn't have a say in that.

Third: She backed me into a corner.

Maybe I was wrong all along. Maybe she isn't just a named character, but the villainess herself?! That would be so cool! I got to witness the growth of a villainess and if I'm lucky, the main protagonist will come and save her from her destrucive nature. After that, they'll go on a adventure and will sometimes meet me in my Shadow disguise, where I will drop some hints here and there.

But let's go back for a moment.

It seems like that I'll have to go with that, do I? There's not much left for me to do otherwise. It's all or nothing. I have to take the risk!

"How about this? We'll both wait until we reach the age of 18 before we get married. We both can't get married legally right now, so it'll just be a engagement during our academy days. That will practically ruin any of your chances of getting together with another guy. And we can't say for sure that you'll still feel the same in three years. Just like I said before, there can always be a guy that you could come across and then fall in love with. Wouldn't it be a pain then to announce the nullification of our hypophetic engagement and then burn off with your future lover?"

That was maybe the longest monologue that I've held before Amelia. I intentionally try to keep my responses and sentences short with her. But in this case, I didn't have any other choice left. To avoid getting married, to avoid losing my freedom, to avoid the captivity of my shadowbroker life, and most importantly: My money that is about to be scammed from me if I agree with this engagement.

How about that Amelia? This is the level of someone who is a powerhouse behind the scenes! Logical explanations of why you shouldn't be engaged to me. And I even did a suggestion to solve the problem. I doubt that her dedication to scam me will hold through her academy days. She's destined to meet the protagonist as she's a named character after all. She'll fall madly in love with him and will then forget me completely. That's how it goes.

But instead of hearing her agreeing with me, she only stays silent. I can't read her expression as she hides her face under her bangs. But she suddenly twitches. Not just once, but twice and then thrice and a fourth time until she's shaking violently. Before I can even ask if she needs help and if she's alright, Amelia begins to laugh. But not the ladylike laugh or the normal laugh she does when she's with me. No, it's completely a laugh of a maniac who lost his mind over something.

At that point I realized that all help is too late. Even if I did call someone to help me solve this situation, it will just complicate the situation further as I will be asked why she's laughing like that. And I can't think of any excuse that I could give that would make this plausable. Heck, I still don't have any idea why she's bahaving like that now.

But after a while she stops.

The smile remains on her face. She's wiping some tears from the corners of her eyes. Did I say something so funny? I don't think so? But then why would she laugh at my monologue like that as if I just told her the best joke in her lifetime?

While I internally ponder about that, Amelia begins to speak.

"Oh Cid, that was a funny joke. What did you say? Falling in love with another man? That's just as impossible as heaven and earth switching places right now. There's only one person that I have set my eyes on, and that's you, Cid. Since the moment you saved me from a stray sword with your own body, I was curious about you. I only wanted to satisfy my curiousity and then leave you alone like I always did. But you were different, Cid. No matter what I did, you just didn't make a single reaction to anything I did. I thought that you threw yourself infront of a sword because you fell in love with me, but I was wrong."

I did that? Really? Oh yeah, I remember it only vague how I let a sword stab me during a spar with Claire. But was Amelia really there during that time?

"And I'm not even done yet. During all those years, the opposite happend. If you still didn't get it, then I will spell it out for you.

I Love You, you dummy!

I fell in love with you during all these times we spent together. And when we weren't together I missed you dearly, so you can imagine how painful these two years were without you by my side. But if you want to, sure. We can wait until we're both 18 years old, but be prepared. I'll do anything in my power to make you fall for me. You'll fall so hard that you won't have any other choice but to confess and directly propose to me at the same time! And of course, I will accept it without any hesitation whatsoever. Because I waited for this moment for a long time, Cid. I've endured two years without you, 3 years won't make any difference. Especially if I can still see you and can go on dates with you whenever I want."

.....

Wow. That was a heartfelt confession from her side. But that just brings me into a spiral. In what genre are we in right now? I always thought that we're in an Isekai, but after hearing her speech, I'm not so sure anymore. Maybe it was a shoujo and villainess theme all along? I mean, t hat was really protagonist like from her. An assertive woman directly confessing to her crush without any hesitation? That would be popular in my old world. But Amelia....

.... You have to save these words for the real protagonist of the story! Not for some random mob childhood friend that you just want to scam, you know?

To say that I was impressed would be an massive understatement. I was really speechless of how Amelia got her act so perfectly together, that she almost convinced me that she really loves me. And when she confessed to me, my heart ached for a bit, but I'll ignore it for now. Probably just the side effects of training.

But I have to stay sharp! Just like how she won't give up her academy worthy performance, I can't let myself be left behind! While she's really good at acting, I think almost on the same level as the girls, she's still standing in front of the master here. Witness the true performance of a mob!

"Y-you l-love m-me? I-I'm honored, really! B-but j-just l-like I said, l-let's w-wait until w-we're 18 and t-then d-decide, okay?"

I stuttered too much there. Damnit! I got out of practise!

But Amelia doesn't even react to my acting. Instead she just turns around and goes directly to the door. Just before she goes outside, she turns around to me again and say something.

"Just like I said: Be prepared, Cid Kagenou. I've waited long enough."

After saying that, she immediately left and closed the door behind her, leaving me alone standing in this room dumbfounded. I was dumbfounded about two things: First, her confession acting. Second, how she didn't react to my acting in any way. The second thing bothered me the most.

I can feel an headache incoming. I think my mob life is in danger, after the events of today. I can only hope that future holds a different outcome than what Amelia imagined.

Back to the present:

School is already over for most students. The sun is setting and the sky has an orange tone to it. The sky is still clouded just like in the morning but not enough for it to be raining. Just behind the gym there two people standing oppsite of each other. One was a beautiful girl with platinum hair and diamond shaped red pupils. She's considered one of the few beauties in this academy with status. She had a stoic expression on her face while crossing her arms under her ample breast.

It was Princess Alexia herself who showed up here.

And the guy summoning her is just some ordinary no-name boy. A mob character in every way possible. He's standing so straight like a log, but is still hunched forward at 60°, almost falling over. He looks nervous and is wiping his sweat on his hands on his pants off. He's trembling with his shoulders as if he has no control over them. Yes, you guessed it right:

That's me, Cid Kagenou.

And in such a setting did I decide to carry out my confession. Just like I said in the morning, confessions should be held at the afternoon. That gives me the chance to clumsily slip a letter into Princess Alexia's locker with everyone noticing me. Of course everyone immediately concluded that it's a love letter from me directed at Alexia and wasted no time informing her Highness of it. Probably to warn her and tell her that she musn't show up at my confession.

But contrary to many beliefs, she's standing right in front of me. And just right next to us are Po and Skel watching my confession with serious eyes. They originally planned to hide behind the bushes, but their upper body is already sticking out. So it would be impossible not to notice them. But Alexia ignores them.

For a mob character like me, it's like a battlefield I'm standing on right now. And it's not even a winning battle. Princess Alexia rejeceted countless boys with her casual phrase "Not interested.", as she and many other aristocats are destined for a political marriage in the future. An academy romance would just be for the funs and giggles and fooling around before you turn into an adult. But I wasted enough time monologuing.

It's showtime!

You are about to witness the best background character confession in this world! Feast your eyes in it, as you'll only see me this doing once in a lifetime!

"Pwinshesh A-A-Alegsia!"

I begin my confession. Lisping the 'Princess' status, misspelling the name of the person recieving my confession. Having a stacco at the beginning of her name....

"I-I-I l-like y-y-you!"

...Shaking so hard with your knees that it look like that they could give out at any moment, spouting out the legendary three words but still failing as if you practised them beforehand but are failing at the most important moment....

"W-will you pl-please be my g-g-g-girlfriend?"

...And then raise your right hand up and go bow down at full speed! Don't forget to have a distance of 182 centimetres from your target! The bow should be at directly 90° so that she won't see your nervous face as you confess....

Nailed it. That was perfect!

There's no need for fancy words. It was a complete display of utter incompetence and lack of confidence! I can see Skel and Po making flabbergasted faces as if they can't believe what they just saw. But why are you acting so suprised my mob friends? I got a lot of inspiration from your previous attempts with women. It was really a big help and the last push for me to finish this confession. Spending the whole night pondering about how to do this really paid off.

This is what a real mob character looks like... No, this is art! Well done! Truly well done, me!

Now I just have to wait for her to reject me so I can run away crying like a girl while tripping over nothing with an Gamma like performance....

"All right, I will."

What?

"What?"

She grabs my stretched out arm into her hand. Princess Alexia then crouches down on my level where we see each other at eye level.

I can hear someone turning around the corner, making their way towards us, but I'll ignore it for now. While my instinct is giving me major danger levels if I don't do anything now, my senses are clouded by the sheer insanity of this situation.

"I'm so happy that you asked. I've been waiting for someone like you. I'll be in your care from now on."

W-w-what (stacco)?! What is this girl saying?! Is she alright up there?!

"Ehrr...uh... come again?"

"What's wrong? I accepted your confession. You wanted to go out with me, right?"

She says this with the most innocent expression on her face as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do something like this. From the corner of my vision I can see Skel biting his lips so hard that they're bleeding already. And Po just passed out as I can see his ghost ascending to the heavens.

But why did she accept my confession?! Is she blind or something? She rejected countless good men and the moment I showed up she suddenly folds?! Who would even fall for such a guy like me?

Just behind the confession:

"ACHO! I suddenly got the chills for some reason."

I sneezed without any reason. It's not even cold right now and I'm not allergic to anything, so its pretty mysterious how I sneezed. But that doesn't matter right now! I heard from rumors that Princess Alexia is getting confessed right now. While that information normally didn't concern me, it was the person confessing that made me curious. The rumors say that it was a plain boy with raven black hair shoving a letter through Princess Alexia's locker.

While I don't think that it's Cid (as he still has me as an 100% option to take), I still have to make sure. Just to be safe...

In the main office of Alexandria:

A golden blonde elf was heard sneezing suddenly. Being mildly concerned about her state of body because of the sneeze, the elf decided to take a small break from all the world piling up. She's sure that she can work through the stack of paper on her desk with no problem, but she remembered the Shadow Wisdom to take a break when one is needed.

Smiling at the memory of him, she can only hope that their reunion in the capital won't take a long time.

In a writing office in Alexandria:

The silver haired elf sneezed loudly but cutely. Still, it was enough to blow away the papers on her desk full of notes for her Shadow Chronicles. Not that she made much progress on that anyway. But she steeled her resolve and did her best to come up with new things to write. Thankfully, she doesn't have to wait for a long time, as it was her turn monitoring and visiting her lord. And with that chance, she can get a whole lot of inspiration from him like always.

I was fairly sure that I had the role of the shadowbroker of the story. But when and how and why did I switch tracks to be a romcom protagonist?!

But an unknown presence makes their appearance just as the fake confession was an accidential success.

"CID?! What am I seeing here?! Did you just confess to Princess Alexia, while you have me by your side?!"

Scratch romcom Protagonist. I'm apperently an harem protagonist right now. That's not better! No, that's even worse than I could ever imagine!

"Oh my, Miss Hikari! Why are you shouting so loud?"

"Please be quiet for now. You're not the person I'm talking to."

Princess Alexia puts on a gentle smile and responses to Amelia.

"That may be true, but I'll have to ask of you to be more quiet, as I don't want to cause a commotion at this time of day."

Amelia shuts up at the tone of the princess. After all, Alexia is a princess while Hikari is just the daughter of a well known duke. That's how an outsider would think, but that's where they'd step into Amelia's, or more like the whole Hikari's, trap. The family Hikari is well acquainted with the king of Midgar. That reached the point where the Hikari's are the first noble family that is written down on the list when the king is holding a ball or some other event.

So if you make an enemy out of the Hikari's, you can expect some unfortunate circumstances coming for you.

Now that we know the connection between the two families there is a question that is brought into this room.

Why are the two daughters so unfamiliar with each other? You would think that they would be friends already from the many times they've met in the past. But that's not the case. Rather, as I can see it in Amelia's face right now, they both hold some hostility against each other. While Amelia doesn't even make the effort to hide it, I can feel the air around Princess Alexia freezing.

There's an awkward silence between the two of them right now. I, as a mob character, don't have the right to interfere with anything here. I only have the role to act according the situation like I always did.

"So, Cid, care to explain?"

And now I'm the center of their attention. Only because Amelia asked me that question... I can hardly say that I confessed because of a punishment game, but if I do, I'd feel like that would calm Amelia down. Or at least lower her anger towards me. But if I do that I'll stand out as the biggest asshole on campus who confessed to the Princess only for a punishment game, but was actually accepted. I wouldn't even survive one day amongst the boys if word ever gets out. At least, Cid wouldn't.

So I'm currently standing before two options:

1. Say it's a punishment game. That'll calm Amelia down for the moment, but I can say goodbye to my whole mob academy life completely.

2. Say I confessed because I wanted to. Amelia will stay mad, but I won't turn the whole male part of the academy against me.

I think that it's a pretty easy choice to take. Of course I'm going for the option that will give me least headache.

"I... uh... confessed to Princess Alexia?"

"Yes, I can see that. But my question is rather why you would-"

"Oh my, look at the time! Cid, was it? Will you please escort me to the dorms?"

Nice timing, Princess! Amelia doesn't stand a chance against us with your authority and my blandness! I can use that...

"Of course!"

And so we leave a stunned Amelia and two unconscious mob friends behind. Amelia's mouth dropped so much, that I think a whole tuna sandwhich could fit in there. It was pretty funny to see how Amelia reacted to this, but I won't be able to feel like this for any moment longer.

Because I'm apperently going out with a princess right now! That's not mob like at all!

"Look, that's him."

"No way! He's way too average."

"This must be a mistake!"

"I'm so gonna kill him!"

"But who is he?"

Thank you, my fellow background characters, for your input how you see the current situation. I agree with you wholeheartedly.

I bring my tray with food to the usual table where my mob friends eat. I didn't get anything extravagant, or more like I couldn't. As an unassuming character in school and also being a lower class noble, I don't really get the best food served here. So it's basically just a bowl of noodles with almost no flavor. Not that I mind, though.

I take a seat just opposite of my school friends and fake a sigh.

"You don't think it's weird?"

Of course, it's Skel who responses to me first.

"Oh, it's weird."

"Definitely bizzare."

Po doesn't let his chance slip up to hang on with Skel here.

"If I may be brutal, you have nowhere the specs that would make you worthy to date Princess Alexia. I don't even think I would make the cut."

"I know right? I never expected her to take me."

"I know right? I never expected her to take him."

Hm?

Suddenly hearing a voice behind me, I turn around and find a certain blonde girl standing behind me. She's also not looking very happy either. That's understatement, she's looking furious right now. The ends of her hair are standing up, like there's an aura that's making them move.

Does this girl like to always sneak behind me? There wasn't a single time where I've met her on campus without sneaking up to me. Can't she just go to me directly?

Skel and Po are stunned at the appearance of Amelia Hikari right in front of them. She's a higher ranked noble after all and not to mention one of the best students here in the academy. So she's apparently even ranked higher than some aristocats higher than her because of her hard work.

Did I mention that lower class nobles and higher ranked nobles are seperated in the cafeteria? Royalties, grand dukes' kids, duke's kids and so on are all gathered there. People with a ranking similiar to mine are put down here, where the food quality and quantity is... let's say lowered by a bit.

Amelia doesn't waste any time taking a seat just next to me and puts down her own tray of food on the table. Here you can see the difference in rankings between us. While I only have a small bowl of noodles, Amelia gets two plates of freshly cooked meat, salad and some mashed potatoes. A proper meal for someone like her, I would assume.

"Hey, it's the girl from yesterday!"

"Yeah, I can see that! Is she here because of me?! Did I finally enter my popular phase?"

"What are you talking about? It's time for MY popular phase!"

Skel and Po are whispering something to each other but that doesn't concern me. I quietly drink the rest of the soup in my bowl and finish my meal. Now that Amelia is here, I need to escape her before she can interrogate me.

"Well then, I'll find a solution to that later. See you!"

But a hand grabs my sleeve and a foot stomps and my right foot, preventing my escape.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Amelia asks me that with a smile on her face. She still has to keep her image up after all, but I can see her true intentions. But there's no way for me to escape here. We're attracting more attention as now Amelia sits with us here, despite being the dukes daughter.

I give up and take my seat again.

"Oh, don't mind me. Just continue with your conversation. Pretend I'm just air."

That's not how it works my dear childhood friend.

"Y-y-yes!"

Skel is showing is lack of confidence in front of a girl again. While Po is just smiling happily at the sight of a girl sitting with us that I can see some flowers forming around him.

Is that the power of being in love that I'm seeing here....?

Probably not. But let's just carry on with our mundane conversation. If Amelia has something to say, I can just shut her down with my last trump card.

"I'm scared. I feel like there's a catch. I mean, we don't even live in the same world."

My mob friends, seeing that I made the initiative to talk first even though a terrifying presence is right next to me, finally gather their courage and also begin to speak.

"Who cares? If you're lucky, you could get some sweet memories out of this-"

*Ahem*

Amelia cleared her throat very loudly, interrupting Skel mid-sentence. Not only that, but she's also glaring at him as if he just insulted her whole family. Skel, in response, immediately shuts up and proceeds eating his meal in silence. Did she just intimidate him with one look? That's so cool! From my experience, only protagnonists have this ability to scare someone away when they're bothered with just one look.

Maybe I can use that as Shadow? No, that would take the fun in fighting when they're already scared. But maybe they'll drop some useful lines to progress the story if they're scared?

Arghh! I don't know what to do!

"He's right! But if you want, I could trade place with-"

Po also stops mid-sentence for some reason. His line of sight is directing upwards just to my left and we see a girl that shouldn't be here.

It's Princess Alexia. My girlfriend.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Yes!"

Amelia?! You can't just say that to the princess?! Why is she so hostile to her?

"G-g-go aheav..."

"If th-th-this seat will d-d-do, by all meems..."

Skel and Po don't even try to hide their fear and lack of confidence towards Princess Alexia.

This sense of insignificance... Did I pick the perfect background characters for friends or what?

The princess pushes me to the side so I can give her enough place for her to seattle down on my previous seat. Doing this, I get pushed into Amelia who doesn't even bulge an inch. Instead, she just remains in her spot and lets me pushed into her. I can even feel one of her left arm trying to wrap around me but the princess gives her a knowing look that she should stop.

Amelia only frowns at the look of the princess but ultimately decides not to make an enemy of the princess.

"She's sitting the lower nobility seats!"

"And she's so close to them!"

"And is that Amelia Hikari with them?!"

"You mean the girl who passed the physical and academic tests with flying colors?!"

"What are two beauties of our school doing with guys like them?"

Everyone around is making such a ruckus. They don't even try to be discreet, as they almost shout at each other the news. Fortunately, we don't have a newspaper club in our academy. And the people aren't able to take pictures for proof, as the concept of a camera wasn't invented yet, though I can vaguely remember telling Eta about it.

But more importantly: Why am I sandwiched between these two named characters!? Where's the protagonist when you need him? He's sure taking his time for the story to built up. There isn't a sign of him or her appearing to do something interesting. The only protagonist worthy person I can think of is the student council president...

"I can feel that you think about another woman, Cid."

While the maids around Princess Alexia prepare all of her extravagant and stylish food on the table, Amelia makes a comment that concerns me a little.

How did she even know what I was thinking about? Sometimes, I think she's a telepath.

The total amount of Princess Alexia's plates comes to the number of six. Two fish meals, one pig cutlet in five pieces, one pudding as dessert and at last some bread and croissant. Not to mention high quality of her food. If the difference between me and Amelia was worlds apart, then the difference between me and the princess would be a whole universe. That's just how protagonist like they are.

"Wow, that's royalty for you. Look at all the food."

"I never manage to finish it. Honestly, I wouldn't mind having some of the lower-class options, but..."

Oh cool. I've got a great idea.

"Then can I have some?"

Even though I ask that, I just take one of piece of her pig cutlet anyway without waiting for her response. Putting it into my mouth, a whole new experience of flavors shoots into my mouth. The sauce, the tender meat and the way it was seasoned. Everything in it is on my tongue and I savor every second of it.

But that's not important right now.

"Mmm, delish! I'll have some of that, too!"

I don't waste any time of grabbing one of her fish pieces and put it into my mouth. Just like the meat, it's also very delicious and full of nutrition. Everyone around us is looking at me as if I'm some crazy madman trying my best to get the princess of my neck.

And they couldn't be more right than that.

While I just want to dump the princess as fast as possible, there's no way that a background character like me could ever dump a princess! So it's only logical for me to act like a total asshole and make her dump me. I call it: Operation "Dump me already, Dammit!"

"Hey, this isn't bad, either!"

I'm already eating some parts of her dessert right now. It's only a matter of minutes before she dumps some water on me and dumps me while going away. And after that I'll look dumbfounded and oblivious to what happend and ask the others around me why she did that. While that would earn me the biggest jerk title on campus, I only realized yesterday that I could risk that as I'm a background character who everyone will forget.

Now let's look over to the Princess to see her reaction...

"Now, Cid, you can't do that. I thought that I raised you better than this. Or did I forget to teach you about the impoliteness of taking the food of your partner?"

Amelia turns my head towards her and has a handkerchief in her hand. My hands are still preoccupied by the plate with the dessert on it and the fork I use to eat it, so Amelia wipes off some crumbs off my face.

But Amelia doesn't stop there.

"Geez, Cid! You still have some bed hair on your head. Let me fix that!"

Normally I would be grateful for her doing such a thing when she didn't have to, but we're infront of my "girlfriend" and whole student body right now. While it could benefit me that Princess Alexia would dump me because of my relationship with Amelia, I want to do things myself. I can't let myself be beat in something like this after all!

"There you go. And don't forget not to speak while you're still chewing. It's dangerous and impolite."

"Yes, Amelia."

"Did you see that?"

"Amelia Hikari, one of our most beautiful goddesses on campus, just wiped off the crumbs on his face!"

"Not to mention, fixing his bed hair!"

"Man, I'm so jealous of him!"

"I know right? Getting to date a princess and making the Amelia Hikari acting like his wife? That guy sure used all of his luck in his life."

"What I would do to switch places with him...."

Directing my focus on the princess again, I see her only looking perplexed about the whole situation that just happend in front of her. But she quickly shakes her head and puts on her usual indifferent face, before smirking.

"I understand you're studying Royal Bushin fencing for your afternoon physical education?"

Yes, I do. But I was massively disappointed when I saw how underdeveloped the sword techniques were. I even sneaked to the highest Royal Bushin class to see what they're made of and wasn't particulary happy with what I saw either. The people in this world are just way too scared to get hit by a sword. Understandably, but you have to take a risk if you ever want to hit your opponent, you know? Clashing against each other and then jumping ten feet apart is not the way!

"Uh, yes, ma'am."

But where is she going with this?

"I thought we could take the class together."

What! No!

"No, I don't think so... I'm in section nine, the lowest of all the sections."

I give her an excuse that would be enough to convince her. After all, it would be pointless to put someone in a higher section if they can't keep up with the training. So it would make sense for her to change her mind so I won't be in Section One.

But...

"That's all right. I put in a good word for you and they opened up a spot in Section One."

"Yes, ma'am."

And thus my Operation: "Dump me already, Dammit!" came to an end.

But fate had other plans for my lunch time as I still wasn't allowed to go and eat in peace.

"That's wonderful, Cid! You can finally attend the same classes as me!"

Just behind me, Amelia is practically beaming full of happiness at the thought of sharing one more class with me. The aura around is her is so bright that I think the seven deadly sin of pride is right next to me.

"Uh, yeah! I guess?"

"Aww, don't be like that! I tried to convince Zenon-sensei to take you, but he refused! Do you know how angry I felt after that? He may be a former Bushin Festival champion, but he's just another one the ignorant ones not knowing your potential!"

Why are you making such a proud face all of the sudden? Technically, I should be proud of my so called "potential", you know?

"Oh, miss Hikari? Did your request of him being put into Section One not go through? That's too bad."

Princess Alexia comments on Amelia's failure of getting me into a hell hole she herself put me in, though.

"Well, unlike a certain princess over here, I don't abuse my name and status for every little thing."

I can feel the aura of both parties rising. It's like a duo boss battle in the middle of the cafeteria, but there's no one able to fight them both. Not to mention the toxicity and tension of the situation. No one dares to speak a word as they fear being in their line of sight at the slightest movement. So everyone is just a spectator right now.

"I only wanted to spend some more time with my beloved boyfriend at my side. Is that wrong to feel that way?"

What do you mean by beloved?! We haven't even spent more than 10 minutes together!

"Oh, don't get me wrong. I don't have anything against Cid being put in Section One of the Royal Bushin class. Rather, I'm overjoyed to see him there."

I would very happy and grateful if you didn't feel that way.

"And why is that?"

"So that I can have an eye on him even during physical education. I can't just leave him alone where he could be hauled off my some hyenas when I have the option to save him. Speaking of hyenas, could you please remove yourself from Cid?"

"Ara? Are you implying that I'm some hyena?"

"Yes, precisely. So go on. I'm waiting for you to move away from my future lover."

What did this girl just say in front of basically everybody?!

"Did Amelia Hikari just indirectly confess that she has a crush on that nobody?!"

"That amount of luck... he should really try playing in a casino."

"What are you talking about? Look at him, he's more scared than happy."

I have to escape from here before the situation turns dire for all parties here. And I absolutely don't want my mob character status to be changed into anything else.

"Will you look at the time! I have to go now. I don't want to be late for class. See you later!"

I hurridly pack all of my stuff and take the tray back from where I got it. But I don't immediately rush into the class but instead hide myself on the toilet. From my previous memory and even now can I confidently say that rumors are spreading faster than I initially could have thought. So I'll just wait for the storm to calm down for a moment before stepping out and resuming my normal life.

Skel and Po remained useless lumps to the bitter end.