The eminence in shadow: A Mob's way out of polygamy 7

Chapter 7: Fencer Ordinaire and the fake girlfriend

After my disastrous lunch time, we resumed in our normal mundane lives. The people around me minded their own business whole I minded my own. But there were some glances at me occasionally and some mumurs about me. But everytime I would turn towards them, they would always look at away and whistle their way out.

Not sure why they would do something like this, but I have to put an end to this! If this goes on then there will no element of suprise even if I show my true powers to the world. Instead, they'll say: "Hey, isn't that Princess Alexia's boyfriend that also flirts with Amelia? Almost expected that out of him."

I can't allow that! That would go against everything I ever worked hard for!

Amelia also isn't the best friend of man in helping me out of this misery. You would think that your childhood friend who was always lovely to you, would do something to help you. But no! Instead she's just fighting fire with gasoline. Amelia doesn't even try to refute her previous statements of me being her future lover.

That earned me some hateful glances from my fellow classmates and my mob friends. But they don't know the real pain of getting to know the real Amelia. She puts on a front in public but when she's alone with me she shows her true colors. While she's being all nice and bouncy around fellow schoolmates, though cold to some boys hitting on her, her personality makes a 180° turn all of the sudden when confronted with me.

As if there's some switch in her mind. Dragging me away from my dorm and almost knocking on my dorm door everyday to go somewhere to catch up with each other. I mean, the idea isn't all that bad, but if it's done almost everyday then you're expected to run out of things to talk about eventually. But not with Amelia Hikari.

She really gives me her report of her day of week of how many times she was praised, hit on, glanced at and so on. I notice her looking more carefully when talking about boys talking to her but always makes a sullen expression afterwards when seeing the lack of my reaction.

But she's not the only one talking between us. She forces me to also talk about my day and if something interesting happend lately. I always say that I have nothing to report which she immediately detects as a lie. She isn't exactly wrong but I can't really tell her about me being Shadow when I haven't made my debut to the world yet.

So I'll just talk about some of the mundane stuff Skel, Po and I do sometimes. I can always see her a bit more irritated when talking about them. Amelia, like many other girls and women in the capital, don't really have a good opinion of my mob friends. She always say that I'm wasted on them and should look for other friends.

But when I ask her to introduce somebody to me, she always looks away and whistles. Either she doesn't want her friends to know that she has a childhood friend like me, or she's afraid that I might send one of my mob friends instead of my place when meeting up with one of her female friends. Both of the scenarios are basically a no go for her, so she always avoids the topic.

Speaking of keeping our relationship a secret, Amelia does a really miserable job at trying to keep it hidden. I begged her on the first day of school not to say a word to anybody about our childhood relation and she even agreed!

But after hearing about me dating Princess Alexia, seems to have changed her mind for some reason. While she doesn't spout to the whole world that we're childhood friends, Amelia does hint to some things here and there sometimes, which gives birth to some rumors. All of them bad for my reputation if I want to stay low.

But let's hold off my problems about Amelia for now. I have bigger problems currently. Princess Alexia being my girlfriend is one of them. It also doesn't help that Amelia and Alexia are hostile towards each other for some reason. I know I should ask why, but honestly? I don't really care about it too much. It's just some drama between the named characters in the story.

It's now noon after lunch. Most people are expected to go to the physical education they have chosen at the start of the year. So basically, which sword technique you want to learn throughout the years at the academy. The depending on the sword style, you get sorted out to the better ones are the bad ones. You can see the level of your current sword talent and technique by color of coat. White is the weakest and black is the strongest. Just like karate in my old world.

So I make my way to the usual group practising outside the gym, because there's not enough space for the Royal Bushin students in the gym. But before I can even reach the Section Nine, the lowest I scored with my mob skills, a hand grabs me out of nowhere and takes me towards the gym.

"Where do you think you're going, Cid? Didn't I say that I put in a good word for you to be in Section One with me?"

"Oh, yeah. You did say that. But I thought that it was just some silly joke."

"Why would it be? I just want to spend some time with my boyfriend as long as possible."

Yeah, that just proves my theory. Popular girls have some weird taste.

And so she shoves me into the gym with many other students who all had a black coat. They all looked at the door from all the commotion coming from it. I can see some daughters and sons from popular and well-known families. One of the children is the son of the minister of finances and the girl other there is the daughter of a friend of the king....

Better not to look too much at her. I can come off as some creep who looks after other women when I already have one girlfriend. The boys are sending me daggers through their gazes, being jealous that I came here with the Princess.

But we can always switch places if you want?

Suddenly the door behind us is opened again and a handsome blonde with a tall stature goes through it. He wears the robe usually reserved for teachers but he doesn't really look like above his twenties. So basically, male lead material right there.

You see this, Amelia? That's the type of person you should focus on! Not someone like me!

"Ah! I can see that everybody is gathered here already! Well then, get together!"

On his signal every student who was waiting took their respective places and even Alexia left me alone to stand right beside that new stranger. But don't worry, I did some research beforehand.

They all seem to know where to stand when they're called together.

"We have a new member joining our team today."

"I'm Cid Kagenou. Thank you for having me."

I'd expect nothing less of Section One. Their adviser, Mr.Zenon, is the official royal fencing instructor. Unlike the lower sections, there's an all-compressing air fo constant vigilance.

But I really can't take them seriously. Why?

Because it just looks like there's a black wall put infront of me! And there's not even a challenge in finding the named characters. Only Alexia and Amelia stand out with their hair color. No, but really. Even amongst the elites in school, they stand out. That's an amazing fact in itself.

"As you know, the Royal Bushin style that we study here is an original style, derived from the traditional Bushin school. You might say it's a new friend, like you. We faced a lot of pushback at first. But thanks to the much-lauded genius Dark Knight Princess Iris, the sister of our own Alexia, we've gained enough momentum to rival traditional Bushin."

Wow. I didn't think it was possible to fall asleep during Physical Education, but I'm proven wrong. Everything Mr.Zenon says is just some boring story of how they all worked hard together to rival the traditional Bushin. And how the older Princess Iris, first daughter and legitimate heir to the throne for now, helped with spreading Bushin among everybody.

Even Alexia looks bored out of his speech. She has a perfect poker face planted on her expression as if she was born with it. I can hear and see Amelia yawning behind some students but immediately covers herself as if nothing happend.

"In other words, if you have the strength, you can successfully parry the skeptical eyes of the masses. Now..."

He ends his speech and looks at me.

"How much strength do you have?"

*cough* "A lot!" *cough*

A loud cough disturbed the end of Mr.Zenon's speech. A lot of heads wipped around to the source of the voice. To everyone's suprise, it was Amelia. But she didn't let it show on her face that she did anything. She only looked a bit confused why everyone was looking at her now and then smiled nicely at everybody.

"Did our goddess just cough really loudly?"

"And say 'a lot' in response to Mr. Zenon's question?"

"..."

"..."

"No way that would be true."

"Yeah, we're talking about Amelia Hikari after all. The only girl who is on par with Princess Alexia in rejecting boys left to right."

She seems to have a title here already. Not bad. Just what I would expect from my named childhood friend character.

"Everyone, quit down!"

Mr.Zenon takes the initiative again and calms the whole class down. But I can see him side eying Amelia as if she just did something he really doesn't like. I don't know how to properly explain it, but there is just this look of indifference in his eyes for a moment before it vanishes.

"Well then, everyone grab yourself a partner and do some warm ups. Today we're sparring a lot today, so make sure you're stretched enough. We don't want any injuries here."

And with that I'm pulled away before I can even do anything. But to my luck, it's not Amelia dragging me, but Princess Alexia. I know that I should be more concerned about my situation with Princess Alexia and our weird relationship, but I honestly don't want to associate myself with Amelia in public.

Swords clashing, steps taken back before hurridly rushing in and grunts of defending a blow with your own sword. All of those noises were heard and made throughout the whole gym. Pairs of two all had a blunt iron sword so that the students don't injure themselves too badly. There were enough groups sparring and then were supposed to switch partners so that they can get more variety in fighting other people.

But there were of course the people who were way too strong for anyone. A well built and beautiful blonde girl was leaning on the wall while sitting down, waiting for her spar partner to stand up again after striking him with one hit.

Maybe she took it too far hitting him. But to her defense, the look he gave her when he heard that she and him are supposed to spar, gave her goosebumps. Though, not to the extend of the two weird boys she was asking for where Cid was. But still, she can swear she saw drooling a bit there before their spar. And that was certaintly not a drool out of concentration.

So she wanted to end the spar as fast as possible. And she did. While she had Cid as her benchmark and goal to become stronger, she didn't expect him to be so weak. She heard some rumors about him being the son of a major noble and was trained to be the absolute best.

But rumors are just rumors. Because he didn't seem to show any results. He was just flimsy and didn't predict any move she did. She's honestly suprised how he made it into Section One, before remembering that Cid is also here. So he probably abused his power and bribed someone with money so he can attend this class.

But that begs the question. Why would he do something like that if he just gets beaten up by everyone here?

Wanting to take her mind to other places, she decided to look around and watch the other spars around her. A lot of them weren't doing bad on their own, but still left a lot of openings open that can be abused in a real fight. But it seems like both parties don't notice their mistakes and just rush in to take out their opponent as fast as possible.

And just at the corner of her sight does she see something interesting. No, it's probably the most interesting thing that could happen to her today. And that is...

... Cid being here in Section One against his will.

Amelia would have eventually convinced Zenon to bring Cid here to train him, so it didn't really matter that Alexia was the one to do it. Better late than never, right? (That was a saying Cid had taught her in the past) But she just couldn't shake off the uncomfortable feeling of losing to some random girl that came out of nowhere.

But let's go back to watching Cid spar...

...and she didn't see him sparring with Princess Alexia. Rather, they were still stretching and making some exercises too make sure they're warmed up. No, it was more like Princess Alexia copying Cid's moves whenever he did something and always looking suprised afterwards by the effects of it.

Amelia knows that feeling. When Cid had shown her his own stetch exercises she couldn't help but be suprised of how effective they were. She remembers the past days fondly when Cid helped her stretching. When she was way too embarassed by one stretch exercise where you hold your partner up back to back just like the one Cid and Alexia are doing right now....

....what.

"I....I....I am.... still.... ready.... to.... go...."

The pervert on the ground began to move again. But before he could even stand up, she punched him in the face, knocking him out.

"Gurgh?!"

Not wanting to waste any time, she made her way to the most unexpected couple on the whole academy ground.

After finally finishing our stretches, Princess Alexia and I take our swords and take some steps from each other. We turn around to face the other and ready our swords and finally begin. Everyone around us is already sunk deep in the heat of fighting and sparring. But I just took my time preparing my whole body for the "training" and the Princess didn't seem to mind.

I begin the first attack. I slash diagonally down at her, which she only dodges with the slighest movement. Seeing her opportunity she readies her own attack which I only parry. Sometimes she does a thrust with her sword or also slashes but nothing out of the ordinary.

I adapt myself to her level, so that can even have a chance in taking some use out of this practise. So I shed off almost everything I ever learned throughout my years. Battle experience, magic output, old teachings from my old world, all of that replaced with pure swordsmanship which I trained until I fell over.

Alexia's attacks never land, and her movements are slow. She doesn't use much magic, either. Even though I'm lowering myself to her level, I honestly expected her to adjust her level to mine, but she wasn't. The goal of this practise is to review our strokes and counterstrokes, and she's strictly adhering to that.

Thinking back, before the lesson, she was copying my stretches. In a word, she's hyper-aware.

Perfectly honed technique that stays true to the basics and eschews any excess. But it's bland.

While I think that, Alexia does another thrust with her sword, which I only dodge by stepping aside for a little.

Yep, very plain.

The world sees her as far inferior to her sister, who is currently lauded as the most powerful Dark Knight in the kingdom.

But her blandness is the result of a lot of effort. It's proof that she has built up her skills in the basics, one step at the time.

During my monologue we finish our spar with a clash of swords at the shoulder height. We both know it's pointless to go any further so we stop and bring our swords back into their respective sheaths.

"All- argh- right, that's- stop struggling!- for today's session- OW!"

Mr.Zenon puts an end to the lession and let's us free. But I've just heard some weird noises around him, so I looked to him to see what's wrong.

And to my suprise, he's holding Amelia back with every might of his being. I felt some bloodlust from outside when I was stretching and sparring with Alexia but I just brushed it off as some jealousy from the boys around me. For an adult like him to have problems with handing Amelia...

...isn't that uncommon. I'm more suprised that she hadn't broken free yet.

Ah. And there she goes.

Amelia brute forced her way out of Mr.Zenon's grasp and kicked him back. She always has been a special case when rampaging. I remember when I didn't allow her to enter my room unannounced and she suddenly flipped and kicked down my door with ease. That's when I suggested to my parents to build me a magic reinforced door, just to be safe. Fortunely, Claire was also for my idea and that gave Dad the push to build it for both of our doors.

"Thank you for a good match."

It courtesy to always give your thanks after a sparring or a real match. While I didn't really pay attention to why I should to so, I usually go along with the flow. But many people got angry at my way of giving thanks to a fight. Considering that I lost most of my sparring matches in my life, as my only partners were Claire, Amelia and sometimes my father.

"Thank you for a good match."

"You have a good fencing style."

Alexia drops that unexpected compliment for no reason while I stretch and look at the clock. It seems that our spar went on longer than I anticipated. Because it just feels like a minute after I finished my stretching. But in reality more than twenty minutes have passed without my notice.

"Thanks."

"But I hate it. It's like I'm looking at myself."

That last part of her was just barely whispered but still loud enough for me to hear it. I know that also fought with the most bland technique that I had because it would cause massive news if I suddenly defeat a Princess, even though I'm a white robe fighter. But for her to give me a backhanded compliment?

I wonder what she meant with that...

Princess Alexia takes her leave and distances herself away from me. While I wouldn't have minded some space between us, this time there's a different variable making me wish she stayed with me.

"C.i.d. Spar with me."

A hand grabs my shoulder from behind. It prevents me any escape that was possible. There was one choice and that was to surrender myself to my fate. Everything else would just stir up her anger more than necessary.

And for some reason, she's not very happy. You would be blind to not see it directly. Even if you were blind, that aura full of fury and anger isn't something you could just miss. Especially infront of you. But I wonder what made her so angry at the first place?

Is it that time of the month again?

Even though I wanted to ask her that, there was a small voice in my head preventing me from doing that. I didn't know that something like that was in my brain, but I don't complain. I just feel that I wouldn't have survived if I asked her about her period, so I dodged a bullet here.

"Heyyy, Amelia. How have you been? Did you enjoy your spar with your partner?"

Make some small talk. Mayble it'll calm her mood down. I know there's a little chance of that happening but I still have to try.

"Spar with me."

"I'm alreaday tired from my spar with Princess Alexia."

"Spar with me."

"And I'm really sweaty right now. So can you let me shower first?""

Suddenly a small blush formed on her face. But she didn't give up with her persuit.

"Spar with me."

Why are you so tenacious like Claire? I know that you're way too similar but there has to be a limit to this!

I see there's no point in delaying the inevitable and sigh. Better do it now than Amelia dragging me out of my dorm room to spar somewhere else.

"Sure."

"Perfect!"

And suddenly she's all sunshine and all the good things again...

Sometimes I ask myself how she can have such mood changes from time to time. Sometimes she's very grumpy when getting a "bad" score but then brightens up again when I offer some food as consolation. Or the time when it was the other way around. She was really happy about something, being all jumpy and happy all the time, but when I brought the news to her that I can't spend some time with her, her mood took a 180° turn.

It was really amazing to see someone going from all smiley and jumpy to sullen and sad. It was like she lost all meaning in her life in an instant. Amelia really looked like a kicked down puppy or Delta when I forget to walk her.

But I couldn't give in her puppy eyes. I still had to practise some lines for my shadowbroker role and not to mention my fake confession to Princess Alexia.

Speaking of Princess Alexia, she didn't immediately go to the changing rooms but rather to Mr.Zenon directly.

"Get ready, Cid! Here I come!"

While I was distracted, Amelia launches herself to me with magic reinforced in her feet. I only hold my sword up high and block her strike with a stable stance. Her eyes widen a bit out of suprise but she doesn't stop. On her landing she wastes no time to start her own attack, this time targeting my legs but a small jump is enough to also dodge that.

But it seems like that I have fallen right into her trap, as I was in the air now with no way to dodge her next strike. And we both know that she's fast enough to do another attack at me, even though she was just croutching to attack my lower body.

She readies herself to do an upper-slash and my only option is to block it with my sword. But that would give me some unwanted momentum that gives her more openings to use. And that will go on until I can't block her attacks anymore.

At least that was her plan. But I can rotate my body in such a way so the sword doesn't hit me. Amelia also isn't perfect in her swordsmanship, so I can see enough openings in her stance, but unlike her I can't abuse them. Why? Because that would draw some unnecessary attention to me if I just beat one of the beautys in school right now.

But I know Amelia won't let me off the hook the moment I slack during our spar. From our past days back in the Kagenou Barony, I can speak from experience that Amelia does know some extend to my power. Well, she at least knows that I'm holding myself back a bit but she doesn't know how much.

I tried my best convincing her that it was just her imagination and it would be completely pointless in trying to train me into a fine warrior. But she didn't seem to accept my excuse and just said that it's my excuse to be lazy. She isn't exactly wrong but there's no way I'll show my shadowbroker powers as Cid.

So I make up my mind in how to deal with this spar with her. When I land, dodging her upper-slash, I'll slip on some sweat on the floor and hit my head on the floor. After that I'll give up, saying I won't take a risk in fighting because of my head.

Be honored, Amelia. This is the mob technique no. 25: Clumsy Fall!

At the right moment when I land...

"Huh?"

...will I slip in the most dumb way imaginable!

My heel slips upward which gives me enough momentum to fall backwards. I intentionally fall on the back of my head and make a weird noise.

"Arghrg!"

Amelia just looks shocked at the scene happening in front of her. As if she can't just believe what just she just saw is the reality she's living in. But I have bad news for her, as everything of that was just my brilliant mob act!

How about that! This time you have no other choice but to react to this.

I stay on the ground, holding my head in fake pain. I noticed that everything around us got pretty quiet. So after a minute of acting out fake pain I look around if everyone is gone yet. But to my suprise, every student is still there and was spectating our spar for some reason.

"Did this guy just survive a minute longer than the monster?"

"I thought only Mr.Zenon and Princess Iris were able to cross swords against her more than one time."

"Maybe she took it easy on him because he's a white robe?"

"She doesn't hold back at anything."

"That's true."

It seems like that we've brought a lot of attention to us. And did I just hear someone call Amelia the "Monster"? A pretty fitting name for her if I'm honest. But it suprises me a bit. What has she done to her schoolmates to make them call her that? I know that she's stronger than the average Dark Knight in the kingdom, but to call her a monster?

I wonder if Claire also got a nickname like that...

I can see Princess Alexia and Mr.Zenon stopping their conversation to look at us. Alexia looks pretty suprised and she doesn't even try to hide it. Maybe she's just perplexed how well I did against Amelia? Or maybe she's just that fascinated from my Mob technique?

But before I can focus my ears to her conversation, Amelia comes to my side and gives me her hand.

"Cid? Are you okay? You hit your head pretty hard."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you for the good match."

She gives me some thanks back and mumbles something under her breath.

"Weird. How did he dodge my attack just now?"

Oh no! She's getting curious!

Deciding to get out of here as fast as possible, so she won't ask me some uncomfortable questions, I make a b-line towards the exit while Amelia is still pondering. But on my way out I hear an interesting conversation.

"Can I assume that that is your answer then, Alexia?"

It's between our instructor, Mr.Zenon, and my accidental girlfriend, Princess Alexia. Mr.Zenon has his charming smile on his face but his tone is rather cocky than usual.

"Yes, that's right. I have decided to be his girlfriend...Mr.Zenon."

Alexia replies to Mr.Zenon with a haughty tone to her voice.

"Oh, please, you're acting like a child. You know you can't keep running away forever."

"I'm just a child. I can't understand those grownup problems."

"It hasn't been made public yet, but we're still betrothed."

Oh, I get it. I see what's going on now.

"You're still only a candidate for my betrothal."

"If you'll give your consent, we can proceed with the arrangements."

For now, I'll blend into the background and just ride out of this main-character-tier event.

"Ah, Cid, wait!"

"Ah, Cid, wait!"

And of course I'm not allowed to go. Why does life hate me sometimes?

Two different people called out to me to hold on. The first one was my partner who just sparred with me. Amelia Hikari. The other one was the second Princess in the Midgar Kingdom, Alexia Midgar.

It seems that I'm not the only one suprised by the two calling out to me at the same time, as they look at each other in suprise. But that quickly turns into scorn and a big frown on both of their faces. I can feel the sparks flying around them.

"Ara, what business do you have with Cid?"

Amelia is the first one to make a move.

"I see no problem in calling out to my boyfriend whenever I want."

Alexia replies to Amelia's question just like that. I can see Amelia getting some mental damage for some reason, and don't ask me how I can see that.

"Well, that doesn't matter. I called out to him first."

"I think you don't get it, do you? He would place his girlfriend first than some random girl on the sideline, don't you agree?"

"Random girl-, I mean, I just want to know what business you have with him. He's already exhausted from the sparring and he hit his head pretty hard. So I was thinking about giving him some rest time until he feels well again. But as his girlfriend you already should have known that, right?"

Amelia doesn't back down in front of a Princess. She never backs down against anything. And that's the reason she always was in danger when we were kids. She just ran straight ahead at the goal without thinking and looking at the surroundings. You could put a band of bandits in front of her goal and she would either kill them, so that they won't disturb her, or just run them over like a truck.

And for some reason, I was always scolded for not looking after her properly. Maybe her and my parents have forgotten but I'm just a casual background character. I played the incompetent son and brother for so long, that it should have clicked sometime already. But Claire and Amelia had to be the exceptions....

Alexia is a little taken aback, at Amelia's gall to talk back to a princess. I know she's brave but she's also very lucky that her family is favored by the king himself. If not, then there's no doubt that Amelia would have been called out as someone who disrespects the royal family and that would be a very big problem.

In my old world, you'd get executed without mercy. And that was just if the royal family or any other noble heard you saying something slightly offensive to them.

So bascially, Amelia is really lucky to be born a Hikari.

But Princess Alexia doesn't act out of line. She rather shows a nice smile towards Amelia and suddenly pulls me into an unexpected hug.

"Can't you see? We're a couple, madly in love. So could you please give us some alone time?"

Even though Amelia is smiling sweetly and politly at Alexia, anybody could see that her eyes aren't smiling at all. They're rather lifeless and if you stare too long at them, there's a good chance of you falling into their abyss.

"Heh."

Was that a smug smile from Alexia just now? If yes, then I'm ready to see some personality changes in her.

But it seems like that Amelia wasn't the only target hit by the sudden hug of Alexia. While she did look at Amelia to prove her point, I could see her side-eying Mr.Zenon at the side as if waiting to see his reaction. But he just stood there with a smile on his face as if it doesn't concern him at all.

It's not like he's a potential candidate for her betrothal and then replaced by someone like me. I can feel my Cid character being in danger here.

Seeing that Mr.Zenon won't make any faces or hints of any negative emotion, Alexia drags me out of the gym by pulling my hand along her. But we don't get pretty far as we both still have to change into our school uniforms before going home.

Oh right, there's still one problem I have to discuss with her.

"Alexia."

"Hm? What is it?"

"Please come meet me at the academy gates after school. I have something to tell you."

She makes a confused expression and seeing her confused makes me confused too. I mean, I just want to talk to her about something that doesn't concern the rest of the school. So I don't exactly see the point of her getting confused about something. Maybe she already had something planned beforehand?

"Sure."

But I get her approval anyway. So who cares about the earlier confusion anyway?

"Sweet. See you later."

I part ways with my accidental-made girlfriend and go to the changing rooms. I'll have to think about a way to confront her. I mean, she has the same problem as me if you look at it at a certain perspective.

After school:

Just like any other day, the sun is eventually setting. More than often when I'm going to the dorms after school. But this time I have an appointment with a certain Princess. Depending on that conversation with her, I can maybe weasel my way out of this mess and go back to my original role.

A mob character, of course!

Seeing that I'm the first one to arrive, I sit down on the edge of a water fountain just before the academy gates. To be honest, I'm ready to wait more than an hour as I'm not really expecting her to show up anyway. She's still a princess after all. There are surely many people wanting to have just a portion of her time.

But I suprisingly don't have to wait long, as I can see her approaching from the distance. In just two minutes she reaches the meeting spot I decided on.

Everything around us is buzzing witrh students also going home. Some making some improvised plans to hang out, some running to the tram to get home as fast as possible. And some just stopping by somewhere on their way, even if it's just bying some groceries or helping out some old lady on the street.

"Wanna stop by at Mistugoshi later?"

"Yeah, let's go!"

Mitsugoshi, huh? Amelia told me something about them, but I haven't found the time to actually visit them one time. They're supposed to sell some revolutionary products that nobody has ever seen before. I wonder what this means in an Isekai world.

"So, for what reason have you called me here?"

Right. About the marriage thing....

"So basically, you don't want to get engaged to Mr.Zenon, and you needed a patsy to help you out, right? That's why you chose a low-class aristrocat like me, whom you could controll easily."

Alexia turns away from me. But I can hear her huffing a smile.

"Yes, that's right."

"How cruel. Sorry, but I don't want to attract any more attention, and I'm not interested in getting mixed up in your problems."

"That's cold, coming from my boyfriend."

"You started it first. How can you toy with a guy's delicate heart like that?"

"As if you were any better, Mr.Cid "I Confessed Fake Love Because I Lost a Bet" Kagenou."

Wait what? But how does she know.... I swear to god, if these two idiots leaked anything....

But I should feign ignorance for now.

"Lo- lo... Lost a bet? (stacco) No idea what you're talking about."

She looks at me with the most sinister smile imaginable. She apparently takes joy in finding one's weakness and abusing said weakness.

"I had a little chat with your friends. Pott... I think? They turned beet red and sang like canaries. That's not very nice, toying with the pure heart of an innocent young girl. If the student body finds out that you made the princess cry, they would demand your execution."

"No way! Po isn't the kind of guy who would- I swear, I'll turn him into a pile of mashed potatoes!!"

"You're mixing your lines with your thoughts."

Shit! This princess... She was putting on an act the whole time! But she has a point there. I did think about the possibility of just making her dump me, no matter the cost. But I'm not like Amelia. I don't have Hikari blood flowing inside of me. So if news ever come out, I can say goodbye to Cid Kagenou.

I can't allow that! I'm so close to perfecting my mob ways and I'm not letting some random princess along the way ruin my whole effort from all the years before.

"Oh, dear, are you all right? Your face is awfully twitchy."

"I'm fine. My mouth twists like that because I'm twisted deep in my soul. But I'm not as bad as you."

"Did you just say something?"

"Nope, not a thing."

"Anyway, I think I will have you carry on with this boyfriend act. You can stop after that man gives up on me."

"Sure, I can do that. But there's one condition if you really want me to continue dating you."

Alexia makes a confused face. She probably didn't expect a lowly being like me making amands to her.

"And what is that?"

"Deal with Amelia Hikari just like how I deal with all your admirers."

Her slightly confused and curious face is replaced by a disgusted look on her face. I don't know what these two have against each other, but it's certaintly not something you ever want to bring up to them. But that also confuses me a bit. The Amelia Hikari I know is always nice and happy around everyone in public. So I really can't see any reason why she would make an enemy out of the second princess in the kingdom.

Maybe she accidentally spilled some water on her when she tripped? But that also sound way out of character for Amelia. Meh, whatever it is, it doesn't concern me in the slightest.

"Geh, not that woman. I have some personal business with her. But what is your connection to that person? I can't see how a guy like you can have any relationship with such a beauty."

Gee, thanks for that, Alexia.

"Let's just say that I'm in the same boat as you."

...

Silence. Not a word is spoken between us. Confused about the lack of response, I turn towards Alexia only to see her with a dropped mouth and wide eyes.

"Wait what?"

Alexia is only looking more confused as time goes on. She looks like she can't believe the words coming out of my mouth. Understandably, as she makes a valid point there. Normally, there would be no chance at all for someone like Amelia to associate with someone like me. Hell, I certaintly didn't expect it. But Amelia had to throw a curveball at my plans in the capital.

"Yes, you heard it right. I have the same problem as you. Amelia Hikari is a potential fiance of mine in the future. I didn't really have a choice in that matter so I tried my best to avoid her as much as possible."

"What!? No wait, could it be that he's the one who..."

Hm? You can't just stop mid sentence there!

"But now that you've made me your boyfriend, escorting you almost anywhere, gives her enough chances of catching me with you which arises her anger. And trust me, you don't want to be in her line of sight when she's mad."

"Wait, wait, wait. Before you go on. Just briefly exlpain to me how you are technically engaged to Amelia Hikari."

Oh, right. She doesn't have any idea how I know Amelia. Completely forgot about that.

"Well, we've known each other since we were kids. And when we grew up, our parents suddenly decided that it would be a good idea to betrothe us for some reason. Though, I can't really see how her parents could have agreed to that in any way possible. But that's just how my current situation is."

"And why wouldn't you just take this chance and get married to her? From what I've seen, she's practically perfect and out of your league. So shouldn't you just take this chance while she's still interested?"

I see. She's also one of the people falling for her pubic act. My initial thought behind their hostility is fact that Alexia has seen through Amelia's act. But she doesn't seem to know the true extent of her personality, yet. A shame if you ask me. If she did know, then I would have one comrade in my quest in beating the Demon King named Amelia Hikari.

"That's exactly the point. What does an unassuming boy like me have to arise the feeling in Amelia Hikari to make her wanting to marry me? That's right, nothing. So I can't help but to be suspicious and be on guard when I don't know her true motives."

Alexia stays silent at that. I can see her mouth making some sort of x shape to detail her mouth being shut. That's weird. I thought that's something out of manga and anime, but I didn't expect to see it in real life.

She crosses her arms and makes up her mind.

"*sigh* Sure, I can deal with her. But in return, stay as my pretend boyfriend until Zenon gives up, okay?"

That sounds like a major pain in the ass. But she'll at least get Amelia off my neck, so there aren't only bad points here.

"Will he though? Anyone can see that I'm out of your league."

"I know that. I just need you to buy me some time. I'll take care of the rest on my own."

I bet she doesn't even have a proper plan. That's just how it goes with girls like her. Using others to postpone the inevitable event and then not having a plan. Sounds a bit like a dense harem character, if ask me.

"I do not see this ending well."

"Blah, blah, blah. You are so whiny."

I can hear Alexia taking something out of her pocket. Feeling curious, I open my eyes to see what she's taking out...

!

She takes out her purse full of gold coins and tosses them to the ground. I can only look in horror and bewilderment how she treats so much money like it's nothing.

"Wow... Do I strike you as the type of man who can be bought with money?"

"Yes."

*Smirk*

"Well, you're absolutely right."

If I would describe the current situation, I'd say that it's a demoralisation of my dignity. As I'm currently on my knees scooping up as many gold coins as I can, while simultaneously looking up straight into her red eyes. But I could care less of how the people will right now. As...

My allowence from my parents isn't nearly enough to fund my Eminence in Shadow operations! Can I afford this chance to slip by?

No, of course not!

"Good boy. Since you accepted my payment, you will be at my command..."

I can hear Alexia talking to me. But I deliberately ignore her for the gold coins that will be mine. It's pretty obvious and self explanatory that money is high up my priorites. Even Amelia knows that. Fortunately, she still didn't come up with the idea to bribe me to come along with her anytime she wants. It would be that easy for her, but the idea just didn't shoot up in her head.

But I won't complain. Even though it would be paid, the time spent with Amelia is a draining one. No training that I've done made me this tired in comparison to go shopping with Amelia two day in a row. I don't even know how that is possible.

Is that what you call, mental damage?

Suddenly my necktie was violently pulled upwards in a fast movement.

"Hey! Listen to me!"

It was none other than Alexia who was angry at me for not listening to her. But can you blame me? Who wouldn't act like this when there's an massive amount of money just lying on the ground for you to pick up? Probably the protagonist.

But guess what? I'm not one!

But he is indeed the protagonist of the story.

"For now, we'll continue acting like a couple. Until we make that man give up."

I wonder how many times she said that already. I get it, you don't like Zenon, but do you really have to repeat the same line over and over again? You're a named character after all! You have to come up with some cooler lines which progress the story, you know?

"Understood, Poochie?"

What did she call me...?

"Don't treat me like a dog. As a man, I won't take such humiliation..."

"Now, fetch!"

But before I can even finish my protest, Alexia has already thrown a gold coin into the distance. That leaves me no other choice but to collect it. You can't waste money after all, you know? That would be bad for the image for a princess like her so I'm doing her a favor here.

Her image as a delicate princess of the kingdom remains and I get some more pocket money from her. That's just a win-win situation if you ask me.

And so, my days as this twisted princess' fake lover started.

Amelia's POV:

I have a (future) boyfriend. You could basically call him my fiance already, if you look at it a certain way. We've already done most of the steps that make a couple a "real" couple. But I, as the kind person I am, go along with his wishes and will wait until we're both 18.

His ridiculous idea was that I would fall in love with somebody else in these three years during our academy days. But how could he even think like that? Didn't I already give him enough hints that I'm in love with him? Heck, I even said it out loud!

It's not woth mentioning that I blushed like mad afterwards and that's definitely not the reason why I stormed out of the room after my confession. If somebody were ever to think that, then they can expect not to see the next day anymore.

Leaving my past actions aside, I tried my best in seducing Cid. I know that I was already beatiful as a child, but my body was still lacking. I thought that this was the reason why Cid still hasn't turned his head towards me. But I can proudly say that I've developed a hour-glass like figure. So basically a dream figure like my mother in her youth. Though, my mother gave some special underwear to fasten that process by the now famous store Mitsugoshi.

My mother had always the right nose for things like these. Back then, I didn't even know that such a store existed but my mom directly knew that their products were high quality and didn't waste a second buying them. And I have to thank her for that because, according to her, my body has this perfect shape right now.

But my hopes and expectations were crushed in an instant when I hurriedly met Cid in our marriage interview and he didn't make a single reaction. The only thing that I saw was the suprise on his face of seeing me again. But there was no blush or anything of that sort. No cheek blush, no ear blush, no nosebleed, just pure and innocent suprise of seeing his childhood friend again.

And his suprise wasn't even a happy one. He was more shocked than anything.

But that didn't stop me from proceeding with my plans of getting engaged to him. That was my dream ever since that day I fell in love with him. So I prevented any escape route imaginable even for situations impossible for Cid because I didn't know what he learned over the years without me. However, he didn't really change that much. And I was completely fine with that.

I didn't want him to be a totally different person than I had in my head. I was a little afraid of the possibility of him tapping into his potential early without me, and leaving me behind. But it seems like that it was just some useless worry on my side.

And because of the fact that he still hasn't used his full potential, I can help him on his way. That's just a win-win situation if you ask me. I get to spend some time with him and he gets stronger with every training session we do. I can't see any flaw in that.

I know that I said that I'll be training and studying to be worthy protecting him and that I probably won't have the time visiting him for a longer period of time. I know I said that, I know... but! Why hasn't he visited me once on his own accord?!

Did I mean that little to him?

Not only that, his family had done a vacation trip to Madlid. While I wouldn't have rejected a possible invitation from him, I certaintly expected a gift from his trip. But I can blame that on either his airheadness or Claire who probably threw my present away when she heard why Cid bought it.

But I'll never be able to find out the truth. Claire will only deny such accusations and Cid likely already forgot about it.

And during the whole time, I had to fight off my brother who did his best in seperating me and Cid. Even though I gave him a punishment for it, he still wouldn't let the topic go. And now that Cid and I are both attending the academy of Midgar he stepped up his game of making the distance between us grow wider and wider.

When I want to visit Cid sometimes, he just suddenly appears in front of my door, inviting me somewhere else. I don't reject his offer as you have to spend some time with familiy eventually, but he does it every time I want to see Cid. One day I asked him about his strange timing everytime and he just looked away and whistled into the distance.

My brother is a miserable liar. He wouldn't be able to lie to save his life. And so I gave him an earful of my opinion of that matter and went on my way to see Cid and spend some time. And if I did that, I could call my day as successfully completed.

But the days of peace and tranquility ended once I heard the shocking rumors yesterday. I initially thought that Cid is pretty much free from any rumors flying around as he himself does his best to stay low. But when the news arrived that he shoved a letter into Princess Alexia's locker, I began to have doubts.

Deciding to clear them, I went on my way to find him and hit gold behind the gym where I've found the silhouette of his back. But he seemed to be facing someone. And it was none other than Princess Alexia herself.

Every cell, my instinct and my intuition screamed at me to hurry up and stop Cid from making a big mistake. I didn't know what the mistake would be, but I just ran to stop him. But before I reached him, he let lose of the words that I wanted to hear the most.

He confessed to her...

...And she accepted?!

I would have hit Cid for his behaviour in front of a princess and the absolute gall of him confessing to her. She was know to be heart-breaker at all times. It didn't matter if it was a handsome rich guy or a boy who is well imersed with the sword. They were all rejected. So I readied myself for the inevitable rejection.

But it never came. Instead, she accepted him to be her boyfriend.

I thought that I could still change the outcome of things if I intervened but they both ran away.

But there has to be a reason why Princess Alexia accepted his confession. I thought that I'm the only one in this world noticing Cid's charms and am ready to accept every of his flaws. Though, Princess Alexia has no information regarding Cid. Heck, they haven't talked to each other once!

So why did she indulge him in being his girlfriend? There's no merit as Cid has almost none to very little status to his name. But she's a princess so any status wouldn't matter anyway. Is it because of his looks? No, she had rejected more (in other opinions not mine) handsome men. What about his intellect? That's also a no as Cid is scoring just below average in every test and exam we partake.

So there's only one possible reason I could think off.

Money.

Princess Alexia is extorting Cid for his money. I know that she's a princess and has basically more pocket money than our whole family combined but there are still rotton people out there. Rotton people who would still blackmail the weak for their own benefit.

I can't allow Cid to be near such a massive red flag! Especially not Princess Alexia!

I don't really like her. It's almost on the level of hate and I know that she feels the same as me. No wonder, as we didn't have the best start with each other when we first met.

A year prior, in the capital of Midgar:

My family and I went to a ball held in Midgar capital. My father and mother have some good connections to the king himself and are even favored by him. They apparently helped him during a rough phase in his life and now he feels indebted to them. My parents try their best convincing him that everyone would have done the same, but he doesn't listen to them and instead gives them a high status in the aristrocat society.

We even get special treatment from him wether it be the newest clothes or food on the market. Though, I'm not really a fan of gourmet food. Yes, it's very delicous but I like the feeling of drowing yourself in the food you like after a hard training. And it even tastes better if you have your loved ones around you.

That's why I almost eat lunch with the Kagenou's as I'm near Cid.

But this time I'll have to spend a meal without Cid in my presence. I tried to convince father of taking Cid with us, but Adam, my brother, intervened and was very much against the idea of us taking Cid with us to the capital. I tried to reason that Cid needs the experience of being on a ball once in his life as he wouldn't be able to survive the noble society otherwise. But he just brushed it off with the reason that his own parents are responsible for that education and we shouldn't concern ourselves with it.

And before I could even talk to him back, father ended the discussion with the conclusion that we won't take Cid with us.

I was crestfallen and completely sad for the rest of the trip. My brother was rather delightful and happy that Cid wasn't able to accompany us. Seeing his happy face for that, I gave a gut punch and entered the carriage.

In hinsight, it was a good thing that Cid wasn't with us. I realized later that there was a chance that someone may have been able to see Cid's charms through his facade and fallen in love with him. I couldn't afford to get a rival. Claire is already exhausting enough to deal with and I certaintly would appreciate it if it just stays with her.

We didn't attend the ball immediately after arriving but stayed there for some days. You could see it as a family vacation that we haven't done in a long time.

But we already visited most places here and were just checking if some things changed the last time we were here. But then I had a brilliant idea. I would go look for a present for Cid while I'm already here. That's just a mandatory thing to do when you're somewhere far away, right? And I'm sure that Cid will be delighted to hear that I specifically picked out a present for him.

During our madatory trip, looking around the stalls, seeing delicious food, I found the perfect present. A necklance that's not too big but not too small. It's also not made out of rare and a valuable gem as I know that Cid doesn't like to stand out with accessory. But the best part: I bought it two times so we can match, though I'll never tell him that. If I do, he'll just refuse the gift I picked out for him.

And after a day full of sightseeing the capital again, the day of the ball came.

I don't really like these types of events as I always have to put up a mask of a perfect noble girl in front of other nobles. And I know that the girls around me are doing the same as me, hiding their true self. That's why it always feels like I'm talking to a fake person everytime I start a conversation.

And don't get me started at the boys. No matter what I do, it seems that every boy and even some adults have on their bucket list (Cid taught me that) to greet me at the first moment when they see me. I mean, I don't exactly underappreciate the sentiment but I'm not the princess, you know? We already have two beautiful princesses in this kingdom and another one coming from Oriana.

Not to mention the sheer amount of people gathering around me just to greet. Some are so bold and try to take my hand and attempt to kiss the backside of it. The first time it happend I didn't know what was happening but after I heard some whistles thrown our way and some mumurs of how bold he is, I realized what he meant.

But I couldn't just slap him in the face infront of everyone. That's why I only stomped on his foot with my heel the whole time he was holding my hand. And if he asked about it, I'd just play the fool and apologize to him for my mistake before doing the same again the whole evening.

He left me alone for the rest of balls we attended.

But to solve my problem I have a handly overprotective brother on my side. When I told him the first time about it, he made it his priority to shield me from any "bugs" that want to come near me. While I didn't like the way he addressed the people on the ball, I couldn't help but agree with him in some points there. Some people just looked like they're ready to put something in your drinks the moment you look away.

Though, that just applies to the adults that are sending some dangerous vibes and noble sons who think they're entitled to do everything they want. My mother gave me that tip of always looking after your drink as she almost made a horrible experience when she was younger.

But enough of my rambling for now. I almost feel like Cid when he just turns off everything he perceives and drowns in his mind. That's not something I should copy from him.

My family finally reach the palace of the royal familiy with our carriage and step out of it. It doesn't take a long time to reach the entrance and the doors are opened for us. We step inside to see a well decorated hall full of maids and butlers delivering snacks and drinks to the guests. Speaking of guests, everyone was well dresses for an occasion like this. Understandably, as this is still a ball held by the royal family themselves.

At the noise of the door being opened, most of the people take a quick glance to see who just arrived. But when they saw that it was us, everyone just stopped what they were doing and went to our direction.

The adults exchanged their greetings with each other while the kids were around my brother and I. While I'm popular with the boys, my brother is rather popular with the girls and is almost always swarmed by them everytime we're here. And today's no exception.

His one arm was yanked by one of the girls.

"Huh? Wait, what are you doing?!"

But it didn't stay at one. One after the another, more girls came to take Adam away. And when they succeded, they would later fight for the right who gets to dance with him later and so on. Boring stuff, really. How could one person be so like by so many people? I'm glad that Cid isn't like that.

Back in the Kagenou estate:

"ACHOOO!"

I suddenly got the chills from out of nowhere. But I can't let that hinder me from achieving my dream! I'm so close to finding out the way of beating an atomic bomb.

But I wonder why I sneezed out of nowhere. I don't have any allergies and I strengthened my imune system with magic, so me sneezing for no reason is a curious thing to happen....

Whatever, it's not like that it's important.

While I ask myself that, I realize that my meat shild was taken from me. That left me alone to deal with all the guys just waiting to be the first one to greet me first.

One boys decides to be brave and stands before me. He makes the movement of taking my hand to kiss the backside, but I won't let him. Yanking my hand out of his, he sends me a perplexed gaze which I respond with a smile.

"I was taught that I should save these types of occasions for the special one. So please refrain from doing this in the future."

The boy looked heartbroken from the reason I just gave. It just implied that he wasn't the one I chose but the boys around him were looking excited, thinking they have a chance of getting together with me.

"Behold! The royal family is coming down!"

But their excitement was shortlived as the host family finally made their appearance.

From above, King Klaus was the first one to come out from the hallway. Next to him is his wife, the queen of Midgar, with platinum hair and olive green eyes. Both of them were obviously well dressed, even more so than some of the rich nobles here. Behind them were their daughters, Iris and Alexia Midgar the princesses of the kingdom.

I've seen some things about Iris, mostly from the Bushin Festival where she won, but I've only heard some rumors about her sister. Apparently, she's not as skilled with the sword as her sister but she exceeds in many other things. But the aristrocrats don't really take notice in that and just like to put a young girl down for her lacking talent in swordsmanship.

Not to mention, they're both extremely beautiful and they're still growing into more attractive women. They'll have a long line full of marriage candidates in the future.

But there's a hint of a mask on Princess Alexia's face. As if she's hiding something. I know that many people here hide their true self, but not to that extend...

Fortunately, because of their appearance, the attention on my and Adam was taken away and captured by them. And it's common courtesey to greet the host family so everyone made their way towards them. My family was no exception but we didn't force ourselves to be infront of everyone.

Business partners, finance ministers, defense ministers, archdukes and many more important people like that were the first one to be first in the line. Some were talking the managment of the kingdom and some were even so brave to try to introduce future marriage partners directly in front of everyone.

They weren't turned down completely but just told that there are already enough people on a list for them and maybe they'll be picked out later when both sisters are old enough. But that didn't stop them to force their kids onto Princess Iris and Alexia. Mostly to try to get a positive opinion for later, but I could see their forced smiles not really looking forward to spending time with them.

"Oh~ How beautiful both Princesses are."

"Not to mention that Princess Iris becoming stronger and stronger day by day."

"Exactly! It's only a matter of time before she's strong enough to protect the kindom."

"Though, that same can't be said about her sister."

"You mean Princess Alexia? Didn't you hear? She has a nickname, "Fencer Ordinaire", as she has no talent compared to her sister."

Urgh, I hate people like these. They just look at the outside and don't see other qualities of the person. Maybe that's the reason why Princess Alexia is wearing a mask...

"Duke and Duchess Hikari! It's nice to see you again!"

Just behind the mob of people, the king sticks his head out and sees our parents. He makes his way through the nobles with his family until they stand before us.

We kneel down on one knee before them.

"We greet his majesty and his family."

And that was the real beginning of this disastrous ball night.

The ball went on just like the one before. After a greeting, people just come together and talk about mundane rich stuff. The girls flock together to either avoid some boys or to gang up on a certain one. While the boys are mostly in groups of three or alone to try to make some good connections with sine higher up families.

My brother is one of these types. He just goes around, starts some chatting before realising that he doesn't fit in there and just goes to the next target. Not to mention, the boys are expected to ask the girl first for a dance and that's also the reason why he's so active tonight.

I'm just sitting with a pretentious group of girls eating some snacks and drinking tea in silence. Sometimes I chip in the conversation so that I don't seem mute but every time I talk they just agree with me. One time I tested a theory and said something very controversial that goes against mostly everything they stand for.

And they still agreed with me. So that was the moment I realised that whatever I say, I won't get any backlash for it. Maybe that's also the reason why I like to talk to Cid. He just voices his opinion in front of me. Doesn't matter if I get angry at him. It's refreshing.

Suddenly, music was played in the background. It was a beautiful piece and everyone was charmed by it. Looking for the source of it, I found a light blue haired elf playing the piano. Next to her were some old men playing th violin to compliment the music piece.

That was basically the sign for everyone to ask a partner for a dance.

In the distance I saw Marco Granger with his betrothed at his side. She didn't really look that excited but went with him nonetheless. I don't really know her name as I've never spoken a word to her but she's generally an attractive girl with long brown hair.

The girls around me suddenly stood up and went to their respective partners. Which suprised me a bit as I didn't see them talking to any boy during the whole ball. Maybe the were already coupled up with someone.

So that left me alone at the table. Defenseless and just with tea in hand. That gave the boys around the oppurtunity to take their chances and ask me out. Unfortunately, my brother was preoccupied with his mass of girls around him, fighting for him.

"Oh, dearest Amelia, may I ask you for a humble dance for this night?"

A noble son was the first one to take the first step. I don't even know him as we've never spoken to each other so I don't really know him. But I will have to make a choice as it'll look weird if I don't have a partner for the night. Even so, I have a secret weapon to use...

"I am really sorry but I have promised my father to dance with him first. And it will be very unbecoming of his daughter if I don't keep my promises."

Unlike a certain someone...

"Oh..., I understand. That is very sad to hear but maybe the next dance could be reserved for me?"

That guy is persistent. Better to nip this in the bud... wait, I can just prolong it!

"We will see."

I don't give him a direct answer but not a direct rejection. He looks very happy so he probably thinks that he has a chance. But I'll definetely find a way to escape. I'm still the friend of Cid, Mr. Escape from any situation where no can see him, Kagenou. So it'll be a breeze disappearing from his line of sight.

After a short dance with my father who I had to convince to dance with me as he wanted to dance with mother, the music stopped. But the guy remembered my words and immediately went to look for me.

Searching for an escape, I see Princess Alexia standing alone after the bishop left her after the dance. Getting an idea, I go over to her and try something ridiculous in the eyes of others: Using a princess to my advantage.

So before he can reach me, I get next to the second princess and hold her by the shoulders.

"Miss Hikari, do you remember what you have said before the dance-"

"Oh, I am so sorry but I really have to catch up with my friend Alexia here. I completely forgot about that!"

Even a noble like him should know that he isn't more important than the princess herself. Looking dejected, he finally takes his leave and I sigh and wipe some imaginary sweat of my forehead (Cid sometimes does that after some hard work).

"Uhm, excuse me? But could you please let go of my shoulders?"

Princess Alexia, completely perplexed by the past situation, asked me for a small favor after the storm passes. I, of course, immediately let go of her and bow a little.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience I've caused you. But he was a really persistent man."

"...I can understand that."

She probably went through the same thing before.

"But why did you use me to be your shield?"

"'Shield' and 'use' are such a bad words to describe what just happend-"

"Why did you use me to be your shield?"

I'm not getting away from this one.

"He knows that he's not more important than a princess. If I had hid behind my father, he would probably tried to convince him so he could dance with me. And my brother would have absolutely killed him..."

"Hmm... I see. But I could expect that coming from someone like you."

"I'm glad you understand!-"

Wait what?

"Wait. What did you mean by that?"

"I'm just saying it's expected from a snaked and two-faced person like you to use other people around you to avoid the people you don't like."

Excuse me?!

I can feel a tick forming somewhere on my head. My eyebrow and the corners of my mouth are twitching. But I won't let her do me like this. I won't let her get the satisfaction of putting me on the same level as someone like them.

"Oh? Do you just say that because you're the exact same as me? Someone hiding her true self from the pulbic, even though you're a princess?"

Princess Alexia's smile cracks a little. Although she's smiling, her eyes tell a complete different story. Some ends and strains of her hair are standing up which I don't really understand how that works. A menancing aura forms around her.

"What do you know about me? You're just a random duke's daughter that mooches off their parents for everything."

"If you didn't know, children are suposed to depend on their parents during their childhood. Or are you just jealous of me for having such a privilege?"

"Why would I? I'm the second princess of Midgar, I probably have more than you could ever imagine."

"I don't really need more than I currently have so there's no need for me to imagine more."

Although there's no possible way to prove this, I could feel the sparks of electricity between us. Her eyebrows were twitching just like mine and our smiles weren't really the friendliest ones. During our "friendly" conversation she tried to step on my foot with her heel but I dodged her. But she didn't stop there and relentlessly attempted the destruction of my foot.

"Are Princess Alexia and our goddess Amelia talking right now?"

"That's too much for my eyes."

"Do you think I could join them?"

"If you want to humiliate yourself in front of everyone, then go on."

The people around us were gossiping just because of the fact that we're talking. They don't even know what our conversation is about and it's a good thing they don't know.

But there's one last jab I have to do. She doesn't really look that bothered by my responses than I originally thought. So how about...

"I've heard that you got some marriage candidates waiting for you. Did you look into any of them yet?"

Suprised by the sudden topic change, she raises her eyebrow for a bit. But she quickly regains her composure and answers.

"I'll wait some years until I'm mature enough to decide. But what about you? I've heard and seen some nobles being interested in you."

That was expected of her to ask me back. But don't worry, my dear Alexia, I still have a secret weapon for you.

"I already have a person in mind for the future. But I'm currently not able to reject everyone as it would damage the reputation of my family."

"Is that so... Could you maybe... give me his name?"

"I'm afraid to say that he doesn't really like strangers knowing his name, so I'll respect his wishes."

"That's a shame, but don't worry. I'll meet him sooner or later."

...What did she mean by that...?

Satisfied by her own response, Princess Alexia finally takes her leave to go to her sister and spend the whole ball with her. But I remained standing in the same spot, asking myself about the meaning of her sentence. I know that she's a princess and is basically able to do almost anything she wants but there's absolutely no chance that she'll take notice in Cid.

There's no chance in that. If it does happen then I would have to pray for her kidnapping so that she's seperated from Cid.

But that won't happen, right?

Cid POV:

It's been two days since I became Alexia's fake lover. Training with her after school has become the norm. Although she usually puts on a fake act that makes me wanna gag, she shows her true self when we're alone.

And as the days went by...

I realized that my feelings for her...

"Hey, this is your lame drawing, isn't it?"

"It looks great on you, Poochie!"

...haven't changed at all.

I was wearing my white training coat with a ridiculous drawing of a... What is that supposed to be? It had four legs and a tongue sticking out but I couldn't for the life of me figure out what she drew on my robe. Humans aren't perfect after all, especially not her.

During the whole two weeks, Alexia insisted on showing as much of our "lovey dovey time" in public. Eating lunch together, studying in the library, sparring together during class and just walking arm in arm in the academy halls. She always had an eye out for Zenon and became more intimate when he was around.

Unfortunately for her, he showed a single reaction towards our relationship. He opted for the wait-and-see approach.

Fortunately for me, everyone was focused on the fact that Princess Alexia has a boyfriend. Who he was didn't really matter for them. That was probably because of my hard work of being a mob in the background.

But this relationship didn't only come with disadvantages. Alexia did hold up her promise of dealing with Amelia. I don't know how she did it, but that doesn't really matter to me. Amelia stopped bothering me directly but didn't hold off sending letters to my dorm with the content of me being blackmailed by Alexia.

For some reason she saw herself as the heroine who has to save me from the bad influence of the second princess.

But I never responded back to her letters so I could have an excuse if I'm suprised when she does something to Alexia.

"That's enough for today. Let's clean up and go home."

Alexia ends our training session after being satisfied by the results of today. But she was frowning every time we crossed our swords for some reason. She was really irritated by something but I didn't make the effort to ask about it.

But I'll do it later.

"Sure."

And after packing up, we sit together in the tram like the days before.

"Of all the... That man is so infuriating. He thinks he's so great, just because he has a little bit of skill with a sword."

"Sure, sure."

"You saw that phony smile on his face, didn't you, Poochie?"

"Sure, sure."

"You will say "sure" only once."

"Sure."

As expected, Alexia was ver prudent in public, but behind closed doors, she was a whirlwind of insults and spite. Debating her would be a waste of time. I must devote myself to the role of a robot who is programmed only to agree because I became her venting person.

And after a while we got out of the tram and had an afterschool "date". Alexia craved for some ice cream and found a stall on the market. But to my suprise, she did something unexpected.

"You're a princess. Isn't your face enough to get you to the front of the line?"

"Of course it is. But the point is not eat ice cream. It's to inform the entire world of my relationship."

Then why did you have stars in your eyes when you saw the ice cream stall being open?

"Oh, that makes sense."

We looked for a nice spot to sit down but then decided to sit down at the ends of some stairs. Time to satisfy my curiousity for a bit.

"But what exactly is the problem with marrying Mr.Zenon? As a prospective husband, I think he's a pretty prime selection."

The exact person Amelia should be aiming for instead of me! But even then, I don't really see her being that smitten by him like other girls around him.

"Everything is the problem! I hate everything about his entire existence!"

That's harsh.

"But he's good looking, and has status, fame and money. And in fact, he's popular with all the other girls."

I say that while mowing down on my ice cream. Fun fact, I don't get a headache from eating cold things like ice cream too fast because I can control my blood circulation with magic. Skel and Po brought shaved ice one time and were confused why I didn't writhe in pain. So I just gave them the excuse that it would look cool even when your head feels like splitting in half and you just have to supress it.

But never mind that.

"That's all just on the surface. It's easy to pretend to be perfect. That's what I do."

"I see, that's a very convincing argument."

Not a second after I finish my sentence, Alexia shoves her ice cream into my mouth to shut me up.

"Did you say something?"

"No, ma'am."

"Anyway, I don't judge only by what I see on the surface."

Taking the ice cream out of my mouth, I ask further.

"Then what do you judge by?"

"Flaws."

That was a very deadpan way to say that.

"Hmmm, a very negative way to judge people. Sounds like you."

She suddenly leans closer and smirks.

"That's why I have nothing against a guy like you who's totally average, full of flaws, and has no redeeming qualities."

"Thank you, I'll take that as a compliment. If I may ask, what are Mr.Zenon's flaws?"

I give her the ice cream back.

"He has none."

"So he's a prime selection."

"No. There's no such thing as human being with no flaws. If one did exist, they'd either be a massive liar or not right in the head."

"I see. Thank you for that totally arbitrary and biased response."

She resumes eating her ice cream again.

*WHACK* *CRASH*

Something in the distance just got destroyed. Alexia and I look around the corner just to see someone running away while leaving a destroyed ice cream stall behind. I wonder what happend there...

"What was that?"

"Don't know."

"Anyways, you're very welcome, my ever-so-flawed Poochie. Here's your reward for today."

Reward?! Does this mean...

She takes out a gold coin out of her pocket and flicks it up in the air. Just like before, I can't allow myself to waste this chance and catch it with my mouth.

So two more weeks passed, and I continued to play the boyfriend with no relationship progress worth mentioning.

And on this particular day we were alone in the tram after the late afternoon classes. The sun was already setting and the sky was pink. We weren't really tired from the training but Alexia was more irritated than usual. She was more aggressive with her attacks but also made more mistakes in the process.

"Your fencing is a mystery to me. You've got the basics down, but nothing more than that. There's absolutely nothing else to it, but I can't take my eyes away from it."

During the whole silence ride, Alexia opened up with a weird topic. I don't really know if she's complimenting me or insulting me, but in the context of being a mob, I'll take "flattering remark".

"Thanks."

"But I still hate it."

So it wasn't a compliment.

"What's wrong with you today? Your fencing was unusally aggressive and sloppy."

Alexia frowns at my remark. She's either pissed that someone like me has the audacity to criticize her or that she's reminded about her nickname again. So let's calm her down for now.

"Just the ramblings from a white coat. You don't have to look at me like that."

She turns away from me but I can still see the frown on her face remaining.

"All my life, I've wanted to be as good as my sister Iris. But what I have has never been the same as what she has. So I figured it out on my own, tried to get stronger in my own way. And look where it got me. You know what they call me, don't you?"

She put on a sarcastic smile on her lips.

"The Fencer Ordinaire."

"Exactly. But your style is just as ordinary as mine, unfortunately for you."

"I don't think it's unfortunate. I like your fencing style."

Silence.

"Someone told me the same thing once before. At the Bushin Festival, after I'd suffered a humiliating defeat. My sister said it to me. She could never understand what was going through my head. How pathetic I felt. I've hated my sword style ever since."

So I was right. She has a inferiority complex to her sister. She was probably compared to her all her life without being able to prove anything else. But still...

"I'm not a great person. If somewhere on the other side of the world there was an unfortunate incident that killed a million people, it wouldn't bother me. Even if someone kidnapped you I would simply think "Heh, serves you right!"."

"You are the vilest of scum."

"But there are things that would bother me. They might be things that other people see as worthless or completely trivial, but to me, they are the most precious things in life. If you really claim that my swordsmanship and yours is the same then my next words are the absolute truth."

I look her in the eye. There's no a single shred of doubt reflecting in them.

"I like your fencing style, Alexia."

Silence, again.

All of the sudden, she stands up and unsheathes her sword pointing it towards me. It's very lucky for her that nobody is in the tram right now as her action would have caused a scandal. "Princess Alexia attacks her boyfriend in public!?" would have been the headline.

While I'm thinking such things, Alexia's expression is not so amused by the situation.

"What exactly do you mean by telling me that?"

"Nothing, really. But if I did mean anything, it's just that I get pissed off when people diss the things I like. That's how I feel."

The tram stops at the next station we arrive in. The door is opened by the chauffeur only to be suprised and frightend by the sight of the princess holding up her sword against somebody.

"I see. Goodbye. I'll be going home on my own today."

Alexia steps outside of the tram. I'm left alone in here.

I guess that's the end of my unwanted relationship. I hope that Amelia only gets to hear about this very late.

It's a new day. I have no fake girlfriend and Amelia hasn't bothered me yet. It's basically a wonderful day without any troubles and headaches. Maybe I'll decorate my room with some Eminence in Shadow collections. That's something to look forward to.

I'm currently on my way to school with my mob friends Skel and Po. They distanced themselves from me when I was dating Alexia because they were afraid of her. But now that she's gone, they got the courage to be near me again.

"Come one, Cid, you have to cheer up."

"I know it was wrong of us to rat you out, but you don't have to hold it against us forever."

"Yeah, yeah."

"So?"

Po looks very interested while asking that. But I don't know what he's talking about.

"How far did you get?"

Skel seems to know what Po means. But they're not making sense to me.

"With what?"

""You have to ask?!""

Skel and Po both turn towards me. Because of that, we stopped walking and stood still.

"You know! With her! You dated her for two whole weeks! There had to be a little... You know!"

Ah, I see. As expected from my mob friends. Only thinking with their lower region. That's exactly why you both aren't able to score with any girl at the moment.

"*sigh* I didn't get anywhere."

"Gah! You are such a good-for-nothing loser! If it were me, I would have gone all the way!"

"I know, right? I definitely would have at leat kissed her! No, a little farther. Maybe a soft caress. Or maybe something a little more hardcore!"

I ignore their embarrassing rambling in public and go on to the gates of the academy. Everyone around them is looking at them like trash so I'll but some distance between me and them. They do some weird poses, imagining kissing somebody and even moving their lips accordingly.

I can see some students trying to get the teachers involved but there's something more interesting in the distance.

Mr.Zenon and some knights are standing at the entrance of the academy. At the sight of me they suddenly go to our direction and surround us.

The disgusting laughter is abruptly halted behind me. I can practically hear them getting scared.

"May I have a moment?"

Mr.Zenon asks us that. Skel and Po hide behind me in fear of a famous person.

""Pl-please, go ahead!""

"You should know that Princess Alexia did not return to her dorm last night. We found her shoe along the path she uses to commute. There were signs of a scuffle nearby, as well. The Knight Order has been investigating it as a potential kidnapping."

Heh, serves you right!

"And as the last person to have been in contact with her, you have been named as one of the suspects. I would like to ask some questions. I assume you're willing to cooperate?"

The knight behind me has his sword ready to unsheathe. Behind Zenon are a dozen of knights ready for a fight. I could kill them right now, but that wouldn't be very mob like. Though, there was a part in his sentence that confuses me.

"I'm only one of the suspects? Who is the other one?"

"Amelia Hikari. We have already taken her in the morning."

Heh? What? What did he just say?

"She didn't even try to resist. And I'm sure that it's a wise decision to follow her steps."

That's a fat lie but I don't give him a response. I just close my eyes and put my arms up so that they can arrest me.

I realized something... I was in big trouble and somehow Amelia is also dragged into this mess. I wonder what will happen in the future?