After handling the uppercla.s.smen that had called me out, I returned to the dorm.

Sitting down relaxedly on the sofa in the lounge, I drank the tea I had received from the cafeteria.

While it might be quite rude of me to say this, but that was mere child"s play.

……to begin with, when they had first called me out in a stupidly honest manner in the cla.s.sroom where there were plenty of outside gazes, I had a feeling things would go this way.

The battles between women that I had heard about from Aurelisama were more sly and muddled events.

Even so…-I closed my eyes while surrendering myself to the wave of thoughts that washed over me.

As expected, Rui is popular amongst women……to the point where they would dislike his fiancée that suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Well, it was only natural……if you thought about his House"s power and a.s.sets, in addition to his own appearance.

In the future, it probably won"t just be such much-appreciated people, like those uppercla.s.smen who came to me in such a stupidly honest manner, acting as my opponents. 

There was the possibility that people who would use more crafty means, like what Aurelisama spoke about, will appear. 

"……though I have no intention of running away."

I unintentionally muttered my inner thoughts while opening my eyes.

……it seems that thankfully, there were no people around me to hear my words.

"Mellice-sama, would right now be alright?"

However, the moment I felt relieved, Sharisama called out to me.

"Eh…….y-yes. What seems to be the matter? Sharisama."

"Thank you very much. I want to speak of a matter that is a little complicated, but……"

"Then, how about going to my room?"

"Would that be alright?"

"Yes, of course."

Could it be that she found out?…….unable to think of anything but that, I lead her to my room.

"Please, feel free to sit there."

As I pointed to a seat, I sat down across from it.

"So, what seems to be the matter?"

"I will ask without beating around the bush……Mellice-sama is…Mel-sama, right?"

A light of conviction dwelled within her eyes, showing that her resolve was enough to make any sort of deception pointless.

"……it is quite dreadful how you ask after being fully convinced of that being the truth. It is as if, no matter what I say in denial, it will be meaningless to you."

"Then……?"

"Yes, as you have discerned, I am both Mel and Mellice."

Hou, I answered while letting out a breath.

"Incidentally, when did you realize it?"

"……from the beginning."

"From the beginning?"

I unconsciously parroted her words, having found them so unexpected.

"Yes. I knew from the beginning."

In response she smiled calmly.

"Just how……"

"I truly am thankful. Because you protected us……I…we are safe. I can not thank you enough."

She restated the words that she said during that kidnapping case, verbatim.

"Like that, there was no way I could possibly forget about you. Even if you introduced yourself as a body double……I have always believed that wasn"t someone that just looked like you, but you yourself."

I reflexively laughed at her words.

So the reason why she made such a bewildered face when we first talked at the Academy was because of that.

"I must apologize for that. Once you realized it, you didn"t speak about it and matched my story."

"No……you are my saviour after all. It"s only natural."

"However……if that"s the case, then why did you confirm it with me now? Like I mentioned earlier, it is rather meaningless to confirm something you are convinced about."

"The truth is, while it is quite shameful of me to have done so, I was observing your exchange with the uppercla.s.smen earlier…….while I do believe it was unnecessary to do so for Mel-sama, I was worried…….and if it came down to it, I was planning on calling a teacher."

"I see……it"s fine. You were worried about me after all. Rather, I"m thankful."

"No……I didn"t want to tell you about that. It was that other than me, there was another person watching the scene."

"……could it be Prince Edgar?"

"I"m surprised you knew."

"Well……it seems like he has been investigating me for some reason. Even though I have nothing for someone of the Royal family to be investigating."

"Could it be that he"s searching for Mel-sama?"

"I do not believe that is something that would concern someone of the Royal family, though…….well, it"s fine. So you went out of your way to confirm things just to tell me that. Thank you, truly."

"There"s no need for thanks."

When I expressed my grat.i.tude, she made a bashful and affectionate smile.

Seeing her lovely appearance, even I found myself fascinated for a short while.

"While this may be quite selfish of me, could we become more intimate in the future as well? Even though I said that I wanted to become friends with you, up until now I have been deceiving you after all……"

Bringing my consciousness back to reality, I made a suggestion.

These couple minutes of interaction made me feel that I wanted to become closer to her.

"I do not think that you tried to "deceive" me at all. Rather, it was only normal to do that…….rather, it is I who brazenly made you expose your secret……please take care of me in the future as well."

And then, after the events of that day, Sharia and I became even closer than before.

……it was to the point where, whether it be during or between cla.s.ses, we were always together.

Being together with her was no different from when I was with Rui. I was able to take it easy, as there was no need to adorn myself with a false mask.

Actually, this was my first time having a female friend. I became so elated, that I quickly introduced her to Rui.

"At any rate, Mellice…….I wonder what his Highness was thinking in the end."

"Quite a bit of time has pa.s.sed since then, and he hasn"t made any movements at all……honestly speaking, I"ve given up on it."

"Is that so……"

"Now that I think of it, what is Sharia planning on doing during the holidays?"

"Going back to the territory is troublesome, so I was planning on staying at our villa in the Capital?"

"My, really!? Then, we will be able to meet during the holidays as well. I also plan on staying in the Capital for the entire duration of the holidays."

"I"m looking forward to that! There"s a cafe that I"ve been wanting to go to for a long time now, and if it"s with you, we"ll be able to go together without any worries."

"……if it"s like that, please leave it to me. I will protect Ojou-sama."

"Fufu……it"s like you"re a young n.o.ble from somewhere. No, you"re far cooler than those boys from who knows where."

"I"m honoured."

The both of us guffawed at that exchange.