* * *

The largest hall of the Grand Temple served as the venue for this banquet.

After a simple invitation verification, guests could enter directly.

While the place preached the doctrine of “equality for all” and ostensibly didn’t discriminate among invited guests—

‘Still, the nobles are overwhelmingly numerous.’

Many attendees were so dazzlingly dressed that my own gown looked shabby by comparison. So much for integrity being a virtue—that was clearly just sleep talk.

Fortunately, the only noble who’d actually met my face was Duke Serif, so it seemed no one here would recognize me.

The highlight of the banquet would be the unveiling of the Holy Relic. If anything were to happen, it would be then.

‘Until then, I should maintain a presence just visible enough to exist, yet faint enough to be overlooked.’

Meanwhile, our beautiful students were drawing every eye in the room.

Since it was a banquet, after all, I figured I’d step back and let them enjoy their youth. I’d maintain just enough distance to move if the situation called for it.

‘Oh, that looks delicious.’

Perhaps because the Holy Kingdom was practically rotting with wealth, the prepared food and beverages looked quite appetizing.

My mouth was watering, but ‘Chris’ wouldn’t greedily indulge in food……. Ah, moments like this really made me question whether I’d chosen the wrong roleplay.

‘I’ll just hold a glass of wine to look natural. Not a sip, though.’

But seriously, why was a temple serving such fine liquor? The aroma alone was enough to drive me mad.

‘Maybe just one tiny sip. When the kids aren’t looking. It’s basically slightly fermented grape juice, right? Right?’

Just as the ‘devoted teacher’ facet of my roleplay was about to shatter spectacularly, a familiar voice reached my ears.

“Surely…… Professor?”

Shit, I nearly bit my tongue. Why was it always this kind of encounter with him?

* * *

Andante had no intention of attending the Holy Emperor’s birthday banquet. If not for Angelina’s whim.

“We haven’t even arrived home yet and you already look like death warmed over. Do you really hate Father that much?”

“……Who said anything about looking like death?”

“You do, Andante. You look like someone who bit into a bug.”

Angelina said this without lifting her eyes from the book she was reading.

“Why didn’t you just follow that professor instead? Chris, was it?”

“Since when do you use honorifics?”

“She’s the one who saved me. Thanks to her, I didn’t miss this author’s new release.”

Lately, Andante couldn’t help but wonder if his imitation of Angelina had been wrong from the very start. After all, the real Angelina he’d personally experienced was far more scatterbrained than he’d expected.

‘Are all geniuses this eccentric?’

Recalling the X-Class students and Chris, that certainly seemed to be the case. Regardless, Andante was an ordinary person. He had no intention of behaving as recklessly as they did.

“Father summoned me. Was I supposed to ignore him?”

“What’s Father, anyway? Just a fool who happens to be good at magic?”

That’s only because you’re powerful enough to rival Father……. Something nearly surged up inside him, but he held it back.

A wise decision. Soon after, Angelina thrust a piece of paper at him.

“Take it.”

“What’s this?”

“An invitation to the Holy Emperor’s birthday banquet.”

“……Why do you have that?”

“You might not know this, brother, but I’m quite famous right now. Invitations come flying in from everywhere, begging to see my face. They probably want to confirm I’m not the product of necromancy.”

A morbid joke. Andante let out a hollow laugh and took the invitation for now.

“The Holy Emperor’s birthday banquet, huh…….”

“Are you afraid of straying from the path?”

“…….”

At Angelina’s words, Andante let out a quiet sigh.

The old him would have immediately floundered and returned the invitation. None of the wellspring of confidence his younger sister possessed existed within Andante.

But now.

“I’ve already broken free once.”

Whether it was Angelina speaking to her frustratingly slow brother or Andante murmuring to himself was impossible to tell.

True. With Chris’s help, he’d already managed to leap off the path he’d walked for so long.

What would Chris have said at a moment like this? ‘Figure it out yourself, kid?’

If so, then the time had truly come to figure it out for himself. When an opportunity was presented, one had to reach out and seize it with their own hands.

The first time was always the hardest. From the second time on, it got easier.

“Angelina. I’m borrowing one of your lines.”

“Decided to run from Father?”

“No. There’s someone I want to see there.”

“Alright, then. Oh, you’re representing the Serif ducal house, so be careful.”

Andante nodded at Angelina’s words. At some point, a grin had spread across his face.

“Of course. I’ll take full responsibility.”

* * *

The Princess said he hadn’t recognized me at first glance and had been hovering around the vicinity before finally speaking up.

Well, that meant the disguise was reasonably effective. I hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol, so why did my tongue taste so bitter…….

Anyway.

“Why are you here?”

I asked with genuine curiosity. As far as I knew, the Princess should have been spending a depressing evening at the Serif ducal estate right about now.

“W-well, Angelina gave me an invitation. I’m here representing the ducal house, in a manner of speaking.”

If that was the case, why not just come with us from the start? Do you have any idea how much I sweated on the way here worrying about your absence?

This kid really had no sense of efficiency. The type to take the long way around when a shortcut was right there. In a world where excessive sincerity only worked against you, I worried for him.

“Then your business here is separate from ours.”

We were on Holy Emperor babysitting duty, so don’t get in the way and go handle your family business—I waved my hand lightly to convey that sentiment.

But the Princess hesitated, then didn’t retreat. Instead, he took another step closer. A long shadow fell across me as a result.

‘Looking at him this close, he really has grown quite tall. Going purely by appearance, the Princess is still the most adult-looking one in X-Class.’

I was having these pointless thoughts when the Princess, wearing a look of resolve, spoke up.

“Actually, I…… my original purpose wasn’t just to greet you.”

“……?”

I raised an eyebrow as if to ask what nonsense he was spouting. For ‘Chris,’ this was about as welcoming a gesture as ‘Alright, what is it? Let’s hear it.’

In response, the Princess gulped once and slowly extended one hand.

Was he asking for pocket money?

But it seemed the Princess wanted something far more valuable than money.

For instance…….

“May I have this dance, my lady?”

Something like my hand.

Huh?

What was this, some kind of joke? I had no idea the Princess was the type to make such humorless jokes.

As I stood there glaring at the Princess’s face, agonizing over how a sensible professor ought to respond, I realized something.

‘Oh, his ears are about to burst.’

Both ears were beyond crimson, on the verge of outright combusting. Which meant the Princess was currently mortified beyond measure……. Oh.

I wasn’t particularly perceptive, but I had no intention of subjecting him to agonizing awkwardness here. I hadn’t expected my disguised appearance to be the Princess’s type—this was a real problem.

‘System. Let me use concealment magic. I want to flee this spot immediately.’

[Surprise Quest!

Dance one song with a partner in front of Michael. I won’t judge your skill. You just need to stay close together. Jealousy is a wonderful motivator!

Reward: Sprinting Glass Slippers

Penalty for refusal: Your luck will worsen. Well, it wasn’t that great to begin with, though.]

What, a surprise quest? Shoving something I’ve never heard of at me out of nowhere. This bastard’s enjoying himself, isn’t he?

But jealousy, huh……. This didn’t bode well. I rolled my creaking eyeballs past the Princess’s shoulder and, sure enough, there was a pair of eyes staring this way.

‘It’s the Protagonist, that lunatic…….’

So he wanted me to dance with the Princess right in front of the Protagonist? Was he hoping for a ‘The professor is mine,’ ‘No, she’s mine,’ ‘Don’t fight over me, you two,’ kind of situation?

Fuck, like that would work!

[Swipe the screen to decline the quest.]

Without a moment’s hesitation, I swiped away the system window displaying the quest.

“……Ah.”

To the Princess, that gesture must have looked like I was swatting away his outstretched hand. His expression immediately crumpled into hurt.

Ugh, this was maddening. Just how far ahead was the System planning this grand scheme?

But. Yes, but.

‘Calm down. Take a deep breath. I have a fragile roleplay to uphold.’

If I crumbled here, I wasn’t a true Roleplay Addict. Besides, ‘Chris’ was never the sort of person who’d readily accept a dance invitation.

In other words, the Princess must have anticipated the rejection.

The problem was that, because of the system window, my reaction had come across as somewhat excessive. It was far removed from Chris’s usual cool demeanor.

‘At this rate, the Princess will slip into low-self-esteem mode and become a hassle to deal with.’

I needed to provide a proper reason—one that made clear I wasn’t rejecting him specifically because he was the Princess.

I let out a short breath and closed my eyes. A way to dodge this situation while simultaneously blocking the melancholic emotions of a teenage boy.

“A wet-behind-the-ears brat, acting all high and mighty.”

Going with the textbook curmudgeon approach. Do you want to get me fired from my professorship?