Alright then. My school life began with a bit of an argument with the archduke’s son, but other than that there didn’t seem to be anything new or special about it.


    It’s because there isn’t much change to my daily routine no matter where I am.


    Oscar and udia send messenger soldiers with political paperwork for me to take care of on asion, I’m confirming reports and giving instructions on the continuing irrigation work in my domain, I check the food production statistics of my domain and calcte the amount of food that we need to import…… and for some reason Fort Jugfena is also sending me intelligence reports on Rindarl for me to peruse over.


    Something like an intelligence report, is only supposed to be read by the highest militarymanders and themanders of important strategic locations. It can’t be viewed otherwise unless the House of Lords approves of it.


    ……I’m currently exempted from having to participate in battle because of attending school, so why is Wiegraf sending me detailed intelligence and the proposed battle ns for future shes? Well, perhaps he’s just looking out for me since I fought together with him and his brother Ergnade, and all three of us helped to put together the n for the disy at Ritox teau. No, it could also be that he wants me to have as much information as possible, just in case I need to return to the frontlines for some reason.


    Because of all my work rted to my domain and the current war situation, it’s difficult for me to concentrate on my studies. As for all my sses every day and how to deal with learning it – it’s simple, I have a body double……


    “Hey, today as well that bastard Eric pulled on my hair, and stepped on the hem of my cloak. I thought this was supposed to be an upstanding educational facility? Oh, and the teacher gave an overview of the lecture’s content. What’s going on?”


    “I want to hear more.”


    Ratoka who just returned from sses was asking me in confusion about what was happening, although I only responded sinctly. ……Although, hair pulling, stepping on the hem of a cloak, that Eric sure is immature. Is he a child? Well, he’s thirteen…… uh, I suppose he is a child.


    “You want the details of the lecture? Um, it was a lecture about the Artn legal system. Then, it was aparison on differences between thews of Arts and Arxia, even though we both use the Sacred Code as the basis, we discussed why there would be differences, we analyzed its influence, and predicted about what would happen if we adopted some of theirws, things like that.”


    “Comparingws? What was the textbook used?”


    “The title was ‘Observations on Differences in other Sects’Laws.’It’s a book from the church.”


    “Ahh, I’ve read that book before. There’s no problem then. You’ve read it before as well.”


    Yep, Ratoka nodded, as he told me some more details about the ss. I know that it can be daunting for someone else to attend sses and do all the homework for me, but I’ve given Ratoka an education and training before so he can handle it. If I had to do these things in addition to my normal workload, it would be an unreasonable amount.


    Well, it’s not like I make Ratoka do it all the time, I still go and attend sses myself when I can, there’s just no helping it…… Well, that’s what I told myself.


    But anyways, I nced over again at his appearance. Even from an early age I felt like his facial features and all the colors matched mine so well, now that we’re both maturing his face resembles mine even more, to the point where even udia will sometimes get us mixed up. Whenparing side by side, Ratoka’s face actually seems more feminine, and because he’s been by my side for so long, he can urately imitate my expressions and reactions without any suspicion. That’s why I’m having him go to sses for me……


    “……What?”


    Has he been taking lessons from udia’s sharp senses, Ratoka noticed me looking over at him. I told him it was nothing as I took my eyes off him.


    It’s now one month after I’ve entered school, and I still haven’t discovered the person that I’ve been searching for. Since we’re still having only basic sses though, and we’re supposed to be stuck in ss for most of the time, there’s no helping it that I can’t move around. It should have been easy to find the person I’m looking for just based on appearance, but every time I myself go to ss I have to deal with the crown prince’s appearance being an assault on my senses with how brightly he stands out, so it’s quite a bother.


    Today when I went to ss, just like always my eyes were drawn to the sight of his luxurious head of shimmery blonde hair glittering as it reflected the sunlight from the window. His terribly conspicuous appearance draws everyone’s attention at all times, whether he wants to or not. Maybe if I see him more often I’ll get used to it, and I’ll build up a resistance?


    I briefly greeted him and sat down in an empty seat. I don’t want to have to be invited by the prince to sit with his group by the time more studentse and most seats are taken. It would be quite a bother, as I can easily imagine how much of amotion that will cause with the other noble students if that happens.


    All of these sses have already been drilled into my head by Mrs. Marshan, so the only real reason for me toe to ss is to have opportunities to get in contact with the crown prince and find out what he wants, this thought kept going around and around in my head.


    ……I understand why Ergnade and the others would be concerned about me. I’m someone that can help the war effort. Besides, they gave me their family name, even if we’re not rted by blood, we’re as close as real rtives. I can also understand how the Terejia family is keeping an eye on me because I’m the one who was raised up by Earl Terejia.


    However, I have no idea what the crown prince’s intentions are towards me. After I graduate from noble school, I’m going to return to my own domain. As someone who’s going to control the entire kingdom in the future from the royal pce, why does he try to keep getting border noble that’s only a lesser earl involved with him?


    Although I’ll have to tolerate it patiently for three years, dealing with other nobles isn’t something that I enjoy. I just want to stay by myself, I don’t want to affect my domain…… Since I can’t go against the crown prince, I’ll just deal with the nobles here the best I can with my poor abilities and stay silent as much as possible.


    Crack, I put too much force into my hands as I kept thinking. Then, I heard a snapping sound from between my hands.


    “…………”


    I’ve done it now. I snapped my pen.


    Well, I did know that my pen was getting quite old and reaching the end of its lifespan. But, I still kept using it because it was still usable. It’s not like I have a superhuman grasping strength like udia does.


    But now, the problem is that I don’t have a recement pen. While I was the one who broke it, I didn’t think that it was going to break this quickly, and I just stared at the remnants of the pen in my hand.


    ……What should I do about the ss? Should I try writing with just the top half? I still need to share ss information with Ratoka, so I’d like to take notes on the teacher’s lecture.


    “Excuse me, Earl Kaldia.”


    Someone quietly called for me from beside me, and I finally took my eyes off my pen. When I saw who it was, I reflexively let out a small gasp of surprise. The boy who was talking to me was the exact person I was looking for all this time.


    He looked like an exact younger copy of Margrave Molton – despite that, he seemed to not stand out for some reason – Margrave Molton’s son that he doted on so much sat down next to me.


    “Please, go ahead and use this.”


    Why did I never notice him, with his distinctive silver hair. While I was frozen in surprise as if I was seeing something I couldn’tprehend, he handed a brand new feather pen to me.


    “-Thank you. You’ve been a great help.”


    Although I was thinking about looking for him and greeting him, now that the person I couldn’t find was sitting next to me, and I still couldn’t get over the shock that he had been in the same ss all this time, my mind went nk and I could only respond foolishly to his offering his pen.


    ……Although, with his hair color, and his face, why didn’t his presence draw my attention instantly, like his father or the crown prince?