Honestly, Other People's Romance Gives Me More Dopamine Than My Own

Lucy Valentine.

The second daughter of House Viscount Valentine of Adrian, the kingdom of mages.

In another place, she might have been treated with respect as a noble, but the place she was in was the [Crocus Academy], where the Empire's most renowned geniuses gathered.

Lucy Valentine. She was an extremely ordinary woman here.

She had come here after receiving recognition for her magical talent, but she was only around the middle of the rankings.

And since she was the second daughter rather than the eldest, whether she was suitable as a bride was somewhat questionable.

However, her standing within the [Crocus Academy] had been rising lately.

The reason was none other than...

"Ah, hello! Saintess!"

The Pure White Saintess, Ariel.

It was simply the fact that she was close friends with her.

"Um... Lucy. I always say this, but please call me Ariel instead of Saintess. We attend the same academy, after all."

"Ah, I'm sorry. Hehe."

Ariel smiled as though she could not help herself while looking at Lucy, who scratched her cheek sheepishly at Ariel's words.

That was also why Ariel kept Lucy close.

The children of other noble families had tried to approach her from their very first meeting, using politics or something similar to build a relationship.

When their ulterior motives were so obvious, how could she grow close to such people?

The reason she had come to this academy in the first place was to get even a little rest from the overly busy life of a saintess.

Of course, after learning about the [Organization] and the truth of this world from Abel, she had also been catching the illegal organizations that had infiltrated the academy, whether she realized it or not.

Amid all that, the second daughter of House Valentine had approached her.

There was no political reason for her to approach, and since she was a woman, she was not approaching her with the strange ulterior motives of men, either.

Finally, Lucy had a clear reason for wanting to grow close to Ariel.

"Hmm. But perhaps because you healed me that day, it still doesn't roll off my tongue very well..."

After her regression, she had traveled the world in the position of a saintess, using her memories to handle various matters.

During one of her brief visits to House Viscount Valentine, she had once been asked to heal one of their children.

That child was Lucy, and after Ariel's healing saved her from a disease that had nearly killed her, Lucy approached Ariel with an entirely pure motive.

Her gratitude toward the benefactor who had saved her, combined with the carefree personality she had gained after passing through the brink of death, led her to make the incredibly adorable resolution of becoming friends with her benefactor and repaying her debt.

'Hehe...'

Ariel had instantly seen through Lucy's thoughts and could not hide the smile that naturally bloomed on her face.

I mean, wasn't it obvious?

The reasons nobles who had just come of age approached her were always the same.

Politics, or an engagement. Or else the divine power Ariel possessed. Countless people approached her because of her status, appearance, or abilities.

Of course, Ariel did not hate such people.

There was no guarantee that Ariel herself would never act that way, and hating them while claiming she was different would be an incredibly arrogant attitude.

Amid the walls she had been building between herself and others, Lucy's pure desire had appeared.

[Get close to the benefactor who saved me in the past and repay my debt!]

How could anyone see that and not think it was pure?

And so the two naturally grew close.

Eventually, about two months after the entrance ceremony, they had reached the point where Lucy considered herself Ariel's closest friend.

The gazes of countless people followed the two as they walked along, chatting amiably.

This was Ariel's everyday life at the [Crocus Academy].

***

Hello. I'm Lucy!

Today, too, I'm extremely happy because I got to take a class with Ariel after we happened to have a course in common!

Ah, but she says that since we're in the same year, it would be more comfortable to speak informally.

Uuugh. It's a little difficult to speak casually to the saintess who saved my life.

[Save... me...]

As I gazed at Ariel, who was staring blankly while concentrating on class, I was reminded of that day.

The phenomenon known as a mana outburst, in which the mana throughout one's body runs wild.

If an ordinary mana awakener suffered from a mana outburst, their life would be in danger, but mages took especially severe damage from it.

For mages, who created a ring around their hearts and used the power of its rotation to cast magic, a mana outburst was like having bombs explode beside their hearts over and over.

[Ahh...]

I'm going to die soon.

Since I had been a mage that day as well, I knew that very well.

No, rather than knowing it, it was simply the obvious conclusion to reach when I was lying there and could see the mana near my heart thrashing as though it were about to explode.

[I don't want... to die.]

I hate it. I don't want to die.

There were still so many things I wanted to do, so many things I wanted to eat, and so many clothes I wanted to wear.

I still had so much I wanted to do and so much I had never gotten to do. Wasn't it terribly miserable to die like this?

Besides...

[Mom... Dad...]

I wanted to reassure my parents, who looked at me worriedly as I lay in bed after falling ill, that I was healthy.

Don't be sad. I'm healthy. So please smile.

That day, even though I was a mage, I desperately offered a prayer to God.

Please save me.

And if that wasn't possible, I fervently prayed that at least my parents would not be too sad after I died.

Did my prayer reach God?

[An angel?]

That day, I met the benefactor who saved my life.

.

.

.

"Lu..."

That was when I was absentmindedly recalling the first time I met Ariel.

"Lucy...?"

A voice that strangely tickled my ears.

"Miss Lucy!"

"Eek!"

I woke from my thoughts at the professor's shout and had no choice but to spring to my feet with a startled expression.

"What on earth were you thinking about that you didn't answer even when the professor called you?"

"...Uh, well... about the magic I thought about all night..."

I trailed off without realizing it.

Uuugh.

There was no way such a stupid excuse would work!

Besides, the class Ariel and I were attending right now was...

"Magic. You do know what this class is about, don't you? Go ahead and tell us."

"Uh, um... [The Correlation Between Divine Power and Aura]..."

It was a class that had absolutely nothing to do with magic.

"..."

Uuugh. The professor's gaze hurts so much.

On top of that, the gazes of everyone around me felt as though they were piercing me like arrows.

Even I, whose personality had become carefree after surviving death, could still feel embarrassed.

And the most difficult part of all was...

"..."

Ariel's gaze as she looked at me with a wry smile.

Aaaah. Please don't look at me like that.

"Sigh. Fine. I'll let it slide once, but next time, I expect you to keep in mind that you are a student and participate in class accordingly."

"I'm sorry!!"

A little later.

After class finally ended, I followed Ariel while listening to her lecture me.

Thinking about other things during class was bad.

Wasn't it rude to the professor who had prepared the textbooks and lesson material for us?

Education here was at an incredible level unlike anything she had seen anywhere else in the world, so failing to receive it would only be a loss, and so on and so forth.

Every word was completely correct, which made it a little sad that I could not even make an excuse.

Ah, but perhaps walking while listening to Ariel's beautiful voice made it a little better?

As I walked along thinking that, Ariel's footsteps came to a stop.

"Ah..."

Wondering why she had stopped, I turned my head to look ahead and saw a handsome blond man approaching us from far away.

He was someone I knew well, too.

No, since I was always with Ariel, I suppose I had naturally become acquainted with him.

"I trust you have been well, Saintess Ariel."

"Prince Wilhelm."

You know the archetypal blond prince character from storybooks, right?

He was a handsome man whose appearance could be called the very definition of that archetypal prince character.

He was Prince Wilhelm, the second prince of a kingdom one step below the Empire, the greatest hegemonic power on the continent.

"..."

"..."

Uuugh. What should I do? I could feel everyone in the corridor listening to Ariel and Wilhelm's encounter.

Only about two months had passed, but a somewhat scandalous rumor had already begun following Saintess Ariel, you know?

Namely...

[She's keeping both Prince Wilhelm and Young Master Kairun on the hook.]

That was the ridiculous rumor.

Of course, the rumor quickly died down.

"You are the most beautiful woman in the world today as well, Ariel."

"I think that is excessive praise."

"Hahaha. Of course not. I stake my honor on the fact that you are more beautiful than [Alexandria], the heirloom of my kingdom known as the Jewel of the Sky."

“Such excessive praise for a mere cleric. Please take it back.”

Do you see it?

Ariel did not even change color at Prince Wilhelm's praise, maintaining her distance from him.

Anyone with two eyes and a noble education could tell at a glance.

It was plainly obvious that Ariel was trying to keep her distance from Wilhelm, so who would believe such nonsense?

And to maliciously spread such a scandal about the saintess, who was called an apostle of God?

It was enough to make one fear how the Holy Kingdom might respond later.

Fortunately, the nobles had enough sense for the rumor to quickly die down.

But...

"What are you doing?"

A handsome man with black hair and a cool expression had suddenly appeared from somewhere.

According to the girls, he was a coldly handsome man like the snowy fields of the North, right?

In any case, Kairun's appearance caused the situation to grow even more chaotic.

"Kairun..."

Prince Wilhelm warily watched Kairun, who had appeared so suddenly.

I was not imagining it when I thought the number of students watching the two of them had increased even further, was I?

"..."

Aaaah. What should I do?

Ariel's face was starting to darken!

Oh no! A cloud was appearing over that face, a face that was practically a treasure of humanity!!

'What do I do, what do I do?!'

Should I just charge in?

With my usual stupid image, perhaps things would simply become muddled and pass without incident?

"Well, well, Young Master Kairun. It's been a while."

"Didn't we speak just yesterday?"

"Hahaha. My apologies. I don't consider words that sharp a conversation."

Contrary to my thoughts of seriously overturning this entire situation, Wilhelm and Kairun began trading barbs.

What on earth was going on?

What kind of place was this, for the heir of the Empire's northern ducal family to trade barbs with the prince of another country, one that was regarded as only slightly below the Empire?!

Putting aside the diplomatic discourtesy, their positions alone made it obvious that this was something they should not be doing in a place filled with so many powerful people and noble heirs. Even I knew that, and I was a fool.

But goodness...

"Criticism? That's strange. I was merely pointing out that you were being far too familiar with Ariel."

"Isn't that a rather sharp reaction? I meant it only as a sign of familiarity. Or did you perhaps have some strange thoughts of your own?"

"What?"

'Aaaaaaaah!!'

The verbal sparring was growing increasingly heated.

Countless children of noble families and powerful figures watched with fascination.

My head was spinning, and I was on the verge of fainting.

"Stop!"

"Ariel..."

"Saintess Ariel."

Stepping between the two men, Ariel began to resolve the situation in a calm tone.

"You are both at fault. Kairun, even if you intended to point something out, I saw your sharp reaction at the time as well, so I cannot deny that it was an opinion akin to excessive criticism."

"Ariel."

Prince Wilhelm smiled faintly at those words. However, Ariel did not stop speaking.

"However, you are not blameless either, Wilhelm. Even though you have a betrothed chosen by your kingdom, failing to properly judge the distance between us was your mistake, and mine as well."

"Saintess Ariel?"

Faith must never be connected to politics.

Those were the words God had left behind after personally descending to this land in the past.

Therefore, Ariel was now...

"Thus, the cause of this entire situation was my inappropriate handling of it. I sincerely apologize."

She was drawing every political gaze toward herself and trying to let the entire situation fade away without consequence.

If the saintess became this directly involved, discussing the matter would only draw the Holy Kingdom's attention to it.

"Then, as an act of self-reflection, I will withdraw for now. Well then..."

"Ariel!"

"Saintess Ariel!"

I followed Ariel as she wrapped up the situation and left.

Fortunately, she had not gone far, so I was able to catch up with her quickly.

"Saintess!"

"Lucy... Ah, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you behind."

"Hehe. It's all right. If you had dragged me out with you, it might have drawn even more attention, after all."

"Is that so...?"

Ariel smiled as though she were slightly tired at my words.

Meeting the two of them seemed to have doubled her fatigue.

"What a shame. Hehe. I was in such a good mood after seeing you this morning, Ariel, and then this had to happen..."

I deliberately did not say who had ruined Ariel's mood.

I was not stupid enough to carelessly say something like that out loud, either.

"Hmm... Yes... Ah, wait. What time is it now?"

"The time?"

At Ariel's words, I handed her the pocket watch I was carrying.

When she checked the time, Ariel opened her eyes wide and began adjusting her clothes.

"???"

What was this?

Why had she suddenly checked the time and started inspecting the uniform provided by the academy?

After some time passed, Ariel checked her appearance and then spoke to me with a slightly nervous expression.

"Um, may I ask you something?"

"Yes? Yes! Of course. If you want, shall I even tell you where our family vault is?"

"Ah, no. It's not that... It's just..."

I was overwhelmed in an instant.

I did not know why, but the way her face flushed pleasantly and she twisted her body shyly felt incredibly attractive even to me, another woman, and I was overwhelmed for a moment.

"Um, do I look pretty right now...?"

"Ghk!"

"Lucy?! Why did you suddenly clutch your heart? Could the mana outburst we cured back then have relapsed?!"

"Ugh... No, it's not that..."

"What do you mean, it's not that?! Calm down for a moment. Let me suppress it with divine power first."

I desperately waved my hand to show that I was truly fine, and only then did Ariel calm down.

"Phew..."

Looking at Ariel, I stored away the image of her speaking to me while gazing at me with moist eyes, then opened my mouth.

"You asked if you were pretty, right?"

"Ah, yes..."

"You're really pretty! One of a kind in this world—no! You are beautiful enough for me to say that you are the most beautiful person in the world!"

.

.

.

'What a relief.'

After saying that, Ariel left, saying she had something to do.

I stood blankly in the spot where Ariel had been, lost in my thoughts.

The way she had looked to be in such a good mood this morning. And the way she had asked whether she was pretty, then looked happy when I said she was.

Her big data, accumulated from reading 54,000 romance novels, began screaming.

A man.

There was no doubt that a woman who cared that much about her appearance was trying to look good for a man she liked.

Of course, Lucy herself was also a forever-alone woman who had never even held a man's hand!

That was precisely why she was even more interested in other people's romances than her own.

Should I call it the so-called pleasure without responsibility?

Especially when the target was Ariel.

'A premonition of love!'

I was curious. Incredibly curious.

"I like this..."

Lucy, twenty years old.

A girl who loved other people's love stories more than anything.

And so she used all her magical abilities to erase her appearance, sound, presence, and scent before cautiously beginning to follow Ariel.

"..."

"..."

And behind Lucy, two presences followed her, completely unnoticed by her.