Leon's Backing

Finally, it's over... I'm exhausted. I need to get to the carriage soon, or I might be keeping Lucien waiting.

As I thought that and stood up to leave the classroom, Ronnie spoke to me.

"Leon, are you going home already?"

"Yeah. I need to hurry, or I might be keeping someone waiting."

"Really? I was thinking that, if you didn't mind, we could go home together. Come to think of it, where do you live, Leon? I live a little ways away, but I found a cheap apartment, so that's where I live. If we're headed in the same direction, maybe we could go home together?"

What should I do...? Would it be all right to tell him about the Townsend ducal family? Ronnie seemed to have calmed down a little, and it would probably be a bigger shock if he found out later. I didn't want to lie to him, either.

As far as the Townsend ducal family was concerned, they probably wanted to make our relationship public and emphasize that they were backing me, so I figured it would be better to tell him.

"Ronnie, don't be surprised, okay?"

"Okay. What's wrong?"

"At the entrance ceremony, I said I had gotten into the Royal Academy through a connection to a noble family, but that family is the Townsend ducal family. They've let me stay at their estate."

"The ducal family...? You, Leon, live at the ducal family's estate?"

"That's right. But I'm a commoner, so don't worry about it too much. I'd be happy if you stayed friends with me like before... It's just that, because of that, I can't go home with you... I'm sorry."

"Yeah, that's fine, but... the ducal family?"

Ronnie seemed unable to process what he had heard and was staring blankly. Ronnie, I'm really sorry for springing this on you!

But for now, could I just go home? I couldn't keep Lucien waiting too long.

"Well, I can't keep him waiting much longer, so I'll head home for today."

"Okay........"

For now, I decided it was enough that I had told Ronnie the truth. I could explain everything properly tomorrow.

I convinced myself of that and once again stepped toward the classroom exit. But then a voice from behind stopped me again.

"You're Leon, aren't you? Do you think you can get away with telling a lie like that?"

It was Salim. Oh, what a pain this guy was. And I was in a hurry, too.

"It's not a lie. It's the truth."

"A ducal family backing a commoner and sending him to the Royal Academy? That's absolutely impossible. You'd better retract that right now, for your own sake."

As if I'd make up a lie like this. Why didn't he believe me? Well, maybe a ducal family backing a commoner and sending him to the Royal Academy had never happened before, but there was no way a commoner would lie using a ducal family's name.

"You don't have to believe me. I'm not lying, you know."

"Then you've been duped, huh? You must have fallen for some con artist. Ha! That's hilarious."

What con artist would trick a child into attending the Royal Academy? What would they get out of it?

Was Salim an idiot? But he had passed the entrance exam. Well, if you studied seriously, it wasn't that difficult. He was probably the type who had barely scraped into the school.

This was too much trouble. Maybe I could just ignore him. Eventually, he would see me arriving in the Townsend ducal family's carriage and realize I wasn't lying. I could leave him alone until then.

I was so fed up that I simply ignored him and tried to leave.

"Are you running away!"

I'm not running away! I'm busy!

I was getting a little angry, so I turned around and retorted.

"I'm not running away. I'm busy. I don't have time to deal with an annoying, unreasonable idiot like you."

After I said that, Salim seemed to reach the peak of his anger, and his face turned bright red.

Just as Salim was about to shout something else, a voice called out from behind me.

"Leon, what are you doing?"

Salim froze with a look of astonishment on his face. Most of the students were still in the classroom, but every one of them had frozen while staring behind me.

This voice... Why was he in this classroom?

I turned around and greeted the person who had spoken.

"Lucien-sama, I'm sorry you had to see me in a situation like this."

Why did Lucien come to this classroom!? I suppose I should be grateful, since this showed everyone that I had the Townsend ducal family's backing, but even so, he was drawing an incredible amount of attention. Coming all the way to the Class E classroom was really overdoing it, wasn't it?

There was no way I could keep a low profile anymore... I had thought I might be able to pass as an ordinary commoner for at least a few days... Well, ordinary commoners stood out a lot at this school anyway, so I suppose it made little difference.

But I'm not even a merchant's child—I'm just a poor commoner. Doesn't the ducal family's backing make me stand out even more? Sigh... I'll stop thinking about it.

Still, was it really all right for someone from Class A to come to the Class E classroom?

Why had he come here...? Could he have come to pick me up because I hadn't shown up even though he was waiting at the carriage!?

I should have ignored Salim and left sooner...

"Did I happen to keep you waiting at the carriage?"

"No, I haven't even gone to the carriage yet, so it's fine."

Then why had he come here?

"That's good to hear. Then, did you need me for something?"

"Yes, I was told to introduce you to them. Stephan-sama, Martine-sama, please come this way."

As Lucien said that, Stephan-sama and Martine entered the classroom from beyond the door.

What!? Why had they come too!?

"This is my friend, Leon. He's a commoner, but very capable, and I learn a great deal whenever I talk with him."

Right—we were supposed to be meeting for the first time. Maybe he had arranged this introduction early so I wouldn't let anything slip later?

I appreciated that, but... Lucien, you were drawing far too much attention.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Leon."

"So you're Leon. I am the First Prince, Stephan Larslasia. Call me Stephan."

"I am Martine Larslasia, the First Princess. Please call me Martine."

"Very well. Stephan-sama, Martine-sama, I look forward to getting to know you."

When I said that and bowed deeply, Stephan-sama nodded with a dignified expression, while Martine gave me a slight smile.

The smile caused the other children in the classroom to start murmuring. It seemed they had all come out of their frozen state.

"I would like to talk with Leon some more."

"Yes, I would like to talk with him a little too."

"Then, would you care to come to the ducal residence? It would be difficult to visit the royal palace without submitting an application in advance."

"That would be appreciated. Then I'll come to the ducal residence."

Was I really going to the ducal residence with them? I was going too, right? Given how this conversation was going, obviously!

Wasn't this sequence of events a little too much? Would a conversation like this normally happen? Well, there was no point in me thinking about it...

Actually, were Lucien, Stephan-sama, and Martine even close? Until now, hadn't they probably only met at parties?

Had they become friends over the course of today?

"Leon, is that all right with you?"

"It would be a great honor."

There was no way I could refuse at this point.

"And you, who was speaking with Leon, would you mind if I took him with me? If you still have something to discuss, I can wait a little."

Lucien said that to Salim. Salim was still frozen, but those words seemed to bring him back to his senses. His face, which had been bright red a moment ago, had now gone pale.

"N-no, not at all. We've finished talking, so please don't worry."

"I see. Then that's fine. Shall we go?"

"Understood."

As I started walking after Lucien, I glanced toward Ronnie. Ronnie was still frozen, perhaps unable to understand what was happening right in front of him.

When I caught Ronnie's eye, he met my gaze. At least he seemed to have noticed me.

I mouthed "Sorry" to Ronnie and left the classroom. I'd explain everything properly tomorrow.

After that, I followed behind the three of them, attracting quite a bit of attention, and the four of us boarded the ducal family's carriage.

The royal carriage followed ours and apparently was meant to take the two of them from the ducal residence to the royal palace.

Sigh... I was exhausted, but I still couldn't let my guard down...