Explaining Things to Ronnie

The next morning.

Today marked the real start of classes! I should have been incredibly excited, but I was feeling depressed as I imagined all the different reactions I might get when I went to the classroom. I forced myself to act cheerful and finished getting ready for school.

I had intended to go to bed early last night, but I ended up thinking about all sorts of things and couldn't fall asleep until late. Once I had calmed down a little, I realized what would happen to me from now on.

From now on, I could only imagine being treated like a pariah, ignored, or treated harshly because I was a commoner.

Things would probably turn out exactly as I imagined... Would there be any kind children who would simply become friends with me? I wanted friends in my class too... How would Ronnie react? It might hurt most of all if Ronnie became afraid of me...

I rode in the carriage to the Royal Academy with Lucien.

"We've arrived."

I heard the coachman say that. Whenever I'm feeling gloomy, it seems like we arrive sooner...

But I had to go! Yeah, let's do this!

Lucien and I got out of the carriage and entered the main building. Then we started up the stairs.

My steps grew heavier and heavier...

"Leon? Are you all right?"

"Yes. I'm just a little depressed because I kept thinking about what happened yesterday... Thank you for your concern."

"I see. Make sure you patch things up properly."

"Understood."

Lucien thought I was depressed because I was going to meet the person I had argued with yesterday. But that wasn't it... Salim didn't matter to me. I was much more concerned—and afraid—of how the class as a whole would react, and how Ronnie would react.

"Well, I'm going this way."

"Yes. Take care."

"Right. See you after school."

"I'll be at the entrance hall after school."

And so I parted ways with Lucien and walked listlessly toward my classroom.

I walked as slowly as possible, but it wasn't very far, so I arrived almost immediately.

I had no choice but to psych myself up! All right!

I steeled myself and opened the classroom door. Then, as soon as I took one step inside...

...There wasn't nearly as much of a reaction as I had expected.

No one stared at me or glared at me.

Could it be that everyone wasn't concerned about what had happened yesterday? That was a relief!

I felt a little better and took my seat. Ronnie hadn't arrived yet, so I thought about talking to someone and decided to speak to the boy sitting in front of me.

"Nice to meet you."

When I spoke to him, his body visibly flinched, and he turned around to look at me cautiously.

He looks a little pale. Is he all right?

"May I help you?"

"I don't actually need anything, but since our seats are close, I thought it would be nice to become friends."

"Um... I'm sorry!"

After saying that, he ran off somewhere. Um... What was that about?

I stood up and thought about speaking to someone else, but whenever I tried to approach anyone, they all subtly moved away from me.

Was I being treated like a pariah after all? Or was everyone ignoring me?

But rather than seeming like I was about to be bullied, everyone seemed afraid of me...

Even if I had the backing of a ducal family, I was still a commoner, and everyone in this class was the child of a knight-ranked noble, right? If so, I didn't think there was any reason for them to be that afraid.

Could the backing of a ducal family be even more powerful than I had imagined? I had expected it to be impressive, but I was still a commoner, so my status hadn't actually changed. I didn't feel it at all.

For now, I decided to stop talking to people since it only scared them. It was kind of lonely to have people become afraid whenever I spoke to them.

I sat down dejectedly. Did Stephan, Martine, and Lucien always feel this way? This was pretty lonely.

I sat quietly for a while, and then Salim entered the classroom. I made eye contact with him, thinking that perhaps Salim would talk to me, but as soon as our eyes met, he looked away and silently went to his seat.

Somehow... this might actually be worse than yesterday...

I decided to take the plunge and speak to Salim.

"Salim."

When I called his name, Salim flinched and cautiously turned toward me.

"Ah, should I use polite speech? We're both commoners, so can I speak casually?"

"No, casual speech is fine..."

Salim was using polite speech now. What happened to yesterday's bravado!?

"Why are you so jumpy?"

"It's just... I said something disrespectful yesterday..."

"I was certainly irritated, but it was just a quarrel. I'm a commoner, so it's not like it could be disrespectful, right?"

"However... It seemed that you had the backing of a ducal family, Leon-sama, so... I'm truly sorry about yesterday!"

Salim suddenly apologized to me. Um... Was the backing of a ducal family really that frightening?

"Is the backing of a ducal family really that frightening?"

"You don't even know that!? Ah... I'm sorry... Um, ducal families are at the top of the nobility, so they command tremendous respect..."

For a moment, Salim seemed about to yell at me like he had yesterday, but he quickly returned to his meek attitude.

"Um... I'm sorry, but I just remembered that I have something to do, so if you'll excuse me!"

Salim left the classroom.

For now, it seemed that the backing of a ducal family was extremely frightening to commoners and lower-ranking nobles.

This was probably the kind of situation where middle-ranking nobles would say, "How dare a commoner act so high and mighty just because he has the backing of a ducal family!" Lower-ranking nobles might simply think, "Stay away from him at all costs." It was kind of lonely...

I couldn't talk to anyone anyway, so I waited for Ronnie to arrive.

After waiting for a while, Ronnie finally appeared, visibly trembling.

"Good morning, Ronnie! You finally made it."

I casually grabbed Ronnie by the arm and sat him down in his chair so he wouldn't get away. I had already given up on making any other friends, but Ronnie had become my friend yesterday, so surely he would understand if I talked to him.

I absolutely didn't want to have no friends in my class! Besides, if I got along with Ronnie, maybe everyone else would stop being afraid of me too.

"Sorry for leaving so suddenly yesterday."

"N-no, I'm completely fine."

Ronnie was even more frightened than he had been yesterday. Sigh... Was he afraid of me after all?

"Sorry for surprising you yesterday. I enrolled at the Royal Academy with the backing of the Townsend ducal family. That's why they've let me live at their estate. But I'm still the son of a restaurant owner and a commoner, so that hasn't changed."

"I-I see..."

"So... could you keep being friends with me from now on, like you were yesterday?"

"Um... But our positions are different..."

"Our positions are the same. I'm just a commoner myself."

"But... I can't really see it that way... I mean, it feels like things are different..."

He still seemed to be afraid of me... Was I going to finish school without making a single friend in this class?

Being a loner during my school life was far too sad...

I had been incredibly depressed after being feared and treated like a pariah ever since I arrived.

It would be cruel to frighten Ronnie any more. I let go of his arm and returned to my seat.

I had had a few expectations for school life, but... it looked like my days were going to be gray.

Sigh... I was feeling strangely tired, so I folded my arms on the desk and laid my head on them. This way, I didn't have to look at anything... It felt like I was being bullied. No, not like it—I really was, since everyone was avoiding me.

But in this case, no one was actually doing anything to me, so maybe it was better than bullying. Still, lower-ranking nobles would avoid and ignore me, while middle- and high-ranking nobles might bully me.

Aren't I just too pitiful? What am I supposed to do? Reveal that I have every attribute? But then I'd be targeted by hostile factions and other countries, and it didn't seem likely that I'd make any friends in exchange for that price. They might even be more afraid of me.

There's nothing I can do...

"L-Leon!"

As I escaped reality into my own thoughts, Ronnie called my name.

"I'm sorry!"

Huh? Why was he apologizing to me?

I was startled and raised my head to look at Ronnie. He had a face that looked as if he were about to cry.

Why was he about to cry? Was he really that afraid of me? That would be seriously depressing.

"I... I was shocked yesterday, and thought it was scary that you knew a high-ranking noble... I treated you terribly, didn't I? I'm really sorry! Even though I'd learned that you were a good guy after talking with you all day yesterday..."

After saying that, Ronnie finally started crying.

W-wait! This made it look like I had made him cry! A man shouldn't cry so easily!

"Ronnie, I'm fine, so please stop crying! This makes it look like I made you cry!"

"B-but... I did something awful... Being afraid of my friend..."

His tearful expression grew even more anguished.

"Ronnie, I don't care, so please don't worry about it! Even I would probably be scared if I heard someone had the backing of a ducal family..."

I had no idea what to say!

It's okay, right? I'd already said that.

Don't worry about it. I'd already said that too!

How could I get this across to him...? Hmm...

"Ronnie, then, how about becoming friends again?"

"You... forgive me?"

"Forgive you? I'm not angry in the first place."

"Leon... Th-thank you..."

After saying that, Ronnie started crying even harder instead of stopping. Huh? Why did that happen!?