THAT evening, the graduation ceremony ended without a hitch, and the dressed-up students gathered in the Academy’s largest lecture hall. Normally, the hall’s neat rows of seats gave the building a solemn air, but they had been cleared away to transform the space into an extravagant venue for the graduation party. This model of high society was a farewell gift to the students who were finally about to enter actual high society as adults. While parents were in attendance, it was only to keep watch on the sidelines over the night’s main act: the graduating students.
Rosary Hilton, wearing the dress she had prepared weeks in advance, was impatiently waiting for the party to begin with a few of her friends. While she had been enthusiastically vying for Raymond’s affections, it was already graduation—her time was up. If Selene and Raymond’s engagement were canceled now, it would be quite a scandal. With this, Raymond will probably stop playing around, too.
Rosary’s chances with Raymond were gone. She was realistic, so she was already gearing up to look for a partner as a full-fledged adult while working as a lady’s maid for a higher-ranking noblewoman in the royal castle. Her only regret was that she was never able to get one over on that shameless Selene.
Speaking of them, Selene and Raymond had just passed by her, and the handheld fan Selene was carrying hit Rosary.
“Ouch!”
“Excuse me, move it. How rude,” Selene said coldly.
Rosary was surprised. She had bullied Selene countless times, so she didn’t expect warm treatment from her, but this was the first time Selene had looked at her so contemptuously as if she were an insect. Rosary hesitated slightly before retorting as usual, “You should move and walk farther away next time. You were the one that hit me with your fan.”
“You’re a countess?” Selene narrowed her eyes. “When I marry Lord Raymond, I’ll be a marchioness. Do you think you can take that attitude with me?”
Rosary’s eyes widened. The Selene she knew was strong-willed and always quick to fire back, but this was the first time she had assumed Raymond’s status as her own in an argument. Even after she married Raymond, his father would still be the marquess. It was quite a pompous way of speaking for someone who wasn’t yet the marchioness.
“Are you really Selene Diane?” Rosary asked, unable to help it. At that moment, Selene somehow felt like a stranger, so she inadvertently said what she was thinking.
“Who else would I be?” Selene glared at her and pulled Raymond’s arm. “Not only are your grades poor, but your vision is, too. Lord Raymond, let’s go.”
“Yeah…” Raymond said halfheartedly as Selene forcefully yanked him away. He looked more like he was being dragged as the two left together.
Rosary and the other ladies could only stare in dumbfounded amazement as they watched them go.
✦ ✦ ✦
FINALLY, grand music filled the hall, and one of the teachers, acting as the master of ceremonies, announced the arrival of the prince. Students, parents, and teachers all dropped to their knees as vassals of the prince and waited for his arrival, but many of the students and teachers couldn’t help but gawk when they saw who appeared on stage next to the prince.
“The Second Prince, His Royal Highness Prince Marcus, and his companion, Lady Cesia Kathrin!”
The woman being led by the hand of the tall, red-haired, jade-green-eyed prince onto the stage was Cesia, whose long black hair and purple eyes were the only things that distinguished her physical appearance from Selene’s.
“Huh? Selene?”
“But, he said ‘Cesia Kathrin’…”
Whispers spread among the students. Their gazes rapidly alternated between Cesia on stage and Selene on the floor. Marcus confidently stood on stage, not paying any mind to their confusion. Then, he took two glasses from a servant and pulled the gorgeously dressed Cesia close to him. He gazed at her as one would a dearly beloved partner, passed one of the glasses to her, and looked out over the floor.
“These past two years, everyone has worked incredibly hard on their studies. I look at all the brilliant young people here, and I’m proud I can call myself one of them, as part of the next generation who will become the foundation of this kingdom.”
His clear, calm voice resonated throughout the hall. The audience, captivated by the prince’s attractive features, regained their composure.
“Congratulations on graduating, and a toast!”
Marcus held up his glass, and everyone else in attendance followed. Clinking glasses could be heard across the hall.
“And congratulations, Cesia,” Marcus said to Cesia, standing next to him, making a show of his actions to the audience. Then, he affectionately touched his glass to hers.
Cesia remained silent, only able to make a slightly embarrassed smile. Marcus was treating her as if they were in an intimate relationship, but she had only met him today. More precisely, she had only seen him for the first time a few hours previously.
✦ ✦ ✦
PRINCE Marcus himself was inside the room Chris led her to after they left the library, and the first thing he told Cesia when he saw her was that he was someone close to Maria and would help her in Maria’s place.
“Um…where is Maria?” Cesia asked, surprised. Marcus smiled slightly.
Their hair and eyes are the same color, and his face resembles hers. Could she be his younger sister or someone like that?
“She’s not here right now,” Marcus said. “But don’t worry, I know everything that happened. Let’s give those cheats a payback they won’t soon forget.”
The prince’s words were more fit for a delinquent kid in an alleyway than a member of the royal family. Even Cesia couldn’t hold back her amazement.
“N-No, no! With all due respect, Your Royal Highness! There’s no way I can ask for your assistance in a personal matter like this.”
“Why not? Any friend of Maria’s is a friend of mine.”
Who are you, Maria! Cesia questioned her calmly smiling friend in her mind.
“No, but…it’s my personal problem, and it really is just personal.” She averted her eyes. “It’d be wrong for me to rely on princely authority.”
She wanted to get back at Selene, Raymond, and Viscount Diane. She wouldn’t get her payment, and it wouldn’t bring her any benefit to expose the fact she had attended the Academy in disguise as Selene. If anything, she was an accomplice. Still, she wanted to embarrass them in the middle of the luxurious graduation before she fled the capital.
Marcus was still staring at Cesia, her gaze lowered.
It would be an issue if someone found her and she looked like Selene, so she had reverted her appearance to normal after she hid in the library. Their faces were similar, but, in contrast with Selene’s beautiful features, Cesia’s purple eyes and black hair were more plain, reminiscent of a stray cat’s.
“Cesia Kathrin. Is that your real name?” Marcus asked.
Cesia nodded. Kathrin was her deceased father’s last name.
“It’s an excellent name. You look like you’re mistaken about something, so let me correct that.”
“Hm? Pardon me?”
The topic of conversation kept changing, so before Cesia could express any doubts, his words swept her along. This must be what talking to royalty is like.
Marcus, talking cheerfully, looked like he was enjoying himself immensely. “I’m not going to use my authority as a prince to punish them, you know.”
“Huh, really?”
“Don’t you think that would just be boring?”
Is this country going to turn out fine with a prince who says stuff like this? Cesia looked at Marcus suspiciously and saw Chris standing calmly behind him. This must be every day with him. Really, are we going to be fine? He’s supposed to be the incredibly popular Prince Marcus!
“What do you think a person hates the most to have done to them?” Marcus asked.
Cesia hesitated, then said, “Doesn’t it depend on the person?”
“That’s right. So, when someone hurts someone else, it makes sense that they would do what they themselves would hate the most, right?”
“Well, I suppose that’s correct.”
“That makes it simple. Raymond Chaser and Selene Diane care about their authority above everything else. They’re proud of their high positions and look down on anyone beneath them. It’s almost funny, really, that they’re living life with their weakness exposed like that.”
As Marcus spoke in his clear voice, as if he were delivering a speech, Cesia kept her guard up. She felt like she would start to agree with him if she wasn’t careful. I only just met him, but I can tell he’ll be a handful. I’ll need to keep my eyes on him.
“And so, the type of person they resent the most—someone with more authority than them—is standing right in front of you—a prince. We should use this piece effectively,” Marcus said, then animatedly snapped his fingers once.
Although Marcus was clearly amusing himself with her reactions, Cesia had a general idea of what he was getting at.
“Your Royal Highness, will you be attending tonight’s party alone?”
Pleased by Cesia’s question, Marcus gave her a mischievous grin.