SOMETIME after that, the hall burst into an uproar. It seemed the King had arrived.
“Thank you all for coming. Enjoy yourselves!”
King Albert of Ronaudia was an elegant and attractive man in his late twenties with blond hair and blue eyes. He was so high-spec in appearance that Darius wouldn’t one-up him in that department.
The others from the Royal Family followed King Albert. Once the Three Great Dukes finished their greetings to the King, Darius and Rhea urged me to approach him.
“It is an honor to meet you, Your Majesty. I am Arius Gilberto, eldest son of Darius Gilberto.” I knelt and bowed my head low. This was the formal greeting a noble of Ronaudia used for the king.
“So, this is Arius?” he commented. “I’ve heard of you from Darius and Rhea. They’re right; you don’t look like a boy of just five at all. And it seems it’s not just your appearance that is mature. Be at ease; let’s have that greeting be the last of the formality.”
The king smiled in amusement. He was far more affable than you’d expect from a ruler. Apparently, King Albert selected Darius as chief minister when he was still a low-ranking noble.
“I’m glad we get to meet, Arius,” came a voice. I looked, and there was an attractive boy, elegant, blond-haired, blue-eyed, and the spitting image of the King. “I’m Eric Stallion, first prince of Ronaudia. It’s nice to meet you.”
In the game, Eric was engaged to the villainess Sophia and was one of the love interests in Love Academy, like me. He was the perfect prince, kind to everyone with a refreshing smile. Additionally, he was the most popular of all the love interests; he also appeared the most in the game’s story, after the protagonist.
“Arius Gilberto at your service, Your Highness. It is my honor to be of your acquaintance,” I greeted.
“Arius, I hate formality as much as my father does. Please, I’d be happy if you didn’t bother with titles and formal speech with me.”
I wasn’t sure if that really was all right, but King Albert nodded, indicating it should be fine. “All right, Eric,” I complied. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Eric nodded with satisfaction, and a strong smile burst onto his face. “Yes, that’s good. You seem flexible. It’s hard to believe you’re my age. I think we’ll be good friends.”
The perfect Prince Eric of the game never had an expression like that. As you’d expect from a love interest in an otome game, he was love-brained. The Eric in front of me, though, didn’t seem like that at all.
“You know, Arius, I’m starting to find myself interested in you,” he noted. “Not as the chief minister’s son, but you for yourself. It seems you might be even more special than everyone thinks.”
I’m unsure if I have a right to say this, but Eric didn’t seem like a five-year-old at all, either. Did he realize I might be someone who was reincarnated? It didn’t matter if he had, though. He wouldn’t try to use me.
After that, I greeted the second prince, Zeke Stallion. Zeke was the younger twin and also a love interest in the game.
“Nice to meet you, Arius Gilberto. I am Zeke Stallion,” he acknowledged. He looked exactly like Eric, but his hair was cut a bit shorter, and he felt somewhat rough around the edges, just like in the game.
Zeke hated being compared to Eric—who was far too excellent—and was kind of a bad-boy ladies’ man in the game. However, he was only a child now, so he obviously wasn’t interacting with girls yet.
There was one other child in the Royal Family. Eric and Zeke had an older sister, but her dislike of social events was a common topic. It seemed she wasn’t going to be attending the party. The princess appeared in the game but wasn’t an important character. As for the Queen, she had passed away, and King Albert didn’t seem interested in taking a second wife.
After my greetings with the King and two princes, I had a moment to myself, so I decided to grab some food.
“You really can clear a plate, Arius,” noted Rhea in surprise.
I hadn’t noticed it was that much, but a tower of empty plates was on the table in front of me. “My tutors’ training makes me hungry. Maybe I should have restrained myself a bit more since we’re at a party.”
“No, it’s not a problem,” said Darius. “You do need to mind your manners, but there’s nothing wrong currently.”
“That’s right, Arius. Don’t worry about what others think. Eat up,” added Rhea.
The two of them had taught me the table manners of this world, which weren’t all that different from my previous life—not that I ate that often in my past life in places that were picky about manners. I was taught when I was a kid, then sort of naturally picked up the rest over time.
It was around then that the hall burst into an uproar again. It seemed there was a new guest. But wouldn’t arriving after the King be a breach of etiquette?
The large double doors opened to reveal a man in his forties in what appeared to be white religious garb, but it was quite extravagant with its gold-thread embroidery. Behind him was a retinue of people in similar religious outfits.
“Cardinal Luis Patelier, I don’t remember inviting you. Am I mistaken?” questioned King Albert as the group of people in robes approached. He was smiling, but his eyes weren’t.
At his words, ten servants drifted casually toward the group. The eye signal from Darius and the fact that my Scan reacted with large amounts of mana told me those servants were his subordinates and agents of the Intelligence Ministry.
“My, my, King Albert. I appreciate you greeting us personally. You are correct in not inviting us. Does our presence cause you some sort of…inconvenience?” asked the Cardinal.
“No, no inconvenience at all. You are all welcome, of course.”
The King’s eyes met the Cardinal’s, and sparks flew.
Cardinal Luis was unofficially the most powerful man regarding the Church’s influence, which spread beyond the kingdom of Ronaudia. Politically, the Church and the Royal Family were enemies.
Love Academy did touch on this part of the world’s background, but I learned the details from Darius. Among the group of people in religious garb, there was also someone that I recognized.
“I’m honored to see you after so long, Your Majesty. Oh, Prince Eric and Prince Zeke, you’re here as well. I had no idea.” The child, who appeared to ignore the princes intentionally, was Marth Patelier.
Marth was Cardinal Luis’s son and another love interest. He was an androgynous-looking boy with bright hair, basically cast as the feminine boy. He was also a bit mean-hearted, an impression he already gave off as a child.
“Not to worry, Marth. I don’t stand out like you do, after all,” commented Eric. Not that there was any way the perfect, good-looking prince could ever not stand out. However, he didn’t seem to want to engage with Marth in conflict. Despite Marth’s jab, Eric smiled confidently. The two were rivals in the game, too.
Marth glowered at Eric. “Your Majesty, if you’ll excuse me. I’d like to enjoy the party.” He gave a graceful bow to only King Albert, ignoring Eric, then walked away toward the nobles with his father.
The arrival of Cardinal Luis turned the party into a political battleground. King Albert worked to contain the Cardinal, who was walking around like he owned the place.
There was a reason the King didn’t refuse to allow the Cardinal to join the party, which was quite simply that chasing away the head of the Church’s authority after he went to the effort of coming would cause animosity among believers. King Albert didn’t want that hostility, especially since many of the country’s residents were followers of the Church.
So, despite the Cardinal’s disrespectful attitude, the King showed him the magnanimity of a ruler. That didn’t mean the King planned to back down quietly. His smile remained as he locked eyes with the Cardinal, and tensions rose.
I had no interest in the outcome of a competition between the King and the Cardinal, and I knew struggles for authority happened in the world of Love Academy, just like any other place.
Although, I did learn a lot today.
I learned Sophia, the villainess, was actually a good person. And Eric, one of the love interests, wasn’t a love-brained idiot but a really strong person. There was the chance they’d both change as they grew since they were children, but it showed me that even the characters were living their lives normally—with no connection to romance.
Discovering that alone was enough to make going to the party worth it.