I had no idea what the purpose of the Royal Guard dragging me here was.
Honestly, I wasn’t even sure if there *was* a purpose.
They just stood there, scanning me up and down, and even the guard captain standing next to me only seemed interested in explaining things about the Royal Guard rather than actually doing anything.
Eventually, the guard captain seemed to run out of things to say and started rambling about how important it is to take care of your sword properly.
How much time had passed? I saw Seria running toward us from a distance, and as if he’d been waiting for her, the guard captain reacted dramatically and approached her.
“Princess! What brings you here?”
“What do you think? I came to get Rudion! Stop bothering him and let him go already.”
“Ahaha, what do you mean ‘bothering’? We were just making sure this guy is worthy of you, Princess…”
“Enough with the excuses. My father summoned him, so hurry up and let him go.”
I managed to escape, pulled along by Seria. I didn’t look back, but I could feel their intense gazes on me. They were probably all thinking the same thing.
“I wish the Princess would grab me and drag me around too.”
“You idiot. Keep those thoughts to yourself.”
Yeah, *those* kinds of thoughts.
At this point, the Royal Guard might as well change their name to the Seria Fan Club.
Turns out Seria wasn’t lying about her father summoning me, as she immediately took me to where the Emperor was waiting.
Two knights stood guard in front of a grand door, and as soon as they saw Seria, they silently stepped aside and began opening the door.
*Creak—*
What’s with this chilling aura seeping through the crack in the door? Is it… killing intent?
The door swung open, revealing a long throne at the end of the room.
Of course, the Emperor was sitting there, and I followed Seria until we stood before him.
The gazes of countless knights inside the room focused on me, but having just endured the stares of even more knights earlier, I didn’t feel much of anything.
Once we reached the Emperor… I figured I should start with a greeting.
“I greet the sun of the Empire.”
I don’t know much about royal etiquette, but I’ve seen it somewhere, so I gave a decently respectful bow. Seria looked at me with a slightly surprised expression.
What? I can be polite too, you know.
But His Majesty the Emperor didn’t seem too pleased with my greeting.
No, actually, it’s probably just me he doesn’t like.
“Raise your head.”
I straightened up from my respectful bow.
I just lifted my head and locked eyes with the Emperor.
His blonde hair and blue eyes clearly showed he was Seria’s father.
Being both Seria’s father and the Emperor of the Rubetia Empire, he looked surprisingly young for his age.
Well, his appearance might be young, but his actions were totally “old man” vibes.
But don’t underestimate him just because he’s an “old man.”
His combat skills might not be top-tier in the grand scheme of the world, but he’s definitely in the strong category.
Like, you could probably throw him into the middle of a battlefield, and he’d come back just fine.
Plus, he’s got other impressive skills too. Sure, he’s got that overprotective dad image, but he definitely lives up to the title of Emperor.
And the fact that he’s become such a doting father to Seria… well, that’s just natural.
After having three sons and no news for a long time, Seria was his late-born daughter. Of course, he’d spoil her rotten.
So, I was ready to accept whatever the Emperor had to say.
Even though I’ve never been in love, I could understand the heart of a dad who adores his youngest daughter.
The Emperor slowly looked at me and asked,
“I’ve heard. You’re always sticking by her side, huh?”
“…Yes, that’s correct.”
Lying wouldn’t have worked, so I answered honestly.
Then, the Emperor couldn’t control his expression and furrowed his brows…
“Execution. Take him away and carry out the execution immediately.”
“Huh?”
He straight-up sentenced me to death.
*Clack clack clack.* As soon as the Emperor spoke, the numerous knights around me began to surround me in an orderly fashion.
Among them, I could see the faces of the Royal Palace’s Captain of the Guard and the Knight Commander.
No wonder I didn’t see a trace of the knights earlier—they were waiting here.
The atmosphere wasn’t exactly heavy, so it didn’t seem like they’d actually carry out an execution.
Still, I didn’t want to be dragged away, so I quickly shouted for Seria’s help…
“I promised my father earlier not to interfere. Just hang out with him for a bit. Sorry, okay?”
All I got in return was a cold betrayal.
So, the Captain dragging me away was just to buy time for the Emperor to negotiate with Seria, huh?
Whatever it was, Seria’s betrayal was shocking.
…Okay, not really that shocking. But I’ll pretend it is and tease her about it later. Just imagining it is already fun.
Anyway, with no one to help me, I had no choice but to be dragged away helplessly.
I guess I underestimated just how much a dad could dote on his daughter.
While having such silly thoughts.
The place I was dragged to was the Royal Guard again.
To be precise, it was the Royal Guard’s Training Ground, and even at a glance, it was a vast space.
“Go to the center and stand there.”
The Guard Captain, who was by my side, said so, and I obediently followed.
I shouldn’t mess with this guy. At this point, there are only a handful of beings who can defeat the Guard Captain.
I had a rough idea of what was going to happen, so I wasn’t anxious or doubtful.
“Draw the sword at your waist. Ah, don’t worry. We’ll be using wooden training swords. Just think of it as loosening up your body.”
The Guard Captain’s following words confirmed my expectations.
To explain a bit, somewhere in this Royal Guard, there exists a document titled ‘The Qualities of a Man Worthy of the Princess.’
Skipping the explanation of how to find it, among those qualities, of course, was strong martial prowess.
Of course, they wouldn’t expect much from a mere first-year academy student, and I think they set this up to gauge my level.
In short, if I can’t even handle this, then I should just drop out on my own.
“Then, as planned, you will be the opponent.”
“Really, me? Even though I’m just a first-year?”
“That’s exactly why you should step up.”
“Tsk, if I get hurt, it’s not my fault?”
As I drew my sword, a knight with a wooden sword stepped forward.
They must have prepared in advance, as unlike the others, he wasn’t in armor but in casual attire… This must be confidence that my attacks won’t even graze them.
It’s not to lighten the body, as there’s no fool here whose movements would be slowed by armor.
There are quite a few members in the Guard, and since they don’t appear in detail one by one in the game, I couldn’t tell exactly who the opponent was.
But it’s clear that the person chosen by the Guard Captain in a place where only skilled individuals gather must be quite capable.
At the very least, wouldn’t they be at the level of the missing Vice President?
Hmm… Comparing an academy student to an active-duty knight suddenly makes it seem lacking, but it’s not that the Guard is weak, it’s that the Student Council is amazing.
It’s a worldview where talent and power inflation are rampant, so there’s no helping it.
Honestly, excluding the captain and vice-captain level members here, our Student Council President Alkiné could probably handle them, right?
The story got a bit sidetracked, but anyway, someone of that skill level wouldn’t fail to control their strength, even by mistake.
So that’s why they went out of their way to bring me here.
“Alright, I heard you’re quite skilled. Show me what you’ve got.”
It seemed like they didn’t intend to just bully me outright, even though they forced me into this situation.
…Well, they probably had some intention to mess with me, but first and foremost, it was likely to test my skills. Probably.
“Please, show me what you can do.”
There was no way to avoid it anyway. Might as well go with the flow.
With that thought, I casually picked up my sword and got into position… when suddenly, a familiar face popped out from among the knights.
“Rudion! I came to watch!”
“Seria?”
“Princess?!”
Even the knights who dragged me here seemed caught off guard by Seria’s sudden appearance, all looking flustered.
Well, of course. They probably brought me here secretly to test my skills, maybe throw in some subtle jabs, and say things like “You’re not fit to be around the Princess.” But now that she’s shown up in person, they can’t exactly do that.
Even the captain of the Royal Guard didn’t expect her to come here herself, so he hurriedly approached Seria and started explaining the situation.
But whatever he said, Seria’s response after hearing the explanation was completely unexpected.
“Huh? There’s no need for that! It’s fine, go all out!”
…Seria? I appreciate your trust in me, but that kind of statement is a bit much, don’t you think?
These guys are part of the Royal Guard, proud of their skills. Hearing something like that would hurt their pride.
“Hahaha! Well, if Her Highness says so, there’s no reason to hold back. You heard her! Go all out!”
“I was planning to anyway.”
After hearing Seria’s words, they completely lost the composure they had just moments ago.
What’s truly ridiculous is that they didn’t just get angry—they lost their rationality.
If their skills were denied and their pride was hurt, they would’ve just gotten angry. But losing their rationality…?
“Our wise, rational, calculating, and always honest Princess would never say something like that.”
“It seems the Princess has been completely charmed. We need to snap her out of it this time.”
It’s all because of Seria again.
“How dare you trample on our Princess’s pure judgment. Prepare yourself!”
The knights, having lost their minds, started charging at me while spouting nonsense.
They even infused their wooden swords with magic, not even pretending to hold back anymore.
This is insane! These guys are completely out of their minds!!
