Namgung Se-ga, the warrior, was reincarnated in Romance

After all four dances were over, the tired children dispersed.

Now I could finally see my comrades’ faces. When I saw the children dancing and playing together, out of breath and making a fuss, I could finally smile.

I grabbed Ruber’s wrist as he tried to walk away, leaving me alone among his comrades, and made him stay by my side.

“⋯Ernhard, Youngsik?”

“I would like you to stay with me unless you have something to do, senior.”

“Ah… I guess so.”

I was worried about leaving Ruber alone in a place where Wesley Kiadris was running around. Ruber, this kid doesn’t have any close friends, so it would be okay to keep him tied up next to me.

Shayden and Damien, who always take the lead in these things and mediate between the children, quickly made room for Ruber.

At first, they greeted each other awkwardly, but when the children were gathered together, they quickly became close. They soon opened up and chatted about this and that.

The children, dressed in fancy and fancy clothes, each told stories about their past exam period and the new friends they had made. Most of the gossip in the social circle was about people I didn’t know, but the occasional stories about their friends were interesting to listen to.

Benjamin asked if they were hungry, so they all ate together.

In the main hall, children still enjoyed dancing. There were several dining areas half a floor above the hall, overlooking the hall. We sat around the largest of them, ordered food, and ate and drank.

It wasn’t much different from when we used to go to the restaurant we always went to after the exams were over. Everyone was talking about what they had to do during the vacation and what was going to happen next semester.

I also brought up the idea of ​​doing the same thing next semester.

“Huh? You’re saying that when you become a third-year student, you won’t be taking any regular classes?”

“Yes. I plan to focus on quickly raising my level. I heard that I can still graduate thanks to taking a lot of classes in advance.”

“⋯If I had known this would happen, I would have taken more classes.”

“Well, Michael took a lot of classes even though he wasn’t going to graduate early. Wow… But private lessons? That’s not common. Is it because of that internal energy method?”

“Well, that too. It’s a problem that needs to be resolved before graduation.”

Although Maelo Sanson and Douglas Mustang spent a lot of time educating me, the number of credits I could earn was limited, as the Academy’s credit system was designed to prevent anyone from taking too many credits at once in an unfair manner.

Because of that, Benjamin looked upset that he couldn’t ask to join my class, but I didn’t bring it up because I couldn’t help it.

Among the drinks the waiter brought out, there was a grape drink with Erhard’s seal on the bottle, which gave me a strange feeling.

“It was a success this year. It tasted good.”

“This year?”

“Every year at the New Year’s Ball, the drinks served at the Debutante are considered the highest grade in the Empire.”

“The quality of the grapes from the Ernhard region is renowned, but neither Count Ernhard nor the Countess have been aggressive in selling the goods produced in their domains to the capital, so we have not seen any Ernhard grapes at the Imperial New Year’s Festival until now. This year, it seems they are a bit nervous because of Michael’s debutante.”

After hearing Shayden and Damien’s explanation, I ordered another glass of grape drink for no reason.

Until the end of the meal, while his comrades chatted about this and that, Louver continued to smile gently and said nothing more than a few interjections.

Was it because the seat was awkward or because she was tired? I glanced over at Louver nervously, and Marianne quickly opened her mouth.

“Your Majesty, you look tired. Could you have Michael take you to the break room?”

“hmm?”

“There’s still plenty of time left to see the sun rise. Go and rest for a bit.”

“Yes. We still have a long way to go before we see the new sun.”

I noticed a playfulness on Marianne’s smiling face. Huh. Just as I was about to open my mouth to wonder what she knew and tease me about, Ruber pulled his chair back and declined.

“No, no. I’ll go alone.”

“Let’s go together.”

I brought him here because I didn’t want to leave him alone, but now I couldn’t let him go alone. I wiped my lips lightly with a napkin and got up. I didn’t know where the break room was, but I thought it would be okay since Ruber would know the way.

The only thing that bothered me was that Marianne kept smiling bashfully and winking at me suspiciously.

Didn’t Louver ask me to dance, saying something like, “I told my partner in advance, so it’s okay?” I wondered what kind of cute trick these kids were pulling, but I ended up laughing happily.

Louver and I sat down in the break room to rest.

When I was with the children, I could hardly speak a word, but when I saw the two of them, I felt my heart warm as if I was holding a warm stone.

As expected, he was shy. I thought, “What can I do when a man is so shy and cute?” But fortunately, many people seem to like his shy appearance.

As we sat across from each other in the break room, drinking tea and chatting about this and that, something suddenly crossed my mind.

I looked around for a moment. There was no one there, but I had heard the saying, both in my past life and in my present life, that you should be careful of your ears on the walls in the palace.

He moved to sit next to Ruber. He grabbed Ruber’s shoulder, who was startled, and pressed it, and put his lips close to his ear.

“A while ago, during the wolf incident.”

“⋯Huh? Huh, huh⋯.”

“You said Wesley Kiadris was fighting on the front lines?”

“Uh, yeah. Yeah… That’s right, that’s right.”

“Wesley is the First Prince’s right-hand man, so why did he have to go all the way to the front line of the Yuil Mountain Range?”

“⋯Well, he’s the Grand Sword Master⋯.”

As it seemed that the embarrassed Louver was not thinking properly, I rubbed his shoulders a few times to try to relax him. The boy sat quietly and became lost in thought. I continued.

“If the monster of the only mountain range is so big and powerful, why would he be here now?”

“⋯I’ve never thought about it like that. Me too⋯. I’ll look into it more.”

“is it so.”

I felt relieved when I saw Louver’s deep eyes.

Louver was a wise boy. He had a lot in his hands, so if you throw him a topic, he’ll figure it out. I trusted my gut. He was dangerous.

In order to feel safe leaving Louver out of my reach, Louver had to be sufficiently wary of Wesley.

Louver, who had been deep in thought, opened his mouth.

“I think right now, you came to introduce your sister to Richard.”

“Poplar chydris?”

“Yeah. That’s all I knew. I heard that the one who was the most opposed to the marriage between Duke Yeldidus and Brother Richard was Wesley Kiadris. Maybe if Brother Richard becomes Emperor, Duke Kiadris wants to have the other four Dukes under his wing⋯.”

Either way, it wasn’t something to talk about openly. The voices they were whispering were barely enough to be heard by even the most sensitive ears. It was enough to be on guard. I patted Ruber’s shoulder a couple of times, and then noticed a little too late that the child’s earlobes were turning red.

My body, which had been stiff from tension, inevitably melted away.

Ruber, who noticed the strength draining from my shoulders before I did, bit his pretty lower lip and turned to me with a grin. His voice was so gentle that it seemed as if the blush on his face was a lie.

“⋯Now, I think you’re a little less tired. Shall we go watch the sunrise together?”

“⋯Yes. Let’s do that.”

He said he knew a quiet place, so I obediently climbed the stairs. The guy who barely managed to grab my sleeve without even being able to hold my fingertips made me cough at the cute gesture. When he asked if it was because it was cold, I shook my head and said it was okay.

The Opal Palace building where the debutante took place had seven horns. Each of the tall horns had a beautifully shaped round roof that seemed to be decoration, but I now know that the stairs leading inside were placed separately in a special place.

Tapestry hung on all four sides of the wide space where people could enter, and a wide sofa with many soft cushions placed on it created a cozy atmosphere. The sofa was positioned and angled so that one could comfortably look out the window, and Louvre personally drew the curtains and opened the wide window.

It must have been a spell. I sat down on the sofa, amazed that not a single cold wind came in.

“Was there a place like this?”

“Yeah. When I was young… when I was too old to be invited to debutantes, I used to watch the first sunrise of the year from here with my mother and Lucilla.”

“⋯After the debutante?”

I didn’t know why I asked this. Ruber sat down carefully next to me and offered me a blanket. When I shook my head to decline, Ruber covered my lap with the blanket and continued speaking.

“I just saw you in the main hall. It’s been a long time since I’ve been up here.”

“⋯.”

I focused my gaze on the child whose hair, which resembled the black night sky, was tied up in half and hung down. I was glad that I couldn’t see the child’s white, straight neck. I didn’t want to lose sight of him for too long, so I looked up at the sky.

Two moons were floating far apart, and thousands of stars were scattering their light.

Far away, at the bottom of the palace, the sound of beautiful music spread through a large sound box. The Opal Palace seemed to have become a musical instrument. I leaned back on the soft cushions, immersed in the music that resonated through my entire body.

I didn’t say anything more. I just stared at the dark night sky gradually becoming brighter. I had become accustomed to the way Cierran placed great significance on the rising of the clear sun.

The sky gradually brightened first, and when the red sun illuminated the top of my head far away on the horizon.

Louver, who had been quiet in his room, opened his mouth.

“Congratulations on turning fifteen, Michael.”

“⋯.”

He was the one who always politely called me Erhard Youngsik. I turned my head and looked at Ruber’s face. The child, whose face was shining beautifully as if it had been sprinkled with pearl powder in the sunlight, looked back at me.

“⋯Yes. Congratulations on becoming an adult, senior.”

“⋯I’m graduating soon, so I’m not a senior, right⋯?”

“Then.”

Louver bit her beautiful lips once. My fingertips flinched, but I didn’t do the awkward thing of touching her lips. I felt out of breath.

“⋯Now call me by my name.”

“Yes, Louver.”

“⋯Ruben.”

“⋯Yes, Ruben.”

I didn’t want to think deeply about what it meant to allow a nickname. When I answered obediently, the child blinked her pretty eyes and sank into the sofa, raising her legs and curling up.

There was still enough space between Louver and me to fit a fist.

I hesitated for a moment and then opened my mouth.

“You can call me by my name too.”

“⋯Mika?”

“Yes, like that.”

It was a nickname that many of my other comrades also called me by. I didn’t think it was a name worth saving, but somehow my throat got dry.

I went down to get a drink and sat there for a while, thirsty, because I didn’t want to waste time coming back up.