The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

Chapter 23

The term "children of the Emperor" isn't an official designation.

By unofficial, I mean it's not a name that people like me, Lucas, or Jaden have ever personally claimed. There's no secret society emblem or anything cool like that, nor are there any fancy code names or settings tied to it.

In legal terms, we're simply the Emperor's sons and daughters, just like Alice. Legally, we’re no different from Alice. We are, after all, literally adopted by the Emperor.

But even though the law says that, in terms of status and in people's minds, things are different.

The beings that the Emperor has gathered are all monsters in their own right. Occasionally, they disappear from public view, only to return after some mysterious event—something or someone has disappeared, or people have died or gone missing somewhere in the Empire.

Sometimes, these deaths or disappearances appear as accidents, but other times, they look like gruesome crime scenes, almost as if they were warnings. The Empire would launch investigations, but they never seemed to find any conclusive evidence, and the cases would eventually be closed.

So, if you're not a fool, you'd quickly realize that these monsters gathered by the Emperor were likely behind these incidents. Alice, who was often confined to the capital due to her noble position, was an exception. The rest of us—the "unblooded" ones—were the Emperor’s finest chess pieces, executing his most important commands swiftly and without fail.

Of course, most commoners don't know about this. Lower nobles might have heard rumors, but most would dismiss them as coincidences. Only the high-ranking nobles with the means to gather circumstantial evidence feared us.

And that was exactly the Emperor's intent.

He wanted to say, "If you value your life, you’d better kneel."

That message would eventually spread throughout the entire Empire.

Well, in any case...

Most of the attention I receive is due to me being a "princess."

The whispers I hear around me... they're probably because I'm not the "real" princess.

"Sylvia."

"Yes."

Alice, who had been walking slightly ahead of me, stopped and turned to face me.

"Don’t walk behind me. Walk beside me."

"...Understood."

At Alice’s command, I slowly moved forward to walk beside her.

Of course, I didn’t get too close. After all, even in a same-gender relationship, walking hand-in-hand or arm-in-arm like in a manga isn’t really realistic. Well, this world is somewhat similar to those settings, though.

Now that I think about it, there wasn’t much physical contact between characters in the game either. Aside from a few kisses with female characters in romance lines and the occasional hug of greeting, there wasn’t much contact between the main characters.

...I’m not sure if that’s because the developers were trying to be accurate to real human behavior, or if they just didn’t bother due to graphical and motion limitations. Either way, it’s something to think about.

"You’re the one who told me to be confident. If you’re a princess, act like it and carry yourself as I do."

"But, Your Highness—"

"And it's 'Alice' here. We’re equals, aren’t we? Don’t you know that there’s no hierarchy among students?"

That’s rich, coming from someone who proudly held her head high in front of the headmaster.

Maybe Alice misunderstood my silence, as she quickly avoided my gaze and resumed walking.

Well, I decided to follow her orders for now.

I’m not exactly sure how the Academy determines its class assignments. It’s probably not entirely random, judging by how certain necessary people end up in the same class.

The thirty nobles, including Alice and me, were divided into two groups of fifteen, placed in different classes. But just as I wasn’t separated from Alice, Leo Grace and Claire were also in the same class. It seems they took into account the fact that the two are considered siblings.

Although she staggered for a moment, Claire didn’t completely lose her balance. After a brief wobble, she quickly righted herself.

"Y-Your Highness."

She then bowed slightly, placing her hand in front of her uniform skirt, as a noblewoman in a dress would do when greeting a princess.

Alice, who had just recently said that there was no hierarchy between students—

"Over here. You should bow to this side as well."

—pointed at me without hesitation.

"...What?"

"You should bow to this side as well. She’s also a princess."

Alice’s tone was slightly stiff, as if correcting Claire, who looked slightly confused.

I had to resist the urge to snap my head toward Alice. Managing to maintain my expression with superhuman self-control, I felt a cold sweat break out on my back.

Wait, hadn’t she just said there’s no hierarchy among students...?

Of course, Alice didn’t know about my relationship with Claire.

And from Alice’s point of view, Claire probably looked like someone who was desperately trying to curry favor with royalty.

Considering that I knew all the noble students in our class, Alice probably did too. In the original story, there were scenes where Alice could naturally guess the protagonist’s name without seeing or hearing it directly.

Claire was part of the Grace baron family.

Though the Grace family held considerable power for a barony—thanks to their direct appointment by the Emperor—they were still a baronial family, not a ducal one.

If you think of the Academy as a grand ballroom, where nobles observe strict etiquette when initiating conversation, Claire had already made a significant blunder.

She wasn’t the head of the Grace family, yet she had spoken before any ducal or count families had addressed us, and she had only bowed to one of the two "equal" princesses standing side by side.

"Claire...!"

Leo Grace, who had arrived belatedly, froze upon seeing the scene unfold before him.

Hmm.

In the original story, Leo was known for his kindness. Despite being a male character, he always ranked at the top of popularity polls. That was partly because many women played the game, and Leo’s righteous yet relatable character resonated with players.

I liked him a lot too.

But...

Given his kind, ordinary nature, it’s no wonder he’s frozen in shock at the situation.

"..."

A heavy silence settled over the surroundings.

Alice, Claire, Leo, and even I stood in silence.

And so did everyone else surrounding us.

No one uttered a word.

Seriously, what is anyone supposed to do in this awkward atmosphere?