Side Story 1

Rodella loved being on the deck where the wind blew fiercely.

Especially when she stood at the stern, Aivert would quietly come and stand beside her.

“Being in the wind like this makes me think of that day.”

“Which day?”

Aivert tilted his head.

Rodella smiled.

“You know, when we went to the academy a while ago…”

“Ah, the day you fished me in?”

At Aivert’s words, Rodella looked up at the sky for a moment.

“I didn’t fish you in—”

“Then, should I say it was the day you were a liar?”

That too is a bit…! Rodella finally nudged him in the side.

Her cheeks were flushed with embarrassment and apology.

She reminisced about a little while ago.

***

Around the time when the aristocratic faction was removed from power and the nobles who completely followed the Emperor, led by Royden, were stabilizing the empire by supporting the Emperor’s strong authority, an unexpected proposal arrived from the academy.

“A special lecture?”

“Yes. The Dean specifically asked for it and sent us here.”

The person from the academy said so and handed a letter to Rodella and Aivert.

It was a letter with the academy’s official seal.

Aivert raised his eyebrows, his rare rest time interrupted, but Rodella accepted the letter without any hesitation.

And she opened the letter.

[Hello, Dame Syveric.]

It seemed the letter was addressed to Rodella, not the two of them.

[Because of the many who are disturbing the empire…]

She roughly skipped the polite opening.

[…Therefore, would you be able to give a special lecture to the students about your special experiences, Dame Rodella Syveric? The students at the academy are thirsty for new knowledge…]

At the end of the long sentences, there were two lectures requested of Rodella.

The first was.

“The things I’ve experienced while working in the Administration Bureau and negotiation skills with people…”

It wasn’t that she couldn’t teach it. But she thought someone else could probably teach it, too.

The next sentence she saw at that moment made Rodella understand why the Dean had sent this letter.

“…This is definitely something only we can do.”

“What is it?”

Aivert gently held her hand, which was holding the letter and reading it.

It meant he wanted to see it too.

As Rodella tilted the letter towards him, Aivert’s eyes scanned the letter.

And he stopped at the same sentence as Rodella.

“…That’s definitely right.”

They were likely the only two people in the empire who could properly resolve that situation, no, that incident.

“I’ll make time somehow, so please send a positive reply first.”

Rodella said to the person from the academy.

The face of the academy person brightened.

“Then, when would the schedule be…”

“That’s…”

Rodella’s gaze went to the calendar.

It was a calendar with the rough schedules of Aivert and Rodella written on it.

Considering their wedding schedule and their exhaustion, the time before and after the lecture had to be empty.

“…I’ll move this schedule to later, and I’ll contact you in two weeks.”

Aivert crossed his arms at her words.

The calendar he had seen showed that it would be impossible to have time to go to the academy until right before the wedding.

Considering the honeymoon destination, they would have to wait for years.

It was clear that Rodella was forcing the schedule to be earlier because of that thought.

He didn’t like the things that tired her, but regarding ‘this subject,’ Aivert couldn’t say anything in front of Rodella, so he just nodded his head gracefully.

“Thank you!”

The person from the academy bowed repeatedly.

***

A little over two weeks later.

The carriage of the two, who had barely made time, arrived at the academy.

“My goodness, it’s been so long.”

Rodella remembered what she had thought when she left in a carriage from here.

‘I’ll never come back here again!’ or something like that.

But now that she was back, it didn’t feel as terrible as she had thought.

The snow was piled up like on graduation day, and the academy buildings were a little older than in her memory, but that made them even more impressive.

Buildings newly built because of Aivert could be seen here and there.

Of course, unlike when they had graduated, they now had a somewhat old feel.

“I never thought I’d come here again.”

Aivert swept his bangs back and got out of the carriage.

And then he gently escorted Rodella out of the carriage.

“We’ve been waiting. We’ll show you the way.”

The academy people welcomed the two of them.

The people who had been professors’ assistants when they were students had all graduated or gone somewhere else, so Rodella didn’t see anyone familiar.

“We’ll escort you to the faculty office first.”

She thought she would see some familiar faces there.

Rodella smiled.

Even though her memories of the academy weren’t great, looking back, her memories with the professors weren’t that bad.

There was no reason for the professors to dislike Rodella, who was the top student.

Moreover, since the majority of the professors were those who made objective evaluations without worrying about the aristocratic faction, she, who was hated by the aristocratic faction, could receive good grades.

“This way.”

“I remember the way, so please feel free to go ahead.”

Rodella gestured to the person guiding them.

“Understood.”

Rodella and Aivert followed the person who bowed his head, walking down the path.

Familiar buildings passed by on both sides of the wide but somewhat winding main street of the academy.

It was when Rodella was smiling at the memories.

“Gasp.”

A man coming out of what looked like the magic building was startled when he saw the two of them and then quickly went back inside the building.

“?”

What was he so surprised about? He didn’t look like a student.

But he wasn’t the only one.

“Oh my goodness!”

There were also people who let out a scream-like sound and ran away.

And they all looked more like staff members than students, and most of all.

“…”

Rodella raised her eyebrows and looked back at Aivert.

‘It seems everyone is avoiding him?’

“Why?”

But Aivert’s expression was just refreshed.

It was too… startled to be just avoiding him because he was Duke Royden.

Her doubts grew even more when they got to the faculty office.

“Oh, Dame Rodella Syveric has arrived.”

She clearly saw the other professors, whose faces had turned a little pale, glancing at Aivert behind the professors who were happily greeting her.

“Well, you too, no, Duke Royden has also come.”

One professor, who was switching between informal and formal speech, looked as if he was afraid to even shake hands with Aivert.

Most of the professors there gave off the strong impression that they would not have approached Aivert if Rodella hadn’t been by his side.

Finally, Rodella slyly looked back at Aivert.

“What in the world did you do when you were at the academy?”

When she asked in a small voice, Aivert replied.

“I was a little noisy.”

‘A little’…? Wait a minute.

Rodella realized an important fact.

For him, who considered most of his ‘accidents’ to be ‘unfortunate coincidences,’ to admit that he had caused some trouble meant that…

…How noisy was he?

It was when Rodella was about to recall her academy days.

“Ah, you’ve arrived!”

The swordsmanship professor who had sent the letter to the two, more specifically to Rodella, came closer.

“It’s been a long time, Professor Shubian.”

“To think you even remember my name.”

The swordsmanship professor, Shubian, laughed heartily and greeted her.

He was also making eye contact with Aivert to some extent, so did he not make a mistake with the swordsmanship professor?

“Then I will guide you right away. The students might cause a commotion, so please be careful with yourselves—”

The professor, who was saying that, looked at Aivert again and changed his words.

“I will make sure the students are careful.”

He spoke as if he would make sure they wouldn’t run into Aivert.

In the end, Rodella looked straight up at Aivert.

So what in the world did you do?

Even with a gaze that conveyed such a meaning, Aivert just shrugged his shoulders.