Chapter 16

Emily, lost in thought, blinked and looked up when William called her. William then continued with a grin.
“Yes?”
“My brothers and I are all called ‘Lord Chase’. To avoid confusion, please call me William.”
“Ah, I see. Alright, Lord William.”
-Thump
William, who was smiling at Emily’s response, suddenly felt an intense pain in his shoulder and involuntarily let out a groan. As William turned to the side with a pained expression, he saw Eden gripping his shoulder with an expressionless face. Seeing the veins bulging on Eden’s hand, William tried to remove it, but the hand didn’t budge an inch.
“…Me too.”
As William, who had been smiling at her, suddenly grimaced and struggled to remove Eden’s hand from his shoulder, Emily became extremely flustered. She was about to ask Eden to loosen his grip on William’s shoulder when suddenly, he approached Emily with a serious expression.
“Yes?”
“I also have brothers. We’re all called Lord Valenti, so please call me Eden as well.”
“…Pardon?”
Surprised by his sudden request, Emily looked up at him with wide eyes. Eden turned his head slightly to the side, lowering his gaze briefly before carefully looking back at her. His light gray eyes stared at her intently.
“…Would it be alright if you called me ‘Eden’?”
For a moment, Emily’s pupils trembled violently at the sight of the beauty with a subtly delicate atmosphere. She had a feeling that something like this had happened before, but when she came to her senses, she was already nodding.
“Yes? Ah… yes… Lord Eden.”
Watching this scene, William felt goosebumps all over his body. He wanted to shout that Eden’s older brother was already called Count as he had received the title of count among the titles held by Viscount Valenti, so what was this about overlapping titles? But the pain in his shoulder, still gripped by Eden, was too much, and he was using all his strength to try and remove Eden’s hand with both of his own.
“Um… perhaps you should let go of Lord William now…”
As Emily, who had been fidgeting at the sight, reluctantly pointed this out, Eden promptly removed his hand from William’s shoulder.
“So this is where you all were.”
Just as William was freed from Eden’s grip, Prince Lucas’s voice was heard from behind him. Emily, who had momentarily forgotten about Kira and Prince Lucas due to being absorbed in the conversation with Eden, realized her mistake and tried to step back, but Lucas had already approached too close.
“Ah, Miss Emily is here too.”
“It’s an honor to see you, Second Prince.”
As Lucas approached, William and Eden straightened their posture, and Emily also curtsied slightly. The timing was not good, as she had just been hiding and was found the moment she let her guard down.
“Since when did the three of you become so close?”
Lucas seemed to find it unexpected, as it was the first time he had seen the three of them together.
“We’ve just greeted each other for the first time, but I think we’ll become closer if we run into each other often in the future.”
William promptly answered Lucas’s question with a nonchalant expression. Lucas raised one eyebrow briefly at William’s words before returning to a kind expression.
“Come now, don’t stand in the corner like that. Why don’t you all come out here and have something to drink?”
As Lucas gestured with the glass he was holding, inviting them to come to a more open area, Emily reluctantly walked out. As she did so, her eyes met with Kira, who was standing next to Lucas, and she smiled slightly. Kira, who was holding a drink, also smiled brightly upon seeing Emily.
“Miss Kira…”
-Bump
Just as Emily was about to approach Kira, two young ladies suddenly passed in front of Emily, blocking her way as they approached Prince Lucas.
“Your Highness! Greetings to you. I am Carin of the Count Etwan family.”
“Your Highness, greetings to you. I am Mary of the Viscount Monkcra family.”
In a normal banquet hall, it would have been extremely rude to greet the prince before he spoke to you, but today was a welcoming event for new students. As seniors, it was not at all impolite to speak to the prince, who was a new student, first.
Realizing this fact at the sight of the two ladies, other students began to flock around, rushing to greet the prince. As people suddenly crowded around, Emily, pushed back by the momentum, retreated hesitantly, and Kira, who had been standing on the opposite side, was also pushed away from the prince, increasing the distance between Emily and Kira.
And then the incident occurred.
As if waiting for that very moment, Lily, who had been lurking around Kira, silently moved behind her, stepped on the hem of her white dress, and then bumped her shoulder against Kira’s back.
“…Ah!”
“Kyaaak!!”
Kira, who was trying to step forward after being pushed, suddenly found herself restrained and tripped on the hem of her own dress, falling forward. As a result, she spilled all the drink she was holding onto a young lady standing in front of her. The young lady, who had been standing near Kira and now had her face and the entire front of her dress stained with pink drink, screamed at the sudden misfortune.
It all happened in an instant.
Emily, who was about to rush to Kira in shock, saw Lord Eden stretching out his hand to block her path. At that moment, she realized that he had shielded her from the drink splashing.
“Lord Eden!”
“Miss Emily, are you alright?”
As Emily placed her hand on Eden’s left wrist in surprise, Eden turned to look at her, not paying any attention to his own clothes. The drink that had been sprayed in an arc as Kira fell couldn’t be completely avoided by people nearby. Thanks to his all-black formal wear, the splashed drink wasn’t noticeable, but small pink dots were scattered here and there on the collar of his white shirt.
“Ah… your shirt!”
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.”
Emily unknowingly tightened her grip on his arm, feeling upset. Eden, who had been standing stiffly with his left arm extended to her, gently held the tips of her fingers that were gripping his arm with his other hand.
In the midst of the chaos, Emily had been focusing only on Eden’s collar and hadn’t noticed his hand. Suddenly remembering that Kira had fallen, she rushed to Kira in alarm, causing the warmth at her fingertips that had been held by him to disappear. Eden slowly lowered his hand that had been left suspended in the air.
The young lady who was covered in drink from head to toe blushed deeply as all eyes turned to her, then her expression twisted in despair as she realized her expensive white dress was ruined.
Kira, who had been frozen in shock at the sudden situation, not knowing how to react, barely managed to stand up with Emily’s support as she rushed over.
Then, the young lady standing there in a disheveled state saw Kira’s dazzling golden hair as she raised her head. Her beautiful face came into view next, followed by her dress, which was more splendid than her own.
As she looked at Kira, who wasn’t looking at her but had lowered her gaze, the young lady felt a momentary sense of being ignored, and her anger boiled over.
“You commoner! Do you know how much this costs?!”
“…It seems my partner has been rude.”
The moment the young lady shouted, unable to contain her anger, Prince Lucas stepped in front of Kira and approached the young lady. Then he smiled gently at the young lady who had stopped abruptly, her thoughts frozen by the sudden situation.
“I’ll cover the cost of the dress. Why don’t you calm down for now?”
“Ah…”
Before she could respond, flustered by his words, Lucas turned his head to look at the people around them.
“The welcome party has just begun, so let’s all enjoy the banquet.”
At his words, those who had been watching the situation with great interest as they surrounded them dispersed as if nothing had happened. The young lady, who had lost her words and was standing there clutching her wet dress, left the banquet hall with the support of her nearby friends, her head bowed. Everyone else gracefully smiled and enjoyed the banquet as if nothing had happened.
Emily watched the young lady’s retreating back with sympathy. If she had been in that situation, she might have burst into tears. As she looked at the young lady who had to leave without receiving a proper apology from anyone, Emily came to her senses and turned to Kira.
“Miss Kira, are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”
Kira, who had been standing stiffly for a moment, seemed to come to her senses when Emily spoke to her and turned to look at her.
“Yes, I’m fine. Thank you, Miss Emily. I fell because someone suddenly pushed me from behind.”
“It must have been because people suddenly crowded around Prince Lucas. I’m so glad you weren’t hurt.”
“Yes, but I was so surprised that I couldn’t even apologize to the person I spilled my drink on earlier. She seemed very angry… Her dress is ruined, and I feel so sorry… What should I do?”
“If you ask around, you’ll quickly find out which family she’s from. You can go and apologize in person. Besides, the prince said he would cover the cost of the dress, so don’t forget to thank him for that as well.”
Emily replied, comforting Kira. Kira nodded in response.
“Yes, I should do that. And I have something I must say to that lady when I apologize.”
“Something you must say?”
Emily blinked and looked at Kira as she spoke, and Kira raised her index finger decisively and began to speak in a firm tone.
“I’ll say, ‘You commoner, you say! Don’t you know that discriminatory remarks are prohibited within the Academy?’ Of course, after I properly apologize first.”
Emily couldn’t help but smile at Kira’s words. At the same time, she thought that Kira was really impossible to dislike. This sixteen-year-old commoner girl had an irresistible charm. Even when Emily tried to distance herself from Miss Kira to avoid getting involved in unnecessary trouble, she would find herself standing next to her before she knew it.
“Yes, do that. I’m glad you seem to have cheered up. By the way, Miss Kira, are you planning to stay here longer? I was about to head back, would you like to come with me?”
“Yes. I’ll go back with you. I feel a bit tired.”
Kira nodded at Emily’s words, but then remembered that she needed to tell Lucas, who had come as her partner today, that she was leaving early. However, Lucas was surrounded by people, making it seem impossible to approach him. Sighing softly, Kira turned to Emily.
“I came as the prince’s partner, so it might be troublesome for him if I leave without saying anything. I’ll let him know and then go, so you can go ahead to the dormitory, Miss Emily.”
“No, let’s go together and quickly inform him, then leave together.”
As Emily led Kira by the arm towards Lucas, Eden, who had been standing nearby, approached. Emily welcomed him and asked him to relay a message to Prince Lucas. Eden nodded and approached Lucas, who was in the midst of the crowd, and quietly conveyed the message.
When Eden relayed the message, Lucas looked up in Kira’s direction, nodded, and said something to Eden. Emily watched as Eden approached her.
“Lord Eden.”
“Miss Emily, Miss Kira. Let’s go together. The prince asked me to escort you.”
“…Ah, thank you.”
As Eden came closer, Emily addressed him, and Eden relayed the prince’s message before walking towards the entrance with the two of them. Then Kira, who had been quiet, thanked him, and the three of them moved together.