Chapter 12: The Event and The Third Wheel (イベントとお邪魔虫)

The next day, Ekaterina and Flora made lunch together again. Presently, they were heading to Alexei's office while having a small talk.

Many students in the corridor were looking at the girls like they were staring at a strange thing. Thinking about it, both of them together were an odd combination. One was the Three Great Duke lady, someone with the highest status among the noble ladies in this magic academy. The other one was the lady of a Baron family who was born from a commoner. The gap between their status was like the earth and the sky.

Not only that, but they were both pretty girls. Naturally, they would attract attention. Well, one of them was exuding an awful amount of charm that she could be considered a pretty lady now. That alone drew the gaze of the boys.

"...Seems like the lady of Duke Nova is a shameless girl, not knowing of her position."

Such a voice suddenly reached Ekaterina's ears. She reflexively frowned.

Who was it now?

But she didn't have time to think about it since she heard another voice calling her. "Hey."

A head suddenly popped up from the window of the corridor side of the classroom next to them. It had the color of the summer sky.

Gyahhh!? The prince appeared!?

Shocked, Ekaterina was taken aback. She almost stepped back. Apparently, she already unconsciously recognized that the prince was equal to the destruction flag.

"My, Your Highness. Good day to you."

"Miss Ekaterina Yurinova, I'm sorry for suddenly calling you out. No need to be that formal."

At first, Ekaterina would formally bow to him by raising her skirt a little and bent over. Even so, that wasn't easy because of the large basket. Noticing that, Michael amiably stopped her. Not only his hair color, but his smile was bright and dazzling like the summer sky.

Accepting his consideration, Ekaterina only bowed. Flora also followed her.

But the prince called her full name, right?

"I'm sorry for surprising you. Vladimir and I both heard that Alexei has a sister named Ekaterina. When I saw Alexei waving at the entrance ceremony, I knew that you're his sister."

...Is Brother close with the prince?

After giving it a thought, their social status was close and they only have two years difference in age. Naturally, Alexei would have to become the prince's playing partner or talking partner since he was a child.

And the prince was pretty sharp-eyed!

But who was Vladimir?

At that moment, Mikhail glanced at the end of the corridor.

Following that line of sight, Ekaterina saw a male student with light bluish-purple hair standing there. He was a handsome guy, the corner of his lips twisted into a sarcastic smile.

...A high school student.

Looking at his neck badge, he should be in the second grade. That means he was Ekaterina's senior. But his lustrous cheeks were cute for her. He had the atmosphere of a visual member in a particular band when they had no makeup. Meaning, his beauty was outstanding. It would be nice if he weren't troublesome to deal with.

The eyes peeking from his long bangs were grayish-green.

'Green-eyed Monster'

Somehow, that phrase came to Ekaterina's mind. Sorry about that, Mister Shakespeare.

For the time being, Ekaterina realized a thing from her intuition. The person who said that she was shameless was him.

"Vladimir, do you have business with Miss Ekaterina?"

When Mikhail called him out, Vladimir said, "No." He then turned his heels and left. Could he act like that to the prince?

After sending off Vladimir's back for a while, Mikhail smiled at Ekaterina again.

"You also passed here with that basket yesterday, so I was curious. Where are you going?"

Hmm?

"Yes... That's..."

Ekaterina wasn't at a loss of words because she was bothered by the weird guy from before or surprised at how the prince suddenly started a conversation with her. It was because Mikhail's words stimulated the memory of her past life.

This! This is the game event!

This exchange happened in the route Ekaterina went through many times in the otome game. The prince was interested in how the heroine brought her handmade lunch and called her out.

So he has to talk to the heroine, not to me! That weird guy from before, you're making the flow of the game strange!

At that moment, Ekaterina realized that it wasn't just Vladimir's fault.

Both of them had an exceptional standing in society. Mikhail, the prince, had the duty to speak to a person with a higher status. As they were meeting each other for the first time, he might not talk to Flora in this situation.

Ahhhh, what an idiotic move!

The villainess clung to the heroine to protect her from the bullies, but now the event wouldn't progress well! Ekaterina forgot about this!

Ekaterina hung herself in despair. It's essential to raise the heroine's favorable impression here.

"I am going to the room my Brother rents in the academy where he's working. I'm delivering his lunch there. ...Your Highness, let me introduce you."

Ekaterina immediately took Flora's arm.

"This is Baroness Flora Czerny. She's kind and has good skill in cooking. I was worried about my brother's lunch, wanting to make something warm and easy to eat for him. At that time, Miss Flora taught me how to cook."

Flora, who was modestly reserving herself from their interaction, was suddenly dragged in, her eyes wide open in surprise. Her big purple eyes stood out, which was also a lovely sight to see.

How is this, prince! This girl is cute, isn't she!

Ekaterina couldn't stop herself from making a proud expression.

Mikhail smiled, a perfect smile on his face. "Miss Czerny. I've heard about you. You must be an outstanding lady."

Thinking about it, the prince was a good person. The reason he called the girls out was to help them keep the weird guy out. He was a genuine royal prince of noble birth, yet he could achieve a happy ending with a commoner heroine. Now that Ekaterina was reborn in the same world, she understood how amazing that was.

"Your Highness, if you don't mind, why don't you have a bite?"

"Gladly."

"Miss Flora, please give one to Your Highness. After all, you're better at cooking than me."

"Miss Yurinova is also very skillful..." Flora said, then she timidly opened her basket and presented it to Mikhail.

Today, they made baked bread. After sandwiching various ingredients between bread's dough, they baked it. It had a more chewy texture than the fluffy bread baked in the furnace.

A delicious smell wafted out of the basket, making Mikhail smile. "Thank you. I'll eat it," he said, then he took one and ate it. "It's delicious. It has cheese in it. You also bake it well."

"I'm glad that it fits your tongue." Fiona grinned. Mikhail looked a little dazzled.

Good!

"Does that one have a different flavor?"

"Eh?"

Ekaterina was a bit surprised when Mikhail shifted his gaze to her basket. He would have to eat his lunch soon, right... But as a high school boy with a hearty appetite, it should be normal to eat this much. Ekaterina remembered that her high school classmates went to an okonomiyaki restaurant after school and asked for another serving when they had dinner at home.

Speaking of which, the prince, like Alexei, most likely trained in horsemanship and swordsmanship to the level that allowed him to participate in a battle. Then it's natural that he was hungry.

"It's a sweet baked bread with berry jam."

"I want to try it," Mikhail said with a sweet smile. He might charm a girl of the same age with that face, but Ekaterina could only see him as a puppy. Well, it was actually a stunning puppy.

"Here you go."

"Thank you."

When Ekaterina opened the basket, he immediately took one and ate it. He looked happy. Did he have a sweet tooth?

"This is also delicious. I like it."

"I'm honored to hear that."

He's happy after eating sweets, huh. Ekaterina smiled, feeling like an older sister watching a young child.

"Again, I'm sorry for stopping you."

"Please don't worry about it. Your Highness, we'll take our leave."

After Ekaterina bowed together with Flora, she started to walk away.

I managed to clear the event! ...Right?