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Looking back, it really has been a whirlwind of days.

As she listened to the teacher during homeroom in her classroom, Ekaterina thought so with deep feeling.
Today was the closing ceremony—the first term had come to an end, and summer vacation would begin tomorrow.
It felt as though the entrance ceremony had been only yesterday… and yet also like it had been ages ago.

There had been so much—the Imperial Visit, that Project Something, and all sorts of things besides. Back at the entrance ceremony, all I could think about was breaking the “Empire’s Destruction Flag” and my own “Doom Flag”!
And the Empire Destruction Flag—that is, the monster-attack event—was cleared! Or rather, Flora-chan cleared it for us.
As for the Doom Flag… back then, I was determined not to approach or even talk to either the heroine or the prince!

Ahaha, yeah.
That completely fell apart… these days, I talk to them almost every day.
With the heroine, Flora-chan, we’ve gotten close enough that I could honestly call her my best friend. I really think we’ve become good friends—she’s kind, hardworking, secretly very smart but modest, yet strong-willed. Even as a woman in my late twenties, I find her admirable. She’s that good of a girl.

And the prince—well, I end up talking to him almost daily too. Only because he’s the one who keeps talking to me! Besides, for Flora-chan’s sake, I need to help raise their intimacy level. The villainess is shipping the heroine with the prince!

The prince always asks for bites of the lunches I bring for Onii-sama. He’s so slender, yet eats so much.
He praises my cooking every time, so I can’t even feel bad about it… and ever since I realized Onii-sama doesn’t like sweets much, I’ve even started making them because I thought the prince would enjoy them. Well, mostly because I wanted to eat them myself. And there are others in the office with a sweet tooth too.
He’s really a good kid, that prince. I think he has depth in how he sees things. He’s obviously extremely intelligent, but doesn’t show it—keeps himself one step back. Maybe because he was born destined to be on top, he trains himself not to be overbearing. To have that kind of self-restraint at his age… It’s amazing, though in a completely different way than my brother.

And the three of us have a good academic rivalry, too.
I could tell the prince was getting serious for the recent finals, so I studied hard too.
And the results!

First place: Mikhail Jurgrahn.
Second place: Flora Czerny.
Third place: Ekaterina Jurnova.

…Third place. Sank to third.
Well, I did my best, so I was honestly happy for them both.
They truly are remarkable. The prince might have even gotten a perfect score in every subject. Flora-chan and I compared answers and thought we’d done really well—but he still outscored us!

*“I’m relieved… happy. It’s the first time I’ve ever felt this way.”*

I still remember the prince’s wry smile as he looked at the posted results. He must never have had to push himself that hard before. Honestly, I was a little frustrated—but I was glad he was rewarded for his effort. If it becomes one of the prince’s fond memories of his academy days before he ascends the throne, then I’d be honored. Yup.

And even before I could feel frustrated, Onii-sama was showering me with encouragement. *“You were busy preparing the workshop, after all. What you accomplished there is far more valuable than schoolwork,”* and so on.
All while hugging me tight and patting my head right in front of the results board! What a reward! Honestly, it’s a good thing I came in third!
Then again, he managed to keep first place even during the period right after inheriting the ducal title—when he was busiest of all… Compared to that, I’m embarrassed beyond words.
So, without thinking, I said it.

*“You spoil me far too much, Onii-sama. You’ll turn me utterly useless.”*

At that, he stopped patting my head and said, sounding almost sorrowful,

*“…Have you come to hate me?”*

*Boom!* My love rocket ignited, shot through the stratosphere in one second, and reached outer space—Earth looked so blue!
One-second affection rocket!
What am I even saying!

I hugged him back with all my strength, insisting that such a thing was absolutely impossible, never ever.
And the prince, pressing his fingers to his forehead as if to stave off a headache, muttered softly,

*“…How am I supposed to overcome that?”*

Overcome what? You already took first place!
Come to think of it, that day, there were a surprising number of girls around the results board—Marina and the girls from my class, and even some third-years (Onii-sama’s classmates, maybe?).
Guess everyone worked hard this time.

.

I’m glad I’ve built good relationships with both Flora-chan and the prince, but… the problem is, I still don’t know what’ll happen with the Doom Flag!
Isn’t it fine now? I think it is.
But then again… The magical beast *did* show up even though that should’ve been impossible!
So I can’t rule out a “Suddenly everything’s in place—Doom Event Activate!” situation.
Terrifying!
That’s why, even though my Doom-Flag countermeasures have become a complete mess, I’ve decided I won’t get any closer to the prince than this!
Prince, please stop talking to me already! Just get together with Flora-chan ASAP!

…Though instead of just shouting that in my heart, I should probably come up with a plan to raise their intimacy.
Sorry… I think I have zero talent in that regard. My friends in my past life told me I had no knack for romance of any kind. I never figured out what I was doing wrong—which, they said, was the problem.
I figured I simply wasn’t popular, then again, sometimes when I was fawning over some random guy, my friends would fault me for ignoring the other men to go for him, but… *what other men*? What did I do wrong??
In this life, I’ve gone beyond being a sheltered noble lady—I was practically confined. And remembering Mother, who loved so deeply yet was never rewarded, I can’t bring myself to believe in romance or men. Only my brother feels safe to me.
…So I guess even Lady Ekaterina from this life is a serious brocon too, huh. Just realized that.

.

Still, I did my best yesterday!
I’d gotten a few prototype transparent glass pens from Lev for myself—and after the exam results came out, I called Flora-chan and the prince over and gave each of them one. As a token of friendship and rivalry—“Let’s keep striving together from here on!”
I’d been feeling guilty using something so convenient while always studying with Flora-chan. But if I included the prince and made it a “Top Three Celebration,” I thought Flora-chan would accept it without hesitation. The prince worked hard too, and it’d make a nice keepsake.
…Though honestly, maybe I shouldn’t have given a prototype to the prince. But hey, he’s still a kid, status or not. It wouldn’t be right to give him a pricey finished product just for doing well on exams.

Both of them were delighted.
Come to think of it, I gave the prince a larger pen—the same size as my brother’s—and was surprised to find his hands were about the same size! He’s already fairly tall, but maybe he’ll grow even more? Actually, I think he has grown since the entrance ceremony?
Well, that’s not important. We ended up chatting about summer vacation. I already knew from my brother that the prince would be visiting the Jurnova territory in the latter half of the break, so naturally, the topic came up.
So I made a suggestion to Flora-chan.

*“If you don’t mind, Lady Flora, would you not also accompany His Highness to our territory? I’ll be terribly lonely if I cannot see you until the next term.”*
*“That’s—I’d be lonely without you too, Lady Ekaterina. But surely, I couldn’t possibly…”*

Yeah, it’d be daunting to travel together with the Imperial Prince, huh. Understandable.
Glance.
Glance, Glance.

*“Ah… Flora, if you don’t mind, I’d like you to come with me to Jurnova. Traveling’s always more fun with company.”*

Yes!

*“It feels wrong for someone of my position to accompany you, but if you truly wish it—”*
*“Of course I do. I’ve been thinking we should have a proper talk sometime.”*

Perfect. Perfectly perfect!
When I first heard from my brother that the prince would be visiting our lands, I panicked—*what should I do, what should I do?!*
But a predicament is just a chance in waiting! This is my opportunity to help bring the prince and Flora-chan closer together!
A trip together—what better event for a massive intimacy boost?
A special event produced by the villainess herself! You can do it, Flora-chan!

If I do say so myself, that was some excellent wingwoman work.
I’m doing great, aren’t I!

.

Oh, and one more surprise came up during that chat.
I mentioned that I’d made the glass pen as a birthday present for my brother, and on a whim, I asked:

*“When is your birthday, Lord Mikhail?”*
*“April tenth. It’s long past already.”*

Wait.
Right after the entrance ceremony? When I was bedridden and missing class?
Whaaat?! Which means—

*“You’re sixteen, Lord Mikhail?!”*
*“That’s right. You didn’t know?”*

I… didn’t. I completely thought you were fifteen! Every time I’d think “wow, impressive for fifteen,” or “so mature for fifteen”…
Well, from a late-twenties’ point of view, fifteen and sixteen aren’t that different. But still—ugh, why were you born so early?!
While I was flustered, the prince chuckled softly.

*“No one’s ever asked me about my birthday before. It feels a bit refreshing.”*

Ugh… sorry, Prince. Come to think of it, you’re Their Majesties’ only child. The entire Empire must’ve celebrated your birth. Your birthday’s probably common knowledge. I’m your relative and didn’t even know—my apologies.

*“If only Aleksei would talk about me a bit more.”*

Hey now, don’t blame Onii-sama!

*“Lord Mikhail! If you speak ill of my brother, you’ll find yourself at the end of my blade!”*

I’ve never trained in martial arts, but my physics-application magic is among the best in my year! Come at me!

*“…”*

Stop laughing so hard!