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That day, Finia was in high spirits from the get-go.
She combed and set my hair more carefully than ever.
The style was the same as ever with my sideburns tucked back out of the way. But when I touched it for myself, the softness was incomparable to the usual.

I wore a pure white shirt with the Magic Academy’s school badge on it and a dark blue skirt with a white stripe along the hem to go with it, along with a jacket of the same colors.
Finally, the whole ensemble was topped off with a feathered beret, and since I preferred showing very little skin, I wore knee-highs as usual.

“Oooh, well aren’t you the spitting image of a new student.”
“Morning Cortina.”

Cortina who happened to be passing by in front of my room decided to peer in and gave a thumb’s up in approval.
Even she was dressed to the nines in a suit today.

That’s right, today was the day of the school entrance ceremony.

Despite causing a ruckus during the academy’s open-house, I wanted to spend my days at the school inconspicuously studying.
If I wasn’t careful and made too much of a mess, Cortina might start to pick up on my real identity.

“…Is it too late?”
“What is, Miss Nicole?”
“Um, it’s nothing.”

If you stop and think about, I made a mess of things on the very same day I arrived in the city, there’s no way I can stay “inconspicuous” towards Cortina.
I sighed and headed for the entrance. Cortina’s house was designed such that you had to take off your shoes at the entrance.

I changed into a pair of sturdy boots at the door.
Today, I’ll head out to meet Michelle first.
Since she’s a hunter’s daughter, she usually starts her day early, the complete opposite of my oversleeping self. Because of that, it’s become the norm that she usually comes to meet me first…

“Alright,” I exclaimed while slapping my cheeks to psych myself up for the day.
And as I opened the door, who were there but Michelle and Letina.

“Ah.”
“Ah, morning Nicole! You’re early today!”
“Good morning to you. How rare of you to be up this early.”
“Morning. Looks like you guys beat me again.”

That last bit was supposed to be a mutter to myself but I could hear a quiet “pff” behind me coming from Finia.
When I look behind me, she turned away in a hurry. The fact that she can laugh at me like that shows just how close we’ve gotten. With Finia in check, I turned back to Michelle and Letina.
Cortina who was a teacher should also be heading out with us, but she has yet to come out.

“Where’s Cortina?”
“Seems she has a small errand to run, she’ll be a little late.”
“Hm?”

Well, even among the faculty, she’s a bit of a special case, so I’m sure she’s quite busy.

Like that time with the apprehension of the kidnappers, she might be involved in something involving the town’s public order.

“In any case, please take care, Miss Nicole.”
“Yeah, I’ll see you later.”
“Even if you see something strange or unusual you absolutely can’t do anything about it you hear?”
“I got it.”
“Even if you look at a villain, you can’t go charging at them ok? Also, please don’t take any detours through the back streets.”
“I won’t, I won’t.”
“Do you have your handkerchief? Also…”
“Finia, shut it.”

I knew she was prone to worrying about me, but it seemed to have gotten worse since the kidnapping incident.
It may be a bit mean, but I decided to cut her off and head to school.

Michelle’s going to be attending the Adventurer’s Support School, so we’ll be splitting up before going in, but her school building was right next door, so we would have plenty of time to meet with each other.

When we got to the school grounds, it was pretty noisy inside.
I thought it was just the result of it being the day of the entrance ceremony, but it wasn’t. Everyone’s gaze was clearly pointed at us.
Then it hit me, “Oh, Letina is a marquess’ child.”
“Don’t even go there, this is about you.”

Previously during the open house, Letina let slip that I was the hero’s daughter to avoid some unnecessary trouble. It’s that kinda thing.

“What a pain…”
“What are you on about now? Being those two great hero’s daughter, shouldn’t you be used to this?”
“It wasn’t like this in the village.”

In the first place, I never carelessly wandered around outside there, so I never had everyone’s attention focused on me like this.
But well, the rumors didn’t just stop at the incident from last time.

“Hey, is that…?”
“Silver hair and heterochromia, there’s no doubt.”
“After being shoved, she let the other guy off with just an apology.”
“On the contrary, didn’t you hear? The guy seemed to have tried making her grovel at his feet right before.”
“Seriously? It’s as if she were the second coming of the saint, isn’t it.”

Crap. I was just trying to avoid any more trouble, but it seems that my habit has started some weird rumors.
And…

“Despite being so young, she still carries herself with grace, you can clearly tell she carries Lady Maria’s blood.
“Even so, she shows no cowardice, you can clearly feel Lord Lyell’s fearless spirit.”
“Just how great will she become in the future is anybody’s guess.”

Despite the entrance ceremony not even being done yet, incredible rumors about my future have started springing up.

“…give me a break here,” I clutched my head and groaned quietly.
Looking at me, Letina anxiously called out, “What’s wrong, did the crowd make you sick?”

“Voice, too loud.”
“Oh, her body’s frail.”
“I didn’t think such a person exists.”
“That’s normal for a princess though. Speaking of which, didn’t the king of the tripartite government up north ask for her hand in marriage?”
“But Lyell shot that down.”
“Well yeah, it’s still too soon. It’s not like I don’t get why he’d have a hard time letting his daughter go.”

Letina is exceptionally energetic, so her voice is quite loud.
That said since she’d proclaimed the crowd was making me sick, the gossips took that as fact.
Moreover, the rumor that the king asked to marry me has been spreading.

“It’s fine. Letina let’s hurry.”
“You sure? Don’t push yourself ok. You are really delicate after all.”
“Yeah.”

Letina isn’t a bad kid, but she’s a hell of a troublemaker.
Despite us starting off on the wrong foot, she’s seriously trying to be my friend, and I am grateful for that because I felt isolated and lonely until I met Lyell and the others in my previous life.