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Silhouette, the man said to be the King of Darkness. He and the group he directly ran, Sonderling’s Nest, supposedly control every criminal syndicate and secret society on the continent.

The origin of his myth-like rumors was said to date back to the Finis Jihad. According to one theory, he was the sole opposing force to the Superempire, consisting of god-like beings and transcendent, with his army of demons and evil gods.

His existence and power undoubtedly aligned with the ambitions Cestlavie envisioned. No matter how trivial, he must build a rapport with him. That’s what the young priest had been secretly contemplating.

The glimpse of power shown by the man disguised as a peddler during the Orc Princess incident undoubtedly hinted at something connected to those rumors. That was what Cestlavie’s intuition told him.

As those thoughts were gnawing at his mind, Cestlavie just happened to hear that a peddler with a familiar feature was doing a paper play in a nearby park and thus decided to visit and yet this is what he found. Had he been working himself up for nothing?

There was Chaton, the girl was staring at Cestlavie even when he was trying to weigh his options, and then there was the peddler, who continued doing his shady business in the background as if not noticing Cestlavie at all.

“Hnng… Well, this is all I have left either way. Just trust your intuition, me.”

Finding a new resolution, Cestlavie lifted his head and stared back at Chaton’s eyes.

“I intend to leverage my life in the academy and the capital to rise to the top of the Saintess’ Church. What I am betting on you is my future, and the truth of the Livitium Imperial Family Incident that occurred 15 years ago, as well as the names connected to the survivors.”

With a flicker, the eyes of the peddler gleamed cunningly in the middle of Cestlavie’s speech. Then, his lips curved up in amusement.

“—what do you say, do you make or break?”

Facing the determined youth before her, Chaton hesitated slightly, touching her cheek with a finger in puzzlement.

♢♦♢♦♢

“Luke? I like him, of course.”

In the classroom after Luke, who was to play a role in delivering the oath as the representative of exchange students during the entrance ceremony, was called for the meeting, I was idling around when Daniel came to me with this question:

“By the way, Miss Julia, how do you feel about Luke?”

My candid answer to that was as above.

“…I see, so that’s how it is. Specifically, do you see him just as a friend? Is there something more?”

As Daniel probed with a tilt of his head, I also tilted mine and said, “Hmm.”

“—That’s quite difficult to answer. Personally, I want to cherish our friendship, and I feel like Luke feels the same.”
“Yeah, no way!!”

Suddenly, there was a chorus of voices of disagreement from those around me.

Looking around, it wasn’t just Daniel but also; Curtiss, Monica, Pryui, and Lynn, the adventurer who still insisted on dressing as a man. They all shook their heads vigorously as if saying “No way.”

“Aah… Umm, Miss Jill. Hypothetically speaking, if, in a situation that is entirely theoretical, Luke held feelings for you as a member of the opposite sex, what would you think?”

That’s just impossible —to begin with, Luke has a girl he already likes, and I’m still unsure whether I’m a girl or a guy in a girl’s skin— that hypothetical question can’t be any further than the truth.

“Huh, as an opposite sex…is it?”
“…no, forgive me. I’m overstepping the line. You see, he’s got the smarts, but when it comes to this kind of thing, he’s just so slow to the uptake, so I couldn’t help it.”

Daniel lowered his head, making a face like an older brother looking after his younger sibling.

“No, please don’t be so sorry. Besides, looking back, when I said I like him, umm…I’m sure I mean—”

That was when someone with a refreshing voice interrupted from my side.

“Oh, how boorish. This furrow on her gracious eyebrows is testament that you imperial nobles are uncouth and ill-mannered.”

When I looked over, the voice came from a handsome boy with violet hair and a very beautiful face, looking at Daniel with an accusing gaze.

(((…hm?)))

Apart from his beauty, which was somehow out of this world, I felt a strange feeling… Monica, Lynn, and I all tilted our heads at the same time.

“—and you are?”

Seeing that he’s in this classroom, supported by his appearance and demeanor, we could tell he was an aristocrat. However, the fact that he didn’t hold back even when facing the scion of a Marquis from the empire, Daniel gave him a judging look.

“I am Viola Ignacio, a mere bumpkin from the Kingdom of Safiras in the east.”

With a graceful gesture, Viola bowed, prompting a faint, admiring sigh from the female students in the classroom.

“Viola Ignacio… Wait, Safiras?! You’re the Royal Flower of Safiras, the Hydrangea Princess?!”

Daniel was dumbfounded. The boy — rather, the crossdressing beauty Viola lightly brushed it off, seemingly having gotten used to such a reaction.

“I knew it.”

Monica, Lynn, and I all voiced our agreement simultaneously.

Turning towards me, Viola smiled gently and gracefully bowed—a gesture typically reserved for a man to a woman—taking my hand naturally and planting a light kiss.

“Pleasure to meet you, lady. Might I inquire your name?”
“—Oh, um, likewise. I am Julia Fortuna, from the Empire.”

For the time being, I responded with the proper courtesy.

“You’re as quick as ever, Viola. You… Julia, was it? I’d recommend ignoring her sweet words, even if they’re directed at you.” A voice, unfamiliar yet mixed with a sigh, interjected once more.

“Is that jealousy I see, Fräulein Liselotte? Besides, I always strive to serve the fair ladies with sincerity, you know.”
“That’s precisely the problem.”

Frowning, the figure standing there was like a schoolgirl with ash-colored hair styled into exquisite vertical curls, something I had only seen in manga before.

“Lieselotte…? Ah, the third princess of Cilento, the Iris Princess…”

Daniel’s words, almost a groan, escalated the tension in the room immediately.

After all, this was the heart of Cilento, and the other party was none other than a princess of this country. The children of nobles of Livitium, not to mention the ones hailing from high-ranking aristocrats among the exchange students, appeared visibly intimidated, exchanging uneasy glances with each other.

The Royal Flower of Safiras, the Hydrangea Princess. The princess of Cilento Central Kingdom, the Iris Princess. And the one sandwiched between them — the Ragweed, aka me.

(…what a troublesome positioning.)

For looking completely out of place and out of my league, I could only laugh in my heart.

Translator’s Rambling:

So, here’s the thing. Author likes to assign one country to be a parallel to one real country, though it is only recently. You can see it from the naming.

• Graviol Empire is, presumably, german. Brandmüller and Letindüte all that stuff. Also, Vier.
• Livitium could be French, with the newest characters originating from here all having French terms or foods or phonetics in their name. For example; Cestlavie, Chaton, Millefeuille.
• Now, Safiras has to be an Italian country. The name Viola Ignacio is, specifically, an Italian name in the Japanese dictionary.

Why am I saying this? Well, because the very clearly Italian girl is saying Fräulein, a German word for Miss, and she is the one and only character who uses a romaji, which is an adaptive language, to address someone at any point in this novel. Not even the isekai’d characters use an adaptive language like Missu or Mistah or Mastah, they use -sama, -san, -shi, and such.

Meaning everyone, including the ones coming from outside this world, is staying constantly in-universe, except this one little Italian character who speaks freaking German for no fahking reason.

At this point I don’t know if Author is just messing with me or just messed up in the head. I’ll just…do what I can to make this as enjoyable as possible.