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Daniel promptly took Luke out of the classroom upon their return from the entrance ceremony and whispered something incessantly into his bewildered friend’s ear, inciting him.

Initially, Luke seemed tired of his friend’s frivolous antics, but as he listened further, his expression grew harsher. Upon returning to the classroom, Luke looked at Jill, then at Viola, who was crossdressing and being surrounded by girls with a radiant smile on her face, then with the expression of someone worn-out or perhaps, at his wit’s end;

“…Don’t worry. I will protect your chastity, no matter what!”

With that determination, Luke decided to stay with Jill at least until the tea ceremony ended.

“…Huh? (What’s there to protect between girls?)” Jill nodded, while not exactly understanding what was going on.

Thus, they walked along the main street, about an hour’s walk from the school, with Jill mainly talking about today’s events and Luke nodding along. However, their conversation occasionally veered off track into small talk.

(Huh? Is this the first time we’ve walked alone together?)

Luke’s heartbeat quickened as he realized this and his steps became awkward and suspicious. He knew that the third branch of Letindüte — a café and Jill’s residence in the imperial capital, operated by the Brandmüller family — was just right by the corner. Suddenly, Jill remembered something and pulled out a new dessert for a taste test.

“I’m not a big fan of mint flavors… What’s the matter?”
“O-, oh, it’s nothing. (She’s so cute.)”

Noticing Luke’s intense gaze on her, Jill tilted her head. After a moment of thought, she offered him the chocolate mint tart with a nod of understanding.

“—Here you go. I took a bite, but please tell me what you think.”
“Huh? No, that’s not… Ah.”

Initially attempting to decline with a flustered expression, Luke realized something as he compared the bitten tart with Jill’s glossy pink lips and nervously accepted it with a red face.

As they walked, Luke lightly cleared his throat and brought the unfinished part of the tart to his mouth.

“Hmm…?” At that moment, Jill, who was walking beside him, stopped.

Wondering what was happening, he followed her gaze and saw a scene unfolding nearby, at the corner of the adjacent street, where a middle-aged, somewhat stout man, who seemed to be the owner of a snack stand, and a girl of around 10 years old, who appeared to be from a respectable family, were engaged in a heated argument.

Just then, a vegetable-laden horse-drawn cart arrived from a side street.

Anticipating that the argument might escalate, Jill was about to call out when the distracted girl turned to leave the spot without properly checking her surroundings. It was precisely as the cart was passing by the snack stand.

“—watch out!” Shouting, Jill instinctively kicked the ground.

“Jill?!”

Attempting to grab the bewildered girl and move away from the scene, but lacking experience in leaping while carrying another person, both Jill and the girl ended up falling together onto the street not far from their initial position, entangled.

To make matters worse, the panicked cart driver inadvertently changed the direction of the cart, and it was now heading straight towards the spot where the two had just fallen.

Looking up, they could see the large horse’s front legs coming straight at them.

As if in slow motion, strangely clear and slow— Even the studs on the horseshoes were seen clearly. “Aah, so this is how the mind works in extreme situations,” Jill marveled as if it were happening to someone else, resigning herself to death.

In that instant, a gale blew—more precisely, the wind spirit intervened between them and the cart, restricting its movement. It wasn’t an illusion her mind conjured, but rather a reality.

“…eh?”

At the same time, her body was pulled towards the shoulder of the road along with the girl she was carrying, and for a moment, it felt like she was floating in the air.

With a loud crash, Jill returned to her senses.

“Th… That was close. Honestly… please stop being reckless, Jill. You’ve just shaved off 30 years of my life.”

Upon hearing a panicked whisper in her ear, she turned around and found Luke holding both her and the girl, collapsed by the sidewalk. It would have been a perfect rescue if he were still standing, but it seemed that the burden of two girls was too much to bear, and they collapsed in a heap despite his efforts to hold them.

Looking back, the cart that had been approaching them veered off at the last moment, its front legs stopped by the cobblestones of the street.

“How…why, the wind spirit…? What happened? It…wasn’t me. Could it be, Luke, was it you?”
“…was it what?”

Luke, with a perplexed expression, as he tried to comprehend the situation, was scrutinized by Jill with a calculating gaze. It wasn’t an illusion. The wind spirit had indeed helped them. In that case—

“Are you okay, Lady Jill?!”
“Are you injured, Master Lucas?!”

As the guards rushed over with pale expressions, Luke chuckled wryly, lamenting the fact that their alone time together was over. However, he couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed as he noticed the chocolate mint tart that had fallen untouched at his feet.

“Ah, my indirect ki— I mean, Letindüte’s new menu, I didn’t have the chance to enjoy it.”

In response to his words, the girl who had been clinging to Jill with a pale face reacted, her face lifted up like she had been jolted.

“Eh?! Did you say Letindüte’s new menu?!”

♢♦♢♦♢

The third Letindüte café is directly managed by the Brandmüller family, a viscount family of the Graviol Empire. It is named the Cilento Branch of Livitium’s Imperial Kingdom. In a private room, three noble youths were gathered.

“I must express my gratitude first. Thank you very much for helping me,” said the girl, her face strangely red as she bowed her head while gazing at Jill.

“No, I didn’t do anything useful. If you want to thank someone, it should be Luke,” Jill said, gesturing modestly to Luke seated beside her.

Glancing briefly at him, the girl looked somewhat awkwardly at his face, then immediately adjusted her expression and bowed her head again. “Thank you very much, Lord Lucas.”

Feeling a strange pressure, Luke smiled awkwardly and shook his head. “N- No, I just helped Jill… Wait, huh? Have we met somewhere before?”

“Directly, no, but I’m aware of who you are,” said the girl, taking a deep breath, then standing up and, albeit somewhat awkwardly, performing a formal bow.

“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Euphemia Lucia Aulanthia, the sixth daughter of the Frontier Count Aulanthia. I look forward to our acquaintance in the days to come.”
“Count Aulanthia’s…sixth daughter?! So you’re Princess Syltianna’s younger sister!”
“E-Euphemia?!”

With the mischievous smile of a child who successfully pulled a prank, Euphemia looked back and forth between Luke and Jill, who reflexively stood up from their chairs with bewildered expressions.

And then, with an innocent, childlike smile directed at the dumbfounded Jill, she appealed in an earnest tone, “Sister, you are my lifesaver. And I feel a mysterious connection between us as if I’ve known you for ages somehow. If it pleases you, would you allow me to continue calling you ‘Elder Sister’ from now on?”

“Eh…?!” Jill, with a complex expression on her face, avoided looking at Euphemia’s pleading yet somewhat desperate expression. She hesitated in choosing the words to follow. As time passed, Jill noticed a look of disappointment and sadness filling Euphemia’s eyes. Reacting almost instinctively, she found herself nodding in response.

“If- If you are okay with me, please consider me as your r-, r-, real sister. I-, umm, I’ve also always worried about…err, I mean, I also feel like you’re a real sister of mine.”

At that moment, Euphemia’s face lit up like the midsummer sun. “Thank you, elder sister!”

“I, it’s okay, Euphemia. I’m also more used to, umm…no, how do I put it?”

As Jill’s eyes swam in panic, Luke gently approached her side and whispered softly.

“…are you sure? It might cause some trouble later on.”
“Uuh… Even so, I can’t abandon my little sister.”
“Sigh. —Well, I knew you would say that, Jill. I’ll help you the best way I can.”
“…thank you very much.”

With a face on the verge of tears, Jill expressed her gratitude, then gestured for Euphemia to take a seat. They all sat across from each other at the table.

“By the way,” with an eager expression, Euphemia opened her mouth as she looked at Luke and Jill sitting side by side. “What is the relationship between you two? Are you perhaps lovers? In that case, was the cancellation of the engagement with sister Syltianna due to your relationship?”

““EH…?!”” The two inadvertently glanced at each other, then in the next moment, they both turned red almost simultaneously as they became aware of the meaning behind her words.

“I see.” Euphemia nodded with an air of authority that belied her nine years. “I would like to know every little and gritty detail. Could you please enlighten me, elder sister?”

“Hyauu…” Receiving that pointed question, Jill, wearing a perplexed expression, found herself at a loss for words.