IDMWE 17

Chapter 17

At Leon’s unreserved words, Isaiah’s violet eyes filled with sorrow.

“Leon… are you still angry with me?”

“Me~? How dare I?”

“It’s because… I’m a prince… that’s why you’re acting like this, isn’t it.”

At those words, Leon made a face as if she was about to lose her mind.

For a moment, a loud outburst nearly escaped Leon’s lips as she lost her composure, but she held it back with superhuman patience.

‘Alright, calm down, calm down. Leon. Whew, okay. Breathe in. Calm.’

*Huff, huff.*

Leon breathed in and out roughly.

She felt slightly more composed than before.

Leon grasped her reason as best she could and spoke.

“I’m pretty sure I made myself clear last time too. And you—the prince famous for being sharp—couldn’t possibly have forgotten.”

“……”

“Fine. I’ll say it just one more time, so listen carefully. Yes, it’s true I was a little surprised when my childhood friend, who I thought was a commoner, turned out to be a prince.”

“There were reasons for all of that, I clearly…”

“Yes, yes, reasons and whatever. But whether you’re a prince or a street orphan, it makes no difference to me, you know?”

That was her true feelings.

She had felt a bit betrayed by Isaiah’s deception, but Leon could have gotten over it.

Because they were friends.

His status had no bearing on their friendship.

The problem was the people around him.

“I absolutely hate the way Her Highness the Empress looks at me like a sturdy broodmare to bear your heirs.”

Three years ago, just before entering the academy, Leon had learned of Isaiah’s true identity.

She had been suddenly summoned to the imperial palace and stripped naked, subjected to all sorts of examinations as if being graded like livestock.

—

“It’s fortunate she’s still a virgin. I was worried since she’s a girl who goes around carrying a sword.”

“Her hips are wide and her breasts are large—she’ll produce plenty of milk.”

—

It was the most humiliating moment of Leon’s life.

‘I should have torn that place apart—empress and all!’

She was young back then, so she hadn’t been able to cause a proper scene, and she still regretted it. Smashing a few windows in the Empress’s palace was far from enough.

Leon had entered the Royal Academy right after that, and since Isaiah went to the Spirit Academy, they hadn’t seen each other for three years.

Isaiah had visited Leon every vacation, but Leon had turned him away, saying she didn’t want to see him.

“What I want from you… is just for you to stay by my side.”

Once his mandatory service ended, Isaiah would be appointed Crown Prince, and eventually become Emperor.

Staying by his side meant willingly walking into the imperial palace, where they only saw her as a female. Leon would rather die than do that, and she was angry at Isaiah’s attitude of not even trying to understand her aversion.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying! I don’t like that attitude of yours!”

“Leon, what I mean is…”

“I’m sorry, but I have absolutely no interest in being Empress. Even if you gave it to me on a cart, I’d throw it all away and keep just the cart, got it?”

Leon finally lost her temper and raised her voice.

“And I’d sell that cart to buy swords and armor!”

After shouting that, Leon turned away without hesitation.

Isaiah reflexively grabbed her, but she roughly shook him off.

“Stop treating me like your woman. It’s unpleasant.”

“Treating you like my woman… I never… Leon!”

Leon didn’t even listen to the rest of Isaiah’s words as she turned her back.

Isaiah could only stare blankly at the retreating Leon.

“That’s not it, Leon…”

The words he had held back for three years faded away once again without reaching her.

“Ugh, that just ruined my mood.”

Leon kicked a pebble on the road as she grumbled, recalling Isaiah’s final expression.

Leon felt wronged.

She was the one who had lost a longtime friend, so why was *he* acting like the victim?

In the end, Leon gave up on her morning jog and decided to head straight to the cafeteria.

She needed to soothe this foul mood with warm bread and savory soup as quickly as possible.

As she hurried along, she nearly collided with a large figure blocking the doorway.

“Ah, damn, you scared me.”

That figure was Regan, who looked gloomy from the morning.

“…What are you doing here? …Wait, you weren’t eavesdropping, were you?”

As Leon’s eyes narrowed, Regan let out a hollow laugh.

“Who was it having a lover’s quarrel in front of the dormitory like they owned the place?”

“It’s not a lover’s quarrel! …Whatever. I don’t care if you heard or not.”

*Two bastards I don’t even want to see, first thing in the morning.* Today must be a bad day.

Muttering to herself, Leon was about to walk past Regan.

“Hey.”

“What.”

“You… is it really like that between you and the prince?”

Completely unexpectedly, Regan suddenly asked such a question.

Leon looked at him as if he’d said something strange and replied.

“What? What’s it to you? And no, it’s not like that.”

Regan looked at her with a ‘really?’ expression.

“No, we’re just friends from the start… Ugh, now that I think about it, why am I even telling you this?”

Why was this man, who seemed like he’d never care about anyone other than himself his whole life, suddenly acting like this?

Leon couldn’t understand it at all.

‘Is he thinking he’s got something on me now?’

If so, that was a huge miscalculation.

Leon had smashed all the windows in the Empress’s palace—what was a scandal with a prince to her?

‘If they run an article, I’ll sue the media outlet and claim damages from the palace too.’

Leon was fully prepared to show anyone who crossed her exactly what would happen.

But Regan’s next words were something Leon never could have imagined.

“That bastard Isaiah is no good. He’s dangerous.”

At Regan’s sudden remark, Leon felt bewildered.

“What do you mean Isaiah is dangerous?”

Although she was deliberately being harsh with Isaiah right now because she didn’t want to give him any leeway, Leon knew better than anyone that he wasn’t a bad person.

‘He’s the one who’s been following me around with teary eyes since we were kids—I was always the one protecting him. Dangerous, my ass.’

Not only that, but Isaiah was also a prince with great popularity among the empire’s people.

At Leon’s reaction, Regan scoffed.

“He must have put on quite a front in front of you.”

“What?”

Given his sarcastic tone, it was clear Regan greatly disliked Isaiah.

Leon decided to brush it off, not wanting to get tangled up in what seemed like a complicated matter.

“Anyway, this has nothing to do with you, so stay out of it.”

“Whether it’s Isaiah or his father, you can afford to be so carefree because you don’t know how black their hearts are.”

Leon gasped at Regan’s words—he had dared to refer to the Emperor of the Empire as ‘his father.’

“Excuse me, I’m sorry, but I feel like I keep asking this lately… are you out of your mind?”

“The one out of his mind isn’t me—it’s that bastard Isaiah. He’s a madman who will destroy anything he wants just to have it.”

“Excuse me again, but is there anyone else in this empire who matches you in bad character?”

Having shot back, Leon turned away as if she didn’t want to hear any more of Regan’s words.

As she brushed past him and walked into the building, Regan muttered lowly.

“Hah, a fool who doesn’t even know she’s walked into a trap.”

Regan was quite annoyed at Leon’s attitude, dismissing the warning he had graciously given—graciously from his perspective, anyway.

And what annoyed him even more was that, ever since seeing Leon with Isaiah, an inexplicable discomfort kept rising within him.

After soothing her sour mood with delicious food, Leon received unexpected news.

“A welcome party?”

The administrative support staff member who delivered the news continued in a hushed tone.

“Well… it’s called a welcome party in name, but in reality, it’s more like a place to mess with the new recruits.”

They supposedly put newbies through the wringer with difficult tasks or tough training drills.

“Oh, but it’s not genuine hazing. Everyone does it to pick a junior they like and form a pair.”

The central branch had a tradition of pairing new recruits with seniors.

Leon and Regan had been exceptions because they received direct requests from the temple.

“And…”

The staff member glanced around cautiously before lowering their voice further.

“Please be careful. I hate to say this, but the people at the central branch are all a bit… peculiar. Especially this year.”

The central branch was famous for having as many geniuses as it had eccentrics.

In particular, they took pleasure in playing pranks on new recruits with extraordinary schemes every year.

“Understood. Thank you.”

Leon nodded at the staff member’s kind advice.

‘A welcome party, huh…’

Even at the Royal Academy Leon had attended, there was a similar ceremony when new students arrived.

She didn’t know what other departments did, but the Knight Faculty had the same event every year.

They’d just throw everyone together and have them charge at each other.

Of course, Leon had beaten down those who looked down on her for being a woman with overwhelming skill.

‘It probably won’t be much different here.’

Leon would inevitably receive a lot of attention, whether she wanted it or not, as the only woman.

In this situation, the only thing she could do was demonstrate overwhelming ability to earn the voluntary recognition of her seniors and peers.

“Alright, I can do this!”

Leon burned with competitive spirit.

Completely unaware of what was to come, Leon walked forward with a light step.