Short brown hair; thick, angled eyebrows; black eyes that shot through her fiercely.

“..Prince Roman?”

It was none other than 9th Prince Roman Dussel.

His eyebrows seemed to shoot up; he looked like he didn’t know that she knew him.

He must know.

Whenever she was with a Kraiden, he was the one who sent the most powerful gaze her way. How weird that he couldn’t remember her.

Of course, I had no choice but to notice his stare because it was intense, in a bad way.

Coincidentally, the look in his eyes staring down at her now was also not good. His thoughts seemed as deep as the color of his eyes.

“Wh-who are you?”

Who am I?

That was what Levisia wanted to say. Hadn’t he been chasing her at an ambiguous interval? A while ago he had even made a face like he’d been caught.

“Prince Roman, have you been following me?”

At that moment his eyes, which were shaking with embarrassment, became distorted.

“What is this nonsense? I was simply walking by.”

It sounded like something a weasel or thief would say. Naturally, Levisia did not believe him, but Roman insisted to the end that he was just passing by.

“What’s that look in your eyes? Do you not believe me?”

“......”

“And you— Why did you stop here and spook me like that? Don’t block my path, get out of the way!”

The one who farted got angry first, and Roman was the one.

Is there really a reason for him to be passing by me standing in this wide hallway?

Levisia, in a funny way, looked down the empty hallway before moving out of the way. Rather, seeing him angry and yelling, she didn’t think they could communicate.

He doesn’t have to pick a fight with me.

But Roman, who seemed like he was about to push her right away, stood in place even after she moved out of his way.

“Then you can go,” she said kindly, even doing a hand gesture telling him “Right this way.”

When she did that, he made a face like he was chewing something as he breezed past her.

She wondered what that was all about, but there wasn’t a reason for her to care about it.

The situation seemed to have ended like that. At the moment when she thought that she had hurdled over one thing today with a lighter mind, Roman, walking bravely, suddenly stopped to look back at her before saying,

“Those who come forward and butt in always make me ?angry.”

“....?”

“Where on earth do you get off acting like that?”

His clear words flew out of his mouth one syllable at a time, hostilely piercing her like multiple spears. She quickly realized what exactly he was talking about.

Is it about what happened at the pier?

But she didn’t understand.

Why?

Has Levisia done something wrong? Had she done something that day that offended him? What on earth was it?

“Running away while holding on to someone is the only thing that made you feel like a hero? Do you think you’ve become something just because you saved someone less fortunate than you?”

The eyes glaring at her were glossy. What hung at the corners of his eyes was apparent malice and ridicule.

“If you know your place and stay still, it’s not funny at all. Creatures like you that don’t know what’s going on always come around. Shame on you. It’s disgusting.”

He showed no hesitation in trampling on someone weaker than himself. That’s it. Even if you are stepped on, stand up and press back with harsh words.

Levisia thought back for a moment with her eyes squinted.

How was he in front of the other Kraidens?

She had never seen Roman talk so ruggedly like this in front of the other five Kraiden successors.

All right, he was cautious about what came out of his mouth.

Only in front of them.

How typical..

If you stretch your feet after seeing where you will lie down, you will choose and step on them so that they will not become your opponent.

Frankly speaking, Levisia was used to this sort of person.

Hadn’t the imperial family advocated the laws of the jungle in the beginning? Those with outstanding abilities took on the royal family’s last name and were treated as successors, but there had to be a class below them.

The class was divided among the nameless royal family members while those on the bottom were stomped on with no hesitation.

And since Levisia was among those at the very bottom, she was used to being treated this way.

I am used to being looked down on.

Actually, what she felt right now was no different from when Merril gave her a test.

No matter how much she was called a tiny worm— “Hey you! You little worm!” —all she could think of was, “All right. So what if I’m a worm?”

However, ?because she had been stuck in the furthest corner of the imperial palace, it was a little refreshing that someone had followed her around like this for the first time.

Just that much.

Like the stimulus, you get from throwing a stone across a still lake. She couldn’t tell if it was a scandal, but she just wondered what she was supposed to do with this.

What now?