"Then you have a girlfriend, Eric?" Layla asked with narrowed eyes as if trying to peer through his soul.historical

"W-Well.." Eric became nervous as he started to think of a way to get out of the mess I put him in.

"Is your father aware of that? I hope it's not a commoner, Eric. Your father will not acknowledge that since it's well known that he wishes you to marry Aurora," Layla's words seemed a friendly warning but it was obvious from her tone that she was amused by the situation.

"We are late, Layla," I came to his rescue as a good friend.

"Oh." Layla let out a voice filled with..ahum..sensuality.

Shit. Here we go again.

"I do not want to be late, Edward." Layla said while running her hand on my chest.

I stepped back but since I was in the elevator I couldn't.

Give me a break.

"What are you doing..?"

"!"

Layla turned around and saw Alfred with Thomas.

"Oh!" Layla immediately separated herself from me. "D-Don't misunderstand Your Highness! E-Edward suddenly approached me!"

"Eh?" My brain took time to process Layla' words. "W-What the heck?!"

Alfred looked at us with a clearly disinterested expression. He always showed his disinterest for Layla. It only worsened when Milleia appeared in his life. Even more when he witnessed her new appearance which was without lying breathtaking. He was even more convinced and determined to marry Milleia.

As for Thomas..

He didn't seem in a good shape..well it was less than a week ago since the day he lost against Jayden in front of the whole academy..

Layla without an ounce of shame made a place inside the elevator to enable those guys to enter.

I sneered and pressed the button to close the doors.

"H-Hey! Not again-!" Before Alfred could finish, the doors closed and the elevator started to descend.

-Bam!

I slammed my hand behind Layla, on the elevator walls. "Putting me on the mess has become quite the hobby for you, Layla. It might be amusing for you but as the person being subjected to that, I felt just irritation." I said with a twitching smile.

"..."

"What?" I frowned when Layla didn't reply and just stared at me.

"I..just thought that.." Layla's tone was unusually misty.

"Thought what?"

Layla's red eyes flickered a little before she avoided her gaze from me. "Nothing, Mr. Villain."

Fuck it!

As soon the elevator opened, I stepped out annoyed. From the corner of my eyes, I could see Layla smiling at me.

That girl..

"Oh, Edward, you are finally here!"

In front of me, in the reception hall was Milleia with both her hands on her hips looking at me disapprovingly. "You are again late.."

"Because of whom? I wonder?" I turned around to glare at Layla but the latter wasn't there anymore. Only Eric was there.

"L-Lord Eric! Pardon my and Edward's rudeness!" Milleia who was feeling indebted to Eric spoke hurriedly.

Oh, yeah, she doesn't know that I am that 'Nyrel'.

"It's nothing. Edward is also a noble," Eric shrugged and walked off while giving me a last glance.

I know.

Stay focused too.

"I am so nervous.." Jayden joined us with a tensed expression.

"Is that supposed to be a joke, Jayden? You awakened your bloodline and the same is for Milleia from what I heard. Both of you are guaranteed to win unless you clown around," I stated as a matter of fact.

"C-Clown around? We won't Edward!" Milleia replied with a pout.

"Anyway, I'm the only one who might fail this exam..as I didn't even awaken my bloodline.." I muttered under my breath.

Has Elona awakened in the first place?

Knowing her, it's possible and I would be relieved if she had. Thankfully she also had the Wings Krona to escape death but even that protection had limits against powerful foes.

Since I abandoned my blessing, my awakening might take more time as well..

"Don't worry Edward," Milleia interrupted my thoughts. "We will help you so don't hesitate to ask for our help, isn't it Jayden?"

"Right, Edward, we're your friends. We may wind up in separate groups, but if we cross paths, we will aid each other." Jayden smiled and nodded.

What a relief to have befriended these guys.

"Your Highness!" Layla who disappeared from my side just appeared next to Alfred and Thomas who took the stairs.

Alfred glared at me while Thomas glared at Jayden.

I could understand him.

Jayden humiliated him and broke off the engagement between him and Carla. Moreover Carla was now-

"Hey, Carla!" Jayden, who hadn't noticed Thomas, turned toward Carla who was leaving with her friends.

"Hm?" When Carla turned around and found Jayden with a smile, her face turned red instantly.

She is definitely head over heels for him and there is turning back.

"Jayden.."

Carla's friends giggled between them and left with a knowing smile. Such good friends..

Jayden, without minding Carla's current expression, walked toward her with amazing confidence. He would have never done such things six months ago.

"Carla."

"J-Jayden w-wait!" Carla panicked seeing Jayden's serious expression. "My f-father will not acknowledge you-"

"You don't have to worry about that." Jayden grabbed Carla's hand suddenly.

"!"

"J-Jayden?!" Milleia was dumbfounded at Jayden's sudden surge of confidence. Carla Roger was the daughter of one the four powerful Dukes of the Celesta Kingdom. Even Counts' sons wouldn't dare to approach more than three meters Carla.

Ah.

Even I didn't expect that from Jayden.

"I promise you, Carla." Jayden smiled. "I will make the Lord, your father acknowledge me. Trust me. I will become someone worthy of you."

Damn..

It's really a protagonist's line.

If I said something like that, nobody would have believed me and would have laughed out loud. I would have even become the laughing stock of the academy. Obviously, when it was Jayden, the effect was quite different.

"Kyaaaa!"

"So cool!"

"I-I'm so jealous!"

"H-He is like a prince!"

The girls around regardless of commoners or nobles—even high ranking nobles screamed seeing such a scene.

Could it be the fantasy of any girls?

When I glanced at Milleia, I could see a little envious gaze on her light pink eyes.

Speaking of her, her awakening traveled around the whole academy. Well, her new appearance rivaling Aurora caught all the men's eyes who were indeed even now staring at Milleia like hungry beasts..

They really have no shame at all.

I don't think on Earth, people would be so bold and shameless.

"I am so happy for Jayden and Lady Carla, right Lyra?" Milleia asked Lyra who was just a second next to her- "Lyra?"

"She is there," I showed Milleia where Lyra was.

"Oh, isn't that your brother, Edward?" Milleia asked in a surprised tone.

"Step-brother and not anymore," I corrected her as I narrowed my eyes, again seeing Simon speaking to Lyra.

But this time, Lyra wasn't rejecting him. It was more like she was ignoring him but even that was impressive.

I can't believe it.

His three months of harassment, really started to come to fruition. Lyra didn't seem as cold as before and even her complexion seemed better.

"Since when, is she like that? I thought she was in depression though?" I asked Milleia.

"T-That's rude..but yes she is clearly better! Yesterday, we went shopping and even to the cinema. She clearly felt better than before. I'm really glad about that. I..think Lord Simon helped her but I am not sure.." Milleia explained with a proud smile.

Simon helped her?

I looked around me looking for that guy and I soon found him.

Carlos Dugary.

He was Lyra's first love and was the one behind Lyra's Event.

He was looking at Lyra with a frustrated expression.

Since he is still there, it's not over.

I wanted to intervene but..

Seeing Lyra and Simon, I think I can leave that matter to Simon. That guy is like—no I can confirm that he is in love with Lyra otherwise he wouldn't have left the Falkrona House in the capital early in the morning to reach the dormitory to speak to Lyra.

Anyway, I'm already busy with the Dungeon Event and I'm not sure I can handle all the Heroines at the same time so it was good news for me.

The next Event should be Senior Kleah's Event and I don't want to miss that. She was a good girl and helped me a lot so I wanted to help her in return. Not sure I could leave that to Jayden since he didn't even speak more than a few words to Kleah since he joined the Club.

Before even thinking about that..Kleah had to survive in this Dungeon Event first. Same was for Miranda.

I feel like I'm getting overwhelmed by the amount of work to do.

"Oh, look, the Princess is here."

At Milleia's comments, I turned back to see Aurora, like everyone else, exiting the elevator in her tracksuit. The girls' tracksuits, in comparison to the men's, resembled leather-battle dress armor, which was far too fashionable for a dungeon tour.

Even in that dress, she was sublime.

It hadn't been even three days since I last saw and spoke to her! What am I blabbering again?!

Aurora, with her regal attitude and smile, nodded to everyone and began to walk away, making care to ignore me. Unfortunately, by doing so, I learned that she had noticed me.

I smiled thinking how childish she was when it came to me. Even before it was like that, if I remember.

"Princess Aurora!"

Huh?!

I let out a weird voice seeing Jayden walking towards Aurora this time.