Antonio Robert Valtoria

The fifth prince of the Valtoria Kingdom, Antonio Robert Valtoria, found himself unexpectedly drawn into a power struggle for the throne after the sudden assassination of the first prince.

In the game Luminor Academy, Antonio was originally intended to be a support character with mediocre abilities. He could be recruited as an ally, but his skills were not impressive enough to justify keeping him for long. He was mainly useful when the player needed a royal character in the absence of Seraphine.

Given his situation, Antonio had no other choice. At the time when Philip was decided as the heir, Antonio was only ten years old. How could he have predicted that five years later, Philip would die and he would be thrust into the competition for the throne?

Even if Seraphine, with her ability to foresee the future, had made some preparations, Antonio lacked any such advantage. As a result, from the player’s perspective, he was just a royal character who didn’t interfere with Seraphine and could be used occasionally without much consequence—a character who did just enough to survive.

Still, objectively speaking, Antonio was a fairly likable character. In Luminor Academy, apart from Antonio and the youngest princess, all of Seraphine’s siblings were either rivals or obstacles.

Thus, under normal circumstances, Antonio would have remained a reclusive figure, staying out of sight of his siblings and occasionally helping the protagonist as a potential ally.

But then...

“Please accept my feelings, Miss Agnes Elizabeth Blaze!”

“What...?”

I couldn’t fathom what could have driven Antonio to suddenly confess to Agnes like this. It was beyond my understanding.

‘...What did I do wrong?’

No, thinking about it, maybe it wasn’t even my fault. It’s possible that Bolt did something to trigger this. No matter how much I thought about it, it seemed unfair to me.

After all, I had only been involved with Agnes for about half a year, and as for Antonio, this was practically our first encounter. Common sense suggested that whatever happened must have been Bolt’s doing.

...Yes, that makes sense. I’m not the only variable that appeared in this world.

And Bolt, unlike me who can’t go anywhere without Ethan, is free to roam in an open-world RPG. So if he wanted to build a relationship with Antonio before the second story arc, it wouldn’t have been impossible...

“I was completely captivated by your beautiful magic from the moment I first saw it!”

‘...Magic?’

“Two years ago, when you appeared like a comet to protect the eastern gate of the royal palace, I was saved from the dangers of that day.”

‘...Two years ago? The eastern gate of the palace?’

“I’ve dreamed of the day I could meet you again since then. I feared we might never meet again.”

Wait, if this story is true...

Two years ago, the eastern gate, and magic.

There’s only one incident I know of that involves all these elements and Agnes.

The memory of the masquerade ball on Seraphine’s birthday suddenly came to mind.

‘Wait, could it be that when Agnes said she had met Antonio before...?’

Could it really have been when she was fighting monsters at the eastern gate of the palace?

Why didn’t Agnes mention such an important detail?

Of course, I hadn’t asked about it directly and had just brushed it off, but still, something like this should have been brought up!

The murmurings in the hall grew louder with each of Antonio’s shocking declarations. Meanwhile, Agnes, now the center of attention, looked more flustered than I had ever seen her, her eyes darting around in confusion.

“I... I...”

“Yes, Miss Agnes!”

“I... I don’t know anything about this...!”

“...What?”

“Aaah, aaaaahhh!”

“W-wait! Miss Agnes!!”

-Bang!

Unable to bear the attention, Agnes bolted, choosing to flee. The door to the Sunflower Hall slammed shut behind her as she made her escape, leaving Prince Antonio standing there, stunned, with his hand outstretched.

“Bring her back quickly! She might be the future princess!”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

The palace guards, who had been stationed at the banquet, immediately dashed out to find Agnes.

Taking advantage of the commotion, I quickly slipped out of the banquet hall as well.

“I’ll bring Agnes back! Ed, just wait for me!”

“Lillis?! Wait, how will you find Lady Blaze...?”

“Don’t worry, I can find her!”

Even though I didn’t focus on Agnes’s route in my previous life, I still knew her basic habits.

So for now, my only option was to find her before the palace guards did.

Whether I would persuade her to return or send her home would depend on what I found.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Finding Agnes turned out to be surprisingly easy.

She had a certain pattern she followed when something embarrassing or distressing happened. It was something I had naturally come to know, despite never having intentionally pursued her route in the game. After all, Agnes was a highly capable character whom I had recruited in nearly 20 out of 24 playthroughs.

‘I bet the palace guards are heading down to the ground floor entrances.’

In a situation like this, most would assume she was trying to escape entirely.

Of course, the palace guards don’t have the authority to stop a guest from leaving, but since Agnes had abruptly cut off her conversation with Prince Antonio, they had some reason to attempt to persuade her to stay.

‘But the idea that Agnes has fled is mistaken.’

Even in the most distressing circumstances, Agnes wouldn’t abandon her duties representing the Elizabeth family at this event. She wouldn’t risk being criticized by the “family elders” she so despised.

She was likely seeking a place to be alone, and I had a good idea of where that might be.

She had a habit of seeking out “high places” when she needed to think.

‘And the only high place near the Sunflower Hall is the outdoor garden on the fifth floor.’

The moment I stepped outside, I spotted a red-haired young lady standing by the edge of the garden. From her height and figure, there was no doubt it was Agnes.

I quietly approached her from behind.

“Why did you run away so suddenly, Miss Agnes?”

“...Oh, it’s you.”

“Who did you think it was?”

“Seraphine, or maybe that prince I don’t even know.”

A prince she doesn’t even know, huh?

From Agnes’s perspective, that was probably accurate. After all, she had just received a sudden confession from Prince Antonio, whom she barely knew.

Based on our conversation from a couple of weeks ago, it seemed they didn’t have much of a history together. In fact, it seemed like Antonio had only learned her name today.

Curious to unravel this mystery, I decided to ask her directly.

“What’s your relationship with Prince Antonio?”

“...There’s no relationship. We just know each other’s faces.”

“Well, it seems Prince Antonio doesn’t see it that way. Didn’t you mention you met him once before? When was that?”

“...Do you remember two years ago, the day the serpent horde attacked the palace?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Well, I fought alongside Antonio at the eastern gate.”

I had a feeling it was something like that.

Considering the original game’s storyline, it made sense.

During the King Serpent attack, the northern and western gates of the palace were held thanks to key characters stepping in to defend them.

In Luminor Academy, it was Orion who defended the northern gate, while Agnes and Seraphine managed to hold the western gate against the boss monsters. Players would naturally learn this as they progressed through the story.

As for the southern gate, it fell due to insufficient defense, resulting in Lizzy’s death.

The eastern gate, however, was held with great sacrifice. But the game’s narrative didn’t explain much, leaving it as an oddly mysterious event.

But if Antonio had been part of the defense, it changed things.

Even with his mediocre stats, Antonio was still a viable companion with enough skill to be useful.

Though at the time, Antonio would have been only about fifteen, which might explain why the defense led to such heavy casualties.

“At first, I didn’t know he was a prince. I just thought he was a young knight among the guards.”

“Really?”

“Yes. When I arrived, I noticed a couple of guards in danger, so I supported them with magic. Then, seeing that the prince was exhausted, I pulled him back for a moment, and we took turns defending the gate. That’s it.”

“That’s a bit more mundane than I expected.”

“Were you expecting a story about a prince on a white horse saving the day? That’s all there was to it.”

Well, Agnes was not a physical fighter, so she probably didn’t find it as challenging as the others. But for Antonio and the other guards who had been holding the line before her arrival, it must have felt quite different.

It’s possible Antonio mistook the adrenaline rush from the life-threatening situation for feelings of love.

And it was true that Agnes’s intervention had reduced the casualties. In the original story, Antonio might have survived without her help, but many of the other guards would have lost their lives.

“So, did you introduce yourselves during the battle?”

“Huh? No, we didn’t even exchange names.”

“What?”

“When the fight ended, he collapsed from exhaustion, and the guards were just thanking me for saving the prince. That’s when I found out his name.”

“Oh, I see...”

“And that was the end of it. I never saw him again after that... So, I don’t understand why he’s suddenly saying such strange things to me.”

So, it’s like this?

From Antonio’s perspective, during a critical moment when his life was in danger, Agnes appeared and saved the lives of the guards.

She fought alongside him on the front lines against the monsters, and in the midst of the chaos, he mistook the adrenaline for love before collapsing from exhaustion.

When he woke up, the woman who had saved him had vanished without even revealing her name... something like that?

‘I can see how he might get a bit too excited upon meeting her again.’

Even so, confessing his feelings so publicly at his birthday banquet was probably a step too far.