Shortly after, the headmaster entered and began his address, but the students barely paid attention. Even the students who were on friendly terms with Stella were no exception.

As soon as the chaotic opening ceremony ended, a few students slipped away from the crowd and headed to the counseling office.

"Y-Your Highness, Princess Stella! Why did you accept?!"

"Hmm?"

"You should have just refused that ridiculous proposal! They're accusing you of a crime you didn't even commit...!"

"Oh, that. There was no other choice, so calm down."

"What do you mean...?!"

Despite being falsely accused, Stella was the one calming down an agitated Leo.

"But you have an alibi! I do, Aileen does, Anastasia does, and Orca too! If we all testify—"

"And how do you plan to prove that alibi is true?"

"...What?"

"I understand what you're trying to say, but this is an unavoidable situation."

Attempted regicide. Of course, everyone knew she hadn’t committed the crime. But just saying she didn't do it wouldn't prove anything. They had likely fabricated false witnesses.

"Everyone in that auditorium knew it was absurd. Attempted regicide? Ha. There's a limit to how foolish a story can be."

"Then why...?"

"People inside the academy and the imperial court may know the truth, but what about those outside?"

"...?"

"A power-hungry princess attempting to kill the emperor in a final desperate act. Isn’t that a sensational story?"

The truth doesn't matter. Even if the story is baseless, once people start thinking it might be true, it becomes unstoppable. If a random vagrant on the street spouted such nonsense, it would be ignored. But if the imperial prince himself makes the claim, some people will inevitably believe it’s true. And once those people start spreading the rumor, it will get distorted and spread as if it were fact. It’s too sensational a story not to spread.

If I were forced to go to trial to clear my name, it would be a massive disadvantage. The moment I step into the courtroom, my brother will use his power to manipulate the process and delay proving the truth for a long time. And if, during that time, our father, who is already on his deathbed, dies, my brother would naturally ascend to the throne. After all, no one would place someone accused of regicide on the throne. A single false accusation could easily remove someone from the picture.

"T-that's..."

"Have you heard the saying, 'The most dangerous person is someone who’s read only one book'? It's just like that."

No matter how much people around you insist that it’s impossible, those who believe in the conspiracy won’t care. They’ll just keep making up more convincing stories to confuse others. Eventually, public opinion will split into two camps: those who think I did it and those who think I didn’t.

"The world doesn’t always reward the right voice, Leo. Sometimes, the loudest idiots win."

"Then what about how they suddenly stormed into the academy?! That’s something that should be criticized—"

"Same situation. Sure, it's deserving of criticism, but for my brother, that's a trivial matter. It’s more beneficial for him to eliminate a perceived threat, even if it means doing something temporarily criticized."

"..."

Besides, whether it's worthy of criticism depends on the perspective. If I were truly guilty of treason, then capturing me immediately, even if it meant a bit of rudeness, would be justified. Those who believe the conspiracy will naturally defend his actions and muddy the waters.

"For him, reputation is something that’s nice to have but not necessary. If he can gain something by protecting it, he will. But if sacrificing it means achieving his goals, he’ll throw it away without hesitation."

Any such criticisms can be brushed off as minor issues once he becomes emperor. From his perspective, bringing such an outrageous accusation against me was a rather rational move... even if it’s quite frustrating from my end.

"The fact that he gave me three days is just a show of mercy because he knows there’s nothing I can do in that time."

"Showing mercy?"

At least within the academy, no one was unaware that this was all a power struggle within the imperial family. Even if someone didn’t know, they’d quickly learn from the whispers going around.

"Think about it from the perspective of the students. Right now, there’s an overwhelming difference in power between me and my brother. He’s strong enough to accuse me of treason, which means his power far exceeds mine."

"That’s..."

"Exactly. It means there’s no one who would want to participate in this so-called duel."

Even though I’ve built relationships with the students as the teacher suggested, no one would be foolish enough to join my side and risk being dragged into a treason charge. Every student here has something to lose—nobles have their families, and commoners have their families’ expectations and their own futures. Treason is a grave crime, and it could easily bring harm to their families as well. Considering the potential damage to their families, no one would step forward to help in a losing battle. This is the poison my brother has prepared. It just comes in different forms. Either I waste time defending myself and lose the throne while preserving my life, or I risk everything in a losing battle in the place he’s meticulously prepared.

I’ve chosen to drink the second poison.

"Like I said earlier, if he can preserve his reputation, he will. But once he made that proposal without any objections, he already considered everything finished, so now he’s just pretending to show mercy."

"..."

"Hmph. He’s still as unpleasant as ever."

Designating this as a duel where I can bring allies is only because it’s a fight where he has an extreme advantage. He’ll likely bring several of the empire’s elite soldiers. On the other hand, even the students who might have been willing to gamble on a slim chance of victory were preemptively discouraged by him. It’s infuriating how thoroughly he’s prepared.

"It’s so unfair..."

"What can you do? Politics is always full of unfairness. No matter how foolish an action may seem, if you look closer, it’s often the result of careful calculation."

Perhaps because the conversation had turned so heavy and somber, the atmosphere in the counseling office felt rather gloomy. To lighten the mood, I smiled and spoke up.

"But we still have a chance. These students here will help, right?"

"Well, yeah. Don’t worry about it. I’m here on my own, after all."

"I’ll help too!"

Orca and Leo nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The fact that Orca was willing to help was a significant departure from the original game’s storyline. Normally, with her personality, she would have said that nothing was more important than her own life and fled.

"I’ll help as well. That’s the deal."

"Don’t worry. I can’t just ignore the person who helped me find my father."

Anastasia and Aileen also voiced their support, following suit. Anyone looking in might think we were a group of fools walking to our deaths.

"Oh, come on. Who knows what’s going to happen? You guys are all idiots."

...I didn’t expect you to be the one to say that. I was momentarily taken aback, but I quickly composed myself and decided to wrap up the conversation on a positive note.

"But that’s what friends do, right?"

"...Yeah, friends. Thanks."

Seeing Stella’s bashful smile made me realize that while it was unfortunate that the students had been discouraged by my brother’s schemes, at least I could count on the help of these five.

"...Oh, by the way. Didn’t you have a friend? You know, the one with the slightly fierce eyes."

"You mean Charlotte? She’s out of the question. She’s the daughter of a duke. If she gets involved, it would cause a huge national scandal."

"Right, well, can’t be helped then."

Make that four.

"...So, what’s the plan now? Are we going to train together, the four of us?"

"Hmm, I’m not sure."

"Oh, I’m against that."

"Teacher?"

"We don’t have much time, and if you do some half-baked training now, it could end up doing more harm than good. How about leaving Stella with me and the rest of you train on your own?"

The real reason is that once these kids get involved, it becomes too difficult to predict the variables, but... that’s not entirely wrong, is it? At this point, training doesn’t really make much difference.

"...True. Alright, we’ll take care of ourselves, so take good care of her."

"Leave it to me!"

"Well then... we should get going. What should we do?"

"I don’t know. Maybe I’ll pick up my sword again after a long time..."

"Oh, in that case, how about a sparring match with me...?"

"Not a bad idea. Bring it on. I won’t go easy on you."

"Looking forward to it!"

After the students left the counseling office, contemplating how to spend the remaining time, Stella turned to me with a question.

"So? What are you planning to teach me?"

"Hmm? Why, chess, of course."

"Huh?"

Ignoring Stella's puzzled gaze, I began setting up the chessboard. Well, it seems that normal conversation won’t bring out her full effort... Maybe I should provoke her a bit.

"You still haven’t beaten me even once. Amateur."

"...Hah."

Stella smirked as she looked at me, raising one corner of her mouth.

Good. She took the bait.

I couldn’t help but worry just a bit—did she take it too easily?