The back of my head tingled.

In fact, the sensation of feeling someone’s gaze is just a subjective interpretation by the person experiencing it. No laser beams come out of people’s eyes. What we call “glaring” isn’t light coming from one’s eyes but merely sunlight or other light sources reflecting off the surface of the eye.

Unless you’re a nocturnal bird of prey or a feline, there’s no reason for human eyes to emit any kind of light.

So, strictly speaking, the reason my head was tingling was probably just my own imagination. It was because I was conscious of Claire’s presence sitting behind Alice and me.

If Claire hadn’t recognized me at all, I wouldn’t have been so bothered. I might have felt a little down, but I’d have been satisfied knowing she had grown up well and moved on. There would still be opportunities to get closer in the future.

Of course, it’s not like I, the expressionless character, could suddenly act friendly out of nowhere. But isn’t there that common cliché of the expressionless, emotionless character? The one who, at first, doesn’t respond much to others but gradually starts smiling and laughing as they grow closer to their friends.

Ah, perfect.

Just imagining myself laughing and chatting among the characters I liked filled me with excitement. And when the others see me smile for the first time, their surprised expressions would be priceless.

For that to happen, I’d need to stick with my expressionless character role for a while longer.

That wasn’t going to be hard since I’d kept up this persona for over ten years already.

“……”

There was a strange tension in the classroom.

It was probably because of what had happened in the hallway earlier when Alice pointed out someone’s failure to properly greet the princess.

Although everyone had seen what happened next, they had also previously witnessed Alice refusing to bow before the headmaster.

So, rather than choosing how to treat Alice right away, they were probably thinking of observing a bit more to see which behavior Alice seemed to prefer.

And if anyone acted too carelessly, they could leave a bad impression on someone widely regarded as the next potential emperor. In other classes, the children of dukes and counts might be gossiping, but no matter how high-ranking they were, they couldn’t be placed on the same level as the emperor.

Moreover, Alice rarely attended balls or banquets, so no one here personally knew her. It wasn’t surprising that the entire class was stiff and formal. The commoner classes were probably much more relaxed and lively by comparison.

Tick, tick, tick.

The classroom was so silent that I could hear the ticking of the pocket watch in my hand.

The silence remained until the sound of the sliding door opening broke it.

Incidentally, the reason the classroom door was a sliding one, and why the desks were arranged in a way that reminded me of a Japanese-style classroom from manga, was all because the game’s developer, which served as the basis for this world, was a Japanese company. The hallway outside had a Victorian steampunk feel, but the classroom alone had this odd, out-of-place design.

No one else seemed to care, though.

“Hm.”

The teacher who entered the room seemed momentarily startled by the frozen atmosphere and stopped at the doorway before quickly regaining her composure. She cleared her throat, as if embarrassed by her own surprise, and stepped into the classroom.

It was a young female teacher.

This was her first time taking charge of a class, unlike the granddaughter of Winterfield, who was in charge of Class B. This gentle-looking teacher had no military background.

However, that didn’t mean she was just an ordinary person. She was, after all, the second daughter of a duke.

Her name was Caroline Northwood, from a ducal house that ruled over a territory a bit distant from the capital. Though somewhat removed from central power, it was still a house with imperial blood.

She had short, light brown hair, similarly light brown eyes, and slightly drooping eyelids, which gave her a somewhat dull impression. To add to it, she was wearing loose clothes that made her look like a middle schooler in uniform. In reality, she had a great figure hidden underneath those clothes, but she always dressed in this loose formal attire—that was part of her character design.

While she wasn’t a playable character, there was a romance route with her in the game. She was a heroine who contributed to the main storyline—at least, that’s how it should be described. Realistically, she was more like a side character you could romance if you wanted to.

To manage a class filled with high-ranking nobles and even members of the imperial family like ours, a teacher from a family with comparable authority was necessary. Winterfield could have handled the job, but her rebellious personality, especially towards her grandfather, meant that Caroline ended up being assigned to Class A instead—that was how the original story went.

Even though she had the blood of a duke, Caroline was less than ten years older than us, having just graduated from university.

Seeing two princesses sitting side by side at the front of the class, it was no wonder she was a little intimidated.

On top of that, the classroom atmosphere was cold and stiff, and there was even a girl in the back staring intently at one of the princesses’ backs.

Just imagining the scene was enough to make my head spin. I could only wonder how Caroline felt, having to deal with it in real life.

“……”

Finally snapping out of her daze, Caroline began to move again, walking with her head slightly bowed and her eyes fixed on the floor.

She seemed desperate to avoid making eye contact with either of the princesses, but—

Unfortunately, to look down at the attendance book on the podium, she’d have to make eye contact with us, even if just for a moment.

“Ladies and gentleme—”

Ah.

She started speaking, but her voice cracked.

No one in the class laughed, though. If even one person had giggled, it would have been awkward for Caroline, but the fact that no one did only made her feel even more cornered.

“I am… I am!”

But even as a novice teacher, she couldn’t back down.

No matter how inexperienced she was, as a teacher at this prestigious academy, she carried the name of her noble house. If word got out that she was outdone by her students, it would tarnish the name of the Northwood ducal family.

Though her voice was shaky and high-pitched, Caroline managed to pull herself together and speak out.

“I am Caroline Northwood! The second daughter of the Northwood Ducal House!”

“……”

Naturally, there wasn’t much of a reaction.

After all, there were twelve ducal houses in the Empire.

Among the main heroines in the story, two were from ducal families, and across all the academy’s grades, there were sixteen students from ducal houses.

Yes, the Empire was vast enough that you could rank even the dukes themselves. It was impressive to invoke the title of a duke, but in a class like ours, it wasn’t exactly something to boast about.

Especially when there were two princesses sitting right in front of her.

“I-I look forward to working with all of you!”

And I, watching Caroline struggle, couldn’t help but feel a sense of fondness.

I was the person who had fully completed every romance route and made a video for players who found it too tedious to go through them all.

Of course, I’d seen the kiss scene between Leo and Caroline.

I’d also seen the event where she’s tricked by Winterfield into appearing at the students’ swimming pool in a bikini.

Though she was a bit clumsy in the game, she had a positive character arc.

Caroline genuinely cared about being a good teacher.

When the Empire later split into civil war following the emperor’s declaration of global conflict, Caroline risked her life to protect her students. Not just the academy students, but any minors she could see, invoking the name of the Northwood family to shield them.

And she did it proudly. At least, until the most recent installment of the game.

Though she came off as a bit flustered now, I knew Caroline had a strong sense of duty as a teacher. That was the image I had of her.

So, naturally, my first impression of her was a good one.

Of course, I was only thinking this to myself—my face remained as expressionless as ever.

“……”

After Caroline’s introduction, the class fell into silence once more.

Clap, clap.

The sound of someone clapping broke the stillness.

The applause came from right beside me.

That’s right. It was Alice who started clapping.

Hearing Alice’s slow clapping, I joined in, and soon, one by one, the other students followed until the whole class was filled with enthusiastic applause.

When I looked at Alice’s face, I noticed a small smile on her lips.

Seeing Alice’s expression seemed to relax Caroline a bit, as she placed a hand on her chest and let out a small sigh.

Well, at least Alice didn’t leave the impression of being "scary" on our homeroom teacher.

•  

Even though the academy’s curriculum spanned four years, it wasn’t really modeled after a university. It felt more like the last year of middle school combined with three years of high school. Higher education institutions, like universities, did exist in this world.

So, there was no way a teacher would let us get away with just introducing themselves and ending the lesson on the first day.

Especially not if the teacher in front of us was a passionate history instructor.

Caroline Northwood was that kind of teacher.

It was unfortunate for the students that homeroom happened to be Caroline’s class.

However, none of us dared to fool around, skip class, or doze off during her lesson.

Because the princess sitting in the front row was studying diligently.

The academic atmosphere of a class is often shaped by its most influential students. If the class leader were a troublemaker who had given up on their studies, the students might not have taken the lesson seriously.

Of course, at this academy, the Empire’s strict class system complicated things even more.

But in the original story, Class A always had a good academic atmosphere.

“...And that’s how the Empire of Azerna came to be.”

The first lesson was light. It started with the founding myth of the Empire, which everyone already knew, and continued with how the Empire annexed neighboring kingdoms and expanded its territory.

Most of the students already knew this. After all, it was part of the academy entrance exam.

But these were still fifteen-year-olds.

To delve into deeper topics, it was necessary to review the basics. Moreover, there were also foreign students among us.

As soon as Caroline finished speaking, the bell rang.

In the original story, I thought it was just a coincidence that her speech ended right as the bell rang, but now that I saw it, it seemed Caroline had put a lot of thought into planning her lesson before arriving at school.

“That’s all for today’s lesson. Does anyone have any questions?”

No one raised their hand.

No one wanted to waste the ten-minute break.

“Well then, I’ll see you all in the afternoon.”

Looking a bit more relaxed after making it through the lesson, Caroline smiled slightly at us before leaving the classroom.

…Though she didn’t ask us to stand and bow. You’d think it would fit the atmosphere here.

Then again, that didn’t happen in the original story either. Maybe the game developers considered omitting that formal farewell as part of what made the school feel more “Western.”

Even though everything about the school system screamed Japanese.

“This isn’t as hard as I thought,” Alice said with relief, now that the tense atmosphere had lightened.

“It’s the beginning of the semester, so we’re just reviewing what we already know. There might be students who didn’t do well in history on the exam,” I replied.

There was no failing grade on the entrance exam.

“Huh, I see.”

Alice seemed pleased, probably because she felt confident she could keep up.

...In fact, she wouldn’t just keep up—she’d likely end up being one of the top students in the entire academy.

Maybe I’ve been overusing my abilities all along.

“Have you been well?”

As I pondered that to myself, a voice suddenly spoke up in a very formal tone.

This voice—

“Oh, Charlotte!”

Char—Ack.

I turned in shock to see Alice enthusiastically greeting Charlotte in an overly cheerful voice.

Thankfully, I managed to keep my expression from breaking.

Wait, Charlotte?