Charlotte is a French name.

And Charlotte is the English pronunciation of the same name.

Of course, at the moment, there’s no particular animosity between the Azerna Empire and the Kingdom of Belbour—at least, not openly. But still, it’s considered rude to arbitrarily call someone by the pronunciation of your own country’s language, especially when it comes to personal names.

In the original story, the friends don’t start calling Charlotte “Charlotte” (the English way) until much later—only after they’ve grown close and Charlotte herself says it’s okay to do so.

Later on, when the Azerna Empire begins its full-scale invasion of the Kingdom of Belbour, Charlotte distances herself from the group and even asks them not to call her “Charlotte” anymore.

So, this situation now is quite surprising.

...Could it be that just meeting her that one time made them this close?

“Are you Princess Sylvia? It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Charlotte said, addressing me politely as she looked over at Alice and me.

I debated for a moment whether or not to stand but ultimately decided to remain seated. After all, we were all students here. I agreed with the notion that we should treat each other as equals in this setting. Even if that wasn’t strictly true in reality, acting that way would make things easier in the long run with the other students.

“I’m Sylvia Fangryphon,” I replied.

“I’ve heard of you,” Charlotte said with a cheerful smile.

“You came in place of His Majesty the Emperor during the last negotiations. My father had nothing but praise for you.”

Praise?

Not a word of complaint?

I had acted quite rudely—enough that it wouldn’t have been surprising if he had turned around and cursed me the moment my back was turned.

On top of that, the three-way meeting where I stood in for the Emperor was known among those aware of it as a meeting where the Kingdom of Belbour was the one left in the dust. The Empire sent me, a princess, and the Holy State sent a cardinal, while the kingdom sent their king himself. From the kingdom’s point of view, they might have claimed it was out of respect for the location, but I wondered if the higher-ranking nobles felt the same way.

The Empire was a hegemon, capable of devouring the military strength of any other nation, so their approach was understandable. The Holy State, though small in territory, wielded significant influence around the world. While the Holy Church wasn’t exactly the world’s template religion, it still had the largest following among the world’s faiths.

Additionally, the cardinals and priests in the Holy Church were also citizens of the Holy State. While this might seem superficial at first glance, the more followers a nation had, the higher the social standing of its clergy. Therefore, nations with a large number of followers could not easily ignore the influence of the Holy State.

The Kingdom of Belbour, one of the countries that ceded land to form the Holy State, had a significant proportion of Holy Church followers. It wasn’t quite a monopoly, but as a single force, it was the largest.

So, the kingdom couldn’t completely ignore the Holy State’s influence either.

Still, sending Charlotte in place of the king to a high-stakes meeting wouldn’t have been appropriate.

Given how little of the meeting’s content was leaked, the Kingdom of Belbour should have considered themselves lucky, yet here Charlotte was, casually mentioning it as if it were common knowledge. What was going on in her head?

...It wasn’t as simple as her being oblivious.

She’s genuine. There’s no need for deceit. That doesn’t mean she’s not intelligent, though.

Charlotte had a gift for making friends with all kinds of people, but she was also keenly aware of who was most important to keep close.

Charlotte was the type to move for the sake of her people. In other words, she could boldly do what was necessary, even if she didn’t enjoy it. Of course, she wouldn’t hide her displeasure either.

“I see,” I replied.

In that sense, it seemed Charlotte hadn’t developed any outright negative feelings toward me just yet.

However, there was a subtle difference between the way she looked at Alice and the way she looked at me. Her clear gray eyes gazed directly into mine without any hint of wavering, as if she were trying to read my thoughts.

“I spoke with Alice at length back then. Your name came up several times, Sylvia.”

Alice.

That was the French pronunciation of “Alice.”

So that’s how they had been addressing each other back then.

“……”

“D-Don’t worry, I didn’t say anything bad,” Alice mumbled, turning slightly red when I looked her way.

“That’s right. I can promise you that Sylvia was never insulted. I swear it,” Charlotte added.

“I believe you,” I replied, looking up at Charlotte.

“I realize it’s a bit late to ask, but I’ve heard that in the academy, students are expected to set aside their status and speak to each other on equal terms. Would it be an issue if I called you by name?”

“Not at all,” I answered again.

If Charlotte had truly grown close to Alice, it only made sense for her to get closer to me as well. Judging by the situation, Alice and I were going to be spending a lot of time together, so naturally, I’d encounter Charlotte often as well.

As Charlotte looked at me carefully, she tilted her head slightly.

“Are you always this quiet?” she asked.

“...Yes,” I replied.

At least, I tried to speak as little as possible in front of people other than Alice.

Of course, as one of the main companions in the original story, Charlotte was definitely someone I wanted to befriend. But breaking my character’s expressionless facade too soon would ruin the atmosphere.

...Does that make me too much of a role-player?

“Uh, excuse me.”

Just as we were talking, someone else cut in.

I didn’t need to look to know who it was.

Claire, it seemed, was now certain of my identity. She was oddly persistent in the original game, and that trait hadn’t changed.

“Sylvia?”

Turning around, I saw Claire standing there, with Leo next to her, looking incredibly uneasy.

Despite the tension in the air created by the presence of two princesses and one princess from another kingdom, the situation oddly reminded me of the early stages of a harem story. The clueless, slightly brash younger sister, and the older brother who follows behind to clean up her messes, eventually becoming friends with the younger sister’s companions... That kind of setup, though I couldn’t quite recall a specific story that fit.

“...Claire.”

I decided to clear my mind of these thoughts.

“Ah, sorry. Were you in the middle of a conversation?” Claire asked.

“No, it’s fine,” Charlotte responded, elegantly tucking a strand of her shining silver hair behind her ear.

“We were just getting to know each other better. I was greeting some familiar faces. But it seems like I hardly know anyone here.”

“Oh, are you from abroad?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Charlotte replied, lightly grasping the front of her skirt with both hands in a curtsy. It was a gesture similar to what Claire had shown Alice and me earlier, though Charlotte’s version was more refined. Not that Claire had done poorly—it was just the difference between someone who had it ingrained in them and someone who had learned it recently.

“I’m Charlotte de Belbour.”

“Gah!”

Suddenly, a gasping sound drew all of our attention to Leo.

Leo had both hands over his mouth, looking as if the moment he let go, he might scream.

“De Belbour...”

“Yes, I’m the princess of the Kingdom of Belbour,” Charlotte said playfully, clearly amused by Leo’s reaction.

Now, you might wonder why a baron’s son wouldn’t recognize the princess of a neighboring kingdom. But in this world, it was considered somewhat distasteful for royalty and nobility to leave photographs instead of portraits.

Photos, while cheaper than hiring an artist, were still expensive, and more importantly, photographs were in black and white while portraits were in color.

It wasn’t that people never took photos, but having them printed in newspapers was a different matter.

If a noble or royal’s photo was printed large in a newspaper, it could easily be cut out and used for insulting purposes.

While we were nearing a time where words like “freedom” and “democracy” were beginning to appear, the Empire and Kingdom still functioned under nearly absolute monarchy. Strong media control was a constant presence. Who knew what the future held fifty years from now, but for now, that was the state of things.

So, even with the advent of thin, modern film and small portable cameras, the photos of nobles and royals almost never appeared in print.

This created a gap in information, leading to the phenomenon of nobles and royals whose names were well known, but whose faces were a mystery.

“Charlotte, huh?”

Leo somehow managed not to make any more embarrassing sounds after that.

“I’m Claire. Claire Grace, eldest daughter of the Grace barony.”

According to the lore, Claire was technically older than Leo by a few months. Her birthday came first, but there was no one here to prove that. The only reason I knew was because I had memorized the game’s settings from cover to cover.

“I see.”

Charlotte probably wasn’t familiar with the Grace barony. She wouldn’t have the time or reason to memorize the names of foreign nobles. But she wasn’t the type to openly ignore or belittle foreign nobility either.

“Nice to meet you, Claire.”

“Same here!”

Claire wore a beaming expression, clearly excited that she’d made yet another friend, while Leo looked like his heart was on the verge of giving out.

“...So, may I ask why you approached me?” I inquired, looking at Claire.

“Oh, right!” Claire clapped her hands together, as if suddenly remembering why she’d come over.

“I was wondering if, after class, you’d have time—”

However, before Claire could finish her sentence—

Bang!

The classroom door burst open.

It opened with such force that it skipped the usual sound of the door sliding.

And in this game’s original story, there was only one person who would open the door like that.

“Attention, everyone!”

She looked to be in her mid-to-late twenties, with wild, unkempt black hair, arms crossed confidently.

Despite wearing an Imperial officer’s uniform, several buttons on the shirt beneath were undone, and she wore her jacket draped over her shoulders like a cape.

Four medals adorned the jacket.

“Outside, everyone!”

And there was only one person in this academy who would shout something like that before the bell even rang.

Jennifer Winterfield. The headmaster’s rebellious granddaughter.

And the homeroom teacher of Class B.

•  

Following the instructor out to the training field, we hadn’t even had the chance to fully enjoy our break before the bell finally rang.

Ding-dong-ding-dong, the bell echoed in vain as the students shot frustrated glances toward each other. However, I wasn’t particularly surprised, having already expected our first encounter with Jennifer to be like this.

The training field was empty. Even though there were physical education classes, most teachers didn’t gather students outside for exercise on the first day.

Jennifer wore an Imperial uniform and had a military tone, but she wasn’t the type to impose strict military discipline on her students. She didn’t force us to line up in neat rows, and she didn’t mind if the students loosely gathered on the field.

“Proud students of the academy!”

Standing on a platform without a microphone, Jennifer’s voice boomed across the field.

Even without a mic, her voice was loud enough to make my ears ring.

In the game, whenever Jennifer gave a speech like this, the font of her dialogue would increase dramatically, and the students would either cover their ears or look shocked.

And now, the same was true here. Alice was frowning, and even Charlotte’s brows were furrowed in discomfort.

“I am Jennifer Winterfield, your tactical instructor, here to improve your battlefield skills!”

That’s right—tactical instructor.

Since this academy also functioned as a military school, we had classes like this as well.

“But no matter how much you learn about tactics from a book, it’s useless if you don’t have the ability to apply them. And the tactics required in battle depend on the soldier’s weapon and how skilled they are with it. Therefore—!”

Several students, who had momentarily relaxed their shoulders, were startled once again by Jennifer’s sudden increase in volume.

“We’re going to evaluate your skills right here, right now! We’ll see which weapons you prefer and how you handle them!”

Clap!

Jennifer clapped her hands together energetically.

“And the best way to assess your weapon proficiency is, of course, through combat practice!”

Jennifer grinned as she continued.

“Feel free to choose the weapon of your choice. Let’s give it our all!”