"Alright."

I decided to avoid making eye contact.

I tried to shift my gaze elsewhere, doing my best to not look like I was purposefully avoiding her while also trying to stay unnoticed. Yet, either I was a beat too late, or perhaps I accidentally caught Alice’s gaze. From the corner of my eye, I could sense Bella looking in our direction.

Then again, it was in her nature to pull pranks on us, whether she made eye contact with us or not. Although she wasn’t a character I’d encountered in the main story, we had known each other long enough for me to be familiar with Bella’s mischievous personality and her indifference towards what she wore.

"Oh my, hey there, oppas!" 

Bella interrupted her conversation with a nobleman to wave in our direction. The middle-aged noble she’d been talking to looked thoroughly perplexed, but Bella didn’t seem to care at all.

…

The word "oppa" seemed a bit of a stretch given our age gap, but I reminded myself that it’s natural in places like this to use terms like that for soliciting attention.

"Wh-What? Me?" Leo stammered, looking startled.

The distance between Bella and us was quite substantial. It was enough that one could easily mistake her waving at someone behind me, especially if they were further away.

Even though the distance was enough to make her voice audible, Bella made sure her call was loud enough to reach us.

Claire looked at Leo with an expression that was somewhere between exasperation and incredulity, as if to say, "Why would she be calling you?"

After all, we were still wearing our uniforms. If Bella weren’t a royal or someone completely oblivious, she would probably choose to approach the many affluent older nobles milling around rather than call us. Even if she mistook our attire for something other than uniforms, it would still look like military wear.

Students and soldiers tend not to have as much wealth as the high-class nobles around here.

"Yes, you, the handsome oppa over there."

But Bella continued walking straight toward Leo. This time, even Claire seemed at a loss for words.

"…"

Naturally, Alice and I were just dumbfounded.

Weren’t we supposed to be undercover?

Though, I had half-expected her to act like this, undercover or not.

On second thought, maybe it was more natural for her to behave this way. Bella hiding her identity didn’t mean she’d hide her personality.

As Bella approached us, I could see she was wearing a masquerade mask—not the sort you’d wear to a grand ball but more like the kind of mask a girlfriend might wear to surprise her boyfriend. It was cheap-looking, adorned with fluffy white trim, making it very clear that no noble would wear something like this to a formal masquerade.

"…"

Lena’s expression was as stiff as mine.

Ever since we’d arrived here, she had been unusually quiet, seemingly uncomfortable with the very different atmosphere compared to the military-governed autonomous state.

"Hmm."

Bella, now close enough to see clearly, bent slightly to look into Leo’s face.

Standing close to the same height as most men, Bella was wearing heels that had to be at least ten centimeters high, giving her enough height to look down on Leo. Her long legs were fully visible, her waist narrow, and her chest prominently forward. With her bending like that, certain aspects were unavoidably emphasized.

"What brings you here? Are you perhaps interested in the casino?"

"Huh? Uh, I… uh…"

Leo stammered, completely thrown off by Bella addressing him directly.

Without sparing Alice or me a glance, Bella grabbed Leo’s hand.

"Judging by your attire, you must be some noble young master. Care to join me? I can show you all kinds of things. I know my way around the casino here, and I’m quite familiar with the area… or perhaps, even the hotel?"

"…"

If I didn’t know Bella so well, I might have felt something—an allure of some kind.

But… there’s that saying, isn’t there? When you’re around someone for so long, even if there’s no blood relation, you get to know them so well that any sense of attraction disappears.

That’s how I felt right now.

I knew that Bella had no actual intent behind her actions, so I didn’t even feel the urge to intervene.

"Wait—"

But it seemed Claire thought differently. Before seeing Leo as a man or not, Claire and Leo had always bickered about who was older.

If my own little sister were about to be swayed by some street host, I’d probably want to step in too.

But before Claire could act, a man shouted.

"Hey!"

It was the nobleman Bella had been speaking to earlier, now storming towards us, his face full of anger.

He didn’t fit the stereotype of a decadent noble. His body looked well-maintained, and even through his lavishly decorated attire, one could see he was physically fit. He wasn’t strikingly handsome like the male leads in the protagonist's party, but he was decent-looking.

Yet despite all that, he still gave off the impression of a nouveau riche nobody.

…Then again, my impression of him as a “noble” might have been wrong. If he truly were nobility, he’d either be wary of our uniforms or, at the very least, recognize Alice’s face.

And then there was Jake, watching the whole situation with amusement a few steps away. The fact that he didn’t recognize either the princess or a duke meant this man was far removed from the political scene.

"Are you toying with me? Things were going so well between us just moments ago."

…Seems like he was just about to fall for Bella’s honeyed words.

"Oh, but I’m far more drawn to this one. Look," Bella said, gently placing her hands on Leo’s shoulders and pulling him close enough to make a side-by-side comparison with the noble.

Then, nodding, Bella added, "Yes, this one’s definitely prettier."

What on earth was she saying to a minor?

…Well, in this world, characters in their mid-teens are basically treated like young adults.

The noble’s face turned red with anger. Seeing him flush so, the attractiveness I’d noticed earlier vanished completely.

"Hey, wait!" Claire shouted, shocked again as she tried to wedge herself between Bella and Leo.

But this time, her outburst wasn’t even for Leo’s sake.

"Ouch!"

Bella cried out.

The noble had stormed forward and grabbed Bella’s arm.

"…"

Hmm…

Watching this situation unfold, I realized something for certain.

Bella had abandoned her conversation with that man and come our way precisely to drag us into this mess. Alice seemed to think the same, watching with a complicated expression.

"Aren’t we going to help?" Lena, who had been watching beside me, asked.

Hmm…

If we just stand here and watch, it might look bad.

As I started to step forward, I heard Alice sigh softly.

"Hey."

But there was no need for the rest of us to get involved.

Another man had already grabbed the arm of the noble who was holding Bella.

It was Jake.

"It’s not right to roughly grab a lady’s arm like that," Jake said with a smile.

"A lady? You’re kidding—" 

The noble tried to pull his arm back, but his face turned blank as he mumbled.

It seemed that his arm wouldn’t move. Despite his efforts to pull or twist, Jake didn’t budge, keeping his grip firm.

"Agh…!" 

Not only could he not move his arm, but Jake was squeezing tightly enough to hurt. As Jake’s grip tightened, the noble cried out in pain.

"My hand… let go!" 

Struggling, the man finally released Bella’s arm. She quickly drew her arm back, clutching it with her other hand. The confident expression she’d worn was gone, replaced by a more vulnerable one.

…Honestly, I didn’t know what to think.

After confirming the man had let go, Jake released his grip too. Trying to back away, the noble lost his balance without Jake’s support and fell flat on his back.

"Do you know who I am?" 

The man shouted, trying to save face, but Jake replied, chuckling, "Do you know who *I* am?"

The man went speechless, seemingly realizing what kind of place this was.

In places like these, there’s always someone richer, someone of higher status.

Though people here didn’t wear their ranks on their sleeves, high-ranking nobles and tycoons abounded.

"…"

Ultimately, the man scrambled to his feet, fleeing without even dusting off his clothes.

"Are you alright?" 

Charlotte, who’d looked down on this place at first, seemed to have changed her mind after watching the scene unfold and asked Bella with genuine concern.

"Oh, yes… yes, I’m fine." 

What a spectacle.

I couldn’t help but think this as I watched Bella, now speaking in a meek, gentle tone, completely at odds with her earlier behavior.