‘I’ was the one who confessed and got rejected, not ‘me.’

Of course, I had no complaints since it was just a rejection. Well, who would accept a confession out of the blue from someone they’re not even close with just based on looks?

Unless they were the greatest catch of the century.

Straightening my red hair, I let out a deep breath. The mirror reflected a rather handsome face adorned with red hair and black eyes.

With my noble upbringing, my well-maintained fair skin was spotless. The slight dark circles under my eyes even lent a mysterious, decadent air.

‘Felix von Astria.’

The second son of the Astria Earl family.
The prestigious family was a long-established martial arts household, once leading the Imperial Third Knight Order.

For the second son of such a renowned family to get rejected…the Earl would probably grab him by the scruff of the neck if he found out.

However, no one can entirely blame Felix, as the girl he confessed to–the heroine of this romance fantasy–was exceptionally beautiful.

More accurately, she was described as such.

‘Sylvia.’

With dazzling blonde hair akin to royalty, azure blue eyes, and porcelain skin. A delicate nose and large, expressive eyes. A sweet, petite face that provoked protective instincts coupled with a slightly voluptuous body.

She possessed a beauty that would make not just boys her age but even older men lose their composure and fall for her.

Again, Felix was quite the looker himself. The problem was the men around Sylvia were so stunningly handsome that he paled in comparison.

‘From the start, the three Imperial Princes vying for the succession, the son of a renowned Duke family, and the one destined to become the Hero were the main male leads, so what chance did I have?’

There was no way he could surpass the main leads in honor, power, looks, or skill.

He didn’t feel particularly regretful about that. It was simply…

‘Shit, now I have to see their faces every day.’

Thinking about being rejected was enough to make him want to kick something, but since they were in the same class, he had to see her face daily.

‘Why do I have to feel embarrassed over a confession ‘I’ didn’t even make myself?’

Covering his face with both hands, he muttered quietly:

“Should I just drop out?”

Running away sounded tempting.

***

Of course, running away was impossible.

As one of the top students in the swordsmanship department, the academy would never allow me to suddenly drop out, and I would need permission from the Earl.

And if the reason was ‘because I confessed to the girl I like and got rejected,’ the only options would be either getting my head chopped off by the Earl or the Astria family clumsily trying to get revenge and then getting my head chopped off.

“…Well, what happened?”

In Class 1-A.

As I headed towards his first-year classroom, some male classmates dragged me to a secluded spot to hear about yesterday’s events. At first, I thought it was some kind of bullying, but it seemed they just wanted to listen to what happened.

So, from the morning, I had to recount my embarrassing tale with my own mouth.

In response to the green-haired boy Berman’s question, I nonchalantly answered while scratching my head.

“I got rejected.”

“Ah… as expected!”

“…What’s with that relieved look?”

Berman clenched his fist in joy.

What’s up with these guys? Weren’t they cheering me on before?

Looking around, about half of the surrounding boys showed the same reaction as Berman. The other half somehow had looks of relief on their faces.

“Well, since you got rejected, that leaves a chance for the rest of us, right?”

Ah, so that’s what it was.

I found myself nodding along to Berman’s response.

Now that I had been rejected, they still had a chance to confess. The rest were relieved that Sylvia wouldn’t be dating anyone for now.

How frank of them.

‘But if I got rejected, will she accept any of you?’

From the start, these guys trailed behind Felix in looks, ability, and family status. There was no way she would accept someone like that just based on appearance, so I just shook my head.

While I had no business meddling in my beautiful classmate’s life, couldn’t this be considered harassment?

“I’m decent-looking myself, aren’t I?”

“Well, I’m not too bad either…”

“Typical men, the only people to call them handsome are themselves and their mother.”

At my light rebuke, the boys’ faces briefly contorted in displeasure, but I just smiled wryly and turned to leave.

There was no point elaborating on Sylvia’s feelings to these guys; they wouldn’t listen anyway. After leaving them with a “wake up” message, I was about to return to class when a man stopped me.

“…Well, it’s good you know your place.”

A low, cold voice rang out.

Looking up at the voice’s owner, I let out a small sigh.

He had black hair and red eyes. An inhumanly, chillingly handsome man glared at me with frigid eyes.

‘Cain von Geyrus, second son of the Geyrus Duke family.’

One of the main male leads from the original novel, Cain, stood right before me.

“Yeah, I know my place.”

No matter how much I struggled, the difference in status was insurmountable.

If the story followed the original, Sylvia would end up with the three original male leads, and I would be just an extra character. I would just have to live my life while she lived hers as the heroine.

Sylvia was the quintessential heroine. It was as if the world revolved around her—she was that beloved.

And the male leads around her each possessed something extraordinarily outstanding. Power, talent, and even the blessing of the Goddess.

So I calmly replied to Cain’s words and tried to walk past him to return to class, but Cain seemed to still have something left to say as he held his ground.

“If you knew your place from the start, you wouldn’t have confessed to Sylvia in the first place… right?”

Only then did I  realize.
Cain was also telling the boys behind me to ‘know their place.’

And I wasn’t the only one who understood the blatant intent behind those words.

“Wh…What did you say?!”

By academy rules, all enrolled students were equal regardless of status.

Of course, that didn’t mean commoners or minor nobles could treat high nobles however they wished.

One of the boys reactively flared up at Cain’s words but immediately lowered his head after meeting Cain’s gaze.

After all, Cain was the second son of a Duke family. They’d need at least a Viscount’s child to talk to him.

‘What a headache.’

The news about Sylvia had spread incredibly fast at the academy, even though they had only just enrolled.

Of course, the rumor that I had confessed to Sylvia yesterday must have reached Cain and the other male leads. The problem was I hadn’t expected Cain to confront me about it so quickly.

Obviously, I never imagined the rumor would make Cain come find me directly like this.

“…So? What did you want to say?”

I stepped to the side to shield his awkwardly shuffling friends behind me, blocking Cain’s view of them.

Glaring coldly at the boys, Cain frowned when I obstructed his sight.

The original Cain was quite rational, unlike his chilling appearance. He got a bit emotional regarding matters involving Sylvia, but he wasn’t as dense as some of the others.

“Don’t annoy Sylvia any further.”

Seeing Cain grind his teeth as he said that quietly, I nodded.

In the original novel, Sylvia relies on Cain a lot because he is intelligent and rational. Perhaps she talked with Cain about yesterday.

Certainly, the novel mentions that although Cain was rational and intelligent, he did not know how to speak gently.

Perhaps it was due to being the son of a Duke family. However, if Cain continued to speak like this to the other boys, it would only breed resentment, so I spoke up first.

“To be honest, if some girl I’m not even close with suddenly confessed to me out of the blue, I’d probably reject her too.”

“…”

Until now, Cain had repeatedly warned other boys in a similar manner.
He had never encountered someone who accepted his perspective like I was doing now. Of course, part of it was that I didn’t actually like Sylvia and was a bit older, so I could think more maturely than the others.

Perhaps that was why Cain stared at me with widened, surprised eyes for a moment.

“It’s not Sylvia’s face or family status that matters, right?”

“…You’re right.”

Simultaneously, it seemed Cain realized I was supporting him, as he quietly agreed with my words.

While Cain intended for Sylvia to no longer be troubled by such incidents, his method would only have the opposite effect.

They might start disliking Cain, but if they don’t listen to his warnings and confess to Sylvia only to be rejected, they’ll resent her instead.

“I do regret it. I should have gotten closer to Sylvia first, learned to appreciate her inner self, and then confessed.”

“Then why did you confess?”

“Um….”

How should I explain this?

After a brief moment of contemplation, I awkwardly smiled. I needed to show that I no longer had any lingering feelings for Sylvia.

The fact was I did confess, but it was also true that I currently had no feelings for her. However, I couldn’t tell the full truth, so I had to carefully choose my words.

“Well, the important thing is that I’ve cast aside any remaining attachment to Sylvia now, right? I just want to focus on my own growth from here on.”

“…”

“Anyway, apologize to her for me. Tell her not to worry too much about it.”

Patting Cain’s shoulder lightly, I walked past him.

I just wanted to hurry back to class. I had no desire to get any more entangled with Cain and the other main characters.

As long as I didn’t get involved with the heroine Sylvia, he could live peacefully in this world.

However, as I passed him, I could only awkwardly smile.

“Oh…hello…?”

Behind Cain,

“Ah…hello…”

Sylvia was standing there,
Looking at me with beautiful, azure eyes, clearly surprised.

Translator’s Corner

Just in case someone didn’t understand why I used “I” and “me”, let me explain briefly.

The sentence is saying that the narrator (or the “me,” the one possessing the body) did not actually confess and get rejected himself, but rather it was the character they possessed (or the “I,” owner of the body.)

The second “I” follows the same logic as the possessor did not confess themselves.

-Ruminas