“Oh, of course I’ll follow the rules. I’m poor, not a barbarian.”

Yuto raised his glass to his lips as he added this, as though embarrassed by the smile he had just worn.

“However... if I do fight a duel, I won’t stop until my opponent surrenders. Nor do I intend to show any more mercy than necessary.”

A brief silence fell.

Shirin looked at Yuto. A feeling different from what she had experienced during their dance stirred within her chest.

While they danced, he had been warm and comforting. Now, however, he was fiery and sharp. How could one person possess such different facets? Having spent her entire life as the princess of Ristal, meeting only people who treated her as such, Shirin could not help finding Yuto mysterious—and caring about him.

‘He’s... been through so much.’

A life spent being called a filthy rat simply because he was poor. Years of gritting his teeth and refusing to break.

Shirin had grown up in the royal palace. She had never experienced poverty firsthand. But she could sense that the emotion in Yuto’s eyes was more than mere anger. It was pride built upon anger.

That, at least, was how Shirin felt at that moment. She did not know all of Yuto. The emotions he displayed were merely the portion he wished her to interpret that way.

Yuto had not been born poor either. But in this life after his return to the past, he had come to know poverty.

What Shirin thought she saw was an emotion honed through years of gritting his teeth and refusing to break. Yet that emotion was not directed at nobles who despised the poor.

Yuto’s feelings were aimed somewhere far higher. Shirin, however, did not understand him. She could hardly understand an emotion that even Shiro had misread.

“You’re... remarkable, Yuto.”

A quiet expression of admiration escaped Shirin’s lips.

“To refuse protection like that. Most people would welcome such support with open arms.”

“He’s no ordinary slum dweller.”

Levian’s words carried the certainty she had gained from spending time with Yuto. He glanced at her. She did not meet his gaze, but the corners of her mouth curved faintly upward.

Shiro was silent for a moment.

Then he laughed aloud. It was the first genuinely unfeigned laugh he had given at this party.

“Haha... Yuto. To be honest, what you just said puts my mind at ease.”

Shiro let his laughter subside before continuing.

“You aren’t rejecting protection so much as saying you intend to carve out a place for yourself through your own strength. Is that right? I... like people like that.”

Shiro looked at Yuto with admiration in his eyes. This time, even Yuto found it difficult to tell whether it was sincere or an act.

“But please promise me one thing.”

Shiro lowered his voice.

“If you lose a duel, take my hand then. Not as someone offering protection, but as a friend.”

Yuto looked at Shiro.

Shiro had said things like that in his previous life too. That he would help Yuto up if he fell. That Yuto should take his hand when times were hard.

Yuto had trusted that hand for decades. And that hand had driven a sword into his chest.

“I won’t lose,” Yuto said, refusing to accept Shiro’s premise.

“But on the off chance... the truly remote chance that I do...”

Yuto smiled. The menacing smile had already vanished. In its place was a confident smile befitting a boy from the slums, an adventurer with countless experiences behind him—and now the Marigolds’ benefactor and the hero who had defeated the Black Mages in Belkain.

“Then I’ll get back up on my own two legs, rather than relying on you, Your Highness. That’s how someone like me does things.”

Shiro’s smile deepened at his answer. It was a smile of satisfaction.

‘Excellent.’

Shiro was certain now.

He refused protection and rejected even the offer of a hand after defeat.

He was proud, hated being indebted to others, and tried to solve everything with his own strength.

Someone like that would not kneel easily. Yet precisely because he was that kind of person, once his knees buckled, a moment would inevitably come when he could not rise without help. Even the fiercest pride had its limits before the cruelty of the world.

‘At the academy, I’ll watch from your side as the nobles scorn you and you overcome them through duels. I won’t protect you directly, but I’ll remain close enough to offer a hand when you fall.’

Shiro gazed at Yuto with smiling eyes.

‘Whenever you raise your fists in anger at the injustices of the world, I’ll sympathize with that anger. When you win, I’ll congratulate you. If you fall, I’ll encourage you. Not as protection... but as friendship.’

Shiro was already revising his strategy.

‘You said you wouldn’t take my hand. Fine. You don’t have to. I’ll simply stand beside you, whether you win or lose. I’ll make sure the fact that I was there stays etched in your mind. That alone will be enough.’

Shiro had no way of knowing it, but he had stood beside Yuto in just that way in their previous life. Not as a protector, but as a comrade-in-arms. Not as an ally, but as a brother. That was how he had gained Yuto’s trust and built their bond.

And when that trust and brotherly affection reached their peak, he had plunged in his sword.

“Now, let’s leave the serious subjects there.”

Shiro clapped his hands lightly, shifting the mood.

“To think we’ve spent a party discussing nothing but such grave matters. I’m very much to blame. Why don’t we have something sweet?”

Shiro smoothly led their group of four toward the dessert table. Even his timing in ending the heavy conversation and lightening the mood was calculated.

“Oh, there she is.”

Levian murmured as she looked toward the dessert table. Shirin stood alone at the table. Seeing this, Levian tilted her head.

“I don’t see Flokiro. He was there just a little while ago...”

Yuto found that puzzling too. As Levian had said, Flokiro was nowhere in sight. Elun was the only one standing at the dessert table now.

“He wasn’t feeling well, so I sent him back to his room.”

Elun spoke with an expressionless face. Her words told Yuto what had happened.

Yuto had managed to desperately suppress his emotions, hide his true feelings, and put on a mask. Flokiro must not have been able to do the same. He remembered their previous life clearly.

Back then, when Shiro betrayed them, Flokiro had held off Shiro and his men to protect Shirin and Lia until Yuto arrived.

And at the end, he had thrown himself into danger for Yuto and helped him escape despite being at death’s door.

Flokiro... had not been able to fully suppress his hatred and murderous intent toward Shiro. Yet he could not allow them to show, so he must have left the party to avoid facing him.

“I see. Thank you, Elun.”

“There is no reason to thank me. You ought to scold that foolish beast instead. Yuto, you must train him properly from now on.”

Elun’s reply was cold. Watching her, Shirin exclaimed and asked,

“Oh my, who is this adorable young lady?”

“Ah... this is Elun.”

Yuto rested a hand on Elun’s head as he spoke. Ordinarily, she would have scowled and brushed it away, but now she stared unblinkingly at Shiro and Shirin.

“She’s a child I rescued in Belkain.”

It was a brief introduction. He had explained Elun’s identity to Levian in the same way, so that much was sufficient.

“Goodness... Belkain...? Was she being held by the Black Mages?”

Shirin’s eyes widened, and she lowered herself to Elun’s eye level. To her, Elun looked like a little girl of around ten, with jet-black hair and large, expressionless eyes. Gazing into those eyes that showed no emotion, Shirin felt a pang of pity.

“You must have been frightened... It was very hard, wasn’t it?”

Shirin asked softly. Her concern was sincere, without a trace of pretense.

Elun stared at Shirin. Still, no emotion surfaced in her black eyes.

“I wasn’t frightened,” she replied.

“Because I met Yuto.”

Shirin was briefly at a loss for words. That short answer conjured up all manner of possibilities. What would Yuto, her rescuer, mean to a girl who must have been captured by Black Mages, experimented on, and imprisoned deep underground? Soon, Shirin recovered her smile.

“So Yuto saved you. He really is remarkable.”

“He isn’t remarkable.”

Elun tilted her head slightly.

“Yuto is a fool. He tries to save others even when he nearly dies himself.”

The corner of Yuto’s mouth twitched. Just as he had thought, Elun was tailoring her words to the “character” he was currently presenting. Her answer drew a small, wry laugh from Levian too.

“Indeed. Yuto does have a foolish side.”

Levian did not go so far as to consider the character he presented an act. She did not know his past.

Shiro was observing Elun. Maintaining his smile, he tried to read this little girl. Her history of captivity at the hands of Black Mages. Her blunt yet uninhibited attitude toward Yuto. Her dry manner of speaking, so unlike a child her age.

That was all. There was little he could discern. Children’s emotions were generally easier to read than adults’, being simpler, but he could read nothing in this child.

‘An interesting child.’

For now, Shiro left his assessment of Elun at that.

“Elun, was it? It’s nice to meet you. My name is Shirin.”

Shirin held out a hand. Elun looked at it for a moment, then briefly took her fingertips and let go. It was too short to call a handshake, but she had taken the hand, so it could hardly be called a rejection.

Apparently finding this adorable, Shirin beamed.

“We will be seeing each other often.”

Elun spoke abruptly. No longer looking at Shirin, she picked up a chocolate from the table.

“Because I will be going to the academy with Yuto.”

Levian was the first to react. She stared at Elun, her eyes wide.

“E... Elun?”

Her startled gaze shifted to Yuto, then back to Elun. Flustered, she asked,

“Wait... This is the first I’ve heard of this... Y-Yuto. What does she mean?”

Yuto, too, felt momentarily at a loss. How was he going to bring Elun to Maria Academy? They had yet to discuss it, though he had thought of a few ways himself.

The easiest and most convenient option was to hide her. Like an Evomon, she could enter an unsummoned state and disappear from sight. But doing so would leave them with all sorts of things to watch out for. If someone happened to see Elun when she appeared, Yuto would be in trouble.

‘I didn’t expect her to announce it like this.’

Elun must have had something in mind, but since she had made the statement without any prior discussion, Yuto could not help feeling put on the spot.

“M-Maria Academy has strict admission requirements. You need a recommendation from a noble or someone influential, as well as basic proof of identity. But Elun... doesn’t meet any of those requirements... does she?”

Levian stumbled over her words. House Marigold was certainly powerful, but its letter of recommendation had already been committed to Yuto. They could not write one for Elun as well. Besides, she did not even properly remember her own past.

“I believe I can help with that.”

Shiro spoke with a gentle smile.

“But first, let me ask you something, Yuto. Do you wish to bring this girl to the academy as well?”

“I’m Elun’s guardian,” Yuto replied.

“Because of what she experienced in Belkain, she has forgotten who she is. All she remembers is her name, Elun. Since she met me in that state... she depends on me for a great deal. I considered placing her in a care facility, but she refused to leave me.”

As he spoke, Yuto glanced at Elun. She nodded expressionlessly.

“Yuto is correct. I cannot be separated from him.”

“I see. I understand.”

Shiro smiled and nodded.

“You evidently feel both sympathy and a sense of responsibility toward her, so you wish to bring her to the academy. But as Lady Levian said, getting her into the academy will not be simple.”

Shiro rested a hand on his chin for a moment, appearing to think, but Yuto knew. Shiro would already have settled on an answer.

“There is one way,” Shiro said.

“Royalty have the privilege of bringing attendants when they enroll at the academy. Attendants need not meet the admission requirements, since they reside at the academy as members of a royal entourage.”

Realizing what her brother meant, Shirin’s eyes widened slightly.

“I will register Elun as my attendant.”

Shiro smiled at Yuto.

“She will be my attendant in name only. She won’t actually have to serve me. She is also welcome to remain by your side at the academy.”

Shiro stepped closer and lowered his voice.

“It scarcely counts as repayment for what you did in Belkain, but I don’t think I could rest easy without doing at least this much for you.”