"A pleasure to meet you young men, I am your etiquette teacher the second son of a viscount household, Clement von Werner, for the remainder of the year let's get along. okay?"
This was the manners class, preparing tea parties among other noble manly things.
The professor in front of me was a tall, thin, well-dressed man with a sort of scarf on his shirt and sleeves. His hair was wavy black and completely covered his right eye; so we could see only his left eye, which was yellow.
He smiled at us with a grace and kindness of a good teacher, there was nothing wrong with that. The problem with him was that we were afraid of his face.
His face was almost transparent and his cheeks showed the shape of his teeth. His yellow eye gave off a bad vibe and his gruff, grim-sounding voice didn't help at all.
One girl couldn't stand the way he was smiling at us, it looked like a horror movie. When a killer is ready to reveal his motives to the poor victim.
"Professor, I'm sorry. but you're really scary!"
She said what we all thought.
The scary professor heard her say that and then....
"I'm so sorry!"
His smile was wiped away by crying as he sat in a fetal position and an aura of depression surrounded him.
"I always try to get along with the students, but everyone always ends up saying the same thing! I should resign as a teacher and go live in the mountains since I can't even get a fiancée!"
The girl who told the truth immediately apologized.
I don't know which house she was from, but it seems that everyone like her stood up to apologize.
The power of a pitiful man certainly moves mountains.
After she stopped crying, I said to him.
"Professor, I'm sorry, I'm late and I don't know where to sit."
The etiquette class was divided into an exact number of boys and girls.
The teacher would put them together depending on their status.
Even my friends were sitting with girls. Not me since I entered late due to releasing a brown baby.
"Oh, right, umm.... Is there anyone who doesn't have a partner?"
Etiquette classes will be with their respective partner for a whole year, so the leftover girl will be my partner until the last month of classes.
"Me."
A girl raised her hand from the back, the teacher said to me. "Alright, from now on she will be your partner, it can't be changed by the way."
I walked to the back as the teacher explained what we would be doing.
Just as I was within my reach, I saw her.
The girl who would be my partner until December was standing in front of me.
"Nice to meet you."
She said with a smile.
There was nothing wrong with that.
Except one and only one.
(Why?)
(Why precisely her?)
(Is the power of the cliché stage interfering with my life as a background character!?)
At a table decorated with snacks, top-notch tea leaves, expensive decorations, silver and gold cutlery and a swan-shaped tea set.
There sat a beautiful girl with light blonde hair pulled back in two small pigtails from her neck and down to her back.
Her eyes were a beautiful aquamarine, a color resembling a crystalline green.
She displayed a charming smile that could captivate anyone.
This girl is not just any girl, she is none other than the protagonist of this otome game.
"This... Are you going to sit down?"
"Hey! ... Yes."
The class had already started.
My experience as a background character was being diverted as I interacted with the characters in the game.
◇
"You are organizing a meeting for an important person. That person whether male or female, will look at your decor both from the interior of the room and the tea set you have prepared and even the snacks you serve. Appearance is very important, remember that well."
The scary professor was teaching us the basics of etiquette, how to serve tea and drink it in an elegant way.
We all practiced how to decorate our tables and serve our companion as if he was an important person.
This served for the future of many, but not a few.
I, as always, didn't care about anything.
But I couldn't concentrate.
"Is there a problem?"
My tea partner was asking me why I was taking so long to pour a simple cup of tea.
That's the problem.
I don't understand why we were assigned together!
Your grades to get in are high, aren't they? What are you doing here?
You should be at the first meeting with the capture targets.
"N-No. I'm just nervous."
I poured the liquid into the cup just as the teacher said.
Now it was time to chat about any topic as if it was important.
"S-Since we're going to be partners, I think it would be good for us to get to know each other better, don't you think?"
The protagonist said. "Yes, I'd love to." With a sweet smile.
She started first.
"Truth be told, I'm still a little scared. I had my doubts about whether or not it was okay to come study at the imperial capital's academy."
I want to get personal information from her, for future research in preventing the annoying non-Romanic events from happening to her.
"Is that so? But it is normal for nobles to attend the academy."
Her smile faded, her eyes lowered to the table and after waiting quietly for a while she said.
"I am not a noble. Nor am I the illegitimate daughter of any noble nor do I belong to a house of knights."
I already knew that, but she had better say it herself.
"What do you mean?"
Now i was imitating the conversations of romantic comedy protagonists at an important moment to find out some girl's past.
I had never talked to a girl other than Amy or my family, so I have zero experience with it. For that reason, I'll use my knowledge of manly characters so no one will realize I'm scared to talk to a real girl.
"You see... I, I'm a commoner."
I pretended to widen my eyes in surprise.
Now, any noble who heard that would look down on her.
But I didn't really care. You'll save the world, so it won't matter where you come from in the future.
It's time to act like a sympathetic and nice guy! Even though I'm not really.
"And does that really matter?"
"Huh?"
"It's just that what you're saying is absurd to me. I mean, you're a commoner, so what? I'm the son of an upstart nobleman with no territory. The only difference between the two of us; is that you don't possess a family name, but I do. And even then I am not recognized by other nobles, so, to them, we are both maggots, hahaha."
What I was saying was both truth and lie. The truth was everything and the lie was that, even as an upstart noble, she would be looked down upon.
It is because of her status, that the duke's villainess daughter would harass her to leave the academy.
If I can guarantee that she would at least not give in or decay into a psychological problem so that she wouldn't have to endure any more hassle about not being worthy of being here, I wouldn't mind advising her.
"I'm Razel, nice to meet you."
I introduced myself to show how trustworthy I am.
Her eyes were wide as saucers, then she smiled and said.
"Nice to meet you, Razel-kun! I'm Lily. Let's get along well from today onwards."
(Lily, huh?)
If I remember correctly, in one of those forums where they wrote super-secret things that only developers should know, it was mentioned that the protagonist's real name was inspired by a beautiful flower.
The idea of introducing that information was discarded since that other game had beaten them before.
Apparently the name of that heroine was also similar to Lily's, a beautiful flower, maybe she should have been called rose, violet or.... iris maybe.
I didn't really care, I just mentioned it as a curiosity.
Lily was telling me that she lived all her life in a convent with other children and many nuns.
She doesn't know who her parents were since she was abandoned as a baby at the convent gates at midnight. That's what the mother superior told him.
She told me interesting things like that she could use healing magic.
Healing magic is part of light magic, a rare type of magical attribute to obtain or use in spells.
That was because no one cared about light magic or healing magic.
A firearm can do the same thing as light magic.
Healing magic, on the other hand, was only for healing, nothing else. But when she reveals her powers as the saint, the woman who listens to the voice of the goddess Alexia, then they will learn to value her.
She also told me that an official came to the convent, the reason is unknown.
What does matter is that he gave her a test and discovered her magical attribute.
That's how he took the test and then prepared for the next year at the academy.
That information was never revealed in the game.
It was just said that he had no parents and that was it.
Damn lazy developers.
"Okay, that's it. We'll see you guys on Thursday."
The scary professor was saying goodbye very sadly, but excited to see us soon, he was still scary.
My friends left before I could call them over, apparently they wanted to try to flirt with their female classmates away from the table.
Time to go.
But someone tugged on my sleeve as I cleared the table.
It was Lily.
"Is something wrong?"
I was asking her, she was giving embarrassed looks between me and the table.
Was she afraid of my face?
"This... Razel-kun."
"Yes?"
"I know we'll always see each other in this class, and there's no other class we have together, though I don't really know that too? But, here goes."
Lily took a deep breath and then said.
"Would you want us to be friends even outside of this class!!!?"
"Sure."
Lily was surprised by my quick response.
I didn't mind being friends with her, since, she would equally fall in love with any or all of the hot guys in the game.
So, if we are friends, I will be able to be around them in a non-confident way.
Lily told me that she would like to meet me at noon which was lunchtime for everyone.
"No problem."
She walked out with a smile on her face.
I too, as I walked, watched her checkered mini skirt the same color as my pants flutter.
It was a beautiful world where teenage girls wore short skirts that showed off their plump legs and thighs.
Thank you so much Lily for wearing your thigh-high white tights.
As I walked to my next class, I glimpsed in the distance the place where the meeting between Lily and Prince Regulux was taking place.
It was a statue found in different areas of the empire.
They represented both our religion and the symbol of the academy.
The flag of the empire was a golden winged lion. It represented the last king, who managed to unite the seven kingdoms under one flag.
At his side was the flag of the academy, three beautiful crossed swords representing exactly the three gods.
On the left an old man holding a grimoire, that was Eibos, the god of knowledge.
On his right was an older man named Kalys, the god of crafts.
And in the center lay the main figure.
A beautiful woman with long hair holding in her two hands a large spear, she was the goddess Alexia, goddess of life, mana and victory.
We prayed to her as she was the central figure.
In the game nothing was explained about her, apparently she had her own event, but the developers said that an error came out when introducing it and it could not be fixed.
They left it for a possible sequel that never came.
Enough of this waste of time, it's still early and I want to end this day to go get something to eat.
◇◇◇
The next one was fencing class.
It is totally different from the dreadlocked professor's self-defense class.
For this class they used B or A rank adventurer, also retired knights.
The reason, no idea?
I'm not going to explain every strange thing about this place.
We were a big group of guys and girls.
We were split up before we went in.
"I introduce myself, I'm Gladys Wolford, I'll be your instructor for the remainder of the year. Greetings."
A beautiful woman with a slightly masculine tone like her appearance introduced herself.
Her hair was combed to the sides and reached her ears because of how short it was.
The color was red like the wine they serve in fine restaurants, her eyes were a dark amber color.
His chest looked normal, but as he turned around to go look at some wooden swords, I stared at him.
A large, round butt was visible.
It was so big that walking around made it look very erotic.
As she came back, she threw the wooden swords at us.
In this country only the [Lyonnet Style] is practiced and used as that was the name of the first sword saint of the empire.
It is an honor for everyone to learn it.
But I don't see the big deal. I mean, you just put the right foot forward and the sword in the stance in a straight stance!
Seriously, where the hell is the greatness in that?
"You will be divided into pairs of two. Find someone who wants you."
Just like in my previous life, there was no one who wants to be my partner, it was a bit painful to be an outcast in a world of magic and fantasy.
Then, someone approached me.
"Hey, do you want to practice with me?"
Said a guy, a person I had to observe sooner or later.
That person was...
"Sure, His Highness, Prince Cidfert?"
"There is no one else free."
The fourth prince of the empire, in the game he was one of the extra capture characters.
The developer when it released its first dating simulator, it wasn't the greatest thing.
It was bad in every aspect of the word.
What made it famous and interesting to their horrible games, was that they added a secret character that can only be unlocked by doing some complex steps.
At first it was only three beautiful girls, then it was four, somehow they increased that number until it became ridiculous.
For that reason, when the micro transactions came, they opted to put in purchase characters under the excuse of being extra characters.
Of these extra characters, of which there were many and even teachers, there are only two that capture my attention because of what they will do in the future.
One is a senior student.
The other was the rebellious prince, Cidfert. A rebellious character who did not respect the laws of the academy and was a hooligan.
A boy with a complex about how successful his half-brother, the third Regulux prince, would become.
In the future, that jealousy and hatred for being his brother's shadow will lead him to become the bearer of the sin of envy and he will become a horrible monster who will be killed by that brother.
The reason for giving him his own route was to understand his personality.
No one wanted him even on his route, Lily would end his life on that route.
It is for that reason, I will find out enough about him. Then, I will put him to sleep forever.
First, let's look at his abilities.
"Thank you for being my dueling partner."
It was like that, how we fought for a while.
His moves weren't at all earth-shattering.
In fact, I didn't use any Lyonnet Style moves, I used my own sword style.
I call it. Shadow Light Style!
It consists of going forward and charging full power at your enemy using only one hand.
The prince really sucked.
I'm being lazy, but he doesn't seem to take me seriously.
I stopped to tell him.
"Your Highness, if you don't wish to fight me, I'm sure there must be someone better than me."
The prince looked at me with a strange face.
"You took the words right out of my mouth. That is not the style of the capital, there is no other such style. There is no crime in wearing another style, but it is very rare to see one."
This time he became serious.
"If you don't want to fight me, just say so and don't act like a fool."
Now he really pissed me off, this fucker.
"I thought His Highness was bored of fighting great opponents, after all, he is the prince of the empire."
I ran at high speed to hit him, that's when he got serious.
He parried my attack with a strange movement.
His sword seemed to move as if it were in a river.
"What makes you think that?"
He said annoyed, I on the other hand answered him.
"Isn't it obvious? Someone who was born in the best cradle of the empire must have received not only meals, luxurious clothes but also first rate training."
He was annoying me for the sake of it. This person is someone I will sooner or later eliminate, I don't need to know how nice his life was.
"You're wrong."
"Huh?"
"I said what were you wroooooong!"
He used all his strength to push me around while yelling things at me that were never mentioned in the game.
"So what if I'm the fourth prince? You don't know anything about me! You don't know what those people put me through! The title of prince to me is just an empty shell! If I were to die, no one in the palace would care at all!"
At that moment, a tear was running down his cheek, he stopped using force and left the place in annoyance.
◇◇◇
The academy cafeteria was a place that resembled a huge high-class restaurant.
There were chandeliers and an orchestra.
The food was prestigious and very healthy.
Razel and Cid arrived late.
The most expensive food was gone.
There were only inexpensive meals left for poor students.
It was roast beef with vegetables and a noodle soup.
Razel drooled as, for him, that was a delicacy. Cid was used to eating things like that, so, for him, this was something normal.
After buying their food, they found a small empty table.
On it sat Lily, she saw him and greeted him.
"Razel-kun, here!"
The two went to sit down, Razel introduced Cid.
Lily of course, shooed and her mouth towards a strange awawawa.
Cid said to her. "Please don't treat me special I'm just a prince in title."
Lily was still nervous, but tried hard not to show her fear.
Once they sat down, a long haired girl walked past Razel and said.
"You are a vile liar."
Who clearly heard that was Cid, he looked at Razel and asked.
"Do you know her?"
"Not at all, I don't even know who she is."
Razel was about to put some meat in his mouth when Cid stunned him.
"Seems to me you do. Since, it's rare for the daughter of the Rosenberg Household to talk to anyone."
Razel looked at Cid and blurted out an idiotic comment like his face.
"...She's the daughter of Rosenberg Household?"
Hearing that name, Razel watched the girl's back as she walked away.