"You are finally here, Claus." Sister Dina put a hand on her waist and glared at me.
"Hi, sister." I greeted her. Behind me, Daisy bowed slightly.
"You are very relaxed, huh?" Sister Dina narrowed her eyes. "Don't you know the commotion you caused yesterday?"
"He tried to harm Andrea. In fact, I'm regretting not killing him yesterday."
Sister Dina looked at me and heaved a deep sigh. "You... Ha... What am I going to do with you?"
I smiled and hugged her suddenly. Dina put on a startled expression before struggling out of my arms.
"... What are you doing? There are others here..." She whispered so softly that nobody else heard.
I grinned mischiveously but released her. Then, I greeted the others.
"Good morning, Andrea, Iris."
Iris returned the greeting with a polite expression and Andrea turned red and nodded shyly. Dina narrowed her eyes into slits and moved her gaze between Andrea and me, but when she failed to discover anything wrong, she shelved her suspicions away.
"Anyway, we need to speak about last night's incident." Dina put on a serious expression. "Brother, I think that you overreacted yesterday. I heard that Andre's family complained to the institute and the emperor after learning about what happened. They asked for you to be punished heavily for hurting a noble."
I shot a look a Dina and shrugged. "Don't worry about it, they can't do anything against me. After all, that trash was the one that was in the wrong first. If they dare to take things too far, I'll simply accuse Andre of drugging and trying to **** a noble. There are so many witnesses that Andre will be unable to shake off that accusation."
Dina sighed helplessly. "You are right, but I doubt they will leave things like this."
I smirked and showed a cold look. "They can try."
"... Please show a bit more concern, Claus." Dina smiled wryly.
At that moment, someone knocked on the student council's door.
Two women entered the room. One of them was Katherine, who was wearing a tight-fitting dress that matched with her serious style, and the other was surprisingly Rose.
Rose put on a surprised expression when she saw me, but before she could greet me, Katherine spoke first.
"Dina, is Claus already here?" Katherine greeted my sister before fixing her gaze on me. She then shot me a cold look. "Claus, I think you need to give me an explanation."
"I don't think so." I replied indifferently. I was beginning to become tired of this.
An angered expression appeared on Katherine's face. "Claus, allow me to remind you that this place is not the palace! If you do something like this again, I promise you that things will not end easily for you!"
"Oh? However, if someone dares to do something like that again, I'll act like that once more."
Katherine's eyes narrowed. Her body tensed up and a powerful pressure spread in the room. I smiled and replied in kind. Perhaps because the fight against Rose was more intense than I expected, my battle intent was currently at an all-time high.
Moreover, I disliked Katherine's attitude. Katherine was already prejudiced against me. In this situation, even if I take a humble position and apologize for last night's events, her impression of me will not improve.
So, why not fight? I'm sure that a defeat would take her pride down a notch.
I wonder if Katherine will be able to pressure me as much as Rose in a fight.
Just when we were about to draw out our weapons, Dina stepped between us with an exasperated look.
"Hey, hey, calm down. You are scaring the others."
She was right. Daisy, Andrea, Rose, and Iris, were looking at us with tensed up expressions.
Dina then put a hand on Katherine's shoulder. "You too Katherine, although Claus's actions were too heavy-handed, the fact is, he was helping Andrea. What do you think would have happened if Claus doesn't stop Andre last night?
"And you Claus, remember that Katherine is the leader of the guard committee. You must show her due respect."
Katherine snorted and I smiled amused. Both of us then retracted our battle intent.
"... Be thankful that Dina is here today."
"I don't think I'm the one that needs to be thankful." I replied with an easygoing smile.
Katherine glared at me for a few seconds before turning around with a cold look on her face. "Rose, let's go."
"Y-Yes!" Rose looked at me apologetically and followed after Katherine.
Once Katherine left, the girls heaved a sigh of relief.
"Honestly, I don't understand why your relationship with Kathe is so bad, Claus." Daisy smiled bitterly and shook her head. "I never saw Kathe so enraged as today..."
"Is it so? I think she just wanted to fight me, though." I replied half-heartedly.
"Huh?" Dina tilted her head in confusion, but I just put on a pondering expression. "Why was she like that?"
"... What do you mean?" Dina asked.
"Nothing. I was talking to myself."
Mmm... I must find an opportunity to talk with Katherine. Something is strange about her attitude.
Even if she disliked the way I dealt with last night's events, it was not enough reason to show so much animosity towards me. Moreover, she knew about the reason I acted like that. Her impression of me should have improved after learning about what I did to protect Andrea.
But instead, she behaved even more aggressively. Moreover, her animosity seemed a bit forced.
[Could it be...] I thought about a possibility, but I could not confirm it without enough proof.
While I was lost in my thoughts, someone knocked on the door again.
"Hmm? We sure have a lot of visitors today." Dina showed a slightly surprised look and opened the door.
A servant girl was outside the door. She bowed towards Dina and greeted her in a respectful tone.
"Greetings, your highness."
Dina showed a stunned look. It was rare for someone to show such courtesy in the school grounds. After all, everybody is supposed to be equal in this institute.
"You are..." Dina tried to remember the identity of the girl, but the girl spoke first.
"I'm looking for his highness, prince Claus. Miss Clara wishes to speak with him."
(Author Note: Clara is the fiancée if you forgot about it.)
...