A little back in time, after Ekaterina ran away from Alexei's source.

A small break after the first class of the afternoon, Alexei covered her eyes with her elbowed hand on her desk, sighing several times.

Earlier in the class, Alexei had a rough time. Instead of being completely in the sky and not being answered by teachers, I don't even know what they asked me. I was flabbergasted when the frightened teacher said, "Enough is enough." It's an unacceptable lapse for him, who has always had a less-than-minute attitude since enrollment.

Next to Alexei like that, there was a big boy student who appeared all the time.

"Hey, Duke. What's wrong with you today? Is something wrong?"

I say it strangely. With burning red hair, golden eyes and long, stunning muscles, he is Nikolai Kruimov. He is the son of the Earl family.

Nicolai has an uncontrolled personality, and he talks to everyone in his class, Alexei, who is also respectfully distant from his teachers when he does poorly, in the same way he deals with everyone else.

The School of Magic is unclassified and touched the same face for three years. I was aware that there were those who called Alexei, who had carried out the work of the Duke's territory since his freshman year, "Duke" in the shadow in the sense of "Duke". But Nikolai is the only one who calls it like a nickname to face.

I did not blame it because I owe it to the Kruimov family, which was once borne by the Yurnova family. But actually inheriting the title, the Duke, called in Nicolai's deep voice, feels like his only calling, different from the title, and is no longer offensive.

Nicolai, Alexei secretly thinks he's the opposite of himself. Because Nicolai seems to warm and soothe the field just by being there, whereas Alexei presses the air just by stepping into the field even if he doesn't intend to.

And now, Alexei was too weak. So I said.

"... made my sister cry"

"What?"

Nicolai rounds his eyes.

"Dude, is that why? My sister is a creature who cries all the time, even if she has nothing. When I leave him alone, I'm going to be bad, and my father or my mother is going to beat me up, and he's going to look at it and do acambe or something."

He also seemed to have a sister, who was just blurry in the second half.

It's odd that the Count or Countess is "father," "mother," and "punch," but the Kruimov family is special. It is a family art that conveys the secret art of mating and teaching mixed horses with warcraft. Among the many aristocrats who even throw round at administrators of the territory, the head of the Kruimov family is known to work on his own on a vast ranch and to lift up his pony from his bare hands during the birth season. And the contemporary Countess, a leading marquis maid but too fond of horses, pushed her wife against the Kruimov family and said she was a woman called 'a delicacy' by her predecessor, the Countess.

And Nicolai said "ah" in the way he remembered something.

"No, it seems like your sister's here. She's got blue hair, purple-eyed blue eyes, isn't she pretty?

Yeah, she was such a grown-up, amazing beauty that I didn't think she was a freshman. It was so white that it seemed clear, it seemed so thin that it broke. I couldn't get close enough to look at you, but when I told you where you were, you politely thanked me. Even though it feels good, I don't know if it's sparkling or elegant, that was awesome.

Sorry, that's a different creature from our sister. If that's my sister, we're monkeys. "

Ha ha, and Nicolai laughs.

"Even this year's freshman, a beauty fighting for one or two, is making a scene. They call you Blue Rose, or something. There's another prominent beauty, and she says that you're Sakura.

Anyway, why did you make such a sweet little sister cry? As depressing as that is, you take care of it. "

"… there was something unfavourable about friendship. My classmate who brought me here as a friend was in a bad position..."

"Ho."

It seemed like an unexpected answer, and Nicolai roared.

"When I told you not to hang out, did you hate it and cry?

Well, if it's also the Duke of Yurnova's house, I guess I'll have to be wary of strange things dropping by... but if it's your sister, don't you know that heck for a long time?

"That kid... he hasn't been in a lot of relationships. I've been... quiet for a long time."

"Oh, speaking of which, after your admission ceremony, you came late to tell me your sister had fallen. Are you weak or increasingly different from our monkeys?

But if you do that, you're gonna be the first friend your different classmate's ever made?

To that word, Alexei opens her eyes all the way.

Exactly, that was supposed to happen. On the contrary, my friends, when I was in the realm, I received reports that servants serving near the side rarely even heard Ekaterina's voice, so much so that they would not open their hearts to anyone.

Such ecatelina had become bright and visible since coming to the Imperial Capital, making it even harder to imagine what it had been like in the report. So I was losing it.

"When I say that tightly, when I do it badly, I get screwed.

That classmate, was he the undesirable type that you can't let him go out with? "

"No..."

I remember Flora, who spoke of her origins without humiliation. It made me feel more tasteful than a lousy aristocrat.

"I just... I wanted that kid to learn to hang out with nobles. I don't know anything yet, because she's too kind. Get connections that will protect her..."

Alexei mumbles. Be not as cautious as those who are close, he knows the matter with sobriety.

I thought so.

- What would your grandfather have done?

My grandfather Sergei used it heavily, if competent, without paying attention to his identity. But that's the story of my men. My grandfather's best friend, Forlì, was the third son of the Marquis family, later cut off from his parents' house, but not the birth of a suitable family member as a friend.

But... my grandfather has a belly brother. It's Isaac the bastard, who is Alexei's great-uncle. My grandfather and great-uncle are close brothers, even if their mothers are different, and I hear that my grandfather adored my younger brother, five years of age, from an early age. Isaac, who is slightly strange but gentle, is now a renowned scholar and interacts with people of different identities. Sometimes I should have let my grandfather hang out with me.

Even if Alexei had engaged a friend of civilian origin to his grandfather, it was hard to think that his grandfather would say anything to that mate.

Yes, my grandfather wouldn't talk. Thoroughly excluding friends in different identities is......

Alexei grabbed his forehead.

(Ekaterina...... you were right)

Angry, twitchy voices come back to my ears as a result of the fierce fire.

Exclusion is my grandmother.

"I abused your mother... just like your grandmother..."

I had always intended to use my grandfather as a guide to my heart and, after my grandfather's death, to protect the Duke of Yurnova family from the tyranny of my grandmother. Not my father, but myself, took over the Duke's house from my grandfather. I had such pride.

Yet, at some point, was I, dyed of my grandmother's thoughts?

He doesn't want me to hold his hand anymore.

Pomp and I got slapped on the shoulder.

"Duke, hey Duke, what's up? Yurnova. Alexei."

Nicolai calls me, and Alexei returns to me.

"Are you okay, you look pale. You're sick, aren't you?

"No. I don't have a problem with my health"

Nicolai laughs bitterly at Alexei, who waves his head hard.

"It feels like the Rose of Ice has melted and shriveled."

"What...?

"I knew you didn't know, some of the girls are nicknamed after you.

Don't be too depressed. What's wrong with brothers and sisters all my life? Sometimes there are waves. You know, hanging out with friends means three years in school, so why don't you just forgive him? Unless you're afraid that your friend might blow you into something funny. "

Only for a moment, Alexei smiled at the edge of her lips.

"... about cooking"

"Ah?"

"That kid taught that friend how to cook and brought it to the office. Tell him I want him to eat properly."

"Do you have a sister like that in this world?"

Nicolai roars with a true face.

"My monkey or something, if you keep the rice, you're gonna eat it all the way to my place. But when I ate his confectionery, I swung a pitchfork and chased him around the garden."

A pitchfork is a giant fork that can kill people too, used to soak pasture and other things on a ranch.

"Unlike monkeys, your sister is an angel. I don't think I have much to worry about. Maybe he cares about you, maybe tomorrow, but why don't we talk about it a little bit?"

"Right... right"

Alexei laughs at the words, as the instant interruption in the office is a lie.

I was terrified of being rejected, and I didn't feel like I could speak up.

The next morning.

Alexei appeared perfectly as usual, making Nicolai laugh.

"Morning, Duke. You look good."

"Oh, good morning. About yesterday, after school, my sister came to see me and solved it. Disturbed."

Alexei says clearly.

Then I dropped my gaze and said it in a small voice. Be embarrassed.

"Thank you for your advice... yesterday, thank you"

"Ooh."

Nicolai, laughing at Gual, rubbed his back of his head right in the face.

"? What's up?"

"Uh, my gaze stabbed me a little... nothing"

Nicolai isn't even familiar with it. The girls' darkening over Alexei seems to be the momentum with stray bullets flying up to the boys. No, the cry, or the argument that no one can approach him directly because he wants to be too close to him, and the restraint, the pact, seems to give Alexei a boost these days that he doesn't really know if there's anything. With a smile at the entrance ceremony?

It is a difficult thing.

"Good for you."

Alexei nodded with a slight smile when Nicolai said, and a noiseless scream echoed into the classroom.