Chapter 94: Betrothal

A carriage bearing the imperial emblem passed through the main gate of the Academy.

Even the front gates that had remained firmly shut before the Eritz family’s carriage could not refuse entry to one belonging to the imperial family. Without any identity checks or inspections, the carriage carrying Ian and his companions rolled straight inside.

‘They say there are no ranks inside the Academy, but in the end…’

In truth, though people claimed everyone was equal, it was far from reality. 

The Academy was established under the Emperor’s authority, and its continued operation depended on his summons. Offending the Emperor was simply not an option.

When the carriage arrived in front of the dormitory and its door opened, Ian was met with the sight of several instructors waiting outside.

“Your Majesty… greetings…”

The instructors froze the moment they saw Ian’s face. Naturally, it was shocking to see someone who wasn’t a prince or princess emerging from a royal carriage.

Their expressions stiffened, then turned red as blood rushed to their faces. Veins bulged, and their faces twisted into expressions of outrage.

“You—why are you there?!”

“How are you all doing?”

Right on cue, the princess descended from the carriage. She tilted her head as she looked at the flustered instructors.

“What’s the matter, Instructors?”

“No, he—Your Majesty the Princess, why is this person in the carriage…?”

“Oh, our Marquis Ian?”

The princess turned to Ian and wrapped him in a hug, smiling broadly.

“He is my fiancé.”

In an instant, the instructors dropped their heads so low they nearly touched the ground.

***

“You’re a marquis! A marquis!”

The Academy’s opening ceremony was scheduled for Monday. 

Of course, only a fool would plan to arrive on Monday.

Most of the cadets, including Stella and the others, had arrived at the Academy beforehand.

“How are you even a marquis?!”

“Isn’t it obvious? He can summon a 4-star summon, and he even defeated high-level demons.”

That wasn’t all. Ian had accomplished so many things, there wasn’t enough space to list them all. But that wasn’t what Stella was upset about.

“You’re still a cadet!”

Stella Eritz, who also had a 4-star summon like Ian, was the daughter of a duke, the next head, and the heir to a duchy.

But she still wasn’t a duchess. Until she formally inherited the title, she was simply a noble young lady.

That was why cadets at the Academy were considered equal—at least on the surface. Without an inherited title, whether one was a duke’s son or a baron’s, they were all semi-nobles.

“It must mean that the accomplishments I’ve made are just that impressive.”

Ian said casually as he bit into a fruit. The fresh juice spread across his tongue, making him exhale in delight as he turned to Dinua.

“Oh, Dinua. This is delicious.”

“Yes. There’s more. Eat as much as you want.”

“…When did you two get so close again?”

Stella looked at Ian incredulously, unable to believe how easily he was addressing his senior.

Were they always this friendly? It hadn’t been bad before, but certainly not this familiar.

Something must have happened behind her back.

“Are you jealous?”

“…What?”

Ian grinned teasingly as he watched Stella’s bewildered expression.

She stomped her foot in frustration.

“Ugh! What nonsense—why would I be jealous?!”

“No, but you totally look jealous, don’t you?”

With a chuckle, Ian pulled out his family crest—the newly designed emblem of House Clark, now symbolizing the marquisate.

“I’m a marquis now.”

“…Huh, what?”

Realizing it wasn’t what she had been thinking, Stella deflated a bit and waved him off.

“What’s there to be jealous of… It’s just a marquisate.”

“Hey now, show some respect. You should call me Marquis.”

“…Wanna die? Don’t you know all cadets at the Academy are equal?”

“Yeah, because most of them don’t have titles.”

But Ian did. He was the only cadet who held an actual noble title—while the rest were just semi-nobles, destined to inherit one in the future.

Strictly speaking, Ian wasn’t wrong.

“Now then, Dinua, how about a demonstration?”

“Marquis, how do you like the fruits picked from our estate?”

“They’re amazing. So refreshing—they remind me of you.”

Smiling as he said that, Ian cut a fruit and took another bite. At that moment, the fruit had practically become Dinua’s introduction to him. It was as if her essence was in the taste—though, fortunately, Ian didn’t say that out loud.

He moved on, passing by her, and looked at Stella, beckoning her to try one as well.

“…Ahn, Whoo—Marqu…!”

“What?”

“Hey, ah—Marqui…”

Stella clenched her teeth and trembled as she addressed Ian with honorifics.

Ian couldn’t hold it in and burst into laughter.

“Pfft—oh, come on! Are you serious right now? Really? You’re not Stella. Who are you?”

As Ian giggled, clutching his stomach, Stella realized she had been completely played.  

He had struck a nerve, and it hurt.

She couldn’t contain her anger. 

When she pointed at him with a trembling hand, Ian looked at her as if asking, What now?

“You, you… ugh…!”

She wanted to summon Ifrit and set him on fire right then and there—but she held back. Summons weren’t allowed on campus, and burning people was obviously out of the question.

Just as she was trying to calm herself down, something happened that made her anger feel trivial.

“Oh my, Marquis Ian.”

A voice—both unfamiliar and strangely familiar—rang out, catching the attention of everyone present.

Stella’s eyes widened at the sound of the woman’s voice. She turned around—and immediately lost the power in her gaze, blinking in disbelief.

“W-What? Your Majesty the Princess?!”

“Nice to see you again, Lady Stella. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

Ivenoah Friedrich approached them with a composed expression.

“What’s going on here? How dare anyone act towards Marquis Ian in such a way?”

“Ah, well…”

Stella hesitated. Should she explain what had happened? Or should she ask how the princess knew Ian?

But her years of noble upbringing wouldn’t allow her to ignore a direct question from royalty.

“Ian and I were just… playing around.”

“Oh? Are you close with the Marquis?”

“Huh? You’re also calling Ian the Marquis, Your Majesty? Really?”

“Of course. He is the Marquis, after all.”

Unlike the semi-noble cadets, the princess remained part of the imperial family, even if she wasn’t set to inherit the throne.

While Stella was still trying to process that, Ivenoah dropped a bombshell that shocked everyone.

“And besides—there’s nothing strange about a wife being respectful to her soon to be husband.”

“…your hu-husband?”

“Gaah—what?!”

Stella and Dinua’s eyes widened in sync. They both immediately turned to look at Ian.

Ian frowned and glared at Ivenoah.

“I told you not to spout nonsense.”

“Ah, come on! What are you doing to the Crown Princess right now…!”

“No, it’s fine,” Ivenoah said with a calm smile. “The Marquis is just shy. He’ll grow out of it… someday.”

With that, she covered her mouth and began to laugh—elegantly, in a way befitting someone of her status.

After a brief chuckle, she glanced at Dinua and Stella, smiled politely, and turned to leave.

“Well then, I’ll leave you to it. Enjoy yourselves.”

“Ah… goodbye.”

“Goodbye.”

Stella and Dinua barely acknowledged her farewell. Instead, they watched Ivenoah walk away in the distance, then turned to Ian with suspicious glares.

“…That just now.”

“What about it?”

Judging by their faces, Ian had a good idea what they were thinking. He figured this sort of thing would keep happening. It was too much trouble to explain every time, so he figured it was better to just sum it up in one line.

So he did.

“If I defeat the Demon King, I’ll marry the princess.”

And Ian had always claimed he would defeat the Demon King.  

At least, everyone here knew that much.

“…Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

“Then what if you don’t defeat the Demon King?”

“That’s not going to happen.”

Upon hearing that, the two girls widened their eyes.  

All they had to do was make it impossible for Ian to defeat the Demon King.

But how?

The easiest way was to hurt Ian. Injure him so badly he couldn’t move before the final battle…  

Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option. Ian was stronger than both of them, and in other worlds, summoners had healing beasts.

That left only one solution.

[We’ll do it first.]

[What if we defeat the Demon King?]

It was possible—there was a way to defeat the Demon King without Ian.  

Of course, if Ian didn’t exist, no one would ever have said something that absurd out loud.

“Ian.”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“Today’s the weekend, right?”

“Yup.”

Stella stood up from her seat and looked him squarely in the eye.

If she wanted to become strong enough to defeat the Demon King without him, then ironically… she needed his help.

“It’s been a while. Let’s go train.”