Chapter 6: Middle Part ①
Spring arrived, and I came to Breme Academy, where the game begins.
Breme Academy consists of a graduate school, high school division, middle school division, and elementary division, and within its grounds are the Magic Research Institute, the Affiliated Hospital, and the Holy Institute.
The Magic Research Institute is, as the name suggests, a national institution dedicated to the study of magic, while the Affiliated Hospital focuses on training doctors, researching illnesses, and developing medicine… and the Holy Institute is a place for training clergy.
Originally, I would have enrolled from the elementary division, but due to my illness, I ended up enrolling directly into the high school division.
The high school division is divided into the Knight Course, Law Course, Magic Course, General Course, Advanced Course, Home Economics Course, Arts Course, and Medical Course.
Incidentally, I enrolled in the Medical Course.
The reason I was able to continue fighting my illness was thanks to Professor Lark, Granard-sensei, Dr. Roche, and the many others who cared for me.
I, too, wish to help those suffering from illness or injury, and with that resolve, I decided to become a healing mage doctor.
A healing mage doctor is one who uses healing magic to treat injuries, fractures, and skin diseases.
Since I have a large amount of magical power, I plan to focus on healing magic… and in graduate school, I intend to specialize in the Healing Magic Department of the Faculty of Medicine.
In the original story, Iris Camellia was in the General Course…
After tying the blue ribbon of the Medical Course, Nelke and I left my private room in the affiliated hospital and headed toward the school gate.
“The weather is lovely today. Let us have lunch in the courtyard.”
“My lady, today’s menu is spinach quiche and kraut soup… followed by lemon tart and honey jelly for dessert.”
“…That is quite an iron-rich menu.”
“You only just coughed up blood the day before yesterday. Please take care of yourself.”
“…Sigh, I shall eat in the cafeteria for lunch…”
“As you wish.”
As Nelke bowed, I could see the girls around us squealing with excitement from the corner of my eye… though I could not tell whether Nelke noticed or not…
“So this is where you were.”
A low voice that cut through the noise made me turn around in surprise.
Before me stood a familiar silver-haired figure.
“It has been a while… Iris.”
────Please praise me for not blurting out, “Who are you?”
“…You have grown thinner…”
…Under the spring sunlight, his silver hair shone coldly, and his icy sapphire eyes…
The highest-quality bisque doll I once knew had evolved into a divine sculpture of ultimate beauty.
I, who only remembered his childhood appearance, was completely bewildered.
The current Crown Prince is exactly as I remember from the game illustrations and package designs.
Yes, exactly the same.
But illustrations and reality are different!
It is like a celebrity stepping out of the screen and standing right in front of you!
Right here, before my eyes!
Compared to Nelke and my brothers, the impact of seeing His Highness Julius again after so long is overwhelming… guh…
“…It has been a long time, Your Highness. I deeply apologize for my prolonged absence and delayed greetings. Please forgive me.”
I clumsily stood up from my wheelchair and performed a formal bow, grasping my skirt.
His Highness showed a faint expression of surprise.
Eh? Is that so surprising?
“You may sit. Your health is poor, is it not… I have heard that you attend the academy while hospitalized…”
“Yes, although I could not enter the girls’ dormitory, I have recovered enough to attend the academy. This is all thanks to Your Highness, my teachers, and my parents.”
“I merely sent flowers…”
“No, whenever I looked at the pale pink roses you sent, my heart was comforted. And your letters of encouragement… I am truly grateful.”
It is true that those roses comforted me.
They smelled wonderful… truly excellent for relaxation.
I wonder what variety they are? I would love to cultivate them.
As I smiled while recalling their fragrance, His Highness’s expression seemed to stiffen slightly.
…Was my smile that sinister?
“…I shall send them again when they bloom.”
“…Would that be alright?”
“It is fine. I will. So look forward to it.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Wait, I can receive more?
Not that I am thinking how lucky that is.
No, not at all.
But I could not help the soft, delighted smile that appeared on my face.
I shall dry them and make potpourri!
As I indulged in such thoughts, Nelke grasped the handles of my wheelchair and released the brake.
“Nelke!”
“My deepest apologies, Your Highness… my lady must now attend Professor Markeberg’s lecture. We will be late, so may we take our leave?”
“Nelke, stop. That is disrespectful.”
“It is fine. The servant speaks reasonably. Forgive me for stopping you, Iris. Let us speak again at leisure.”
“…I deeply apologize, Your Highness. I will surely make amends.”
For a servant of lower rank to address royalty directly is a grave offense.
Had His Highness not permitted it, Nelke could have faced execution.
After bowing deeply, I was taken by Nelke toward the classroom.
“Prince! Let us play, Prince!”
When that shrill voice disappeared, Julius felt relief.
Bright-eyed, straightforward, yet prone to tantrums and completely inconsiderate… that was Iris Camellia.
When he first heard that she had fallen ill and withdrawn as a Crown Princess candidate, he thought it must be a joke.
However, when she ceased appearing at balls, social gatherings, and even the palace, Julius initially felt relief…
But gradually, an emptiness began to grow within his chest.
Her sparkling eyes and lively voice were gone…
Something that had been part of his daily life had been taken away, leaving him uneasy.
…Julius had been more dependent on Iris than he realized.
On top of that, other noble ladies began to swarm around him, competing for his attention, forcing him to deal with them.
By the time he realized that life had been easier when Iris was there, it was already too late to escape.
“Your Highness, why not send Miss Iris a letter of encouragement?”
At his attendant’s suggestion, Julius casually sent a letter along with a rose.
In return, he received a carefully written reply filled with gratitude and concern.
…The clumsy handwriting, clearly written with great effort, stirred something in him, and he found himself wanting to see Iris.
He requested permission from his parents and attendants to visit her, but was refused due to the unknown nature of her illness and the distance to the marquis’s territory.
However, after a year, he was permitted to correspond with her.
In retrospect, that letter had been the beginning.
After nearly ten years of correspondence, the Iris he met again was
frail, as if she might break at any moment, with no trace of her former lively self.
The golden-haired girl sitting in a wheelchair, her face pale, was the complete opposite of the girl in his memories.
Yet her sparkling eyes and joyful smile remained unchanged…
…Something he had once lost was there.
“Prince Julius!”
At the shrill voice, Julius frowned.
He had just reunited with Iris and felt at peace, only for that voice to interrupt.
“…What is it?”
“Would you like to have lunch with me today?”
“………”
“I baked your favorite apple pie!”
“………No. Leave.”
“Oh my! There is no need to be shy!”
“………”
The girl who had recently transferred into the Advanced Course, Lillie Boden, with her pink pearl hair, was clever and charming, yet there was something artificial about her.
She was a beautiful girl, cheerful and hardworking… certainly likable.
Wahrheit, the top student of the Knight Course and a promising general…
Spiral, the seventh prince and a candidate for prime minister from the Kingdom of Lotos…
Wind, the second prince of Nartzisse, studying abroad…
Edel, the sixth prince and ambassador from the Lavendel Empire…
He knew that all these royals held affection for her.
However, in Julius’s mind, the girl before him felt less human than the one in the wheelchair.
The latter was like a living flower, vibrant and natural, free of calculation… and easy to speak with.
…Living in the palace sharpens one’s ability to judge people.
That is why he felt discomfort whenever he saw Lillie.
(…I shall have flowers delivered to her room later… there were some everblooming roses…)
As he recalled Iris, his expression softened slightly, only for Lillie to speak again.
“Prince Julius, about the upcoming holiday, if you would like, with me—”
“…You are still here?”
Julius glared coldly, his displeasure fully apparent.
After Julius left, Lillie sighed.
“…Ah… yeah, that definitely lowered his affection… yep, it dropped.”
Leaning against the corridor wall, she took out her smartphone and checked the screen.
“Getting an unlimited-use smartphone that shows affection levels as a reincarnation bonus is nice, but… why aren’t Nelke and the Camellia twins’ encounter events happening…? And Granard-sensei isn’t here either… that’s the worst… there goes my fun of visiting the infirmary… maybe he appears in the second playthrough… he is an added character… Nelke is a hidden character too… I should start with Julius’s route…”
Muttering to herself, Lillie suddenly paused on one screen.
▼To the Reincarnated ******
This world is indeed that of Ewig Breme, however, unforeseen circumstances and changes to the settings may occur.
It is not exactly the same as the game world.
All characters in the game exist as living humans.
Therefore, we cannot account for any discrepancies.
“…For a god, that is pretty stingy.”
Muttering that, Lillie put away her phone and stretched lightly.
“Well… I guess I will start by investigating Iris Camellia… after all, you need a villainess to raise affection levels. Might as well make her useful for me, the heroine.”
With renewed determination, Lillie paid no further attention to the message and hurried off toward the next character event location.