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"Can't I speak informally in that sense? I'm a year older than you. Oh, is that not? Are you older than you actually are?"

"I'm young."

Elena laughed at Khalif, who did not lose his cheerfulness.

"Benefactor."

"Speak."

"Do you remember? When I first saw my benefactor, I asked Lucia so that I could be a father who was not ashamed."

"How can I forget?"

Elena still remembered that day very clearly. Emilio told her that he would give what he had accumulated all his life to repay her for saving his daughter. He meant it, and that was the driving force behind her trust in him.

"If I take my foot out now, I won't be able to see my daughter."

"Mr. Emilio."

Elena felt overwhelming emotion. Khalif and Emilio, who stood out for her, not Lucia or Veronica, she was so grateful for.

'For the first time. I feel like I'm not alone.'

Anne and Lorentz, whom Elena believed in, in her past life, betrayed her. They were ordered by Leabrick to keep a good eye on Elena and never treated her with sincerity. But not anymore. She had strong allies that she could trust openly.

"Okay! Let's destroy everything. What are we going to do now? What should we start with?"

Elena smiled brightly as she saw Khalif in triumph.

"You just have to be good at what you're doing. Consistently."

***

The graduation ceremony of the academy was more grand than ever. As a representative of graduation, Sian read his graduation speech and ended his academic career by a moving last sentence. A large crowd gathered to celebrate graduation. Among them was Elena, disguised as Lucia.

"Congratulations on your graduation, senior."

Raphael nodded to Elena's congratulations. He looked puzzled, like the graduation was not real.

"It's a shame that the day before yesterday the academy was as cramped as a birdcage and now you're leaving."

"I'm sure the senior Khalif will take care of you. I'll visit you from time to time."

She was just saying good-bye when someone suddenly stepped in from behind her. It was Khalif.

"What? I think you just talked about me."

"Your ears are so sharp."

Raphael grinned at Elena's cute sarcasm.

"Senior Cecelia, congratulations on your graduation, too."

"Thank you, junior."

Cecilia thanked Raphael and Khalif with a bright smile and had a good conversation. Then, Elena felt someone's eyes from behind and looked back. She could see the sight of Sian standing close by.

"Congratulations on your graduation, Your Highness."

"Thank you."

Sian said nothing for a moment after that. Around the time when silence was awkward, Sian wore it with difficulty.

"I'm afraid I'll be out of my mind for a while."

"What?"

"I'll come and see you when I have time."

"…!"

Sian said his goodbyes and turned around. This was to prevent Lucia from attracting attention because of himself.

"Wait a minute!"

Seeing the distant back of the proposal, Elena, who had been in a daze, hurriedly called for Sian. But Sian, who had gone that far, disappeared into the crowd.

"… Your Highness won't be able to see me even if he came."

Elena had submitted a leave of absence to the school building as of yesterday. This is because Belladonna made it difficult to act as Lucia because her face was so known.

Raphael graduated and left the academy. Even if she didn't dress up as Lucia, there were many ways to contact her through Khalif. There was no reason to act as Lucia anymore.

Therefore, even if Sian comes to see her, Lucia will not be at the academy. The same is true of Veronica, which Elena is posing as. Sooner or later, Leabrick will recruit professors for her to graduate early. Then Elena's interface with Sian will completely disappear. So she was going to tell him. Don't look for me, I won't be here. She should have said this, but she couldn't. Elena couldn't erase the bitterness because she couldn't see Sian even if he came.

"I couldn't even say goodbye to His Highness, but he's gone."

"He's in a hurry."

Elena drew her eyes because there was no way to catch Sian, who had already gone. Even so, she kept looking for regrets. Raphael approached Elena and said.

"So, Ren, he didn't come."

"He must have been hurt that he didn't win."

Ren didn't come to the graduation ceremony. Was it the means of rejecting second place in the swordsmanship festival? Elena, who was responding casually, turned her head and looked at Raphael suspiciously.

"But you're talking about him, aren't you? You didn't get along well."

"We didn't. I think he's detestable. He bothers me."

Elena nodded her head as she saw Raphael smiling bitterly.

"Me, too."

***

After the graduation ceremony, Elena was busy trying to complete her credits during the vacation. In her spare time, she purchased the artwork brought by Khalif as an art broker, and spent the rest of her time stopping by the library to accumulate insufficient knowledge and insight. He also took care of things related to the salon so well that Elena didn't dare to interfere.

Emilio perfectly carried out the sale of natural marble in line with his reputation as an object. The contract was made to supply natural marble to the Grand Duchy for five times the cost. This allowed them to cover the cost of building more salons and basilica's.

As the number of masters in charge increased, Khalif picked a successor who could specialize in the field of architecture and art, as Elena advised. He took them along, imprinted and educated them in their role as an art broker, and served as a senior.

The most interesting thing was the news of Raphael. Khalif gave him the best environment to concentrate on his work. He paid attention to providing a workroom with a good view which was differentiated from the quaint underground studio during his academic years so that he could concentrate on painting.

But it didn't even last 15 days, so Raphael said he wanted to move a studio. In the basement as in the academy. When Khalif asked if he was serious, he said he couldn't get used to the bright sunlight and didn't want to sneeze because of the pollen that came through the window frames. Khalif was dumbfounded, but as Raphael asked, he searched near the salon to save a basement with a damp and stale smell. It is said that at this time Raphael began to work with progress.

She could also hear news related to Ren. It was said that the shock received after the swordsmanship festival was great, and that he was stuck in a military training center within the family and devoted himself to the training of swordsmanship. One day, it was said that he made them devastated under the guise of a struggle with the knights in his family.

Sian, who returned to the imperial palace, stayed there. It was presumed that he did not show any political action, perhaps because of the aristocracy's checks, but that was not well understood for Elena.

'You must have been busy as if being chased by something. There's no way such a person could be still in the Imperial Palace…'

Sian had changed a lot compared to the original history. He has also recognized the change in the new era. He was likely to be moving differently than before by now. Very covertly, very dangerously.

'You'll do well without me worrying. You're very sharp-witted.'

Not only Elena, but everyone lived faithfully to their own lives. As if the time she spent at the academic institute was a lie.

In the meantime, vacation ended. As Leabrick asked, Elena completed her target credits during the seasonal semester. The academic year went up and the new semester began, and the professors' lectures began. It was a series of academic life without much difference. Elena, however, had no time to be bored. Because she knew that it was time to leave. Sure enough, Elena was called to the academy shortly before the midterm exam. It was the gathering of the president, vice president and several professors of the academy.

"The thesis submitted by the princess was excellent. She was excellent at reading the flow of the art world."

The flow of the art world? The thesis? Elena closed her lips tightly as she tried to hold back her leaking smile. This is because it was ridiculous to see high praise for a paper that had never been submitted.

"I was impressed, too. I'm also impressed that she could point out the truth and falsehood of the art world so accurately."

"She has a reputation in the art world. She has a good eye for the value of art."

Elena wanted to demand to see her paper. What on earth could it say that would make such a mouth watering noise? Come to think of it, she heard that in her last life she submitted a paper on the clothing culture of the empire.

"I've been worried about this paper. Is it right to tie a person like the princess to an academic institution?"

"Looking back at the history of past academic institutions, there were a few people who graduated early by replacing their credits with papers."

'You're so good at talking.'

The number of graduates who graduated early so far you can count on ten fingers. If you look at them, they're either war heroes who went to war and got credit for their work in the swordsmanship department, or geniuses who are comparable if not collegiate. Elena was not even a step above that standard. Despite this, she was praised for her never-before-seen proxy thesis and promoted early graduation. From the president of the academy to the vice president to the professors, they were all uniformly supported by or under the influence of the Grand Duke.

'That's the real horror of the Grand Duke. There's no place he can't reach throughout the Empire.'

Look now. They went ahead with her early graduation as if they didn't care about the authenticity of her thesis.

"So, after much deliberation and many meetings, we've decided to let the Princess graduate early."

Professors nodded at remarks that were tantamount to a notice from the president. He said that it was a wise decision, and that she was a vessel too big for the Academy to hold.

"I, Veronica von Friedrich, respect your decision."

Elena bowed her head and accepted the decision. It was the day that Veronica's name appeared on an early graduation list unparalleled in the history of the Academy.