15

"No one can stand up to him, can they?" Magisa mutters to herself.

During his welcome speech, the headmaster talked about "equality."

He wants to remove the walls between nobles and commoners, so magic can move forward.

Thanks to his efforts, a commoner named Charyx graduated at the top some years ago.

If magic stays a noble-only thing, there'll never be big breakthroughs.

Eventually, someone else will beat them in competition.

So the headmaster aims to create a place where everyone can compete with each other, without ranks getting in the way.

But that gap is huge, and it's not going to vanish overnight.

Still, Arc seems to be taking that first step without hesitation.

He's practically acting on the headmaster's words right away, which surprises and impresses Magisa.

She feels that she could never do something like that.

Magisa tends to try living up to what people expect of her.

They see her as royalty, so she acts like royalty, whether she wants to or not.

"Royalty is chosen by the gods," people say.

From the moment she was born, a heavy duty and responsibility fell on her.

Arc's straightforwardness amazes her.

She's moved by how he's not scared to upset other nobles and seems serious about making things equal.

She finds him really inspiring.

That's why she's thinking about getting closer to him.

Of course, Arc doesn't care about equality at all.

He'd be happy if the whole idea went down the drain.

He's just doing whatever he wants as a noble.

But for some reason, his actions keep causing everyone around him to misunderstand him.

◇　◇　◇

Magisa, the Second Princess.

She's a main character, basically a heroine.

Later on, she falls for the original protagonist of the story.

But there's a huge wall between nobility and commoners.

She's a princess, he's a commoner. That gap always comes between them.

Royalty can't just pick whoever they like.

By the end of the story, the kingdom's in total chaos anyway, so romance becomes a minor issue…

But never mind that.

"Equality" is a big deal for Magisa.

Because of her royal blood, people always kept their distance.

She never had friends or anyone to open up to.

Plus, her father, King Ouranos Sacri Odin, hates her.

In fact, he hates her and the First Prince, Chronos Sacri Odin, too.

And Prince Chronos doesn't really care about her at all.

She's not on his radar.

Chronos only looks to his father, the king.

In that lonely world, Magisa longed for real connections.

So the word "equality" means a lot to her.

In the original story, she and the protagonist basically explore that idea together.

But because Arc keeps butting in, the future changes a bit.

Magisa starts getting interested in Arc.

And the story drifts away from what it was supposed to be.

◇　◇　◇

Ugh, this is the worst.

I'm in a terrible mood.

That duke's daughter ended up in the same class as me.

Now I can't show off as much as I'd like.

I don't want anyone higher than me around.

I wish they'd just disappear.

Not that I want them to die, but stay out of my sight.

Well, whatever.

Even if we share a class, I can just ignore her.

Mwahaha.

I'll gather the commoners and do whatever I want!

◇　◇　◇

Class has started.

I'm taking Modern Magic Theory with a teacher called Embra, who has a doll-like face.

For a noble like me, it's super easy.

I had amazing private tutors, so I'm way above the commoners!

Hahaha…!

But that duke's daughter is annoying.

I glance at her.

She's apparently a genius or something.

Well, yeah, she's a duke's daughter, so of course she had a great education.

It makes me mad.

Look at her, flaunting her brains.

She's throwing all these questions at the teacher, and it's only day one.

Because of her, the lecture's getting more and more advanced.

She doesn't care about people who can't keep up.

Well, I can handle it. I'm a noble, after all!

Now Embra is asking her tough questions.

Something about the best calculation speed in modern magic.

She answers with a confident look.

I can't help grinning.

She's half-right—at least, that used to be the theory.

But I'm one step ahead.

Magic theory has advanced since then.

My tutor came up with something new!

Sharyx taught me personally, thanks to all the money and power I poured in.

That's what wealth and influence get you!

I correct her, feeling super smug.

Hahaha.

Knowledge is power!

I bet she's frustrated inside, even if she looks calm.

Mwahaha!