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Translator: penny
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: I'll Take My Fiancée
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I was a bit taken aback by the scene unfolding before me, but I quickly regained my composure.
Because I had a pretty good idea of what was going on.
'This has to be that, right?'
Some kind of academy entrance event.
Yeah. In a romance fantasy with an academy setting, incidents have to happen right from the first day.
And if this is that incident, then the people involved here are very likely to include the male lead—
To get a read on the situation, I scanned the layout.
One on Laura's side, the other facing her.
From the looks of it, the one facing her had been talking to Laura when the other guy butted in.
As if to prove my guess right, the man standing across from Laura shouted in an irritated voice.
"How rude! Can't you see I'm talking to the lady? Who the hell are you, anyway?"
"I'm Rodwell Paella. I stepped in because it looked unseemly for you to be hitting on a lady who clearly wasn't interested."
"What? Unseemly? You, some mongrel from who-knows-where, daring to talk to me like that? Do you even know who I am?!"
The man flew into a rage at Rodwell's words.
But I paid more attention to the guy standing up to him than his clichéd outburst.
Because the name he'd given rang a bell.
'Rodwell? Rodwell... I've heard that name somewhere before.'
Paella Viscountcy.
I knew a thing or two about that family.
They were a traditional martial house with a long history of loyalty to the imperial family.
Especially Robert Paella, the younger brother of the current viscount—he was renowned for his swordsmanship.
His name always came up whenever knights debated the empire's greatest swordsman!
He loved traveling the empire, crossing blades with various knights and swordsmen, and he'd once stayed as a guest at our Dominica house, where he critiqued my swordplay.
Critiqued is a strong word; he'd mostly just watch my practice and toss out a tip or two.
Still, he left quite an impression.
Especially that first thing he'd said to me—I still remembered it clear as day.
[Oh, kid. You've got a face like no other. Ever died once before?]
It was like he'd seen right through my memories.
The shock from back then felt as fresh as yesterday.
But the only Paella I knew was that man.
I didn't know any other Paellas besides the one with those sharp eyes.
So I couldn't help tilting my head at the inexplicable sense of familiarity.
'Was it on the academy enrollee list I checked?'
No, probably not.
As I mentioned, the Paella family had served the imperial family loyally for generations.
They would've been raised from childhood with that loyalty drilled into them, so recruiting him as one of my subordinates would be tough.
Tough? More like next to impossible.
To the Paellas, the Dominica family probably looked like a pack of vultures waiting to exploit any imperial misstep for their own power grab.
I pondered a bit more, then shook my head.
'No clue.'
There had to be a reason the name stuck with me—but
If it'd been something major, I wouldn't be drawing a blank like this.
More importantly, the current situation took priority.
The standoff was heating up, neither side backing down.
Even if it was an entrance event, things were looking way too volatile from the start.
He'd tried name-dropping his family to pressure Rodwell, but it hadn't worked, so now he was fiddling with the glove on his hand!
I couldn't believe it.
'A duel on the first day? Is he insane?'
Yeah, I'd figured as much.
The noble kids gathering at the academy wouldn't all be right in the head.
The heirs of families entrenched in high society or capital nobles might know their place, but these were the outliers.
Until now, the only people above them had been their actual noble parents and higher-ranking siblings, so plenty must be full of themselves.
But jumping straight to challenging someone to a duel?
I felt like slapping my forehead.
'At this rate, the peaceful academy life I wanted is just a pipe dream.'
I glanced around.
Hoping someone might step in to defuse things.
But everyone was just murmuring from the sidelines—no one looked eager to intervene.
And no one from a high enough family to make it stick, either.
In other words, if this kept going, those two really would end up dueling.
I frowned, weighing my options.
'Should I stop this?'
If I stepped in, it'd definitely get sorted.
That nameless extra was just throwing his family's weight around—
He couldn't ignore the Dominica name.
No noble in the empire didn't know one of the three grand dukedoms.
And with Laura there, I had more than enough justification to butt in.
But one concern held me back.
'If this is the original story's event, it's the start of Laura and Rodwell's connection...'
Was it right for me to interfere?
Laura needed to find her fated one here at the academy.
So the best thing was to steer clear of these events as much as possible.
I had no idea how my meddling might derail their bond.
'Plus, from the Paella Viscountcy? He's gotta be the muscle type.'
Rodwell seemed a prime candidate for the romance lead's powerhouse role.
If he really held the story's top-tier combat prowess, this was just a minor hiccup.
Their duel would end with Rodwell toying with the guy one-sidedly.
Rodwell would shine as the romance lead, they'd part on good terms, and look forward to next time.
And I'd stay low-key, safer that way.
That far into my thoughts, I halted my step forward.
'Hmm, no reason for me to stop it.'
I'll just watch Rodwell's sword skills while I'm here.
In the novel, he was a near-unbeatable monster—curious if he lives up to it in person.
I've trained with the sword steadily since I was little, so I should spot plenty...
But then, a thought flashed through my mind.
'Wait, isn't the crown prince enrolled here incognito right now?'
I'd momentarily forgotten, but the crown prince was entering the academy.
I didn't know if he'd arrived yet.
But everything happening at the academy would reach his ears.
And if word got back that my fiancée was caught in a fight between two guys while I just stood there going 'Whoa, cool swordplay'...?
That'd be a problem.
'He'd think, what the hell kind of guy is this?'
Even if nobles didn't put much stock in engagements, that'd be too much.
And if it spread to others, my reputation would take a serious hit.
A noble too scared to intervene, abandoning his fiancée—something like that.
Not ideal for my future prospects.
In the world of court nobles, reputation was everything.
'Gotta stop this. Now.'
I stopped spectating and approached the crowd surrounding the three.
Then I said to whoever was blocking the way.
"Step aside."
"Huh? Who the— Eek! D-Do-Dominica?!"
A pale-faced guy shrieked at the sight of the Dominica crest brooch pinned to my chest.
At his cry of "Dominica," the space—filled with hushed whispers—went dead silent in an instant.
And every eye turned to me.
"...."
"...."
"...L-Little Iron-Blooded... for real... "
A faint mutter from someone.
That voice acted like a signal flare—the crowd parting before me like the tide receding.
I walked the path that opened up, all eyes on me.
Toward my fiancée, Laura.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Slow, resounding footsteps.
The three at the center noticed the anomaly from the sound and turned my way.
Capturing even their gazes, I spoke calmly.
"This is getting noisy."
The man, face twisting as if to retort—
But his expression shifted once at my face,
And again at the brooch on my chest.
His pupils quaking, he began babbling in a shrill voice.
"L-Lord Dominica... No! I mean, this is..."
Incoherent nonsense—I couldn't tell what he was denying or excusing.
I didn't bother stopping him.
I just ignored him, as if he were utterly irrelevant.
At my reaction, he shut his mouth with a world-ending look and bowed his head deeply.
Having silenced the extra, I turned to the next figure.
Rodwell, standing protectively in front of Laura.
Meeting his eyes, I said,
"I'll take my fiancée."
"...!"
Rodwell's composure cracked at the word "fiancée."
But he quickly regained it, stepping aside from Laura and giving a small bow.
"My apologies."
Apologies?
Oh, for blocking her without knowing she was engaged.
That's hardly worth calling an apology.
Compared to whatever he might do in the future, anyway.
Still, I liked how he apologized right away, so I replied,
"Rodwell Paella. See you around."
We'd be in the same department anyway.
With that—implying not to play dumb if we met in class—I left with Laura.