Chapter 5 - Entrance Ceremony (入学式)

Ekaterina slept well.

Today was the destined day of the entrance ceremony in the otome game. Yesterday, Ekaterina laid down with her mind full of worry whether she could sleep or not. But she ended up falling asleep in mere seconds. Even she had mixed feelings about this.

Ekaterina looked around her unfamiliar room in the dormitory, uncomfortable.

“Good morning, My Lady.”

“Good morning, Mina.”

Mina opened the curtain. The morning sun brightened the spacious bedroom.

“Spacious”. “Bedroom”.

Do you understand?

The room where Ekaterina was assigned was completely different from her image of a student dormitory. This room had a bedroom, a spacious living room/study room, a small room for the maid and a small kitchen.

The academy prepared one special room for each of the thirty dormitory buildings, which had a long history. Only the children of the imperial family or the duke’s family could live here.

“Do you want to eat your breakfast in your bed? Or should I bring it to the study?”

“My, we’re not eating in the dining room?”

“Meals in the special room are carried from the kitchen by elevator.”

Somehow… how they treat people of high status was really amazing? How much would they make a distinction to the same students? The prestigious school in Ekaterina’s past life was Eton School in England, but she heard that they didn’t distinguish their students, no matter if it was the royal family or a Japanese crown prince studying there.

However, since the people living in the special room might become an emperor or an empress in the future, this might be a preventative measure against poisoning… probably? Brother still had to fulfill his duty as Duke even when he was in this academy, so it might be necessary for him to have a room this size.

The heroine’s dormitory room Ekaterina in the game was a small one-room. Most of the students at the Magic Academy were nobles, so they didn’t have a shared room, but one room for each person. Ekaterina remembered thinking that even that was already extravagant.

Well, this kind of room was perfect for withdrawing in case of emergency!

Ekaterina had her breakfast in her bed, changed into uniforms (or rather had Mina dress her up. The design was cute, but Ekaterina wasn’t sure if it suited her villainess look), then she went to the entrance ceremony.

In the game, the ‘entrance ceremony’ was an introductory section where the world view and the story of the game were introduced by a narration.

But of course that wouldn’t be the same in this world. Apparently, this event was exactly the same as the Japanese entrance ceremony. The new students gathered by their dormitories. And then the enrolling students applauded them. After the guests entered the auditorium, they could take a seat.

Ekaterina, a noble lady of the Duke family, was naturally seated in the front row. She was glad she slept well last night. It would be embarrassing if she dozed off here.

After the musicians of the orchestra booth (there’s something like this in the auditorium!?) played solemn music (national anthem?) and the principal gave a congratulatory message, it’s time for the representative of the non-graduates to give a welcome speech.

However,

“The representative of the non-graduates, His Excellency Duke Alexei Yurinova.”

Whaaaaat!?

(Isn’t this something the student council president does!? Why is it Brother!? Because he has the highest rank and highest grade!? Or maybe the student council president has a cold, so he substitutes in!?

And why are they calling him with his peerage and title!?)

Alexei appeared on the stage.

(Kyahhh! Brother is so cool!!)

It was the first time Ekaterina saw her brother in uniform. She couldn’t suppress her excitement.

Alexei wore his uniform on the game screen, but it’s different to see him in the same world. The men’s uniform in the Magic Academy was a blazer, but it was a solid military uniform (a more formal one since it had so many decorations?) The uniform fit spectacled Alexei’s seemingly sadistic atmosphere.

He was really tall. His legs were long. Compared to the principal and guests that gave a speech earlier, he clearly had a good style.

Brother is slender, but he’s manly!

The noblemen in this world must learn horse riding and swordsmanship. In his morning practice, when Brother cut off his target with a slash of his long sword, his thick chest, broad shoulders, and muscles made such a beautiful figure!

His good posture when he stretched his back was also wonderful!

Alexei readily approached the podium. The expressionless fair-skinned beauty wafted off the dignity that didn’t suit a student. His movement attracted everyone’s attention in the auditorium.

Once he stood in front of the podium, Alexei slowly scanned the auditorium. Even from a distance, his light blue eyes were bright, just like a Paraiba Tourmaline. The students were originally noisy, but they became quiet as if pressured by his intensity. The quietest moment of this day fell into the auditorium.

Alexei then opened his mouth, “Dear new students…”

His low-pitched voice filled the auditorium. His words were the template of what anyone would say in this situation; welcoming the new students as members of the prosperous Imperial Magic Academy. But the way he spoke made it sound like something of great importance.

How competent. Brother was such a capable man!

Alexei left the podium in the midst of the applause, finishing his speech without being too slow or too fast.

At that time, he glanced at Ekaterina, so she secretly waved her hand.

Alexei smiled for a second. It disappeared immediately, but his expressionless face certainly turned into a gentle smile.

Kyaaa!!! The gap moe is here!!!

“Kyaaa!”

(What should I… ah!)

The voice of her heart leaked out!

Ah, no. That’s not her voice. She heard it from behind. Then she heard it again, a squeal. Did something happen?

As she thought so, the voice of the facilitator echoed.

“The representative of the freshmen, His Highness Prince Mikhail Yurigrand.”

Hiiih!?

The representative of the non-graduate students was the Duke, and the representative of the freshmen was the Prince! What an unexpected Noble vs Royal. The entrance ceremony started with Noble vs Royal.

“Kyaaa!!!”

This time, everyone cheered loudly. In the midst of that, Prince Mikhal appeared on the stage.

He had blue hair and blue eyes like the summer sky. His sweet face was dignified, but it also gave off a gentle and cheerful persona. He was tall, but he had a supple body that hadn’t fully grown up.

Even when he stood in front of all the students, he wasn’t nervous at all.

Ekaterina smiled.

(Not my type… Ahh, what a relief.)

The prince was certainly a beauty. He was super handsome. Most girls would choose Mikhail over the cold-looking Alexei.

But! As a woman in her thirties in her previous life, she couldn’t like a fifteen years old boy!

Her type was a reliable man!

Even if she was fifteen years old now, she couldn’t feel any love feelings towards such a cute teenager!

Brother looked like he was already in his twenties and he was mentally calm, so she didn’t feel guilty for fangirling over him. But a love flag with a teenager the same age as her… it would sink. The ship would sink and disappear somewhere.

Ekaterina was a bit worried if she would fall in love with the prince when she met him and become reckless, but now she was sure that would be impossible. Great.

The auditorium, which was quiet when Alexei was giving his speech, was very noisy now. It’s like most of the girls were in the same fandom and yelled together. There was even a cheer before the prince appeared.

But the timing was a bit strange, wasn’t it? Couldn’t they react a bit to Brother? Maybe he had hidden fans? Brother was also very handsome, his social status was high. He deserved to have a fanbase!

Yeah. He was a super good looking man with top grade and top class in this nation. He was also very rich.

Furthermore… he had no parents (meaning, no in-laws) or hard-to-deal shitty grandmother (grandmother-in-law), so he should be highly evaluated as a marriage partner...

Although his social status lost to the prince, many girls would say that the Duchess was a better position than the Empress in terms of pressure, right…?

O-oh my.

Brother… he was such an excellent item! (In the sense of a marriage market)

There’s no doubt of it. Many girls should be aiming for Brother!

No good, I had to protect him!

...Wait. Stop it, me.

I’m his sister.

My brother would get married eventually.

If I blindly chase off the girls who approached him, wouldn’t it make me irritating instead?

Haa! The future Duchess wouldn’t have a mother-in-law and a father-in-law, but I would be the sister-in-law!

If I treat my future sister-in-law like a hindrance, I would end up as the family member bullying the in-law!

Uwaaahhh. It’s hard for me, but I had to watch over him. I just want to support him to marry someone with a gentle personality that makes Brother happy… But he would probably marry for the sake of the family, so his sister wouldn’t have a right to speak over this matter, right?

...Wait again, me.

It wouldn’t be strange if Brother already had a fiancée.

I had never asked him so he never told me, but it was possible that he had decided who to marry! Yes, very much so!

Then what should I do? I have to confirm it...

After hearing the applause from her surroundings, Ekaterina returned to her senses.

The prince’s speech was over.

(Ah… I didn’t hear a word from the prince. Your Highness, sorry about that.)

T/N: Ai, I really relate to Ekaterina about not being able to like high school boys character now that I'm at my 20s. I can't even fangirl anymore when I play otome games with school setting. It's like watching the cute neighbor's kid overcoming his difficulties, and this older sister only want to root for them~ Then they kabedon me and go "daisuki da yo," and I can only react with, "good boy, go get the heroine!"

I can only go crazy to the classy, mighty, but whipped CEO or Duke character, begging him to make me his sugar baby...! ~~((ᵘ ꒳ ᵘ *)(* ᵘ ꒳ ᵘ ))~~//slapped

Haa, it's good to be young.

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