……And so he resolved not to let it show. Even if they did part ways, a natural ending might mean Jeanne wouldn’t be hurt.

Every moment spent together was good, but guilt ran through it in equal measure. That was why Ruhir wanted to help Jeanne after graduation.

She had seemed to want a position in public service, and Ruhir could put in a recommendation. That was at least something.

If he helped her that way, perhaps they could stay on good terms even after parting. If they ended things well, couldn’t they remain friends?

After graduating from the academy, she would go on to work under his older sister, who would one day become empress. Then he would likely see Jeanne often, her being in public service.

“Ruhir.”

“Yes?”

“Are you full?”

“Oh. I was just thinking about something for a moment.”

He smiled and put a piece of food in his mouth. The tender meat melted smoothly and went down well with the salad.

Even after dinner, the plaza streets were full of people. They had often taken a carriage before, but tonight they weren’t tired, so they decided to walk.

Past the lively, glittering plaza, the road back to the academy grew gradually quiet. She looked up and saw the sky thick with stars.

Walking down a street stitched with stars always put her in a good mood.

“You really love looking at the stars, Jeanne.”

“……Is it that obvious?”

“Yes. Very.”

“When I was little, my mother used to lay out a mat at night and teach me the constellations. That’s why I love them.”

“I suppose all parents do that. Mine taught me the same way.”

The road back to the academy was well kept, so there was nothing to fear. That was why they went out at night and walked back like this to let dinner settle.

Even with an ending already decided, having someone beside her gave a kind of comfort. When they reached the academy building, Ruhir walked her all the way to the women’s dormitory.

“Good night.”

“You too, Ruhir.”

He watched until she had gone inside, then turned and left. 

……She had been pretending otherwise, but she was being colored by Ruhir. She would have to make an effort not to grow attached.

Well, thinking of it not as attachment but simply as what dating felt like might be fine too. She had been cutting off feelings given to people since she was young, so she was used to it.

***

And so the day of the first exam of the eighth year arrived. Every other time, her heart had raced with the intention of taking Top rank, but this time was different. She had to score lower than Lilian, and that made her nervous.

It felt similar to when she had sat the academy entrance exam.

That said, she had accumulated enough knowledge that most of the questions were ones she knew. Even without reviewing at the dormitory after her daily outings with Ruhir, almost all the answers came to her.

The difference between Top rank and second came down to a matter of a few questions, so she thought she only needed to get a handful wrong.

She pretended to agonize and handed in her paper with barely any time to spare. She repeated that throughout the day. Since she knew nearly everything, pretending not to know and getting things wrong felt harder than simply answering correctly.

She could feel a burning gaze from not far away, and she knew without looking who it was.

Yes, yes, Your Highness. I’ll let you have Top rank. So you wanted to watch me struggle too, did you?

She performed her best show of deliberating, and at that the gaze finally seemed satisfied and disappeared. It was difficult, truly difficult. She had never had to agonize like this since she was a child, so she had no idea whether she was pulling it off.

After the exam ended, she made a point of looking dejected. Since she had never been like this before, she could see her friends notice the shift in atmosphere.

“Jeanne. What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“……This has never happened to me before, but I was rushing and making mistakes, it was a disaster.”

They wondered for a moment if she was joking, but her serious expression told them she wasn’t. After exams, many students usually came to Jeanne to check their answers. They had intended to do the same this time, but her grave expression made them read the room and return to their own seats.

Some began to snicker. She had always taken Top rank, and now look at her, falling apart over one relationship. It was obvious they would break up before graduation, and then wouldn’t her whole future be ruined.

The students who envied and resented Jeanne exchanged subtle glances with each other. Jeanne deliberately kept a troubled look on her face and stared at her exam paper. If she could still take Top rank after getting this many wrong, the academy’s credibility might come into question.

“Lilian, how did you do? Did it go well this time?”

“It would be embarrassing to say for certain, but I think so.”

From behind, Lilian’s group burst into giggles, saying what a relief. How wonderful that Her Highness is pleased.

She had submitted at roughly tenth place, and sure enough, a few days later her results came back around that mark.

It was not Jeanne Nova, who had held Top rank since enrollment, but Lilian de Winter who took Top rank.

Everyone began whispering when they saw the results posted on the bulletin board, and she was the subject of stares for the entire day. After all classes ended, she was called in by her professor and made her way to the private office.

She sat down in the cozy office, and Professor Bellare poured her a cup of tea.

“Thank you.”

“Well, the reason I called Miss Nova in today is that I wanted to ask about yesterday’s exam.”

“……This is a little difficult to say, but my condition wasn’t good from the morning. I think that led to one mistake after another.”

“Goodness. Are you alright now?”

“Yes. I rested well and I’m much better.”

Since professors stayed with their students from enrollment through graduation, they tended to care deeply for them. Professor Bellare was also of commoner origin, which made her especially fond of Jeanne. She was careful not to show it in front of others so as not to cause Jeanne any difficulty.

She would introduce her to useful study materials or recommend part-time work. She had been a great help during the incident with Victor as well, so Jeanne was always grateful to her.

That was why, of everyone, she felt sorry toward the professor for having deliberately manipulated her results. Even now, hearing that she hadn’t been well, the professor was wearing a worried expression, and it didn’t sit well with her.

“Still, since you enrolled as Top rank, at least you can receive your scholarship through graduation.”

“I think so too. If that hadn’t been the case, I really would have been in serious trouble.”

If her scholarship had depended on her results each exam, she never would have agreed to the relationship in the first place. The only reason she had gone along with it was because the support available to students without money was generous enough.

Professor Bellare handed her some study materials that might be of help. She also recommended a nearby restaurant that had recently opened, and said with a smile that she would let Jeanne know right away if a good job opening came up.

When the consultation ended and she stepped out, the stares directed at her were intense. All this attention just from missing Top rank once? She truly was someone everyone envied.

Then study harder. You didn’t even work as hard as she did, and she’s a commoner. She kept that thought to herself and headed back to the classroom, where there was no one else but one person.

Just the silver hair slumped over the desk was enough to know it was Ruhir, so she walked over and sat down in the seat in front of him. His eyes were slightly drooping at the corners, which meant he probably hadn’t slept well. She reached out and poked his cheek, and his body gave a start before a pair of clear green eyes met hers.

“I came as fast as I could. Did you wait long?”

“……Mm. No. Not very long.”

After the exam results came out the way they did, the two of them became the talk of the student body.

It wasn’t uncommon for students to see their grades slip while in a relationship. But for it to happen to these two, who had always held Top rank and second. Since everyone had always expected them to stay at the very top, it seemed to come as a shock.

Jeanne received plenty of mockery dressed up as concern. What would she do, being a commoner and now with lower grades on top of it.

But she didn’t care. If only her grades had dropped, she might have felt a little put out. But seeing that Ruhir’s had fallen by a similar amount, she nearly burst out laughing.

He had a conscience after all, deliberately tanking his exam. Being this considerate was exactly why he was everyone’s prince. Sacrificing his own grades for his younger sister like this.

She had originally wondered how long this relationship would last, but after this exam she had a feeling it would run the full year.

Lilian, having taken Top rank, looked at Jeanne with a warmer gaze than usual. The cold look that had always been there had truly turned into something like a spring breeze.

Three exams remained in total. The last was the graduation exam, right on the doorstep before the graduation ceremony, and they had agreed she would keep up results like this until that one.

If the peace she gained from not taking Top rank was worth it, there was no reason not to. But dropping too far would draw talk as well, so she decided to keep herself somewhere between third and tenth place.