Hitting that mark would probably be difficult, but since she had always maintained Top rank, she figured she would manage somehow.

Ruhir lifted himself up with a tired face and rubbed his hands over his face. Then he picked up Jeanne’s bag and handed it to her. She had brought a change of clothes in advance since she planned to head out right after classes.

“Here’s your bag.”

“Thank you.”

She left him, already ready, and went to the lounge to change. Afterward the two of them left the main building together, and in the distance toward the plaza, a large firework burst into the sky.

“Today’s the Empire’s anniversary, so there’s a festival. They’re already setting them off.”

The festival ran for three days, from today through the weekend. When the results came out, he had asked her on a date during a break, saying she could use a change of mood.

She had deliberately avoided going out for the week after the exam, so she accepted his suggestion.

If she had gone out right away, someone might have grown suspicious. Something like, the exam went badly, so why does she look so happy? That sort of thing.

Well. A week was probably enough.

“Did you go to the festival often, Jeanne?”

“Hmm. About once a year? My friends would bring me. What about you, Ruhir?”

“I’ve gone with friends before, but ……this is my first time with someone I’m seeing.”

They had been together for nearly two months now, and he still got embarrassed saying the word. Whether that was genuine or not, she couldn’t say.

She smiled and held out her hand, and he took it. With this many people at the festival, perhaps even a prince could walk around without being recognized.

“Wow. There are so many people.”

The crowd was enormous from the moment they stepped out of the academy gates. It was such an endless sea of people that she worried they might lose each other and never find their way back.

They agreed to meet at the antique bookshop if they got separated, and then the two of them let themselves be swept along by the crowd, laughing for no particular reason.

Food smells drifted from every direction and people danced together all around. Not just children but everyone was enjoying the festival with abandon.

Despite the crowds, the two of them happily bought skewers from various stalls and ate as they walked. They found a whole roasted chicken and bought that too, and had some salad as well. All the wandering around had left them feeling hollow, but now they were well and truly full.

“That was wonderful.”

They had gone around everywhere and eaten their fill. After throwing away all their rubbish, they headed toward the plaza where music had started playing, and people were spilling out to dance. It was a simple folk dance, and she remembered learning it when she first enrolled at the academy.

“You can do the folk dance, can’t you?”

“Hm? Yes.”

“Then let’s go.”

She pulled him out and joined the crowd of dancing people. It was a simple dance so there was nothing confusing about it, and the two of them danced together for the first time. She doubted she would ever have occasion to dance at a ball or any social gathering of that sort. Those kinds of events were generally the domain of the wealthy and the nobility.

You could get in with an invitation, but the price of one was considerable. Everyone wanted to go to something like that at least once, but Jeanne’s view was that she would rather spend the money on one more spellbook.

And yet she hadn’t known that dancing together could be this much fun. To be honest, Jeanne had no talent for dancing. Whether it was because she had two left feet, her steps kept getting crossed and her hands too, and laughter kept bubbling out of her.

“Left foot.”

Ruhir led her through it with ease. Being the second prince, he would have had dance training. She stepped on his feet more than once, but he laughed and guided her back into position each time.

Even dancing in a complete mess, she was simply having fun. They danced through the changing music and then slipped out, and a cup of apple wine was pressed into her hands.

“It’s apple wine, one of our local specialties. Have some, have some. It’s free for anyone who danced.”

“Thank you!”

She had noticed a sharp, tangy smell of alcohol nearby, and it turned out a tasting event was being held. Having danced to their hearts’ content, the two of them stepped a little aside and sipped carefully together. The alcohol content was low enough that it went down like a soft drink.

The sky had already darkened, but with mana lamps lit everywhere and so many people around, it didn’t feel dark at all.

“It was fun coming to the festival together.”

“Shall we come again tomorrow? And the day after too.”

“That sounds good.”

Whether it was because he had less tolerance than expected, Ruhir’s cheeks had gone slightly flushed. She had assumed he could hold his drink, but apparently not. After they finished, they tried to talk, but it was so loud that they could barely hear each other.

She thought for a moment, and remembered an alley her friends had once shown her. It was a spot with few people but a good view of the fireworks, they had said.

“Trust me and follow.”

She took his hand and pushed through the crowd. Before she knew it, Ruhir was holding her hand firmly. The warmth of his palm against hers made her give a small start.

They pushed through the masses and turned into a quieter alley, then turned another corner. It was an alley, but it wasn’t dark, and the noise from the festival carried over from a distance.

“There were so many people.”

Jeanne leaned against the wall and caught her breath. Getting out had taken more effort than the dancing. Ruhir seemed the same, stretching out lightly beside her.

“How did you know about this alley?”

“A friend brought me here once, said it was a quiet spot. So I watched the fireworks comfortably from here back then.”

“It was so crowded out there I was losing my mind. What a relief.”

Perhaps because she had caught her breath, her legs were starting to ache. This was why she only came to the festival occasionally. She was rubbing her legs and bending forward for a moment when he came closer and stood beside her.

She checked her watch and saw the fireworks weren’t far off. She straightened up and looked at the sky, and Ruhir rested his head on Jeanne’s shoulder. She turned to look at him and found him watching her with a slightly flushed face and a smile.

“……”

“……”

He wasn’t very drunk, but now she knew what he was like when he had a little to drink.

Seeing a side of him he didn’t show to others stirred something strange in her. A peculiar sense of privilege.

When in her life would she ever get to be in a relationship with someone this perfect in every way?

Jeanne reached out and drew his hand toward her, holding it in hers.

A family member or a friend would never get to see this side of him. It was something special, visible only to the person he was with.

She was looking at his face when Ruhir lifted his head. The moment their eyes met, he cupped the back of her neck and pulled her in with a measured firmness, then pressed his lips to her cheek.

“……”

Soft lips, landing just near the corner of her mouth. After a brief pause, he kept pressing small kisses across her face. It tickled, but she didn’t pull away and smiled instead, and he reached up with his other hand and cradled both her cheeks.

And then, for the first time, the two of them spent a night together.

***

Perhaps it was nothing more than a sweet dream conjured by the wine.

That thought crossed her mind, but when she opened her eyes her whole body was aching, and the heightened sensitivity still lingered.

On top of that, Jeanne was holding Ruhir in her arms, both of them bare beneath the covers.

She blinked her dry eyes, released him from her hold, and sat up. The changed bedding and the marks left on each of their bodies made it clear that everything was real.

……Was it always this awkward, waking up after spending a night with someone? Her last memory was of the two of them tangled together until the early hours before she had fallen asleep as though she had blacked out. It seemed Ruhir had cleaned her up while she was out.

They had been thoroughly soaked in each other, but now she was clean. Her body was still sensitive, but it didn’t feel unpleasant.

So this is the kind of comfort that comes from being with someone like this. It was different from what she felt with family or friends. She looked down at him and found herself thinking only that he looked handsome, fast asleep.

“……”

She kept looking at him. When it ended at graduation, he would probably find someone new before long. He was the second prince, and even having had a partner, there would be no shortage of people who wanted him. Far more than there would be for her, a commoner.

It was the truth, and yet it annoyed her, and she sat with her knees pulled to her chest and a slight frown, watching Ruhir. The rise and fall of his chest as he slept moved at a steady rhythm. Jeanne stared at it for a while, then checked the time.

They had been together until the early hours and fallen asleep late, so it was already noon. Since the festival continued through the weekend, she went out to the sitting room and opened the window, and the distant sounds of the crowd drifted in.

She stood there for a moment, then went to the bathroom to wash her face and rinse her mouth.

She loosened the bathrobe and looked herself over, and found herself covered in marks Ruhir had left with his lips. She had left plenty on him too, and it felt somewhat like they had each staked out their territory.