Had her mother given her that advice knowing something like this would happen?

‘Jeanne. My dear. The only thing I can give you is advice.’

‘Advice.’

‘Yes. Advice.’

Her mother, who was no longer by her side, would hold young Jeanne close whenever she had too much to drink. Then she would look down at her with eyes full of warmth and always say the same thing.

‘You can love others as much as you want. You must not give your whole heart when you love. Even if you love someone sincerely, it is better to keep a certain distance in anticipation of getting hurt.’

The tone was playful, with no trace of gravity to it.

Even so, Jeanne understood that the reason her mother said this had something to do with the biological father whose face she had never seen. She had never explained in detail, but given that he had left a common woman to raise a child alone, he was surely worthless.

Ah. Why was she thinking of those words right now?

It was because, at this very moment, a secret arrangement was being made with her as its subject.

Did His Highness the Prince and Her Highness the Princess not know to check their surroundings before having a private conversation?

In truth, it was because Jeanne had used magic to erase her presence, so they had no way of knowing. She was always ranked first in the magic department, and she possessed a talent that none of her peers could compare to.

“Lilian. What did you just say?”

“I asked whether you couldn’t confess to Jeanne Nova and start dating her.”

It was strange to hear those words from Princess Lilian, who was ordinarily itching to tear Jeanne apart at any opportunity.

Who was Ruhir de Winter? He was the prince who belonged to every student at Crossline Academy.

He was the second prince of the Erdion Empire, strikingly handsome, academically accomplished, and kind. And he had a good heart that did not discriminate even against commoners.

It had been seven years since he was twelve, so even if it was all an act, it was impressive. The conversation she had stumbled into hearing was embarrassing to listen to, being about her, yet interesting all the same.

Lilian’s words left not only Jeanne flustered. Ruhir looked much the same.

“What do you mean? Suddenly telling me to start dating her?”

“Yes. So that she can’t even think about studying and ruins her grades.”

The redness around the princess’s eyes made it plain to anyone that she had been crying.

It wasn’t that Jeanne had bullied her or anything of the sort. What kind of lunatic would bully the second princess of the empire while being a commoner?

The reason was entirely simple. Jeanne Nova had taken Top rank again in last week’s final exams. Monster. A person crazed over studying. There were so many words used to describe Jeanne.

From the age of twelve when she enrolled at the Academy all the way to now at nineteen, she had never once lost the Top rank. Because of that, her peers had long since given up, saying the Top rank belonged to Jeanne Nova.

Second rank was Ruhir de Winter, and third was Lilian. It had always been easy to see that Ruhir seemed satisfied with second rank, but Lilian was not.

When Lilian saw the final exam results that came out this morning, she burst into tears. Her startled friends consoled her, and Jeanne had slipped away from the scene feeling awkward.

Really, she already had everything else, and she still coveted the Top rank. Still, with only about a year left until graduation, the frustration was understandable. At Lilian’s words, Ruhir opened his eyes wide with a flustered expression.

“What are you saying, Lilian? It’s not as though I can start dating someone just because I want to.”

“That’s why you have to make her fall for you. You’re so handsome, it might actually work.”

Her aggrieved expression crumpled, and she burst into tears. Ruhir, flustered, pulled Lilian into his arms and patted her on the back.

There were truly many female students who liked Ruhir de Winter. She had seen so many of them confess to him, underclassmen, peers, and upperclassmen alike. She had watched more than thirty confessions from her hideout up in the tree alone.

Yet every time, he would carefully take the confessor’s hand and turn them down with an apology. Most of the girls who confessed would burst into tears at his gentle rejection. Or they would smile, as though shaking it off.

Perhaps because of that, she had never once heard that the second prince was in a relationship since enrolling at the Academy.

“Mm? Brother, please……”

Lilian pleaded, her face soaked with tears. Ruhir looked at her with an expression that was plainly at a loss.

There was no way His Highness, who had always granted his twin sister’s requests, could refuse.

If Jeanne had not overheard this secret arrangement, she would certainly have turned down whatever confession he was about to make.

Romance was something far removed from her life. She was already busy enough with just studying, let alone adding romance on top of that? That said, she had never thought poorly of others for pursuing romance.

“All right. But if Miss Nova turns me down when I confess, we forget the whole thing.”

Ruhir said this with a resigned look as he wiped his sister’s tears.

So he decided to go along with it after all. Jeanne looked down from the tree with eyes full of curiosity.

She and the prince had been called up together as Top rank and second rank again and again over seven years since they were twelve. They had attended many of the same lectures.

However, they had never once had a personal conversation. The only exchanges they had shared were over assignments or group project meetings.

“But if she accepts, date her with everything you have, so passionately that she can’t even think about studying.”

“What if Miss Nova keeps studying hard even while dating?”

“That’s why you get in the way. Stay by her side and disrupt her.”

“Wouldn’t doing something like that normally get you dumped for being a nuisance?”

That’s right. Jeanne disliked people who interfered with her studying.

But she had been running without rest all this time, and she wanted a break too.

It wasn’t as though she had set graduating with Top rank as a particular goal. She just kept her grades up because her mother would be pleased.

One of her goals was a position as a palace civil servant, and the hiring process there looked at entrance exam scores rather than academic grades, so maybe she could afford to let a year slide. How entertaining would it be if the Top rank and second rank both let their grades fall apart?

And what if it all fell apart because of a romance with everyone’s prince?

“That’s why you have to make it gradual. I trust that’s something you can do well, brother.”

“Brother has never been in a relationship before.”

“There are so many people around you who have. Ask them for help.”

There was one piece of information known to every citizen of the Erdion Empire.

That was the fact that Lilian, the twin younger sister of the second prince, had been gravely ill as a young child. Every renowned healer had been summoned in an effort to save her. Even Jeanne, who had lived in the most rural of rural places, had heard that news.

She had even been told it would be impossible for her to reach adulthood. Yet no one gave up, and around the age of eight she finally recovered and grew up well.

People had always pitied Lilian for spending her childhood in sickness. And so every request she made was granted.

What she wanted to eat, what she wanted, what she wanted to have. Whatever she wished for was placed in her hands.

Ordinarily, having everything granted like that would breed greed. But she never made unreasonable demands, and because of that, people tried all the more to give her what she wanted.

Perhaps what she had asked of Ruhir was her very first unreasonable demand.

At any rate, if her grades did not fall apart because of the romance, Ruhir might have to endure Lilian’s resentful gaze for the rest of his life.

“All right. But if I get turned down, that’s the end of it. Understood?”

Ruhir said it firmly, as though he still had some conscience, and the princess stuck out her lip. When he asked again, she nodded.

“……Fine.”

She answered even if sulkily. Soon the Academy bell rang to signal the dinner hour, and the two of them left.

Jeanne, who had been lying on her stomach, rolled over onto her back. The sky with the sunset fading across it was beautiful, just the right place to lie and watch.

“Romance.”

She had been so busy studying her whole life that she had never once had a relationship.

If she dated while keeping her distance the way her mother had advised, she probably wouldn’t get hurt. It had been seven years of the same life repeating since she was twelve, and it felt like something interesting might finally come along. She wondered when he would confess.

But as if to make a mockery of her waiting, days passed, and even when the term ended, Ruhir did not confess. Perhaps Lilian had changed her mind, or perhaps he had managed to talk her out of it. Or maybe he had chosen to just study like mad through sheer determination.

Her interest gone, Jeanne spent her time as she usually did during breaks, in her professor’s laboratory. There was no reason to go back to her hometown with her mother no longer there.

The winter break passed quickly, spent on experiments and studying without a thought for anything else.