If the future of war that Adele knew had simply ceased to exist, that would be a relief.

However, considering the character of the author who kept sending glass marbles to interfere, this situation would not pass so easily either.

Adele found it remarkable that so many things had happened during the brief time she had been away.

She had thought things would return to the original story without her, but it seemed that was not entirely the case.

‘Even so, I cannot feel at ease and certain just yet. Both Vincent and Layla, who will soon become queen, have enrolled in the academy at the same time.’

The true beginning of the story had started from this academy.

It was the place where Vincent would fall for Layla at first sight. And then Vincent would punch Rohide over Layla and be suspended.

Reaching that conclusion made her feel uneasy.

Vincent had clearly remembered her all this time and had not done anything bad, just as he had been taught.

Even so, there was no telling what would happen the moment he became blinded by love.

His original nature pointed to the same conclusion. He had been the type to fall for a woman and actually *ssault a prince, going so far as to become a traitor.

“Adele, you…… were doing well, right?”

Adele did not catch Vincent’s question and continued her train of thought.

When she had first taken him on as her subordinate, she had told him that the admirable thing to do when the person you like belongs to someone else was simply to wish them happiness. Whether he still remembered that well after all this time was another question.

If it had not been for that marble, she could have completed his character education perfectly. It was still a shame.

She would have to start the operation of making him a proper person again, disguised as training, before he met Layla.

‘Wait. But what if he has already met her?’

Startled by the doubt that struck her the moment she made her decision, Adele quickly asked Vincent.

“Have you ever seen a beautiful woman?”

That was all she had asked, yet Vincent’s face suddenly burst into flames.

It was a reaction that Adele could not help but be startled by.

In this world, there was only one beautiful woman. The female protagonist who would become queen in the future, Layla Camel.

And on top of that, he could not even hide his emotions and his face was turning completely red?

Adele was certain. Vincent had already fallen for Layla. The story had finally begun after all!

How had he managed to meet the female protagonist and fall in love before he had even enrolled? Could this also be some elaborate scheme by the author?

Adele clutched her head in worry over what was to come and groaned.

She had not thought it would progress this quickly.

On top of that, Vincent was now watching her reaction, seemingly embarrassed by his own response just now.

Judging by this, he had clearly been completely swept away. There might no longer be any room left for Adele’s guidance to get through.

Adele asked carefully.

“Do you remember what I said before?”

Vincent, his face still not having returned to its normal color, answered softly.

“Anything you said, Adele.”

“I said I am the boss. Ah, no, that is not what is important right now.”

The sound of Vincent chuckling came from him again.

It was the first time she had seen him laugh like this in an adult’s form, and it was rather strange. To think she would get to see him like this in addition to his red, swollen eyes……

‘No, I said that is not what is important!’

This was the grand operation to clear away everything obstructing the kingdom’s peaceful future. And by extension, her own conquest of the world.

Adele rationalized it to herself in that way and spoke seriously.

“If the person you like loves someone else, what are you supposed to do?”

Vincent’s face, which had been red just a moment ago, turned white in an instant.

‘Are you really that deeply in love? To the point where even imagining it makes you sad.’

His face was so crestfallen it looked as though his heart had plummeted to the ground. Adele did not like that expression.

She had not wanted to see that face again……

‘D*mn Layla. Why did she go around captivating such stern men even though she already belonged to someone?’ Adele resented her inwardly.

Vincent asked with a trembling voice.

“Why are you asking something like that?”

‘Look at this! He even dares to ask the boss back!’

Adele suppressed the urge to pound her chest in frustration.

Right now Vincent looked as though he might burst into tears at the slightest touch, so comforting him had to come first.

“Hm? I said, why are you asking.”

But at the second display of impertinence, Adele could not hold back and gave Vincent a light chop on the head with the edge of her hand. Even standing on her tiptoes to do it.

Vincent seemed to snap to his senses and looked down at Adele with wide, round eyes. This too, looking down at her, was impertinent.

“One should not even step on the shadow of one’s teacher, as the saying goes. Who do you think you are looking down at? Tsk.”

Adele crossed her arms and spoke in a dignified voice.

“In any case, if the person you like belongs to someone else, you must simply wish them happiness as they are. I am telling you this because I was worried you might have forgotten.”

Vincent’s eyes went wide as saucers and he appeared to be swallowing something with great effort. But perhaps thanks to the display of a teacher’s dignity just now, he gave a quiet nod without any particular objection.

“Of course, that is what one must do. Now you are more to my liking.”

“But who is it that you like?”

Good heavens. He had been quietly agreeing, and now he was pressing her to find out who Layla liked.

Adele pressed her palm to her forehead, having realized he was truly and deeply smitten.

Vincent, who had been staring at her for a long while, swallowed dryly.

She seemed to have been doing well during the long time she had been missing. Unlike in her childhood when she had always been rolling around in the dirt and was grubby, her skin was fair and clear.

On top of that, whether she had kept up with regular exercise, her build was different from that of other delicate noble women. She also seemed to have been practicing the nutritional intake she had always emphasized.

Her expression was without a shadow of gloom, and she acted like someone who had returned from a brief trip. Having been away for such a long time, it seemed she had been living perfectly fine without him.

Vincent felt a pang in his chest at that fact. His own life had fallen completely apart after that, yet Adele’s had not.

When one is buried in mud from the start, one does not know. Just how brilliantly the outside world shines.

Vincent had learned everything about the world from Adele.

The magnificence of a blue sky and a lunchbox eaten together after working up a sweat. Real adults without lies or violence. The proud feeling gained from helping someone.

The time spent with Adele had been only a month, but for Vincent, that one month had been his entire life.

So Adele’s disappearance had been no different from having his entire life taken from him.

The time when she had gone missing was hazy no matter how hard he tried to recall it. It felt as though it had been forcibly erased by something, and even when he had pressed the sorcerer to help him recover the memory, it had been the same.

The sorcerer had only been confused, saying this should not be possible, and had not been able to provide any answers.

Since only Vincent and the sorcerer had witnessed the incident, Adele’s disappearance had remained an unsolvable mystery forever.

The one thing Vincent knew for certain was that Adele had left him. Without even a promise about the future.

He had not even been able to say a proper goodbye. The world had become despair itself.

Life after Adele left had been grey. If she had never been there in the first place, perhaps he would not have known any different.

Vincent had despised his father deeply, but he had found himself agreeing with the insult that he was as gloomy as his hair color.

He had even occasionally thought that perhaps his father might be right.

Even so, there was one thing he had wanted.

That was the academy that Adele had wanted to go to. Adele had disappeared, but the wish she had carried had remained with him.

What would become of me without even that? That thought had always followed Vincent.

Vincent had continued to work toward entering the swordsmanship department of the academy that Adele had wanted to attend.

Every day he reviewed and repeated what Adele had taught him. But it did not take long to realize that the effort was meaningless.

The threshold of the academy was far lower than he had imagined.

Of noble birth. And a young viscount at that. There was nothing that could block his enrollment except his father, the duke.

The duke’s absurd stubbornness about absolutely never allowing enrollment came to an end when a half-sibling was born and his attention was drawn elsewhere.

Because of that, he had applied late, but the academy had sent him an acceptance notice without any examination at all.

He felt deflated.

The academy challenge that had seemed both easy and not so easy. The moment he succeeded, his driving force vanished immediately.

‘What am I supposed to do now?’