[Vincent’s perspective]

This happened back when I was still attending the academy.

“Hey, did you hear…?  Apparently, His Highness Nigel has reached the 100th floor of the trial dungeon.”
“He really is amazing.  Handsome, smart, and on top of that—his swordsmanship is first-rate.”
“I admire him”

While walking down a corridor with Nigel— I overheard other students talking about him.

“What’s wrong, Vince?”
“It’s nothing…”

“I— Vincent—looked at Nigel’s face and continued.

“As always, I think you’re incredibly popular.  By now, there’s not a single person in the academy who doesn’t know you.”
“Is that so?  Even if that’s true, I am, after all, the First Prince of this country.  Naturally, I’ll draw attention.”

Nigel shrugged at that.

“I’d be nothing without the title of prince.  Vincent, you overestimate me too much.”
“I can’t agree with that…”

This guy—Nigel—is a perfect superhuman who can do anything.  A man worthy of being the next king.  There should be no one who would object to him taking the throne.

Nigel said such things, but even if he weren’t the prince— I couldn’t imagine his popularity ever fading.

“Besides, the fact that I was able to clear the 100th floor of the trial dungeon is also thanks to you. I’m grateful.”
“Well, hearing you say that doesn’t make me feel bad, but…”

The academy had something called the “Trial Dungeon.”  It was located within the academy grounds, and students challenged it day and night.  Grades reflected the record of how far one reached.  For that reason, anyone who achieved a good result in the trial dungeon would in no time be bathed in looks of envy from the other students.  For his dive into that dungeon, Nigel chose me as his partner.

I was filled with pride and desperately chased after his back.  Even so, I had always been confident that I could succeed at anything.  Perhaps it was youthful arrogance… I never doubted that I was the best.  But my confidence was utterly shattered after meeting him.  No matter how much I chased, I never felt like I could catch up.  If anything, the distance between us only felt like it was growing.  I intended to work hard too, but Nigel worked even harder.

Born with such blessed talent, yet putting in greatest of effort so as to not lose to anyone… honestly, I think that’s unfair.

Even so, I took pride in being his friend. 

“Everyone is watching you.  As for me, I’m probably seen as nothing more than the trailing dung of a goldfish.”
“I can’t say I agree.  They respect you, too.”
“Haa!  I don’t know where your eyes are when you say that.  The one thing you lack is the ability to judge others.”
“…haa.  You are the one who doesn’t understand himself, in my opinion.”

Nigel sighed out in exasperation.

This guy was always surrounded by others.  By comparison, I was not particularly good at talking with people.  As a result, I didn’t easily make friends.  I considered fixing this personality someday… this alone never seemed to go well.

“Someday you’ll realize it.  You’re the one who’s really popular with everyone.”
“That joke isn’t funny”

We exchanged glances at that exchange and laughed.

*****

The next day—

I sat alone at a table in the cafeteria, quietly enjoying my meal.  Normally, I’d eat lunch there with Nigel, but today he apparently had official duties and absolutely could not come to school.  If he were to come, he would attend from the afternoon classes onward… yet as he still hadn’t appeared by lunchtime, he was probably going to be absent altogether.

“…Delicious.  As I thought the pork cutlet set meal here is the best.”

Thus, this was the situation I found myself in.  Even though the cafeteria was crowded, it was as if a barrier had been placed around me.  No one sat with me.

However… I was not lonely.

Originally, meals were something to be enjoyed alone. Yes, that’s right. In the first place, the culture that says you must eat with someone is the strange one.  A meal is the act of receiving life.  One must face their food with a sacred mindset, and—

“My, my, eating alone, are we~ Vincent?”

…as I made excuses in my heart— No, while I was lost in thought, someone spoke to me.

“…Franz?  What do you want?”

I looked up and replied to the rude person who suddenly spoke to me.  His name was Franz and he was the eldest son of the Urmamoz Trading Company.  This trading company was the most powerful one within Lynchigham.  Rumor stated that they held a vast fortune… but who really knew.

Well, Franz was the type of guy who’d enroll in an academy attended by nobles.  So that rumor probably wasn’t wrong.  Moreover, I heard that Franz, although still a student, was also one of the executives of that trading company.  He launched one business after another, and all of them succeeded.  He might have been a student, but he was flushed with cash because of that.

“Well now~, what’s this, what’s this?  I heard you’re all alone and felt sorry for you.  It really is pitiful~, having no friends.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“We’re saying that we’ll eat together with you.”

With those words, Franz plopped down across from me without permission.  Several of the girls with him giggled to themselves.  They were Franz’s followers.

This guy always kept women around him.  Apparently, he had been involved with various women, and naturally, there were many romantic scandals around him.  However, I also occasionally heard bad rumors about entanglements and cheating.

Falling in love isn’t a bad thing…but I wish he would enjoy it with a bit more moderation. Well, it had nothing to do with me, so I didn’t really care.

“What’s it like eating alone?  Tasty?  You know, I’ve never eaten alone before, so I don’t know what ‘solo meals’ are like.  My girlfriends are always around me, after all.  Honestly, being popular is rough~”
“—You seem to be misunderstanding something.”

I set down my chopsticks and glared at him.

“I’m not alone.  I simply like being by myself.  Solitude is a good thing.  In the first place, modern people don’t spend enough time facing themselves—”
“Ah, here it comes, here it comes.  The typical excuse of a loner.  It’s just so unsightly~”

Franz sneered before I could finish speaking.  I honestly wished he would just disappear.  Well, arguing here is pointless… maybe I should move somewhere else…

With such a thought in mind, I tried standing up…

“Vince.”

I heard someone call my name.  When I turned to look, I noticed a crowd had gathered.  From among their number, a man stepped out and approached me.

“Nigel?  How did your official duties go?”
“Yeah, it all ended sooner than expected.  I figured I could attend the afternoon classes, but— you really were here after all.”

Nigel smiled.

…Although he should have been tired after finishing his duties, he showed no sign of it on his expression.  What a remarkable man.

Then, Nigel turned toward Franz.

“Oh, you were eating with Franz.  I didn’t know you two were close.  As for me, I’m happy Vincent is making friends…”
“Haa?  Me, friends with this loner?  There’s no way a popular guy like me would be friends with a loner like him~.  Is the prince of this country an idiot or something?

Franz glared back at Nigel.  His eyes were filled with clear hostility.  His calling the First Prince Nigel an idiot made the atmosphere tense.  In another country, such a statement could have resulted in immediate punishment.  Nigel, however, didn’t seem to mind.

“Is that so?  Well, even if not now, you can become friends continuing forward.  Vincent is a very good guy.  I’ve wanted to be friends with you for a while as well.  Nice to meet you—”

Nigel reached out to shake hands with Franz.

Slap!

Franz brushed his hand aside.  Screams resounded within the cafeteria.  Doing something so disrespectful to the First Prince was that unthinkable.

“Shut the hell up!  Who’d be friends with the likes of you!?  Really must be nice for you, being able to have everything you want.  You’re looking down on a nouveau riche like me, aren’t you?  Don’t get full of yourself just because you’re royalty!”

At those words, even his entourage women pale.

…That’s going too far.

I’m not so mature that I can stay silent when my friend is insulted.

I clenched my fist and was about to stand up—

“It’s fine, Vince. Thank you.”

Nigel quickly stopped me with his hand.

“Sorry about that.  I seem to have misjudged the distance between us.  I’ll be more careful from now on.  My apologies.”

Then, Nigel deeply bowed his head— to Franz.

Voices of “Ooh~” rose from around us.  They were probably impressed by his composed demeanor.  As expected, even Franz faltered at this.

However…

“…Hu-hmph!  As long as you understand, but what kind of upbringing did your parents give you?  Really, the croaked queen must be turning in her grave over this!”

Flinch.

Nigel faintly reacted at those words.  Even for someone as saintly as him, having the Queen—his mother—insulted was apparently unforgivable.  Nigel had dearly loved his late mother, so his feeling that way was only natural.

He lifted his head and—

“…Insulting the Queen is… a bit different.  I’d be fine if it were simply me, but understand that I won’t forgive any insults to the Queen.”

—he gave a warning.

Despite that, his face was still smiling.  He was probably trying to settle the matter as peacefully as possible.  That said—

“…Tch!”

Apparently, even that fool realized he had angered Nigel.

Twisting his face in frustration, Franz turned his back to us.

“Le-let’s go, everyone!  The mood’s dead here.  Let’s go have fun in the courtyard instead!”
“Wa-wait, Franz~”
“Hey, you!  Aren’t you getting too familiar with Lord Franz!?  Don’t go calling his name so casually!”

The women of Franz’s entourage scrambled after him as he started to walk away.

…There seemed to be all sorts of drama within the entourage itself.

“Sorry, Nigel.”
“Hm?  Sorry for what?”

Even in a situation like that, Nigel’s demeanor was no different than usual.

—I knew that Franz harbored hostility toward Nigel.

Franz was also an executive of a major merchant association.  He was sharp-witted, and his athletic ability was not bad either.  However, no matter how hard he tried—just like me—he could not surpass Nigel.  In tests, Nigel was always number one.  In second place, he name that would be found was either mine or Franz’s.

In that sense, I was probably disliked by Franz as well… but not with the same depth of hatred he directed toward Nigel.

“You were looking out for me, weren’t you?  That was unlike you.”
“Hmm, you think so?  I just got a bit irritated because Her Majesty the Queen was insulted, that’s all.”

Nigel spoke with a light tone.

—At that moment, I truly didn’t know what he was thinking.  I felt as though he was angry because the Queen—his mother—had been insulted, but perhaps that was only my assumption.  It was also possible that wasn’t the case at all.  Even as Nigel’s friend, there were many aspects of his actual feelings that I found hard to grasp.

Hence what I said.

“…When it hurts, say it hurts.”
“Eh?”

Nigel’s eyes widened.

“And that’s not all.  When you’re happy, say that you’re happy.  When you’re angry, say that you’re angry— Show your emotions more openly.  You’ll hit a wall someday if you don’t.”
“Hahaha, thanks.  But I think that applies to you as well, Vince.  You’d probably be able to make more friends if you expressed your emotions more.”
“What are you saying?  I’m not a loner, I simply prefer solitude— Hey, Nigel.  Are you listening?”

Nigel laughed when I called him out.

Think back on it, at that time, we should had noticed the darkness Franz was carrying.  We had underestimate him far too much.

And that wasn’t my only regret.

At that time…
I should had pointed out Nigel’s weak point much more strongly.

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