Ugh, you startled me! Rukna Golden rubbed her ticklish ear while stepping back.

Chad pointed at the two of them alternately with a broad smile.

“The Grand Duke Wiegratz family and the Marquis Chamber family are cousins. Lady Mela Chamber is the only daughter of the marquis family, almost at the level of a female Matian. If Matian drank a gender-changing potion and wore glasses, he’d look just like that woman, right?”

Indeed, Mela Chamber was as tall as most men, and apart from being more slender than Matian, her beautiful features were similar.

Their personalities and tastes were also identical, so they said the two fought whenever they met since childhood.

Listening to that explanation while walking towards the table set up by the pond, something kept getting in the way underfoot.

Looking down, small pieces of cloth were scattered around.

‘What’s this?’

Rukna picked up one of them. This is a handkerchief? It seemed someone had used and discarded a perfectly good one like a disposable wet wipe.

As Rukna, with her strong sense of recycling, was picking them up one by one.

“Those are mine, young sir!”

With a booming voice, a young lady burst out of the forest.

Startled by that momentum like a small beast, Rukna tried to smile nonchalantly as she held out the pile of handkerchiefs to the young lady.

“It seems you dropped all of these, young lady. There are 13 in total…”

“Yes, they’re all my handkerchiefs!”

The energetic voice returned. They must practice voice projection separately at the girls’ school. Impressive. Rukna touched her ear and smiled awkwardly.

“You dropped all of these. Here. Take them.”

“Thank you. If I may ask, your name is…?”

“Rukna Golden.”

“Oh my! The one who defeated the red eagle on the Island of Wisdom and saved the Great Sage’s life? The Death Judge of the military academy whom the misguided follow, who tamed a griffin and soared into the azure sky, the ill-fated adopted child of the Golden count family, known for their bittersweet smile?”

“Who? Me?”

The explanation the young lady rattled off without pause embarrassed Rukna. “I am adopted by the Golden family, but…” As she began, the young lady turned to the bushes with a grave expression and shouted.

“Girls, it’s really them!”

Then, young ladies burst out of the bushes and rushed towards Rukna like a pack of wolves.

What’s happening right now? Rukna instinctively stepped back.

But the young ladies surrounded Rukna even faster, blocking her retreat.

The young ladies all held a fan in one hand and a handkerchief in the other, like twins.

They glanced at each other, not even bothering to remove the leaves stuck in their hair.

One of them threw a handkerchief towards Rukna.

Huh? Rukna, who had been blinking in confusion, caught the handkerchief that flew forcefully like a duel challenge without thinking.

The owner of the handkerchief cheered at Rukna who had taken the bait, fanned herself, and suddenly collapsed to the ground.

Startled, Rukna bent her knees and cradled the fallen young lady’s head.

“Hey, are you alright?”

Rukna asked about the young lady’s condition, but she was as quiet as if asleep.

Only the hand holding the fan was still elegantly fanning.

Does attending this school make fanning an involuntary movement? Like how the heart keeps beating even when unconscious.

‘This isn’t the time. If she fainted from making a fuss, it could be a blood pressure issue.’

Rukna raised her head and asked the surrounding young ladies:

“Does this young lady have any chronic illnesses?”

“Well, that’s something you’ll have to find out yourself, young sir.”

The tone of the young ladies’ replies was full of regret, as if looking at a fish that got away.

‘I’m not a doctor, so I’m not sure what they expect me to do. High Visbi, is there any chance you can heal this young lady with spirit power?’

But there was no reply. Is Matian nearby or something…

“What are you doing here, Rukna.”

Oh, you startled me. Rukna looked up.

Lady Mela Chamber and Matian were standing side by side, looking down at Rukna and the young lady.

It must have been her imagination that the fallen young lady’s fanning seemed to be slowing down.

“This young lady suddenly collapsed, so I was looking after her.”

“Suddenly collapsed, you say.”

Matian said that while staring at Mela Chamber.

Mela Chamber sighed as she lifted the body of the young lady lying on Rukna’s lap.

“While I appreciate your help, please refrain from physical contact, young sir. It’s somewhat improper.”

“That’s because this young lady suddenly collapsed…”

“Are you going to take responsibility for this young lady for life?”

“Pardon?”

“We are chaste women.”

“I, I’m chaste too, but.”

Rukna emphasized her own purity with an aggrieved expression.

The sound of Chad bursting into laughter could be heard from behind, but there was no time to look back.

“You mustn’t carelessly be touched by a man’s hands, young sir! If this young lady had exposed even a bit of skin, you would have had to take responsibility for her for life, Young Sir Golden.”

“There’s no such law.”

“There is.”

Lady Mela Chamber pushed up her glasses and smiled sweetly.

A smile that said she was very angry, so tread carefully. Rukna couldn’t mistake that smile so similar to Matian’s.

“I, I’ll be careful.”

Rukna apologized bitterly and stood up.

The fallen young lady grabbed Rukna’s uniform hem tightly, not wanting her to leave, but Rukna coldly brushed her off, saying, “I’m sorry, young lady.”

Rukna started walking again towards the table that had been prepared, enduring the piercing gazes on her back.

Even after that, white handkerchiefs would sometimes fly aggressively towards Rukna as she walked.

Recalling the situation at the lake, Rukna quietly handed those handkerchiefs back to their owners and left the area.

Bolton excitedly picked up the handkerchiefs that Rukna hadn’t managed to catch.

“Whose handkerchief is this?”

When Bolton looked around with a sleazy smile, the young ladies lingering nearby abandoned their handkerchiefs and ran away in a hurry.

Huh? Was I too cool today? Bolton scratched his head, having unintentionally cleaned up the chaotic scene.

A long table was placed under a large tent.

The tea ceremony club girls laid out white tablecloths, prepared sweet desserts and various teas, then left.

Rukna’s group and the female students sat facing each other at the table.

There was a self-introduction time before the meeting, but Matian and Mela Chamber briefly left their seats and walked far away.

“My head hurts even before we start.”

Matian rubbed his throbbing temples.

“You’re always complaining about being in pain, not living up to your large frame.”

Mela Chamber folded her arms with a stiff tone.

“You’re the one who instigated Bolton to bring Rukna Golden, aren’t you?”

Matian glared coldly at Mela Chamber.

Mela Chamber’s shoulders flinched, but she soon put on a smile as if she knew nothing.

“My, are you suspecting me, cousin?”

“Stop with the ‘cousin’ talk and call me properly. I don’t want to be entangled with you like that either.”

“Excuse me, but calling my hypocritical cousin by name is even more irritating.”

“Fine then. Start by telling me why you invited Rukna.”

“I wanted to see them in person at least once.”

Mela Chamber, having her true intentions exposed, frankly opened her necklace locket and took out a small piece of paper.

It was a group portrait of the cadets from a weekly magazine article about the Island of Wisdom incident, with only Rukna’s face cut out and kept.

When Matian reached out for the paper, Mela Chamber quickly put it back in the locket, saying don’t touch it with your dirty hands.

“A few weeks ago, Young Sir Bolton told me. That these days, my cousin has been showing great interest in a certain cadet. I had a feeling right away. Ah, that cadet must be my type, I thought.”

“…What?”

“My prediction was perfectly correct. The portrait was nice, but I fell for them as soon as I saw them in person.”

Mela Chamber’s eyes sparkled as she clasped her hands together. In contrast, Matian’s expression turned grim.

“I don’t need to explain to my cousin what I like about them, right? We’ve had the same tastes since childhood, after all.”

“Ha, this is ridiculous. Do you have any conscience? Rukna is still a child who hasn’t even shown signs of manhood.”

“I can raise them well, so don’t worry.”

“Do you think the marquis will allow it? He won’t consider taking the adopted child of the Golden family, who has nothing, as a son-in-law for his only daughter.”

“I can persuade Father, and if they have nothing, I can support them. Do you know what’s really fortunate? The fact that Young Sir Rukna Golden is male.”

Mela Chamber tilted her head crookedly while touching her glasses frame.

“It’s fortunate that their gender is advantageous to me. If Rukna Golden had been a woman, wouldn’t you have pursued them desperately, cousin?”

“…Me?”

“Yes, I guarantee it. But why do you look like that, cousin?”

“What’s wrong with my expression?”

Matian swallowed dryly and took out a small mirror from his pocket to check his face.

‘Why am I…’

He was revealing an ambiguous emotion, unsure if he was angry or annoyed.

This couldn’t be. Matian tried to put on his usual smile, but his lower face was stiff as if paralyzed.

“My, it seems Aunt’s efforts are finally bearing fruit.”

“What?”

“She’s been trying to teach you emotions since you were young, right? This is the first time I’ve seen you show such clear signs of displeasure… You haven’t changed your sexual preference to men, have you?”

“That’s enough, Mela Chamber. I’ve been lenient because you’re a woman, but this is the limit.”

“Such rough expressions towards a lady are rude. You might end up hitting me at this rate. Hohoho!”

Mela Chamber spread her legs, taking a defensive stance.

It wasn’t only Matian who showed exceptional talent in martial arts due to the Wiegratz bloodline.

Soon, voices calling for their president could be heard in the distance.

Matian and Mela Chamber glared fiercely at each other before sharply turning away.

And as they returned to the table with mechanical smiles, Rukna muttered that those two looked like twins separated at a young age while observing them.