Reincarnated as a Son of the Sword Saint and the Sage

After spending the morning in the our classrooms, lunch had come. We wanted more privacy after the last controversy, so we gathered in another place.

Instead of our usual rendezvous at the gazebo, I rented out one of the rooms at the academy's guest's apartments. Prince Edward and his entourage were also patrons of this place, so I made sure to check in the other building.

I had been thinking of renting this room for the whole year for us to hold more secured private meetings in the academy. It might be costly, but I had no problem financially.

Usually, our group consisted of three people: Big Sis, Iris, and myself. But now, due to newly established relationships, we had a new addition to the group. Your next chapter awaits on m v|l-e'm,p y r

"Good afternoon, His Highness Raphael and Miss Iris. Thank you for having me today."

Saying her greetings, a purple-haired young woman named Christine bobbed her body before Iris and me.

"You can still address me by my name here in the academy, Miss Christine, especially in private," I said. "But nevertheless, you can call me however you want. It was not like I am forcing you to act casually with me."

"If you say so, then you can also drop the 'Miss'. But I know that you are showing respect to me since I am currently your sister's partner, and I also know that you respect and love your sister so much."

"Very well, let me continue to address you with respect. Please take a seat, everyone."

As I requested, the four of us rested ourselves on the sofas. Naturally, we sat according to our relationships, and my sister and I were on separate seats with our own partners. We were facing one another with a table in between.

After waiting for a bit, a few servants from the academy entered the room and brought the food and drinks we bought earlier from the cafeteria. Each of us would be having a full-course meal, which cost a gold coin per order.

"Please enjoy your meal."

The servants bowed before us, and then they promptly exited the room. After that, I deployed anti-reconnaissance barriers on the walls, ceiling, and floor of the room for us to have a conversation more secured.

"Sister, you mentioned earlier that there is a certain rumor that you wanted to talk about."

As we were consuming our lunch, I suddenly brought up that conversation my sister and I did not finish this morning. Though I did not know if it was a good idea to bring it in front of Christine since I had no context for it.

Hearing my words, my sister looked at me as she chewed her food before she briefly closed her eyes and turned her eyes on Christine for a second. I guessed I was right that it was kind of related to Christine.

"I think it's okay to talk about it now. Actually, I have been hearing some new rumors regarding Prince Edward and Edith."

"So what have you heard so far?"

"From what I have heard, lately, a few people have seen them with a young man they never saw in this city before. Edith is allegedly known for being surrounded by men, so you can guess that that man is probably involved with her. But those were just rumors, so it was not certain if it was true."

"Really? Have they identified who this man is?"

"I don't have information for that, but they describe him as a mysterious young man with black hair and red eyes."

(That was definitely Azrael.)

Some time ago, I disguised myself as Azrael to save Edith from the hands of Melville without revealing my identity. After that, the elite intelligent agents of the empire managed to pinpoint Azrael on the Southern Continent and approached him. They were so fast if I were to ask.

They brought Azrael to the empire, and he met up with Edward, who secretly tasked the agents to track him. The prince wanted to personally show his thanks for saving Edith.

Along the way, Prince Edward and Azrael became friends. Azrael had been meeting with them since then. Edward also introduced them to his friends.

Since he was living on the other landmass, he could only visit the empire once in a while. Knowing that Azrael was a powerful being, Edward was not surprised when Azrael told him he could use teleportation.

The visitations were probably seen by the prince's paparazzi. Without any other information, all they could assume was that he could be one of Edith's lovers, which was actually not true at all. I could understand why it had become a rumor.

"Damn. There are so many people observing Prince Edward and Edith since their issues surfaced. It's no wonder why they could acquire some information. We are also related to that, so we might have been watched too."

"Probably." My sister nodded as she held her chin. "Is that why you rented out this room?"

"Yeah. This room may be expensive, but I am rich enough to rent this for the whole year."

"Oh, right." Christine jolted as if she remembered something. "His Highness Raphael is not also a titled marquis, but the owner of the Raevender Company himself."

"So what are the other rumors?" Iris asked my sister.

"I don't know if it was true or some, as it sounds so hard to believe, but there are words circulating around the city that Edith is alleged to be the heir to the Aethel Archduchy."

"The Aethel Archduchy?" Iris titled her head in confusion. "Isn't Young Lord Francis their heir?"

"He is. But there are stories about Edith's father being the product of the affair between Edith's grandmother and Francis's grandfather. The Archduchy haven't denied those stories yet, so there is still a probability that they are no rumors."

"So Edith could be Francis's cousin?" I muttered. "What a plot twist we got there."

The truth was, it was actually Francis who spread those rumors, as he had told me. He said that the organization had begun to move, and as someone who was involved with them, Francis had to cooperate with them in order to keep his real intentions hidden.

"If Edith really had the right to the position, then Edward would be using it to their advantage to convince his family."

"That would be the case if it were true. But there's no need to think about it, right?"

Big Sis responded to Christine's pondering as she was holding her hands on her lap. My sister was just concerned about her feelings and wanted to comfort her, especially since Christine just suffered a heartbreak. It was Edward and Edith we were talking about; of course those memories were still fresh inside Christine.

"You're right. I should be thinking about the future, about us, instead of the past. It is better for myself to refrain from getting involved with the ones who hurt and abandoned me."

Saying that with a lovely smile, Christine brought my sister's hands to her cheeks, yearning for her warmth. "Thank you for being by my side, Louise."

"I'll be always there for you, Christine."

Shortly after, their heads leaned toward one another, and before they could touch their lips, Christine suddenly remembered that Iris and I were still around. Feeling awkward, they abruptly aborted their kiss.

"Well, it's not like I haven't witnessed women kissing for almost everyday..."

Afterwards, we continued our conversation as we consumed our lunch.