The Main Heroine Falls for the Extra

I was late for the afternoon class.
When I entered the classroom, Riel returned to her usual expressionless and quiet self that I knew,
and an awkward atmosphere hung between me and Liliana who sat next to me.
In the end, that day passed without exchanging a single word with either Liliana or Riel.
That night
Aurum Hall, one of the dormitories of Gransen Academy.
In my room in this dormitory where children of count-rank nobles and above reside, I was lying on the bed blankly staring at the ceiling.
Today was a day of complicated feelings.
I broke up with Lili…Liliana, whom I had been with for over ten years, and received a request to break our engagement.
Less than an hour after that breakup, I learned the true nature of Riel Ignis, the duke’s daughter, and became her friend.
The separation from my beloved Liliana.
Riel’s demeanor, which differed greatly from her description in the original story.
Those two events still filled my mind with confusion.
The one fortunate thing was that the negative thoughts I had after parting with Liliana had mostly sunk to the bottom of my consciousness after my conversation with Riel.
While pondering what to do from tomorrow, sleep gradually came over me.
Ah.
Come to think of it, I forgot to inform my father that Liliana had requested to break our engagement.
It seems I forgot to tell my father because my mind was so complex.
Can’t be helped, I’ll have to ask a maid to send a letter for me tomorrow.
The next day.
I told the situation to my personal maid who brought my breakfast.
She was somewhat surprised by the fact that Liliana had requested to break our engagement with me, but she nodded when I told her I would write a letter and asked her to send it to the count’s family.
After entrusting the letter to her, I left the room and headed for the dormitory exit.
Perhaps because I came out a bit late from writing the letter, most other students had already left the dormitory.
As I left the dormitory, I could see the women’s dormitory of Aurum Hall on the opposite side.
And I saw red hair in front of that dormitory.
The girl running straight towards me was Riel Ignis.
“Kyo, good morning!”
“Y-yeah… good morning, Riel.”
Perhaps because there was no one around, Riel’s expression was as varied as when I saw her on the rooftop yesterday.
“Do you usually leave this late?”
“No, I had some business today… Were you waiting for me?”
Riel’s face turned slightly red.
“Since our dormitories are close, I thought we could walk to school together as friends.”
I looked at Riel who was looking up at me and asking “Would that be okay?”
Honestly speaking, who would shake their head when such a beautiful girl looks up and asks a favor?
I, from a count family, and Riel, from a duke family, both reside in Aurum Hall near the academy.
In the case of Liliana, who is a noble but of lower rank, she was residing in Argen Hall, which is a bit farther away.
And Allen, whose father is a knight but has no hereditary title and is practically a commoner, along with other commoners, resides in Kupfer Hall in the lower town.
Because the distance to the academy increases as the dormitory rank decreases, residents of Aurum dormitory never had to worry about being late even if they left a bit later.
So, seeing the person standing in front of the academy gate, I spoke to Riel.
“It would be better to leave a little earlier next time.”
Riel must have also seen the person I saw, as her expression soured.
“I guess so.”
He saw Riel and ran towards us with a bright smile.
It was Allen Ludwig.
“Riel! You’re late today!”
Riel returned to her usual expressionless face.
“I was surprised when you weren’t in the classroom, but what a surprise that you’re late.”
“……”
Riel immediately fell silent and turned her head away.
…Certainly, now that I’d heard it directly from Riel and was seeing it again, I could tell.
That Riel really dislikes Allen.
The person in question, Allen, really doesn’t seem to know.
It’s quite remarkable how he sticks to her so casually even though her expression is stiff and she’s turning away from him.
“Come on, let’s go to the classroom! Everyone’s waiting.”
Allen reached out to take Riel’s hand, who wasn’t responding at all.
Trying to hold a woman’s hand without permission when she’s neither your lover nor close to you is not behavior that would be praised for a noble.
But in Allen’s mind, Riel is already a close childhood friend, and Allen isn’t even a noble to begin with.
Still, it was hard to watch, so just as I was about to say something to stop him.
Slap!
Riel swatted away Allen’s hand that was reaching for her.
Then she quickly hid behind me as if running away.
Allen’s gaze turned to me.
Ah, I drew his aggro.
“Who are you?”

But seriously, I’d been standing next to Riel all this time, and he’s only now noticing my existence?
That’s quite narrow vision he has there.
“I’m Kyo Wentos.”
Rather stiff words flowed from my mouth.
Honestly, my impression of Allen Ludwig wasn’t that bad.
Rather, when I was reading the original story as a fan before coming here, I even liked him because he was the protagonist.
But from my position as Kyo Wentos, this guy is, if anything, close to an enemy.
“Trying to grab a woman’s hand when she’s not even your lover—I can’t just stand by and watch this, Mr. Allen Ludwig.”
“This doesn’t concern you.”
“No, as a noble of the kingdom, I cannot just stand by and watch such misconduct.”
Allen showed a slightly displeased expression.
Well, that’s to be expected—Allen basically dislikes nobles who display arrogant behavior.
It’s not particularly that I’m arrogant, but how would Allen, who doesn’t know me well, know that?
“In the academy, there’s no distinction between nobles and commoners.”
“That means not to discriminate based on status, not to disregard manners.”
I glared sharply at Allen.
Honestly, I won’t deny that there was some emotion in it.
“Well, perhaps it’s pointless to bring up manners to you, who isn’t a noble.”
“You bastard…”
Allen slightly moved his right hand to the sword at his waist.
“Are you going to draw your sword? I won’t stop you, but I’d recommend paying attention to your surroundings.”
“……”
The two guards who had been standing by at the academy gate raised their weapons and glared at Allen, sending a warning.
Guards don’t normally intervene in disputes between students.
However, except for legitimate duels between students, if there’s a tendency for a situation to develop into a violent incident, they are the first to intervene as they patrol and guard the academy.
And in this situation, Allen was unilaterally trying to escalate it into a violent incident.
That’s reason enough for the guards to be on edge with Allen.
“Tch.”
Allen let go of his sword.
It seems he’s not a simple-minded person who would draw his sword against guards or make an enemy of the academy, no matter how much he dislikes the noble in front of him.
“Riel, let’s go to the classroom quickly.”
Instead, Allen approached Riel again, trying to take her with him.
Riel was hiding behind me, sticking close, and refusing to move.
“Riel!!”
“Shouting at a woman? Did you wash down your manners with wine?”
“You stay out of this!!”
“No, I can’t do that.”
I stepped back with Riel, as if protecting her.
“Regardless of noble status or manners, as her ‘friend,’ I can’t just stand by in this situation.”
“What did you say?”
“Do you need a cleaning spell for your ears? I said that as her friend, I can’t just stand by in this situation.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! A guy like you…!”
Allen was about to shout but stopped himself.
Well, he had to—no matter how late it was, causing a commotion in front of the academy gate would naturally attract onlookers.
And the situation was: a girl hiding behind a man’s back, and another man shouting.
No matter how popular Allen may be within the academy, seeing this situation, Allen can only look like the bad guy.
“…Damn it.”
Perhaps bothered by the onlookers’ gazes, Allen looked at Riel for a moment before turning his back and leaving.
As one side left, the onlookers also began to disperse.
“Riel.”
“……”
“Are you okay?”
Riel nodded with difficulty.
I could see Riel’s body trembling.
Like someone who had just faced something frightening—it wasn’t a normal state.
“Alright, then let’s go to the classroom.”
“……”
Without realizing it, I reached my hand out to Riel.
Riel, who had been looking at my hand for a moment, firmly grabbed it.
Riel’s face was still expressionless, but I could see a small smile at the corner of her mouth.
That day, the academy class time passed without any significant events.
The only difference was that Liliana, who had almost always spent time with me, joined the group with Allen.
Whether I still had lingering feelings or not, it was a very painful feeling, but it was already over.
I had to get rid of these lingering feelings quickly too.
During every break, Allen persistently tried to talk to Riel, who was sitting behind him, but Riel ignored Allen until the end.
And as soon as the morning classes ended, Riel rushed out of the classroom as if escaping.
Allen called after Riel, but Riel didn’t even look back.
Since tomorrow was a holiday, today ended with morning classes, so Riel wouldn’t be coming back.
But when I also left the academy to return to the dormitory, I saw the red hair that I had been seeing frequently since yesterday.
“Kyo!”
“Riel, were you waiting for me?”
“Because we’re friends!”
Riel seemed to be in a slightly good mood.
“Let’s go quickly! Before that guy catches up!”
“Okay.”
Since the day ended with morning classes, there was plenty of time left, and Riel seemed to want to go play somewhere, but given Riel’s situation of avoiding crowded places, that was difficult.
In the end, the place Riel and I headed to was the grand library within the academy grounds.
It’s not exam period, and there are hardly any academy students who come to study at the grand library at such an early hour.
It seemed that for Riel, this was something of a sanctuary—after classes ended, she would often come here to avoid Allen.
While studying with Riel for a while, Riel opened her mouth.
“Kyo, about Liliana… are you okay?”
“…Yeah.”
Well, all morning, Riel had seen Liliana sticking close to that Allen right in front of us.
She must be concerned.
“It’s not that I don’t feel anything, but I need to get over it quickly.”
“Yeah, I’m wondering if I asked something unnecessary.”
“No, it’s fine.”
Come to think of it, I remembered asking to send a letter to the count’s family in the morning.
I wonder if it was properly sent.
Seeing the sun gradually setting, we returned to the dormitory. I was worried that Allen might have come looking for Riel, but it didn’t seem like it.
After parting with Riel in front of Aurum Hall, I returned to my room.
“Young Master Kyo.”
When I returned to my room, my personal maid entered as if she had been waiting.
Basically, personal servants stay in private rooms in a corner of the dormitory, and when their master returns, they come to serve them.
Usually, it takes at least 3 minutes for a servant to notice their master’s return and come prepared, but she would come in less than a minute.
She had been my personal maid for several years, but I still thought she was very capable.
Receiving her service, I changed into indoor clothes, and while drinking tea, I asked her a question.
“Did you send the letter well?”
“Yes. I sent it by express mail, so I think it will arrive by tonight.”
“I see.”
I put down my teacup.
While thinking about handling the broken engagement, a thought suddenly came to mind.
“Phyllis.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“After this broken engagement, do you think Baron Edwin’s family can pay the compensation…”
The request for breaking the engagement came from Liliana’s side, and the reason was also Liliana’s change of heart.
In the end, the responsibility for the broken engagement would fall entirely on Baron Edwin’s family…
My personal maid, Phyllis, thought for a moment and then opened her mouth.
“It would be impossible.”