Proud

Ryan was clearly angry.

But the Crown Prince was not one to merely harbor anger.

Flora didn’t say anything immediately. Instead, she followed Ryan to a deserted garden bench, ate her lunch with relish, and then spoke.

“The academy cafeteria food is quite good!”

“Not as good as yours.”

“Thank you for the compliment, Your Highness… By the way, the matter with Flax Mounten went very smoothly.”

“That’s good.”

“Your Highness needn’t worry; the situation isn’t that bad.”

Flora finally revealed her true objective.

Ryan wasn’t surprised, but he clearly wouldn’t be comforted by this.

“Your Highness, please speak out, otherwise the problem cannot be resolved.”

Flora deliberately used her usual overly dramatic tone, which Ryan intensely disliked, intending to fight poison with poison.

“I had a conflict with that brat Anos.”

Ryan was only willing to say that much.

“I see… Your Highness Ryan, if I may be so bold, do you despise His Highness Anos very much?”

Ryan gave her a deep look, then nodded.

“If I’m not mistaken, His Highness Anos appears to be quite friendly to you, doesn’t he?”

“What ‘appears friendly’? That’s blatant provocation!”

Ryan couldn’t hold back, but immediately realized his impulsiveness was uncalled for. He took a deep breath, barely managing to suppress it.

‘(Your Highness…)’

A hint of awkwardness couldn’t help but surface on Flora’s face, but she quickly suppressed it.

After all, this wasn’t the place.

“Your Highness, forgive me, but from current observations, His Highness Anos enjoys exceptional popularity in the academy.

There should be quite a number of people willing to exert themselves for him… but even so, they are not necessarily unassailable.”

“Your Highness Ryan, please stop at once.”

“You go back immediately. I’ll stay here alone.”

Ryan already understood that the real trouble ahead wasn’t for him.

“Your Highness, this is a crisis, but it is also an excellent opportunity to turn the situation around.”

Flora shook her head, her expression firm. “Please trust me, Your Highness. This is also the meaning of my coming here.”

Ryan hesitated several times before nodding slightly.

“Please, Your Highness, you must protect yourself.”

“Understood.”

Flora bowed solemnly.

She insisted on staying on campus for her own selfish reasons, so to make up for her guilt, she could only express her gratitude to Ryan as much as possible through etiquette and her subsequent actions.

‘(……)’

But she didn’t know that Ryan agreed to this because he saw beyond her polite intentions; all of them were for his own good.

After lunch break, the two returned to the classroom.

As Flora and Ryan had anticipated, the previously somewhat fearful gazes had completely changed, mostly replaced by anger and dissatisfaction.

Flora’s reputation in the class was already considered neutral.

But this situation was unavoidable.

In the eyes of the world, Asti, the Queen’s son, beloved by His Majesty, residing in the Imperial Palace, supported by most upper and middle-class nobles, with outstanding abilities, and an almost perfect character in all aspects, was undoubtedly the most suitable person to be the Crown Prince.

Ryan was the de facto Crown Prince, but his maternal family’s influence had largely vanished, and all his resources came from His Majesty’s grants.

Now, His Majesty criticized him daily, and he didn’t even live in the Imperial Palace, cohabiting with a commoner woman he had fallen in love with and married hastily…

According to their thinking, Ryan only had a chance to remain Crown Prince until His Majesty’s passing and smoothly ascend to the throne if he behaved meekly, avoided all mistakes, and especially avoided conflict with Asti’s faction.

They had just heard that on the first day of school, Ryan had already clashed with Asti.

Although most people in the academy were unaligned, those who had already chosen sides and wanted to support Anos were not few.

Of course, they still didn’t dare directly confront Ryan, respecting his supreme authority.

But challenging Ryan’s authority… that was something everyone was eager to try.

Especially since this conflict, they heard, broke out because of her… and this woman looked like a delicate, pretty face, utterly useless except for her looks.

If they could anger Ryan again, cause him to make a big mistake, and ultimately lose his position as Crown Prince… wouldn’t they instead be credited with a great service?

And so, just ten minutes into class, the Potions teacher turned around and looked at the blonde girl, saying:

“Student Haggia, please answer this question.”

Answer this question.

Panic!

Many students secretly felt anxious.

They couldn’t have imagined that the teacher would strike first, which was a legitimate use of the teacher’s identity.

However, it was an unwritten rule in the academy for teachers not to ask questions that were too difficult.

In reality, if a teacher intended to make things difficult for a student, they would always start with their attendant.

But for a teacher to take sides and show deference to Anos… it still felt somewhat surreal to many.

However, some more cunning students didn’t find this strange at all.

The academy’s teachers were all from upper and middle-class noble backgrounds, and most were “mediocre individuals” who failed to inherit their fathers’ titles, couldn’t get into the imperial center, and could only achieve a paltry baronial fief through their own merits.

Among these, it was only natural for those with a bit of ambition to seek advancement through supporting the right rising star.

And in their eyes, this was an investment in a high-quality stock, a sure profit.

The Potions teacher’s method was also extremely insidious; he didn’t ask a common question, but a very obscure one that only honor students who had diligently spent four years in the academy would likely be able to answer… a typical tactic to force the Crown Princess to earn her stripes.

Many had already envisioned the blonde girl failing to answer, then being lectured by the teacher until she cried.

‘(What to do, should I help? Miss Yan Hong is a Grand Mage, so it should be fine, right? But she became a Grand Mage so young, she probably spent all her time cultivating…)’

Flax Mounten, sitting nearby, hesitated.

He saw Hu Lai, who was keen on joining the Third Prince’s faction, staring at him intently.

But he truly had many…

Her gaze, not sympathy…

Just then ———

“Alright!”

Flora stood up energetically and gave her answer.

“Answer… correct.”

The Potions teacher froze after hearing it.

‘(Useless!)’

The students couldn’t help but inwardly scorn the teacher.

In their eyes, this sycophantic teacher was both stupid and too conservative to ask questions beyond the syllabus, which was why the blonde girl had a lucky guess, happening to have seen the material and thus being able to answer.

A somewhat dejected Flax Mounten initially thought the same, but when the blonde girl sat down, he noticed she was intently reading a book, and her incredibly fast page-turning speed…

Wait, wasn’t that a third-year book?

‘(Is she learning and memorizing on the fly?)’

Flax Mounten was astonished.

Soon, he saw the blonde girl finish the third-year book, but instead of reviewing the basic first and second-year textbooks, she opened a sixth-year book…

No, why would a woman bring textbooks for all seven years to enrollment?

Ryan was also stunned by what Flora was doing.

When the three academies had discussed creating their curriculum, they had anticipated this kind of situation.

Ryan had also taken the time to read through all the fifth-year textbooks…

Because he had nothing else to do at home.

But Flora spent her days doing housework, only having a little time after sunset…

Yet now she was reviewing knowledge from the third, second, and sixth years.

In other words, she had already gone through the fourth and fifth years?

Considering that Flora probably wasn’t just studying this one subject… Ryan couldn’t help but smile.

‘My head maid… seems to be a bit too strong.’