The Nine Marquises—

    Valcondor (No Class A student)

    Endeumion (Al)

    Grauksh (Dan)

    Sernande (First appearance in this chapter)

    Diarmaq (Bester)

    Dosperior (Lala)

    Dragoon (Allen, Fey, Parry)

    Torveil (Stella)

    Leverance (Jeuri)

    Also, the three Dukes—

    Grauster (First appeared in If it''s not love, then what? ?1?)

    Zatsinger (Leo)

    Shutrenu (First appeared in Intermission - Teachers of the Royal Academy)

    —————————————————————————————————————————

    "Speaking of which, it seems like my granddaughter is also quite a fan of Allen Rovenne, so maybe... Hahaha!”

    Marquis Endeumion''s words incurred glares from everyone present.

    The breakfast might have just been served on the round table, yet the atmosphere had already become piping hot as sparks flew everywhere.

    "......By the way, I heard he spent the final night of the outdoor class with the students of Class E, and actively looked for information about the romantic relationships of Class E''s students. The rest of Class A slept like logs after going through that grueling scenario, but he alone insisted that ''Outdoor Classes can''t come to an end at all without this'' and talked to them on his own. I just can''t think of why it was so important. Any guesses?"

    The quiet remark came from Marquis Sernande, also the youngest person among the marquises. Her territory lay in the northern region of the kingdom. That was to say, her territory shared a direct border with the Rosemieur Empire, and then there was the exceedingly turbulent relationship between the two powers at this point. Fortunately, with her husband, who had an important position in the 4th legion of the Knight Order, temporarily taking over, she was able to leave her position temporarily, allowing her to participate in the new year''s events.

    No one answered her question.

    Once again, silence reigned in the hall.

    Everyone had their polite smiles masking their true thoughts, but the air was so tense one could hear it crackling.

    This had been the biggest doubt everyone had about the Sail Club as they just couldn''t see the goal of that club that Allen Rovenne had been so fervently investing his time in. They were aware that the Sail Club was using the port meant for the Knight Order, but they had chalked it up to Godorfun''s doing.

    But their assumptions would be completely subverted if the permission had indeed come from His Majesty instead.

    Allen had thought this would just add more oil to the rumours about him, so he hadn''t revealed this fact to anyone. This was another reason why they didn''t have even a single piece of information about what actually happened.

    Being on the receiving end of everyone''s sharp gazes, Randy was silent for a moment, and eventually opened his mouth with a sigh.

    "......The audience itself happened at the military garrison of the Royal Palace in absolute secrecy, but if the word is already out, then there''s no reason to hide it anymore. And frankly, the event details are silly enough. You should all be aware of His Majesty''s curious nature. He expressed a strong desire to meet with Allen after the events in the Rising Star Cup match. There, he had him ask for anything he wanted as a reward.

    Allen then requested for the right to use the military port, and a permit to frequent the Rune River so that they could use it as their training ground for sailing as it was near the Academy."

    Unable to decipher Allen''s intention, everyone waited for Randy''s continuation.

    "Of course, His Majesty asked why he was so fixated with outdated ships. And his reply was, well...... ‘It sounds fun. We just want to play around...’ His expression was devoid of any motive back then, and he answered with a bright smile. His Majesty had been amused by his answer as he never expected such an... ordinary reason, and he burst into laughter."

    Everyone blinked their eyes in confusion for a moment, and simultaneously, they all burst out laughing.

    "Kakaka! ''Because it''s fun''... Kakaka!"

    "Such a normal reason in front of His Majesty! As expected of the man Jeu has set her eyes on, he''s interesting! Hahaha!"

    "It amazes me that he made His Majesty break into laughter. Hahaha! I can already imagine what Allen Rovenne''s expression was like!"

    "Fufu, Ahem, I mean that''s rude."

    "Who knows if he''s actually been disliked? Hahaha!"

    "Pfft! No, what you said might be rude, Marquis Valcondor. There''s no way he should have done it out of mere friendship with Daniel-kun just because he visited him on whim! Dear friends! Hahaha!"

    Marquis Grauksh faintly chuckled, replying with ''Well, kids and their whimsical nature. You can never know with them.'' His face had a wry smile as he scratched his head as if amused at a child''s antics.

    But, his other hand under the table was squeezed so hard it wouldn''t be surprising for blood to ooze out of it.

    ◆◆◆

    Meanwhile, an earth-shattering discovery, enough to engulf the Kingdom in a crisis, had been unearthed in the northeast region— in one of the territories under the Grauksh region.