While she was reviewing Kuro's memories, Adrianne thought about the old saying, "There's no such thing as a free lunch" and realised that it was true. Every action had consequences and she would have to pay a price for saving her mother's life.

Admittedly, she wasn't the only one who would have to pay the price. Her actions would send ripples throughout all of society. The more powerful and influential someone was, the more significant the consequences of their actions would be.

When her mother offhandedly said something to that effect, Adrianne immediately answered her, "Since you decided to retreat to a desk job, father had very little to do and ended up being appointed as the new Prime Minister. It was a politically sounds decision, but the actual reason for it was that your relationship became incredibly strained. Because you hate paperwork and it made him nervous."

"Sadly, I can't deny that," the Marchioness said. "Your father had been the real backbone of Lustre's administration for twenty years at that point."

The Marchioness made no attempt to deny the fact that she hated paperwork. Her husband has been doing her share of office work. The Marchioness had a habit of using field deployment as an excuse to dodge her responsibilities in that regard.

In a sense, she lacked the common sense of the average noble, who would enjoy military duty if it brought them political or financial benefits and would avoid it otherwise. Some counts would daringly accuse Marianne Lyster of being someone who lacked femininity and grace, resembling the archetypical mercenary or barbarian warrior than a high-ranked noblewoman.

The Marchioness rarely spared her tongue in response to them. She had almost sparked an actual feud with other lords in the past. At the time, Sir Agravain was the one who defused the situation by taking both Theodore and Adrianne as his pages, strengthening the informal ties between the Crown and the March. This forced the lesser lords to back down and make concessions.

"Still, your father as the Prime Minister rings beautifully."

By saving her mother from being forced into early retirement, Adrianne also preserved the relatively harmonious relationship between her parents. The cost of doing that was Adrianne's father's career advancement.

"I don't know what consequences that will bring to our family or our nation..." Adrianne sighed.

"Are you regretting it now? Saving me early, that is," Marianne asked her daughter.

"Not in the slightest, only... was it cowardly for me to be afraid of what's to come? Not just for me, but for our family and this nation."

Adrianne used to think those nightmares of a grim future were scary. But now? She was actually far more afraid of the changes she had made personally and the unpredictable effects they would bring.

"Because now that the future is no longer set in stone, the nightmares can no longer be my guide."

What would be consequences of the House of Lyster maintaining its militaristic image and someone else being chosen as the Prime Minister of the Kingdom? Adrianne had been hard-pressed to think about that over the past few weeks...

"Being afraid is not the same as cowardice." Marianne smiled slightly. "Why do you think the Knight's academies were established?"

"Formally speaking, it was to standardize and raise the qualities of what makes someone a knight," Adrianne replied with a somewhat monotonous voice. "In the past, there were quite a few wealthy individuals who bought the title without actually deserving it."

"Correct, the Knight's academies serve as a pool to standardize what it takes to be His Majesty's knights. In other words, your background doesn't matter, but whether you're qualified or not matters a lot more." Marianne's smile disappeared. "But that was only on the surface."

"I'm well aware." Adrianne sighed. "There will always be stratification among the student ranks."

Adrianne in the otome game was one of the most privileged students and Garnet was at the bottom even by the standards of non-nobility. It was all part of the reason why Garnet was the heroine: she represented the hopes and dreams of untold millions of young girls and women trapped in their uneventful lives. Which was all the more reason why Adrianne would oppose her: Garnet was a threat to the sanctity of the social order.

But Adrianne no longer thought that was the case. She knew that Garnet's existence would be pivotal to save the future of Adrianne and the people surrounding her, if not the Kingdom as a whole.

However, for that reason alone, Adrianne couldn't and shouldn't make things easy for Garnet. Part of her trial was to undergo sufferings and oppression and come out a better person in the end.

Adrianne decided that minimum intervention would be for the best. She would make sure to neither actively antagonize or help Garnet while at the same time watching so that things would not get out of hand.

"Well, there's that. But, if you think about it, there's another facet to this situation." Marianne took a sip of her tea. "The academies have students coming from every corner of the nation. Each of those students represents the place they came from. In other words, they are the collective face of the country and represent the Kingdom's future. By getting to know these people, not only will it be politically convenient for your future, but it will also broaden your horizon and understanding. This is an opportunity to learn. Use it well."

"I understand, Mother."

"Anyway, it seemed that from what Sola said, you are able to use Royal Blade's full strength... is that true?"

"Only on a pure technicality, Mother," Adrianne demurred. "I think I could only reliably use eight tenths of its power at the moment, maybe nine tenths for a short while. Otherwise, I'll end up losing control."

"That's good enough. I have recently commissioned a copy of Royal Blade. It should be finished just in time for your enrollment."

Adrianne's jaw dropped because the cost of Royal Blade was more than the cost of an entire church or a large manor building!

"I was afraid you'd have that exact reaction, so I made sure the armor pieces would be simplified and unpolished. However, its performance should be the exact same as the original."

Well, that would cut three quarters of the cost easily! In fact, that would put it at roughly twice the cost of an old Starfall. Expensive, but not outrageously so.

The design of the Royal Blade was considered a state secret. For Marianne to order a copy of it would take significant political pull. Although it shared a lot of parts with Starfall and its successor, the Starfall Crusader, the reason why its workings were kept secret was because of its its loop circuit.

This loop circuit took more than a thousand man-hours of work from the Royal Engineers to craft. It also required expensive and rare materials compared to other loop circuits available in the market. Therefore, it was protected against tampering both technically and legally. If anything else broke, even ordinary armor technicians would be able to fix it. But if the loop circuit broke, then only the Royal Engineers could fix it.

Also, the Royal Blade's loop circuit was pretty temperamental. Forget average academy squires... even full-fledged knights would be hard-pressed to stay in control of it. That's why the royal family unironically used one with a limiter installed, operating at eighty-eight hundredth power unless in an emergency.

Only Marianne could use the full power of the loop circuit for an extended amount of time. Well, at least that had been the case in the past...

"Well, thanks to that thrice-damned curse, my inner force was broken too. I'll have to ask them to put a limiter on my Royal Blade while they're at it." Marianne smiled.

CHAPTER 05 - THE VILLAINESS, THE HEROINE, AND THE FIRST EVENT FLAG

Two months later, the spring season arrived. Along with it, many schools and universities started their academic curriculum. And the Knight's academy of the Marble Valley wasn't an exception to the rule.

Adrianne didn't usually think much about it. She was too preoccupied with the calamity that loomed over her family. But now that her memories had merged with that of Kuro, she noticed the details.

Although this Kingdom was more in line with the Earth's Middle Ages Europe, certain elements seemed to have crept in from a modern Japanese perspective.

Adrianne didn't know what it was like in medieval Europe. However, she knew that most countries in modern Europe started the school curriculum after the summer season. In Japan, this was not the case: schools and universities started opening up after the winter season instead.

She could think of good reasons for why this should be the case. For instance, in this era, room heating was at a premium, and schools could not afford to operate during a prolonged period of bad weather. However, she couldn't come up with a reason to explain the existence of pink cherry blossom trees, otherwise known as Sakura trees. Ornamental cherry trees did not exist in medieval Europe!

At the beginning of the new academic year, Knight's academies had a special event to welcome new students, giving them a chance to form their first impressions of each other and to show off their wealth and status.

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One of the easiest ways to gauge someone's wealth and status was by looking at the horse they rode on: their breed, or rather, their type, signified just how much wealth they were willing to spend and the image they were trying to project. Specifically, the horse types that could be identified usually could be divided into destriers, coursers, palfreys, and rounceys.

Destriers were the prized and most expensive type of warhorse in the past. They tended to be solidly built and with top-of-the-line training to ensure balanced handling and temperament. Often, they were equipped with a heavy plate or mail armor called barding.

Chargers were a subtype of destriers. They usually had a more fierce temperament and were more willing to slam into, trample and bite enemies in front of them.

Destriers were the foundation of the shock cavalry tactics of the past. However, just like knights in plate armor, armored horses were rendered obsolete with the introduction of powered armor suits. Even a low-ranked soldier had little to fear against a barded horse as long as they wore their powered armor suit.

Destriers these days existed as novelty pets. Their primary use was for sport jousting, a remnant of the old knightly traditions. The Knight's academy did have horsemanship classes, but jousting was purely an optional activity.

While the equally outdated plate armor was a required uniform, barded destriers were pretty much supplementary. Riding a destrier showed that the student in question was bold and not afraid of showing off their wealth and thirst for challenges and competition.

Not unexpectedly, Theodore could be seen wearing his polished and gilded plate armor on top of a barded destrier, which also wore polished and gilded armor. The cost of Theodore's armor and his barded horse was probably similar to the cost of an actual knight's armor suit (such as a Southern Bluebird). So much money for something of little practical value!

Adrianne herself also rode a barded destrier. Only hers was much more practical. The spirited mare "Red Apple" wore semi-polished armor without gilding. Adrianne's plate armor was similarly nondescript since she wore her family heraldry in the form of a surcoat. She could't really be bothered to bring a war banner as Theo had done.

The slightly more common coursers remained relevant even in the present day, signified by their athletic but slim build and immense running speed, thanks to their unique gait. Coursers were part of the light cavalry in the past and were still used today for jobs that require fast travel, such as messenger services or forward scouts and forest rangers.

Those who rode a courser to the academy are often the free-spirited type that liked adventuring around their family territories or their master's fiefdom.

Among the students who were seen riding a courser, Adrianne finally spotted him: Reinhard of the Kingston family. The other person supposedly reincarnated from Modern Earth.

They hadn't really talked much with each other, and had only exchanged a single letter so far. Adrianne was looking forward to exchanging words with him.

Reinhard waved his hand to her, which was unusual if not downright disrespectful. Only a higher noble was permitted to wave their hand, but it signified one thing. The way he waved his hand was not parallel to the shoulder but high in the air. That wasn't a greeting form fit for this world: it was a form of casual greetings from Modern Earth. It was a signal only two of them could understand the meaning of.

Adrianne waved back at him with her arm raised high, which made some people look at them strangely but otherwise brush it off.

Anyway, on the subject of horses...

There were the palfreys, a rare and expensive type of horse with short legs and a long body, well known for their mild temperament and smooth ride. Palfreys were very popular with the nobles and burghers who just want a comfortable ride everywhere they go. They were even more expensive than destriers.

Adrianne could only think of anyone using palfrey at the academy as absolutely quaint. Spoiled, even. What was the Modern Earth word for it again?

Sissies.

Adrianne remembered her two supposed friends from the otome game. They were two noblewomen who indirectly caused Adrianne's toxic behavior to fester by feeding her rumors and generally showing signs of sycophancy.

Fittingly, those two rode their palfreys elegantly to the school entrance. What are they here even for?

Adrianne decided she would absolutely avoid associating with them this time. Not just for her own sake but also for the House of Lyster.

If Adrianne wasn't wrong, this should be when Garnet showed up: the so-called event flag. In a Visual Novel or otome game, an event flag is a point where a significant event or conversation takes place.

The sequence of the event was as such: Garnet would show up riding a sumpter, not even a rouncey.

Rounceys were general-purpose horses used by poor squires who couldn't afford anything better as well as by hunters and farmers.

Sumpters were the lowest caste of horses. The word "sumpter" roughly translates to "pack animal". They were analogous to the draft horses of Modern Earth. They were primarily used for slow but demanding tasks, such as hauling bulk goods or plowing farms. Sumpters were cheap enough that most citizens in the Kingdom would have one.

Garnet's sumpter horse was rather peculiar, however. It was gigantic, standing at seventeen hands whereas the average destriers were fifteen to sixteen and both coursers and rounceys usually fourteen to fifteen.

A single hand as a measurement corresponded to ten point two centimeters in the metric scale or four inches in the imperials. Horse height was measured from the top of the back to the ground.

Garnet's gigantic sumpter would easily weigh two thousand pounds. It was so big that some stallions were nervous. This was what triggered the event.

It was Theodore's proud stallion that had picked a fight with it! Not to the point of having an actual clash, but there was a lot of visible aggression, which almost caused Garnet to be thrown off the saddle.

Theodore, feeling guilty and being a generally empathetic person, offered a sincere apology to Garnet. Adrianne, in jealousy, insulted Garnet for daring to bring a sumpter to the sacred Knight's academy grounds.

Right, that had been the start of Adrianne's hostilities with the heroine. Adrianne only got pettier after that, even in the route where Garnet did not pursue the Second Prince.

Of course, the current Adrianne wasn't that petty. That didn't mean she didn't feel jealous about...

But Adrianne couldn't see Garnet anywhere, at all. Was she late or...?

"Are you waiting for someone, Adrianne?" Theodore approached her. Their horses stood side by side.

"Ah, well, technically..."

Heavy footsteps interrupted them as Garnet finally made her entrance... except things were different.

Very, very different.

Garnet in the otome game wore junk plate armor which had presumably been rusting somewhere in her unofficial master's closet. She wore the same armor this time, but the armor was painted crimson.

And not only that... her gigantic sumpter wore barding! Theodore and Adrianne's eyes almost popped out. Garnet's horse wore barding of unknown material and quality, but it was at least made in the right shape and size. It was also painted crimson.

It really changed most of the other pupils' first impression of Garnet, from a short plebeian without money or taste to an incredibly unsettling, perhaps superficially terrifying figure. No one would be able to tell it was a sumpter that Garnet was riding.

Heck, even Theodore's prized stallion decided to scurry off a bit instead of picking a fight.

"Eesh, calm down, my friend. Size isn't everything." Theodore gently stroked his horse and then asked Adrianne, "You know that person?"

"Well..." Adrianne couldn't decide whether to answer honestly or not. Instead, she decided to change the topic, "Doesn't she look eye-catching to you?"

"I don't follow." Theodore raised his eyebrows. "Huh, look at that man over there..."

Reinhard and Garnet seemed to exchange a greeting and, from Garnet's expression, she was happy about something. Could it be that... the source of the barding was Reinhard?!

"That man is Reinhard, the son of Baron Pieter."

"I see." Theodore nodded. "So they're acquainted with each other. Do you want to greet them?"

"Maybe next time."

Adrianne felt that she'd rather avoid needless interaction with Garnet. She also didn't feel like being seen talking to another young man in front of Theodore.

Deep down, Adrianne felt conflicted that she felt nervous that things had changed beyond her control, yet at the same time glad that Garnet had failed to trigger her first event flag.

Adrianne might say that she was ready to move on and let him go, but her heart could not lie.

"If anything, you should try to greet them." Adrianne smiled at Theo. "A Prince should be acquainted with all of his subjects, no?"

"Heh, you're right. Thanks, Adrianne." Theo nodded confidently and decided to join the conversation in front of him.

Both Garnet and Reinhard were startled by the Second Prince's arrival and sudden greeting. They bowed politely at him in response and introduced themselves.

After a short conversation, Theodore looked back and called Adrianne to join them. She had forgotten how meddlesome he could be, especially when it came to making friends...

Oh well.

"Long time no see, Lady Adrianne." Reinhard bowed slightly. "It's been three months, hasn't it?"

"Yes, I'm thankful for your assistance back then." Adrianne nodded at him with a faint smile. She hid her nervousness well.

"No, no! The Barony of Kingston is indebted to you for helping me to subdue a dangerous criminal and his well-trained band of deserters."

"I wouldn't have been able to take action if you hadn't taken the first shot, Reinhard," Adrianne assured him. "It takes quite a bit of courage to do what you think is right."

It was the truth. Adrianne could not decide whether to ignore the robbers or to intervene. She had only taken action after Reinhard fired at the robbers with his handheld cannon, which was really a modern-ish bolt action shotgun but much more massive.

"I've heard about the battle. You're so kind and brave, Lady Adrianne," Garnet excitedly told the villainess. "Well, not only that, but I also owe you for..."

"Let us not speak of that junk, Garnet." Adrianne was so scared that she sounded a bit colder and harsher than she intended to. "I simply returned a favor to your mother. Nothing more."

Garnet froze for a moment and took a deep breath. "Yes, my apologies."

Garnet remembered very well the content of Adrianne's letter that came with the freshly restored Starfall. Adrianne flat out said she could not afford to be seen being close to Garnet and might give her an 'unfriendly treatment'...

For a moment, Garnet was so excited that she made a simple mistake, which had caused Adrianne to rebuff her. No matter what Adrianne's reasoning was, it was within her right to do so.

Garnet knew that Adrianne couldn't be an evil person, not just because she had gifted her an expensive armor suit. No, it was because she had heard about Adrianne fighting dangerous, skilled brigands roaming the Barony of Kingston to save a couple of peasants, despite being heavily outnumbered at the time.

Even Garnet would hesitate before doing that. Yet Adrianne managed to rough them up until their former veteran commander had the time to reorganize his troops and push Adrianne back. Even a fully-fledged knight would have had a hard time facing highly skilled and highly organized troops on their own.

Garnet would reflect on it.

Theodore and Reinhard noticed something was amiss, but before Theo could say anything, the tower bell of the academy rang loudly, and the gate opened.

"[Welcome to the Knight's Academy of Marble Valley]," A woman's voice resounded throughout the area. "[You shall form a rank of three and enter carefully]."

Most of the students already learned formations to a degree. It didn't take too long for the ninety-six squires on horseback to form a column thirty-two horses long and three horses wide.

This amount of horsemanship was by no means negligible. Everything that transpired took a degree of skill and discipline.

Most of the students had been trained since they were seven years old regardless of their talent or background. To instill the value of learning and hard work for over a decade as preparation, that's what was required to enter the Knight's academy.

Adrianne took this chance to split from Theo, Garnet, and Reinhard. Unfortunately, she had projected an unfriendly image right on the first day. Not only doing that to innocent Garnet but in front of Theo too...

Honestly, other than irrational fear and potential jealousy, what reason was there for Adrianne to try and avoid Garnet to this extent? At least Adrianne hadn't repeated her game-self's mistake by acting like a clingy maiden entitled to Theodore's love.

Adrianne would reflect on it.