Chapter 23: Truth+Truth= ...

Then what happened to us?
Adele said, "Let's leave the empire," and we were about to start preparing to leave the country together, without waiting for morning.
The one who put a stop to it …


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The next morning.
We were hardly able to sleep when Dirk's father, Chief Executive Neumann, appeared in front of us with Chief Executive Weber.
Administrator Neumann oversaw the education system in the former Principality of Arita, with the academy at its head. I heard that Secretary Weber was dispatched from the Imperial City about a year ago as the Chief Executive of the Southern Skinia Empire, but this is the first time I've met him.

"I was surprised to hear from my son that he had rewritten the sacred ‘coming of age ritual’ mating combinations to suit his own desires ……… Well, I didn't think it was possible, but this faction was originally very rebellious because they were the lords of this land. My paperwork was perfect."
Chief Executive Weber was fearless for his age and sat in his chair in deep concentration as he listened quietly next to Neumann, who wiped his sweat fervently as he spoke rapidly.

Perhaps the Chief Executive was comfortable listening silently, Neumann continued to rub his nose.
"In the first place, my son's gentle nature allowed these people to do whatever they wanted from an early age…! I've had to deal with my son getting into trouble for things he didn't do, and deal with several boys getting involved with an Impirial girl! This time, too, they must have forced my son to rewrite the documents to their whims. "
I squeezed my hands on my knees because of my disgust at Neumann’s self-justification, and my anxiety about having to come to this place without taking any measures.

"I see, that's mysterious."
Slowly, Chief Executive Weber opened his mouth.
"That's right, we must give strict ……… wait, mysterious?"
Neumann stops.

"Trying to cause trouble, entwined with a girl who’s doing nothing … They were the ones doing it, which is exactly the opposite of what was said in the complaints I received earlier. What does it mean … I'd love to hear it."
He slowly uncrossed his legs and placed a thick leather-bound book on his lap.

"Cornelia, do you have anything to add?"
"Well, Uncle Eckart, we're very confused too."
Cornelia furrowed her beautiful eyebrows, put one hand on her cheek, and tilted her head prettily.
"I wanted to show you the diary that I've been keeping. But that's all I have. I'm trying to keep a detailed record of our student life. From our perspective, it was Dirk Neumann and his friends who were the ones causing trouble and getting involved with the girls …”

"Wait a minute!!!"
Neumann yelled.
I didn't think I would ever feel comfortable with him, but I felt the same way, and probably Adele did, too.
"Oh, what kind of relationship do you guys have …!!!"

"Oh, didn't you know? Well, neither I or my brother go around talking about it aloud."
Chief Executive Weber looks on in amusement.
"I'm an adopted son-in-law … before I got married, my name was Eckert Arita. The last lord of the Principality of Arita … Cornelia’s father is my older brother."
Administrator Neumann's eyes were black and white as Chief Executive Weber stood up from his chair.
"The third son never stays in the Principality. When I was young, I went to the empire and planted roots there. I didn't think I'd be dispatched to this area, though …”

Then the uncle and Cornelia stood next to each other and picked up the documents from the desk.
"This is the list of pairs that my uncle brought to me from over the last few years, each pair decided by the empire, but … there’s something strange. There are a few that are different from what we recognize... just a couple a year or so, and they are very discreet.”
About five years’ worth of documents, Cornelia hands them to Chief Executive Weber.

"Men from the imperial school … and they are all relatively wealthy. And it's so strange, you know? Shortly after that, Dirk took a long vacation to go out with his friends … well, that year he bought a nice white horse. He couldn't ride it, so he gave it away. "
Neumann's eyes became wide and his face gradually turns blue.
"Is that so?"

Chief Executive Weber turned his eyebrows over the material.
"I’ll have to talk to your son about this at once. By the way, one more thing to worry about-"
He taps Cornelia’s diary.
"-In her diary, the two of them … Julius Khan and Adel Berger's illustrious achievements on the knight course are clearly described, but … I’ve only heard from you. I think there is a gap between what you knew when you submitted the formal document. "
This time, clearly, Neumann's face turned pale.
"The record of the tournament in the final semester, the record of the ceremonial knights when the Chancellor stopped at the port last year … All achievements of your son, according to your report. Hmm … but looking at this diary, it should belong to the two of them."
Neumann didn’t speak. His throat shaking.
"I'm certainly from this area, but … I don't want to give those from the former Principality of Arita special treatment, however …”
With a gentle smile to Cornelia and a cold glare at Neumann.
"If there’s been something fishy going on, it must be properly corrected."

"Well, that is, secretary …”
Cutting Neumann off, Chief Executive Weber laughed invincibly.
"So? Who is my cute niece's partner?"


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In the end, by Cornelia's influence, our partners remained the same … as we were the first time, so as to not draw any unwanted attention.
However, Chief Executive Weber promised to deal with Neumann's forgery of his son's performance. The empire attaches great importance to developing human resources. There have been reports of Neumann cheating at headquarters for some time, and Weber was dispatched to correct it. Neumann's downfall is inevitable.

From now on, I hope that our juniors will be able to get grades fairly.
Just as Neumann escaped, Chief Executive Weber then left to greet his brother, the former Lord Arita, leaving just the four of us in the room.

"-Is this fine? Could there be others who were also mismatched because of Dirk? We have to judge it properly."
I ask Cornelia what has been on my mind.

"It's okay, Tia. Actually … my uncle says that there was something going on with the matches, and we … I've been doing some research with my father for some time."
Cornelia gently looks at Julius.
"I’ve met and talked to people who might have had their matches changed. Some people lived happily, others didn't. It’s the same thing with the fixed pairs …

“Still, everyone has children and their lives are progressing … They don’t want to make a big deal about it. For those who want to fix it, my uncle will help them out in a way that will not be made public. It's not going to be public, but I'm sure it will be reported. "
The empire wouldn't want to make big news out of the students that were easily allowed to rearrange, Cornelia finished.

"That ..."
I sat down in a chair.
"Cornelia-sama, I’ve searched but … I didn't notice …”
"But we didn't expect Dirk to be so bold and foolish as to change our matches. That's why we were really surprised. As a result, it turned out to be a fatal flaw on their part."
Cornelia smiles.
The room is quiet for a moment.

"Tia, Adele."
Cornelia’s smile disappears from her visage and she moves to stand in front of the chair where I’m sitting.
She looks at me and Adele who is standing behind me.
Then she bows deeply.
"Truly … I'm sorry. I'm sorry, but it's completely my fault for hiding my uncle and what we've been investigating so far. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry for making you suffer so much. "

"Why … why, Cornelia-sama. Why suggest such a thing ..."
The last flower of hope for the Principality of Arite, Cornelia, was bowing to me.
Such a thing cannot be forgiven, but the motivation to stop her … does not spring up.
Why, with such a clear trump card, did Cornelia dare to…
Why did she dare to suggest changing our pairs?

"That is………"
Cornelia looks down without hesitation.

"… It's my fault, Cornelia"
Julius leans against the wall near the door as he speaks.
"I loved Tia, so you thought you'd let me fulfill my feelings for her, didn't you?"

"……… What? What do you …!?"
I rashly spoke after being dumbstruck.
Julius? About me???

"I have always longed for Tia. I used to talk about it to my friends in the Knight course and to Cornelia."
Julius smiles and looks at me as he is frozen.
"But Tia has always just ‘liked’ me … I knew she wasn't conscious of me as a man at all, but I still hoped for a spark."

"Julius, you … Aren't you the cause of everything then?"
Adele had been standing behind me, he stepped forward as if he couldn't bear it, holding Julius' neck with his right arm, his blood vessels pulsing.
What should I do if the two Knight course leaders start a scuffle over me?

"Ah, but Adele thought that Tia liked me for some reason, and I was a little happy, so I didn't deny it … Keh, Adele, it's really starting to hurt …”
"He’s right. So when I heard Dirk's confession, I thought that maybe this was the last chance for Julius to express his feelings … I knew that if I told her that I liked Adele, Tia would back off. I played a dirty trick on her. "

Cornelia looks down and talks in a small voice.
"Julius is like my brother … in fact, even after we were paired … we hadn't reached that kind of relationship yet."
I was out of words.
"So I thought to myself, ‘Why not?’ I knew that if I went with the flow, Julius would be happy. I knew how Tia felt, but ……I'm so incredibly stupid. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I could have done something irreversible."

I stood up from my chair, pulled apart the two glaring boys, and stood in front of Cornelia.
"That’s not all, is it?"

"Huh…?"
Cornelia shakes her eyes in confusion.

"Cornelia-sama, you didn't want that, did you? You didn't you really want me and Julius-sama to do get together?"
I stood as tall as I could, looking into her eyes. With both hands, I gently grabbed her shoulders.

I was the one who did something wrong last night.
Cornelia wouldn't have wanted to break her relationship with Julius.
I know. I've been watching Cornelia for a long time.
I know how defenseless and innocent Cornelia can be in front of Julius. No matter how much she trusts him, following him with her gaze, smiling gently at him, and ……

"You must’ve been so happy to be paired with Julius?"
Cornelia's wide, blue eyes, like the world's most beautiful lake, blinked … as if to rise from their surface ーーー a single, rounded, transparent tear, spilled out.

"Because … it's no good. I can't.
“Even though the country is gone and I no more power, he will still be treated as my Knight forever … and yet the only one who’s able to release him will be me. I feel sorry for Julius … It's no wonder he can't hold me. ......”
Tears overflow from Cornelia's eyes.

Adele let go of Julius’ chest and roughly elbowed his back.
Julius stands in front of Cornelia.
"Cornelia …”

"Julius, I'm sorry, I …”

"No, I'm sorry … I thought you had grown tired of me and wanted to end our relationship …”
Julius gently hugs Cornelia.
I pull the hem of Adele's cloak. I opened the door and headed out into the hallway so as to not disturb the two.

"Somehow, it's all muddled in my head …”
I muttered and put my hands on my cheeks. A lot of things have happened, and my head is about to explode with the amount of information dumped on me.
Due to lack of sleep, I can feel reality and my dreams mixing together.
I look up at Adele.

"It's all because Julius was faltering. I'll definitely hit him later."
Adele mutters something that isn’t fitting of him.

"... with you."
I gently caress his hand and gaze up at him.
"With you … I wonder if it's okay to continue to be in contact with each other …?"
I'm afraid to put it into words. Carefully pulling reality into my hands.
"We can start a real relationship now, without worry… right? … It wasn’t a dream when you told me that you liked me … right?"

Before I could finish saying anything else, Adele placed a hand on the wall and closed the distance between us in a kiss.
"I love you, Tiana. I'll never let go of you … I'll say it again and again. I've been wanting to say it but couldn't, I've been holding back so much."
He bites my lower lip sweetly and picks me up in his arms.

"Eh !? Adele !?"
"Let's go. I'm gonna mess you up right now …… I'm gonna love you to death so much that you'll believe my words with all your heart."
"Hmph, don’t joke around …!!"
I haven't slept a wink, and my head is spinning with information.
Various things are already at their limit ………!!

"I’m not joking. Do you know how happy I am now? I can finally hold you while telling you how much I love you. It's like a dream. I'll love every trace of your body."
He whispers in my ear while still holding me up, then plants another deep kiss.
I cling to Adele's neck, squeezing …

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