After that, Ard left the alley with Claudia and Mirea to head toward Reese's merchant wagon, which was still in the square. But they had only walked a few steps when,
"Ard!"
Ard saw Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, Patricia, and Rosalind approaching him, with Geoffrey and Ainsley following behind them. Alicia immediately handed Ard a pair of long daggers.
"Huh... what are these?" Ard asked.
"The merchant said they were for you. He left them with me," Alicia answered.
Ard took both long daggers. He pulled them from their scabbards; the daggers were made of mithril and bore a "V" brand, the blacksmith's trade mark, on the end of the blades.
"These two daggers... they're the same as the ones Reese gave me in my second life, as a sign that I had completed his martial arts training... hahahaha... what a funny irony," Ard muttered in his head with a smile.
Ard turned to see Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, Rosalind, and Patricia standing face-to-face with Claudia and Mirea. The faces of Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, Rosalind, and Patricia seemed to ask, "How can a senior and a Student Council member be with Ard?" Though they didn't say anything and just stared at the two seniors in front of them, a sly smile suddenly crept onto Mirea's face. Then Mirea took off her thick glasses and unbound her braided hair, making her instantly very beautiful. Then she smiled and turned to look at Ard.
"Are they your classmates, Ard?" asked Mirea, who now looked confident, like a true Student Council President.
"Y-Yeah, that's right," Ard replied, confused by Mirea's slight change in appearance.
Suddenly, "gyuup," Mirea immediately linked her arm through Ard's, making Ard look very shocked.
"Hey!" shouted Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, and Rosalind simultaneously. Patricia didn't say anything, but her face looked angry.
"Um... Mirea?" Ard asked.
"You're joining the Student Council, right? Starting today, you're assigned to the Student Council for training," Mirea replied, looking flirtatiously at Ard.
"Wow, that's great! I agree too," added Claudia, who stood blocking the other girls because her body was larger and her height was nearly the same as Ard's.
"Um... o-okay, but please let go," Ard replied.
"Hey! What's the meaning of this? I'm joining too!" Alicia protested.
"Me too!" Milia added.
"You know who I am, right? You can't possibly forget to invite me to join," added Beatrice, making it clear she was a princess.
"Princess Beatrice, please don't get involved. I will join instead, to supervise Ard," Rosalind said.
"Um... I'm joining too," Patricia added, raising her hand halfway.
Mirea and Claudia immediately turned to look at each other, then they burst out laughing, confusing everyone who stared at them. Then Claudia glanced at the enraged girls.
"You all like Ard, don't you?" Claudia asked, laughing.
"Oh, really? But you don't know that Ard and I have been spending time alone together in the library since last week, right, Ard?" Mirea asked deliberately.
"And I'm going to join him in the library too later. I want to learn a lot... about Ard, of course," Claudia added, teasing them.
"Grrrrr," Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, Rosalind, and Patricia growled with very red faces, whether from anger or... something else... after hearing the teasing from the two seniors in front of them, but they didn't dare do anything because they knew who the two were.
Ard, who could feel the tension starting to rise, immediately turned to look at Geoffrey and Ainsley with a face that seemed to say, "Help me," but Geoffrey and Ainsley just stood still, arms folded across their chests, their faces seeming to say, "You flirted with a Student Council member and the President... that's your own fault, deal with the consequences, don't involve me." Ard stared harder at the two, "I'm not flirting with them... come on, hurry up and help me."
While confusedly watching his two male friends look indifferent to his plight, Ard looked around. Suddenly, he saw Eva, followed by Irwin, walking toward the town square from the academy to look at Reese's merchandise. Without another word, Ard immediately pulled himself free from Mirea's arm.
"Sorry... I have to go," Ard said, smiling.
"Hey!" shouted Mirea, Claudia, Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, Rosalind, and Patricia.
Ard ran toward Eva, who was walking calmly and demurely with a cold expression, followed by Irwin like a guard dog behind her. "Tap," Ard immediately grabbed Eva's hand, which naturally shocked Eva half to death. Then he looked at Irwin.
"I'm borrowing your princess for a moment," Ard said, smiling as he ran, pulling Eva along.
"Okay," replied Irwin, who was stunned but gave a thumbs-up.
Ard continued to pull the still-confused Eva, running back toward the academy. Eva, seeing Ard in front of her, then seeing her hand being held by Ard as they ran, immediately blushed and smiled. They didn't enter the academy but turned right toward the large river on the right side of the city, which was used to irrigate the fields on the opposite side. Once they were far enough away and right on the riverbank, Ard stopped, panting. He let go of Eva's hand, who was also panting.
"W-What is it, Ard?" Eva asked, out of breath.
"Uh... that's right, I suddenly pulled her without thinking of a reason. [He looked at the pair of long daggers in his hand] Ah... I know," Ard muttered in his head. "S-Sorry, Princess, there's something I want to talk to you about and give you," Ard said, answering Eva's question while still panting.
Both then tried to regulate their breathing and stood upright again. Ard immediately handed one of the twin daggers to Eva. Seeing the long dagger made of the rare material mithril and looking beautiful, Eva became very confused. She looked at Ard then at the dagger in front of her. Seeing Eva hesitate, Ard finally knelt down on one knee in front of Eva.
"Princess Eva, will you join the Student Council with me?" Ard asked. "Whoa... what am I saying?" Ard muttered in his head.
"Oh... okay, but this dagger?" Eva asked.
"This is my gift for you. I bought it from the merchant just now," Ard replied.
"Oh... f-for me?" Eva asked haltingly, her cold expression suddenly softening.
"Yes, for you. I'm holding one too. These are twin daggers, so we each have one," Ard said, showing her the other dagger.
"A-Alright, th-thank you, Ard," Eva replied, taking the dagger.
"You're welcome, Princess," Ard replied.
Ard, relieved, stood up and sighed. Then he looked at Eva, who was smiling and hugging the dagger to her chest with the face of a girl who had just been proposed to by her dream man. However, Eva looked away, avoiding Ard's gaze. Seeing Eva's unusual behavior, Ard became nervous and awkward.
"Um... let's go back, Princess," Ard said.
"Eva," Eva replied, looking down.
"Um... Princess?" Ard asked.
"Tap," Eva suddenly held Ard's hand, which made Ard so shocked he covered his mouth.
"Call me Eva... in front of you, I'm not the Imperial Princess... I'm just Eva," Eva said, looking down because her face was turning red.
"A-Alright... Eva," Ard replied nervously, looking away because his face was also turning red, and he rubbed the back of his head with the hand holding the long dagger.