"Rid Archie,..... there's something I want to talk to you about," said Princess Irene.

  "Is there something you want to talk to me about? What is it?," I asked.

  When Princess Irene was about to continue her conversation, I heard the sound of a door opening from behind me.

  "...... Never mind. Please continue your activities," said Princess Irene.

  After that, Princess Irene rushed into her room.

  "Morning, Rid. What are you doing here so early in the morning?," said Charles.

  It turned out that the one who opened the door behind me was Charles. He had just come out of his room. He was wearing casual clothes that might make people not realize that he was a prince in this kingdom.

  "Earlier I also saw Princess Irene enter her room. Did you talk to her about something?," continued Charles.

  "Nothing, when I came out of my room, there happened to be Princess Irene in front of her room. So I decided to greet her. You asked me what I was doing so early in the morning, right? I was planning to take a morning walk while looking around, what about you?" I said.

  "I also plan to take a morning walk, and do a little exercise. When I was still living in the palace, I did this regularly. Exercise is very good for increasing mana capacity," Charles said.

  "You're right, then how about we take a morning walk together?" I said.

  "Good idea," Charles said.

  "It seems like this time we don't need to invite Noa and Chloe first, it seems like they're still asleep in their room," I said.

  "You're right, I don't want to wake Chloe up either. I'm afraid she's still resting. Then let's go," Charles said.

  I stared at Princess Irene's room door for a moment.

  "She seemed like she wanted to talk to me about something but didn't because Charles came. I wonder what she wanted to talk to me about," I thought.

  After that, we immediately went downstairs and walked outside the dormitory complex. Because our dormitory was in the back building, so if we wanted to leave the dormitory complex, we had to pass through the building in front of it. In every dormitory we passed, we saw students talking to other students or doing light exercises. When we were about to pass through the dormitory gate, there were 5 female students gathered at the dormitory gate. The students seemed surprised to see us or maybe because they saw Charles.

  "Ah, prince, good morning," said one of the students.

  "Good morning, prince," said another student.

  "Good morning, too," said Charles.

  "Early in the morning like this, where is the prince going?" asked one of the students.

  "I'm just going for a morning walk. I'm bored just in the dormitory. Also, please don't call me 'prince' at this academy. Even though our status is different out there, here our status is the same, as students," said Charles.

  "E-eh but I feel uncomfortable calling the prince only by name," said one of the students.

  "I feel uncomfortable too," said another student.

  "Okay, it's up to you, I won't force you," said Charles.

  "Okay," they said.

  "Rid too, good morning,"

  "Good morning, Rid," they said.

  "Good morning too," I said.

  Unexpectedly, they also said good morning to me.

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  "Looks like you've become famous, Rid," teased Charles.

  "Even though I've become famous, it can't be compared to you," I said.

  "It's true, that lately Rid has become popular even among girls. Many are talking about you after you beat Javier and even managed to get perfect scores on every test," said one of the students.

  "I see, I just found out about that," I said.

  "And again, many other female students think that you are handsome, even more handsome than a prince. After paying attention, it seems like what they say is true," said another student.

  They all started to pay attention to me.

  "You're right, eh sorry prince doesn't mean we're here to compare your looks with Rid," said one of the students

  "Hahahaha it's okay, relax," said Charles.

  "Apart from being handsome, some also said that you look like a prince. A prince from another country maybe? But if someone says that you look like a prince, I don't think that's wrong. After seeing you two walking together earlier, somehow the nuance was like seeing two princes walking," said one of the students.

  "I'm a prince? How is that possible, I'm not even a noble. I'm just a commoner. But if you think that way, that's up to you," I said.

  "Well, it's just people's opinions anyway. Ah, sorry, our conversation just now delayed you guys from going for a morning walk," said one of the students.

  "It's okay," said Charles.

  "Right, it's okay. After all, we're fellow students at this academy, it's natural to communicate and talk even if it's just small talk," I said.

  "O-okay then. Rid and Prince can just continue with your morning walk," said one of the students.

  "Okay, we'll excuse ourselves," said Charles.

  We immediately went out of the dormitory complex. We intended to go to the fountain in front of the academy lobby.

  "I didn't expect so many people to talk about me without my knowledge," I said.

  "Isn't that normal? They're talking about the person who got 1st place in the academy entrance exam. It would be unnatural if they didn't talk about you. But I'm happy, at least I'm not the only one who's popular at this academy," said Charles.

  "Actually I don't want to be popular but since I intend to be serious in the entrance exam earlier, it seems like I have no choice. In the future I will try seriously," I said.

  "Me too," said Charles.

  After that we arrived at the fountain in front of the lobby. The two of us did a little warm-up there.

  "Hey Rid, how about we have a running match?," said Charles.

  "A running match? I don't mind," I said.

  "I really want to compete with you, I thank you for accepting me. Let's compete by running from this fountain to the front gate of the Academy and then back to this fountain, how about it?," said Charles.

  "Okay, will the match use ~Speed ??Boost~ or not?," I asked.

  "No, we will compete by running at our own speed without using Boost," said Charles.

  "Okay then," I said.

  We got ready to compete. The two of us took a running start.

  "3, 2, 1," said Charles who took the cue.

  After that, we both immediately ran as fast as we could towards the front gate of the Academy. The distance between the fountain and the front gate of the Academy was about 200-250 meters. I ran as fast as I could, leaving Charles behind me. The guards guarding the gate were shocked to see the two of us running towards them.

  "Eh, Eh, what happened? There's a prince too? Why are they running?," they said.

  I arrived at the front gate of the Academy first, then I explained it to the guard.

  "Nothing, we were just competing in a race," I said.

  "Oh, I see, I thought there was an emergency," said the guard.

  The guard was different from the guard when I first came here.

  After explaining it to the guard, I turned around and ran back towards the fountain. I ran past Charles who was still running towards the front gate. I ran as fast as I could until I finally arrived back at the fountain. After about 15-20 seconds, Charles arrived at the fountain.

  "Hah... Hah.... Hah, I can't believe you're that fast, Rid. Even without using boost. You don't even look tired after running that fast," said Charles who was tired after running.

  "Is that so? Maybe because before entering this academy, I had often trained to strengthen my physique including training my speed," I said.

  "I see, it seems like I lost badly in this match," said Charles.

  After that, we took a break on the stairs leading to the lobby. I looked to the left and saw many participants who had previously walked carrying their luggage. They were participants who failed the academy entrance exam.

  "It seems like it's time for them to go home," said Charles who also saw them.

  "Yes, you're right," I said.

  They carried their luggage and walked towards the academy gate. Some walked while feeling sad and some walked while showing a face that didn't want to give up. Whatever it is, I pray that they can pass to enter this academy next year. And for those who have lost their last chance, I hope they find a new path.

  "By the way Charles, have you had breakfast?," I asked.

  "Breakfast? No, what about you Rid?," Charles asked again.

  "Me neither. I want to have breakfast but I don't know how. If I want to make it myself or buy it, at least I need money to buy the ingredients or food. And I realized that I didn't bring any money," I said.

  "As for money, I brought it. I'll buy it later if you want to buy it at the market," said Charles.

  "Thank you, Charles. But I'm curious if the canteen still serves free food. The previous supervisor said that the canteen would provide free food while we were studying as students there. But right now we are not students yet because the new student acceptance ceremony has not been held. That's why I wanted to check it out first," I said.

  "I see, then I'll come too," Charles said.

  We both immediately got up from our seats and walked towards the academy lobby. But suddenly there was a voice calling us.

  "So you two are here," said the person.

  -To be continued