"So how about it Rid Archie, do you want to be my lover?," asked Princess Irene.

  I was still silent hearing Princess Irene's words. I was thinking about making the right decision on Princess Irene's request, accepting it or rejecting it.

  "It seems like you don't know what to answer yet. What took you so long to make your decision, Rid Archie?," asked Princess Irene.

  "Sorry Princess Irene, even though your request is only so that I can be your fake lover. But I'm thinking about the advantages and disadvantages if I decide to accept or reject your request. If in both options, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, I will choose that option. But I haven't made my choice so I'm sorry if I can't make a decision yet," I said.

  "Advantages and disadvantages huh, hmmm that's right. I forgot about that," ?

  "I asked you to be my fake lover and if you accept it, it will be an advantage for me because I won't be participating in the 'Matchmaking Battle', but I didn't think about what benefits you would get if you accepted my request. I'm sorry about that,"

  "So Rid Archie, what do you want as a benefit if you accept to be my lover?," Princess Irene asked.

  "Huh, no, I don't mean I expect anything from Princess Irene," I said.

  "It's okay, let's just think of this fake lover relationship as a cooperation contract. In a cooperation, each of us should get benefits, right? I have already received direct benefits if you accept this fake lover relationship. It would be unfair if only I got the benefits, so what do you want as your benefit? I hope that by giving you this benefit, you will choose 'yes' to my offer," Princess Irene said.

  I fell silent and tried to think again. What benefits can I get from the daughter of a Duke if I accept her offer.

  "Do you want money? But looking at your character, it seems like you're not too interested in money. You can ask for anything and I'll do it as long as I can," said Princess Irene.

  I kept thinking again until I finally got the answer.

  "Princess Irene, I will accept your request to be your lover but if you can agree to my request," I said.

  "What request is that?" asked Princess Irene.

  "I hope it's not a strange request, Rid," said Lily.

  "How could I make a strange request to a Duke's daughter," I said.

  Then I explained my request.

  "My request, actually I have a goal or dream that I must achieve after graduating from this academy but before achieving that goal, I must have a good position and influence in this kingdom. For that, can Princess Irene guarantee that I will be able to get a good position in this kingdom later after I graduate?" I said.

  Princess Irene, Leandra, and Lily seemed a little surprised to hear my request.

  "Actually, I don't want to use this method to enter the royal environment because it seems like using an insider's route. However, considering the many nobles who hold important positions in the kingdom, I doubt that a commoner like me will be chosen to hold an important position like them if I use the usual method," I thought.

  "A position in this kingdom, huh? Shouldn't you ask Prince Charles and Princess Chloe, who are members of the royal family? for this?" Princess Irene asked.

  "I'm friends with them not to expect something like this. But because Princess Irene proposed a mutually beneficial cooperation, that's why I made a request like this. Can Princess Irene grant it?" I asked.

  Princess Irene fell silent and tried to think, then Princess Irene began to speak.

  "What position do you want? To be honest, there are so many positions in the kingdom, so I don't know what position you want," said Princess Irene.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "According to Princess Irene, out of the many positions in the kingdom, what position can Princess Irene choose for me?," I asked.

  "Hmmmm," said Princess Irene who was thinking again.

  "A Commander," said Princess Irene.

  I was a little surprised to hear Princess Irene's answer.

  " Commander? I do want to be a commander but I didn't expect Princess Irene to guarantee that I can hold that position," I thought.

  "However, I cannot guarantee that you will immediately become a Commander once you graduate because the process to become a commander is not fast. After graduating, you must start from being an ordinary soldier first and then collect many achievements until finally you become one of the suitable candidates to become a commander. This is where my role comes in because the new commander is determined by the Dukes. The Dukes are the ones who choose them. If you agree to that, I can tell my father to choose you when you become a commander candidate. How about that?," asked Princess Irene.

  I then fell silent and tried to think about Princess Irene's offer.

  "It's true that I can't immediately become a commander, yes I understand that. However, if the selection of the commander is determined by the Dukes, at least I can get votes from the Duke of San Lucia. It seems like this offer isn't that bad," I thought.

  "If that alone isn't enough, how about after graduating, instead of registering as a regular soldier in the kingdom, how about joining as a soldier in San Lucia? Not only the kingdom has soldiers, the Dukes also have soldiers. In addition to choosing candidates from the kingdom's soldiers who are suitable to become the next soldier commander, the Dukes can also nominate their own soldiers to become the kingdom's soldier commander. An example is my brother. Previously he was a soldier of Duke San Lucia and now he is one of the commanders of this Kingdom," said Princess Irene.

  "I just found out that Princess Irene has an older brother and his older brother is one of the commanders of the soldiers," I thought.

  "Depending on the situation, if you join the Duke San Lucia soldiers, I can immediately raise your rank when you first join. So you don't have to start from a regular soldier. If you have excellent work results and reputation as a soldier of the Duke, my father will definitely immediately nominate you as the next commander of the soldiers. Maybe the commander is still too young for you but by becoming a commander, it is not impossible that later you will be promoted to the rank of Supreme Commander," said Princess Irene.

  "Actually the position of commander is enough for me, but the supreme commander, huh? With a position that high, I am very sure that I can change this kingdom," I thought.

  "How, isn't this offer not too bad?," said Princess Irene.

  "The previous offer was not so bad in my opinion, but this time Princess Irene is offering something else. How could I possibly refuse this offer?," I thought.

  I paused and tried to take a breath, then exhale.

  "Alright, I accept this offer," I said.

  "Then, we have a deal," said Princess Irene while extending her hand.

  "Finally you guys have an agreement, huh," said Leandra.

  "Hooray, finally you have a boyfriend," said Lily.

  "Well, even though it's just pretend," said Leandra.

  "There is indeed no written contract in our cooperation, but I promise to fulfill your wishes," said Princess Irene.

  "I also promise to do my duty," I said.

  I took her hand and shook it. My cooperation with Princess Irene was created.

  "Maybe I'm late to say this because the agreement has been made, but why did you give me so many benefits like that, Princess Irene? When the benefit you get is just a fake lover that makes you not participate in the 'Matchmaking Battle'," I said.

  "That's enough. I just don't want to get involved in the kingdom's political game. Besides, I gave you a lot of benefits because you will be my lover at least until graduation or when the 'Matchmaking Battle' is canceled. But I think this 'Matchmaking Battle' will not be canceled even if only 1 Duke's daughter is left to participate," said Princess Irene.

  "So that's it, I will be your lover for quite a long time. Even so, while I am your lover, I will try to be a good lover," I said.

  "......," Princess Irene was silent.

  "Ri-Rid, you, could it be that you are actually a romantic person? What you just said made me melt for some reason," said Lily.

  "M-me too, I didn't expect you to say something like that," said Leandra.

  "Well, even though this relationship is just pretend, at least the two of us have to look romantic so that people don't suspect us. That's why I tried to use romantic words," I said.

  "You're right, but it seems like your words just now didn't make Miss Irene melt," Leandra said.

  "As expected of, the ice princess," Lily said.

  They both looked at Princess Irene, but Princess Irene just kept quiet.

  "Rather than that, I'm curious about your dream, Rid Archie. Why do you need an important position and position in this kingdom to achieve your dream? Do you mind telling me what your dream is?," asked Princess Irene.

  "I'm also a little curious about your dreams," Leandra said.

  "Me too," said Lily.

  "My dream, huh, I don't mind telling you guys about my dream. You know that the world we live in is divided into 2 parts, one part led by angels and the other part led by demons, right?" I said.

  "Yes, even earlier Mr. Alan also told me about angels and demons," said Princess Irene.

  Leandra and Lily nodded.

  "My dream is... to make this world become one again and bring complete peace to this beautiful world," I said.

  -To be continued