"I want you to teach me ice magic so that my ice magic will be stronger than it is now," said Irene.

  "Teach you ice magic?," I asked.

  "Yes," said Irene.

  "But my ice magic is not that strong compared to the ice magic of the San Lucia family," I said.

  "I know you're lying about that, Rid. Even though you can freeze the arena like that and again when you used the San Lucia Art in the match earlier, just from looking at it I could tell that the power of your slash was stronger than mine. If I were the one who used 'Freezing Air Slash' ?when fighting Princess Amelia, I doubt that I could defeat her with that slash. Therefore, please teach me to strengthen my ice magic," said Irene while bowing.

  "Wait Irene, you don't need to do that," I said.

  I approached Irene and stopped her from doing that but she didn't budge and kept bowing.

  "Haaahhh, it's fine if you keep bowing like this. But let me ask you one thing first," I said.

  Irene finally looked at me.

  "Asking about what?," Irene asked.

  "Why do you want to be strong? With your request that I teach you so that your ice magic becomes stronger, that means it will make you stronger than you are now. Why do you want that?," I asked.

  "By becoming strong, at least I don't have to worry about protecting the people closest to me when there is danger," said Irene who immediately answered my question without thinking first.

  "Others always think of me as a strong person, but I never even won against you during a sparring match and after losing to Princess Amelia, I am even more convinced that I am still very weak. Maybe according to other people, being a member of a noble family is a fun thing. But in reality it is not like that. Noble families always face threats from anywhere. Whether it is from other noble family members who do not like our family's presence or from other parties. My family is like that too, we could be attacked by parties who do not like our family. That is why, I want to be strong so that I can overcome threats like this if they really happen. I don't want to be a burden to the people around me," said Irene.

  "Is that so," I said.

  "Therefore, Rid. Please teach me to strengthen my ice magic. In return, I will do anything for you," said Irene.

  I was silent for a moment while thinking about something. Then after that, I immediately answered Irene's request.

  "Okay, I'll teach you to improve your ice magic. Not only your ice magic, I'll teach you how to increase your mana capacity," I said.

  "Thank you very much, Rid. In return, what do you want from me?," Irene asked.

  "No need, besides you will also guarantee me an important position in the kingdom and moreover, after graduating later I can also immediately become a soldier of Duke San Lucia without selection thanks to you," I said.

  "But that's because you were willing to accept my request to be my partner. This time the request is different so I also have to offer something different," Irene said.

  "Hmmm but I don't know what I want anymore. Not being given anything is fine with me," I said.

  "But that would make me feel bad...... This way, in return for you teaching me, I will make you food every day while at the academy," Irene said.

  "Huh?!," I said in surprise.

  -

  Meanwhile, somewhere in the academy.

  Princess Amelia was seen chatting with someone.

  "So what deal did you get after losing to Rid?," the person asked.

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  "I was only told to follow Princess Irene's wishes which means that I and my subordinates are not allowed to have any contact with her again while at the academy. But I can still contact Rid like watching him or others. But my supervision and my subordinates towards him are limited because I don't have subordinates from the first year," said Princess Amelia.

  "So that's why you contacted me to monitor Princess Irene and Rid? Even though previously you only asked me to monitor Rid and now my task has increased to monitor Princess Irene too. I don't have to do all this if you win against Rid, even though you have healing magic but why didn't you use it during the match?," said the person who was starting to get angry.

  "Because it would be useless if I used it in the match. No matter how much I try to recover myself, I will always lose to Rid," said Princess Amelia.

  "That's just your excuse so that you don't want to compete longer against him," said the person.

  "I didn't use all my power when fighting Rid because I was afraid of being found out as a 'subject' but I realized that if I used all my power, I still won't win against Rid. Even if we both attack him together, I'm sure we'll lose against him. Well, you'll know how strong he is if you fight him. Even though you're his friend, why haven't you ever tried fighting him in a daily match?," asked Princess Amelia.

  "I'm not interested in fighting him," said the person.

  "Well, it's up to you. Anyway, you have to help me keep an eye on them. You should remember that your father and my father have the same goal. And since we're both 'subjects', isn't it natural that we should help each other? Isn't that right, Enzo?," asked Princess Amelia.

  It turned out that the person who was talking to Princess Amelia was Enzo.

  "Tch, okay. By the way, have you talked about this with your father?," asked Enzo.

  "Yes. After the match, I immediately told him that I lost against Rid. And he said that he would immediately talk about this to your father, Duke San Angela and also Duke San Minerva.

  "It looks like the three Dukes will soon move to hunt down Rid," said Princess Amelia with a smile.

  -

  San Quentine City, the Duke's residence.

  A man wearing glasses was seen sitting at his desk holding a crystal that seemed to be a communication crystal.

  "I didn't expect that Princess Irene was dating someone at the academy," said someone from the crystal.

  "I didn't expect it either. If it continues like this, won't our plan fail?" said another person from the crystal.

  "You two, calm down. It's not certain that their relationship will last until they graduate. But just in case their relationship can last until they graduate, it's better if we just get rid of Princess Irene's partner," said the man with glasses.

  "Do you want to attack the academy directly, Mr. Remy?" asked someone from the crystal.

  The name of the man with glasses was Mr. Remy, Remy Laterza San Quentine, the current Duke of San Quentine.

  "How could I possibly do something so reckless, Mr. James. Don't forget who is now the head of the academy. That woman can immediately tell if someone infiltrates the academy grounds," said Mr. Remy.

  The one currently talking to him was Mr. James, James William San Angela, the current Duke of San Angela who is also Enzo's father.

  "We don't need to rush, there are still 4 years left until they both graduate. But if I'm not mistaken, the final exam in the first year of the academy is held at Mr. Darwin's place, right?," asked Mr. Remy.

  Meanwhile, another person talking to Mr. Remy was Mr. Darwin, Darwin Randall San Minerva, the current Duke of San Minerva.

  "Yes, that's right. They will be holding the exam at my place," said Mr. Darwin.

  "Then, can I count on you to 'take care' of Princess Irene's partner when he takes the exam at your place?," asked Mr. Remy.

  "Alright. By the way, what is the name of Princess Irene's partner?," asked Mr. Darwin.

  "Rid Archie. He defeated Amelia and made Amelia fail to win the bet with him. He was also the one who defeated Javier, one of our 'subjects' during the academy entrance exam and now he defeated Amelia. According to Amelia, he did not fight with full strength but even if he fought with full strength, he still could not defeat this Rid Archie," said Mr. Remy.

  "So he is very strong that he can defeat two of our 'subjects'," said Mr. Darwin.

  "Yes, that's why I want you to think of the right way to 'take care of' this Rid Archie when he takes the exam at your place. You still have plenty of time to think about it," said Mr. Remy.

  "Okay, by the way, what happened to Javier? He failed to enter the academy. Have you gotten rid of him?," asked Mr. Darwin.

  "No, I still give him a chance to re-enter the academy next year. But if he still fails, I will get rid of him and remove his heart to give to someone else," said Mr. Remy.

  "What about your other research? Is it going smoothly?," asked Mr. James.

  "Of course, this research is our trump card to achieve our goals. This research must not fail," said Mr. Remy.

  "That's good," said Mr. James.

  "You two too, don't forget to complete your respective tasks," said Mr. Remy.

  "Don't worry," said Mr. James.

  "You don't need to worry," said Mr. Darwin.

  "Whatever obstacles will hinder our plan, they must be removed. 'Matchmaking Battle' must still be held with Princess Irene and Amelia as participants. 'Matchmaking Battle' is the only right moment because all the nobles from the King and Queen to the lower nobles will gather at that event. We will carry out our plan at that event............."

  "We will kill all of San Lucia's immediate family and Her Majesty the Queen at that event," said Mr. Remy.

  -To be continued