Alver was a blonde and blue-haired young man I met on my first day at the Imperial Institute.
I did not know much about him, though. I only know he is the son of a countryside noble.
The truth is, I did not have much of a relationship with him. The only reason I even remember him is that his room was located beside mine.
Even so, he could be considered my closest male friend.
I mean, I don't have any male friends in this life.
It sounds so sad…
Well, I have a huge harem in exchange, so who cares.
Anyway, I was slightly surprised when I saw Alver. I never expected to meet him here.
Right now, he was seated on a sofa with Katherine, Andrea, and Rose across him as Aunt Dayana prepared a bit of tea in the kitchen.
"Alver?" I raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"Prince Claus, long time no see you."
"Long time indeed. Since the institute closed down. I did not know you were in Fort Mist."
Alver smiled wryly. "That is normal. Actually, I knew you were here, but I was busy and could not visit you before. However, I met Miss Rose on the way and decided to come."
I looked at Rose and she nodded.
"I thought he was familiar, but I only recognized him when he called out at me."
Is it so?
I nodded in understanding and walked towards the sofa.
"Well, it's nice to see a familiar face in this kind of place," I said before sitting down between Andrea and Katherine and smiling. "How did you end in this place?"
"It's a long story. After the Institute was closed, I decided to return home. Unfortunately, the territory of my father is close to Fort Mist, and the war had just broken out. Plus, my position in the family is not very good, so I ended being sent here as a military official."
That is an interesting story.
Certainly, after the Academy was closed due to the thousands of deaths that occurred inside (courtesy of the unknown immortal) many students returned to their homes. It looks like Alver was one of them.
Even so, it's rare for a young noble like him to be sent to this kind of place.
After all, Fort Mist is the frontline in the war against the Daemons. Even if he is a military official, there is a big chance of him dying here.
A power struggle?
As though understanding my thoughts, Alver smiled bitterly.
"Actually, I was not against coming here. You probably don't know Prince, but although the main army is being stopped here, many daemons units have infiltrated the empire through the mountains. They have been causing chaos through the empire borders.
"Just in my father's territory, more than ten villages have been pillaged, massacred, and burned down. Moreover, the daemons that infiltrated the empire are rather strong and employ hit-and-run tactics, so the soldiers of the local nobles have trouble taking them down."
"So, you accepted to come here due to that."
"Well, maybe you think it's foolish, but I wanted to do something. I could do nothing in my father's territory, but here I can help to stop the daemons from entering the empire." Alver scratched his head embarrassedly.
What a noble purpose.
But some daemons have infiltrated in the empire territory, huh.
Thinking about it, we were attacked by an elite unit on our way to Fort Mist. That is the reason we are short on supplies.
Mmm… How strange. Daemons should not find it so easy to infiltrate the empire.
Is someone helping them?
I should investigate it.
Alver and I continued chatting for a while. In the meanwhile, Aunt Dayana prepared tea and snack for us.
None of the topics was very serious. It was mostly friendly banter. He even teased Katherine, Andrea, and Rose, saying that they are such good wives to even accompany me to the frontlines.
Rose, of course, denied it flustered, but Andrea and Katherine just lowered their heads shyly.
"As expected of Prince Claus, you are very lucky in love." Alver smiled amusedly.
I raised an eyebrow. "Should I help you? I can teach you some tips."
"About that…" Alver's expression quickly turned bitter. "I already have someone I love, but I don't think there is much hope between us."
Poor boy.
If it would have been me, I would have snatched her already.
"Right, Prince, did you hear the news?"
I furrowed my brows. "What news?"
"About Princess Dina. His Majesty chose a husband for her. It's a young man called Clark."
Katherine, Andrea, and Rose stiffened immediately.
Even Aunt Dayana who was hearing our conversation from the kitchen stiffened.
As for me, I sighed inwardly.
So it's that, huh.
The reason he is here.
"… I did not know about it."
"You did not? It's a shame, though. Princess Dina is so beautiful. Many young men in the institute wanted to marry her. They must be overwhelmed by the news."
I nodded and stared at Alver fixedly.
"Do you know anything about that Clark?"
Alver thought for a moment and shook his head.
"I only heard he is very strong. Apparently beyond the twelfth layer, but I know nothing more."
"Beyond the twelfth layer, huh." I feigned a pondering expression.
At the same time, I chuckled coldly in my mind.
Alver finally revealed his true purpose.
To provoke me to desert the army to rescue my sister.
Well, it was already pretty obvious he had an ulterior motive. It's too coincidental to meet an acquittance in this kind of place.
Of course, someone inexperienced would have fallen for this trick, but I noticed the problem as soon as I saw Alver.
And when I started to talk to him, I confirmed it.
Just by looking at his expression, I detected a well-hidden nervousness and wariness. Someone truly friendly would not be like that.
As for this Alver, he should be a man of my father or the empress.
Well, there is no need to let him know that his cover was blown.
"… Thank you for the information, Alver. I really did not know about Dina's marriage."
"Don't worry, we are friends. Right, can I come again? There are not many people I know in this place, plus, the tea here is good."
Aunt Dayana smiled.
"Don't worry, you can come when you want."
"Thank you, Mrs. Dayana. Then, Prince Claus, I'll take my leave. I have work to do."
"Alright." With a smile, I saw him off.
...
Sayonara, until I have free time again :p