The next morning, I was at a public cemetery. In front of me stood a gravestone with the name "Sephira" written on it. I took a pocket watch from my coat pocket and placed it on the gravestone.
"I'm sorry, Sephira."
The wind blew, scattering the fallen leaves across the ground. For some reason, this quiet atmosphere made me feel quite comfortable. Well… as someone who loves games like me, this kind of silent and lonely atmosphere seems to suit me very well.
Leaving the cemetery area, I walked along the busy streets of Terragon—the Capital of the Empire. Seeing the citizens energetically going about their activities and working to make a living made me imagine how much they would suffer later when the Demon Race successfully attacked the Imperial Capital.
Truly, I must prepare everything to minimize the damage when the invasion occurs.
Entering the front gate of the academy, the area that was usually crowded now looked quiet. That was because today was the tenth day of this month. As a note, the system for determining days, months, and years in this world is quite different from the one on Earth.
In this world, one month only has a total of 30 days and there are 12 months in a year. The 10th, 20th, and 30th day of each month are holidays in this world.
I walked toward the academy's student committee office located beside the academic building. Why was I doing this? Because I wanted to make a deal with the President of the Student Council.
They had just held a meeting with the disciplinary committee regarding the problem of an academy student being killed by a monster that had escaped yesterday.
My goal in making a deal with the President was to ensure that I would receive her full support when obtaining the position I wanted later.
I am only one person. No matter how strong I am, I cannot be everywhere at once. Therefore, I need allies I can trust and build my own team to prevent the coming disaster.
When I arrived at the Student Council office, I saw several members tidying documents on the tables. I approached one of the students to ask about someone's whereabouts.
"Do you know where Elena de Aragon is?"
"What do you want with the President, Raul de Garcia?" the student asked back in a cold tone.
It seemed Raul's reputation was bad enough that other students were cautious when speaking with him. But I didn't have time to entertain him.
"This is a matter between nobles. How dare a lowly commoner like you try to know the affairs of this nation's rulers," I replied, intimidating him with my words.
Hearing my words, the student clenched his teeth in anger. He could only clench his fists after being insulted by what I had just said.
However, he could only hold back his emotions. There would be serious consequences if a commoner like him attacked a high noble like Raul.
"The President is in the meeting room, Raul."
A female student wearing glasses suddenly approached the two of us. It seemed she wanted to help her friend out of this situation.
I simply nodded and left the two of them, heading to where Elena was.
When I arrived, I opened the door to the meeting room.
Inside, I saw a very beautiful blonde woman. Her blue eyes shone like brilliant diamonds, her skin was as white as snow, and the curves of her seductive figure could make men fall to their knees just by looking at her.
She was Elena de Aragon—the Second Princess of Emperor Philip de Aragon. In the future, she would be better known as the Goddess of War of the Empire.
Realizing my presence, she glanced at me and smiled.
"Isn't that you, Raul? It's very rare to see you here," Elena said in a sarcastic tone.
Hearing this, I frowned slightly because I felt somewhat offended. Raul was one of the members of the disciplinary committee. He obtained that position because of his influence as a noble. However, in every administrative meeting, he never attended the Student Council office. That was why Elena had mocked me with her words earlier.
"I don't know what you mean, President," I replied as I sat in front of Elena without asking for her permission.
"Shouldn't you ask permission from a noble of higher rank before sitting in front of them, Raul? Didn't the your family teach you noble etiquette? It seems they truly do not care about their heir. As a member of the Imperial family, I'm starting to feel a little worried about the future of your house."
Hearing the gentle yet sharp words Elena directed at me made me a little irritated. I looked at her coldly in response. However, Elena was not intimidated at all. Her smile even widened, as if she were provoking me.
Her expression seemed to say, "Do you dare speak rudely to the Emperor's daughter like you often do to commoners?"
Indeed, Elena's noble rank was higher than Raul's. But that was one of the reasons I came here to make a deal with her.
"President, in this academy it is forbidden to use your noble status to oppress another student," I protested against her unfair treatment toward me.
"But isn't that exactly what you often do to other students, Raul?" she replied mercilessly. "Perhaps now is the time for you to realize that above the sky there is always a higher sky."
Tch, why does she enjoy irritating me so much? I never knew she had such a personality. In the game, she mostly interacted with Brian.
"I came here to discuss something with you, President," I said, trying to change the subject. It felt a little embarrassing to be irritated after losing a battle of words with someone.
Hearing this, the President looked satisfied and pleased, as if she felt superior to an arrogant noble like Raul. It seemed that inflicting a little emotional damage on me improved her mood.
"Very well, what do you want to discuss, Raul?"
"I want to become your main supporter in the succession of the next Emperor of Aragon Empire."
Hearing my words, Elena looked shocked. Her eyes widened as if she could not believe what I had just said.
"Eh, what did you say?"
***
[Elena PoV]
In this world, men are the ones who always receive the main stage in social life. They are the ones who lead nations, they are the ones who fill important positions in a country, and they are also the heads of families. All glory can only be enjoyed by them.
However, this can be understood because men have long protected women from all kinds of threats. They are the ones who fight wars, they are the ones who search for food for their families, and they are the ones who always make decisions.
This has caused women to feel that their roles in life are pushed aside. They began to be underestimated, and often women are only used as political tools to achieve certain goals.
Including in this country, where nobles often view women merely as political tools.
However, this paradigm began to change when Queen Isabella de Aragon ruled the Kingdom of Aragon 250 years ago.
She was an extraordinary figure and became a role model not only for women but also for the men of Aragonian. Queen Isabella was also the one who made the Kingdom of Aragon feared and elevated its status from a Kingdom to an Empire.
After she passed away, the status of women became more respected in Aragon. They could become heirs of families, they were allowed to occupy important positions in the nation, and women were even allowed to become Knights.
When Queen Isabella ascended the throne to replace her older brother, she gave women in this nation a dream to achieve something. She gave women in this land a sense of pride so they would not feel inferior to men.
However, as time passed, the Aragon Empire gradually abandoned Queen Isabella's policies. Once again, only men filled important positions in the nation, female knights were often underestimated, and noble daughters were frequently used as political tools.
Government policies now also created far greater social inequality than before, separating the nobles from the common people of this nation. Soon after, dissatisfaction arose. Many citizens rebelled and carried out anti-government movements.
I want to make this nation better—giving everyone from different social classes a dream to pursue and the freedom to achieve it.
That is why I began building my influence within the Empire, trying to gain support from nobles who shared the same desire as me. However, after two years of doing this, only one noble had been willing to support me.
That was why Raul de Garcia's words surprised me. He said he wanted to support me in the succession for the next Emperor.
Looking at his expression, it seemed he was not joking when he said something so important. I cleared my throat to break the silence caused by his statement.
"Um… could you repeat what you just said?" I asked, trying to make sure Raul's words were not simply a slip of the tongue.
"I—Raul de Garcia—heir of House Garcia, want to become a supporter of Elena de Aragon in the succession of the next Emperor," Raul said clearly this time. "Do I have to say it that formally, President?"
"N-no, I'm just surprised by such an unexpected request from you." I was still confused about how to respond to his declaration.
However, Raul surely did not intend to support me for free. He must have certain conditions for giving me his support.
"Then, what condition do you want in exchange for the support you are offering me?" I asked to clarify the agreement between us.
"First, I want the President to appoint me as the new leader of the Disciplinary Committee," Raul said while raising one index finger.
Hearing this, I thought for a moment before deciding.
I ran for Student Council President because I wanted to expand my influence among the younger generation of this nation. I also wanted to change policies in the academy so that social inequality in this country would not grow worse.
One of my actions to achieve this was appointing talented people to important positions in the Student Council regardless of their social status.
Appointing Raul, whose credibility and reputation were extremely bad among low-caste students, would be counterproductive to the policies I was building. However, with Raul's support, I could gain an additional 25 votes from his family influence alone in the next imperial succession.
"Very well, I can appoint you as the Leader of the Student Council Disciplinary Committee," I said, agreeing to Raul's first condition.
Hearing my words, Raul looked satisfied and raised his finger to indicate the second condition.
"Second, I want the President to always support and protect me from any actions I take while holding an important position in the Aragon Empire."
At first glance, Raul's second condition sounded reasonable for a supporter asking their candidate to protect them. But as I said before, Raul had a terrible reputation. I did not want to be responsible for discriminatory actions that broke the rules.
"I cannot accept your second condition, Raul," I replied firmly.
Hearing my rejection, Raul's face looked confused like a fool. Seeing this, I could only sigh.
"Why do you look so surprised? Are you not aware of your own reputation? If I supported all your reckless actions, my reputation would fall just like yours."
If my reputation were as bad as Raul's, how could I gain support from other nobles? I could not accept that condition. However, I could not deny that I needed Raul's support as the heir of a Duke.
"I will not do anything that violates academy or imperial regulations. Isn't that fair enough?" Raul offered, trying to convince me. "And the President does not need to reveal that the House Garcia has given its support to you."
Well… if those are the conditions, I suppose it would not be a problem. I could still fix things if Raul caused trouble in the future.
"Very well, I accept all your conditions, Raul."
However, there was still one more thing that needed to be confirmed. Previously, rumors said the Garcia family was very close to my brother Felix's faction. This made many nobles assume the Garcia family had already pledged support to him.
"Before we finalize this support, do you already have Duke Alvaro's approval to give the House Garcia support to me?"
Hearing my question, Raul simply smiled confidently.
"Don't worry. I will meet my father to convince him."
***
[Raul PoV]
After making the agreement with Elena, I quickly returned to the dormitory room.
The reason I chose Elena as an ally was because of her trustworthy character. Elena was one of the NPCs in the game Path of Destiny who would help Brian—the character players control after Chapter Three.
However, in Chapter Five, Elena would be killed after being betrayed by one of the Empire's nobles.
After arriving at the dormitory room, I took a piece of paper to write a letter to Raul's father—Duke Alvaro de Garcia. I wanted to meet him to discuss my agreement with Elena.
No matter what, I must convince him to support Elena in the next imperial succession.
Because my father… is the one who will betray Elena and cause her death during the coming war.