"Angelina, how infuriating..."
The end of the first semester. The end-of-semester exam rankings had been posted by year level.
And upon seeing the results for the first-year students, Leonhardt muttered to himself.
Leonhardt had easily secured first place among the second year students, demonstrating his abilities as the Crown Prince.
His grades had improved slightly compared to the same period "before he regressed".
(Merc is working hard this time, too...)
Leonhardt had come to look at the first-year bulletin to check on Merc's results this time around.
The first thing that caught his eye was Angelina's name, and he couldn't help but mutter in annoyance.
In Leonhardt's mind, the "last" time he had taken this exam was five years ago.
The content should be the same, but the finer details had grown vague in his memory.
His memory of individual scores was hazy as well, but...
(It's the same result. Angelina took first place this time as well. But a perfect score? That hadn't been the case.)
Even if he felt a certain way towards her, he wouldn't have forgotten that she got a perfect score.
The fact that she was "top of her year" hadn't changed, and her rankings among the first years remained the same as well.
However there was a slight difference in her "scores".
"... Is this also one of those 'differences'?"
Leonhardt was reliving his time. To him, this is his second life.
And, when he had regressed in time, the very first thing Leonhardt had done was "change history."
In the previous life, he had been engaged to Angelina Schteizen, but he broke it off this time.
So.
The "ripples of his choice" were now appearing in various places.
First, there were differences in the people who would be his close aides.
Carlos Schteizen, a duke's son.
Was it the effect of Leonhardt having refused the engagement to Angelina, that is, with the Schteizen house?
Compared to "before," Carlos had kept his distance from Leonhardt.
To begin with, in the time before regression, he had become close to Carlos because Merc had acted as a go-between for them.
With that relationship with Merc gone, and given that Leonhardt had refused to get engaged to his younger sister...
It was inevitable that an odd rift would form between Leonhardt and Carlos.
(At this point in time, Carlos doesn't hate his sister Angelina as much as he did in the previous time... Then this is probably only natural.)
After he had won over Merc, if he asks her to mediate between them again as she had done last time, their relationship might improve somewhat.
Since he won't be engaged to Angelina, his intention was to deepen his ties with Carlos and keep the Schteizen Duke's house in check.
"And then, Freed and Dennis, too."
Freed had refused to become Leonhardt's escort knight.
He claimed it was because he wasn't satisfied with his own abilities.
Leonhardt thought that couldn't possibly be true and told him so, but Freed's answer remained unchanged.
"What is the difference between this Freed and the Freed of last time?"
Just what effect could him and Angelina not getting engaged have on him?
(Freed was clearly drawn to Merc. He wears his heart on his sleeves; his feelings are easy to read. He's a simple man.)
In other words, in the previous time, because Merc, someone Freed felt he had to "protect", was by Leonhardt's side...
He had vowed to become an escort knight, and eventually a Royal Guard, and applied himself to it?
Or, even if it wasn't Merc, the Crown Prince had a fiancée, so he was sure to be king.
Thinking that, was that the reason he had accepted?
This time, Leonhardt still had no fiancée.
So does that mean he doesn't need to be an escort knight just yet?
"... Either way, does that mean people's trust in me and their assessments of me are weaker and lower than they were last time?"
Or perhaps, something had happened in their lives that had nothing to do with Leonhardt.
Contrary to his memory, Freed had defeated his brother earlier this time.
Freed had a complex towards his brother and father.
With swordsmanship as his only talent, he must have been troubled by the "gap" between him and his brother, who was destined to succeed as the next Knight Commander.
That was precisely why "fairly defeating his brother" had been so important to Freed.
That victory had occurred a year earlier than Leonhardt remembered.
"... Wasn't he satisfied with winning against his brother?"
That was why he had refused to be Leonhardt's escort, his close aide.
Leonhardt did have thoughts on that matter, but he did eventually intend to promote him to the Royal Guard.
But, well, if so, then so be it.
"As for Freed, this is fine for now."
Freed had been attracted to Merc in the previous time. So there was a good chance he would be attracted to her again.
In the previous time, it had been after Leonhardt had won her over, but the unlikely possibility was always there.
In that case, it would be best to deal with Freed after he has established his relationship with Merc.
And next, Dennis Colden.
Dennis, like Angelina, had better grades compared to the previous timeline.
While he hadn't scored 100% on his exam, he had nearly perfect marks.
"If he'd gotten these results in the previous timeline, then he wouldn't have let Angelina get the better of him."
This Dennis had refused the close-aide position, saying he wished to focus on his studies.
That was probably what had led to this outcome.
But this time too, he had not bested Angelina.
"Is history destined to repeat itself?"
No, there was no telling.
Leonhardt, a second year student, hadn't noticed anything particularly off about the final exams this time around, but perhaps the first-year exams were slightly different from last time, so it was possible for things to diverge a little.
If fate truly existed, then that was exactly what he would wish for.
If that were the case, then Merc and him would surely end up together again.
"Merc."
Leonhardt had been able to meet her again this time as well. He definitely felt it was fate.
This time, unable to wait for his encounter with her, Leonhardt had shown himself in the courtyard considerably earlier than when they had met in the previous timeline.
He didn't just wander into the courtyard on a whim like last time; he had gone there to meet Merc. Of course, he had intended to wait until she appeared, however many hours it took.
In fact, they were originally supposed to meet each other much later.
Even though Leonhardt was there much earlier this time, Merc Schliegen was already there.
As though waiting for her fated meeting with Leonhardt.
Leonhardt would never forget the joy and emotion he felt when he spotted her in the courtyard.
He believed their love was "fate."
And so, Leonhardt and the others met for the "second" time.
Just like actors who perform the same play over and over, they delivered the same lines.
Leonhardt Beltsuri and Merc Schliegen, too, met in "exactly the same" way as before, and exchanged the same words.
"Heh..."
So, this must surely be fate.
No matter how many times time repeated, the two of them will end up together.
Over the next year, by the summer of his second year, they will be together; that was what the future holds.
Even before that, they would surely start spending more and more time together.
"Maybe I could accelerate that event with Merc so it happens a bit earlier."
This time's Leonhardt had no annoying fiancée.
So he could court Merc without worrying about what anyone thinks.
With that in mind, Leonhardt decided to make his move. He could feel it. He was certain.
That Merc had feelings for him.
So, this time, Leonhardt decided to be the one to reach out to her.