Andrew Aiwood.
The Second Prince of the Kingdom of Aiwood, and a third-year scholarship student in the Knight Department.
Among the royal family's three brothers, he was the one whose name rarely came up.
The brother who naturally drew the most attention was, of course, Richard Aiwood—the First Prince and heir to the throne.
He had many opportunities to appear at official functions and was the one trusted to serve as the king's representative in his absence.
Even Rest, who had no connection to the royal family, knew Richard's face—having seen him standing before the crowds and delivering speeches at festivals.
The next most conspicuous was the Third Prince, Rodele Aiwood.
His notoriety was of the unwelcome sort—he was widely known as the idiot prince who caused all manner of trouble.
Rodele was treated as a troublemaker at the royal palace and the academy, but his reputation was poor among the general public as well, with even commoners whispering that he was no good.
And then... sandwiched between them stood the Second Prince, Andrew Aiwood.
This man had no bad rumors to his name, but neither did he occupy any particularly conspicuous position.
He was plain in both the good and bad sense of the word—many nobles had never even laid eyes on him.
He remained with the royal family as a spare for the Crown Prince, but... his brother, seven years his senior, was all but confirmed as the next king.
It was widely expected that he would most likely be stripped of his royal status and granted a peerage, or else married off as part of a political arrangement.
(So this is Lord Andrew... the Second Prince.)
"I asked Celestine to arrange this meeting. I apologize for the suddenness—Rest, as well as Young Lady Viola and Young Lady Primula."
"...It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Rest. Your Highness."
"Good day, Your Highness."
"G-good day..."
Rest bowed his head, and the Rosemary sisters followed suit.
Andrew waved his hand generously as the three bowed with the proper etiquette befitting nobles.
"There's no need to be so formal. I invited you here today not as royalty, but as student council president."
Andrew gestured toward the sofa placed in the student council room.
"For now, please take a seat. Shall we talk?"
"............"
Rest and the Rosemary sisters sat down side by side.
Andrew sat on the sofa across from them, with Celestine beside him. Behind the sofa stood the man and woman from earlier.
"Please, have some tea."
"Wah!"
"H-Hyaa!"
Caught off guard by the sudden voice, Rest and the others couldn't help but cry out.
Without them noticing, a small female student had been standing beside them and was now placing cups of black tea on the table in front of the sofa.
A petite, black-haired, short-cut female student — most likely a first-year, yet they hadn't sensed her presence at all until she spoke.
(You've got to be kidding… I was using[presence detection] magic…!?)
Thanks to his infinite mana, Rest was able to maintain a constant spell that surveyed the presence of those around him.
And yet this small girl had slipped past his detection magic and stepped right into striking distance.
"Anne… Please refrain from startling our guests."
"My deepest apologies, Lady Celestine."
When Celestine reprimanded her, the black-haired girl bowed politely.
It seemed she was someone Celestine knew. She had been addressing her with honorifics like "my lady."
"Celestine, who exactly is that girl...?"
"She's a student council officer too."
It wasn't Celestine who answered, but Andrew, who was sitting beside her.
"Allow me to introduce everyone in order. Once again — I'm Andrew Aiwood, student council president. The two behind me are Yusgos and Rilanda, serving as secretary and treasurer respectively."
"Yusgos Bethras. I'm a third-year in the Knight Department and serving as secretary."
"Rilanda Marker. I'm a second-year in the Knight Department and handling the treasurer's duties."
The male and female students standing behind Andrew introduced themselves. Sure enough, the two of them were also student council officers.
"And then there's Celestine and Anne, who handle general affairs. They're both first-years, but we recruited them as student council officers just the other day."
"............"
"I'm Anne. I serve as Lady Celestine's attendant."
Celestine gave a slight bow, and the short-haired, black-haired girl called Anne introduced herself as well.
"I'm a commoner, but I serve as her attendant. I'm enrolled in the Magic Department, Class B."
"I... I actually wanted to get into Class A, but unfortunately I missed the chance."
Anne had a rather flat expression, with a face almost like a doll's, yet — strangely, Rest could feel a resentful glare directed his way.
"Um... Did I do something to her?"
"It's a grudge without basis, so please don't worry about it."
"A grudge without basis!?"
Rest's face twitched at Anne's response.
He was sure they had never met before... So where on earth had he done something to earn her resentment?
"Stop it, Anne. That's rude."
Celestine admonished Anne, who continued to glare at Rest.
"I'm sorry about her, Rest. She's actually at the top of B Class... but she seems to think that if just one more person had been absent, she could've ended up in the same class as me."
"I see, so it really is a grudge without basis, huh..."
If Rest hadn't been in A Class, Anne would have taken his spot instead.
Setting aside Viola and Primula—since they were daughters of a marquis—it seemed Anne harbored resentful feelings toward Rest, a fellow commoner who had somehow made it into A Class.
(The fact that she's calling it a grudge without basis herself means she understands how unreasonable her resentment is... Compared to Rodele, who came charging in to pick a fight on the first day, this is far more manageable...)
"...If only I had been in A Class, my lady would never have been cornered by that scum and nearly had violence inflicted on her."
Anne muttered under her breath, biting her thumbnail in frustration.
She appeared to be talking about the incident on the first day of the enrollment ceremony, when Rodele had confronted Rest and Celestine had stepped in.
It seemed she was ashamed that, despite being a retainer, she hadn't been able to stand by her mistress during a moment of crisis.
"May we get back to the discussion?"
Andrew clapped his hands to resume the conversation.
"Including the members present here along with the absent vice president, the current student council officers number six. When you add the student council enforcement to that, the whole body becomes the 'student council.'"
The student council enforcement served as satellite members of the student council.
They didn't wield the same decision-making authority as the officers, but they held an advisory role over students and would sometimes restrain misbehaving ones during emergencies.
Magic use within the academy was generally prohibited, but only student council officers and the student council enforcement were permitted to use it.
"This concerns you all... or rather, it's primarily directed at you, Rest. I'll be straightforward—would you consider joining the student council enforcement?"
Andrew clasped his hands together on the table as he made his request.
"Me... in the student council enforcement...?"
"Yes, I believe you have the qualifications."
Andrew shrugged, a sardonic smile on his face as he made his proposal.
"If you join the student council enforcement, you'd have the justification to suppress students who cause trouble. For instance... my fool of a brother, for example."