I Became the Second-in-Command in a Romance Fantasy Novel

Boradori failed.
Uncle Aerin failed too.
…Compared to the former, the latter seemed to fail every time.

Even if it was a joke, they had taken the princess hostage and threatened her, so they must have done their best.
From the start, the Empire found the Pope’s visit politically burdensome.
And since the destination was the Academy, Uncle Aerin must have wanted to avoid it at all costs.
He even gave warnings that a terrorist attack was planned at the Academy.
Yet despite all that, they failed — which meant this was probably the work of the rotten grasp of a romance fantasy world.
“Hit your head.”
“That’s unfair!”
Very likely, the problem was Violet.

“It’s unfair! The evil boss demands the presumption of innocence!”
Violet shouted, tears welling in her eyes as she banged her head.
“That’s not here.”

Unfortunately, in this world, there was no presumption of innocence.
Instead, the world was filled only with the presumption of guilt toward nobles.
“Damn fantasy world!”
Violet yelled at that fact, but

“And you know fleeing after mission failure means immediate execution, right?”
That bastard failed the mission and ran away.
“What? That’s it?”

It was absurd, but in the world of nobles, that was enough to make a fuss.
“You’re a noble too.”
“Only in name. Daisy’s group and I are just village chiefs, you know? We don’t need to know that dirty noble world!”
True enough.
There’s a reason why rural nobles are said to be poorer than commoners living in the royal palace.

“But Daisy is surrounded by the pinnacle of that dirty noble world.”
“Well, since he’s not her boyfriend, it should be fine, right?”
“Want to die?”
Seeing how they wanted to slash my belly open, it looked like Violet had no way to stop the Pope.
Anyway.
“You’re mistaken— I’m someone who also goes near the pinnacle of that noble world.”

Though I wasn’t interested in central politics, my family was a count family considered one of the roots of the kingdom’s history.
I was a high-level official assisting the royal family.
A downside was that I was so close to the royal family that quitting was difficult.
But the upside was that on request, I could have a private meeting with the Queen herself, and I had the perfect ability to manipulate anyone if I wished.
“Wow. The perfect romance fantasy male lead candidate—capable and powerful background!”
Violet immediately scratched that off, but it was fine.
If that brat threw a jab, I’d just throw an uppercut back.
“Alright, I hereby assign you the honorable mission of personally marking the Pope during the Founding Festival.”
“Please save me!”

It was already too late.
If you couldn’t stop the Pope, you had to die embracing him.
“Lots of accidents are going to happen at this founding event!”
Boradori pleaded, but it was no use.

“I’ll take care of all that.”
The Founding Festival scenario that Boradori heard was an event that could affect many nations.
Thus, the shadows of various countries who didn’t trust Uncle Aerin were all ready to act.
“So you have to take the biggest role.”
“W-what is it?”
“Removing variables. Wasn’t the Pope originally not coming?”

The Pope was supposedly trapped in the Holy Nation at this time, so the Pope was definitely a variable.
“Ah, no!”
So here came the time for Boradori, the Empire-born agent who could freely operate even in the Empire, to shine.
“What if the agent gets dragged away by the cardinal?”
“An agent infiltrating the Holy Nation as a cardinal? That’s the jackpot.”

Even the penniless leader would use his own salary to raise the agent’s pay at that level.
“So, do your best.”
“Please save me!”
Agents aren’t saved by anyone.
They survive by themselves.
It was time Boradori learned that too.

Holy Nation agent Boradori.
Assignment complete.
No, damn it.
Please save me.
“Who the hell schedules the Academy exchange festival on the Empire’s founding day?”
—Our princess.

Not a hell, but a hellish woman.
Truly, the siblings were both insane.
“Please stop this, student council president.”
—I’m the pants president, so no.
Eventually, it was senior Lucia who became the student council president of Leon Royal Academy with overwhelming support.
According to the leader, the students supporting her apparently supported senior Lucia herself, not Princess Hestia.

—It’s already too late…
She seemed completely unaware of all this.
This must not have existed in the original work.
In the original, Princess Hestia abandoned the sword and lived as an ordinary princess.
This was a snowball caused by me, which even Violet and Daisy—the root of all evil—could not blame.
So at times like this, I had to solve it.
“We’ll send Ellen and the Swordmaster.”
—Please exclude Prince Ellen… We can’t win!

Lucia wailed with a sour face at my choice of personnel, but it was the best decision.
“An honorable death. If we lose to the Empire, it would be a disgrace to the kingdom. If Prince Ellen of Leon defeats them all, it’s ultimately Leon’s victory.”
—You think we’ll lose?
“Hmm, maybe a little?”
The Swordmaster’s effect was greater than expected.
Starting from scratch, he had experienced all the struggles students worried about.
Therefore, his teaching could be tailored from weaker students to the top tier.

Not only that.
Basically, the sword and new students all came because they heard the Swordmaster was the professor.
They formally learned swordsmanship—not just any Academy swordsmanship course.
They were students who had entered through fierce competition just to learn from the Swordmaster and were filled with desire for the sword.
Thus, before the Swordmaster’s teaching, self-learning and growth was the norm.
Even the lowest-ranked swordsmanship students at the Academy were regarded as quite skilled compared to their peers.
—He got tainted after going to the Empire!
Lucia shot me a betrayed glare, but I couldn’t escape reality.
Didn’t it often happen in novels?
Great sword or magic noble houses or kingdoms acting tough in front of the protagonist, only to get beaten badly.
It was sad for Leon’s people, but the protagonist of this world was an Empire person.
And the main activity location was the Empire.

…Come to think of it, it’s not sad at all.
Better to live peacefully than have my hometown ruined just because the protagonist wanders around.
The Empire outmatched other fields except for swordsmanship.
And since the strongest in the Empire was Prince Ellen, Leon lost nothing.
“It’s all for the kingdom.”
—Traitors always say that.
“Can you betray us properly once?”
—Finally for the kingdom!
“No, that betrayal only applies to Lucia.”
—Sounds real. Stop it because when you say that it’s scary.
“Don’t you think it’s not real?”
“……”
With that, senior Lucia shut up and the conversation went smoothly.

Leon Kingdom representatives, Prince Ellen, Senior Lucia.
Assignments complete.
Boradori will handle the Pope.
If Prince Ellen takes the exchange meeting with Leon Kingdom and Princess Hestia,
then what will I take?
“Let’s plan some date courses?”

Of course, I had to take the romance fantasy heroine.
Damn it.
“Why are you telling us that?”
Because the opponent was too strong for me alone, I sought help from others.
But Uncle Aerin, ungrateful and not even black-haired, spoke curtly.

“Then the date course will be Prince Essid’s route.”
“There’s no place in the Empire’s capital I don’t know. I’ll plan the best date route.”
With that single sentence, Uncle Aerin unfolded the Academy map and began planning my date itinerary as if nothing happened.
“Should I help too?”

A fiery magic user who probably wanted to get the same threat but stepped forward first.
“Plan your own date course.”
“Huh?”
“What did you hear? Daisy has to be with me, and Prince Ellen will be with our Leon Kingdom people coming for the exchange. Prince Essid and Gerard from the Empire will be busy running the event. Violet will be in the Holy Nation. The Swordmaster will be with the Swordmaster for sure.”
“Y-yeah?”
“Then what will your prince do?”
“Probably be alone?”
“Now’s your chance, idiot.”
“Y-you’re a genius?!”
Living this life, I never thought I’d hear a swordsman called a genius by magic users.

“I don’t expect a confession. Can’t we at least date during the event?”
“Y-yeah, y-yeah, y-yeah!”
I was uneasy. I should assign the expert Loreliya senior here too.
I don’t know if she has dated Prince Essid, but at least she had been engaged before.
Among our allies, she was the closest to marriage, so she had to be an expert.
Of course, I was the ultimate expert.
“Uncle Aerin, like you did for your wife, make it perfect!”
“Yeah, trust me… No, I’m not married yet!”

Protesting in a way nobody believed, Uncle Aerin completed a perfect date plan and itinerary in one day using his experience, know-how, and even the Empire Intelligence Agency’s power.
“Hmm.”
I memorized the perfect map, including the routes.
“These are places we must never go.”

I felt a little sorry for Uncle Aerin but checked all the dangerous zones.
A perfect date plan?
That could never happen for me and Daisy.
And thinking about the romance fantasy world setting, these places always led to troublesome incidents.
For example, meeting the Leon Kingdom group including senior Lucia and Princess Hestia at a cafe famous for its desserts.
At festival performances, encountering Empire figures like Prince Essid or Gerard was expected.
Worst would be meeting the Holy Nation people including the Pope.
So I excluded and excluded all areas up to Plan D, mapped out by Uncle Aerin.
If that happened,
“There’s almost nowhere to go.”

80% of the Academy became off-limits.
“Ridiculous.”
How come there are so many dating spots in an Academy?
They said it was a place for learning, but it was a place for dating.

“Well, that’s romance fantasy for you.”
The top people at the place of learning were fools obsessed with romance.
Do the lower ranks look at that and think, “Ah, you can get stronger even while dating!”?
“This is near the confession sanctuary, so even if it’s a bit far, let’s go this way. This place feels a little dangerous, but we have to keep the dating vibe, so we’ll take the risk.”

If the dating didn’t feel right, they could refuse to allow date privileges as an excuse.
So, I prepared locations that would reasonably have witnesses, keeping some pretense.
“If we toss the ball here moderately…”
Then toss it to the main protagonist of this scenario, the next guild leader.
A perfect plan.
I wasn’t intent on strictly following the original work, but this had more benefits than losses.

Romance fantasy heroine tosser, romance fantasy male lead Hadric Ilias.
Assignment pending.
I hoped it would proceed this way.
“Won’t that happen?”

This damn ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ romance fantasy world had already lost faith in me.
With half a prayer for success, I had no choice but to wait for the Empire’s Founding Festival.