'Sister Ceres?　What's going on?　You're not feeling well?

　That day, Leila noticed that something was wrong with Celestia.

'Nah, it's nothing, Leila.
'It's not nothing!　I don't have any energy!

　Celestia shook her head in an attempt to not make you worry, but that didn't get through to Leila.
　You can't say that Leila can understand people's feelings, but even such a person can see that Celestia today was wearing a heavy atmosphere.

　Of course, the others had noticed that as well.
　But the other party was the princess.
　We can't even pursue that situation in depth.

''What's wrong?　Leila will consult with you!

　It was because Leila couldn't read the air like that that she was able to step in.

''........Yes, that's right.''

　Maybe Celestia would rather have someone to listen to her.
　She nodded at the pretty junior's offer and found herself starting to talk about the events that happened yesterday.

''Actually........I'm getting married....
Huh?　Married?　Sister Ceres?
'Yes. In case you're wondering, I'm the one who's been in an engaged relationship for some time...

　The Empire of Hanbalada is a neighboring country of the Edelheid Kingdom.
　The story of her marriage to its crown prince began with a request from the other side, before Celes had yet received his blessing.

　But Celestia is not even ten years old, while the Crown Prince is already in his late twenties.
　His Majesty politely declined, taking into consideration the relationship with the neighboring country.

　Incidentally, the crown prince and Celestia had met only once at that time, and Celestia had no recollection of the other party.

　The reason things had changed was because of that crisis four years ago.

　Although the Hanbalada Empire's territory bordered Edelheid, it was fortunate that it was diverted from the Demon King's army's marching path, so it did not suffer too much damage.

　From the beginning, the Hanbalada Empire had almost double the national strength of Edelheid.
　On top of that, Edelheid was the only one to suffer a great deal of damage, which further widened the gap in the power relationship between the two countries.

　In such a situation, the number of nobles who claimed that Edelheid was the one to blame for the loss of power was increasing.
　For the Edelheid Kingdom, the only way to maintain good relations with the Hanbalada Empire was no longer a political marriage between the Crown Prince and Princess.


That's what happened.
'What!　Why don't you just say no to that!
That's not going to happen. I'm royalty. I'm royalty and I have to put the affairs of this country before my own.

　If this engagement was broken, there could be a war if it was not done well.
　An all-out war would result in the loss of many lives, and Edelheid, with its declining national power, would be no match for the Empire.

　When weighing her own future and the fate of this country, Celestia could not choose herself.

''Boo.''

　Leila's lips twitched in frustration.
　There was no way she could understand the situation of the royal family.

''It's just........Originally I was going to say after I graduated from the academy, but....... It seems that the other side wants to hurry up.

　Marriage in itself was depressing, of course, but that was still good because she was ready for it.

　But it was still almost a year away, and I thought I could spend the last of my time at the Academy.
　The fact that even that might not be possible was the biggest shock.

''What?　So, Celes, how long are we going to be able to stay together...?
'....months at the most....and if it's shorter....it could be sooner....
Yeah!

　I thought I yelled loudly, but Leila jumped on Celestia.

'Oh no!　How did you do that?　I don't want to lose my sister Celes!
I'm sorry...
Stay until Leila graduates!
Well that's not possible to begin with.

　Celestia is a fourth year student.
　No matter how hard she tries, it is impossible for her to graduate with Leila.

''Uu~''
I'm sorry.

　While apologizing, Celestia was glad that this lovely sister had missed her so much, and that she was sorry to be separated from her.







　The announcement of their engagement came five days later.
　On this day, Leila and the other students of the Royal Academy were participating in the regularly scheduled King's Speech, which took place in the square in front of the Royal Palace.

　This was held in the square in front of the Royal Palace and was open to the public.
　But on this occasion, only a select group of people were allowed to attend.

　After all, it was the engagement of the handsome and popular Princess Celestia, and the neighboring Crown Prince, who was 20 years older and less than flattering in appearance.
　In some cases, the participants were opposed to it and there was a risk of a riot.
　In order to prevent that, the participants were to be carefully selected.

　That was why the students of the Royal Academy had been mobilized in a hurry.
　Although the matter of the engagement announcement was kept under wraps, the teachers had strongly warned them beforehand that no matter what the content of the engagement announcement was, they were to listen to it to the end in a manner befitting a student of the Royal Academy.

　And in the unlikely event of an emergency, they have been strictly ordered to cooperate with the Knights.

　Because of that, most of the students were waiting for His Majesty the King to appear with a nervous look on their faces, wondering what kind of speech he was going to give.