Chapter 2
The day my father suddenly disowned me with a stiff face was exactly one week before Erika Solnzari was sentenced to exile.
It was the first day of our short spring break before the final year at the academy began, and when he told me to leave the house, I looked up at the ceiling and thought for a moment.
The house would likely be inherited by my older brother, the eldest son—fortunately, he's healthy, known more for his intellect than his strength, and works in the royal palace. He's not likely to die anytime soon.
And even in the worst-case scenario, we have a younger brother too.
I see—so even if I'm gone, the family will be fine.
"Alright, Dad. I'll leave."
The only thing I regretted was not being able to attend the academy anymore—at least for another year, I could've kept seeing her profile.
I pictured Erika Solnzari's profile behind my eyelids and felt a twinge of sadness that I might never see it again.
"Whoa, whoa, hold on, hold on—you agreed way too easily, son. I know I skipped the explanation in my haste, but could you show a little more attachment to the family?"
Even though I had already made peace with it, my father panicked and told me to wait.
"It's not like this house is impressive enough to get attached to."
"We're a noble viscount family with a long history! Our ancestors will curse you, you idiot!"
Is it really okay for him to say "only history" himself? I thought that, but since he motioned for me to sit, I lowered myself onto the sofa.
Sitting across the table from me, my father looked around his own room as if checking for hidden eavesdroppers before turning to face me.
His face was stiff, and if I knew him at all, that meant he was suppressing intense anger.
......Huh? I asked myself if I had done something to make him look like that.
Sure, I'm probably not what you'd call a proper noble.
I mean, I've been attending the academy while moonlighting as an adventurer, taking advantage of the fact that there's a proper heir.
Given the academy's founding principles, that's hardly praiseworthy—and honestly, the only reason I go there is to catch glimpses of Erika Solnzari's profile.
Naturally, my grades are as low as a worm crawling on the ground.
......Yeah, getting disowned kind of makes sense, doesn't it?
As I was thinking about why I was being disowned, my father slowly opened his mouth.
When Erika Solnzari's name came out of his mouth, I was deeply unsettled, thinking maybe he'd found out about my hopeless crush.
But when I heard what he said next, I found myself clenching my molars.
My reaction was simply: What the hell is that?
Erika Solnzari hasn't done anything wrong.
The upper nobles and the royal family, wanting to get close to the Priestess of Light, tried to eliminate Erika Solnzari, who had done nothing wrong, and then someone else exploited that scheme, resulting in the Prime Minister's daughter being forced into exile—a catastrophic blunder.
The ones at fault are the upper nobles and the royal family.
More specifically, it's the prince's fault for getting all starry-eyed and obsessed with the Priestess of Light.
If the prince had been sane, the royal family wouldn't have gone along with the scheme, and if they hadn't, no one would've tried to use the Prime Minister's daughter to create a rift between the royal family and the Prime Minister.
The thought that Erika Solnzari—whose brilliant future had once been assured—was losing it all because of these idiots made me want to scream in fury.
As I bit down hard to suppress my anger, my father let out a sigh and relaxed his face slightly.
"Well, I understand your anger, son."
My father gave a slightly tired smile.
"Now, about you leaving the house..."
"Right, Dad. What does that have to do with what you just told me?"
I felt nothing but anger toward what happened to Erika Solnzari, but I couldn't see how that explained why I was being disowned.
As I looked at my father, waiting for him to continue—
"I want you to be exiled along with Lady Erika."
"......Huh?"
An outrageous statement came flying out of my father's mouth.
"......Huh?"
I asked again, just to be sure.
Erika Solnzari's current position is incredibly precarious.
She was accused by the Church of plotting to assassinate the Priestess of Light, which is why she's being exiled.
If this had simply been the result of political infighting at court, then even if she were exiled, she could've lived as a noble in a marquis family estate abroad, and returning home would've been easy once the situation changed.
But the one who accused her was the Church—and to the Church, the Priestess of Light, beloved by God, holds more value than even the king.
Under the kingdom's laws, just planning to assassinate the Priestess of Light is punishable only by death.
Given how elaborate and large-scale the setup was, it's now almost impossible to prove it was all a lie.
In fact, the very fact that they managed to negotiate exile with the Church at all is practically a miracle.
But as part of that deal, the kingdom promised the Church that Erika Solnzari would be stripped of her noble status.
As a result, the Prime Minister can no longer openly support his exiled daughter.
It's a situation that has the Prime Minister seething with rage—but he couldn't trade his daughter's life for anything.
So, red-faced with fury, he accepted it.
Now there's a deep rift between the royal family and the Prime Minister.
I don't know who pulled this off, but I have to admit—they played it well.
But that's not the only problem.
In fact, Erika Solnzari and the Priestess of Light haven't been informed of any of this.
The reason is simple—they wanted to protect the Priestess's feelings.
While the royal family, upper nobles, and Church each had different motives, they all agreed to keep the assassination plot secret from the Priestess of Light.
The original plan was to wrap everything up during spring break so the Priestess would part ways with Erika Solnzari without ever knowing the reason.
That's why, as things stand, neither Erika Solnzari nor the Priestess of Light knows what's really happening.
The royal family desperately arranged for exile instead of execution because they knew that if the Prime Minister's daughter were executed, their relationship with him would be beyond repair—but there's still one big issue left.
How do they explain this to the Priestess of Light?
They can't just come out and say, "Your best friend tried to assassinate you, so we exiled her."
Whether she believed it or not, there's no telling how she'd react.
If the Priestess's heart were to darken, the kingdom itself could be in danger.
And so, to resolve that issue, they came up with me.
Sorry, I should've phrased that better.
In other words, those idiots came up with this story—
That Erika Solnzari fell in love with someone far beneath her station, secretly married him, and eloped.
And so, they say, "Dear Priestess, please pray for her future and happiness with a peaceful heart."
Which brings us to the fact that I, Shin Longdagger, was chosen as that partner.