Chapter 3 – Suddenly, I’m Already a Second-Year Student

It’s been a few months since I remembered my previous life!

I managed to move up to the second year without any problems. With my first-year grades, it was a close call, but thanks to my older brother Ninreney, who tutored me, I somehow pulled through.

As I looked out from the second floor of the second-year building down at the garden, I could hear cheerful laughter.

Oh, Neiny and his group are walking around having fun.

This really feels like a BL Omegaverse romance game, doesn’t it?

The main character is Neiny, the baron’s son. The romance options include Prince Narish, the knight captain’s son, the prime minister’s son, the charming school nurse, and my older brother Ninreney from the duke’s family. Is there a younger character? Doesn’t seem like it. Maybe some foreign royalty or hidden characters will show up later.

Wait, why is the nurse hanging out with students? That’s clearly a different age group.

I thought I’d play the villain son and stay away from that group, but surprisingly, my younger brother is doing his best to keep up with them.

My brother’s name is Noatuna Nobizel. He just entered as a first-year student. While my hair is light brown, Noatuna’s hair is more like a pale blonde.

We’re four brothers, and all of us have the same scarlet eyes—a trait unique to our duke family.

I clicked the window open a little and looked outside.

“Prince Narish! Can I have lunch with you too?”

Noatuna was boldly clinging to Prince Narish’s clothes. Like me, Noatuna is an Omega. His small frame and cute face might even be cuter than mine. He’s already getting attention from other Alphas, but right now, he’s obsessed with Prince Narish.

“Noatuna, that’s rude to the prince.”

“Brother Ninreney, be quiet!”

Puffing up his cheeks in anger was adorable.

“We’re eating at the café terrace, so come along.”

The prince gently gave permission, but it’s technically disrespectful. Because Noatuna is the younger brother of Ninreney, the prince’s aide and the only duke’s son in the country, the prince is being generous.

So, everyone is going to the café terrace today.

Too bad… Actually, it’s not a pity toward Prince Narish, but toward Ninreney.

Today was the day of the surprise test for the whole grade. Ninreney gave me a heads-up that a test might come out anytime, so I secretly studied.

I was planning to report my score and ranking to Ninreney before lunch.

Well, I guess I’ll do it after lunch.

As I reached to close the window, Ninreney suddenly looked up.

Our eyes met.

I tilted my head, and he smirked slightly, beckoning me with his fingers.

Yikes—does this mean I have to join the lunch with that group? No way! I shook my head no.

Prince Narish noticed our silent exchange.

Internally, I thought “Yikes!” again, but since I was spotted, I couldn’t hide. That would be disrespectful.

Since I was on the second floor, the prince had to look up, so I bowed my head politely.

Prince Narish talked to Ninreney and then left with everyone to the café terrace, but Ninreney stayed behind.

“You’ve been told to come too, Oryuga.”

“Ugh, that’s annoying!”

I loudly refused.

I don’t want to go! Narish took the same test, and he was ranked first, of course. I was thirty-second. That’s actually a big improvement for me.

When I remembered my previous life, my grades were at the bottom. Ninreney offered to tutor me, starting from early education to general knowledge, and recently I’ve been able to keep up with my age’s lessons. Even with knowledge from my past life, the academics here are totally different, so studying has been tough.

There are about 300 students in this grade at the academy in the capital city, so I think I did pretty well.

The academy has many smart students, mostly Alphas and Betas from commoner families. There are only a few Omegas from commoner backgrounds. Some kids don’t want to come or their families don’t allow it, or they’re too poor… Even though there’s a special scholarship for commoners, it’s mostly used by Alpha or Beta kids, and Omegas rarely get it.

Despite my protests, Ninreney came to pick me up from the second-year building and dragged me to the café terrace.

“Hey, Oryuga, long time no see.”

“Good to see you, Prince Narish.”

I greeted politely, and the prince smiled gently. I used to like this smile before remembering my past life, but now it feels off—like his eyes aren’t really smiling.

“Is Oryuga’s older brother here too?”

“Yes.” “Please take this seat.”

Noatuna and Neiny were sitting on either side of Prince Narish.

I had business with Ninreney, so I took his hand and moved to the next table.

I didn’t want to embarrass myself in front of Neiny, who ranked first in the grade. Ninreney understood and quietly followed me.

Lately, I’ve been getting along well with Ninreney.

“Brother, listen! I got thirty-second place.”

I whispered my report as soon as we sat down.

“I see. Well done. You did your best.”

Ninreney patted my head and praised me. He knows how to handle me lately. I really grow when praised!

“So, Oryuga got thirty-second place, huh?”

Suddenly, a soft low voice startled me. It was Prince Narish’s, right next to my ear.

“You’ve been working hard recently, haven’t you?”

Neiny, who was with the prince, came over too. Ugh, I didn’t want to be asked. The top student was looking down on me with that confident smile.

Neiny’s attitude has been harsh lately.

It’s because Prince Narish keeps talking to me a lot.

I try to avoid him, but somehow he always finds me.

“Don’t say that. He’s made amazing progress these past few months.”

Ninreney kindly defended me.

This is it, the villain son who, after reincarnating and remembering his past life, turns from hated to love.

I nodded quietly in agreement.

“Oryuga’s thinking about something weird again.”

Noatuna came over, saying something. Recently, I’ve started talking with Noatuna more. Since we have a common enemy, Neiny, he seems to feel close to me.

Noatuna’s similar to how I was before remembering my past life. He loves Prince Narish and follows him around without any real reason. He hates studying, has magical power but hates practicing, so he’s bad at it.

But he’s extremely cute.

“Oryuga’s magic has improved a lot too, hasn’t it?”

Neiny still wants to put me down.

Even though he pretends to compliment me, it’s always with some sneer.

“Oh no, not really~.”

I smiled brightly and tried to brush it off with my secret weapon: the smile.

Because Prince Narish casually sat next to me, everyone else moved closer too. I should have picked a two-person table. I cursed my mistake.

Since Ninreney gave up his seat next to me, Noatuna sat next to Prince Narish, and Neiny sat on the other side like it was natural.

“Next week there’s a joint practice with the underclassmen.”

The joint practice is where upperclassmen hold mock battles to help first-years decide their future path. It’s a one-on-one knockout tournament. Winners get prizes, usually magic tools, so many students work hard.

I was a first-year last year, watching Prince Narish and Ninreney’s matches. This year, I’ll be competing.

Last year, Prince Narish always won easily against the knight captain’s son. I wonder if the future knights will be okay. Well, this might be a BL romance game world, so maybe it’s fine.

In autumn, there’s also a mock battle with the first-years, so the joint practice is important for deciding what to learn.

I looked up at the sky, thinking about the joint practice.

During the autumn mock battle when I was a first-year, I didn’t want to fight and stayed at the back. I complained to my older brother Bizet that I didn’t want to fight, and he bribed some kids to team up with me.

Some noble kids from families ranked third or lower don’t get much funding, so he gathered kids who wanted money from commoner families, and I teamed up with them. Thanks to that, I spent the mock battle safely drinking tea at the edges. Well, that caused me to almost fail the year.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Neiny smiled sweetly at the prince. The third-year prince will also join.

Prince Narish is talented in both academics and sports. No student can beat him in swordsmanship or magic.

“We’ll see how good Neiny is.”

Will Prince Narish, the third-year, win again? Omegas only fight Omegas, so everyone expects Neiny to win among the second-year Omegas.

When the prince encouraged Neiny to do his best, Neiny shyly smiled.

“Will Oryuga join too? I’m counting on you.”

What’s he expecting?

“Sigh… I’ll do my best~.”

I smiled awkwardly, not really knowing what to say. Also, next week’s timing isn’t great for me.

Without looking at Prince Narish’s face, I gazed at the sky, lost in thought about next week.