Dixie never considered herself as a 'high maintenance' girl.
Even though her father had never paid much attention to her, she didn't feel as if she had been treated unfairly, nor did she do anything to seek his attention. As for her mother, well, although Dixie often called the woman annoying, she still loved her dearly.
When she first entered the Imperial Academy of Excellence, her requirement for a 'happy school life' had been similarly low. Just one good friend, maybe two, and she'd be satisfied.
Even this requirement had to be blamed on her three friends 'pampering' her too much, making it so she'd feel extremely bored at school if she was truly alone.
On the very first day at school, however, Dixie got a lot more than she ever asked for. That was the day she met her princess, and was what she considered a turning point in her life.
Ever since then, her days had been revolving around the girl. From early in the morning to late into the night, she could never go too long without thinking of her princess.
Dixie knew that perhaps this level of obsession was unhealthy, but she couldn't care less about it. Even when her mother constantly mocked her for it, no one knew better than herself what would bring her the greatest happiness in life.
Today, however, was different.
After the semester results came out, the first year students seemed to have gone through a huge shock, and many of the previous hot topics were completely forgotten.
Even the topic of her princess and her supposed 'prince', that had previously seemed too big to be swept under the rug, was now completely forgotten. Dixie didn't know if Penny's strategies were finally bearing fruit, or if the idiots really realized that her princess could never fall for that stupid pig.
But Dixie couldn't feel happy at all, because now she was all alone in Class S, while Emilia went to Class A.
Well, she wasn't exactly alone, because there was still the continuously blabbering Koko by her side, and another girl that had moved in on the other side of the three-seater bench.
"And so, before Mrs. Macmillan realized it, I'd already—"
Dixie had no idea what Koko was talking about, but for a moment she really wished she had been truly alone.
After being deprived of being able to meet with her princess early in the morning, with Emilia directly skipping the dojo, now she even had to bear this mental torture from Koko!
And to make matters worse, she was apparently staying over at that hussy Crystal's place! Staying over! What did that mean?
Dixie could be more or less calm when it came to that pig Randy, because she understood a little of what her princess liked, and that was definitely not it.
Her princess liked cute things. And Crystal was cute, for a hussy.
Even though Emilia had messaged her to clarify her arrangements for the next few days, Dixie couldn't help but be a little gloomy.
Dixie couldn't help snort. 'Curing her depression? Hmph! Why does princess have to be the one to take care of that girl's depression! What a burden.'
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Crystal's daily 'schedule' had changed considerably now that she had Emilia by her side, and one of the greatest changes she found herself making was to completely abandon the 'self-study' session after the first two classes.
She could try making the excuse that she didn't want Emilia to be bored in class, but she knew that the real reason was that she couldn't handle the disgusting glare from that bastard ex-fiancé.
Thankfully, he didn't follow them around anymore after they left, and Crystal could finally breathe a sigh of relief once she arrived at Emilia's 'disciplinary committee office'.
Apparently, the committee now had quite a few members, all of whom 'coincidentally' shared the same club, the 'Royal Knights'. But Crystal knew that the only ones who could come into this so-called 'office' were just those that Emilia brought in herself.
Even she hadn't been here before, despite thinking of herself as Emilia's 'close friend'. Aside from those who came in to get a scolding, perhaps only her 'personal knight' enjoyed such treatment.
The same girl had burst into the room moments after they arrived and crashed into Emilia's arms with a cry of distress as the girl consoled her.
Crystal felt like she was watching some drama as she stared blankly at the dark haired girl on Emilia's lap.
"Princess! I missed you so much!"
Emilia smiled as she squeezed her knight's cheeks. "Didn't you drop me off at home just yesterday, Dixie? It's not even been a full day. What's got you so worked up?"
Dixie couldn't help but let out some of her grievances. "B-But, you didn't come to the dojo, and you told me not to pick you up!"
Crystal had previously considered Dixie as a snob who looked down on people whom she considered worthless. That was the conclusion she drew after witnessing her treatment of Penny at the time that the girl had kissed Emilia's hand.
Looking at her current 'cutesy' appearance, however, Crystal couldn't help but think it was a little endearing.
Emilia thought that she looked adorable, with her eyes slightly wet and her lips in a pout, so she pecked Dixie's lips lightly. "Didn't I message you? I'm at Crystal's place for a few days now, so it's not as convenient."
Crystal seemed to have turned to stone as her mind rebooted at the scene, all her good feelings for Dixie turning to smoke. 'Did Emilia really just kiss her? Do they often kiss as friends? It didn't seem like a lover's kiss, right? No wait—'
The dark haired girl's face had already turned completely red as she shyly looked away. "H-How did you get to school then?"
Emilia smiled. "Her place is not that far, so we just walked. Don't worry so much, Dixie. I'm just taking a few days off the dojo to relax. Even your grandpa agreed."
Dixie could only nod reluctantly. Her grandfather had already mentioned that Emilia's techniques were already quite refined, and what she really needed to work on was her physical strength. If it was Dixie asking for a 'leave', she would be 'leaving' in a very different way.
What she was worried about now, however, was how risky it was for her princess to be going to school like this. Even though Emilia had assured her that she had people watching her at all times, Dixie couldn't rest well knowing that she wasn't there herself.
"H-How about you at least let me pick you up for school? Both of you, of course."
Looking at the dark haired girl's pleading eyes, Emilia couldn't bring herself to say no. She turned her gaze to Crystal, and since the heroine didn't seem to be against it, decided to agree. "Alright then, but make sure you don't skip out on the dojo, or your grandpa will scold me instead!"
It was only then that Crystal realized her stunned silence at witnessing their kiss had been taken as consenting to allow Dixie to pick them up every morning.
Even though she had already convinced herself that their pecking was just a friendly gesture from Emilia, she would rather not have Dixie disturb their peaceful walk to school!
But it was too late to object now, as the two of them had already moved on from the topic. 'Fuck!'
"How are things going with Rothschild Cosmetics and Koko's mom?"
Dixie sighed. "Not as well as I'd hoped, unfortunately."
Although Emilia hadn't been very interested in it at first, she couldn't help but be a little curious. "Did something go wrong?"
The short haired girl shook her head. "Not yet, but the Rothschild's definitely have a lot heavier backing than we thought, previously. Even though most of the upper class in our country don't think that well of them now, she managed to suddenly strike several big deals. With a little rebranding and several endorsements, I'm not sure how we should proceed."
Given that Dixie's preliminary investigation hadn't managed to dig up anything that would explain what was happening, there was probably more going on than it seemed. Emilia thought about it for a while before nodding. "In that case, tell Koko's mom to stop for now. I'll have Noelle look into it first, and we can see where to go from there."
Dixie nodded. Considering that the Brown family really didn't have much of an intelligence network to boast of, she knew that Emilia would definitely be able to get better results if she asked someone on her side.
Crystal couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. "Uh, are you sure I should be hearing this?"
These were clearly things that shouldn't be known to the public, and she didn't think Emilia was tactless enough to just mention these things to anyone but those who should know.
Emilia just smiled nonchalantly. "It's fine, I trust you."
Crystal's heart skipped a beat, but she tried her best to appear serious. "W-Well, you should be more careful when dealing with things like this!"
Emilia nodded as she motioned for Dixie to get off, and the girl could only reluctantly do so. "Speaking of which, I did have a favor to ask of you, Crystal."
"E-Eh, what favor?"
The blonde girl stared in confusion as Dixie rummaged through her bag before taking out a green folder that she then handed over to her.
Flipping it open, on the first page she found the face of a girl about the same age as herself, though not one she had ever seen before.
"That, is Michelle, someone who needs your help."