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

“I'm ba—ck!”

A lump rose in Violet’s throat.
Looking at the distant academy walls, Violet shed tears of emotion.
What was that pile of stones?
Big and grand, yes, but still no match for Daisy’s Sword of Light she had seen in the Holy Nation.
And even with those walls, the imperial academy was going to be breezed through like an automatic door soon enough.

‘Still, it’s good.’
Though a flood of events awaited, at least these were the ones she remembered.
Of course, Violet from back then would have said something else.
But at least now, Violet was so moved by seeing the academy’s walls again that tears welled up.
“Sigh.”

After crying quietly for a while, Violet wiped her tears on her sleeve and thought.
‘The Holy Nation is finally over.’
Though it felt like three, no, five times the hardship she was meant to endure.
Thanks to that, all the future crises of the Holy Nation arc were already resolved.
She just had to think of it as having endured the future suffering early.

‘Of course, I still have to deal with the aftermath.’
But that was Daisy’s problem, not hers.
The original story was already ruined beyond repair, and there was nothing Violet could do about it.
Instead, Daisy—who had grown just as much as the ruined original—could handle everything on her own.
Having witnessed the grand and beautiful miracle that stirred the hearts of Leon Kingdom’s people, Violet finally decided to let go of her lingering regrets.
The villains to come… Daisy would somehow take care of them.
Even the Demon King… maybe Daisy would deal with him too.

After returning from the Holy Nation, Violet’s faith in Daisy grew steadily, replacing the goddess.
She decided to report everything that had happened to her relaxed, honey-sipping boss in a safe place.
There was so much that happened.
I had it so hard!
Not just a simple complaint, but she truly had gone through hell!
So if that boss had any conscience at all, she’d do something!
With that thought, Violet waited for Adam to return to Leon Kingdom.

But.
“...Did you get deployed somewhere during the vacation?”
Though she was the one who had landed in the middle of a battlefield, why did the other person look like the patient?
Moreover—

“So much happened… I’m so tired.”
“...”
Violet, whose line had even been stolen, could only frown and listen to the other’s complaints.
A classic rule says a magic punch is a punch to the face, a tradition from some magical atmosphere, but this was modern times while here was a hierarchical fantasy world.
You couldn’t hit a royal’s face unless they were an enemy.
So Violet swung at the sword Ellen held, not Ellen himself.
It seemed that had been a mistake.
That crazy bastard Ellen still managed to draw out magic power to block it somehow.
If they had collided head-on, a serious accident could have happened, so Violet led the impact onto herself instead of Prince Ellen.

“So that’s how you got hurt?”
“Yes.”
Boradori’s eyes narrowed after hearing all the explanation.
So that’s why quick-witted kids are annoying?
“You let it happen on purpose?”
“Of course.”

His arm was a bit broken, and the external wounds looked bad.
But there were no internal injuries or other serious wounds.
In other words, the visible injuries were all there was.
And in a fantasy world, such wounds healed very easily.
Still, there were two reasons he didn’t fix them and stayed in critical condition.
One was to avoid being dragged to the Swordmaster under the pretense of being a patient.
“What does Prince Ellen say about this?”
“He feels guilty every time he sees me.”

The other reason was to build a mental debt toward their precious prince.
“So take good care of the Daisy mark.”
If Daisy clicked ‘heal,’ all the wounds would be fixed.
And if Daisy healed him, his debt for the wounds could turn into gratitude toward Daisy.

A scary thought.
In romance fantasy, the heroine can seduce the male lead just by breathing.
She had to be careful—always careful.

“Don’t worry. Daisy’s been dragged all over the place since returning to the academy. She’s too busy to do much. It’s not like she can’t manage without me.”
Surely, the empire and academy had been quite shocked by Daisy’s shocking moves.
Only a few months ago, a low-ranking noble awakened as a saint in their country.
Before they could even handle the aftermath, she purged the corruption of the Holy Nation and returned as the actual highest religious leader.
“It’s not just the empire.”
“Well, considering the Holy Nation’s influence, it affects the whole continent.”
“That, too, but some followed her, right?”
“Ah.”

Forgotten due to the sudden events, except for Director Squint and Prince Ellen, the entire flower arrangement club had gone all the way to the Holy Nation.
“Good thing things went well. Otherwise, it would have been an international incident.”
Violet imagined it.
Prince Ellen saying he wanted to follow Daisy to the Holy Nation, then hearing the kingdom got word that a revolution had broken out there.
Goosebumps ran over her whole body, hands trembling.
Being mentally controlled by black magic was almost like a fairy tale.

“Ah.”
Realizing that, she recalled one more fact.
“Why?”
“I just remembered something I have to do.”
“With that face?”
“It’s nothing. Even if both legs were broken, it’s something I can’t ignore.”

She meant it seriously.
Even if she had to crawl on the floor with broken legs, she had to see it.
“What is it?”
What else could it be?

“Watching a burning house burn.”
Going to watch someone else’s house on fire.
Ignoring Boradori who still had many questions and things to check, she ordered a coffee at the cafeteria and rushed to the warehouse where the shadows gathered.
Sadly, there was no one there.

But since she visited every day, she saw a few people come and go.
Without missing a day, she brought a cup of coffee and waited for people in the warehouse.
“Mixing water in coffee…”
Watching the fire mage, who spoke like an Italian from a previous life, she sipped an iced Americano.
As expected from a magic user country full of prejudice, he couldn’t accept iced coffee.

“Tastes good.”
Sweet.
Even without sugar, a deep flavor rose with sweetness.
That taste was why she visited the warehouse every day.
A smile naturally spread across her lips.
“Uh, uh…”

The fire mage glared at her in frustration at her subtle smile.
“I don’t even have the strength to get mad…”
Apparently too weak to even open his eyes, he collapsed face-first on the desk.

“No one else coming?”
At least the fire mage was okay.
That meant he could rest here safely.
Others found it hard even to show their faces here.
In the case of Uncle Aerun, no one had seen him since the romance fantasy group returned to the academy.
Even though he had a face that would stand out in a school uniform, no news came.
He might have been dragged straight to the capital upon returning to the academy.
“Should have blocked better.”
“You, you…”

Muttering in a small voice, only the fire mage remained in the room.
She had told them to listen anyway.
“Your prince too…”
“Tried to save people, but got hit by an evil black mage.”
“...”
From her point of view, it was a shitty situation, but to outsiders, it could be seen as heroic.
So when the victim defended him, the fire mage had no words.

“U-our prince too. He’s trying to…”
The fire mage also tried to defend his prince with a frown.
“But joining a revolution in a foreign country? Next thing you know, he’ll join the empire’s revolution.”
“No, no!”

Violet had said the Holy Nation trip was comparable to or worse than Silence’s terror.
Was that true?
The fire mage who had been listless suddenly jumped up and shouted.
“But if there’s Daisy, it could be possible.”
“Ah…”
Had he really lost his mind?
He couldn’t even refute, just pouted like usual.
If this went well, he could really make her cry.

“Even if a revolution doesn’t break out, Daisy will go to the Holy Nation again during winter vacation. Your prince will follow her, right?”
“W-why are you saying this to me…”
Not sure if it was meant for her or the prince, but tears welled up in the fire mage’s eyes and fell to the floor.
“Sweet.”

Tears were supposed to be salty, but the coffee’s sweetness seemed to rise even higher.
“You bastard!”
Unable to hold back, fireballs floated around the fire mage.
Flameless flame magic of such a scale in a place without ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ even a spark.
Truly a protector of the Dale royal family.
But Violet also knew a spell to nullify magic in one word.

“So hurry up and confess.”
“Huh?”
Watching the fire mage blush as if swallowing the disappeared flames, she sighed.
“Winter vacation this year… is already too late.”
“Are you really going?”
“If you’re not planning to follow Daisy even next year, at least confess.”
“B-but if I get rejected…”

The fire mage’s pouting face was frustrating in another way.
“Does being rejected mean you stop being a protector? The royal family will force you to stay by their side anyway.”
“Y-yeah, but…”
“Your magic user prince, Arwen, doesn’t see you as a woman. So confess first to be recognized as a woman. Even if you get rejected, hang around and work on building favor.”
“R-really?”
“That’s not me talking, that’s a dating expert’s analysis. It’s probably better advice than what we think.”
She vaguely remembered this method from a comic or webtoon she’d seen in a past life…
The ending wasn’t about the heroine who confessed first, but about the heroine who advised to confess first ending up dating him.

“Oh…”
To boost the fire mage’s confidence, she decided not to reveal that fact.
“I’ll help you.”

She meant it seriously.
Honestly, it was a bit urgent.
From the moment their king took interest in Daisy’s grand and beautiful sword,
even disregarding that, Daisy’s value had risen in the royal family.
They began calculating that even if she became Prince Ellen’s partner, it wouldn’t be a loss.
Though unlikely, if Dale’s prince stayed near Daisy,
there was sure to be talk like this:
—Leon can’t lose to Dale!
What was once a possibility was now starting to feel like a certainty.
So it was best to quickly remove the Dale royal magic user.

“R-really?”
And even aside from that, her desire to protect the fire mage’s pure love was genuine.
“Of course. We’re allies, right?”

Violet, the fire mage, and Lady Lorelia were allies on the front of the Daisy romance war.
“Y-yeah!”
To keep their vow to help each other’s love,
she had the duty to protect the love of both the fire mage and senior Lorelia.

“I gave up.”
“Huh?”
“I decided to accept it cleanly. Miss Daisy suits His Highness better than me.”
And then she disappeared.