AN: I've decided to keep this going. As I said before I'm merging all of the media for this series. I'm going to address the names of some characters, some I find okay but stupid, like Po Tato and Skel Etal that they use in the light novel and anime, because they just translate the names. At least I can believe that Po and Skel could be names. Then there's Perv Asshat. Yes, that's actually the name they use. It's so stupid it takes me out of it. I both love and hate it. I will use Doem Ketsuhat instead for him. Even if Perv Asshat is what that could be read as in Japanese, not an exact translation, but close enough.

The past two years sucked. Cid absolutely hated it, since the reports let him know that he was missing awesome plot stuff, and it still felt like he was missing more than half of what was going on. Worse were the written reports, since those were in the runic language, and in code, and immediately destroyed by whoever gave it to him after a glance since they were under the impression he could understand all of it at a glance.

The girls all just assumed he knew things, when he knew nothing. He was rarely able to add anything, he was mostly only able to add things when they fit nicely into some trope. There were at least 3 traitorous advisors he outed from the reports based on nothing but being told that there was an advisor close to a target. All 3 were actually traitorous and huge wins for Shadow Garden.

Cid had no clue how he was still cemented as the all-knowing Shadow, and he would work to keep that reputation. Which was why he was annoyed at the moment of playing a background character. He needed to confess to Princess Alexia Midgar, for a punishment game. He had a contest with his two mob friends, and he could have sworn that Po would do worse than a B. He didn't have time to properly figure out how Po and Skel would do on the test to plan it out properly.

Cid would have liked to prep in some way, make the fake confession as pathetic as possible to have the lowest chance of getting roped into rom-com nonsense. Unfortunately he had to spend time working on understanding the runic language well enough to decipher his own organization's code. He has made very little progress. He's pretty sure the girls change the code once a month.

With the lack of practice Cid figured it'd be best to just confess and leave.

Then he saw her, Princess Alexia Midgar. She had platinum hair and red almond-shaped eyes. Most people were entranced by her beauty. Cid was not.

He was used to Alpha and company, Alexia couldn't compete with them. Unfortunately for her, she was obviously last.

At the moment the first son of some Duke was confessing to her. He had a pretty great bouquet of flowers too. He was giving some great, massive, poetic declaration of love to her. All obviously pointless. She probably has some political marriage lined up for after graduation, and Cid knows the Duke's son has an arranged marriage lined up for his graduation. Just a bit of fun while they're in school.

In the end it doesn't matter. It's all just a bit of fun for people who don't know the burdens of those in the shadows.

Alexia told the Duke's son what she told everyone else. "I'm not interested." The Duke's son immediately started mourning his lost love, like someone stabbed him in the heart. It was time for me to make my move. Cid didn't have time to prepare an act to make him look pathetic, so he would settle for looking like a dick. Just as likely to get a no.

He heard Po and Skel ask what he was doing before they shut up and stared in shock.

Cid stopped right next to the guy who just confessed and was still loudly mourning his failure.

"Hello Princess, I love you, want to go out on a date." It wasn't even a question, Cid already knew the answer.

This one wouldn't do either, Roy was heir to the Duchy of Capet. Truely an annoying fool she had spent too much time with at social events. "I'm not interested."

Now the imbecile was crying, what was he expecting? She said no to everyone, some of whom were much more important than him. What she needed was someone who was lesser, irrelevant, to make Zenon see that she saw him as lower than a speck of dust. She hated that fake fool.

"Hello Princess, I love you, want to go out on a date." She was snapped out of her thoughts by a confession(?). She had no clue who this was, he looked aggressively average. He clearly didn't care. At all. He also didn't seem to want to date her. A part of Alexia wanted to break out laughing at the look on Roy's face. He was no longer crying. His face was a mix of utter confusion and anger that his emotional display was interrupted by a nobody.

This could be perfect, this rude low-born idiot could be just what she's looking for, just about as opposite from Zenon as she could get. Plus it would humiliate Roy. Now she just needed to play her role.

"I'm so happy you asked. I'd love to go." It was a bit difficult holding in the smile at the look of utter devastation on Roy's face.

"Huh?" She allowed a slight smile at the complete bewilderment on the boy's face. "What did you just say?"

"I'm accepting your confession." This would scream at Zenon that she didn't want him. It was perfect. Now she just had to coquettishly ask a simple question. "Walk me to class?"

"S-sure?" He escorted her, though not as a proper gentleman. He was still clearly bewildered and confused. Once he got over that he slouched and looked annoyed, he was perfect for her purposes.

She led him on her way, a bit of a roundabout way to reach her morning class, as she had one important thing to ask him. If she cared about him in any way this would probably be embarrassing, thankfully he was just going to be a tool. Once she got a bit of privacy, she asked a vital question, "Pardon my asking, but what's your name again?"

And the complete confusion and bewilderment covered his face again. "You accepted my confession… without knowing my name?"

"You won't make me ask twice, will you?" She tried to sound dainty and embarrassed as she asked.

"I'm Cid Ka-Kagenou?" He'd serve her purposes just fine.

"Great! I'll see you after class!"

He had somehow become the MC of a romcom. Cid took some solace in that, at least, he wasn't a Harem Protagonist. That could change, he needed to avoid that. Cid found Harem stories lame. Plus it didn't fit with either a Shadow Eminence or a proper Mob blending into the background. It was bad enough that everyone in the dining hall was talking about him.

"This is weird." Cid muttered.

"It is strange." Po joined in.

"She shot down a Duke's son in a second then just accepts me? Something's wrong."

"Just be happy, man. She's just tired of seeking hunks like me around her!" Skel growled.

"Skel, you are skeletal, not a hunk." This was incredibly inconvenient. He needed to break up with her.

"I'm a bigger hunk than you!"

"Sure." Cid dismissed. "Either way, I'm sure she has an ulterior motive. We basically live in two different worlds!"

"Even if this is just a misunderstanding, you are still dating a Princess! Who cares about bullies?" Po was missing the point.

Cid groaned and dug into his cheap lunch. Those two weren't helpful, and he wasn't entirely sure what to do about this. He just needed to be patient and figure this out.

Then a team of maids came and set out a meal that was more than ten times more expensive than what he was eating. "Is this seat available?" Alexia was here.

"O-o-o-o-of c-c-co-cour…"

"P-p-p-p-pp-pp-p-pl…" Skel and Po couldn't get anything out. It was a little pathetic. They were mob friends.

"Sit if you want." She was waiting for Cid's permission. He needed to figure out how to end this. He didn't have time to entertain a Princess, Cid was too busy trying to learn what his shadow organization was doing. Or how big they were for that matter.

"Don't mind if I do." She took a seat, as her servants finished placing all her food. He had to get rid of her. For now he would settle for leaving, so he started stuffing his face as fast as he could to get a chance to leave. On the plus side this might repulse her enough to get her to break up with him.

Alexia was on the other hand a perfect picture of a Princess. Sitting before her veritable feast. It annoyed Cid. She was eating way too slow, at least 90% of it would get cold before she reached it. "That expensive course is way too big." Cid muttered between bites.

"Yes, I can never finish it."

"Well waste not want not." This was a perfect opportunity to be a bit more repellant. Also, potentially Cid could be a bit pretentious. A great way to get the Princess to break up with him. So he reached over and took the fish she was cutting into.

"Wh-what!..." There was a brief crack there. Cid barely noticed it, but the prim and proper Princess broke for a moment before the perfect elegant facade took over. "I'd be delighted to share."

"Of course it's great to share. Think of everyone struggling to get a meal, it'd be criminal if we threw any of this away." Cid claimed with a mouth full of fish. It was a perfect display of excess, greed, and ego. Stuffing his face with someone else's food while feigning care about the starving. Cid stands from his seat, leans over and takes the pork.

"It's nice to hear that you are a charitable sort." Alexia made that sound very biting. Cid might be going a bit too far. She is a Princess of the Kingdom he was living in and his parents controlled a Barony in that Kingdom. "Your practical elective is the Royal Bushin, correct?"

"Yurp." The pork was really good. The practical electives are for the afternoon, Cid had a few that he did, including the Royal Bushin as it was massively popular and it was easy to blend in with that class. All of his electives were at a low level, he didn't want to stick out.

"I'm in that class too, it'd be nice to take it together."

"Yeah, no. You're in section one. I'm in nine." It was why Cid chose the Royal Bushin. Well, that and it was the best style out of what existed in this world if you excluded what he taught to the girls in Shadow Garden.

"That's fine, with my recommendation, I got you into section one."

"You can do that? But I suck?" Cid knew he sucked, it was a lot of work to be as middling as he was in the lowest rank.

"Would you rather that I enroll in section nine?"

"N-no don't do that." That would make Cid look like a drag on the Princess since for some reason she didn't have the decency to just break up with him.

"It's one or the other. Choose."

"What?"

"This is a Royal Order."

"I'm going to section one." Cid was pretty sure she enjoyed how uncomfortable this made him.

It was time. Hopefully that annoying fool would play his part. She reached the training grounds and suppressed a grin at the sight of the white uniform Cid was wearing. White was the color for the lowest rank, while she was obviously in black as one of the best. Cid was the only white.

Thankfully she didn't have to drag him here, he was waiting for everyone and hiding in the corner. Not that it helped, so many of the students were glaring at him for daring to intrude on section one. There were only about 5 who were looking at him with curiosity.

However, it was time to prepare for class, and that meant it was time to stretch. Everyone went about it, limbering up and preparing. A quick touch of her toes and stretching herself out and she felt better.

Then she saw Cid. His stretches were slower, and he seemed to be regulating his breathing with it. It was like there was an actual technique to his stretches. She copied his movements, breathing, and how he held his position. It was actually really good. He was actually good at stretching. She wasn't expecting that, she just wanted someone repellant to pose as a boyfriend to drive off Zenon.

"Help me with the next one." Cid said as he sauntered over.

"What?" Alexia hadn't expected this in the slightest. She shouldn't be shocked at his complete disregard for her position, it's not like he ever acted deferential in the slightest.

"Back to back." He ordered. Alexia listened. She was curious. He was supposed to be a middling Section nine white shirt. These stretches were better than anything she knew.

He linked arms with her, and lifted her off her feet. Her back stretched along his back, she felt a refreshing pop and it felt great. Even if she didn't like all that physical contact with him.

"Now you do me." He said as he let her down.

She leaned forward and stretched out his back. They separated and she copied more of his stretches. She had never felt so limber and prepared for practice before. She was left confused as to how Cid was in section nine.

Then, Zenon arrived. That annoying fake. It had to be faked. Even so, no matter how artificial and false he is, he's very good at the Royal Bushin. "Starting today we have a new friend joining us!"

"I'm Cid Kagenou. It's nice to meet you." No one was all that hospitable to the scion of an impoverished and irrelevant Barony.

With that Zenon started class as he always did, a quick review of the basic forms, meditations to suppress our magic, and finally practice swings. With that Alexia could see why Cid was a Section 9 white shirt, the lowest of the low ranks.

He didn't know the basic forms, he barely had to try to suppress his magic which indicated that he had very low magic reserves and his swings were amateur. He really didn't belong here, that must infuriate Zenon.

Then the fake went up to Cid. They talked, but he didn't seem upset. She couldn't hear what they were talking about. Cid changed his form a bit, going from bad to sort of passable. That fake moved on to other students. When the fake left to talk teach other students Alexia went over. "What did you two talk about?"

"The Royal Bushin method."

"Hmm. We're going to spar next. Let's pair up."

"Aren't you too strong for me?"

"It'll be fine." She took a wooden sword and tossed one to Cid.

They took their position, and started trading blows. While the other students started going all out with magic as they sparred, she and Cid did not. She saw something in Cid that disgusted her.

He was adhering to the basics and had a solid understanding of the foundations of combat. It was better than she expected, but her standards for Cid were really low. His fighting was so basic, like he was cutting out excess.

"Your swordplay isn't bad." Alexia tells him.

"Thanks."

"But I don't like it." He literally rolls his eyes as she says it. "It's like watching myself fight. Let's stop here for today."

"Well, I like your swordplay." She held back her disgust and urge to glare at the boy. There was nothing to like about her swordplay.

She steps away to start packing her things, she only had one thing left to do. Once everything was packed up she grabbed Cid by the nape of his neck as he was leaving, dragging the boy toward Zenon.

"This is your answer, I'm guessing." The artificial moron notes.

"I've decided to go out with him." It felt a little wrong to say that proudly.

"You can't keep running forever," He warns, narrowing his eyes. It was brief, but Alexia could see it. The hidden rot in this scum.

"I'm just a kid. This situation is too grown-up for me." She laughs as she leaves, dragging Cid behind her.

"So Zenon is your fiance and you need a patsy to help you get out of it?" Cid was annoyed. This was not the type of political intrigue he liked. A true Eminence in Shadow is involved in politics, but not stupid romance nonsense. This wasn't Romeo and Juliet, unfortunately, a violent conflict between two factions in this seemed unlikely.

"He's not my fiance, just one of the suitors," Alexia corrects.

Cid rolled his eyes, "It's close enough. Doesn't change that you need a low-class aristocrat like me, whom you could control easily."

"Yes, that's right." She looked smug as she agreed.

"Okay, not interested. I don't want to get tied up in this nonsense."

"Awfully cold of my boyfriend."

"You're just using me as a tool to deter suitors."

"As if you're any better, Mr. I-confessed-to-a-girl-as-a-punishment, Cid Kagenou." She was smiling like that cat who caught the canary. "I had a chat with your friends, they told me everything. I didn't even have to ask."

Cid let out an exasperated breath. "That sounds like those idiots."

"Cold to your friends too."

"They're more like acquaintances so I won't be alone." Really they were just mob friends, not really important. While mob stuff was fun, his life as an Eminence in Shadow was more important.

"Well it doesn't matter, we'll be pretending we're together for now. Until that man gives up."

"I'm the son of a baron, you know. Not even the heir. I'm not enough to stop any suitors."

"I know. I just need to buy time. I'll figure something out."

"Also, I still haven't agreed to any of this. I don't really care if you reveal that the confession was a punishment." While Cid didn't want to ruin his mob life, it would give him time to figure out everything his secret organization was doing. "If you reveal it all it does is make people I don't care about to hate someone most of them couldn't pick out of a crowd. It really makes no difference to me."

"Maybe this will change your mind." Alexia reached into her pocket and threw a fistful of coins to the ground. "Pick them up."

Each coin was worth ten thousand zeni. There were at least ten. Cid knew Shadow Garden had money, it was operating in multiple countries they needed to have a significant amount of money to do that. His financial situation was probably very solid. He was pretty sure he could afford to say no. There was only one problem.

Cid had no clue where Shadow Garden's money came from, how to access it, how much they had or how much they needed for their operations. He wasn't sure if they were in the green or in the red. He only knew that Gamma was handling it and he couldn't ask her without looking stupid. Also, he would have to find Gamma, and he had no clue where she was.

"I can't be bought for any price." Cid said as he picked up the coins on his hands and knees. He wasn't going to lie to her. A real Eminence in Shadow couldn't be bought, and he was already a real Eminence in Shadow.

Alexia stomps on the last coin. A look of disdain and annoyance covers her. "Really?"

"Don't worry, I can be rented at affordable rates." Unfortunately, he still needed money that he could use. It didn't matter if Shadow Garden had a trillion zeni if he had no access to it. She gave a wicked chuckle at that.

"Good dog."

Alexia pats his head, and Cid glared. "If you call me a dog I'm raising the rent."

She tossed another coin and walked off.

"It's all an act." Beta muttered to herself. The past two weeks were torture. Lord Shadow was dating Princess Alexia Midgar. She couldn't ignore the jealous knots twisting her gut at just the thought of it. She was better than that harlot. It had to be some kind of plan, some kind of infiltration. Lord Shadow didn't actually like her.

"Of course it's an act." Gamma calmly agreed. "I just wish we knew what he was doing. There's some kind of reason."

"He could have gotten someone in Shadow Garden to follow her. One of the numbers could be doing it just fine! We could send 559, she could handle it just fine!" Beta seethed.

"Calm down Beta, 559 isn't even in this Kingdom, she's doing vital work for Alpha. Shadow felt this required his personal touch. We have to trust him." Gamma's voice wavered a bit, it was nice that she was also upset about this.

"Of course I trust Lord Shadow…" She just hated that the stupid Princess was hanging off of Lord Shadow like an ugly zit. Beta just wanted to squeeze her until she popped. "I'm going to the Academy, I'll report to Lord Shadow after his duties."

Beta quietly left Mitsugoshi's main offices, properly disguised as a fairly normal elf. She made her way through the capital, ready to make her report. She was also ready to make a few dozen sketches of Lord Shadow as he assumes his Cid identity. There seemed to be quite a few Dark Knights around.

As she approached the front gate there were two full squads of Dark Knights. They were arresting Lord Shadow.

AN : I have to end this chapter at some point, and here is as good as anywhere. I'm planning on having the story divert more as the story goes on. However for most of the early portion things won't change that much. Anyway I'll try to get another chapter out this month, hopefully before Christmas. Unfortunately I probably won't get as much writing as I want to get done as I'm playing Pokemon Violet, trying to catch good pokemon to give away on wonder trade after Christmas. I'll be streaming that on Twitch under The Real Lee.

Thanks for reading and leave a comment!