While all of this was going on with Noafumi, Raphtalia was having somewhat of an easier time. At least, circumstances wise.
She scrolled through her phone, checking the description of what had happened from Naofumi.
"It's like this huh..." she thought to herself.
There was little she could do to help. She didn't even know Fohl and Atla that well, and hadn't been with Naofumi back when the first issue with his ex had happened.
She didn't even have the wherewithal to contribute in any other way either- she was just a slightly older than average high school student after all. It felt strange to be standing at the sidelines, watching things go unfold without being able to do anything really to help out.
Even back home it had been much the same.
Despite technically being royalty, she had been unable to do anything of value.
Stories of princesses were always grand and showed them being kind, or extremely beautiful- or in most cases actually, falling into trouble and needing rescuing by a prince.
None of those things happened of course. She hadn't been able to help out anything regarding the country, let alone her family. Well, maybe, depending on how you looked at it, the 'being saved by a prince' part somewhat.
Before she had even had the slightest bit of control of her life her father had decided to take them away from home.
Initially she had greatly resented him for it, as well as her mother.
She had felt filled with regret. She didn't like this new country called 'Japan' where everyone spoke funny (she had been receiving Japanese lessons form her mother but it took her quite some time to get a hang on the finer aspects of the language. Even now, she was sometimes confused for someone coming from a different prefecture as her accent was not perfect) things were different, they had to work for a living, and everyone looked at her funny.
She had hated it here, especially in those first few years. Not out of anything significant that happened to her, it just didn't feel like home.
Over time though, it had gradually 'broken in.' Now, if she was asked to go back to their ancestral home, one of the oldest standing palaces in Europe, she would likely feel a bit of nostalgia, but would also feel like it was alien.
Her grades had fallen, she was put back when it came to her schooling because of this by a year, and had not done well in the first few years. Because of that she hadn't had a good performance until this last two years of high school.
That might've been good enough in normal circumstances if she was somewhere else, but here, in Japan, children were cramming since much earlier than she was. Meaning she was a bit behind.
Naofumi had thought that she could go wherever she liked, she could, but would probably have to become a ronin in order to do so.
The change in her attitude and aptitude towards her schooling were a result of time.
Now, she had adapted to this place.
That was to say, mostly.
The biggest difference between now and then was that she understood things. She now understood why her father had chosen to abandon any claim to the throne and accompany her mother to this country.
She also had a choice. Before she had to move wherever her parents took her, now, that she was on the cusp of graduating, she really could do whatever she wanted.
Theoretically at least. There was one place where she couldn't go.
Back to her original country.
"Rifana..." a name escaped her lips.
There had been a reason that she had first agreed to help out Naofumi.
The desire for fame- not that she wanted to be famous. If word got out about her identify too much, it would cause endless headaches for her.
Not that it was impossible, if anything, people would find the fact that she was somehow descended from royalty to be endearing, but that could also lead to its own problems. Japan was safer for them than many other places, but it wasn't like they could disregard danger entirely.
What she wanted to see is if she could meet up with Rifana. If her face spread far and wide, there was a chance they could meet up again.
Rifana had to leave around the same time she did, meaning that she was not back in their old country. But Raphtalia had almost no method to find her, even Sadeena had been helpless in that regard.
The more that Raphtalia thought of this, the more it felt like her head was going to explode from all of these thoughts.
She took a deep breath.
She had reached one conclusion, even if she was confused about everything else.
That was that she definitely, absolutely, without any doubt, could not tell Naofumi about this right now.
He had too many things weighing on his mind, he couldn't take the burden of this as well.
As it was, none of it was really relevant to them right now.
Aside from the small matter of what she was going to do after high school.
But again, that was a small matter. Raphtalia didn't want to end up leaving a year again, given that she was already somewhat behind when she had just started, but in the grand scheme of things it was not a huge hassle.
Many people in other countries took gap years. It was only here that it would be considered 'odd.'
Though, if she waited for too long... Naofumi would graduate before her.
Though she hated to admit it, a good reason behind why she was eager to join his law school, was indeed, so they could be together.
But, Naofumi was right- it was a bit of a pipe dream to think of that.
Though, she secretly wished that he wouldn't be so dismissive about it. He seemed almost hurt by the suggestion.
Was that because he didn't want her with him?
This was her first real relationship, unlike Naofumi who had at least one before him- and though she didn't know the full details though, it seemed that it was because of his ex that Naofumi was a bit more hesitant not only towards the opposite gender, but people in general.
Maybe she was pushing things a bit too fast and far?
Not only that, it did make sense logically.
A/N: Alright guys, I'm going on vacation again, meaning uploads are gonna be paused for 2 weeks.