Chapter 129

「July 2nd

Magic Department 1st Year

Final Evaluation Battle Matchups

09:00 AM

Magic Department Top Student | Agnes Elizabeth Blaze / Magic Department Second Rank | Isabel Ravenna Arcana

09:20 AM

Magic Department 3rd Rank | Karen Iris Stormweaver / Magic Department 7th Rank | Siz Treize Lilian

09:40 AM

Magic Department 4th Rank | Lilith Blackwood Rosewood / Technical Department Second-Ranked Luke Cruella

…

…

…」

On a day in late June, when the evaluation battle pairings for the end of the first semester were announced…

As soon as I confirmed my name on the Magic Department match-up list posted on the main bulletin board, I felt a momentary surge of disbelief.

“Luke Cruella…?”

I almost blurted out “bitch” next to Ethan at the sudden move of the Technical Department’s second-ranked Luke, who had designated me as her opponent. …Fortunately, I didn’t say it out loud.

“Lilith…?”

“…Yes, Young Master Ethan.”

“Luke Cruella, the Technical Department’s second-ranked, is that the person I know?”

“…Yes. It’s that Luke, Princess Seraphine’s guard.”

“Why did she suddenly become your opponent for the duel? Did you discuss this in advance?”

“…No, I’m not sure either.”

I said so because I truly didn’t know what was going on. Even in the game, there had never been a single instance of Luke participating in an evaluation battle against top students from other departments.

Originally, Luke wasn’t the type of character who liked to stand out, fitting her nickname, Shadow Luke. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

That’s why, despite being qualified to be Seraphine’s exclusive maid, she had requested the relatively inconspicuous position of her guard.

Instead of entering the Martial Arts Department with Seraphine or entering another combat department, she deliberately chose the Technical Department.

I honestly couldn’t understand this situation where Luke had given up on not standing out and designated me as her opponent for the duel.

‘I had a bad feeling when the professor said I already had an opponent assigned for the duel.’

The Top 5 students in the combat departments are given the authority to directly designate their opponents for the final evaluation battle. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

Of course, just because they can designate their opponent doesn’t mean students often say they want to face the lowest-ranked. Most high-performing students in Luminor Academy are quite prideful.

Therefore, it was a general rule to choose the strongest opponent they could perfectly defeat.

Just like how Agnes, who was unmatched among the Magic Department freshmen, had openly targeted Isabel, who was second-ranked.

According to the original plan, I should have had the authority to designate my opponent, so I was planning to face a student around the 10th rank in the evaluation battle duel.

I really hadn’t imagined that Luke, Seraphine’s guard, would designate my name first.

‘I never thought I’d be on the receiving end of what I did as a player in my previous life…’

When playing as the protagonist character, if you entered the Technical or Pharmacy Department, the events there were for gaining fame and experience, so it was essential to fill that gap by defeating the top students from other departments in the final evaluation battle like this.

…But now that I was on the receiving end, thanks to Luke, I was truly dumbfounded.

Why is this happening only to me?

‘Should I be grateful that it’s not Agnes, at least?’

The one hopeful aspect was that my opponent wasn’t Hellfire Agnes, who deliberately seeks out only ‘strong opponents.’ In fact, when I first heard that my duel opponent had been decided, Agnes was the first one I suspected.

Of course, even though I avoided an evaluation battle with Agnes, Luke was certainly not an easy opponent either.

As she had already secured the position of Seraphine’s guard, her skills were sufficiently guaranteed, and as I mentioned before, she was also one of the heroines of Luminor Academy.

Given that being a heroine in Luminor Academy meant being qualified to be taken as a companion to defeat the Demon King, I couldn’t underestimate her just because she was from the Technical Department, a non-combat department.

…Although I still had no idea why Luke had applied for a duel against me.

To be honest, I hadn’t done anything to directly provoke Luke’s resentment even once until now.

Whether it was Seraphine sending Luke out but keeping me, a fellow servant, during the meeting in the reception room at the Blackwood mansion…

or Seraphine granting me the position of an honorary viscount’s daughter instead of Luke, who had served loyally by her side for a long time…

or Luke becoming Seraphine’s exclusive maid because I refused her offer to be her exclusive maid.

Even her outfit, which strangely resembled mine in its maid uniform style, there seemed to be no reason for her to hold a grudge against me.

…Really, I don’t understand the reason.

“Could it be a protest from Princess Seraphine? Maybe she felt a bit hurt because I refused her offer to be her exclusive maid recently.”

“I don’t remember Princess Seraphine being that kind of person… Wait, Lilith. Is what you just said true?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“You just said it yourself. That you received an offer to be Princess Seraphine’s exclusive maid.”

“Ah, yes. I received one before. Of course, I refused since I have the position of Young Master Ethan’s exclusive maid already.”

“…Wh-What?! What did you just say…?”

“Anyway, it’s troublesome. I didn’t think Princess Seraphine would be angry at me for refusing that one offer. I should meet her in person as soon as possible to apologize again…”

“…There’s no need to trouble yourself with an apology for that misunderstanding, Miss Lilith.”

The princess’s voice, which seemed to have been unheard for quite some time, interrupted the conversation between Ethan and me, which had taken on a slightly serious tone.

Ethan and I naturally turned our heads towards the direction of Seraphine’s voice.

“It’s been a while, Young Master Ethan and Miss Lilith.”

Princess Seraphine and her guard, Luke, appeared behind Ethan and me as if they had been waiting. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

Other academy students who noticed the Third Princess’s arrival also started to stir a beat later.

The attention of the students, who until just now were only interested in who their own duel opponents were, was naturally drawn to us, centered around Princess Seraphine.

“Oh, it’s been a while, Princess Seraphine.”

“Have you been well, Your Highness?”

“Yes, I’ve been doing well, thanks to everyone.”

Seraphine, who had instantly drawn the attention of those around her, exchanged greetings with Ethan and me with a calm expression as if used to such crowds.

…Luke, standing behind her, had been glaring at me with a strangely prickly gaze since earlier.

“By the way, Miss Lilith.”

“…Yes, Princess Seraphine.”

“I just heard something about me being angry because you rejected my offer, Miss Lilith… Is that what I heard?”

“Ah, no…! Please consider that just the foolish ramblings of a silly honorary viscount’s daughter…”

“It’s alright, Miss Lilith. You don’t need to apologize. It’s natural for you to misunderstand my true intentions, and the reason I came here is to clear up any misunderstandings you might have about me.”

“…Y-Yes.”

…Misunderstanding?

“First of all, the idea that I’m angry with you, Miss Lilith, is a groundless misunderstanding. Why would I dislike someone as capable as you, Miss Lilith? Right?”

“W-Well… I’m not really qualified to be considered capable by Your Highness…”@@novelbin@@

“During the monster invasion of the Imperial Palace, we saved many lives thanks to your help, Miss Lilith. Also, you’re maintaining the rank of Top 4 in the Magic Department, which shows you’re a capable mage.”

“…I think I just received an overly generous evaluation by chance, not my actual ability.”

“You know that too much modesty is not a virtue, right? Even if you really think that way about yourself, my evaluation of you won’t change.”

“…Yes, I’m sorry.”

“Anyway, while I’m disappointed that my plan to keep you by my side as my exclusive maid didn’t work out, I’m not angry about it. I still want to maintain a good relationship with you, Miss Lilith.”

“I-I’m sorry, Princess Seraphine. I misjudged Your Highness’s character…”

“I told you not to apologize, Miss Lilith.”

…I know that, too. But what can I do when my body automatically blurts out apologies?

Even though I know that Seraphine isn’t the kind of petty person who would harbor anger over something like this, the instinctive pressure of the status difference made my body move on its own.

Unless you’re as familiar with her as Ethan is from spending a long time together, this is an unavoidable phenomenon.

Although not today, I, who was a hardcore player of Luminor Academy in my previous life, knew better than anyone that Seraphine could sometimes become authoritarian for the sake of the greater good.

It was best to avoid creating situations that could give her reasons to pick on me or make me indebted to her from the start.

“Anyway, I came to tell you that this duel with Luke is entirely of her will, not mine. This is also to prevent you from hiding your full abilities in the evaluation battle due to any misunderstandings about me.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes. The evaluation battle duel with Miss Lilith was chosen solely by my will and should be seen as my personal decision, unrelated to Her Highness’s.”

“…I understand. Since Princess Seraphine and Miss… no, Lady Luke, have come to tell me this, I’ll believe it.”

Of course, the option of not believing didn’t exist from the start. Even if I didn’t believe it, it was impossible to show any signs of disbelief in front of Seraphine. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

Moreover, the fact that Seraphine came personally to tell me to give my all in the match means that she wants me to approach the match with that attitude.

In that case, I would simply give my all in the match.

Of course, even if it had really been a case of Seraphine sending Luke to face me out of anger, it wouldn’t have changed my approach to the duel.

I had no intention of missing out on this explosive-XP-event from the start.

“Is that all you wanted to tell us, Princess Seraphine?”

“Yes, that’s right, Young Master Ethan. Well then, I’m busy, so I’ll be…”

“…Before you leave, there’s one thing I must say, Princess Seraphine.”

“Hmm, what might that be, Young Master Ethan?”

Ethan called out to Seraphine once more as she was about to leave with Luke, having said what she came to tell me.

I wondered what he was going to say and listened carefully to the words coming from Ethan’s mouth, but for some reason, his words sounded a bit cold.

“I just heard, Your Highness, that you made an offer to Lilith for her to become your exclusive maid.”

“……”

“…Is that really true, Princess Seraphine?”

For some reason that I didn’t understand, Ethan was creating a somewhat ominous atmosphere and giving Seraphine a hostile look.

Seraphine, seeming to sense his somewhat unsettling gaze, carefully nodded while trying to maintain her composure.

“Yes, that’s right, Young Master Ethan. Miss Lilith is undoubtedly an excellent person by my standards, and I have a personality that tries to keep excellent people as close as possible.”

“…Lilith is my exclusive maid, Princess Seraphine. Even though she received the honorary status of a viscount’s daughter with your help.”

“…I see, Young Master Ethan.”

“I hope you won’t forget that fact.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

“…Thank you, Princess Seraphine.”

Princess Seraphine nodded once at Ethan’s last words and moved away.

I couldn’t understand why the atmosphere suddenly became so serious when Ethan just stated the obvious fact that I was his exclusive maid.

The conversation between royalty and high nobility’s children was beyond my ability to follow.

Amidst all this, the day of the evaluation battle duel between Luke and me was rapidly approaching.