Chapter 147

As soon as I faced Princess Seraphine, my mind immediately recalled something I had forgotten.

I forgot about the dagger I had confiscated… no, temporarily held onto, to provoke Luke during the last evaluation battle.

I barely realized that I hadn’t returned it yet when I saw their faces.

‘Actually, I had completely forgotten about it.’

It wasn’t intentional; I had truly forgotten.

That’s because the item I’ve been using lately was so good that I couldn’t even recall Seraphine’s dagger.

It’s the OP Blackwood dagger that was made by the half-dwarf blacksmith and blessed by the fire spirit.

When you’re wielding a dagger that would make Lizzy’s silver dagger gasp and Seraphine’s dagger tremble, it’s easy to forget about someone else’s belongings you were temporarily holding.

While Seraphine’s dagger was slightly superior in sharpness, Ethan’s gift dagger, with the Blackwood crest, also had considerable cutting power.

Above all, Ethan’s gift dagger was imbued with the fire spirit’s blessing.

For me, who desperately needed more Luck, this dagger was far more crucial…

‘No, this isn’t the time for this.’

For a moment, it felt like I was making excuses in my head, but there was only one thing I needed to do right now.

I had to apologize for daring to steal the cherished dagger that the princess had given to her guard.

If I didn’t want my head to fly off, I had to bow my head without hesitation.

“Since we’ve met by chance, shall we have a light cup of tea nearby…?”

“…I have committed a mortal sin.”

“…Pardon?”

“…I have no words, even if I had ten mouths. I will gladly accept punishment for not only daring to possess the item Princess Seraphine gifted to her guard but also for using it carelessly. So please, just spare my life…”

“W-wait a moment, Miss Lilith?! Won’t you raise your head first…?”

“No, as a sinner, I don’t even have the right to speak at the same level as the princess.”

With those words, I quietly bowed and prostrated myself right in front of Seraphine’s feet.

I could hear the murmurs of students passing by as they saw Seraphine and me.

“What’s going on?”

“Looks like someone did something wrong to the princess.”

“Isn’t that the crazy girl from the Magic Department prostrating there?”

“Maybe she incurred personal resentment for beating Luke in last semester’s evaluation battle…”

I couldn’t clearly hear what they were saying, but they were probably commenting on my appearance. Probably about how a noble was prostrated on the dirt ground without regard for appearances. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

However, I couldn’t raise my body once I had bowed. In my current situation, I had to do at least this much, or my life would be in danger.

It would be fortunate if it only ended with losing some face. If I incurred the resentment of royalty, my life in the academy would be over.

“I-I will return the dagger right away, Princess Seraphine. Although I used it once for an unsavory purpose, I have cleaned it thoroughly using my magic. If it doesn’t please you, I can offer monetary compensation…”

“W-will you please stand up first, Miss Lilith? Thanks to you, we’re drawing too much attention.”

“I cannot rise until I receive forgiveness from the princess.”

“O-okay. I’ll forgive you, so please stand up first. Honestly, I’m not sure what I’m forgiving you for…”

“…Yes, Princess Seraphine.”

After clearly hearing her words of forgiveness, I raised my prostrated body and stood up.

Seraphine was looking at me with an uncharacteristically flustered expression.

“Let’s move somewhere else to talk. There are too many eyes here.”

“…Are we just going to talk?”

“Of course, Miss Lilith.”

…If it’s just to talk, it should be fine.

The place Seraphine brought me to talk was the VIP Room inside the academy.

Of course, it’s only called a VIP Room in name; Royal Mansion would be much more fitting.

It was a space no different from a royal mansion both in appearance and purpose.

The interior decorations were a bit excessive for student accommodations, and it was hard to find any lighting in the entire building that wasn’t a chandelier.

Just counting those luxurious lights, there might be almost as many as in the Blackwood mansion. Of course, considering the status of the people using this place, the interior decorations were understandable. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

This was the dormitory where the royal students stayed at Luminor Academy.

While the academy promotes equality among all students, and even if most nobles use the dormitories provided by the school, royalty was naturally an exception.

If royalty lived among ordinary students, it wouldn’t be strange if an assassination attempt occurred the moment someone had ill intentions, so this was a minimum safety measure.

Although I had frequently visited this place when playing Luminor Academy, the scenery I saw with my own eyes now felt distinctly different from what I saw in the game.

Indeed, it makes your heart swell when you face it in reality.

“My fourth brother is expected to return late today, so we should be able to talk comfortably, Miss Lilith.”

“Ah, yes…”

The fourth brother Seraphine mentions is, of course, referring to the Fourth Prince, Machart. He’s the only person among the current students with a higher status than Seraphine.

Of course, whether the Fourth Prince was present or not, the idea of having a comfortable conversation in such a space was impossible from the start.

Either way, what could I do? If the princess says for us to talk comfortably, I have to at least pretend to be comfortable on the outside.

It was impossible for someone with the status of a viscount’s daughter to refuse a conversation with the princess in the first place.

Clink.

“Please make yourself comfortable, Miss Lilith.”

“Ah, yes…”

For some reason, Luke, who was still Seraphine’s exclusive maid even after a semester, placed a teacup in front of me.

After confirming her strangely calmer appearance compared to when we met at the dueling grounds last time, I took a sip from the teacup.

As the feeling of calming herbs passed down my throat and my palpitations began to subside, Seraphine made eye contact with me and spoke.

“First of all, I didn’t call you here to reprimand you for any wrongdoing, Miss Lilith.”

“Pardon?”

“In fact, your thinking that you’ve done something wrong to me is a misunderstanding to begin with. It’s about Luke’s dagger, right?”

“Ah, yes…”

I nodded, recalling one of the three daggers currently in the inner pocket of my uniform.

“First of all, you don’t need to worry about not returning that dagger. It became yours from your last duel with Luke.”

“…Pardon?”

“Please accept it as an apology for the rudeness that my guard… no, my maid, committed against you. It seems you also use daggers for self-defense, Miss Lilith, and it’s quite a good item, so I think you’ll be sufficiently satisfied with it.”

“Then, you aren’t mad that I took the dagger you gifted to Luke, Princess Seraphine?”

“Of course not. I’ve been considering that dagger as yours since the end of your last duel with her.”

…Should I consider this fortunate in some way?@@novelbin@@

I felt a bit resentful for having worried needlessly in the past, but it was more important to know that Seraphine hadn’t harbored any ill feelings toward me from the beginning.

Anyway, this was much better than incurring unnecessary resentment.

The problem was what would happen to Luke if I took this dagger…

“I appreciate your words, but what about Luke…?”

“I’ve already had a skilled blacksmith give her a new dagger. I’m not the kind of person who keeps my associates close without arming them properly.”

“……”

“Now, do you feel inclined to accept my gift, Miss Lilith?”

“Ah, yes… If you insist so much, I’ll gratefully accept it.”

Well, if she was going to give it to me while saying all this, I had no particular reason to refuse.

Rather, out of personal greed, I felt a bit regretful about returning this useful dagger to Luke.

Of course, I could roughly guess that Seraphine expressing such overt goodwill meant she wanted something from me, but that was a conversation I’d have to hear regardless of whether I accepted the dagger or not. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

After putting the dagger I was about to take out of my inner pocket back in, I quietly waited for Seraphine to continue speaking.

“Miss Lilith.”

“Ah, yes.”

“There’s no need to be nervous. The favor I want to ask of you today isn’t as troublesome as the one I tried to ask last time.”

“Ah, no. What you offered last time was too great an honor for me. It’s just that I couldn’t betray my loyalty to Young Master Ethan and the Blackwood family…”

“Yes, I understand. That’s why, this time, I’ve prepared a request that doesn’t require you to be separated from Young Master Ethan… Ahem, a request that won’t interfere with your relationship with Young Master Ethan.”

“Pardon?”

A request that won’t interfere with my relationship with Ethan?

Something feels oddly strange about the meaning, but it’s probably nothing significant, right?

I nodded after roughly interpreting it to mean she would ask for something I could do while maintaining my duties as Ethan’s exclusive maid.

Seraphine was in the process of making a request to me that was somewhat improved compared to what she had said before.

“Do you know that exactly ten days from today, the academy’s Student Council Presidential Election period begins?”

“Ah, yes. I’m aware of that.”

The main events of the academy’s second semester were always dominated by the Student Council Presidential Election and the Hunting Festival event.

In fact, this was an important event in the main story of Luminor Academy that it hardly changed even when the school year changed.

Well, the Student Council Presidential Election episode was a major episode because it was closely related to Seraphine, one of the main heroines.

“I plan to participate in this student council president election, Miss Lilith.”

“Ah, yes.”

“I’ve already made some progress on forming the cabinet. I can’t tell you about it until you respond to my request, though.”

“…My response?”

“Yes, Miss Lilith.”

Wait. Why does this situation feel like I’ve experienced it somewhere before?

Meeting by chance within the academy, being invited to the VIP Room, mentioning the student council president election, and seeming to want to ask me for something. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

If my memories from my past life are correct, this is probably the event related to Seraphine’s Student Council Presidential Election in “Luminor Academy”…

“I’ll be direct, Miss Lilith.”

“…Yes.”

“I want to recruit you and Young Master Ethan for my future cabinet in the student council.”

“……”

“With this level of a request, Miss Lilith, you can surely maintain your ‘loyalty’ to Young Master Ethan, right?”

…Somehow, I have an ominous feeling about this.