Chapter 368.5

T/N: The random question marks (?) between paragraphs in this chapter are verbatim from the author.

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The Academy’s Secret Club [Part 5]

“ARRGHHHH, I CAN’T STAND IT ANYMORE! Showing such a thing to us is too cruel! …That’s it. Let’s disband this club. I can’t go on. I can’t admire 2D lolis with a pure(?) heart like I used to anymore!”

“Vice President?!”

The picture of little girls by Harold was so wholesome and dazzling without a speck of dark intention.

The members, who felt guilty about adoring little girls even if they were 2D, were filled with repentance in the face of the sacred painting in literal meaning.

The shock was so overwhelming that the vice president, who had been in high spirits until just a moment ago, couldn’t endure the pangs of conscience and rushed out of the classroom.

“Wait! Eh? Disband? No way, what should we do, everyone…”

William turned toward other remaining club members after the vice president broke down.

“Eh?”

However, none of the remaining members was willing to meet William’s eyes.

“Eh? Eh? Ehhhh…”

The secret club, which could and would never reveal what it was doing, quietly ended its short-lived activity today without anyone knowing.

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“Oh-ho. This is the drawing of Mr. Harold, the painter you mentioned before? Hmm hmm. Someone who can draw this splendidly is rare, even in the Royal Capital. However, if I might say, he might have misinterpreted our request by a mile.”

‘Sure enough, S*kura-tan is supreme…’ Carne Lombard thought about the artifact illustration.

“To be able to consider this a misinterpretation when facing this picture… As expected of Carne-sama!”

Even when Carne looked directly at Harold’s painting, he didn’t seem to have suffered the same emotional damage as the members of the now-disbanded club, which relieved William.

After school ended, William visited Carne’s workplace, the Royal Castle, to complain about the events that led up to the secret club’s disbandment.

“This overwhelming purity like a religious painting and bold use of colors… plus George-kun’s innocent smile (with no evil intention) while being surrounded by girls… I can understand if amateurs who have only started walking the way of loli are tormented by the unbearable guilt that wells up from the difference between the picture and themselves and become discouraged. The way of loli has always been a constant battle between the public eye and one’s own moral values, after all. Well, once you get to around my level, a picture of this degree won’t shake you.”

Carne developed an eye for painting appraisals this past year after subscribing to (funding) many painters. And his self-esteem grew unnecessarily high after meeting a comrade named William.

For humans, knowing that one is not alone is always comforting.

“I knew it. Carne-sama is my one and only comrade.”

William held Carne’s hands with tears in his eyes.

“Wi-William-kyun…”

This scene was fully captured by the eyes of the Royal Castle’s maid, and the rumor that Carne had finally laid his hands on boys spread apace under the surface.

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-In a certain noble’s mansion-

“The Stuart family’s second son, William-kun, whom I met the other day, was sooo adorable. How about making him my daughter’s fiance? My daughter is three years younger than him, but both are still children anyway. Pairing them together won’t be strange at all, right?”

A noble lady with a little daughter muttered. Wanting to decide a fiance for her cute daughter was also one form of parental affection.

The Stuarts might be the lord of a borderland, but they were financially stable. And His Highness Edward the Second Prince seemed to be head over heels for Lady Emma of House Stuart, no matter how you look at it.

‘If I engage my daughter to William-kun while the time is ripe, perhaps we can become relatives with the Royal Family later…’

“What do you think?” While making small calculations in her heart, the noble lady casually asked the opinion of her trusted maid.

“Madam, forgive my rudeness, but perhaps it will be better to leave William-sama of House Stuart out of your considerations…”

The maid network stretched all the way to mansions in the Royal Capital.

The maid never said what was the problem, but the lady knew that there was something more to it if the maid suggested she give up on a noble son with supposedly excellent conditions.

“Oh my, is that so? Then I guess I will look into other candidates.”

Melsa’s dream of [hugging her grandchildren] moved yet further away because of the maids’ devoted loyalty to their masters.