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Qi Huang…

Taking advantage of the lunch break, Lilo visited the academy’s library to search for information regarding the name “Qi Huang.”

Since he rarely concerned himself with things outside his immediate interests, he had no concept of how deep this surname’s influence reached within the Empire.

“…”

After reading just the first two lines of the encyclopedia entry, he silently rotated the monitor to look at the trademark on the back.

[Qi Huang Electronic Technology]

Not only that, but within his line of sight in this library—the bookshelves, the book publications, the floor tiles… even the cold drinks held by passing students—all of them were, to varying degrees, inextricably linked to Qi Huang.

It had completely permeated every corner of this city…

No, the entire Empire!

Lilo turned his gaze back to the computer screen.

“Qi Huang Financial Group… is that where you are?”

He slightly clenched his fist.

Hmm?

As Lilo scrolled through the webpage, a set of photographs caught his attention.

“Qi Huang Luanchuan, Qi Huang Mu, Qi Huang… Mutina?”

Looking at the serious-faced girl in the photo, Lilo frowned.

‘She looks so familiar…’

‘Have I seen her somewhere?’

“Ah, it really is you?”

At the routine Student Council meeting, Lilo attended in his capacity as Vice President. Upon entering the room, he noticed that the girl in the wheelchair across from him looked remarkably familiar.

“Tch!”

However, upon sensing Lilo’s gaze, Mutina’s first reaction was to frown and turn her head away.

?

‘Did I mistake her for someone else?’

Suddenly, Lilo remembered that every member of the Student Council seemed to have a unique name tag on their chest. He had received his own along with his new uniform a few days ago.

Therefore, he lowered his gaze, locking onto Mutina’s chest, trying to see the text on the name tag.

Little did he know, this action only served to provoke Mutina further. She felt the “creature’s” gaze like a sharp needle pricking her skin—it was unbearable.

‘Is this guy… in heat!?’

But faster than Mutina’s scolding was the action of the maid standing behind her, Hecate…

Click!

Lilo didn’t even see the movement across from him. In the next second, a dark, cold muzzle was pressed against his forehead!

It was a strangely shaped sniper rifle, about two meters long, without a scope attached.

Because Lilo was not a military enthusiast and knew little about firearms, he had no idea of its model or danger level. He was simply curious how she had managed to hide such a thing and bring it into the school.

?

Even Hecate was slightly surprised.

‘This guy…’

‘He doesn’t even flinch when pointed at with something like this? Or is he just paralyzed with fear?’

“Ah, getting hit by that should hurt quite a bit, right?” Nair Naya muttered from the side.

“Oh my, things are finally getting interesting,” the fourth member of the Council, sitting in the Secretary’s position, said with a smile.

“Vice President…”

After a moment of tense silence, Livia spoke up with a light laugh to deescalate the situation.

“Treasurer Mutina suffers from a slight fear of the opposite s*x. While I know your actions just now were without malice, please try to understand her extreme reaction.”

Then she turned her focus toward Hecate.

“Miss Hecate, no matter how protective you are of your master, you should not point a weapon at a member of my Student Council. Even if you claim ‘professional habit’ as an excuse, it won’t fly with me. Or perhaps…”

‘Would you like to find out?’

“…”

After confirming Mutina’s intent, Hecate finally withdrew the strange sniper rifle.

“My apologies, Vice President Lilo.”

“If I have caused you displeasure, I am willing to accept any punishment.”

She bowed her head in apology.

“…Oh, it’s fine. You weren’t really planning to kill me anyway, right?”

Lilo spoke a string of strangely calm words.

“It was my fault for causing such a misunderstanding. But, having been held at gunpoint, I suppose my mood isn’t particularly great right now. So, as punishment, can you show me how you hid that gun?”

He really…

From beginning to end, only cared about where that sniper rifle had been hidden.

Although there was a small interlude, it wasn’t without gain. At least Lilo had confirmed that Qi Huang Mutina was indeed in the Student Council. On balance, joining the Council might have been the right choice after all.

After the routine meeting concluded…

“I am sorry, Miss.”

Hecate apologized again on the way back to the teaching area.

“I thought you wanted me to do that, so I…”

Mutina let out a long sigh and shook her head helplessly.

“I told you, you aren’t suited to be a maid. Presuming to guess your master’s intent is the height of stupidity—not to mention your impulsiveness.”

“Ugh.”

Hecate hung her head in shame.

“Forget it. Just don’t let it happen again.”

“Miss…”

Just as Hecate was so moved she nearly forgot her basic etiquette and burst into tears, Mutina suddenly stood up from her wheelchair. She turned and grabbed Hecate’s collar, forcing the maid to bend down and meet her gaze.

“So…”

‘Why didn’t you just pull the trigger back then?’

!!!

“The only fair thing in this world is that everyone has only one life. If you had pulled the trigger then, that guy would be a corpse right now.”

Mutina’s aura suddenly turned frigid. Her interrogative tone, combined with words that seemed far too mature for her age, cast an eerie atmosphere around her.

An inhuman aura…

“Have you been retired for so long that you’ve gone soft?”

“Miss, I…”

“Or were you afraid that killing him in front of Livia would invite retaliation?”

“…”

“Hecate, do not forget that your value depends on how you can be used by me. We made that promise to each other.”

‘To permanently remove an element that irritates me—to me, sacrificing just one of you for that…’

‘Is a very good bargain.’

“Well, I hate the sight of blood, so I’ll forgive you this time~”

Mutina switched faces again, sitting back down in her wheelchair with a smile.

“Let’s go, Hecate. If we’re late, we’ll miss my favorite dessert.”

“…Yes, Miss.”

Looking at Mutina’s thin, frail back, Hecate bit her lip, unable to bear the pain in her heart.

‘Miss Mutina…’

‘I truly didn’t dare to pull the trigger.’

‘In the past, whether it was one person, ten people, or a hundred, I wouldn’t have hesitated for a second. But now, I cannot leave your side because of a single death.’

‘Because “That” is about to begin.’

‘If even I am no longer by your side…’

‘When that time comes, who will be left to protect you?’

‘You…’

‘Will die.’

“You shouldn’t have provoked her.”

When Lilo intended to leave the room, he was stopped by Livia.

“Qi Huang Mutina is the person in the entire Student Council most opposed to your joining. What you did only deepened her hatred for you. If she goes mad, even I might not be able to protect you.”

“…Was I provoking her just now?”

Lilo’s focus was unusually misplaced.

‘I just looked at a name tag. Why was the reaction so huge? Did I do something wrong?’

Seeing that Livia seemed to have no further plans, Lilo intended to push the door and leave, only to be embraced from behind by Livia in the next instant. Her arms hooked under his armpits, gently tilting his chin up.

Though she had a girl’s body, her strength was terrifyingly high.

“Just now, why weren’t you afraid?”

“I was afraid, of course. My heart was racing.”

“Still full of lies as always.”

“You’re the one, President. Your heart is beating faster than mine.”

Livia’s soft breasts pressed against Lilo’s back; he could clearly sense the abnormal heartbeat of the girl behind him.

‘Because I’m excited.’

After her fingers stroked Lilo’s chin, they moved along his neck, winding and slithering like a snake. In Lilo’s blind spot, Livia wore a horrifying smile.

“I’m becoming more and more curious…”

“Just what kind of methods will I have to use to make your body and soul…”

‘Break completely?’

‘Along with your obsession, along with your persistence…’

‘Destroyed entirely~’

“President.”

Lilo grabbed Livia’s wrist, turned his head, and looked at her with those dull, dead eyes behind his lenses.

“You… should just give up.”

He spoke each word with total clarity.

“No matter what you want to do to me, you will never succeed. You won’t get anything from me.”

‘Because…’

‘There is nothing left in here.’

‘Only a pile of ashes that amounts to nothing.’

The President’s response after hearing this was…

‘Exactly what I wanted.’

‘Only a person like you can allow me to complete my revenge against that.’