The Sick Girl

“What exactly is going on here?”

Saint Tias Academy is roughly divided into five districts.

Aside from the central teaching and research area, the most densely populated zone is the Activity District to the west.

This is where the academy’s clubs hold their events, and nestled among the forest of buildings, the striking, towering structure is the seat of the Student Council.

Standing above all clubs, the pinnacle of student organization…

There was no dazzling or exaggerated decor; the Student Council room adopted a very classical mahogany style.

Pushing open the door, one was immediately met by the subtle scent of wood shavings and paper.

The Student Council President’s seat was positioned directly facing the entrance, as if everyone who walked into the room was subject to her scrutiny.

And the President, Livia, sat right there.

She had secured the title of Student Council President by an overwhelming margin in the school-wide election a month ago.

Incidentally, Lilo had sold his vote to the third-place candidate at the market average price at the time.

“I do not understand your question.”

Facing Lilo’s interrogation, Livia leaned back slightly against her chair.

From beginning to end, a confident and elegant smile hung on her face.

Playing dumb?

Lilo pulled out the cylindrical container he had received this morning, opened it, and poured out a rolled silk appointment letter.

“Why was I chosen as the Vice President?”

The content of the appointment letter was very brief—just a few lines containing Lilo’s full name and the seals of the Student Council President and the Board of Directors.

But this was something that absolutely could not be forged.

That’s right…

Lilo V. Watch had actually been selected as the Vice President of the Student Council!

The sheer absurdity of this event was equivalent to Lilo suddenly receiving the inheritance of the world’s richest man—along with the news that said billionaire had choked to death on a glass of water at home.

“I still don’t understand.”

Livia remained unresponsive.

“You’re still going to pretend—”

“The reason I don’t understand is because you took up my personal time and appointment slot to travel all this way just to ask such a ridiculous question.”

She suddenly cut off Lilo’s questioning.

…What?

“The position of Vice President has been vacant for a long time. You probably can’t guess just how many people break their necks every day trying to seize this opening. Some are even willing to kneel and lick boots like dogs just for a chance. Yet, you have become the candidate for this highly sought-after position for no reason at all. At a time like this, you shouldn’t be coming here to question me; you should be out there bathing in the envious stares of the crowd, satisfying your vanity, shouldn’t you?”

Livia crossed her right leg over the other, propping her cheek up with one arm against the armrest, looking at Lilo with a queen-like slant.

“…”

While her words weren’t without logic—in fact, anyone else probably would have done exactly that.

Even a bookworm like Lilo had heard that the power of the Saint Tias Student Council was higher than that of the teachers and middle-level school leadership; it was an academy organization second only to the Board of Directors.

One could imagine how terrifying the Vice President, who stood above all but one, truly was.

Except…

“Thank you for your kindness, but I cannot accept this position.”

Lilo stepped forward, intending to return the appointment letter to the President.

Even without the lesson from last night, Lilo had no intention of accepting favors from others for no reason.

At least…

In this city, and even in this Empire, this so-called “free kindness” usually required you to pay an even more terrifying price later.

But the most crucial point was…

‘This position doesn’t pay.’

That’s right, Lilo was just that realistic.

Instead of accepting this position, if he could resell it to someone else, he would do so without a moment’s hesitation.

Slap!

But just as Lilo was about to place the appointment letter on the President’s desk…

Livia moved first, pressing her hand over the back of Lilo’s.

Lilo could no longer remember the last time he had touched a girl’s hand, but this time, it left a deep impression.

So soft, so smooth…

“It seems my considerations were insufficient. Indeed, it appears I cannot treat you with normal human logic.”

Livia pressed down firmly on Lilo’s hand, preventing him from pulling away.

“Then, let me put it another way…”

“Lilo V. Watch, no matter how hard you work, whether now or in the future, you are destined never to receive that so-called scholarship.”

?

Seeing Lilo hesitate for a moment, the President smiled slightly.

“If you think you can get a slot based solely on academic grades, you’re being far too naive. Although it’s called a ‘scholarship,’ in reality, it is only awarded to those who bring actual benefits to this academy.”

Most people who can enter this academy have a background—descendants of some conglomerate, scions of the political world, or at the very least, movie stars, singers, or rising stars in a particular field.

The academy values a person’s “utility value.”

“Therefore, compared to a bookworm who has nothing but grades and cannot bring actual revenue to the academy, announcing those other names brings more external attention. To put it simply, compared to them, you aren’t ‘telegenic’ at all.”

“…”

Lilo was speechless; after all, this was the truth.

“How long can you support yourself on just those meager wages from your part-time jobs? Can you last until graduation? At least in the eyes of others, the result of your hard work is nothing more than a few days’ worth of their pocket money—yet you nearly landed yourself in prison for it. Don’t you find that pathetic?”

Livia’s words were like the whispers of a demon.

They continuously pierced and tested Lilo’s bottom line.

I see. As expected of the Student Council President; her mastery of rhetoric was truly bone-chilling.

“So, are there any benefits to me joining the Student Council?”

“Of course.”

Seeing that Lilo was finally “on the right track,” Livia’s smile grew even more radiant.

“Aside from scholarships, the school has various other subsidies. Among them, if you can become a student official, you can receive a ‘special subsidy’ every semester that is not inferior to a scholarship.”

“…”

After all that was said, only this last sentence truly moved Lilo.

“It seems the communication went smoothly~”

Livia stood up like a victor, placing the appointment letter back into Lilo’s palm.

“Before you formally take over this position, there are still many procedures to handle. Go back and wait for the notification, Lilo V. Watch… Mr. Vice President.”

“…”

Lilo hadn’t been able to take the initiative throughout the entire conversation.

Just as he was contemplating leaving the Student Council room with the appointment letter…

“Why…”

He stopped in his tracks.

“Why do you know so much about me? And why does it have to be me?”

“Heh~”

Livia stroked the surface of the President’s desk and laughed softly.

“Because your grades are excellent, and our Student Council needs talent. As for why I know about you… because I find you ‘interesting.’”

“Is that the whole truth?”

“Half and half…”

“…”

Carrying his doubts, Lilo intended to open the door and return to his classroom first.

But before he could touch the handle, the door opened on its own.

He felt like he had experienced a similar situation before. The timing was just too coincidental.

“Hmm?”

A sound of confusion.

At first, Lilo didn’t see the person standing outside the door.

But when he followed the sound and lowered his gaze, he finally spotted her.

It wasn’t a Halfling like Teacher Xiaohuo, nor was it simply someone of short stature.

Because the person…

Was sitting in a wheelchair.

Lilo’s first impression of her was: tightly wrapped.

That’s right. Even in a season where the midsummer heat hadn’t fully faded, this girl in the wheelchair had herself completely covered.

From the neck down, basically no bare skin was visible; even her collar was a high-necked style.

She wore snug white silk gloves on her hands, and under her skirt, she wore black opaque tights.

To be honest, if Lilo dressed like that, he would have passed out from the heat long ago.

“…”

Her hair was a color somewhere between red and yellow, with long locks spread casually behind her.

Yet it couldn’t hide the noble aura radiating from her.

For some reason, however, she frowned slightly upon seeing Lilo.

“Pardon us. I didn’t expect there to be a visitor.”

The person who spoke wasn’t the girl in the wheelchair, but a maid who had just pushed the door open from the side.

This was the first time Lilo had seen a maid in the academy…

What exactly was this girl’s identity? The school rules clearly prohibited outsiders from entering.

He proactively moved out of the way.

It was only then that he noticed the girl’s uniform also had magnificent gold embroidery.

Was she also…?

“Hecate, it seems our President’s office door needs a new one.”

Lilo hadn’t walked far from the room when a voice like a cold spring striking jade drifted out from the Student Council room.

One could clearly feel a trace of annoyance hidden in the tone.

‘So she can talk?’

Lilo thought to himself.

The routine meeting of the Student Council members proceeded as usual, even in the absence of a Vice President.

At this moment, all four members of the current Student Council were gathered in the room.

“What exactly is going on here?”

The girl in the wheelchair asked the President the same question Lilo had.

Even facing the President, she didn’t hide the questioning intent in her tone.

“As you can see, he was chosen,” Livia replied with a smile.

“I’m not blind. What I’m asking is, what kind of methods did you use to convince her…”

The wheelchair girl shifted her focus and turned to look at the girl with horns on the side—the Minotaur Lilo had encountered last night.

“Hmm? Me? Convince?”

The horned girl seemed to have just finished a workout.

She had shed her school uniform in favor of gym clothes, revealing large areas of tan lines and tanned skin. She was nonchalantly wiping away sweat.

“Nothing like that. I was the one who proactively cast the vote…”

“Are you joking!?”

The girl in the wheelchair slammed her hand heavily onto the armrest.

Her small, exquisite face distorted due to her excessive emotions.

“You clearly know about my condition… why did you decide this on your own? Letting a guy like that join the Student Council—there are as many replacements for him as there are grains of sand! I could even kidnap one for you from the ‘Holy Kingdom,’ the ‘City,’ the ‘Federation,’ or even the ‘Nest.’ Why on earth did you choose him!”

Even the members of the Student Council rarely saw the girl get this agitated.

“Oh my…”

The fourth person, who had been silent, remained a mere spectator to it all.

‘Because, it was love at first sight.’

The horned girl of the Minotaur race suddenly stopped wiping her sweat.

“Hah?”

The girl in the wheelchair didn’t understand the statement at all.

“Because I saw it. That night, I was the only one who noticed…”

Gently clutching the towel in her hand, the horned girl murmured to herself in a trance.

‘That look…’

‘I couldn’t have been mistaken.’

Last night, that human youth was being wantonly bullied by everyone and eventually forgotten and ignored.

At that moment, when I burst into the room—during that split second that even Livia didn’t notice—I saw it.

That look… it was definitely not a mistake…

Slap!

She suddenly stood up abruptly and approached the girl in the wheelchair.

She pressed her hands onto the other’s shoulders, pulling their distance close until their two cute faces were only inches apart.

“He… definitely has that talent!”

Within her clear amber eyes, a black abnormality called “Madness” flowed through!

Unlike the shock on the wheelchair girl’s face, the horned girl’s expression displayed a wildness completely different from her previous simplicity…

Her eyelids were wide open, and her features were exaggeratedly distorted—whether from excitement or some other emotion—presenting a demeanor far beyond that of a girl her age!

“He is definitely the one I’ve been looking for.”

“He is that ‘out-of-spec’ existence.”

“He… can definitely satisfy me!”

The two completely different faces of the girl were slightly bone-chilling…

“I—I get it.”

“In any case, back off. You’re too close…”

The wheelchair girl’s reaction was also exceptionally strange.

The polar opposite of her previous dominance and rage, she now had a slightly blushing face and was bashfully trying to push away the crazed girl who was only inches from her.

“It seems there are no objections then.”

“Then, according to the votes: three in favor, one against…”

Livia rotated her chair to face away from the group, looking down at the scenery of Saint Tias Academy through the blinds.

“Lilo V. Watch is our Student Council’s new…”

The blinds disassembled the outdoor sunlight, projecting shadows across Livia’s face that made her features fluctuate between light and dark.

But one thing was for certain…

She was smiling.

Yet it was entirely different from the smile of the calculating President Lilo had seen, or the dignified and majestic smile every other student in the academy knew.

It was an exaggeratedly wide, sinister grin.

The corners of her mouth were pulled back in a twisted, morbid fashion.

Deep within her narrowed eyes, there was no mirth at all.

Her filthy soul, however, was roaring with laughter!

“…Vice. Presi. Dent~”