The afternoon class that followed.
“So what does this mean… Lian Trice, please keep your thoughts out of your head during class.”
“… Oh, I’m sorry.”
Was it because Edgar’s rejection was still lingering in my head?
I wasn’t usually a model student, but even considering that, I was strangely unable to focus during class.
The blonde girl sitting next to me seemed to think the same, as she mumbled with her crimson lips barely moving.
“… You’re having more trouble concentrating than usual. Of course, you weren’t usually the type to focus well.”
“… It sounds like you were watching me during class.”
It wasn’t speculation.
It was a reasonable conclusion that came out when you literally interpreted what Layla said.
Layla nodded as if she wasn’t going to deny it.
“What’s so hard about checking on the status of someone else sitting in the same class? It’s not hard to keep track of someone like you.”
“Then why do you insist on taking the class next to me instead of just watching me from afar?”
I still felt uncomfortable with this gaze.
The needless in his gaze asking, ‘How on earth is that rascal with the princess?’ were prickling and unfamiliar.
“Um, why do you insist on taking the class next to me?”
“…”
“I guess it’s because it’s fun.”
“… Did you just say it was fun?”
“Yes. Watching your reactions right next to me like you just now is quite fun for me.”
Layla smirked like a mischievous child who found a prank that seemed fun.
Someone might have felt offended, thinking that she thought she was a toy.
“Do whatever you want.”
“Hmm. It’s not fun. Is that all you can say about your reactions?”
“I guess I’m not very good at describing emotions. I apologize.”
At least I couldn’t be that person.
I ignored the blonde princess who was still smiling next to me and decided to focus on the midterm exam that was right in front of me.
First of all, my first plan was already a mess.
I was going to form a party with Edgar and then, if Edgar were to interfere with me, I would not give in and just finish the test and get a good score.
-I will decline.
Edgar had already rejected my party proposal outright.
The reality left to me was that I had to use this beggar’s connections to find a party member.
“Are you still worried about finding a party member? As I said earlier, forming a party with me would be good for your score.”
“…”
“Well, I don’t know what you’re thinking. It’s not like I’m in such a desperate situation to repeatedly ask someone who has already rejected my proposal. I’m sure you have your own thoughts.”
Layla was giving me a hint, even though she said she had nothing to be sorry about.
Of course, her words were somewhat correct.
As Layla said, the abilities of the party members are important in order to do well on the test.
After all, the opponent was Layla von Pelias.
If I just nodded here, the midterm exam might have gone smoothly.
To some extent.
However, there were two things I missed here.
The first was that, as I said before, this exam was a thorough individual evaluation disguised as cooperation.
“What are you staring at so intently? Did you even think about accepting my offer?”
“No.”
The second was that the speaker of that offer was none other than Layla von Pelias.
It was a debt, so to speak.
Layla von Pelias was never the type of person to let things go when she was involved in something.
I could probably get through this exam without any problems with Layla’s help, but the blonde girl sitting next to me was more calculating than anyone else, and in other ways, more calculating than Ellis Akstra.
Being indebted to someone like that was something I couldn’t do even if I died and came back to life.
‘……What should I do?’
However, that did not solve my worries.
I was only able to carefully avoid the bait the princess had thrown at me, but the task of ‘saving party members’ was still troubling me.
“Okay, that’s all for today’s class. And like I said in the morning, try to find your own party members before the midterm exam.”
Seriously. It was so disturbing.
***
The classroom after class.
It was always a quiet place.
The students had all returned to their dorms.
The professors had all returned to their own quarters.
Even if they didn’t return to their own resting places, there was no reason for anyone to stay in this place.
“It’s quiet.”
And, Ellis was someone who enjoyed this kind of quietness.
It was like taking a break from life for a moment.
For Ellis, who had always lived a busy life, this kind of quietness was a precious break that couldn’t be exchanged for anything.
To some extent, it was natural.
Even if you include the other students and even the professors, there was no one busier than her in this academy.
She took classes during the day and took care of family business at night.
She lived a repetitive daily life, like a proverb I’d heard somewhere.
A double life.
Maybe that was the best word to briefly describe her daily life.
No one would know.
The only daughter of the Empire’s most powerful dark family, who entered the academy and continued to do dark work.
Of course, the premise was strange from the start.
Almost no one knew that her family, the Marquis of Akstra, was a typical dark family.
If they knew, it would probably be one of two things.
Either the Imperial Family, who were always fighting over their own interests.
Or they were already so cold that they couldn’t tell anyone else about it.
“… Lian Trice.”
Thinking about it from that perspective, Lian Trice was a truly strange man.
A scoundrel who was treated as if he were nothing even by his family.
He knew everything about her and the family behind her.
When on earth did it start?
Honestly, she couldn’t even guess.
Thinking back, she had absolutely no memory of making a mistake anywhere.
Witnesses are eliminated.
Never make a mistake in handling matters.
She had always kept to those two sentences, which were also known as the family mottos of the Marquis of Akstra.
“…… Of course, we should exclude what happened last time.”
Except for what happened last time.
What happened during the last outdoor class was not a pleasant situation for her either.
-Ellis, why don’t you stop now?
You know that even if you try hard now, you can’t beat someone like me who has been with swords since long ago.
It just had to be that situation.
In a situation where she had repeatedly bumped into Layla and felt like a wall, it was just the stupid Erica Perleino who had touched her inferiority complex.
If it weren’t for that man, she would have lost her sense of reason for a moment.
People who lose their sense of reason are not afraid of anything.
The shackles of the family that had usually bound her would have been released for that moment.
And the result was…….
Well, it wasn’t something she really wanted to think about.
Just because she couldn’t hold back her anger for a moment, a lot of the things she had built up until then would have come crashing down.
“…… Well, I guess I should be thankful for what happened last time. As a human being.”
Suddenly, as she thought back to that time, she felt hotter.
Should I open the window?
I don’t know if the cool breeze blowing in from outside can cool down a person’s heart.
At least, since she was simply thinking that it was hot because the temperature was hot, it would have had some effect.
The placebo effect.
The theory that if you think it’s effective, it really works, even though it doesn’t actually work at all.
It was something like that.
Someone’s deep misconception would eventually come back to them like a butterfly effect.
Whether it was a good thing.
Or, on the contrary, a bad thing.
“It’s true that I owe you a debt, so I should repay you.
That man is probably not in a situation where he can find a party member on his own right now, so I’ll do it myself…”
“I’m sorry for talking to myself, but I don’t think that’s possible.”
“…”
“Lian already has a party member.”
She would just come someday.
She would come to a person she didn’t know without warning.
Just like the silver-haired girl standing before her.
Like the blue-eyed girl whose eyes were so clear that she wondered if they were mirrors.
“…… Elena Brilliant?”
“Yes, that’s my name. Ellis. It’s convenient that I don’t have to introduce myself.”
“What brings you here all of a sudden……”
“As I said earlier, Ellis, I think you’re making some kind of mistake. Lian, or Lian Trice, already has a party member.”
Unlike her kind face, the girl’s words were infinitely cold.
It was as if Ellis couldn’t even bear to think like this.
It was so cold.
She felt like blaming herself for thinking it was hot for even a moment.
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If You Notice any translation issues or inconsistency in names, genders, or POV etc? Let us know here in the comments or on our Discord server, and we’ll fix it in current and future chapters. Thanks for helping us to improve!
Yo TL, When do the fml’s get to know abt his terminal condition?
What does “blaming herself for thinking it was hot mean”? Did she mistake her cold words for a warm tone, or did she meant “hot” as attractive?
It means Ellis initially felt warm due to her emotions but after hearing Elena’s cold words, it made her feel foolish for ever thinking it was hot. It’s about the emotional shift, not attraction.