The Trap of the Saintly Maltese

I left the two behind and headed to the cafeteria. I was scanning a book with a sandwich clamped in my mouth when someone approached. I looked up; it was my teammates.

“We’re so sorry we couldn’t make it yesterday.”

I stared up at them in silence before shaking my head.

“Truly, I’m sorry. Something came up suddenly.” “I had a sudden, terrible headache.” “We’re really sorry. I’ll buy you lunch sometime soon.”

If I ate lunch with you, I’d lose whatever appetite I had left. My teammates poured out flimsy excuses while gauging my reaction. Keeping a smiling face, I spoke.

“No, it’s fine. Zeno couldn’t make it either, so we wouldn’t have made much progress anyway.”

“Oh, what a relief. We’ll definitely be there next time.” “You should. By the way, do you know where Zeno is? He wasn’t in the dorms.” “We have no idea.”

Just then, Zeno walked into the cafeteria. Ignoring the envious stares directed at him with practiced ease, he approached me. A visible tension settled over my teammates’ faces. Zeno stood before me and spoke politely.

“I’m sorry for not making it yesterday.” “No, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

The others, who had been secretly terrified that I would snitch on their absence, breathed a sigh of relief. Zeno then put on a feigned look of difficulty.

“The thing is… I don’t think I can participate in the future, either.” “What? Why?” “Professor Giovanni is preparing a thesis on the Karue Empire, and he said he needs my help. He promised that if I assist him, he’ll write me a recommendation for the Academy of Sciences in my third year.” “Oh, really? Is it something you absolutely can’t skip?” “I’m afraid so. I’ve really wanted that recommendation from Professor Giovanni.”

I toyed with my glasses for a moment before giving a wide smile.

“Well, then it can’t be helped.” “I’m sorry. I’ll try to drop by with snacks whenever I have a moment.” “Yes, good luck with your work.”

With that, Zeno left the cafeteria. I forced my lips into an upward curve and turned to the others.

“Well then, shall we set the next meeting time for just us…?” “Oh, look at the time!” “Sorry, we have a morning class. Let’s talk later!”

They scurried out of the cafeteria in a bunch. I watched them go in silence before standing up. As they walked away, I heard them snickering.

“See? I told you. She has to make this project a success no matter what.” “What can a girl who’s already on the professor’s bad side do? Besides, there’s that mandatory ‘reflection session’ after the presentation.” “Exactly. She can’t say a word because of that.” “Man, I was worried about Prince Zeno, but what a relief. We can just coast along on her back.” “But is she really that smart? She looks kind of dim-witted.” “Hey, don’t you remember what Lian said? She got on the professor’s nerves and botched her presentation, but still pulled a B. Even Lian can’t talk smack about her brain.”

Lian. At the mention of that name, my fists clenched instinctively. Ronia was right. Lian was playing the part of the innocent victim while spreading malicious rumors about me again.

“What’s the point of being smart if you don’t have a single friend in the department?”

Their words stung sharply.

“Intelligence and social skills are two different things. Anyway, one thing’s for sure.”

Hiding behind a tree, I bit my lip hard as I listened.

“If she hadn’t gotten that B in that class, she would have been the top of the class instead of that commoner.”

Ah, just remembering that made my blood boil. To think I once liked a guy like him—it’s the greatest humiliation of my life. Because I missed that top spot, I lost the opportunity of a lifetime…

No, stop thinking about it. I slapped my cheeks with my palms. If I kept spiraling into those thoughts, I’d become a wreck again. For now, I had to focus on the task at hand. I went back into the cafeteria, grabbed my books, and headed to class.

From that day on, I never took my eyes off my books. After class, while moving between classrooms—I walked while reading.

“This concludes our presentation.”

As expected, being busy was better than being idle. Thanks to the frantic pace, time flew by, and suddenly it was our group’s turn next week. I watched the presenter for Group 2 in silence. Perhaps because Group 1 had been so perfect, Professor Berte looked openly dissatisfied.

Because of that, the already nervous presenter became even more frantic, looking as if they might burst into tears at any moment. Presenting in front of the professor and the whole class is truly brutal, I thought, watching with sympathetic eyes. The presenter finished with a trembling voice.

“T-that is all for our presentation. Thank you.”

Just as the students were about to give a mechanical round of applause, the professor raised a hand.

“Wait. We need to take questions.” “Ah, r-right. Sorry. Does anyone have a question?”

But we all knew. If anyone actually asked a question in this situation, that student would resent them for life. So, for once, we were all in silent agreement.

“That’s strange. There should be questions.”

As usual, our professor was dead serious about crushing her students’ spirits. She took a piece of chalk and walked to the front.

“Group 2 did well, but overall… there are many lacking areas.”

And so it began: the professor’s public execution. I truly hate it when they point out flaws without letting the presenter return to their seat.

“And I feel the presenter could have been a bit more prepared.” “…” “Still, you worked hard. You may sit down now.”

The presenter returned to their seat with their head hanging low.

“Then next week is Group 3.”

Before class ended, Professor Berte asked with a beaming smile.

“Is everything going well with your preparations?”

At that question, the team members glanced at me, and I replied with a bright smile.

“Yes.” “Oh, I’m looking forward to it.” “Yes.”

After a final goodbye, Professor Berte left, and the team members prepared to go.

“Ah, excuse me, but if I could have just a moment of your time…” “Huh? We have to go to our next class immediately.” “It’s fine, it won’t even take a minute.”

I smiled as brightly as I had for the professor. Then, the day before the presentation, I gathered the team members in an empty classroom under the pretext of handing out the materials and the script.

This time, they weren’t even a minute late. For once, their greedy desire to get a good grade without doing any work was useful.

“You really worked hard, Cecil.” “It must have been so tough preparing all alone.” “I’m sorry for making you do it by yourself. Truly, if I hadn’t been sick… Anyway, when will you give us the script?”

At that question, I smiled radiantly and spoke.

“There isn’t one.”

“What?”

“I haven’t prepared anything for the presentation, so how could there be a script?”

They stared at me blankly. I counted silently in my head. When I reached five, they finally spoke up.

“What did you say?”

“I said, our presentation isn’t prepared at all.”

Horror washed over their faces.

“Why? Why didn’t you do anything?!”

“How can I prepare a presentation when nobody meets up?”

“Then what about all that time you were looking at books? Wasn’t that for the presentation?”

“No, I was previewing and reviewing for my other classes.”

I patted their shoulders.

“Just as you all were busy, I was busy too. You understand, right?”

“Does that make any sense?! You’re the leader!”

“Then you should have treated me like one!”

My voice rose naturally.

“Why should I take on the whole burden when you don’t even give me the respect of a leader?!”

“It’s not just us you’re letting off! You didn’t say a peep to the person with higher status…! Don’t you know how hypocritical you’re being right now?”

“Exactly! Prince Zeno only showed up once and skipped the rest, but you didn’t even mention him!”

“Actually…”

At that moment, a low voice drifted from the doorway.

“I’m right here.”

Zeno was standing there, though I didn’t know when he had arrived. The others stared at him with shocked eyes. I spoke.

“I’m sorry to break it to you, but Zeno showed up every single time I asked to meet.”

“What? Then…?”

“I asked him to pretend he couldn’t come.”

“Why?”

I muttered almost to myself.

“Just in case.”

“What?” “…”

After a long silence, I turned my back to them.

“I already lost everything in my first year, so I have nothing left to lose. Even if I botch this assignment, or get called out publicly by my teammates, I’ll be fine as long as I do well on the tests. I’ll probably get a B again. Because, as someone said, my only trait is being ‘annoyingly smart.’ But you all…”

I glanced over them and let out a smirk.

“Good luck handling it yourselves.”

If you’ve got a problem with it, die and reincarnate as someone smart. Just as I was about to leave with Zeno, they called out.

“Wait a minute!”

I turned my head.

“Are we… are we really not presenting tomorrow? For real?”

“How can we present with no data and no script?”

The teammates exchanged looks before one spoke up.

“It’s a bit much to say this now, but… I really can’t afford a low grade.” “I really can’t fail. So please…”

I said:

“Then first, give me a proper apology. For badmouthing me behind my back and trying to hitch a free ride on this project.”

“What?”

Just as they hesitated, their pride apparently wounded, Zeno stared at them silently from behind me. They immediately bowed at the waist.

“We’re sorry!” “We’re truly sorry!”

My lips curled up instantly at that apology. I stood my ground.

“Good. Then get ready to pull an all-nighter starting now.”