The white lizard that had been thrown to the ground—Will, bowed to Felix

once he changed into his human form.

“I apologize for my lack of power. Let me go after that man right now…”

“No, that’s fine. It would be a problem if you got eaten.”

To Felix’s joking remark, Will hanged down his head as if ashamed of his
lack of ability.

Felix had no further intention of chasing after the dark-haired young man.

He has no idea who that young man was… but he instinctively knew that he
was not someone he could chase down and get rid of.

He’s sure a non-human. But… he’s not a spirit, but something else.

However, whoever that non-human was, as long as he had no intention of

harming Felix, he could be left alone for now.

“Will, go back to your lizard form. It would be a little inconvenient if Cyril

saw you now.”

“As you wish.”

Will, who had taken the form of a white lizard, slithered up Felix’s leg and
settled into his pocket. After confirming this, Felix resumed carrying Cyril on
his back and started walking.

Soon, Cyril moaned softly behind Felix’s back. Apparently, he had regained
consciousness.

“Ugh… I…”

Felix spoke calmly to Cyril, who muttered in a hushed voice.

“You’re awake?”

“Your… Highness…”
Cyril blinked a few times and looked at Felix with blurry eyes.

“You were collapsed in the forest after suffering from magic poisoning. A
kind traveler brought you here.”

“I’m sorry to trouble you.”

“No, it’s fine.”

If it had been the usual Cyril, he would have immediately said that he would
walk by himself. However, the fact that he hadn’t was because he was so
worn out.

After Felix carried Cyril back to his room, laying him on his bed, Cyril
looked up at Felix with dazed eyes.

“Is the traveler who helped me a small, hooded figure?”

Felix shook his head.

“No, he was a tall, dark-haired man.”

“I… see…”

Muttering, Cyril closed his eyes.

Suddenly curious, Felix asked him.

“What kind of hallucinations did you have in the forest?”

Cyril was silent for a moment, seemingly confused. Behind his closed
eyelids, he was probably ruminating on the dream he had seen.

Eventually, with his eyes still closed, Cyril slowly opened his mouth.

“That monster in my hallucination… was terribly quiet and terribly strong…

I probably will never forget that sight for the rest of my life.”
 V3C8: A Small Hand in
His Memories

After stopping Cyril’s outburst, Monica returned to her room in the

dormitory, and by the time she finished writing the report to submit to Louis,
dawn had completely fallen.

Back when she was living in a mountain cabin, staying up all night was an
everyday occurrence, but since she has been living a regular life for a while
now, she was feeling heavy-headed.

After walking dizzily to class, having been given another scolding for a bad
haircut by Lana, fighting sleepiness throughout the class, Monica dragged her
feet to the student council room.

No one seemed to have arrived at the student council room yet. Apparently,
Monica was the first to arrive today.

Monica briefly cleaned the student council room as Cyril had taught her,
restocked the supplies, and opened the ledger.

Usually, looking at the numbers would make her become more awake, but
right now she couldn’t get the numbers into her head at all.

I see. I’ve been using a lot of magic yesterday… I don’t have enough
sugar…

Monica, who was not fussy about eating, always consumes only the minimum
amount of food.

For breakfast, she had a piece of bread leftover from dinner and coffee. For
lunch, she brought some nuts and water. Normally, this would be enough for
her, but after the day of using a lot of magic, that’s still not enough for her.

Performing magic takes a lot of energy. Therefore, many magicians are said
to have sweet tooth.

Monica rummaged in her pockets for something to eat, but there was nothing
to eat since she had eaten all the nuts at lunch.

Just a little more patience until the student council work is done… so she
told herself, but Monica gave in to sleepiness and plopped down at her desk.

＊ ＊ ＊

While Monica plopped down sleeping on the ledger, someone opened the
door to the student council room.

The door was opened by the vice president, Cyril Ashley.

He was the second person to arrive at the student council room, and when he
noticed Monica sleeping on her desk, he raised his eyebrows.

He almost opened his mouth to yell at Monica, but… kept his mouth shut.

“………”

He unconsciously silencing his footsteps walked up to the desk, then looked

down at Monica’s figure.

——She’s sure a small girl.

Her scrawny little body didn’t look like that of a seventeen-year-old girl.

Her complexion was always pale, and her eyes, which could be brown or
green depending on the light, were always downcast in fear.

Without any noble grace or beauty, she was just a dull girl who could be
found anywhere.

Cyril stared down at Monica’s right hand, which was still holding the quill.
At Serendia Academy, gloves are part of the uniform. Most of the girls wear
custom-made gloves, usually with lace or ribbons around the edges, but
Monica’s gloves were white and unadorned.

The gloves were not the right size, or perhaps there was a little too big.
That’s how small her hands were. Just like a child’s.

“………”

Cyril gently picked the quill out of Monica’s hand and put it back in the quill
holder.

The moment the quill was taken out of her hand, Monica’s right hand lost its
strength, allowing her fingertips to glide across the desk.

Cyril covered Monica’s right hand with his own as if to ascertain the
smallness of her hand…

“Oh, Cyril. You’re already here, aren’t you?”

The moment he heard Felix’s voice from behind, Cyril jumped away from the
desk like a grasshopper.

“Your Highness, you’re wrong, this little girl is napping in the sacred student
council room, so I thought I’d wake her up! Come on, wake up, you little
girl!!”

Cyril smacked Monica’s head with his right hand, which he lifted unnaturally.

Monica, who had been plopped down on the desk, raised her upper body
with a muffled grunt and looked up at Cyril with eyes that were still mildly
sleepy.

“…Loord Asshuley?”

“H-Humph, what’s with the stupid face? You’re in the presence of His
Highness! Stand up straight!”

“…9129, 14771, 23900, 38671, 62571, 101242, 163813…”

“Speak in Human language!”

When Cyril clutched Monica’s head in a tremble, but Monica only stared up
at Cyril’s face and… smiled widely.

“… not cold anymore… that’s a relief…”

Cyril’s dark blue eyes widened and the hand that was trembling on Monica’s
head stopped. Unconsciously, his hand had touched the brooch on his lapel.

When Cyril’s mouth was opening and closing as he was about to say
something, Felix’s hand reached out from the side and… shoved one of the
cookies into Monica’s mouth.

In a drowsy stupor, Monica bit down on a cookie, crispily.

Felix shoved a piece of the cookie, which was gradually getting smaller from
the edges, into Monica’s mouth, then took out another new cookie and brought
it closer to Monica’s mouth.

After noticing the cookie pressing against her lips, Monica was still dazedly
proceeded to bite into the second cookie.

“Interesting. She’s half asleep, but her mouth is moving.”

“Um, Y-Your Highness…”

“Do you want to try it too, Cyril?”

His tone of voice sounded as if he was inviting someone to interact with his
pet, but Cyril refused it, shaking his head.

Just as Felix about to pick the third cookie on his hand, Monica’s head
snapped up and her eyes opened slightly.

Monica rubbed her eyes and mumbled something in an indistinct voice as if

she had just woken up from sleep.
At this time, Monica was thinking about the report she had stayed up all night
writing.

For Monica, writing reports was one of the tasks she was very bad at.

I hope Louis wouldn’t get mad at me… was what all Monica could think
about, and the young man yelling at her in front of her seemed to overlap with
Louis Miller.

So she was saying.

“Congratulations on your wife’s pregnancy!”

“Who are you talking about?!”

To the shouting Cyril, Felix softly said.

“Cyril, who is it? You have to take responsibility for your actions, okay?”

“Ah, Your Highness! No, it’s a misunderstanding. This little girl is just
talking nonsense in her sleep…!”

There was Cyril who’s shouting with bloodshot eyes, Felix who’s smiling
happily, and Monica who’s still dozed off.

No one had noticed this, but that scene caused Neil, the fourth boy who
arrived at the student council room, to pause at the entrance with a troubled
look on his face.
V4C1: Gyurungyurun (Dance SFX)

Lindsey Pale, a teacher at Serendia Academy (26-year-old, bachelor,

currently looking for a nice gentleman), was in a state of shock. She was a
ballroom dance teacher. However, most of the students at Serendia Academy
were children of noble families. As a result, the students had already taken
up ballroom dancing by the time they entered the school, and even though
some of them were not very good at it, none of them had ever failed their
exam before.

…Yes. It was until now.

What on earth is the scene that unfolded in front of me? Thought Pale who
widened her eyes.

One couple dancing in front of her. The male student’s name was Glenn
Dudley. The female student’s name was Monica Norton. Both of them were
students who had just transferred to the second year of high school.

“I feel our tempo is lagging a bit, so let’s speed it up!”

“Nooooo! Please stoooop!”

The female student, who has no sense of rhythm at all, was being pushed
around by the male student, who was pacing up at twice the original tempo…
no, rather than dancing turning each other around, they’re more like spinning
around.

It was nowhere near what you would call a dance. If anything, it was the
image of a large dog running around at will and its owner holding the leash,
being dragged around. The male student was hurling, twirling, and dragging
the female student around.
Then again, if you ask me if it is only the male student who has the problem,
that is not the case.

The female student was the same way. She didn’t even know the basics of
dancing and her steps were a mess. It was a miracle that they hadn’t fallen
until now.

Eventually, as soon as the song ended, Monica Norton, unable to withstand

the momentum of the sudden stop, rolled vigorously across the floor and
eventually hit the wall, twitching.

Running up to Monica, who has swirly eyes, Glenn shook Monica’s

shoulders and shouted.

“Oops, my bad! H-Hey, are you okay?”

“P-Please… don’t… shake me…”

To Monica, who had turned white and stopped moving, Glenn exclaimed.

“Please don’t die!!!”

You’re the one who put her to an end… was what everyone thought in the
room.

Watching the ridiculous exchange, teacher Pale announced to the two misfits.

“Glenn Dudley. Monica Norton. I will have both of you take a re-examination
in one week.”

＊ ＊ ＊

Monica was one of the top magicians in the Kingdom of Ridill, and one of
the Seven Sages who had been granted the right to meet the king face to face.

Two years ago, at the age of fifteen, she has become the youngest person ever
to be chosen as one of the Seven Sages. She was the only existing magician
to use non-chanting spells and was a prodigy known for having developed
several new spell formulas.
Having been ordered to secretly escort the second prince, Felix Ark Ridill,
she then infiltrated Serendia Academy. While secretly escorting the prince by
making full use of her specialty of non-chanting magic, she was able to enjoy
leisurely and splendid school life… or not.

Although Monica has outstanding grades in the fields of magic and

mathematics, when it comes to the other fields, she was at the bottom of the
heap. A clumsy among the clumsy.

One particular example of this was her terrible lack of physical ability.

Just doing a run for a bit would leave her out of breath, and stumbling over
nothing has become her daily occurrence.

The fact that she had been holed up in a mountain cabin for the past two years
after becoming the Seven Sages, almost never going out, only added to the
decline in her strength.

…The end result of her ballroom dancing performance was a catastrophe.

The ballroom dancing class was held jointly between the two classes, which
their partners were basically appointed by the teacher. That was decided so
to make sure the students were paired up with those of similar abilities.

Monica’s partner was Glenn Dudley from the next class over.

Apparently, Glenn was a student who transferred at the same time as Monica.
Although that golden brown-haired boy was a bit peculiar, he has a very
friendly smile.

Glenn was taller than most boys his age, and Monica, who was smaller in
that regard, had to look far up to see Glenn’s face.

Frankly speaking, the gap in their height made them unsuitable as dance
partners, but the reason why the teacher chose them as a pair was probably
because they were both transfer students, and their dancing skills were
relatively unknown.

“My name is Glenn! Nice to meet you!”

Glenn said this with a friendly smile, but the best Monica could do was
hanging her head down fidgeting.

Monica’s extreme shyness makes it difficult for her to have a proper

conversation with people she has never met before—especially when it
comes to men.

Still, Glenn didn’t seem to be offended and stood in the dance hall holding
Monica’s hand.

His confident demeanor made Monica think that he must be a good dancer.

But, in the next moment, Glenn said with a friendly smile.

“I’ve never done any ballroom dancing before. At least, I’m going to try to
imitate what I’ve seen!”

You’re lying, right? The second she thought of that, Monica was swept away
by Glenn.

Thus, they were both given a re-examination together.

＊ ＊ ＊

If this continues, they will inevitably fail at the re-examination as well.

That’s why they decided to borrow a room to practice dancing after school.

Nevertheless, with two beginners, there was nothing they could do about it.

So Glenn said, “I’ve brought a helper!” and dragged a certain person along
with him.

“Oh… Hi.”

Glenn dragged in Neil Clay Maywood who had a troubled look on his face
and was also a student council member like Monica.

“L-Lord… Maywood…?”
While Monica widened her eyes at the appearance of Neil, who she regarded
as the most kindhearted student council, Glenn looked at Monica and Neil in
turn, curiously.

“Huh? You two know each other?”

“Miss Norton is also a student council member, like me.”

“Eeeeh!? I didn’t know that!”

Glenn exaggeratedly turned his head and gazed down at Monica.

Glenn may not be a bad person, but his voice was too loud for Monica’s
ears.

While she’s shivering with fear, Glenn nodded his head in admiration.

“Monica is a transfer student like me, isn’t she? And yet she’s already
become student council, that’s amazing!”

“No… that’s…”

“Oh, I’m sorry for calling you by your name! But I’m not good at being
formal, so please call me Glenn instead!”

“Um… Er…”

While Monica was struggling with her response, Neil calmly intervened,
“Please leave it at that.”

“Miss Norton’s troubled, so don’t press her too hard.”

When Neil said this, Glenn went silent like an attentive dog.

Although Neil was a small and modest boy, he was well-liked by the people
around him. Glenn also seemed to adore Neil.

Neil made sure that Glenn was quiet and smiled, lowering his eyebrows to
reassure Monica.
“Glenn is a classmate of mine. He asked me to watch him practice his dance,
so I agreed to be his temporary instructor.”

“I-I’m sorry… for the inconvenience…”

“Not at all. In times of trouble, we have to help each other.”

The smiling Neil, who said this, exuded an aura of a good person from his
entire body. That’s why people love him.

“Well then, let’s practice right away!”

To Glenn, who spoke impatiently like a dog that can’t wait, Neil gave him a
troubled look.

“If possible, I’d like you’re practicing with music like the real
performance… And since I need to watch your dancing, it would be better if
there’s someone who could play the piano.”

There’s a piano set up in the dance room for performance. During the exam,
students have to dance according to the music played.

But Monica didn’t have anyone she knew who could play the piano… Or
rather, she didn’t have anyone she knew well at this school in the first place.

As Monica turned her head apologetically, the door to the dance room swung
open.

“Well, I guess I don’t have a choice! I’ll play the piano for you if you want!”

It was Monica’s classmate, Lana Collette, who spoke quickly while curling
her flaxen hair around her finger. Apparently, she was eavesdropping at the
door.

Glenn and Neil looked surprised, alternately looking at Monica and Lana.

“Are you Monica’s friend?”

“…yes…”
Nodding quickly at Glenn’s question, Monica turned pale.

Would Lana not find it annoying to be called her friend?

If Lana looked uncomfortable or if she frowned even a little bit—while

Monica shuddered at the thought of such a scene, Lana drew closer to
Monica before ruffling her hair with pride.

“That’s right! You should be grateful because I, your friend, is going to help
you!”

Monica raised up her face timidly to look at Lana.

Lana didn’t look annoyed in the slightest. In fact, she seemed to be holding
back her smile.

“Thank you…”

Monica squeezed her chest over her uniform and thanked her in a faint voice.

She had a feeling if she didn’t hold her chest, her heart would jump out of her
chest with joy.
 V4C2: Nightmare of the Past

“Oh, Neil had told me about you. He said you’re practicing your dancing.”

Have been showing up at the student council room later than usual, Felix
smiled and said so.

Monica had completely forgotten to report that she was having dance
practice after school, but apparently, the thoughtful Neil had notified Felix.
Although he was low-key, he was quite capable.

As he returned the quill he was holding to its stand, Felix cast a glance at
Neil.

“So, how’s the practice going? Can she pass the re-examination?”

Neil’s gaze darting around, even though it wasn’t hot, his sweat beading on
his cheeks.

“Well… I guess it depends on how much effort she put from now on…”

“Your Highness, for the good-natured general affairs Maywood to go so far

as to say that, it must be an absolutely appalling situation.”

Cyril, who was working on something else besides him, asserted in a stern
tone.

Monica couldn’t say anything back but shrugged wistfully.

What Cyril said was indeed true. Today’s practice was a disaster. It was
hard to say that any progress had been made.
They started by practicing basic steps, but one out of every few times Monica
would get her feet tangled and fall down. Glenn, on the other hand, seemed to
have good physical skills and learned the steps quickly.

Neil and Lana both said that it’s best to learn these things with the body, but
her body didn’t seem to be able to pick it up.

If there were numbers, I could remember them all! so she was secretly
lamenting, but Bridget, who was sitting by the window writing some papers,
opened her mouth without moving her eyes from her papers.

“As a student council member who becomes the role model for the students,
you should be ashamed of yourself… for falling behind in class.”

“I-I’m sorry…”

“Are you aware that you’re also causing trouble for Lord Maywood?”

To Monica’s trembling apology, Bridget spoke more sharply.

Because of her, she’s caused trouble for someone else—this fact sent Monica
reeling.

That’s right, because of her inability to dance well, she was causing trouble
for both Lana and Neil.

Although in the beginning, Glenn was a bit of a mess, given his good physical
skills, he would soon able to improve more than Monica.

If that happens, what Monica did would only cause trouble for Glenn. If by
any chance Glenn also fails the exam because of his partner, which was
her…

“Um, I-I never considered you a nuisance, so…”

When the good-natured Neil said this in flustered, Elliot, who had been silent
until now spinning his quill, interrupted him.
“Miss Bridget is right. Student council members are role models for the
students. If there’s a member who can’t even pass a ballroom dance exam, it
wouldn’t set a good example for the rest of the students.”

Elliot’s eyes narrowed in a dangerous light as he looked at Monica, smirking.

“At this rate, this will become a matter of His Highness’s appointment
responsibility, won’t it?”

It was Felix who had appointed the outcast Monica as treasurer… So if

Monica causes any problems, it would also be Felix’s fault for choosing
Monica.

Because of her, she would cause trouble not only for Lana, Neil, and Glenn
but also for Felix.

The fear and pressure seemed to be crushing Monica’s small body.

I’m sorry for causing you trouble, I will work hard and do my best, so please
forgive me—Such words were running through her head, but her throat
constricted, unable to speak.

As Monica tried to move her mouth, Felix said calmly.

“I told you before, didn’t I? That if she ever made any mistakes, I’d take the
responsibility.”

When Felix opened his mouth, the atmosphere in the student council room
changed.

Felix smiling gracefully before declaring.

“You have nothing to worry about, Miss Norton is the person I have chosen. I
know she will live up to my expectations. Don’t you agree? Miss Norton.”

The last words were directed to Monica, and they were accompanied by a
wide smile.
I can’t do it, I just can’t, so she screamed inwardly, but Monica swallowed
her words just in time.

Since Felix, a member of the royal family, told her that he had high
expectations for her, Monica had no choice but to respond.

However, she still couldn’t nod easily, instead remained face down, so Felix
stood up and walked over to Monica. He then put his finger on Monica’s chin
and made her look at him.

Mysterious blue eyes peered down at the languid Monica.

“You won’t… let me down, will you?”

The slightly wistful voice would have made most girls blush. But Monica felt
like she was a victim of blackmail, so she could only shake her head.

Monica gathered up all the words she could find in her mind.

A logical and clear explanation is important when stating one’s intentions.

“F-First of all… I need the analysis of the tempo of songs used and the
matching of stride length. I’d like to start by analyzing and memorizing the
angles of the feet, hips, and shoulders during the dance!”

At Monica’s words, which seemed logical at first glance, but were not
logical at all, Cyril with one his eyes half-closed, lamented.

“…little girl, before you start using your head, try moving your body first.”

And that’s the most plausible method.

＊ ＊ ＊

After returning to the attic, collapsed on the bed with her face down, Monica
was sniffling. Having done the unaccustomed exercise had made her legs
ached.

“Monica, you look like a haggard old lady.”

Still keeping her face on the bed, Nero jumped on top of her back and
squeezed it with his paw. Apparently, he was giving her a massage.

“Ugh… My whole body is aching…”

“I heard early sore muscles is a sign of a young body. Good for you.”

She wondered where in the world he had learned such knowledge.

Nero squeezed Monica’s stick-like legs, which were devoid of fat and
muscle, with his paws.

“I have been secretly watching you from the window, is it what that so-called
dancing is? Does it mean that the person who steps on the opponent’s foot the
most wins?”

“Ugh, no, it’s not… You know, you’ve seen it in the illustrations of the
novel…”

“It was a shock to me because I only knew it from the illustrations. I had no
idea dancing was such a tough competition.”

Nero jumped onto the desk and dexterously flipped the pages of the novel
book he had spread out with his paw.

Then he tapped at the sentence with his paw tensely.

“…Julia lets herself be swept away by the music… It was truly a dreamlike
time. Holding each other hands, each step following their hearts.”

“So these characters stepped on each other’s feet with their hearts. Wow, that
changes my interpretation of this scene.”

“…I told you it wasn’t… Sheesh.”

Monica puffed out her cheeks before glaring at Nero, who teasingly wagged
his tail.
“I mean, can’t you just use a spell to deal with that kind of thing? You can use
spells without chanting, right? Then, why not use a spell to secretly get better
at dancing?”

The spell that makes you a better dancer… How good it would be if there
were such a convenient thing. But spells are not all-powerful.

“It is theoretically possible to manipulate the body to make it move in a

certain way, but… that spell is forbidden in this country.”

Using a spell to move a human body, or to temporarily strengthen muscles,

was considered taboo in this country.

Because human bodies were not resistant to mana, it can cause side effects
such as mana poisoning. For the same reason, the use of healing spells was
also prohibited.

According to past experiments, just to close up a small cut, a large amount of

mana was required, but it resulted in the death of the magician and the death
of the person receiving the treatment due to mana poisoning.

When Monica gave that explanation, Nero’s whiskers twitched.

“Hmm? Wait. You say “In this country”? Could it be that spells were allowed
in another country?”

Monica thought about Nero’s question for a while.

Nero wasn’t familiar with the human situation, and it would be good for him
to know what level of spells humans were capable of.

Monica straightened up her posture and then said with a serious face.

“Physical manipulation, physical control, physical enhancement, and

healing… All spells performed on the human body are treated as forbidden.
All the magicians’ guilds on this continent are in agreement regarding it as
forbidden spells, but… with one exception.”
Trailing off her words, Monica put a little more strength into the fists she
clenched in her lap.

“It’s the Eastern Empire.”

The Empire, which bordered on the east of the Kingdom of Ridill, was the
strongest and most vast nation on this continent.

About a year ago, the emperor was replaced by a young emperor who was
just over 20 years old, but this young emperor was not willing to accept old
customs and has been implementing new policies one after another—one of
which was the lifting of the ban on spells related to medical use.

In other words, the emperor gave permission for a limited amount of research
into the spell that affected the body.

This policy was naturally opposed by the magicians’ guild in the empire. But
then, rumor has it that the chief of that guild died in a suspicious death.

In other words, things were looking a little fishy.

“I imagine that physical enhancement and healing spells will develop more in
the Empire in the future…”

The lifting of the ban on spells related to medical use in the empire had a
profound effect on magicians in other countries as well.

More and more magicians have abandoned their own countries because of
their strict policies and moved to the empire.

Losing talented magicians to other countries has been a headache for every
country, and it has been discussed several times at the Seven Sages assembly.

Above all, Monica herself had her own thoughts about the lifting of the ban
on spells that related to medical use.

“Humans have a lot on their minds, don’t they?”

Nero slammed the cover of his novel shut and muttered to himself.
“I guess so…”

Muttering, Monica closed her eyes.

Behind her eyelids, she could feel a faint glimpse of her father’s back.

＊ ＊ ＊

That night, Monica had a nostalgic dream.

It was a dream where she watching her father’s back as he sat at his desk. He
was always doing a lot of difficult calculations, and Monica had treated his
formulas as a picture book.

Her father was knowledgeable.

Mathematics, physics, pharmacology, medicine—He had studied all kinds of

subjects, but biology was his specialty.

—The human body is made up of a huge amount of numbers.

If one could define humans with mathematical equations, they could help a lot
of people suffering from diseases.

That’s why her father spent all his time researching, day in and day out.

Monica didn’t get to play with him much, but she still enjoyed reading her
father’s collection of books, and just being able to hear about her father’s
research once in a while was enough to make her happy… She was happy,
but…

The scenery in her dream changed.

Her father’s back was engulfed in red flames, obscuring his vision.

The sight of his father burning along with the huge amount of data and
formulas that he had written down.

Stop! Stop! Stoopp!

She wanted to scream, but the words were stuck in her throat and wouldn’t
come out.

As Monica stood there, stunned, a man stared down at her.

He was the second prince of this country, a person perfectly fit with the white
uniform of Serendia Academy. Felix Ark Ridill.

“You won’t… let me down, will you?”

Monica stared up blankly at Felix, who whispered those words with a sweet
smile.

This is a dream.

Felix had nothing to do with his father’s death. Today’s events and the
memories of the past were just mixed up in a jumbled mess.

Still, every time someone expects her to do something, the dark emotions she
felt in the past tighten their grip on Monica’s heart.

It caused some faint anger to well up inside Monica’s chest.

How can they say that I will live up to his expectations?

Even though my dad had lived up to their expectations, he wasn’t

rewarded…
 V4C3: Having BBQ in the back of
the school building is a
man’s romance.

The following day at lunchtime, Monica hurried out of the school building
and headed for the backyard.

Avoiding the old garden, which she had sneaked into before, because of the
possibility of running into Felix, Monica moved to a secluded corner of the
backyard.

Then, making sure that no one was around, she took a piece of paper out of
her pocket and unfolded it.

On the paper, she had written down the basic steps of ballroom dancing and
the tempo of the song. Monica reviewed what Neil had taught her yesterday
and put it down on a piece of paper.

After carefully re-reading it, Monica immediately started practicing the basic
steps.

“1, 2, 3… 1, 2, 3…”

It was just a matter of repeating the same steps, but when Monica, who has
poor athletic skills, did it, her upper body would wobble unsteadily. Even
just doing that was difficult for her.

“Let’s see… put my right foot forward, take my left foot out to the side, put it
back in, then… turn clockwise with my left foot as the axis.”
When turning around, losing her balance and stumbling, she heard a burst of
laughter.

Her shoulders jerked involuntarily and she looked up to see a tall young man
looking at Monica with a smirk on his face, wondering how long he had been
there.

He has reddish brown-colored hair and droopy eyes. The young man who
looks so friendly when he’s not talking was the student council secretary,
Elliot Howard.

“No wonder it was this terrible. Your dance almost like a drunk person.”

Elliot’s demeanor was friendly and easy-going, but his eyes were clearly
looking down on Monica.

Although they were the same student council members, Monica had not talked
to Elliot very much.

However, she had a vague feeling that Elliot did not have good feelings for
Monica.

If Brigitte’s sharp words were like a sword, then this person’s words were
like poison. She can feel his malicious intent slowly tormenting Monica.

“Have you not ever attended a ball before?”

“No, I haven’t…”

“Haha, I guess it’s natural. That kind of dance couldn’t be displayed in the
public, after all.”

Elliot spat out his poison, with a soft tone and a soft smile, as if he were
making chitchat.

Monica was stood there shriveling, while Elliot slowly closed the distance
between them before looking down at Monica’s face.

“You’re not a noble, are you?”

“………”

“Most likely you’re a child born from a nobleman’s mistress, right? …I guess
that’s not too far off the mark, huh?”

She wondered what kind of setting Louis had devised. As a matter of fact, it
was so complicated that she couldn’t remember much about it.

If I recall correctly… I was an orphan who was adopted by the former

Count Kelbeck’s wife… right?

At any rate, it would be best not to say anything inappropriate. When Monica
silently looked down, Elliot seemed to take it as a bull’s-eye.

“Serendia Academy has become an extension of the social circle. And

student council members are the flower of the social circle.”

As the second prince, Felix has chosen the members of the student council,
it’s no exaggeration to say that the student council members are his future
aides or potential wives.

In such a gorgeous place, Monica was a thorn who blended in.

“Nobles have their own roles and duties. To be honest, I don’t like the idea
of a commoner with no aspirations mixed in.”

Reaching out his hand, Elliot picked up Monica’s badge from her lapel.

He then tossed it up high into the air.

A small badge that proved her membership, fell with a thud onto the
decorative part of the roof of the school building. It’s far too high for Monica
to reach.

“…ah.”

As Monica stood there, Elliot sneered at her.

“I have never heard of members losing their badge. Stripping off your
position might be inevitable.”

Elliot shrugged his shoulders dramatically before looking down coldly at

Monica.

“Glad to see you understand your place. Miss commoner.”

＊ ＊ ＊

After Elliot walked away, Monica was looking up at the school building with
a troubled look on her face.

Her badge that fell on the roof of the school building can be retrieved by
using flight magic… but it will be difficult for Monica, who can barely leap
high enough, to do so.

Above all, if someone found out, it would be a disaster.

“W-What do I do?”

Would making strong wind with a wind spell make it fall off the roof?
However, if the wind accidentally blows away from the roof as well, it will
be a disaster.

When she thought about calling Nero to get it for her… someone tapped
Monica on the shoulder.

“What’s the matter?”

“Yesh!?”

As Monica turned around, cowering, she saw Glenn Dudley standing there.
For some reason, Glenn was holding a wooden skewer in one hand.

Don’t tell me he’s going to kill me by stabbing that wooden skewer to my

neck…!? or so Monica thought as she stared at the wooden skewer that Glenn
waving like a baton before saying.
“What are you doing out here?”

“Um… Er…”

As Monica was at a loss for words, Glenn stared at Monica’s lapel.

“Hey, your lapel is a little loose, isn’t it? Aah! Where’s your badge! Did you
drop it?”

Monica replied hesitantly to Glenn, who started to make a lot of noise.

“Um, my badge… was got stuck… on that roof over there…”

It was a rather lame excuse. But Glenn didn’t pry any further, he placed his
hands over his eyes and looked up at the roof.

“Do you mean that roof, with that decoration?”

“P-Probably… somewhere around there.”

“Then it’s easy!”

As Monica widened her eyes, wondering what he meant by it’s easy, Glenn
was, “Hold this for me!” then gave her a wooden skewer that he was holding.

Then, after snapping his neck, he chanted a short incantation.

Monica’s eyes widened. What Glenn was chanting was a flight magic spell.

When Glenn kicked the ground with a light “Here we go,” his body leaped
immediately to the height of the roof. Maintaining that height, Glenn’s body
moved horizontally approaching the roof.

“Found it!”

Picking up the badge on the roof, Glenn descended slowly from over four
stories building and landed in front of Monica.
The flying spell was a high-level spell that can only be used by an advanced
magician. Above all, it required both magic knowledge and physical ability.

Monica was surprised at how easily Glenn used it, and Glenn put the badge
in Monica’s hand before putting his index finger to his lips with a “shhh”.

“Don’t tell the others about that, okay? In fact, I’ve been told not to use magic
without supervisor permission.”

“Um… are you a magician… Glenn?”

“I’m still an apprentice, though!”

Even as an apprentice, being able to use a flight spell means that he was as
skilled as an advanced magician.

Why would such a person be at Serendia Academy?

If he could use a flight spell at such a young age, it would not be surprising if
he was recruited by Minerva, an institution specializing in the training of
magicians.

Unable to say such a question, Glenn picked the wooden skewer from
Monica’s hand.

“Oh, I was just about having my lunch. Would you like to join me?”

Now that he mentioned it, she could smell some kind of meat being grilled.

Waving the wooden skewer in a good mood, Glenn walked deeper into the
backyard. Fearfully following him, she found the remains of a bonfire in a
slightly open area. On top of a leaf, which served as a plate, was a skewer of
roasted meat. Apparently, the wooden skewers were used to skewer this
meat.

“You know, this school’s cafeteria is kind of uptight, and besides its high
price, the portions are too small, so it was not enough to fill my belly.”

“T-That’s why… you grill some meat here?”

“When it comes to meat, freshly butchered is the best! Besides, I won’t have
energy if I don’t eat my fill of meat!”

With that, Glenn offered Monica one of his skewers.

Unable to say no, Monica thanked him and took a bite of the meat without
hesitation. The chicken was grilled just right, the skin was crispy and the
meat was moist and tender. The spices were also spread evenly which was
good.

But where did he get this meat from?

Earlier, Glenn seemed to have said something like “freshly butchered”, but
he couldn’t have been hunting during the break, could he?

In response to Monica’s puzzled expression, Glenn answered as he chewed

on the meat.

“My family owns a butcher shop in the downtown area. I flew in with my
flight spell to pick up the meat from my parents’ house! Oh, don’t tell anyone
I went to my parents’ house! Don’t tell anyone, okay?! Absolutely don’t tell
anyone, okay?!”

Although she had suspected it for some time, Glenn seemed not from the
noble family.

But why would a butcher’s son, an apprentice magician, who was not from
the nobility, enroll in this academy?

“Um, why did you… decide to enroll in this school, Glenn?”

“Hmm, I have a master who teaches me spells… My master told me that I

was too restless, so my enrollment in this school was to learn how to
behave.”

Although Serendia Academy was built for the children of noble families, it
was not uncommon for children of semi-aristocratic or wealthy families to
enroll their children in the school to learn some mannerisms.
Nevertheless, if someone was as talented in magic as Glenn, attending
Minerva, the pinnacle of magician training institutes, should be a natural
choice.

I wonder who is his master.

“Thank you very much… Thank you for taking the badge for me, and also for
the meat…”

“In times of trouble, we should all help each other!”

Glenn smiled pleasantly, showing his white teeth.

Looking at his carefree smile, she felt that her dislike for him had faded a
little.

＊ ＊ ＊

Hmm?

Felix watched the exchange between Monica and Glenn in the backyard from
the window and squinted a little.

He had seen the entire exchange—from Monica secretly practicing her dance
moves to Elliot stealing her badge, to Glenn retrieving it with flight magic.

“…Your Highness.”

Will, the white lizard, peeked out of his breast pocket and whispering to him.

“I have been listening to some of the conversations, and looks like there is no
connection between Monica Norton and Glenn Dudley.”

“Yeah, I guess so. She was quite surprised when Glenn Dudley using a flight
spell.”

After saying that much, Felix let out a sigh with a languid look on his face.
“Still, it wasn’t funny. Why are all of them ganging over bullying my little
squirrel?”

“I believe it’s because Your Highness is also bullying her.”

“Shall I put a collar on her so as to let them know she’s mine? Maybe a pretty
ribbon with some embroidery on it will do.”

“I think that would be looked bad on you.”

“I have got the same feeling.”

Giggling, Felix covered his breast pocket with his hand. As a signal for him
to hide, Will withdrew deep into his pocket.

After confirming that Will had withdrawn, Felix turned his gaze behind him.
The person walking towards him was the student council secretary, Elliot
Howard. He was the one who had just taken away the badge from Monica.

Felix had anticipated him to walk through this corridor to get back to the
classroom, so he had taken the trouble to wait here for him.

When Elliot noticed Felix, he lifted one hand in a friendly manner.

“Yo, Your HIghness.”

“Oh, Elliot. Did you have fun playing with the little squirrel?”

Elliot didn’t seem to be upset and looked at Felix with his usual frivolous
smile plastered on his face. That’s a very typical attitude of an aristocrat.

“Say, Your Highness. I think you already know that I really hate commoners
who don’t know their place.”

Elliot Howard may pretend to be a frivolous man, but his nature has always
been more aristocratic than anyone else.

It’s not that Elliott looks down on the commoners. It’s just that he can’t
tolerate people who do not fulfill their duties… whether they were nobles or
commoners.

Felix was aware that Elliot was the one who was more upset than anyone
else about the previous accounting irregularities.

“You once said, didn’t you, Elliot? Nobles have their roles, common people
have their roles. Each of us should play our role according to their
standing…”

“Yeah, I did. That’s why I’m asking you.”

Elliot retracted his frivolous smile and looked sharply at Felix with his
drooping eyes.

“Why did you make Monica Norton the treasurer?”

“Because I don’t know where Miss Norton’s ‘standing’ is.”

Elliot argued that common people should play roles that fit the status of
common people. Felix, however, could not grasp Monica’s “standing”.
That’s why he assigned her the role of treasurer. He thought that by doing so,
he might be able to grasp her true nature.

Elliot did not seem to be satisfied with Felix’s answer. Still, he did not
pursue the matter any further and turned his cold eyes on Felix.

“Do you know what I hate more than “the common people who don’t know
their place”? And nobles who don’t do their duty… That goes for royalty as
well.”

Felix was not offended by his disrespectful attitude towards royalty and
replied with a gentle smile.

“Of course, as long as I call myself Felix Ark Ridill, I will fulfill the duty of
my role.”

—Right, as long as I carry this name.

With eyes that seemed to be looking somewhere far away, Felix whispered
faintly to himself.
V4C4: It Ended Well All Thanks to
The Embroiderers.

That day, two more observers came to the after-school dance training.

They were Felix Ark Ridill, the student council president, and Cyril Ashley,
the vice president.

When these two appeared, Lana’s cheeks turned rosy and squealed in high-
pitched voices.

While Monica screamed in terror inwardly in pale expression.

As for Neil, he looked at Felix and Cyril awkwardly, while Glenn said
loudly, “Who are these people?” And they were some big figure.

“-W-Why… w-was Y-Your Highness… h-here…”

When Monica said this in a low voice, Felix furrowed his eyebrows and
gave her a look of disbelief.

“I’m not so heartless as to have expected you then only to throw you out later,
okay?”

“Right, you should be grateful for Your Highness’s generosity!”

Cyril then stuck out his chest proudly. Are you okay came here leaving your
student council work behind… or so thought secretly Monica when Felix
glanced at Cyril.

“By the way, I don’t remember having called you here, Cyril.”
“I’m Your Highness’s bodyguard! It is only natural that I should accompany
you along!”

“I see. So you’ve been getting your student council work done ahead of
schedule even before I told you I was planning to come here. You were
planning on coming to watch Monica practice from the beginning. And even
if I didn’t show up here, you’re planning to come here, weren’t you?”

For some reason, Cyril embarrassed at Felix’s ridiculous remarks which

made his gaze wander.

“W-Well… As your right-hand man, I had anticipated some of Your

Highness’s plan, after all!”

Monica was secretly impressed by the fact that the vice president had to
always be ready for the president’s whims.

However, to be honest, this situation did not make Monica happy. In fact, it
has become a burden on her mind.

As Monica’s stomach knotted up in anguish, Lana was shaking her shoulder.

“Hey, look at that! Student council president and vice president are standing
side by side, so close together!”

Lana’s exuberant was probably the correct reaction of most of the girls… so
thought Monica.

“Look at His Highness’ scarf embroidery, such delicate and beautiful

needlework… It’s definitely the work of a master craftsman. The colors of
the embroidered thread changes depending on its luster… and also those
embroidered vine patterns, they will definitely become a trend. I need to burn
it in my memory, and if possible, I would like to draw it down… Ah, look at
the lace on the edge of Lord Cyril’s gloves! That’s not something made
without the latest technique… I’d like to see it up more closely…”

“………”
What Lana was staring at was not the faces of Felix and Cyril, but their
clothes and accessories.

Perhaps Lana was also a little different from what most schoolgirls think.

While Monica was dumbfounded at that thought, Felix was encouraging

while saying to her, “How about showing your dancing first?” with a smile.
Monica did as she was told, standing in the middle of the room before
holding Glenn’s hand.

Lana hurriedly sat down at the piano and began to play. Neil clapped his
hands along with the music.

“Alright, I will start with a one-two-three as a signal.”

“Okay!”

“One, two, three.”

Monica and Glenn took their first steps at the same time. It wasn’t a bad start.
This was because Monica was less nervous around Glenn than she had been
yesterday.

However, after a few repetitions of the steps, their rhythm started to go

wrong.

“Stop!”

Cyril was the one who raised his voice.

Ah, she sure her dancing had ruined the dance or so thought Monica shrinking
into her shoulders.

Lana stopped her music, and Cyril glared at Glenn sharply.

“Glenn Dudley! You are not escorting her properly! You had better learn to
control your manners towards girls!”

It was a very unbelievable statement from someone who abuses Monica on a

daily basis.

Monica, who had been expecting that she would be the one to be criticized,
widened her eyes in disbelief.

On the other hand, Glenn, who had been ruined the dance complained, with
his lips pursed in a boo-boo.

“I’ve been treating her carefully though.”

“In the first place, you haven’t even properly asking her for a dance! Watch
me over there!”

Cyril pushed Glenn away haughtily before staring down at Monica, who was
scared out sniffling.

Looking at the flow, surely Cyril will be Monica’s dancing partner, right?

If I accidentally stepped on his foot, he might shove a block of ice to me…

or so Monica shuddering at thought of that when Cyril placed his left hand
behind his own back, bow gracefully, before reaching out his right hand.

“Will you dance with me, young lady?”

“…huh?”

Monica’s thoughts froze at the graceful bow and the dialogue that didn’t seem
to belong to Cyril.

Standing there in a daze, Cyril reached out and took Monica’s hand with as
much care as if he were touching a delicate piece of glass.

As soon as Lana started to play her music, Cyril lightly put his hand on
Monica’s waist. By the movement of his hand, Monica subconsciously
understood that the dance was about to begin. Even without a signal “one-
two-three” like she did with Glenn, she knew what to do as it natural. She
even knew the timing of the first step.

As if lured by Cyril’s hand, Monica stepped forward, one, two, three, one,
two, three… Too busy worrying about her steps, Monica’s upper body
movement inevitably became a mess.

But when Monica’s back and arms started to do a wrong move, Cyril’s hands
supported her to get into the right position.

The same goes for the direction of travel. If it was Glenn, he would say,
“Let’s go to the right!” then “We’re about to run into a wall, so go that way!”
to indicate the direction of travel vocally. But Cyril didn’t guide Monica with
his words but with the movement of his hands, his feet, and his gaze.

—And for her, it was surprisingly easy to dance with.

After the music was over, Cyril gave the same beautiful bow as when he
started. He then raised his head to look at Glenn and…

“Did you see that, kid? This is what escorting is all about!”

He yelled at him, looking proud of himself.

Far from being when he’s dancing, he was the usual Cyril Ashley that Monica
knew.

Monica couldn’t help but mutter to herself.

“I was relieved to see that Lord Ashley was still the same as usual.”

“What do you mean by that?”

After Cyril glared at Monica, he coughed.

“You could say that ballroom dancing is entirely dependent on how the male
doing a lead. If the male leads properly and matches the timing to the music,
the dance will look good to some extent.”

At Cyril’s explanation, Glenn cheered honestly.

“Oh, that’s awesome!”

“When you’re going to compliment someone, you should use better

vocabulary, and compliment them with a word of decency.”

Cyril seemed less than pleased but still maintained his cynical attitude.

Glenn pondered about ‘use better vocabulary’ for a moment, then opened his
mouth with a serious face.

“Your movements went like whoosh, swish, and snap, and it was cool!”

“Before you learn etiquette, you should learn the human language.”

Cyril gave Glenn a half-hearted glare, and now he looked at Monica.

“Monica Norton. Your dancing needs a lot of work. First of all, you need to
get used to being escorted. Don’t freak out every time. Don’t hunch over.
Don’t look down. A few missed steps will go unnoticed as long as you keep
your head held high.”

“Y-Yes…”

Cyril’s point was something that both the teacher and Neil had said to her.

In any case, her habit of hunching over and looking down, caused Monica to
always take a bad posture.

Now that he mentions it, at the rehearsal for the Seven Sages ceremony,
Louis pointed out to me that I was hunched over… I remember having a
pole tied to my back.
The memory of him saying “how about I tie a pole to your back next time?”
with a smile, still made her shudder even until now.

While she shuddering after recalling that memory, Felix proposed smilingly.

“In that case, Dudley should practice being an escort and Miss Norton should
practice getting used to being escorted. Cyril, can you teach him how to be an
escort?”

“If Your Highness insists…”

Cyril nodded grudgingly, then turned to face Glenn before saying with a
raised eyebrow.

“Now, kid! I will teach you my escorting skills! First, you will escort me as
if I were a girl!”

“Well… treating you like a girl was… a bit hard…”

“Stop being so picky!”

As Cyril scolding and dragging Glenn away, Felix smiled at Monica.

“Since that is the case, please take care of me. Miss Norton.”

“P-Please take care… of me, too.”

As Monica bowed her head perpetually, Felix quickly reached out his hand
to Monica.

“Grab my hand.”

“………”

Without taking a single step, Monica stretched her arm to its limit. Then, she
touched Felix’s outstretched hand with her fingertips.

Felix looked down at her fingertips with a smile on his face.

“I guess you’re surprisingly unwilling in being escorted, huh?”

“No, I don’t mean like that! I-I’m so sorry!”

Felix was smiling, but his eyes were not.

Shakily, Monica took a half step forward. Then Felix quickly grabbed
Monica’s hand and pulled her toward him.

Felix’s hands were supporting her body, and the moment she thought about
that, Monica’s body tensed up.

“You know, when you were with Cyril, you were a little more docile in being
escorted.”

“T-That’s… because at that time, Lord Ashley was different from usual, I
was so surprised, so…”

At that time, she was too stunned by Cyril’s conduct when dancing, and the
dance had started and ended before she realized it. But now, the situation
was different.

As Monica stiffened, Felix looked up and instructed Lana.

“Excuse me. Can you play some music for me? With a slightly lower
volume.”

“Yes, sir!”

Lana nodded excitedly and began to play the piano. As the music played a
little more subduedly than before, Felix took Monica’s hand to lead the way.
It was the same as with Cyril. Even without the call of a “one-two-three”
signal, she could somehow understand when to start, probably because Felix
was also great at escorting.

“You don’t have to pay attention to your steps right now. Maybe you could
forget about your dancing altogether.”

“…Eh?”
“You could walk around at your pace while having fun chatting with me.
Your body easily stiffens, after all.”

The idea of having a nice chat with someone really threw Monica off.
Monica was not very good at talking, and she was not very good at bringing
up topics of conversation to anyone. Since she never had a chance to make a
casual conversation.

When Monica frightened and clammed up, and Felix smiled at her.

“I’ve never seen your eyes up close before. They look light brown, but when
exposed to light, they seem to have a slight greenish tinge… They look like
the trees deep in the forest illuminated by the sun, doesn’t it?”

“Um… Er…”

“Your light brown hair is also very shiny and beautiful. Did you have a friend
braid it for you today?”

“Y-Yes. Um, Miss Lana Collette is very good at this kind of thing.”

“Yeah… it looks really good on you.”

When someone complimented her hair, she was happy because it was like a
compliment for Lana.

Monica giggled, her cheeks relaxing.

“…Eheehee… Thank you… very much…”

“Hmm, so you can even smile like that. Hey, can you show me more?”

Being stared at so closely, Monica felt embarrassed and lowered her eyes.
Then the scarf on Felix’s lapel caught her eye.

I think Lana had mentioned something about the embroidery, and it was
indeed quite intricate. If one looks at it from a distance, it’s not that
spectacular, but when one looked closer, it looks more luxurious and
intricates.
Monica loved to look at the beautiful patterns.

If I look at the pattern of this vine rose… I could think of it as a circle, and
since four circles are inscribed in another larger circle, with that
particular set of principles… along with the distance between roses…

“I think a green dress would look good on you. Something a little deeper, but
not too dark. Maybe a beautiful flower embroidery on the skirt would be
nice. Do you have a favorite flower?”

Two circles that do not intersect each other have two common tangents.
And each of them has the same distance… with that assumption… It can be
applied in multiple magic formulas with a wide range of magic
coordinates.

“Ah, autumn roses look good, too. It’s smaller and more elegant than the
large roses that bloom in summer. I think its calming color would suit you
better.”

The radius of the four circles is infinitesimal and the length of the tangent
line has an equal distance between them… but considering the
development of the scope of the wide-area magic formula…

The music stopped.

As Felix stopped his steps still supporting Monica’s body, Neil, who had
been watching the scene, clapped.

“Amazing! From halfway through, the dance became a proper dance! And
Miss Norton’s movements were more relax and less tense… It’s the best
dance I’ve ever seen!”

“Miss Norton was doing her best to learn the steps with her feet, but her
movements tended to be stiff and her tempo slipped because she was thinking
too hard.”

Felix said, looking into Monica’s face with a smile.

“I guess enjoying a good chat had allowed them to move on their own
devices without thinking about any unnecessary things, is that right?”

Upon being spoken to, Monica raised her head and looked around as if she
had just woken up from a dream.

“Ah… Um… Er…”

“Monica! Monica! You were dancing so well just now!”

Glenn, who had been watching Monica’s dance from halfway through,
praised her with a sparkle in his eyes, and Cyril nodded his head in
agreement, saying, “As expected of His Highness, his escorts was the best!”

Monica held both cheeks, like still fluttering in her dream.

“… I was able… to dance?”

“Yeah, you danced very well.”

At Felix nod, Monica’s face lit up.

She had a big smile on her face, something that Monica rarely shows, as she
usually keeps her head down and squirms.

“I… I just realized, the pattern on Your Highness’s scarf could be replaced
with a different set of patterns! And this set of patterns is very beautiful and
applicable in many ways. Just thinking about how to apply this helped me
stop thinking about unnecessary stuff!”

A heavy silence filled the dance room.

Like an innocent child, only Monica was the one who has sparkles in her
eyes.

Then, a kindhearted Neil interrupted her fearfully.

“Um… I think, in a roundabout way, that kind of thinking was the epitome you
were thinking of unnecessary things…”
“…ah.”

Monica’s smile stiffened as she slowly, slowly glanced over at Felix.

Felix was still smiling. Albeit, his blue eyes shone darkly.

“Was our little chat kind of unnecessary things for you, Miss Norton?”

“Um, er, well, I mean, it just…”

Monica paled quickly, clenched her fists, before shouting.

“The only reason I was able to dance so well was thanks to Your Highness’s
scarf!”

“You should have said, ‘Thanks to Your Highness!’ here”

Cyril’s angry voice echoed through the dance room.

Thus, Monica learned how to perform a dance without getting nervous by

immersing herself in her thoughts.

It should be noted that the pattern on Felix’s scarf, which Monica had been
gazing at intently, was accurately drawn before it shown to Lana, who was
greatly appreciative of the result.
 V4C5: Under the Surface Warfare

There are several tea rooms provided in the Serendia Academy. Among
them, there’s a private tea room that only a few special students can use,
which was now used as a location for today’s tea party.

The event was hosted by Bridget Graham, the daughter of Marquis Sheilbury,
the secretary of the student council.

And there was only one guest who was invited. He was the student council
president and also the second prince of the Kingdom of Ridill, Felix Ark
Ridill.

“I heard Miss Monica Norton has passed her ballroom dance re-
examination.”

After announcing that in a casual tone, Felix took a sip of the tea that had
been prepared.

Bridget, who was also elegantly sipping her tea, took the cup off her mouth
before putting it back on the saucer.

“That’s good to hear.”

“I thought you wanted Miss Norton to be failed. So I had assumed that you
would be happy to denounce her if she was failed.”

“Why would I be happy if there’s a failed member in our student council?”

A truly exemplary answer.

Bridget, one of the three most beautiful girls in the school, looked at Felix
inquiringly, wearing a thin smile on her beautiful face.
“Speaking of ballroom dancing… it brings back memories. Do you still
remember practicing ballroom dancing with me when we were a child?”

“And you’ve been an outstanding person since that time.”

“I remember that Your Highness was not very good at practicing dancing…
and kept apologizing for stepping on my feet.”

Bridget covered her mouth with her fan, peering her eyes at Felix… It was as
if she was trying to ascertain his reaction.

Felix gave her an embarrassed look as if he was ashamed of his poor

performance in the past.

“Suddenly you’re talking about the past. What’s the matter? It’s rare for you
to bring up this topic.”

“There are times when I reminisce of the good old memories.”

However, while the two seemed to be enjoying their conversation, a silent

battle was taking place under the surface.

Bridget Graham was a brilliant girl. She’s never dazzled by Felix’s good
looks and status, a woman who could not be swayed easily… ever since long
ago.

“I knew you were always a clever girl.”

“My father’s not too happy about it. He said women are better when they’re a
little dumb and lovable… do you think so, Your Highness?”

“I do prefer clever women.”

“My, I am flattered.”

Ho-ho-ho, Brigitte laughed with a beautiful smile that everyone could

admire, but her golden eyes remained cold.
The insincere compliments of Felix would never reach the heart of that
clever girl.

“By the way, does Miss Monica Norton fall into the category of a ‘smart
woman’ for you, Your Highness?”

“What do you think?”

Bridget attacked and Felix dodged her with a smile.

When Felix smiled at her, as if to say, “I’d love to hear your clever thoughts,”
Bridget lowered her long eyelashes and chose her words.

“As far as I’m concerned, she’s a scholar at heart. If she is given the proper
equipment, she would have produced outstanding results, but negotiating in
public could be her weak point. If Your Highness wanted to evaluate her,
there were other ways to do it without making her an officer of the student
council, weren’t there?”

Indeed, the girl in from of him was a clever woman.

In these situations, Bridget was able to see things logically rather than
emotionally, objectively rather than subjectively.

On top of that, Bridget was implying that Monica Norton was unfit to be a
student council member.

Her point was valid. Monica Norton would be an inadequate person to

represent the students. Aside from her paperwork skills, her conduct was too
disappointing.

Felix lifted the edge of his mouth slightly, narrowing his blue eyes slowly.

“When you look at her, do you ever think like… ‘Why am I unable to do
that?'”

Brigitte neither agreed nor denied but simply watched in silence, trying to
figure out Felix’s true intentions.
And Felix gave her a friendly smile.

“You must have thought it was as if you were looking at the old me, Bridget.”

Even after her name was called in a friendly manner, Bridget did not lose her
fixed smile.

Felix then put the cup back in the saucer and stood up.

It was still early, but spending his time with her this much should be enough.

“Thank you for the tea. I enjoyed our time together, Miss Graham.”

“Yes, it’s my pleasure… I really have to thank you for sparing your valuable
time with me, Your Highness.”

Bridget, who always smiling thoroughly, was an example of perfect young

lady who was faultless in every way.

＊ ＊ ＊

After leaving the tea room, Felix walked away, sighing.

…She’s still a stubborn young lady as always.

He might have spoken a little too much.

Reflecting, Felix casually glanced out the window before widening his eyes.

What is that…

He’s looking at Glenn who was working on something behind the school
building. There’s also Monica, Neil, and Lana who seemed to be helping
Glenn.
As he wondered what they were doing, Glenn set up a stone and placed an
iron net on top of it. He lit a fire under the net and began to lay down the meat
on the net.

Wah…

Felix who had intended to return to the dormitory halted and headed quickly
for the backyard.
 V4C6: Silent Witch Become
Ventilator Fan

To celebrate their success passing the dance re-examination, Glenn suggested

everyone to organizing a party.

“I’ll take care of the place and the food!” Glenn thumped his chest. Lana and
Neil thought it was going to be a tea party but the event was held in the
backyard, with lots of meat prepared. Even without telling them, they all
know how this will go.

“As I thought, grilling meat was the best way to celebrate!” said Glenn as he
quickly set up the stone and iron grill before starting to grill the meat.

Lana was more engrossed in this than expected. As the daughter of a wealthy
merchant, she curiously watched Glenn grilling the meat. If Lana didn’t stop
Glenn, Neil, and Monica, who were easily influenced, would simply watch
in silence.

“I guess these things are easier to make than I thought.”

“I somehow manage it with whatever I have on hand. Although portable grill

has good performance these days, they are a bit expensive for personal use.”

The meat was browning on the grill dripping with juice.

The juice dripping under the steel mesh crackled as the fire grew stronger.
Lana let out a small squeal of surprise, but Glenn flipped the meat as if he
was used to it.

“I think it looks pretty good.”

After adjusting the heat by moving the wood, Glenn distributed the skewered
meat to Monica, Lana, and Neil. He then picked up a skewered meat for
himself before holding it up.

“Okay, since everyone already got your own portions… so to celebrate

passing the re-examination for me and Monica… Let’s eat!”

With that, Glenn opened his big mouth and took a bite of the meat.

Lana was used to it, but Monica and Neil chewed their meat in a perplexed
manner.

The browned lamb had a slight odor, but the spices made it taste good. Even
Monica, who is not a fan of strong-smelling food, found it to be delicious.

“I… I’m not good with lamb meat… but, I think this is very good.”

Monica voiced her thoughts in a whisper, and Glenn snorted proudly.

“Hmmm… It was thanks to the secret spice of my Dudley family. You could
buy it in our stores, so please come visit us!”

After hearing Glenn done his advertising with a strong commercial spirit,
Neil then gave his honest opinion.

“In these days, obtaining spices have become easier in some areas. As my
parents live in the mountains, we still having trouble getting some of it. So,
instead of using spice, we tend to use herbs to remove the smell.”

“I also know a lot about herbs,” Neil said coquettishly, and Lana stopped
eating the skewers then added.

“From what I heard from my Father the amount trading has increased after
Southerndoll expanded their second and third ports. Also, since their
emperor empire in the east has been replaced, many turmoils have happened
while merchants are taking a wait-and-see attitude. Some of them are staying
in this kingdom’s ports near the empire.”
“Depending on the new policies they created, there is a possibility of
merchants flowing to the empire at once. I’ve heard that the current emperor
has innovated a lot of policies.”

As Monica listened to Lana and Neil’s conversation, she thought

absentmindedly.

Since the empire lifted the ban on medical magic, many magicians have been
flowing to the empire. Similarly, it won’t be long before merchants will also
flow to the Empire. Where people gather, commerce is born. And the empire
surely will grow even more in the future.

On the other hand, in the Kingdom of Ridill, a conflict has arisen between the
central nobles who desperately want to maintain the old system and the local
nobles. Furthermore, the factions have been divided into the First, Second,
and Third Prince factions.

The king sometimes mediated the conflict between the nobles, but for the
most part, he remained silent.

That sort of power struggle… I dislike it.

As one of the Seven Sages, Monica has been granted the right to meet and
speak directly with the king.

The Seven Sages sometimes serve as advisors to the king. In other words,
Monica can be directly involved in politics. However, Monica has no
interest in power or the future being of the country. The reason why she
became one of the Seven Sages was because of the recommendation of those
around her.

What Louis wants me to do, I wonder…

If he wanted to guard the second prince, he should have chosen someone

better suited for the job.

And yet, the fact that he sent such a poorly qualified Monica as his bodyguard
leads her to the worst possibility.
Don’t tell me… by sending me, a useless person, to the second prince, he
had planned to make him fall into his destruction.

What made Louis Miller was frightening was because that kind
of”possibility” could happen.

As Monica shivered, remembering Louis’ wicked smile, Glenn glanced at

Monica’s face.

“Monica, your hand has stopped eating! You are too small, you need to eat
more!”

“Ah, I’m sorry…”

Monica’s hands were sticky with the juice from the meat because she had
been absentmindedly holding the skewers vertically. She hurriedly wiped it
off with a handkerchief, then Lana exasperatedly said…

“Hold the skewer horizontally. If you hold it vertically, the juice will drip
down on your hand.”

“I-I will… You seem pretty knowledgeable about it, Lana…”

“My hometown often organizing many festivals, so the culture of eating and
drinking is rather well established. Well, many people who grew up in the
capital are not like that, though.”

Monica, who had grown up in the capital, was shocked. And she was not
accustomed to the culture of eating outside.

What if she were going to ask me further about that, Monica worried
inwardly, but Lana didn’t pry any further, only looked at the skewer seriously
before muttering…

“I’ve found many roasted chestnuts and fruit stalls around the capital, but not
for grilled meat. I think it would be very popular if we set up such stalls
here… but the regulations here were very strict, so I don’t think it would
easy to open some store or stall or something…”
Monica just recently realized that Lana was not only knowledgeable about
popular things but also has a strong business spirit.

Such an unexpected side of a person cannot be easily understood until you

talk to them in person.

In the past, when she was attending the magician training institute, Minerva,
Monica refused to socialize or to get to know other people. She even thought
that such things were “useless”.

Back then, she had never imagined that the day would come when she would
secretly grill meat in the backyard like this and eat it with someone else.

Although Lana has a lot of pride, she actually cares for others. She also has a
penchant for trendy things.

Glenn was a little too free-spirited, but he’s surprisingly observant and
caring, despite his clumsiness.

Neil was easily influenced, but he was a kind person who would do
everything he could to help when asked.

The meat tastes delicious.

Monica’s mouth broke into a smile and she nibbled on the meat with
happiness.

Having finished the meat twice as fast as Monica, Glenn then happily began
to grill the next batch of meat.

Seeing this, Neil exclaimed, “You’re still going to eat?” while widening his
eyes.

“I haven’t eaten enough!”

“I think I’ve had my fill!”

As Neil held his stomach, Glenn sniffed with excitement.

“You need to eat more to grow!”

“I had a feeling you did just call me short? You did, didn’t you?”

Glenn finched after being pressed with a blank expression by Nell. Another
new side of him was revealed.

Looking at their exchange, Monica and Lana were laughing…

“Hey, you look like you’re having fun.”

Everyone held their tongue and looked back at the voice.

Standing there unaccompanied was the student council president, Felix Ark
Ridill.

Neil’s face paled quickly.

“Um, President, you know, we’re just…”

“Geez… brazenly violating school rules, with two two student council
members at that.”

When Felix let out a lamenting sigh, Glenn bravely held up a skewer and
countered.

“There’s no school rule that says you can’t grill meat in the back of the
school building!”

“According to Chapter 3 of the school rules, it is prohibited to cause

disturbance to the scenery of the school building.”

“What does it mean to cause disturbance to the scenery?”

Ignoring Glenn’s question, Felix added with a smile.

“Also, if you’re going to create a fire outside of the designated areas, you
need to apply a permit to the student council.”

“Then, since you, the president, is here, I guess there’s no problem!

President! Please grant us permission!”

It was refreshing to see how he kept his own pace.

As everyone looking around in suspense, Felix folded his arms fixing his
gaze on Glenn.

“You’re supposed to apply for those things with proper forms at least one
day in advance.”

“Is that so? Oh, would you like one too, President?”

With a fluid gesture, Glenn offered Felix a skewered meat.

How fearless! While Neil and Monica gasped, Felix stared at the skewered
meat, and…

“Yeah, I think I’ll have some.”

…picked up that skewer.

“You are going to eat it?” Neil screamed in a small voice. Monica seconded.

Monica had thought Felix would throw the meat away in front of Glenn, but
contrary to her expectations, Felix dexterously took a bite of the meat on the
skewer. Unlike Monica, he didn’t hold the skewer vertically letting the juice
drip on his hands.

“Yep, it’s delicious. I like the way it’s spiced up.”

After finishing the meat on the skewer, Felix looked at Neil and Monica, who
were stunned, and gave them a wink.

“Now I’m an accomplice. Will you keep quiet about this?”

Neil and Monica nodded furiously in silence.

Glenn smiled pleasantly.

“There’s still more, so feel free to have some! I’d also like to thank you for
helping me dance! …oh, by the way, do you want to invite the vice president
too?”

“”Don’t do that, please!””

Monica and Neil shouted in unison.

If Cyril Ashley, a very sensitive and nerve-racking person, were to see this
situation, he would obviously yell at them with bloodshot eyes.

In order to prevent the smell of grilling meat and smoke from flowing into the
school building, Monica secretly adjusted the direction of the wind with her
no-chant magic.

For now, she wanted to spend this happy time undisturbed.

 Characters Introduction 2

Characters Up Until Now

Format: Name (Age)

★ Main Cast
Monica Norton (17)

The youngest among the Seven Sages, Silent Witch, with her no-chant spell
user. Extremely bad at socializing. Bad at physical activities.

Nero (Cannot be determined)

Monica’s familiar. A multitalented black cat that sensitive to mana, can

transform into a human, and making a sexy pose.

★ Student Council Members

Felix Ark Ridill (18)

The second prince of Ridill Kingdom. Student council president at Serendia

Academy. Clouded with many mysterious things.

Cyril Ashley (18)

The (adoptive) eldest son of the house of Marquis Highon. Student council
vice president. Ice spell user. Had a constitution that easily absorbs mana.

Bridget Graham (18)

The daughter of Marquis Shellbury. Secretary of the student council. A
talented woman who is good at languages. Felix’s childhood friend.

Elliot Howard (18)

The eldest son of Count Dusrvy. Secretary of the student council. A young
man who is obsessed with his status. Even you hate him, please don’t hate his
droopy eyes.

Noel Grey Maywood (17)

The eldest son of Bron Maywood. General affairs manager at student

council. A good-natured boy which easily influenced by others. He’s kind but
‘short’ is his taboo word.

★ Characters at the academy

Lana Collete (17)

The daughter of a baron. Her father was a wealthy merchant and knew all the
latest trends. Like his father, she has a strong business spirit.

Glenn Dudley (17)

A transfer student who entered the school at the same time as Monica. He is
the son of a butcher who is an apprentice magician. He seems to have a scary
master.

Isabelle Norton (16)

The daughter of Count Kerbeck. A collaborator of Monica’s, she is

constantly training to become a villainess.

★ Other characters
Will (Late 20?)
Felix’s personal servant. Usually in lizard form, hiding in the pocket of
Felix’s uniform.

Louis Miller (27)

One of the Seven Sages, Barrier Magician, Shappy man who soon-to-be dad.

Rosalia Miller (27)

Shappy man’s wife. Having a headache from her husband’s

overprotectiveness.

Lindberghfield (cannot be determined)

A higher spirit of the wind who signed a contract with Louis. A beautiful
woman in a maid’s uniform. Had weird vocabulary and common sense.

Emanuel Darwin

Jewel Magician, one of the Seven Sages who appeared in name only.
According to Louis, he’s “a gold-digging baboon geezer.”
 V5C1: For the future, which will
come one day

Serendia Academy has several unique curriculums for nobles that were not
found in general schools.

One such class was the “tea ceremony” course, which was only attended by
girls.

For ladies belonging to the nobility, a tea party was not just a time for
pleasant conversation. It’s also a social occasion where one’s dignity was
tested by how well one entertains or is entertained by guests.

In the tea ceremony course, the students were thoroughly drilled on the
etiquette there before performing the practical lessons.

The practical lessons were held in the courtyard in the form of a tea party.

Four or five girls of the same grade would form a group and sit at one table.
Each student would bring a cup of tea to share with the other students, who
would then evaluate the tea.

However, since the teacher would set specific sweets in advance, students
were demanded to serve the tea to match it, in other words, the course was
starting from when they begin to prepare it.

In the tea ceremony course, they had been assigned to prepare their own tea
leaves, but they usually have their servants buy it for them in most cases.

However, Monica had no idea where to even buy one, so after much
worrying, she decided to turn to the self-proclaimed villainess, Miss Isabelle
Norton.
Once Monica went to Isabelle’s room, Isabelle happily offered Monica a
seat and prepared tea and sweets for her.

When Monica explained the situation while munching on a cookie with plenty
of sugar sprinkled around it, Isabelle nodded her head and patted her chest
confidently. Her gesture was quite vigorous which unbefitting that of a young
lady.

“If that’s the case, please leave it to me, Big Sister Monica! I’ll do my best to
help you get through the class safely!”

“T-Thank you very much…”

As Monica bowing her head, Isabelle’s maidservant, Agatha, interrupted her

as she poured tea into her cup.

“If that’s the case, please allow me to teach you how to make tea. Actually, it
would be better if I could go to your place and teach you directly, but… that
would contradict the setting where Lady Monica is being tormented by the
Kerbeck family.”

Students were allowed to brew their own tea or have a servant brew it for
them in the course. However, it’s common practice to have a servant prepare
the tea for them in most cases. Those who make their own tea were looked
down upon as third-rate nobles who can’t bring their own servants.

But in Monica’s case, she was supposed to be tormented by the daughter of

Count Kerbeck, so it would be unnatural if Isabelle’s maidservant went
directly to help her.

“P-Please give me some guidance…”

Monica bowed deeply to Agatha, which then she said, “It’s okay, just lift
your head!” to stop her bow with a laugh.

Isabelle, as well as Agatha, was a very thoughtful young lady and

maidservant. Though they were a bit hard to get close to when they were
acting like the villainess.
“In that case, what kind of tea would you like to serve, Big Sister Monica?
Do they set any specific type of confections?”

“Y-Yes… I-It’s butter cake.”

Isabelle nodded her head and put her fingers on her chin, thinking about
something.

Choosing the right tea to match with the confections was also part of the
lessons. However, Monica was not used to eating tea or confections. She
was more used to drinking coffee because of her father’s influence.

“Um… do you have any suggestion about tea that would match the butter
cake?”

“If it just a simple cake with butter, most basic teas will work well. It may be
better to enjoy the cake with a slightly astringent or savory flavor rather than
a light one. Milk tea is also not a bad idea, but… let me tell you, Big Sister
Monica…”

Isabel trailed off and looked at Monica with a serious face then said firmly.

“The combination of tea and confections is a matter of personal preference,

and there is no definite right answer. However… some combinations will
definitely end up with the wrong answer!”

What does it mean that there is no right answer but some will end up with the
wrong answer?

As Monica was confused, Isabelle spoke up.

“That… was to serve the same thing on the same table…”

“Ah…”

The practice lesson was held in groups of several people, and each person
brought their own tea. It’s certainly not a good idea to have the same kind of
tea served at the same table.
“It is especially bad if you served the same thing as someone who is in a
higher position than you. Strictly speaking, the dress, hairstyle, and
accessories that you wear to the tea party should be trendy but different, so
you should put some thought into it… But since you will wear uniform in the
lesson, let’s just think about the tea leaves for now!”

I had to think even that…? thought Monica in a shudder.

As a Seven Sages, the only gathering Monica attended was the Conference of
the Seven Sages, which was held only for the Seven Sages, and the dress
code was basically robed, so she only had to wear the robes provided by the
kingdom. Granted, Monica had never worried about her attire at social
gatherings.

This tea party for aristocratic ladies was likely more nerve-wracking than
Monica had imagined.

“The best way to do it was to investigate the people in your group before
thinking about the tea you will serve at the lessons… So, how many people
are in your group, Big Sister Monica?”

“Um… Including me, there are four people… one of them is from my class…
She is Miss Lana Collete… as for the other two… they are from the other
class… so I don’t know them very well…”

During joint practice with other classes, they will be assigned to form groups
with those who were close to them.

However, Monica’s unsociable trait made it impossible for her to talk to

anyone other than Lana. As for Lana herself treated as a bit of an outsider in
the class, she has no other girls she was close to.

As a result, they were put in the same group as the remaining students by the
teacher.

One of them was Casey, a brown-haired young lady with a vivacious air.

While the other was Claudia, a calm, dark-haired beauty.

After a brief greeting on the first day, the meeting was dismissed and they
hardly had a chance to talk.

“Then, deciding the tea in advance would prove more difficult.”

“S-Sorry…”

Lana would probably be able to provide her the details, but Monica didn’t
have any courage to directly ask the two girls, whom she barely knew.

Furthermore, she didn’t know their family ranks of the two girls, so if
Monica were to speak to them, she might be perceived as being unpolite.
Among the nobility, a person of a lower rank to casually talk to a person of a
higher rank was taboo.

“In that case, I will provide you with several kinds of tea. At a tea party,
those with the highest status are served first, so it’s likely you would be
served in last. That way, you can easily make sure that your choice of tea
won’t clash with anyone.”

“T-Thank you very much…”

Monica bowed her head, slumping her shoulders then let out a deep sigh.

“This tea party thing is so hard, isn’t it…”

When Monica looked unsure of herself, Isabelle also let out a sigh with a
troubled face.

“I wish my knowledge would be useful to you… I apologize for my

inexperience… but If you wanted to learn how to act like a villainess, I could
teach you all you need to know!”

“I-I’m fine…”

Even if it is passed down to her, she will never have the chance to use it.
Absolutely not.
Monica gave a wry smile, and Agatha, Isabelle’s maidservant, advised her
with a very serious face.

“My Lady, there may be an occasion in the future when Miss Monica will
have to face a villainess other than you. For that occasion, how about
teaching her about the behavior of a villainess now?”

“…eh?”

As Monica was twitching with a stiff expression, Isabelle’s put her hands on
her face, saying “Wonderful!”

“Yes, that’s a good idea! Big Sister Monica is my heroine! I’m sure there
will come a time when some other villainess will invite her to tea parties
and tormented her!”

She sincerely wished to spare herself from such a future. As much as she
desired it, she knew she could not say it in her current situation.

After all, having been elected to the student council as soon as she
transferred to the school, and having her dance rehearsals watched by the
same student council members, Monica has made enemies with the majority
of the female students. The only people in her grade who would treat her
normally were Lana, Glenn, and Neil.

Now, the eyes of the people around Monica can be generally divided into
two types.

Those who despise Monica and show hostility towards her, and those who
look at her from afar as some kind of uncanny person.

No one has called her out to the back of the school building or hidden her
personal belongings yet, but many times she has been sarcastically remarked
on as she passes by or giggled at from afar.

“Now. I will explain to you the behavioral patterns of villainesses, in case

you come face to face with a true villainess someday.”

They say that the first step to fight your enemy is to understand your enemy.
Knowing what would a villainess do here, might come in handy one day.

if possible, I really don’t want that day to come…

As Monica straightened her back to listen intently to Isabelle’s speech—in an

instant.

“Ohohoho!”

Isabelle put her hand over her mouth, puffed her chest out, and smiled loftily.

Hearing her voice, Monica’s shoulders jerked, and Isabelle pulled back her
high-pitched laugh and straightened her posture.

“First of all, this is the basic move of a villainess. A high-pitched laugh. By

laughing like this, you can intimidate and check your opponent, and at the
same time, you can regain control of the situation!”

“C-Can a high-pitched laugh have such an effect?”

To Monica’s great surprise, Isabelle nodded plausibly.

“However, if you use it too often, the effect will fade, so use it only with the
right timing.”

Right, the timing of using special moves is important, apparently.

As Monica was nodding her head, Isabelle unfolded her fan in front of her.

“And basic move number two! ‘Snicker silently’!”

In a fluid motion, Isabelle held the fan to her mouth to show the other person
that she was laughing at them as if she were making fun of them.

No matter how you look at it, her haughty laughter, which showed how much
she looked down on the other person, will put shame on an actress’s
performance on a stage.
“Normally, covering your mouth with a fan when laughing is proper etiquette,
but in this case, I deliberately lowered the fan a little to show my mouth to
the other person. By doing so, I could blatantly show that I am mocking the
other person!”

How detailed, Monica thought in shock.

She never thought such minor details would have such effects!

“Of course, you can also hide your mouth with a fan and giggle to create a
sarcastic effect. You should use different methods according to the character
of the young lady.”

“I-I see… t-this is so profound.”

“Yes, the more I try to master it, the more I realize how deep it goes.”

Just to make sure, they’re talking about villainess.

Thus, the villainess course, which was far more intensive than the tea
brewing course, continued until late at night.

It should be added here that Miss Isabelle Norton was the top student in the
tea party course of the first year of high school.
 V5C2: A Lively Young Lady

The joint tea ceremonies practical lesson involving the second year of high
school was held in the form of a tea party with several tables set up in the
courtyard.

In this tea party, the guests to be served tea in the tea party were lounging on
the first floor of the school building.

For those who have servants, the servants will brew the tea here, but in
Monica’s case, she has to brew it herself.

Since Monica would be the last one to serve tea, she had to leave in the
middle of the tea ceremony and brew tea in this preparation room, but she
couldn’t carry a can of tea leaves to the tea ceremony. So, she decided to
bring the cans into the preparation room instead.

In the preparation room, a number of servants were already preparing the tea.
Almost no one was wearing a uniform.

Monica awkwardly sneaked into the preparation room and looked for a place
to put the can of tea leaves.

Um, somewhere where I won’t get mixed up with other people’s stuff…

As she was scurrying around the preparation room, someone tapped Monica
on the shoulder.

“Hey.”

“Y-Y-Yeeessh…?”
When Monica turned around with a jittery look on her face, one of the girls
was looking at Monica with a slightly surprised look. Perhaps she was
surprised by Monica’s exaggerated reaction.

The person who tapped Monica on the shoulder was a lively girl with light
brown hair. Her face was somewhat familiar to Monica.

I think she is…

As Monica struggled to remember her name, the brown-haired girl’s face lit
up when she saw Monica’s face.

“Oh, I knew it! You must be Miss Monica Norton from the next class. I’m
Casey Groove. We’re in the same group today. Do you remember me?”

Actually, Monica couldn’t remember her name very well, but she nodded her
head.

“P-Please take care of me today, Lady Groove.”

“You don’t have to be so formal about it. Just call me Casey. Do you mind if I
call you Monica too?”

As Monica blushed and nodded, Casey said, “Thanks!” Smiled pleasantly,

flashing her white teeth.

Compared to the other young ladies, she was much frank and easy-going.

Casey turned her attention to the can of tea in Monica’s arms.

“Did you come to drop off your cans, too? Me too.”

Casey lightly shook the light blue can in her hand. She could hear the tea
leaves rustling in the can.

“I guess everyone sends their servants to make tea for them, after all. My
family is a poor noble family in the countryside, so I didn’t bring any
servants with me.”
Indeed, Casey had no makeup and her hair was simply tied up in a bun. Her
scarf and gloves were also simple and unadorned. She looked almost the
same as Monica.

She may not be incredibly beautiful, but she has a charming personality. She
has a lively smile unlike a young lady, which was pleasing to the eye.

Casey put the can of tea leaves on the shelf and put a piece of paper with her
name written underneath. That way, she wouldn’t have to worry about her
stuff being mistaken for someone else’s.

“Do you want some, Monica? I still have some extra paper.”

“T-Thank you…”

Monica took the paper hesitantly, thought about it for a moment, and then
folded the edges of the paper several times to make a bellows-like crease.

This way, even without writing the name as Casey did, the distinctive fold at
the edge of the paper would serve as a marker.

Monica placed a piece of paper with the edges folded underneath and placed
three tea cans on top of it. This way, no one would mistake her thing for
someone else’s.

“Did you prepare three kinds of tea leaves?”

When Casey looked at Monica’s can, she widened her eyes.

Monica fidgeted her fingers then she answered.

“I-I just didn’t want my choice to overlap with anyone else.”

Casey clapped her hands in admiration at Monica’s answer.

“Oh, I see… I didn’t realize there was such a possibility. Oh no, I hadn’t
even thought about what would happen if my choice overlap. You’re so
smart.”
“I-I’m not…”

It was Miss Isabelle who gave her the idea of what to do when her choice
was overlapped.

While thanking Miss Isabelle inwardly once again, Monica asked her the
thing that had been bothering her.

“Oh, um, I think there’s another person in our group…”

“Do you mean Miss Claudia?”

“Y-Yes. Do you know what kind of tea did she prepare?”

She had confirmed Lana’s tea in advance. She was also able to confirm what
Casey prepared at this moment.

That left only one person remaining. It was the black-haired Miss Claudia.

Since Claudia was in the same class as Casey, Monica asked her in the hope
to know what kind of tea Claudia prepared, but… Casey shook her head
dejectedly.

“Well, I’m sorry. She never talks at all in class. So I have no idea what’s she
thinking.”

Trailing off there, Casey furrowed her brow and muttered bitterly.

“I mean, there is no one in our class who had ever talked to her before.”

“…?”

Unsure of the meaning of Casey’s words, Monica looked worried, but Casey
smiled encouragingly at her.

“Well, let’s do our best today!”

“Y-Yes… p-please take care of me…”

Casey was easy to talk to, a friendly young lady, she might even be a good
friend to Lana.

And yet, she felt strangely anxious about the tea party she was about to
attend.

What kind of person is Miss Claudia?

D-Don’t tell me… S-She’s like Miss Isabelle said… a villainous

daughter…!?

While wondering what would happen if she gave her a high-pitched laugh
when they met.

Anyway, I have to face it with a strong heart… thought Monica while gulped
in secret.
 V5C3: Silence Is Gold

Under a pleasant autumn sky, a gorgeous tea party was being held in the
courtyard.

Even though it was a practical lesson, Serendia Academy has met up its
expectation as a prestigious academy. The table arrangements were top-
notch, and each table was decorated with beautiful flowers, an assortment
that could be compared to a tea party at the royal palace. If it weren’t for the
students in their uniforms, she might have thought it was a hall in a royal
palace.

The girls were happily talking to each other while savoring the tea they had
brought.

When the teacher came to do grading, the girls would start to discuss tea, tea
utensils, and seasonal flowers, but once the teacher left the table, the topic
would change to recent fads and gossip about their love life.

Particularly, the topic they brought up in their discussions was mostly thing
related to the student council president, Felix Ark Ridill.

“I’m sure His Highness will choose his fiance during his studies.”

“Who would be the most suitable, I wonder.”

“I’ve heard he’s very close to Lady Eliane.”

“I think Lady Bridget, who is also a member of the student council, would be
a perfect match for him.”

The names they gave for the second prince’s potential fiance were all
daughters who were at the top of this school.
And yet, somewhere in the back of their minds, they were fantasizing about
being chosen as the prince’s fiance.

It’s something that every female student at this school dreams about at least
once. How wonderful it would be if that beautiful face smiled at them, or if
he reaches his hand out to them!

While these girls fantasizing about that, they would also satisfy their pride by
citing and looking down on the most unworthy girl for their prince.

“Right, speaking of the same student council members… did you hear about
that girl?”

When one of the daughters spoke in the lowered voice behind her fan, the
other daughters’ eyes naturally turned stern.

That girl—the girl who was elected to the student council despite being a
transfer student. Monica Norton.

“I’ve heard that His Highness has been giving her some dance lessons.”

“I saw her too! I heard she was dancing with Lord Ashley!”

“Who does she think she is, asking His Highness and Lord Ashley to teach
her how to dance?”

“She must have been some conceited country girl who forced His Highness
to help her.”

“That girl doesn’t even have a servant to make her tea. Does she not have any
shame?”

“Just watch her. I’m sure she’ll embarrass herself in this class.”

Hiding their malice under their beautiful fans, those young ladies giggled at
each other.
＊ ＊ ＊

The table where Monica was seated was filled with an odd atmosphere.

Rather, one girl was creating that odd atmosphere. The culprit, surprisingly,
was not Monica. It also was not Lana and Casey.

It was Miss Claudia, the most high-ranking person in the group.

Claudia was a very beautiful girl.

She had straight black hair and beautiful eyes that looked like they were
made of lapis lazuli. Her face looked like a masterpiece that God had
painstakingly created, and her beauty was no less than that of the student
council secretary, Miss Bridget.

If Bridget, with her golden hair and amber eyes, has a beauty that of a
gorgeous, large-flowered rose, then Claudia was an iris flower of mystical
beauty.

Such a stunningly beautiful young lady somehow had a gloomy air about her,
as if her relatives had died.

Eventually, Claudia’s maidservant handed out enough tea for everyone, and
Claudia said with an eerie smile on her pale, lifeless face.

“…Please. Help. Yourself.”

She smiled like a wicked witch offering poisoned tea to a good person who
knows nothing about it.

But the next moment, Claudia’s face became expressionless as if a thread had
been cut. Despite her expressionlessness, the gloom and lassitude that she
conveyed were strangely palpable.

Monica’s worries about what would happen if someone laughed at her when
they met were unfounded.
In the first place, this gloomy young lady has neither the energy nor the
motivation to smile cheerfully. Her attitude was as if she found it too much
trouble to even speak.

Though Monica was said to be a gloomy girl, Claudia was nothing compared
to her.

In Monica’s case, it was due to her fear of strangers and inability to talk, but
Claudia deliberately exuded a gloomy aura from her entire body that made it
difficult to talk to her.

That’s why the atmosphere at this table was heavy and gloomy.

Monica, Lana, and Casey all drank the tea that was prepared for them in
silence.

The tea had a nice aroma. However, due to the strange tension, she could
barely taste it.

Ugh… this makes me feels uneasy…

“This tea is so good! Hey, which tea leaves do you use?”

The heavy silence was cheerfully broken by Casey, a lively young lady from
the next class.

Sensing the subtlety of the situation, Casey smiled and spoke to Claudia in an
effort to keep the mood alive.

“…It’s the most popular tea in the kingdom. I don’t think you need to ask.”

“………”

Casey’s dimples tensed as she smiled.

This time, Lana said in a particularly cheerful voice.

“H-Hey, I actually like milk tea. Do you have any milk?”

“…I’m not a fan of milk tea. Are you so stupid that you cannot understand
that with your tongue?”

“………”

Lana’s dimples tensed as she smiled.

The atmosphere in that place was getting worse and worse.

Monica’s lips quivered as she sipped her tea, which she could barely taste.

Then, with an awkward air, Casey, who was second in order, excused herself
to bring the tea she had brewed and distribute it to everyone.

Following her was a brightly colored tea prepared by Lana, the third in
order. It was refreshing and had a fruity sweetness and freshness to it.

“Miss Colette’s tea is delicious. It feels refreshing. I like it.”

Monica nodded in agreement with Casey’s words, and Lana put her cup in
her saucer with a look of pride on her face.

“Well, I’ve ordered the finest tea of the season, of course.”

Then, Lana gave a glance at Claudia. It was probably a retort to Claudia,

who had prepared a plain tea.

The strong-willed Lana did not like Claudia’s attitude and had been poking at
her for some time now.

Monica could only watch on in flustered. Casey, the thoughtful one, somehow
managed to keep the conversation going by appeasing Lana and changing the
subject.

In the first place, the highest-ranking person is supposed to preside over such
a tea party. Monica didn’t know Claudia’s identity, but judging from the order
in charge of serving the tea, she was higher than Casey from the count’s
family and Lana from the baron’s family.
In other words, Claudia should be the one to provide the topic and organize
the whole situation.

However, Claudia, who was the heart of the matter, was indifferent, and
when she opened her mouth occasionally, all she did was spoke nastily. It’s
hard to have a conversation with her.

“…if it started with the strongest flavors tea, it will numb the tongue.”

Suddenly, Claudia blurted out.

Monica remembered the taste of the tea that Claudia had prepared and
surprised.

A tea with a familiar flavor that doesn’t have any strong traits… Did she
offer it as the first one, so as not to numb the tongue?

Lana and Casey noticed the same thing and looked at Claudia with
astonishment.

Having attracted so much attention, Claudia sipped the tea that Lana had
prepared, looking as if she didn’t care what she said.

“Flourendia’s Golden Chips… This is the most valuable tea you can get this
season.”

“T-That’s right.”

When Lana bickered with her, Claudia still did not look at Lana but lowered
her eyelashes then muttered.

“If this had been an occasion to entertain a distinguished guest, it would have
been the best choice… obviously inappropriate at this gathering, though.”

“Wha—!?”

“If only one person brings in an extremely valuable tea… the other
participants might feel insulted.”
Shaking and shivering, Lana’s flushed red face turned pale.

Then, Casey called out to Lana in a panic.

“D-Don’t worry, I never think that way! Right, Monica?”

“Yes, she’s right… I also never think that way!”

As Monica struggled to squeeze out her voice, Claudia slowly turned her
head to look at Monica.

Her doll-like blue eyes projected Monica’s reflection without blinking.

“…If the daughter of the count says so, I have no choice but to agree..”

“Fueh!?”

The way she said it, it sounded as if Monica nodded because Casey had
prompted her to.

Monica half-cried, shaking her head.

“N-No… I-I just…”

As Monica sobbed, Lana slammed the desk with her palm.

“Enough! Could you please stop with that attitude?! All you do when you
open your mouth is sarcasm! The most inappropriate person at this table is
you!”

Even though Lana shouted at her bravely, Claudia did not move an eyebrow.
On the contrary, she looked away, as if Lana was not worth looking at.

“…You think you’re worthy enough to make others speak to you.”

“Hah!?”

As Lana raised her eyebrows and glared at Claudia, Claudia paused for a
few seconds and then opened her mouth languidly.
“…Have you ever heard of [Silent Witch]?”

Of course, she knew, that person herself was already in front of you.

Monica’s heart nearly stopped. Maybe it even stopped for a second.

“She is a genius magician who became the Seventh Sage at the tender age of
fifteen. She had mastered the art of chantless magic, and in addition, had
developed more than two dozen new magic formulas during her time at
Minerva… however, she’s famous for never having attended a conference.”

It was because she was afraid of crowded places and had to run for her life.

“…furthermore, [Silent Witch] never uttered a single word during the

ceremony when she was inaugurated as the Seven Sages.”

This was due to her shyness and social anxiety issues as well.

Because Monica was so useless, her colleague Louis Miller, [Barrier

Magician], took over all the greetings.

While Monica was sweating coldly, remembering the past, Claudia continued
her words without hesitation.

“…Have you ever read the article on [Silent Witch]? If you read it, you’ll
understand her personality… She’s a very intelligent and wise person. I’m
sure she knew the value of silence.”

I’m not intelligent or wise at all, I’m just a shy and gloomy person… I’m
sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…!

Sitting beside Monica who had turned pale and was shaking uncontrollably,
Lana glared at Claudia without hiding her displeasure.

“Oh, so you’re saying that intelligent people don’t talk to stupid people?”

Hiiiek, no… you’re wrong… I didn’t mean it like that…!

Lana’s remark was directed at Claudia, not at [Silent Witch], but Monica
shrank back in fear.

Claudia only glanced at Monica, as if she didn’t even hear what Lana said.

“That reminds me, [Silent Witch]’s name is Monica Everett… just like you,
Monica Norton.”

Monica cowered.

The sound of her heart was pounding loudly. Her unpleasant sweat kept
flowing out.

With her eyes fixed on Monica, Claudia spoke up.

“You’ve been quiet for a while now because you don’t want to talk to an
idiot, do you?”

“I-I-I-I will… e-excuse myself… to prepare the teeh…”

Monica stood up, got out of her seat to flee from that place.

And Claudia’s blue eyes kept staring at that small back of her.

No one noticed that since the beginning of this tea party, Claudia, who had
always had a downcast look, had only looked at one person.
V5C4: A Cup of An Unfitting Drink

As she walked quickly through the corridor, Monica squeezed her heart,
which was racing, over her uniform.

Don’t tell me… don’t tell me she’s noticed? She’s noticed that I’m the
Silent Witch…

After becoming one of the Seven Sages, she had mostly kept her face hidden,
so the only people who knew Monica’s face were her fellow Seven Sages.

Or perhaps they were acquaintances from her days at Minerva? But Monica,
who was extremely socially awkward, was mostly confined herself inside
the lab, and if she had seen a beautiful woman as conspicuous as Claudia
somewhere, she would remember her for sure.

I-It’s just a coincidence… right…?

It just happened that she brought that topic up. It must be.

Telling herself as much, Monica opened the door to enter the preparation
room. Compared to before the tea ceremony has started, there were fewer
people. Almost all the maids were probably out serving the guests at the tea
ceremony.

Slightly relieved by the least number of people, Monica turned to the shelf
where she had placed her cans before.

“Huh…?”

Looking up at the shelf, Monica stiffened. Monica’s can of tea leaves were
missing.
Casey’s can of tea leaves was in the same position as Monica remembered.
But the space next to it, where Monica had placed her cans, was empty.

She was certain, though, that she had laid out a folded paper and put three
cans on top of it.

Feeling a bad premonition, Monica’s blood drained from her body.

This was not the first time Monica had been faced with this kind of situation.
Just like what she had guessed.

With trembling hands, Monica lifted the lid of the trash can.

“…ah.”

Mixed in with the used tea husks and empty cans, were unused tea leaves
strewn all over in the trash. she also found her folded paper.

“How could my…”

Monica crouched down on the spot helplessly. Without the tea leaves, she
would not be able to make tea. This means she can’t continue her lesson.

What should I do…?

Tears slowly welled up in her eyes. No matter how good a magician Monica
might be, she can’t rewind time.

As she swallowed a sob and sniffled, she heard a familiar voice behind her.

“What’s wrong, Monica? Are you not feeling well?”

Casey kneeled down beside Monica and rubbed her back.

When Monica asked her in a faint voice why she was here, Casey scratched
her cheek with a complicated look.

“I was worried about you because you hadn’t come back, so I came to check
on you… guess not. Sorry, to be honest, it was hard for me to stay there…”
Well, she apparently couldn’t stand the tense atmosphere between Lana and
Claudia and slipped out of her seat under the pretense of going to check on
Monica.

Casey looked at the tea leaves strewn all over in the trash can and seemed to
grasp the situation. She furrowed her brow and stared at the trash can.

“Horrible… who would do such things?”

Casey then wiped Monica’s tears with a handkerchief and spoke to her in a
gentle tone, as if she were a young child.

“Hey, do you have any spare tea leaves in the dorm? I think you could serve
some tea you usually drink…”

“I don’t have any…”

Since Monica did not drink tea in general, she never stocked it up.

If she asked Miss Isabelle, she might be willing to share it again, but she’s in
the middle of her class now.

While Monica sniffled softly, Casey thought for a moment before taking her
own tea can.

“Just use my tea leaves. I know this means we’ll serve the same type of tea,
but better than ending up with nothing to serve.”

“But… I-I can’t trouble you…”

If they serve the same tea, it will be evaluated as a lack of prior preparation.

Then, not only Monica, but Casey would receive a point deduction as well.

But Casey was just as nonchalant, waving her hands dismissively.

“Don’t worry about that. I don’t care what kind of tea is served at a tea party,
as long as it’s tasty and enjoyable, then that’s all that matters.”
Stopping her sniffling, Monica then looked at the tea leaves in the trash can.

Casey was certainly right. Most importantly, if she returned to the tea party
without being able to prepare the tea, she might fail her lesson.

But…

Monica clenched her fists and stood up on shaky legs.

She then turned around before running out of the preparation room.

“Monica! Where are you going?!”

“I-I’m sorry, I’ll be back soon!”

After left saying that Monica started running off to her room in the dormitory.

＊ ＊ ＊

Lana stared at Claudia in annoyance as she bit on the butter cake.

Claudia seemed to be staring at the departing Monica, but the atmosphere

returned to gloom as soon as she was out of sight.

Her long black eyelashes lowered as she stared at her cup of tea, making her
beauty look so delicate. And yet, the gloom and unapproachability she
exuded were amazing in their own way.

What is this? What is this? What is this…?

Lana bit her lip then looked down at the cup of tea she had served.

Although wealthy, Lana’s father was not born noble. Even he was from a
wealthy merchant family, because of his contributions to the development of
the city, he was given a peerage shortly before Lana was born.
Lana had been raised with the finest luxuries and trendy dresses for as long
as she could remember.

Everyone said Lana was a “blessed young lady.”

But Lana was lonely.

Among the children of families without titles, the blessed Lana always felt
out of place. She didn’t fit in well with the other children and was accused of
bragging about her riches.

That’s why she thought she would be able to make friends similar to her own
if she entered Serendia Academy where most of the noble children attended.

However, in a school where lineage and prestige matter, Lana was treated as
the daughter of a wealthy family with no refinement. To top it all off, her
father was accused of having bought his title with money.

You have no sense of decency, no sense of manners, no understanding of the

unspoken rules of nobility… The more someone said those words to her, the
more Lana became stubborn.

When Lana first approached Monica, it was only on a whim.

Since Monica was not as good as her and stood out in class, taking care of
her satisfied Lana’s pride a little.

Above all, although Monica tended to hang her head down when Lana
offered her a little help she would smile like a blooming small flower. This
tickled sensation made Lana can’t leave her alone. Whenever Monica looked
at Lana with respect, Lana’s heart was slightly filled with joy.

In fact, she was expecting Monica’s adoring gaze at today’s tea party. She
even had chosen the tea leaves with great enthusiasm, but Claudia pointed out
that her tea was ill-matched, tearing Lana’s pride in tatters.

Why does it always have ended up this way?

All I wanted was… to give my friend the best tea I could.

It brought back memories of her childhood when she served the best pastries
and tea to her friends she invited to her house only to be criticized for
“bragging about being rich” behind her back.

Lana simply wanted to give her friend the most wonderful thing to eat.

“Well, sorry for the long wait.”

Casey, who had been absent, quickly came back. But Monica was not
standing next to her.

Lana asked with her eyes, “Where’s Monica?” Casey scratched her cheek
with a vague expression and took a seat.

“Hmm, well… I think she’ll come here soon.”

“You weren’t helping Monica prepare tea, were you?”

In response to Lana’s question, Casey muttered crisply, “No, it’s…”

What exactly is going on? Did something happen to Monica?

As Lana sat up, a soft, pleasant smell tickled her nose. But it was not the
smell of tea.

“T-Thank you… for waiting…”

With her unreliable wobbling feet, in an almost dangerous, Monica

approached the table. On the tray in her hands were an empty cup and an
unfamiliar pot.

Monica placed the tray on the table and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
It seemed that just carrying the tray up there was a big task for the non-
athletic Monica.

Claudia, who had been looking unenthusiastic, slowly raised up her head
then stared at the pot.

“…It doesn’t smell like tea.”

“This… is a coffee…”

Looking straight at Claudia, Monica said in a shaky voice.

“L-Lady Claudia. Since you said, If you start the party with something of a
strong flavor, it will numb your tongue… So, since I am the last, having
coffee with a strong taste should not be a problem.”

“Coffee is a drink for men. I don’t think it’s appropriate for a women’s tea
party.”

What Claudia said was correct. Coffee has indeed become quite popular in
this country, and while coffee houses do exist, it is mostly men who drink
them.

Above all, coffee has a strong bitter and sour taste, making it difficult to
please everyone. Although Lana had tried it a few times, she was not very
fond of it.

But then again, Monica said firmly, which was unusual for her.

“D-Don’t worry. I think it will taste delicious, so…”

She then poured the coffee from the pot into the cups and added warmed milk
to the three cups.

“S-Since it is meant to be drunk as a palate cleanser after a meal, I really

want people to drink it as is, but I know many people don’t like bitterness, so
I add milk to your cup. You can add more sugar if you like.”

After the cups were handed out to all of them, Claudia was the first to lift her
cup. After smelling at the aroma, she sipped it.

“………”

Claudia’s unresponsive attitude did scare her a little.

Both Lana and Casey added sugar to their cups before sipping timidly.
“What’s this… there’s no bitterness or sourness at all.”

Muttering, Lana sipped the contents of the cup once more. The mellowness of
the milk enveloped the refreshing bitterness.

That was a flavor that Lana had never tasted before.

Casey was also looking at the cup closely, surprised.

“Hey, I’ve never had this kind of coffee before… is it supposed to be this
easy to drink?”

It was understandable for Casey to say that.

Speaking of coffee, until a long time ago, it used to be made by boiling down
ground beans then adding sugar. But, after siphons and other tools have
become popular recently, many flavorful coffees have been appearing.

Still, the coffee that Monica prepared was more than flavorful.

Claudia gazed at the silver pot then muttered.

“…coffee tastes more bitter the longer it is brewed.”

“Y-Yes… That’s why I use this pot to make a quick extraction. This pot uses
steam power to brew coffee in a short time…”

“…I’ve never seen this appliance before. Not even in a book.”

At Claudia’s muttering, Lana and Casey widened their eyes.

Claudia was probably the most knowledgeable person here… no, perhaps at
this school.

Having been born in the lineage of a family that had such a vast amount of
knowledge, she was nicknamed as “walking library.”

And for someone like her, How could there’s nothing she did not know about!
Claudia drank the contents of her cup cleanly and looked at Monica with blue
eyes that were still unreadable.

“I see, not a bad way to catch me off guard. But this is a “tea ceremony
class,” remember? A drink that isn’t even tea is completely out of that
category.”

“W-Well, I think so… B-But…”

Monica looked down and picked up her own cup.

Her cup was the only one that did not have milk in it. She was probably used
to drinking bitter coffee.

“I… I wanted my dearest friend to drink what I love the most… So… Um…”

Cupping both her hands onto the cup, Monica bitterly smiled.

“…I suppose I was the most unfitting person in this place.”

Lana’s mind blanked when she saw Monica laugh ‘hehehe.’

Why did she smile like that? How could she smile like that?

Lana thought that her tea was the most unfitting at this table, but now Monica
brought in coffee that was more unfitting for a tea party. She would probably
get a point deduction.

Lana gulped down the contents of her cup.

“It was a pleasant drink… it suits my taste,” said Lana as she tried to hold
back her tears, looking at Monica’s smile which still looks like a blooming
flower.
 V5C5: Suspicious Eye

That night after the tea party lesson in the courtyard ended, Monica was
working on her report in her attic room.

Getting point deduction was a matter of fact after serving coffee at the tea
party. Since Lana and Casey negotiated a lot with the teacher, the teacher
didn’t deduct all her points, instead, they made her write a report.

Beside Monica, who was writing her report, was Nero licking a cup of
coffee with plenty of milk poured in. In his cat form, Nero dexterously
clutching a small cup with his paws, sticking his face into the cup.

“Phew, this thing is not bad. So this is what a grown man tastes like.”

Grown men won’t pour so much sugar and milk into their drinks.

Exasperated at his comment, she finished her report then put back her quill
pen at its place, then let out a deep sigh.

Recalling her tea leaves that had thrown into the trash can, Monica was
certain it was an intentional act to harass her.

These things will keep occurring from now on, won’t they?

Their hatred toward Monica will keep increasing day by day for sure.

But, what Claudia did hurts her head even more.

“Nero…”

“Oh, what’s up?”

“I just wondering… maybe someone knew my true identity as the Silent
Witch…”

Raising his head from the cup, Nero with his whiskers smeared in milk, said.

“Wanna do night escape?”

“Why did you always make such a decision?”

“Well, if your identity discovered, Loulouinpappa will kill you, won’t he?”

“…It’s Louis. Please remember it, will you?”

While Nero was licking his cup, Monica pondered.

If her identity discovered, she will be forced to end this undercover mission.

Louis might give her a smile of indignation, but she will back to her quiet
daily days, hiding back herself in the cabin, reading and calculating formula
as she pleased. Without worrying about her social life.

…Even so, why she can’t honestly happy about that?

“Um… My identity hadn’t been discovered for certain… So I guess I will

keep an eye just to make sure.”

Feeling Monica’s unwillingness, Nero narrowed his golden eyes, then said,
“Oh, really~” in a teasing manner.

“If this you a while ago, you would have cried out, ‘I had enough~ I can’t~ I
wanna go home~'”

“Ugh… W-Well… you might be right… but…”

While Monica fidgeting with her finger, Nero leaped onto Monica’s lap,
tapping at Monica’s thigh. His gesture was like that of humans who consoles
their acquaintance.
“Why but? If you’ve got a little bit of an attachment to this place, I don’t think
that’s a bad thing.”

“…is that… alright? …yeah, you right…”

Nero was right. For Monica, this school was no longer a place filled with
only bad memories.

Although not many, she has friends, who would lend her a hand when she’s in
trouble. That was something new for Monica, who had previously shut
herself off from socializing.

But, that timid and clumsy ‘Monica Norton’ was only her temporary identity.

Eventually, when her mission is over, Monica will leave the school and
return to her life in the cabin.

When that happened, she would never see the people she had met at this
school as “Monica Norton” again.

…and Monica will return back to be Monica Everett of the Seven Sages,
Silent Witch.

＊ ＊ ＊

One week after the tea party.

Monica was completely at loss.

As soon as lunch break came, Monica hurriedly left the classroom. Even
though she was the first one to leave the classroom, she still couldn’t let her
guard down.

After looking around restlessly, Monica took a large stride to leave the
school building.

This should be fine… right?

Thought Monica while raising her gaze, but then she saw a figure with black
hair stood in the shade of a water fountain, only to make her let a little gasp.

It was Claudia. When she standing near the water fountain, her figure was
like a figurine, but when she noticed Monica, she only turned her gaze,
staring intensely at her.

She’s been like that all this week.

Claudia would appear wherever Monica went, only to stare at her from a
distance.

She never came close or talked to her. All she did was looking at her, which
was made her behavior would only look creepier.

When Monica hurriedly trying to head to the back of the school building…
*bam* she bumped into someone and fell on her butt.

“I-I’m sorry…”

While holding her nose that bumped into, Monica raised her gaze, then found
Glenn looking at her with widened eyes.

“Monica, are you okay?”

“I… I’m sorry…”

Even in her apologizing, Monica still trying to find a place to hide. And
Glenn, who looked at Monica’s state, muttered, “Oh!” as if he had figured
something.

“You’re being followed by someone, aren’t you?”

“W-Well… something like that…”

“Alright, let me help you!”

Glenn held Monica lightly by his side, chanted a short incantation, then
kicked the ground.
With Monica in his arm, Glenn floated up with a flight spell, jumped onto a
fairly thick tree, then released the spell.

“Now they won’t catch you so easily here! This is my favorite place to take a
nap!”

“Thank… Thank yo—”

Just when Monica about to thank him.

She saw someone down walking toward the tree. It’s Claudia.

She walked near the tree then quietly passing by… or so they thought, instead
she stopped her foot right in front of the tree where they’re up there.

In a spur moment, Monica used her no-chant spell to create a wind gust
aiming at the tree not far from her. By swaying that tree a little should have to
move Claudia’s attention.

And Claudia was staring at the swaying tree below the tree where’s Monica
up there.

“… is it just my imagination?”

Claudia muttered to herself, then went deeper into the backyard of the school
building.

After making sure her figure disappeared, Monica sighed out quietly, and
Glenn relaxed his brows then looked at Monica.

“Are you being bullied by that person?”

“N-No… I’m not being bullied by her… I’m just being followed by her…”

“In that case, you’d better speak up clearly! If you feel uncomfortable saying
it, I’ll say it for you, okay?”

“T-Thanks… but, I’m fine…”

Since no real harm has been done, she can’t denounce Claudia yet.

What’s more, Claudia might be aware of Monica’s true identity. If she

cornered Claudia, she might tell everyone that Monica was the “Silent
Witch,” and it would be a disaster.

She’s probably trying to keep an eye on me to see if I’m really the Silent
Witch…

If Claudia was completely sure, she wouldn’t be monitoring Monica like this.

Then, it’s better to stay quiet until Claudia gives up.

Afterward, Monica asked Glenn to take her down from the tree, being asked,
“wanna grill some meat with me?” but politely declined before heading back
to the school building.

In the end, She used all her lunch break time. Although she’s used to skipping
her meals, after having run away from Claudia all this time, she was
completely tired.

I wish to enjoy my meal peacefully, thought Monica as she let out a sigh, but
a few girls stood in front of her classroom, blocking her way into.

“May I have your time, Miss Norton?”

The person who approached Monica was a blonde-haired young lady who
seemed to be in the same grade. Because Monica can’t recall her face, they
should probably from a different class.

Monica was taking precautions but only to be responded with a smirk from
that young lady.

“I am Caroline Simons from the house of the Count Norn. I’d like to invite
you to my tea party.”

“Tea… party?”
“Indeed. Class ended a little early today, doesn’t it? So, before you do your
student council work, why don’t you come to my tea party? I’ve been wanting
to get along with you for a long time.”

Judging from the atmosphere, the leader of this group should be Miss
Caroline. Monica didn’t know much about the house of Count Norn, but they
should be a prestigious family in their own right.

So, unless Monica’s got something important to do, she won’t be able to
refuse her invitation.

No, I don’t wanna go, suppressing her whining thought, in a shaky voice,
Monica responded to her.

“As… As long as it won’t interfere with my duty on the student council…”

“Of course. It won’t take a long time.”

Caroline smiled happily and asserting, “Right, everyone?” while exchanging

looks with the girls around her.

The other girls looked at Monica observantly, while affirming Caroline’s

words.

A blatant look of disdain in their eyes spoke more eloquently than anything
else, treating Monica as a shabby girl.

If she could, she would refuse her invitation. But she can’t create any ruckus
that would make her stand out in the school.

Okay, I’ll be fine, just drink the tea without saying anything needlessly
until the end. I will be fine…

While Monica desperately thought those words to herself, a pair of blue eyes
like lapis lazuli was gazing intensely at her figure, and Monica hasn’t noticed
it.
 V5C6: Sinner

Caroline’s designated venue for the tea party was set in the courtyard tea
table where the tea party practical lesson had been held the other days.

The current weather was nice, so many of the ladies seem to have tea parties
here, and in addition to the table Monica was ushered to, there were several
other table sets available for people to spend time at their own leisure.

With all these people watching, it’s unlikely that they’ll be ganging up on her
in an obvious way or splashing tea over her head.

Feeling a little relieved by this, Monica took her seat.

Besides Monica, three other young ladies seated at the table. Caroline was
seated facing Monica.

Caroline was a young lady with big, bright eyes. Though she was the same
age as Monica, she was more mature and had a glamorous air about her.

Huh? Why these people’s eyes were…

Under the bright courtyard with the afternoon sun, Monica felt a small sense
of discomfort.

But before Monica could mention her discomfort, Caroline’s chambermaid

handed out the tea.

Smiling, Caroline sipped her tea.

“Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to come here today,
Miss Norton.”
“T-Thank you for inviting me.”

Monica, who has trouble making eye contact with anyone, kept her head
down before speaking in hushed tones.

It made the young ladies next to her giggle behind their fans. Their laughter,
like a chorus of series of small chuckles, was strangely disturbing. And yet,
when Caroline opened her mouth, it stopped.

“Where do you come from, Miss Norton?”

“Rennac…”

“My, then perhaps you’re related to the Counts Kerbeck family?”

Monica thought back to the setting Louis Miller had come up with.

According to his settings, she was the adopted daughter of the former
countess. Then, it would be safe to say that she’s related to the Count
Kerbeck family.

“Y-Yes… The Count and his family have been very kind to me…”

Monica admired herself for being able to respond so well.

Despite her timidness and stuttering, she has made unbelievable progress
compared to the Monica of the past. After all, she now was able to hold a
conversation.

As Monica was thinking about this, the lady right next to her opened her
mouth.

“Say, Miss Norton. What do you usually discuss with the student council
president?”

“…huh? Well, it just… about…”

In fact, Monica never spoke to Felix, except when it came to student council
activities.
Sometimes Felix tried to initiate the conversation with Monica, but she
would just tell herself that she was a rock and sit quietly whenever he did.

“I envy you being able to serve by His Highness’ side.”

“Indeed, you can see His Highness’ face every day, after all.”

The young ladies gazed up into the air in fascination and let out a longing
sigh.

As Monica watched the scene, she was deeply impressed by the power of the
golden ratio in attracting people’s hearts.

What would be the result if you put a golden ratio sculpture and a non-golden
ratio sculpture side by side and took statistics to see which one was more
desirable?

Thinking vaguely about this, Monica lifted the cup.

When that happened, Caroline and the others lifted their fans in unison to
cover their mouths.

Is this… a basic move of a villainess that Lady Isabelle told me recently!?

The chorus of giggles coming from behind the fan had a precision that could
only be a result of training. It was neither too loud nor too quiet, and the
nastiness of the laughter that disturbed her ears was quite exquisite.

I see, so this is that move… while admiring something out of place, Monica
sipped from her cup of tea.

The taste of the tea in her mouth was rather bitter. It was not astringent, but
bitter.

I wonder if this tea is supposed to have a taste like this.

It was bitter, to say the least, but not undrinkable.

Monica, who was accustomed to drinking bitter coffee regularly, felt a little
uncomfortable with the tea, but she drank it.

Immediately, the color of the ladies faces changed.

Hmm? Is there something wrong with me?

The ladies peeled their eyes open and looked at Monica as if they were
looking at something uncanny. Their faces looked pale.

Monica took another sip of the intensely bitter tea to cover her impatience,
wondering if she had done something wrong.

Miss Caroline made a small “Ah” sound.

Huh?

Her pounding heart sounded awfully loud. Her vision blurred and distorted,
and their figures became blurred.

“Did she drink it?”

“Are you kidding me? That tea is so bitter, you know?”

“Oh, my God. I was expecting her to choke herself…”

The ladies were saying something quickly to each other in dismay. Their
voices were certainly reaching Monica’s ears, but her mind could not
perceive their words.

Their voices slipped through her ears as nonsensical sounds.

What… is happening?

Her world distorted mushily. Distorting, zooming, blurring, melting, finally

dyed by the tea color… No, this red was not the color of the tea.

This red… was of fire.

And behind the flickering fire was a silhouette of a person.

“…dad…?”

The figure of her father, tied to a tree, was fading into the flames. An
unpleasant smell pervaded her nose. It was the smell of burning human flesh.

“Ah… Ah…”

The people surrounding her father raised their voices.

—Heretic! You damn heretic! You damned blasphemous sinner!

“…no… my father has done nothing wrong…”

Someone threw something into the burning fire. It was a huge amount of
records that her father had written with all his might before he died…

“No… no… don’t burn it… please don’t burn it…”

The numbers were burning, the beautiful numbers and records that have been
accumulated over the years were burned, turning to ashes in an instant.

I must memorize it, all of it. I must memorize all of the numbers that my
father left me.

Monica stared intently at the records of the numbers being thrown at her
without taking her eyes off the burning flames.

With Monica’s unreliable eyesight, she could only see fragmentary numbers
in the vast amount of data. Nevertheless, Monica burned the numbers she saw
into her mind.

I have to remember it. I have to remember the records that my father left
behind, even just a little bit.

The numbers she burned into her eyes were all left by her father. She would
never forget them. They were the proof of her father’s life.
“…18473726, 385, 20985.726, 29405.84739, 235. 2108877, 25…”

—All you do is talk about numbers. It’s disgusting! Stop talking

nonsense!

“I’m sorry, Uncle. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

—Because of my brother’s stupid research, I now have to suffer the

consequences! How can I be in business when I’ve got a criminal in my
family? Stop screwing around!

“No… my father has done nothing wrong… my father is…”

—You’ve got to be kidding me! Try saying that shit outside! I’ll beat you
with an iron rod!

“I’m sorry, Uncle, please don’t hit me, please don’t hit me. I’m sorry. I’m
sorry. I’m sorry. I won’t say any more unnecessary things in public, I’ll keep
my mouth shut, so don’t hit me, don’t hit me. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m
sorry…”

＊ ＊ ＊

The courtyard was in an uproar.

Monica Norton suddenly fell out of her chair, fainting in agony.

Her face was pale and she was breathing unnaturally, choking up and
mumbling incomprehensible words in between.

Caroline and the others who were sitting with her looked at Monica as if they
were looking at something uncanny.

In the midst of all this, a young lady quickly approached their table.
It was a tall, beautiful woman with straight black hair, Claudia.

Claudia wordlessly kneeled down in front of Monica and checked on her

condition.

“…What did you give to her?”

At Claudia’s words, Caroline shook her head and exclaimed in a shrill

voice.

“I don’t know! I have no idea! I don’t know anything!”

“………”

Standing up quietly, Claudia closed the distance between her and Caroline—
like a snake was creeping up on her—then shoved her hands into her pockets.

Her hand was searching for something.

“…an eye drop?”

“No! Give it back! Don’t touch my things without permission! ….Hiiiek!”

When Caroline was screaming, Claudia silently grabbed her by the mouth.
She then placed her other hand near Caroline’s eyes.

Claudia then lifted Caroline’s make-up-tinted eyelids forcefully and closely

examined her eyes.

“Your pupils are enlarging… I guess it’s belladonna or a similar poison.”

“This is just an eye drop that makes your eyes look bigger!”

“It’s poison.”

After Claudia crisply dismissed Caroline’s reasoning with a single sentence,

she then fixed her eyes straight on Caroline’s enlarging pupils, declared her
statement.
“You… poisoned that girl.”

“No… I just… want to have her choke up after drinking a bitter tea… I mean,
how could I know that she would drink up something that bitter! That girl just
is crazy!!”

Claudia did not look at Caroline anymore but kneeled down beside Monica.
She then raised Monica’s upper body and plunged her fingers into her mouth.

“…ah… ugh…”

“Throw it up.”

Even though Claudia stimulated the back of her throat, Monica couldn’t vomit
it properly, only convulsing.

Claudia clicked her tongue and gave instructions to those watching in the
distance.

“Somebody, bring me diluted saline water and some milk. And contact the
infirmary and… student council members.”
 V5C7: Ah, The Height

When Monica recalled her memories about her father, the only thing she
could remember was his back figure.

His figure who was facing the table throughout the days as a researcher.

Dad… Dad…

Hoping that he could turn his gaze to her, the young Monica could only reach
out her hand toward his back figure… only to pull her hand back.

She understood her father was doing an important job, that’s why she didn’t
want to bother him.

But, as if he heard Monica’s inner voice, he stopped his writing hand, then
turned his gaze at Monica.

Behind his glasses put on his face full of beard were the calm eyes of an
intelligent person. Her father always has a calm demeanor.

Her father reached out the hand she was pulling back, and wrapped it around
with both of his hands. That made Monica happy, to unable to hold her
voices.

“…Ehe… Dad…”

“Hmm? Am I really that old?”

“Your Highness, there’s no need to listen to this little girl’s nonsense.”

“Oh, I thought you’re going to wake her up with a slap?”

“W-Well… I mean… this girl is sick…”

A familiar voice came from just above her.

Monica groaned softly before opening her eyes.

Apparently, she was on a bed in the infirmary. It was the same place she had
been taken to before.

Monica found two figures standing beside her sleeping bed. Sparkling in the
slightest light, it’s honey blonde and platinum blonde.

“Your Highness and… Lord Ashley…?”

Felix Ark Ridill, the student council president, and Cyril Ashley, the vice
president.

The one that grasping Monica’s hand was Felix.

Why are these two people here? Why is Felix holding onto Monica’s hand?

Monica’s mind, which had begun to slowly awaken, vaguely recalled the
events that had led her to this point.

If I recall correctly, my head felt dizzy after drank that bitter tea…

From that point on, the rest of her memory was very vague. She felt like
having a nightmare.

“You were drugged by the daughter of Count Norn at the tea party. Being
poisoned, you were in a terrible stupor.”

“!!!”

Monica paled quickly and pulled her own hand out of Felix’s. She then rolled
off the bed and forced her still weak body to place her forehead against the
floor.

“Hey, little girl, what are you doing!?”

Cyril sounded surprised and tried to get Monica to stand up.

But Monica remained to prostrate on the floor, her motionless lips quivering
as she squeezed out the words.

“…I apologize… for any inconvenience… I may… have caused you.”

As soon as she said the word, she felt nauseated by it. Her head was spinning
and she felt dizzy.

Still, she felt she had to apologize. Because Monica had ruined the tea party
and caused a commotion, that’s all.

“I apologize… for not able to live up as the student council members…”

Tears welled up in her eyes as she apologized. Somehow, the back of her
eyes was extremely hot. Tears spilled from her tear glands, which had
become even looser than usual.

“Miss Norton, please raise your head.”

Felix dropped to his knees and stroked Monica’s hair. But Monica couldn’t
raise her head.

They must be so disappointed in her, thinking she’s an ignorant person who

can’t even behave properly at a tea party.

There were so many things she could think of to blame herself for. As she
was grinding her own heart out, thinking of endless words to blame herself
with, a hand plunged into Monica’s armpit.

That hand lifted Monica like lifting a kitten.

“Hey! How dare you make His Highness kneel before you!”

It was Cyril who lifted Monica up.

Ah, because of her inability to conduct herself, Lord Ashley got mad at her
again… thought Monica sobbingly, only responded with a grunt by Cyril.
“You were a victim! Why would a victim apologizing?”

“B-But…”

“A sick person with a deathly complexion shouldn’t talk nonsense! Next time
you get out of bed without permission, I’ll tie you to the bed with a rope!”

Cyril raised his eyebrows as he made a rather frightening declaration.

“My, what are you raving about in the infirmary? …My.Dear.Bro.Ther?”

The curtain dividing the bed swung, revealing nothing but a beautiful face.

Straight black hair and lapis lazuli eyes. A young lady with beautiful looks
and a gloomy atmosphere, she was Claudia.

Brother?

Cyril stared at Claudia with a startled look on his face, then bent his lips into
a frown and fell silent.

Felix, on the other hand, gave Claudia a beaming smile.

“Miss Claudia Ashley, thanks to your excellent first aid, a student was saved.
As student council president, I would like to thank you from the bottom of my
heart. Thank you.”

“…it’s my pleasure to help.”

For some reason, Claudia looked uncomfortable even though she was being
thanked by the prince of this country.

At this attitude, which could be taken as disrespectful, Cyril raised his

eyebrows.

“His Highness has honored you with his compliments. You should show a
little more appreciation.”
“Oh my, you want me to wag my tail like a praised, stupid dog like someone
did?”

Claudia managed to pull off a clever move of snickering with a blank

expression on her face.

As expected, the attitude that struck a nerve in most people made Cyril
popped his veins.

“Who are you calling a dog!?”

“No one said anything about you, my dear brother. My, what’s wrong with
your face? I had tried to carry the sick Monica Norton in my arms, but
because of my lack of strength, after halfway through, I ran out of energy, so I
asked the president to take over, that is. My.Dear.Bro.Ther.”

At the words spoken in an indifferent voice, Cyril turned red, then pale, and
finally, his face turned completely white. He simply felt so pathetic.

“…I’m sorry… if I’m heavy…”

As Monica did her best to follow up, Cyril crunched and gnashed his teeth.
But he didn’t say anything.

What should I do? thought Monica in fluster, and Felix stroked Monica’s
cheek.

“You’re not heavy. In fact, I’m surprised you’re so light. You need to eat a
little more.”

“Y-Yes…”

After Felix put Monica’s blanket back on, he turned his attention to Cyril.

“Well, I guess we shouldn’t stay too long in a woman’s infirmary. We’ll be

leaving soon.”

Cyril’s expression, which had been drawn out by Claudia, returned and he
nodded “yes” to Felix’s words.
Then he glanced at Monica and told her.

“Monica Norton. You don’t have to come to the student council room today.
If you do, consider that you have no work to do there.”

“You should go back to your dormitory and get a good rest.”

With that, Cyril and Felix turned their backs on Monica.

Claudia took a handkerchief out of her pocket and fluttered it around to show
him off. With a blank expression, of course.

This blatant attitude of Claudia’s made Cyril’s temples tighten.

“Claudia. Keep an eye on that little girl to make sure she doesn’t slip out of
infirmary to come to the student council room.”

“…Oh my, if you’re worried, why didn’t you just say so? You looked at
Monica Norton’s sleeping face with great concern, My.Dear.Bro.Ther.”

Cyril was shaking all over and Felix was chuckling at the interaction
between the two siblings as they walked out of the infirmary.

After they left, the infirmary instantly became quiet. Monica gathered her
courage and spoke to Claudia.

“Um… T-Thank you very much for your help with the first aid…”

“…how far do you remember?”

“Up to the point where I drank the tea…”

After that, all she could remember was that she was having a nightmare. The
next thing she knew, she was on a bed in the infirmary.

Claudia sat down in a nearby chair and brushed back her long black hair.

“The tea was laced with a pupil enlarging eye drop.”

“…an eye drop? …ah, that’s why, even though it’s a bright place, Their
pupils were…”

Monica had felt uncomfortable with Caroline ever since she had confronted
her at the tea party in the courtyard.

Normally, when someone was in a brightly lit place, their pupils become
smaller in order to regulate the amount of light entering your eyes. However,
Caroline’s pupils were wide open.

“Um, did Lady Caroline have an eye disease?”

“Those eye drops are for cosmetic purposes. The idiots who blindly believe
that the bigger your pupils are, the more beautiful you are, will get involved
with those eye drops without knowing their side effects.”

The eye drops Caroline was carrying were originally intended to be used for
eye diseases. As long as they are used in the proper dosage, they are not a
problem, but if used in the wrong way, they can be poisonous.

And, she put it into Monica’s teacup.

“Those eye drops were laced with a mixture of ingredients that made them
very bitter. They were planning to make you a laughing stock by making you
choke from drinking the tea laced with it…”

That’s why Caroline had chosen the more crowded courtyard.

The whole idea was to ridicule Monica in front of the crowd as she choked
uncomfortably as she drank her tea.

However, what Caroline miscalculated was the fact that Monica drank it
down.

“That… uh… was bitter, but it wasn’t undrinkable.”

“What do you think the creature’s sense of taste is for? It’s not for savoring
delicious food. It’s to distinguish between flavors and avoid the dangers of
toxins.”
Monica was scolded in a roundabout way for not being able to avoid danger,
and she fell silent.

She might not have been careful enough, that was for sure. But the fact that
Caroline and the others had bad intentions toward her was quite obvious, so
she shouldn’t have said anything at all.

Claudia mentioned that Monica couldn’t vomit the poison properly, so they
forced her to drink diluted saltwater to make her vomit the poison. When she
had emptied her stomach, she was given milk to protect the mucous
membrane of her stomach.

“The contents of your stomach were almost empty when I made you vomit.
Judging by your appearance, you’re underweight for your age, and I don’t
feel you’re trying to maintain your health.”

“Ugh…”

She couldn’t eat her lunch today was because she running away from
Claudia. Still, the way Claudia pointed out Monica’s lack nutrition has
similarity to Rosalie’s was painful to hear.

Looking Monica’s hanging down her head downheartedly, Claudia spoke to

her in the same indifference tone.

“The smaller figure of that person, the less poison the dose to be lethal…
Poisons that are not lethal to a normal adult figure person can be lethal to a
child figure person… You’ve almost lost your life.”

“…a child figure person…”

Laying back on the bed, Monica fixed her gaze at Claudia.

She was a slender, but tall, beautiful woman who showed off her curves. It
was hard to believe that she was the same age as Monica.

Although she had never had much of a complex about her figure, since
befriending Lana and Casey, Monica had grown concerned about her childish
appearance, if only slightly.
As Monica was getting secretly stricken with defeat, Claudia leaned forward
to look into Monica’s face.

“…Oh my, what’s the matter, Child Girl. You’re staring at me so intensely,
Child Girl. Just so you know, don’t take any solid food today. You’re going to
throw up, Child Girl.”

“Y-You don’t have keep saying ‘Child Girl’ ‘Child Girl’ to me…”

“Because I don’t want you to thank me for saving your life…”

Hearing Claudia’s words, Monica widened her eyes.

Come to think of it, she also looked disgusted when Felix thanked her.

Monica felt grateful to Claudia, of course, she want give her thanks to her.
But, her response was not that of a person who hide their embarrassment, but
unpleasant.

“Um… Is it because you don’t like me… that you don’t want to be
thanked…?”

Being asked in a shaky voice, Claudia straightened her posture.

Her doll-like expression remained unchanged. However, there was a dark

emotion, slightly different from malice, that swayed slightly in the depths of
her lapis lazuli eyes.

“It’s not that I dislike you… neither do I like you.”

When Claudia exhaled wearily, Monica boldly asked her.

“T-Then… Why… do you keep following me… for the past week…?”

Monica had always thought that it was because Claudia suspected her of
identity as the [Silent Witch].

But Claudia—slitered like a snake—closed the distance soundlessly, looked

into Monica’s face and whispered faintly.
“…It’s because you seduced my fiance.”

“………….huh?”

As Monica’s mouth agape, Claudia continued her words without hesitation.

“If it were just a matter of being on the same student council, that wouldn’t
matter to me, but how could I allow anyone to even practice dancing with
him? Even I’ve never had him dance with me.”

A student council member, dancing practice.

From these two keywords, the first thing that came to Monica’s mind was
Felix and Cyril.

But since she and Cyril were siblings, the answer was obviously narrowed.

Don’t tell me, His Highness is her…

It was reassuring to know that Claudia hadn’t discovered her true identity.

But never did she think that Felix’s fiancee would misunderstand her for
trying to seduce him!!

This misunderstanding had to be settled as soon as possible. The only thing

Monica thought about Felix was that he had a body with a golden ratio.

As Monica was pondering how to hide the fact that she was on an escort
mission and clear up Claudia’s misunderstanding, she heard the door to the
infirmary open.

“Monicaaaa! I’ve come to visiiit!”

“Ssh! Ssh! Don’t shout in the infirmary!”

Those familiar, buzzing voices were from Glenn and Neil.

Without asking, Glenn opened the curtains and approached the bed with his
big toe.
“Monica, are you okay? Your face look so pale! Oh, I came to visit you. Is it
okay if I bring you some meat?”

“You can’t give meat to someone who just been poisoned.”

Neil, who chided Glenn, smiled somewhat awkwardly when he noticed

Claudia sitting there on the side of the bed.

“Oh, Miss Claudia, good day to you.”

“……..”

Claudia’s face was expressionless. However, the air she wore had clearly
changed. The depressed and languid air has disappeared completely.

Neil looked slightly troubled at Claudia, who was staring at him with a blank
expression.

“Well, I heard from the student council president. He told me that you gave
first aid to Miss Norton, Miss Claudia.”

“………”

As expected, Claudia was silent and expressionless. She didn’t even have a
single word to say.

Neil lowered his eyebrows in trouble, but tried his best to continue speaking.

“You are indeed a remarkable woman, Miss Claudia! That’s amazing!”

“…right.”

At that moment, Monica was sure she saw it.

Muttering in a faint voice, the corners of Claudia’s mouth lifted up… only
slightly.

Even though she looked uncomfortable when Felix praised her, Claudia now
showed a slight hint of happiness.
Could it be, her fiance is…

When Monica finally realized this fact, Glenn said, “Aah!” and stared at
Claudia with a loud voice.

“This woman! She has been following Monica around before…”

“Eh? Following around?”

At Glenn’s comment, Neil windener his eyes in surprise.

Then Claudia—quieter than a snake—stood up, and slid over to Monica’s

bed.

“That’s a misunderstanding. We’re friends, after all.”

This was news to her. If anything, Claudia just told her that she neither
dislikes nor likes her, or that she has a child figure.

But Claudia nimbly grabbed Monica’s hand who had dumbfounded

expression and said.

“…right? We’re friends, right? Mo.Ni.Ca?”

What a brilliant change of heart.

As Monica stunned, Claudia stared at her with lapis lazuli eyes. Monica was
overwhelmed by the pressure of her silence.

“Y-Yes…”

Monica nodded stiffedly, and Claudia said, “See?” then looked at Glenn and
Neil.

“…besides, I’m Neil’s fiancée. Are you questioning your friend’s fiancee?”

“What!? Fiancee!? You’re Neil’s fiancee!?”

Neil vaguely laughs at Glenn’s loud yelling.

“Well, the engagement was just something that our parents decided on their
own…”

“Oh, are you not pleased being engaged with me?”

Claudia turned her doll-like face to Neil. The fact that her face was so well-
defined gave her a strange sense of intimidation, even without an expression.

Neil’s face tensed up and he shook his head.

“No, no, it’s not like that. If anything, I feel like I’m not good enough for you,
Miss Claudia, but… well…”

Neil’s eyes kept glancing at the top of Claudia’s head.

At that moment, the inner voices of Monica and Glenn overlapped.

Ah their height…

Neil was slightly smaller than most boys his age. Claudia, on the other hand,
was considered tall for a woman… their height difference was apparent to
everyone.

＊ ＊ ＊

Walking down the corridor, Felix retracted his unusually soft smile. Doing so
made his brilliant and extremely beautiful face stand out even more.

Having felt a quiet irritation from Felix, Cyril, who was walking behind him,
also wore a quiet expression on his face.

As Felix walked, he silently confronted the frustration within himself.

Oh, what a mess. I am someone who prefers not to lose my temper.

The emotion of anger inside of him was supposed to be directed at the right
person at the right time. It’s not something that should be vented here.

Still, the image of Monica from earlier clawed back into Felix’s mind.

—I apologize… for not able to live up as the student council members…

The figure of the girl, who was trembling a little with tears in her eyes,
overlapped with that of the young boy.

—I apologize for not able to live up as the royal family…

Really, the figure of that girl is similar to me…

Quietly confirming this, Felix spoke up.

“This whole thing is making me a little angry.”

Cyril’s expression tightened at Felix’s unusually cold words.

“I have the ringleader, the daughter of Count Norn, and the other two waiting
in the reception room for questioning. And…”

Cyril trailed off and looked around, whispering to Felix.

“…the daughter of Count Kerbeck came into the student council room. She
wants to talk to the daughter of Count Norn.”

“The daughter of Count Kerbeck? Oh, little squirel’s little sister?”

“She’s her niece without blood relation.”

Muttering a hmmm, the edge of Felix’s lips raised.

“Good. Then have the daughter of Count Kerbeck be present as well.”

Smiling chillingly at his beautifully formed face, Felix declared.

“Now, let’s have a nice tea party.”

 V5C8: The High-pitched Laughter
of a True Villain

Caroline Simons, the daughter of Count Norn, was sitting in a chair in the
salon, irritably playing with the tassel on her fan.

The two friends sitting next to her were looking at her resentfully, which was
also annoying.

Weren’t you all totally into it?!

She was just reminding Monica Norton, who had been carried away lately, of
her place in the academy.

Her appearance was too shabby and her behavior was so unbecoming to be
considered a girl. For some reason, the girl who was not worthy of this
academy was elected to the student council.

To top it all off, she was taught how to dance by Felix and Cyril.

Those two were the stars of the academy. When she saw them at a party early
this summer, Caroline attempted to get close to them somehow, but her
attempt was a failure.

As people always gathered around Felix and Cyril, Caroline could only
watch from afar, unable to talk to them, let alone ask them to dance.

And yet… how could that girl dance with them!?

The fan in her grip creaked and squeaked.

Everything was Monica Norton’s fault. All she did was serve a slightly bitter
tea.

And yet, she made such a big deal out of it and brought shame to Caroline.
What a hateful girl!

Everything was her fault! Everything!

A small crack appears on her fan. It was her favorite fan, but now it’s
broken. She has to beg her father for a new one.

It will be fine. She believed that her father will help her. He doted on
Caroline and donated a lot of money to the school. There was no way she
would be expelled.

“Please excuse us.”

There was a knock at the door and two students entered the room.

A softly swaying honey blonde with mysterious blue eyes tinted with green
color, the always calm atmosphere of the second prince, Felix Ark Ridill.

And platinum blond hair mixed with a little honey and dark blue eyes
resemble winter snow, the renowned ice prince, and also the eldest son of
Marquis Highon, Cyril Ashley

They were the student council president and vice-president of this academy,
representing the pinnacle among the students.

Felix took a seat across from Caroline and crossed his legs. Cyril stood
behind him, glaring at Caroline and the others with cold eyes.

Cyril wore a rigid face, but Felix was smiling as softly as ever.

I knew it! His Highness would understand my action! I’m not at fault!

As Caroline patted her chest in relief, Felix spoke up in a gentle voice.

“Caroline Simons, the daughter, of Count Norn. Shall we hear your side of
the story in the attempt of poisoning Miss Monica Norton?”

Poisoning. At that word, Caroline and her friends’ faces quickly changed.

Even if you were a noble, murder is a serious crime. Even if it’s merely an
attempt, you will be punished with that equivalent crime.

“It was a misunderstanding, Your Highness! It was just a prank! And yet,
Monica Norton has taken it upon herself to make a big deal out of it. That
girl… must have been trying to embarrass me!”

“By a prank, you mean putting poison into your classmate’s cup?”

Felix’s calm voice remained unchanged.

And yet, the words that thrust to her were utterly cold and merciless.

Caroline pleaded with teary eyes.

“That thing’s not poisonous! It’s just an eye drop! I’ve heard that it’s very
bitter and can be used as medicine to calm down… That’s why I thought it
would be good to bring her frightful manner to her senses…”

The latter part was just random nonsense.

The eyedrops bought from the merchant were said to be very bitter and
should not be consumed. At the time, she just laughed at the idea of
consuming eye drops. But now, she will bring any excuse as long as she
could get away with it.

As she was rattling off her excuses, Cyril pulled a small bottle wrapped in a
handkerchief out of his pocket.

It was Caroline’s eye drop that was confiscated when she was taken into this
salon.

“My younger sister, Claudia, told me that the eye drop you were carrying
were regulated by law. You need to be a doctor or a certified pharmacist to
be eligible to possess this item.”

Cyril’s dark blue pupils glinted as he glared coldly at Caroline.

“Possessing such a dangerous drug illegally and then giving it to someone

else… is if not attempted murder, then what?”

Cyril’s younger sister, Claudia Ashley, was a true descendant of the

“Intelligent Family.”

Also known as a “walking library,” she has a vast amount of knowledge that
surpasses that of adults. If she declares so, then her words must be true.

Caroline grew pale, but still desperately tried to find a way out.

“I didn’t know that this eye drop was such a dreadful thing. I was told that it
was just an eye drop… Oh, Your Highness, please believe me!”

As she pleaded with tears streaming down her face, Felix smiled softly.

“Right, without prior knowledge, you dripped that eye drop into Miss
Monica Norton’s cup, out of mischief.”

“T-That’s right.”

“And you did that to humiliate Miss Norton.”

In response to the words dropped calmly, Caroline bit her lip tightly and fell
silent.

Felix put his hand over his mouth and chuckled.

“I guess we can add libel to the list.”

“!!!”

She was sure her excuses were pretty good. But why has Felix not said
anything to help Caroline? Why won’t Felix defend her?
At this moment, Caroline still really thought that she could get away with it if
she passed it off as ignorance.

Then, a knock came on the door. After Felix gave permission, a female
student stepped into the salon and bowed gracefully.

It was an orange-haired freshman styled into ringlets. She’s a beautiful girl

with a slightly stern face and a dignified air about her.

“My name is Isabelle Norton, the daughter of Count Kerbeck. I am very

grateful to you for allowing me to be present here.”

Monica Norton was said to be under the care of Count Kerbeck’s household.
Then it would be natural for Isabelle, the daughter of Count Kerbeck, to be
present here to hear the situation.

It will be fine… the daughter of Count Kerbeck loathes and harasses

Monica Norton. If something happened to Monica Norton, the disgrace of
Count Kerbeck’s household, she probably wouldn’t condemn me strongly.

As Isabelle sat down in the chair that Cyril had suggested, she cast her eyes
down with a very apologetic look on her face.

“I have heard that our troublesome family member has caused trouble for
you. Please accept my deepest apology on behalf of Count Kerbeck’s
household.”

Neither Felix nor Cyril said a word. But Caroline was secretly cheering in
her heart.

See, I knew it! The daughter of Count Kerbeck has no qualms about cutting
off Monica Norton!

If Isabelle hated Monica, she would surely be on her side… Caroline

secretly laughed.

Isabelle then glanced at Caroline and said.

“I know it’s not much for an apology, but I’ve actually had my maids prepare
some tea. I’m sure everybody is thirsty from all the talking. I do hope you
will enjoy it.”

Isabelle called out across the door, and her maid quietly entered the room,
placing a tray on the table.

As Caroline wondered why they weren’t handing them out earlier, Isabelle
smiled and pulled a small bottle out of her pocket.

Seeing the small bottle, Caroline and her cronies shrieked inwardly then
cowered.

The bottle was so similar to the bottle of eye drop that Caroline possessed.

“Right, since you are here, I hope you could try this medicine, Lady Caroline.
I recently bought it from a merchant… I heard this beauty medicine has a very
great effect.”

With that, Isabelle dripped the liquid from the small bottle into the three
cups.

Isabelle’s chambermaid then handed out cups to everyone. Isabelle, Felix,

and Cyril were given cups without any medicine in them.

While Caroline and her friend, the young ladies, were given cups dripped
with medicine.

As Caroline stared at the cup with a strained face, Isabelle covered her
mouth with a fan and chuckled.

Despite the fact that her mouth was hidden, her smile was malevolent, clearly
showing that she was mocking her.

“…Please help yourself.”

Caroline stared at the cup. As that eye drop was odorless, she could not
smell anything other than tea.
Is that small bottle the same as my eye drops? Why would the daughter of
Count Kerbeck have that in her possession?

The fact that the daughter of Count Kerbeck just happened to possess the
same eye drops as Caroline seems quite unnatural. But she believed it must
be just a coincidence.

Her companions, sitting next to her, looked at Caroline inquiringly. Neither of

them even tried to touch the cup.

Stop it! If you act like that, it’s like admitting that the eye drop I possess
was poison!

There’s no way it was the same eye drop. It must be a bluff.

Caroline stared at the cup of tea, preparing herself, and took a sip.

“…pfft! Ugheee!”

The strong bitter taste made Caroline spit out her tea. Salivating as she tried
to avoid leaving a single drop in her mouth, she spat out the tea and glared at
Isabelle with eyes full of murderous intent.

“It was poison! This woman tried to poison me!”

“My…”

Isabelle was chuckling as she opened the lid of the small bottle and dripped
it into her cup. She then drank the contents of the cup.

“I told you earlier, didn’t I? It is good medicine for beauty. Well, perhaps you
were surprised to find it a little bitter?”

“Y-You…”

“Fufu, is there a need for you to spew it out in such a disgraceful manner? I
mean, that girl drank all the bitter tea you served her, didn’t she?”

That girl—it goes without saying that she was referring to Monica Norton.
Isabelle huffed out a languid sigh and muttered.

“Indeed, that woman grew up in a bad environment and is the embarrassment

of my household, but I appreciate the way she behaved as a guest, trying to
drink all the tea, no matter how bad it was… but would that make you are
less than that? And of all people, it’s happening in the presence of His
Highness, how vulgar.”

Isabelle then inclined her fan to show her mouth and snickered.

Caroline, who had tried to humiliate Monica in front of the crowd, was now,
of all people, being humiliated by spewing tea in front of Felix.

What is this? What is this? What is this?

Felix didn’t say anything. He just watched the exchange between Isabelle and
Caroline with a somewhat amused look on his face.

Isabelle was sipping her tea calmly and said, “Oh right,” in a tone as if she
was having a little chat.

“Regarding this matter, I will notify my father as soon as possible. I mean, a

person with the surname of Norton was almost poisoned to death. It’s only
natural, isn’t it?”

“!!!”

It was only now that Caroline realized the magnitude of what she had done.

Even though Isabelle dislikes Monica, it didn’t change the fact that Monica
was the one bearing Norton’s name.

…Caroline had picked a fight with Count Kerbeck’s household.

“I believe our Count Kerbeck’s household has a close relationship with your
hometown, Count Norn’s household. It’s shame it had become like this.”

Count Kerbeck’s domain was the widest domain in the eastern part of the
Kingdom of Ridill. Its scale was not something that could be mocked as rural
nobles.

Above all, the mountainous areas in the east were home to many dragons, so
those who had territories in the east were always suffering from dragon
attacks. Although the dragon knights would come to the rescue if a request for
help was sent to the royal capital, it would take a long time to reach the
eastern part of the kingdom from the royal capital, so all the nobles who had
territories in the eastern part usually had their own soldiers.

And the biggest of them all was the Count of Kerbeck.

For this reason, when a dragon attacked a noble household in the east and the
dragon knights couldn’t get there in time, they often turned to the neighboring
the Count of Kerbeck… and Caroline’s own family, Count Norn’s household,
were no exception.

Count Norn’s household has been saved by the soldiers of Count Kerbeck’s
household many times whenever his territory was threatened by the dragon.

However, what would happen if her daughter returned the favor with
malicious intent?

What if Count Kelbeck is not aiding the Norn Countdom anymore?

The weak military power of Count Norn would not be able to endure the
dragon attacks, and at worst they could be destroyed.

“W-Wait… Y-You’ve got the wrong idea… I didn’t mean it… to be like
that…”

As Caroline making excuses in a desperate manner, Isabelle gave her a cold

look.
Isabelle was younger than Caroline by a year. However, her intimidation was
so overwhelming that even Caroline can’t hold a candle.

Isabelle only narrowed her eyes slightly, shattering Caroline’s pride as she
sneered at her.

“Because of your thoughtlessness, it brings ruin to your homeland… such

things do often happen in high society, isn’t it?”

Isabelle brushed back her orange ringlets as she smiled haughtily, lifting her
chin.

“Now, when you get back to your dormitory, make sure you tell your dear
friends… what will happen if they make an enemy of my Count Kerbeck’s
household!”

As if she were speaking in a play, Isabelle was laughed “O-ho-ho-ho-ho!” in

a high-pitched cheerful tone.
 V5C9: Regarding the Silent Witch

After Isabelle Norton has done her solo performance, Caroline Simmons and
her two friends were taken by the teacher to another room. Cyril snorted as
he watched them go.

It has not been officially decided yet, but Caroline, the perpetrator of the
incident, will be forced to leave school, while her two friends were
expected to leave voluntarily.

Until the very end, Miss Caroline refused to admit that she was at fault. On
the contrary, she put the blame on Monica and tried to excuse herself.

How foolish.

Like the previous treasurer who was expelled a while ago, they don’t
understand that this place serves as an extension of their social circle. They
think that if something happens, their parents will lay out their money to fix it.

If money could buy trust, there would be no hardship… how thoughtless of

them to think of that.

Once Caroline had left the room and things had quieted down, Isabelle
Norton straightened herself up and bowed to Felix and Cyril.

“Your Highness, I apologize for the disgraceful appearance in your

presence.”

It was hard to believe that she had been doing that high-pitched laughter just
now. Cyril thought, “Women are terrifying.”

Felix, however, responded with a gentle smile.

“It was quite amusing. By the way, do you think your father will abandon
Count Norn?”

In response to Felix’s question, Isabelle shook her head without hesitation.

“No, my father is very sensible. He would never abandon another territory

out of emotion.”

Count Norn’s territory was one of the most important supply routes. Having
the road closed after the damage caused by the dragon would prove to be
quite inconvenient.

Well, this was the powerful Count Kerbeck after all. He will probably use
this matter as a bargaining card with the Norn Count family.

Count Kelbeck was the most influential noble in the eastern part of the
Kingdom of Ridill.

The eastern part of the Kingdom of Ridill has experienced many disasters
caused by dragons, and since it was adjacent to several countries, including
the empire, it will be the front line in case of emergency—therefore, the
nobles in the eastern part of the kingdom have military power that rivals that
of the royal capital.

This is why the eastern provinces were the most threatening if they started a
rebellion.

Fearful of the eastern nobles rebelling and turning their troops against the
center, the central nobles have been trying to control the size of the eastern
nobles’ army… that’s what Cyril’s adoptive father, Marquis Highon, once
said.

However, the nobility in the east can’t reduce their forces so easily. The
eastern part of the country has always been beset with two treats: the
neighboring country and the dragons.

That’s why my adoptive father said he doesn’t want Count Kerbeck to

become his enemy…
In the struggle to determine the next king, Count Kerbeck held a neutral
position. Forcing them to take sides would be difficult.

Therefore, keeping them from becoming enemies would be the safest thing to
do.

As Cyril was pondering these things, Felix was speaking to Isabelle in a

casual tone.

“Oh, speaking of Count Kerbeck’s territory… That Black Dragon Wogan’s

incident must have been tough.”

“On that occasion, we would like to thank His Majesty for dispatching the
dragon knights from the capital. I am grateful for his prompt and generous
action.”

To Isabelle’s auspicious attitude, Felix then said in a joking tone.

“Maybe the count’s army alone could have managed without the arrival of the
dragon knights?”

The count’s soldiers were accustomed to killing dragons, so they often

managed to kill them before the Dragon Knights arrived. That’s why Felix
said in a roundabout way that it might have been unnecessary to dispatch the
dragon knights, but Isabelle was like, “Of course not!” exclaimed.

“Our Count Kerbeck family has a history of fighting dragons for hundreds of
years. Even with such a history, we have only faced a black dragon once
before, two hundred years ago. The reason we were able to defeat the Black
Dragon Wogan was thanks to the efforts of the dragon knights and… the
Silent Witch who lend her power.”

The [Silent Witch] was a young genius who became one of the Seven Sages
two years ago at the tender age of fifteen.

Cyril had never seen her before, but it was rumored that the [Silent Witch]
always wore a robe over her head and kept her head down, even during
ceremonies, and never showed her face.
A robe over her head?

Something stimulated Cyril’s memory. A hooded robe was nothing unusual.

But a strange feeling rose in his heart… as he remembered the events of “that
night.”

While Cyril was quietly suppressing his agitation, Isabelle said in a slightly
more excited tone.

“Although I didn’t see it with my own eyes… I heard that [Silent Witch] shot
down more than twenty wyverns that had been following the black dragon in
an instant!”

“Well, I’m not much of a magician, but that sounds amazing.”

Felix gestured at her in a way that seemed to be impressed.

Shoot down over 20 moving targets in an instant? …such a thing is

impossible.

Dragons have a weakness for cold, but their bodies were sturdy and highly
resistant to magic, making them impervious to most spells.

To defeat it, they would have to aim at the eyeballs or the space between the
eyes, but accurately aiming at the space between the eyebrows or the
eyeballs against a moving target would be extremely difficult, even for an
advanced magician.

In addition, shooting down more than 20 of them at the same time, such a
thing was…

Suddenly, the events of the night a few weeks ago came back to Cyril’s mind.

Terribly advanced magic that accurately shot down the ice blocks released
by Cyril, who had gone out of control.

It wasn’t the kind of situation where the chanting could be done in time. And
yet, that person was able to deploy such precise magic with Cyril’s
“afterthought.”

—A silent monster.

That person might be able to use magic to target the eyebrows of more than
twenty wyverns, just as he shot off Cyril’s ice.

As he listened to Isabelle’s impassioned talk about the [Silent Witch], Cyril

had quietly pushed down his agitation.

＊ ＊ ＊

After chatting with Felix, Isabelle left the salon and walked down the
hallway with her chambermaid, Agatha in tow.

She could see the eyes of the students glancing at her. Most of them look at
her in awe.

It was probably because Caroline had spread the word about what Isabelle
had done to her early on.

“My Lady, are you sure about this?”

“Yes, I was prepared for that.”

Trampling on someone is an act of making enemies, of course.

Still, Isabel dared to retaliate against Caroline.

Stay out of the way of the Count Kerbeck family… Once that unspoken
agreement was established, no one would dare mess with Monica.

Monica Everett, the [Silent Witch], was a benefactor to all who lived in the
territory of Count Kerbeck.

When the presence of the black dragon was discovered in her territory, all
the people living in the Count’s territory mourned in despair.
For humans, dragons represent a disaster. And the most feared of them all is
the black dragon.

The black dragon’s scales are said to repel all sorts of magic, and the flames
it spits out are the flames of the underworld, burning away even defensive
barriers. Legend has it that a single black dragon could destroy an entire
country.

Even a fire breathed out by a black dragon on a whim could kill dozens or
hundreds of people.

The flames of the black dragon burned through iron and stone, leaving not
even the bones of a human being.

Still, both Isabelle and Agatha had resolved to stay in the mansion until the
end. Death was something they were prepared for.

But the report that came from the battlefield was…

—With the help of the Silent Witch’s spells, we shot down 24 wyverns. The
black dragon was defeated.

The [Silent Witch] used a spell to wipe out the wyverns that had been
gathered in one place by the dragon knights and then she proceeded to the
nest of the black dragon to fight it. Although she was unable to finish the
black dragon off, she succeeded in driving it away from Count Kerbeck’s
territory.

Isabelle has understood how much effort and sacrifice it takes to defeat a
single wyvern.

What the [Silent Witch] has done was nothing but a miracle.

For the Count Kerbeck family, the [Silent Witch] was their great savior. And
yet, she left Count Kerbeck’s domain without accepting any hospitality.

So, when Louis Miller asked her to support the Silent Witch, she agreed to
do everything in her power to support Monica.
After returning to her own room and closing the door, Isabelle looked around
her room and put her finger on her chin.

“Say, Agatha. We can put another bed in this room, can’t we?”

“Of course you can, my lady.”

The clever Agatha immediately understood what Isabelle wanted.

Isabelle humphed and clenched her fists.

“In that case, please arrange for a new bed immediately. Big Sister Monica
will probably have to take some time off from her classes to recuperate.
Unfortunately, I cannot take good care of her in the attic. I will have to ask
her to come to this room under the watchful eyes of the other students.”

“Certainly. I’ll make arrangements as soon as possible.”

“Thank you. Fufu… Sharing a room with my beloved big sister… Oh, she
must have been hurt both physically and mentally by this incident, I must
comfort her! Does she like romance novels? I’d be happy to lend her one of
my recommended series. Ah, it would be wonderful if we could have a novel
talk together… Oh, right, sleepwear! Agatha, don’t forget to prepare her
sleepwear! A very cute one that matches mine!”

Isabelle’s eyes sparkled as she pleaded, and Agatha, the capable

chambermaid, answered emphatically, “Please leave it to me.”
 V5C10: The Phenomenon of Secret
Fans Instantly Becoming Fast-
talkers When They Find A Topic
to Discuss.

After discussing with the teacher about Caroline’s punishment, Felix went to
the infirmary, but there was no sign of Monica in there. Apparently, she had
returned to her room in the dormitory.

Although he was concerned about whether she could get back to the
dormitory properly, Claudia was with her, so she wouldn’t force Monica to
do anything. Incidentally, that little squirrel seems to be living in the attic.
Apparently, the daughter of Count Kerbeck made her do so.

Actually, I wanted to warn Miss Isabelle not to harass the little squirrel
too much.

Asking Isabelle why she was harassing Monica would mean getting into the
inner workings of the Count Kerbeck family. Count Kerbeck was a large
noble family who stood neutral. It would be unwise for Felix, the second
prince, to meddle in their affairs.

Well, if Miss Isabelle was the one who was tormenting Monica and making
her cry, then he could be the one to spoil her.

It’s easier to tame that little squirrel when there’s an obvious bully.

At first, I was hoping Cyril would fill that role, but he’s been so soft on
Miss Norton lately.
Regardless of his change of heart, Cyril was the first one to pick up Monica
when she had to be carried to the infirmary… though he ran out of steam in
the process.

Surprisingly, Cyril might be thinking of Monica as a younger sister. After all,

her own sister, Claudia, was like that.

Recalling how the two siblings interacted with each other, Felix was
chuckling as he shut the door of his room with a click. Then a white lizard
crawled easily out of Felix’s breast pocket.

The lizard slithered from Felix’s body down to the ground and immediately
transformed into a human form. Having taken the form of a chamberlain with
light blue hair and blue eyes, Will bowed to Felix.

“Today was… well… quite a day, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, but it’s been a while since I’ve heard ‘her’ name.”

“‘her’?”

Will gave him a quizzical look, and Felix’s lips raised slowly to form into a
smile.

“Lady Everett, the [Silent Witch].”

Isabelle Norton had spoken that topic with eyes glittering in the salon.

“Although I didn’t see it with my own eyes… I heard that [Silent Witch]
shot down more than twenty wyverns that had been following the black
dragon in an instant!”

Anyone with any knowledge of magic would frown upon that as an

exaggeration.

But Felix knew. That Isabelle’s words were not a lie.

Because Felix had witnessed it a few months ago.

Just at that time, Felix was on a secret trip to the eastern region.

However, the eastern region was in chaos due to the appearance of the black
dragon. The roads were flooded with people who abandoned their villages
and towns to evacuate, and Felix was forced to stay there.

Since it was inconvenient for him if his identity was revealed to the people
around him, he was moving away from the flow of people and unfortunately
bumped into a group of wyverns moving towards him.

There, he saw it.

A swarm of wyverns covered the sky.

The deafening, gargling cry was very aggressive and it was clear that it was
on edge.

Whenever one of the wyverns freakishly glided past a nearby house, its
claws would rip off the roof and the wind pressure would break the trees.

It was a disaster with a will of its own. Each of the large wyverns was larger
than a house. The sight of more than twenty of them flying in the sky was like
a nightmare.

But at the very next moment, ice spears rained down from the sky. There
were twenty-four of them—exactly the same number as the wyverns.

The ice blades, which looked like they would have taken a grown man to
make a circle with his arms, all accurately pierced at the wyverns’ brow.

The wyverns that had lost their strength were falling toward the ground in a
trickle, into a village. All the inhabitants have been evacuated, leaving their
house as-is.

Just as the wyverns’ bodies were about to collide with the house, it slid
away as if swept away by the wind before falling softly to the empty ground.

It wasn’t just one. All twenty-four of them fell gently and silently like wings
fluttering in the wind, piling up on the wide ground.
Felix, who had been watching from a distance, forgot to breathe and was
mesmerized by the scene.

—What a cruelly silent… yet beautiful spell.

Since Felix was some distance away from the scene, he was unable to see the
magician, but he later learned from others that the magician was one of the
Seven Sages, the [Silent Witch].

He had seen the [Silent Witch] a few times at the ceremony. However, she
always wore a hooded robe, so Felix had never seen her face.

Despite being the youngest genius in the world, the [Silent Witch] rarely
appeared in public, and among the Seven Sages, she was the most reserved
and inconspicuous, nor have as impressive a record as her peer Louis Miller.

…and yet she was such an amazing magician!

Felix hummed as he took the key out of his pocket and unlocked the drawer to
reveal a bundle of essays.

Seeing this, Will blinked moderately.

“Are those papers that the Silent Witch wrote while at Minerva?”

“Yeah, I asked Madame Cassandra to get it for me. These papers contain the
positional coordinates and variations of very advanced magic essays.”

Felix trailed off there and lowered his eyebrows in slight disappointment.

“Right, you spirits have never been tangled in spells, have you?”

“Yes, we spirits use magic with our senses… so we don’t understand how to
weave a formula.”

Spirits can use their mana as naturally as a human can pick up an object from
a desk.
However, it precisely because humans were not as good at using magic as
spirits that they weave magic formulas and activate them as “spells”.

“The principles of the [Silent Witch] Lady Everett’s no-chanting spell have
not been revealed, but there is no doubt that she has a very good mind. This
essay was written by the [Silent Witch] when she was a student, and it can be
said that the publication of this essay has changed the common sense of
extensive magic. The accuracy of the magic has improved dramatically.”

“…when we spirit aim at something with our attack magic, we ‘somehow’

aim at it and ‘somehow’ release our mana.”

“Humans can’t use mana with just ‘somehow.’ We have to understand how it
works, weave a logical formula, and use mana in the form of ‘spell’.”

For example, imagine attacking an enemy with a fire spell.

First, in order to create the fire, the magician must determine the temperature,
size, shape, and duration of the fire…all of these things.

Furthermore, in order to fire it to the enemy, the speed, angle, and distance
must be calculated and fine-tuned to take into account the climate and wind
direction.

Unless they were accurately incorporated into the magic formula, the spells
would not work properly. In the worst-case scenario, a fireball would
explode at hand, causing a tragedy.

“Spells require a great deal of calculation. Human chanting is similar to the

need for a formula in the middle of an arduous mathematical equation. Once
you get used to it, you can make some omissions, but you can’t just look at a
complicated mathematical formula and suddenly arrive at the answer, can
you? …but there’s one person exception.”

A genius magician—without the need for chanting—can answer difficult

magic formulas in an instant.

And she was the [Silent Witch].

Recalling her robes from the ceremony, Felix unconsciously raised the corner
of his mouth.

“If I could, I’d like to see it again… her serene, beautiful magic.”

Closing his eyelids brought back the scene of wyverns quietly falling through
the sky.

The wyverns had died instantly, almost without shedding any blood.

How merciless, how cruel, how beautiful.

Felix clutched the [Silent Witch]’s papers onto his chest and let out a sweet
exhalation.

“Ah, I wonder how the spell that shot down the wyverns at that time
calculated the enemy’s coordinate axis. Even incorporating a tracking spell,
it would not be possible to accurately target the area between the eyebrows
with the current performance of the tracking spells… I wouldn’t be surprised
if the [Silent Witch] had developed a new tracking spell, but I don’t think it
was a tracking spell because the ice seemed to be flying straight at that time.
If so, it would mean that she accurately calculated the positions of the 24
wyverns and instantly activated her spells to pierce the space between their
eyebrows, but grasping the positions of all 24 wyverns and firing her magic
at the same time is unheard of. I suspect that the [Silent Witch] may have a
frighteningly high level of spatial perception…”

“Excuse me, Your Highness, your tea’s ready.”

“Oh, yeah, thanks. You can leave it there.”

And Will, who was very sincere, said with a look of sincere apology on his
face. After gave a small nod at the cursory instructions and he placed his cup
of tea on the table.

“I deeply apologize for my inability to understand what Your Highness is

saying due to my lack of understanding.”
“No, I apologize for getting carried away. There was no one else I could talk
to about this.”

Felix flipped through the papers and looked over what was written in them.

It was a very advanced and complex essay. However, after reading the
contents of the paper so many times to the point where it became a habit to
fold the paper, he was able to easily remember the contents of the paper with
just a quick glance. He had read it so much that he had memorized it. Many,
many times.

“I have a feeling that Miss Isabelle Norton and I would get along well as fans
of the [Silent Witch].”

When Felix assured him that he was a fan, Will advised him with a
complicated look.

“Your Highness, we shouldn’t be talking about the magic outside…”

“I know. I’ll behave myself. I’ll have to pretend that I’m not familiar with
magic.”

That’s why he hasn’t taken any classes on practical spell casting at the
school, and he has hidden the fact that he has made a contract with Will, a
high-ranking spirit.

Suddenly, Felix had a thought.

The magic formula resembled a mathematical equation—if so, what would

happen if Monica Norton, who has an outstanding ability to calculate, were
to learn magic?

“I wonder if that little squirrel has any interest in magic. I’m sure she’s got
some qualities.”

“I don’t know. But, without a certain amount of mana, she won’t able to use
spells.”

“I guess so.”
Felix pondered as he looked down at the paper in his hand.

What will that little squirrel think when she reads this paper?

Well, I guess she would be more interested in these papers than in me.
 Side Story 1: Romance and Tail

Sitting on the fluffiest bed she’s ever had and wearing a silk nightgown she’s
never slept in before, Monica flipped through the pages of her novel, feeling
uncomfortable with the intense stares she was receiving.

After reaching the last page of the book, Monica let out a breath and rubbed
her tired eyes.

At that moment, Isabelle, who had been sitting by the bedside the whole time,
spoke up with a gleam in her eye.

“What did you think? Marrone Fillil’s masterpiece, “The White Rose Maiden
Sleeps in the Garden!”

“W-Well…”

Monica was at a loss for words to reply, letting her gaze wander around.

“T-The phrasing is… rather unique, isn’t it?”

“Indeed, Marrone Fillil uses poetic language very beautifully, and above all,
her descriptions of the scenes and the heroine’s psychology are wonderful.
The story is superb, too. The parting scene in the third chapter is
unforgettable, and you can’t read it without shedding tears.”

Monica, who had read that very third chapter without tears, felt very sorry
for her.

Monica, who has not been used to reading stories since her childhood, has
difficulty understanding this kind of unique expression in fictional stories.
For example, white skin as smooth as white porcelain, black hair like melted
ebony dusted with jewels, and lips as fresh as wild strawberries, all of
which would be fine with just ‘white skin, black hair, and red lips.’

But still, she could not bring herself to deny what was recommended to her,
so she smiled vaguely while giving some feedback.

Then Isabelle’s chambermaid, Agatha, spoke softly to her.

“My lady, it is almost time for dinner.”

“Oh my, it’s already time for dinner. Well then, Big Sister Monica, I will be
leaving for the dining hall in a little while. I’ll have Agatha prepare a meal
for you.”

“T-Thank you.”

As she thanked her, Monica let out a sigh of relief.

＊ ＊ ＊

After getting drugged by Miss Caroline and sent to the infirmary, Monica
took a few days off from class to recuperate in Isabelle’s room.

Monica didn’t mind being in the attic, but Isabelle had already brought a bed
into her room for her, so she could not refuse.

To be honest, Monica, who was not used to living with other people,
couldn’t help but feel restless, but her chambermaid, Agatha, dealt with the
situation skillfully. Whenever Isabelle got too excited, Agatha would subtly
correct her.

Even now, Agatha ushered Isabelle into the dining room and brought Monica
a tray with food on it.

“I’ll leave your meal over here. Please ring this bell when you are done.”

“T-Thank you…”
Agatha smiled, bowed, and left the room.

She appreciated the concern, knowing that Monica was not used to eating in a
public place.

Monica climbed out of bed and sat down in a chair. On the table were soft
bread, cheese, sauteed fish, potage, and sweetened apples.

Agatha had gone to the trouble of preparing all of them for Monica in the
dining room. Grateful for Isabelle’s and Agatha’s thoughtfulness, Monica
sliced a piece of bread and brought it to her mouth. The fluffy white bread
was soft with a slight sweetness.

Such soft bread was not something she could eat very often in the mountains.
The one Monica was eating at the cabin was black bread hard as a stone. It
was delicious when eaten with cheese, though.

As she chewed on the bread and reminisced about her life in the cabin, she
heard the sound of scratchings on the window. Looking over, it was actually
Nero scratching at the window.

Monica stood up and opened the window, allowing Nero to easily enter the
room before he twitch his nose.

“It smells good.”

“I have some fish. You want some?”

“I don’t like fish, you know. I prefer meat. I like birds, especially birds.”

As soon as Nero jumped up on the desk and saw that there was no meat, he
frowned in frustration and said, “These cheese will do for now.”

Once she placed a small plate of cheese in front of Nero, he took a bite of the
cheese, seeming to really like the taste.

“It’s so good. Now if we could only get some meat, it would be perfect. Hey,
I think I’ll go hunting again tonight.”
“After all the fuss over the bird bone stuck in your throat?”

“That was just a youthful indiscretion. Wise creatures grow day by day by
repeating mistakes like that.”

Nero nodded plausibly and wagged his tail when he noticed that there was a
novel on Monica’s bedside table.

“It’s unusual for you to read a novel… oh, I get it. The ‘orange rolls’
recommended it to you, didn’t she?”

“You’re being rude to Lady Isabelle.”

The orange rolls must be referring to Isabelle’s hair. Nero basically never
tried to remember people’s names.

Despite Monica’s protests, Nero was still gazing at the cover of the novel as
he bit into a piece of cheese.

“That’s a writer I don’t know. Hey, was that novel interesting?”

“…I wasn’t sure.”

“How’s the story?”

Looking at Nero’s curious eyes, Monica tore off a piece of bread as she
ruminated on the story she had just finished reading.

“…There was a man and a woman.”

“Okay.”

“…a lot of things happened.”

“Oho…”

“…they’re getting married.”

“Then?”
“…the end.”

Nero’s tail stopped moving and he stared up at Monica.

“I understand now that you weren’t ooooone bit impressed by that novel. But,
that ‘a lot of things happened’ part is what’s important. You’ve omitted
hundreds of thousands of words.”

“Because I really didn’t know any of this…”

That novel told the story of the unfortunate heroine who meets a young
nobleman by a rose tree and falls in love with him at first sight. However, the
young man had a fiancee. When his fiancee refuses to acknowledge the
breakup of the engagement, she schemes to get rid of the heroine, but the two
overcome their ordeal and end up together.

However, Monica can’t understand why the heroine and the young nobleman
fell in love, in the first place. The young man had a fiancee, so the fiancee
had every right to be furious.

“…how could she become so infatuated over someone like this?”

The characters in the story were infatuated with the other person as if they
were drowning. They were madly in love with each other. They want to love
and be loved. They want to choose or want to be chosen…no matter how
much it costs them.

This seemed somewhat frightening to Monica.

“…How can someone expect so much… from another person?”

Nero’s tail wagged in response to the muttering, and he looked up at Monica

with golden eyes.

“I guess you’re too young to understand. Love is like, when you fall, your
heart skips a beat. Like, a zap.”

Monica stared at Nero, who said with a knowing look on his face.
“…so, do you know what “love” is, Nero?”

“Of course I am. I like females with sexy tails, by the way.”

“…tail?”

“I can’t lust after a female without a tail, so you’re out of my scope. So don’t
worry.”

It was a world that Monica, who had no tail, could not understand.

Maybe, just like Monica herself didn’t have a tail, she didn’t have any
interest in love in the first place.

Satisfied with that conclusion, Monica tore off a piece of bread and stuffed it
into her mouth.

It’s a matter of not knowing what love is. The timid Monica can’t hope for
anyone or anything. She can’t expect anything. What she wanted madly was
just a number that would never betray her.
 Side Story 2: Scholar Family,
Mediator Family

The Ashley family has been known as the “Scholar Family” for generations,
but they originally were a family of librarians.

Perhaps as a remnant of their legacy, the Ashley family owned a library and
three study rooms. The number of books in the library was no less than the
library in the royal capital.

Claudia who growing up surrounded by such an enormous amount of books,

naturally would read them in her spare time.

The adults around her called her a book-loving girl, but Claudia wasn’t
particularly fond of reading. She has a slightly different hobby.

For Claudia, the act of reading a book was a “natural act”.

Just as eating when hungry, she reads books when she doesn’t know
something. That was all there was to it. And for that reason, Claudia thought
the act of reading no more than that.

The same can be said for the rest of Ashley’s family members. And Claudia’s
father was no exception.

Therefore, her scholar father, Marquis Highon, was visited every day by
those who sought his advice. Some were representing their own people,
some were local nobles… and some were from other countries.

—I’m in trouble because my fields are not yielding. Please tell me how to
grow more crops even in a drought.
—It’s about inheritance property control, please tell me how to get an
upper hand over my brother.

—A sailor became ill during a voyage. Please tell me how to treat it.

Everyone was clinging onto her father, saying, ‘Please tell me, please tell
me.’

As she watched such scenes, the child Claudia thought to herself.

Why do these people never try to figure things out for themselves?

Most of the questions they brought up were things that could be found in a
book. No one ever bothered to figure it out themselves. They only want to
know the answer.

Claudia was experiencing the same things as well. In her primary school,
people would come to Claudia to ask her about things they didn’t understand.

Treating her like nothing more than a ‘walking library,’ everyone also thought
of all the Ashley family members was like that.

It would be worst when they felt grateful to her. After they felt grateful for
Claudia because she could be relied upon, they would back to ask on her
again, and again. That’s why Claudia despised their gratitude.

So, when people tried to talk to her, Claudia would show her gloomy face as
if she didn’t feel like talking to them. Its gloomy was like that of a person
who seemed to have one of her family members died.

Its effect was so great making no one came near Claudia after, leaving her
with plenty time to read a book quietly.

Claudia was truly happy about that.

＊ ＊ ＊

One day, a letter arrived at her father’s door.

A certain baron wanted to visit her father to ask for his advice on something.

After her father read the letter, his face was expressionless but somewhat
jubilant, she sure for it. He even arranged for the servants to prepare a
reception for that person.

“…who’s our guest today?”

After begin asked by Claudia, her father lifted his glasses and spoke up.

“Baron Maywood would like to discuss something with me.”

“…He’s come to ask some advice, isn’t he? But you seem quite enthused
about it, even arranged the servants to receive that person.”

In response to his daughter’s bitter remark, her father muttered, “I see,” as he

expected her reply.

To an outsider, he may look cold and impassive, but to his family, his
excitement was apparent. The corners of his mouth were slightly raised under
his well-trimmed beard.

“Baron Maywood always comes to me for advice when he’s done looking
everything within his means before seeking a different point of view. He’s
not come to seek for my ‘wisdom’, but my ‘opinion’.”

The wine I drink always tastes better when I’ve him accompanied me, said
her father, concluding the story.

Claudia knew that her father did not like to drink very much.

To be able to make such a father enjoying his drink, Baron Maywood must be
an outstanding man like no other, she thought at the time.

＊ ＊ ＊

“Well, it’s nice to see you, Marquis Highon. It’s been a long time. Oh, is that
Miss Claudia over there? She looks very lovely.”
Claudia’s first impression of Baron Maywood was one word: ‘plain.’

He appeared to be younger than her father, and his clothes were plain with
few ornaments. He probably a baron who wasn’t from a wealthy family.

The smile on his face was somewhat unreliable with his relaxed eyebrows,
making him look amicably and not very smart.

“I brought my son with me today. Neil, introduce yourself.”

As Baron Maywood urged, a small boy stepped out from behind, looked
straight up at Marquis Highon with a shy smile, then greeted him.

“My name is Neil Clay Maywood, eldest son of Baron Maywood. It is an

honor to meet you.”

He was a boy with straight eyes. Though he only appeared to be about ten
years old, he was said to be thirteen, the same age as Claudia. Apparently,
looking young was their family trait.

Ushered into the parlor by Claudia’s father which was Marquis Highon,
together with Baron Maywood, had a brief discussion. The topic was mainly
about the mediation between the Magician’s Association and the Noble
Council. Apparently, the Magician’s Association has requested the council to
lift the ban on medical spells.

And Baron Maywood’s tasked to arbitrate the meeting.

For generations, the Baron Maywood family has been involved mainly in
mediating these kinds of negotiations.

If the Marquis Highon family was known as the ‘Scholar family,’ then Baron
Maywood’s family was known as the ‘mediator family.’

Despite his position as a noble, a mediator’s job is to guide the two sides of
the debate to reach a satisfactory settlement in an impartial manner, without
taking sides with the noble council.
“Lifting the ban on medical spells would certainly save some lives. That’s a
fact. However, in my opinion, it is still ‘too early.’ We need both medical
and spells research development to reach the same level of maturity… but,
medical development in this country is not mature yet.”

“I agree. In some areas, there are still doctors who use superstition as a form
of medicine. Lifting the ban on medical spells in this situation will only add
to the actions of such frauds.”

“First of all, the bad effect of mana in the human body… I think we need to
do more verification of that. The data we’ve collected on the part of the
Magician’s Association is still insufficient. If things continue like this, the
medical development may be eclipsed by the magic development.”

“Definitely. On top of that, we should train those who are proficient in both
medicine and spells. I am certain medical spells will be developing in the
future, but at the moment, the foundation for it has not even been laid. So, we
should concentrate on cultivating the soil.”

“You are right. However, hearing someone has a family member with a
disease that is untreatable by today’s medical treatment… tend to make me
get emotional in mediating… ‘The ban on medical spells should be lifted as
soon as possible. Are you trying to kill my daughter?’ when someone said
that, it made me felt so depressed… I understand how painful it is to feel that
way.”

“If the wrong method of treatment caused mana poisoning and led her to
death, there would be no saving the child.”

“Yeah, that’s why we should proceed more carefully.”

As she quietly listened to the conversation between her father and Baron
Maywood, Baron Maywood turned his head and looked at Claudia.

He then relaxed his eyebrows and smiled wryly.

“Sorry, that wasn’t very interesting, was it?”

“No, I found it very interesting… I can tell the arguments of the magicians,
who are trying to push their case based on emotionalism without sufficient
data, and the noble council, who are concerned that the interests of the
medical association will flow into the magicians if doctors and magicians
team up.”

Baron Maywood rounded his eyes slightly at Claudia’s words. However, he

didn’t seem particularly offended, and rather calmly relaxing his eyebrows
and smiled.

“You’re very clever. Indeed. It precisely because of that I need to proceed

more carefully… before making my decision.”

Neil, who was sitting next to Baron Maywood, rounded his eyes and looked
at Claudia. He must have been taken aback by Claudia’s statement.

I don’t know how much that little boy with the young face understands my
words…he even might not able to understand everything.

As Claudia was thinking about this, her father glanced at her and said in a
low voice.

“Claudia. Go give young Neil a tour of our mansion.”

Her father probably thought Claudia was bored, too.

She suspected the topics they would talk about would be things that can’t be
heard by children.

“Um, please treat me well!”

“………”

This is like I’ve become a person who’s showing the way for children,
Claudia thought to herself.

＊ ＊ ＊

” …Any place do you want to see?”

“Um, I want to see your garden.”

“Okay…”

For him being interested in gardens rather than books in the Ashley family—
which boasts such a large collection of books—was quite unusual.

Claudia led Neil into the garden, secretly thinking that it would be easier for
her if he would just stay quiet and read a book.

Having walked next to each other for a while, she found him looked even
younger. He was a little shorter than Claudia and his appearance didn’t match
his age.

Noticing Claudia was giving him a side glance, Neil then responded with a
smile which much like his father.

“You are amazing, Miss Claudia. You even grasped the true meaning behind
such a difficult event.”

“………”

“I haven’t thought about the reason behind the noble council. I didn’t expect
the Medical Association and the noble council have a strong connection…
My father let me present to be the meeting was to study, but I’m not ready
yet…”

“………”

Apparently, he barely able to grasp the meaning behind their fathers were
discussion.

Neil folded his arms groaning with a difficult face.

“I wonder if there was any proof that clearly shows the connection between
the Noble Council and the Medical Association… the current head of the
Medical Association is… um…”
Neil was groaning as question after question came from him, never once
asked about them to Claudia.

Unexpectedly, Claudia opened her mouth.

“..you’re not going to ask?”

“Huh?”

“I am the daughter of Marquis Highon… The Scholar Family. I have enough

wisdom to answer most of your questions.”

In fact, Claudia has all the answers to the questions that Neil had mentioned.

However, Neil showed a slight sign of thinking and then shook his head
firmly.

“No, I will look it up when I get home. ‘If you don’t know something, you
should look it up yourself. If you still can’t figure it out, ask someone who
can.’ that’s what my father told me.”

“…alright.”

“Oh, I’m sorry! I’m sorry for refusing while you’ve intended to answer my
questions, but…”

Claudia didn’t say she would answer his questions. She just said that she
knew the answer.

However, this apparently good-natured boy seemed to have interpreted

Claudia’s statement as one of the good intentions.

“I’m going to do some investigation at home, so if I still don’t understand,

please do tell me.”

Claudia did not confirm or deny. It wasn’t that she was being mean. It was
because she couldn’t decide which was the best response.
If she told him ‘there’s no way I would give you my answer,’ or something in
a cold tone, perhaps that boy will never visit her again. And she felt like she
would regret it later.

Opened the door without a word, Claudia was walking straight down the
well-marked path.

“…we’ve arrived in our garden.”

“Wow, there’s a lot of medical herbs.”

Marquis Highon family has half of his garden planted with ornamental
flowers and half with medicinal herbs. While the latter was grown by her
father as a way to put into practice his knowledge on medicinal herbs. Her
father was a man who believed that this kind of knowledge was only
valuable if it was put into practice.

Marquis Highon has air that man of a taciturn knowledgeable man, but he
was surprisingly a man of action.

“Look at this, Miss Claudia. This herb, it’s the kind that helps with cut
wounds!”

“…how could I possibly not know?”

“Well, you’re right.”

Scratching his cheek in embarrassment, Neil crouched down on the spot and
reached for a weed growing outside the flower bed.

“Then do you what is this?”

“…it’s weeds.”

She could even tell him its scientific name if he wanted. Along with its
habitats, too.

In front of the thinking Claudia, Neil plucked a weed and snapped both its
edges, put it in his mouth then blew on it.
*whistle* A high-pitched sounded.

“If you cut this grass here and squeeze this area, you can make whistles. Our
shepherds often do this.”

“…I’ve never heard about it before.”

As Claudia spoke quietly, Neil giggled and blew his grass flute happily.

The sound was high, clear, and pleasant.

＊ ＊ ＊

As soon as Baron Maywood and his son went out to return to their home,
Claudia immediately made an announcement to her father.

“Father, I would like to marry Neil.”

Claudia said this with her usual gloomy air, but Marquis Highon neither
surprised nor scolded her, simply stared at her in silence.

After staring at each other in silence for a while, Marquis Highon slowly
opened his mouth.

“Neil is the eldest son who will inherit the Maywood family, so I can’t make
him come to our house as my son-in-law.”

Claudia thought her father would continue with his denial thereafter, but
when he playing with his mustache, he blurted out.

“I guess I would have to adopt a son to take over the family.”

Claudia’s mother died soon after giving birth to Claudia, and her father never
took a second wife, so at this point, Claudia was the only person in the direct
line of the Marquis Highon family.

Certainly, if he adopted the son who would succeed the Marquis Highon
family, Claudia would be able to marry Neil off without any problems.
However, she knew her father wished to have come into his house as his son-
in-law.

“So you do not disagree with it…”

“I know you’ll come to love him..”

The words that her father said as he tried to hold his tongue were filled with
a strange sense of reality. Indeed, both father and daughter have a weakness
for the Baron Maywood family.

Marquis Highon did not mention the fact that the blood of the direct lineage
of the Scholar Family would be cut off. He also knew that knowledge was
not passed down by their blood, but education.

“Now, I should make some arrangements for an adoption… I’d like him to be
a person who’s desire to improve oneself, even if he’s from a distant family.”

After saying this, Marquis Highon took out one document after another from
his writing desk.

Claudia, the daughter, wanted to marry him the next day after the meeting, and
her father, who heard her daughter yearning for that marriage of a sudden,
immediately started preparing documents for adoption and engagement.

Like the father like the daughter, their quick decisions were so similar.
 V6C1: A Refined Solo Game of
Maid Who’ve Got So Many
Spare Time

It had been a week since Monica had been recuperating in Isabelle’s room.
Now her physical condition has improved, she decided to return to her room
in the attic as before.

Why not continue to stay in her room, so Isabelle suggested, but Monica
refused since she was carrying out a secret mission.

“Let’s go, Monica. I’ll lead the way. Follow me when I give the signal.”

“Yeah…”

Nero went ahead to make sure no one was around, and when he gave the
signal, Monica crept her way across the corridor.

At night in the girls’ dormitory, several supervisors would take turns keeping
watch around. In the pretense of emergencies or intruders, but in reality, it’s
to keep an eye on the students who are planning to have a night out.

Monica asked Nero to keep an eye out for her to avoid being spotted as she
carefully made her way to the attic.

She’s almost got caught a few times on her way there, but thanks to Nero, she
made it to reach the attic without being spotted, then climbed up the old
ladder to the top and pushed up the door.

Then, she heard a clacking sound.

The door hit something when she pushed it up… it was a small, thin,
rectangular piece of wood. The wooden pieces arranged at equal intervals
were placed in such a way that their tips would collide with each other when
the door pushed up.

After Monica opened up the door, the evenly spaced pieces of wood dropped
one after another following by clicking sounds. At the end of it stood a quill
pen that was propped up against the ink pot, barely vertical.

As the quill was pushed down by the piece of wood, the tip of the quill
grazed the top of a can set up nearby.

The round stone that was placed on top of the can was sliding across the
measuring stick like a slide. At the end of the way down was one tip of the
scales of the balance. When a pebble fell on it, the scale tilted, and on the top
of the lifted scale was a piece of paper that said ‘Goal!’ written on…

A distracting whistle sound came from above the stunned Monica and Nero:
toot-toot, toot-toot, toot-toot!

As they looked up, they saw a beautiful woman in a maid’s uniform—Louis

Miller’s contracted spirit—Lynn, standing inside the attic, looking down
expressionlessly at Monica and her group coming up, with a flute in her
mouth.

Lynn swooped down to the floor in a weightless motion, picked up the hem of
her skirt, and bowed gracefully.

“Welcome back, Miss [Silent Witch], Sir Black Cat.”

“…Um, Miss, Lynn…?”

“Indeed. This one is the very contracted high spirit of Louis Miller,
Lyndberghfield.”

Spoke the beautiful, doll-like expressionless face with the usual indifferent
voice.
And yet, the flute in her mouth stood out in contrast to her action. How does
she vocalize her voice?

Nero seemed to be curious about the trick that was triggered when the door
opened, and when he saw how the pieces of wood set up, he was impressed
and said, “Wow, this is amazing.”

In response, Lynn expressionlessly nodded somewhat proud.

“This is a huge work that took me 2,174 failed attempts and 62 hours of work
(including gathering materials). It was not easy to cut these pieces of wood to
the same size.”

“Um… what’s this… for…?” said Monica after managed to squeeze her
words, which was responded by Lynn with a serious tone.

“It was approximately 72 hours ago when I arrived in this room to receive
the regular report. The task of waiting for your return in this place has left me
so bored.”

In other words, Lynn had been waiting for Monica in this attic for three days,
while diligently scraping and arranging pieces of wood.

As Monica paled at the guilt she had felt after leaving her for so long, Nero
spoke up in exasperation.

“Don’t let her words fooled you, Monica. Spirits wouldn’t get bored in just
three days. Their sense of time was different from humans”

“…now that you mention it, you’re right, I suppose.”

Nero, who had tasted the deliciousness of human food and the enjoyment of
novels ever since became her familiar, nodded in agreement.

After quickly cleaned up the pieces of wood scattered on the floor, Lynn
looked at Monica as if she has finally remembered her main objective.

“So, where have you been for the past few days?”
“Well, I apologize for that… for the past week, I’ve been staying in Lady
Isabelle’s room… After being poisoned, I’ve been recuperating there…”

As Monica fidgeting her finger trying to explain her circumstance, Lynn bent
her head to the side. She’s probably trying to tilt her head, but what she’s
done looked so creepy.

“I wonder how could you, the Silent Witch, who should escort His Highness,
be poisoned.”

“…I would like to know too.”

She also wanted to know the answer.

Recalling her recent event for the past month and a half, she’s become a
member of the student council as soon as she transferred to the school, having
her tea leaves dumped on her during the tea ceremony class, and was nearly
poisoned by a classmate.

“I have heard that there will be a school festival next month.”

“Well… yeah…”

“Since many outsiders will be coming in, the attempts to assassinate the
second prince will be increased too. Sir Louis also left some advice, please
keep your guard up.”

“I-I will.”

Monica steeled her resolve once again. That’s right, her recent surrounding
events had made her forgot that Felix’s life has always been surrounded by
danger.

As Monica thought, I have to pull myself together, in her mind, Nero looked
up nudged at her.

“I’ve been thinking this for a while. If you want to assassinate the prince,
why don’t you just fire a large magic weapon at this school? Wouldn’t that be
easier?”
“…Nero, if you do that, it wouldn’t be called assassination anymore…”

If they really planned to do that on that scale, it would like to be declaring

war.

That thought recalled back her memories when Louis told her about some of
his stories.

“I think you don’t have to worry about people attacking from the outside…
After all, this school had been protected by a barrier covering around.”

“Is that so?”

“It is. And most of the major facilities in this kingdom have been protected
by the barrier created by Louis.”.

Louis Miller has another alias which was the [Barrier Magician]… Although
he’s widely known for his martial artist, his specialty was creating a barrier.
Its strength, scale, precision, and duration said to be unrivaled by anyone.

And that Louis has put a lot of effort and time into a large-scale barrier that
covered this school.

“…I think he’s set up a barrier for defense then combined it with a detection
magic formula. Usually, it would remain in a dormant state, but when it
detects an attack from the outside, the barrier would activate… As long as
we have Louis’s barrier, an attack from the outside would be the last thing to
concern about.”

For that reason, the thing she should worry about was an assassination from
the inside.

The barrier that Louis set up can defend against an attack from the outside,
but it can’t do anything to the things that happened inside.

I need to act more carefully, as Monica told herself so…

“I guess we need to think of a plan during the school festival. Lynn, could you
wait for a moment. I will write the regular report now…”
As Monica turned to her desk, picked up her quill, Lynn clapped her hands
together as if she had remembered something, and began rummaging through
the pockets of her maid’s uniform.

“Miss [Silent Witch], while you were away, a few secret letters had arrived
in this attic.”

“…Secret letters?”

“Yes, since it had been slipped in between the gaps of the door, I was able to
retrieve it. Here.”

What Lynn presented to her was a simple piece of paper folded in half.

Leaving her body to stiffen as the nervousness growing up.

She recalled the thing that happened a long time ago before she enrolled into
Minerva, where some ill-words written on the letters slipped into her room.
Such horrible words like ‘go to hell’ or ‘get out from Minerva’.

Imagining such thoughts, Monica unfolded the paper with her trembling
fingers.

“………ah.”

What’s written there was the change of her period class and the things that
should be brought in which shaped in rounded fonts. And it ended with one
sentence of ‘you should get better quickly.’

Although there’s no name on it, from that handwritings, she knew the
senders… and it was Lana. Looking at the number sheets of the papers, she
speculated Lana had sent one letter every day for the past week.

And the letter that arrived recently has ‘there will be course selection in the
school tomorrow, so you must come for sure!’ written on.

Monica couldn’t help but raise her mouth as she covered her red face with
both hands.
“………Eh-heh.”

After re-reading the letters one by one carefully, she put them inside her
drawer—where she had put her precious coffee pot in—then locked it.
 V6C2: The First Debut of Silent
Witch at Cafeteria

After returning from her recuperation, she’s been attending the class for a
whole week, and for the first time, she was going to eat her lunch at the
cafeteria.

Since Casey, who from the next class, had taken the trouble inviting Monica
to have lunch together and Lana’s also going to tag along, Monica nervously
accepted her invitation with a nod.

Speaking of the school cafeteria, all she could remember was the school
cafeteria at Magician Training Institute Minerva where she’s been enrolled
into.

Minerva had a system where the students choose the menu at the reception
desk to get a wooden tag after paid the bill upfront. Which later brought to
the counter to exchange for a meal of the chosen menu. The menu selections
changed daily by three different sets of meals, and additional bread and soup
were available for an extra charge.

As such, she thought that the cafeteria at Serendia Academy would also have
such a system, but it was very different from what she had imagined.

To put it simply, the school cafeteria of Serendia Academy was a high-class

restaurant. Once the students stepped into the cafeteria, they would be guided
by waiters into seats, given a brief explanation on the menu, and had their
meals brought onto their table.

The students were not required to pay, since all of the cost has been included
in the school fees.
The best thing was one could even request their meals delivered directly to
their own room in the dorm.

T-This is so amazing…

Even at Minerva where Monica’s enrolled which many of the students came
from nobilities had provided many facilities, it still can’t be compared to
what Serendia Academy had. Everything here looked so extravagant.

Monica felt restless at the unused cafeteria while being escorted by the
waiters to her seat before quietly sat down next to someone. She’s been
looking down until now, so she thought the ones who sat at the table were
only Lana and Casey, but when she raised her face, she saw them sat across
the table.

…then, who’s the person sat next to her?

Awkwardly turning her head, She met the gaze of Claudia Ashley’s beautiful
blue lapis lazuli eyes.

“Wait, why are you sitting there too?!”

Lana yelled at Claudia in angry, but only to be brushed nonchalantly before

Claudia’s getting closer to Monica.

“…oh my, aren’t we friends, Mo.Ni.Ca?”

Monica’s whole body stiffened as she let out faint voices.

Claudia stroked Monica’s cheek with her white-gloved fingertips. For some
reason, she felt as if a snake was crawling on her skin.

“…Monica, I did save your life, didn’t I?”

“Y-You did.”

“…you do appreciate what I did for you, don’t you?”

“…I-I do.”
“…then we’re friends, aren’t we?”

“Y-Yeah.”

After convinced the stiffly nodding Monica to agree, Claudia smiled

triumphantly.

While Lana’s vein popped up on her forehead.

“That’s just coercing!”

And Casey was “now, now” tried to calm down the angry Lana.

“Come on, let’s stop this edgy atmosphere and talk more calmly, shall we?”

“…oh, please, I don’t intend to make the atmosphere this edgy. It just the girl
over there making a fuss all by herself… right?”

Lana gritted her teeth at Claudia’s obviously provocative tone.

Casey looked at them both in turn with an exasperated expression.

“You two, please let Monica choose her own food. Oh, Monica. I
recommend this fried fish. It comes with a delicious special sauce.”

“Also, this and this…”

To tell the truth, Monica, who earned a good income as a Seventh Sage, was
not troubled by money. Therefore, she didn’t mind any of the dishes on the
menu. In fact, since she didn’t know much about food, she would be very
grateful if someone could recommend something for her.

When everyone had finished ordering, Casey opened his mouth to mediate the
delicate atmosphere.

“Say, we are going to observe the elective course this afternoon, right? Have
you guys decided which course you want to take yet?”
Since the start of the second year of high school, the students could take
elective courses in addition to the regular basic courses. Among more than
twenty courses, they can choose two to take.

Horseback riding, sword fighting, and spear fighting were popular among
boys. Musical performance, embroidery, and poetry were popular among
girls. Other courses such as sociology, herbology, and foreign languages
were also available for both boys and girls.

With such a wide variety of courses to choose from, Monica still hadn’t
decided which one she wanted to take. It would have been nice to have
something like advanced mathematics, but there was only basic math in the
academic subjects.

As Monica clammed up, Lana opened her mouth.

“I would perhaps choose musical performance course, but considering my

future, I would also like to learn two languages. Maybe if I learn some
languages, especially Southern Continent Commercial and Ouka, I could be
useful for my father’s work.”

“How wonderful. I think I’ll go for embroidery… that’s the only thing I’m
good at. I’ll hold off on the other one. What about you, Miss Claudia?”

Casey casually swung the conversation to Claudia, and Claudia said with a
gloomy smile on her beautiful face.

“Herbology and basic spell casting… might come in handy to shut those
idiots up, don’t you think?”

Casey hoped Claudia doesn’t say things like that with an evil smile, as if
having already poisoned a few people.

As for Monica, who was saved by Claudia’s emergency treatment a week

ago, she couldn’t say anything about it.

“Have you decided yet, Monica?”

Asked by Lana, Monica was stuck for words.

Serendia Academy offered a strong curriculum in languages, law, and liberal
arts, but was somewhat weak in areas such as advanced mathematics,
physics, and biology.

In other words, subjects in which Monica excels were few and far between.

When it comes to basic spells casting, she definitely excelled at it…

…I can’t even say that my magic formula is listed in a basic spells

textbook…

Being too good at magic-related matters, on the other hand, would likely get
her into trouble.

“…I haven’t… decided… at all… yet.”

Monica answered while kneading her fingers, which made Casey grin.

“So, how about you come with me to look around the courses? I haven’t
decided on one yet, and hopefully, I could get to know some new courses that
I wouldn’t normally encounter.”

“…please guide me well…”

When it came to observing the courses, it was natural that she would run into
a group of people she had never met before. For Monica, who was very
uncomfortable with this, Casey’s offer was very much appreciated.

As she patted her chest in relief, the waiter brought the meal to her. In front of
Monica was a beautifully colored fried fish, salad, bread, and soup lined on
her table.

Casey, who ordered the same thing, split the bread in two with a beaming
face, put the vegetables and fries between them, and took a big bite.

When Claudia saw the way she was eating, her brow furrowed.

“…that is how the laborers eat.”

“At home, we all eat like this. When we took rest after farming.”

Casey didn’t care if Claudia looked dumbfounded or not. That kind of

strength to not care about the eyes of the people around her was something
Monica envied.

Casey gulped down a piece of bread and wiped her mouth with a napkin
before saying.

“Besides, in my hometown, nobles and workers are equal. We all have to

work together to get food.”

“So, how did you end up at this school?”

“I don’t mind if you say, ‘How could a poor aristocrat pay for school?’ In
fact, that’s what I think.”

Instead of being menial, Casey spoke casually.

She probably didn’t think of her circumstances as unfortunate.

“I was really lucky to get into Serendia Academy. A kind person with whom
we have a connection has offered to help us. My father says I should go and
meet His Highness, but… You know, I’m sure your father will tell you this at
least once. Like ‘Go catch His Highness’ eye’ or something.”

Claudia and Lana shook their heads at Casey’s blurting.

“…I have a fiance.”

“My father was like, ‘What if my pretty Lana catches His Highness’ eye?’
Well, it’s unlikely, isn’t it?”

At their words, Casey muttered, “I envy you…” and then glanced at Monica.

“What about you, Monica?”

“Oh… huh?”
“Has anyone ever told you that? That you should catch the attention of His
Highness.”

Monica was at a loss for words. If anything, it was Monica’s duty to escort
his highness.

“Well… uh… I’m afraid so…”

Barely answering that, Casey didn’t seem to be particularly bothered by it

and gave an ‘I see,’ and then took another bite of bread.
 V6C3: Mana Test

Normally, the elective courses at Serendia Academy are conducted by all

three grades.

However, only the third-year students were given elective courses at the
beginning of the new semester, about a month and a half earlier than the first
and second-year students.

Today’s observation tour will mainly consist of freshmen and sophomores

freely observing the classroom of third graders.

Since Lana and Claudia had already decided on the course they wanted to
take, they each went off to observe their own courses.

Monica, who hasn’t decided on one yet, was in the middle of touring each
classroom with Casey, who had invited her to join her during lunch.

As she walked, Monica looked over the handouts she had been given in
advance. Reading it over again, she was amazed at the variety of courses
offered.

At Minerva, where she used to enroll, had all courses related to magic
except for the basic education courses, so she had never had to worry about
this much.

As Monica nodded in understanding, Casey, walking next to her, opened her

mouth.

“I guess swordsmanship and equestrian courses are the most popular among
boys. Especially with equestrian, since there are only so many horses
available, it’s often going to end up in a lottery. To tell you the truth, I took
the equestrian course last year, too. And I was lucky enough to win the
lottery.”

“Y-You’re able to ride a horse, Casey?”

As Monica rounded her eyes, Casey brushed it with a laugh as if it was no

big deal.

“All the men and women in my hometown knew to ride a horse. I used to
accompany my father on his long rides. I even join him on a hunt sometimes
with my crossbow.”

For a wealthy noble, hunting was just another form of entertainment. But to
Casey, it’s one way of earning a living.

Casey was amazing, Monica thought honestly.

She was energetic and capable of doing things. She was also good at cooking
and embroidery. In her hometown, she used to do embroideries on days when
the weather was bad and sell them to make a living.

Even without a maidservant, she had no difficulty in taking care of herself

and had a good capability for living.

As Monica looked up at Casey with admiration, Casey scratched her head

uncomfortably. This kind of unladylike gesture was really a part of her.

“Aw, please stop complimenting me like that, it’s really embarrassing. I am

not that great at all. We’ve always been poor because our land often heavily
damaged by dragons, so we couldn’t eat unless we’ve got skills like that.”

“B-But, you’re able to keep up your grades, on general academic courses.”

Whether it was tea party class or ballroom dancing class, Casey’s grades
were never bad.

It was a far cry from Monica’s almost catastrophic grades in everything but
math.
“No, I’m just know all of them a bit.”

“Haha,” Casey gave a wry laugh before glancing at the handout in Monica’s
hand.

“But now that I have the opportunity to enroll at Serendia Academy, I’d like
to learn things that I can’t learn back home. For example… is this course.”

Casey then pointed to the text in the handout.

Looking at the words, Monica rounded her eyes. Casey pointed to the
“practical magic” course.

“I’m a little curious about practicing magic myself. In my hometown, we

rarely see magicians. Are you interested in it, Monica?”

“Huh? Noooo, I just…”

If anything, Monica was actually one of the best magicians in the kingdom,
one of the Seven Sages, the Silent Witch. Of course, there is no way she
could tell her that.

If Monica was an ordinary magician, she would have been able to take
practical magic courses without hiding her true identity.

However, Monica has a fatal flaw.

Monica, who can’t chant properly in public, can’t chant normally—in other
words, she can only use the no-chant spell.

And the moment she uses a no-chant spell, Monica’s true identity will be
revealed. Because Monica was the only person in the world who could use a
no-chant spell.

“I-I-I-I don’t think I’m cut out for magic, so…”

“Is that so? You never know until you try… Wait, Monica, you look really
pale, are you okay?”
“Th-that’s no-not tr-true….”

“Now you’re just gonna let it roll off your tongue.”

Casey put her hands on her hips and gave her an exasperated look… then her
eyes suddenly widened.

Her gaze was not focused on Monica, but the person behind her.

“Hello, Miss Norton. How are you feeling now?”

It was impossible to mishear his soft and gentle voice.

Like a squeaky old spring, Monica turned around to see Felix smiling at her
with a dignified smile.

“Y-Your… Your Highness.”

“Yeah, it’s been a while since I’ve heard that amusing phrase.”

“A-About t-that matter, I-I am thrulledly grateful, for your help.”

“…thrulledly…”

In response to Monica’s unusual comment, Felix covered his mouth with his
hand as he quivered.

On the other hand, Casey’s face stiffened and became rigid. He was the
second prince that everyone adored, but being in a different grade, it was not
often had the chance to meet in such close proximity, so her reaction was
only natural.

Still paying attention to Casey, Monica asked him stiffly.

“U-Um… W-Why are you here… Y-Your Highness.”

“Some of the third-year students are helping to guide the first- and second-
year students on their observation visits. Have you picked your elective
courses yet, by any chance?”

When Monica was shaking her head, Felix said, “Oh, that’s a relief,” and
smiled cheerfully.

She had a very bad feeling about this. Whenever his highness was in a good
mood, Monica would usually end up in a bad situation.

“I think I have a course that might be suitable for you. Allow me to show you
around. Your friend can tag along.”

She has especially a bad feeling about this. She had nothing but a bad feeling.
However, since Felix had invited her out, there was no way Monica could
refuse.

The already stiff-faced Casey replied, “I-It’s my pleasure.”

If she knew this was going to happen, she might have just picked embroidery
or musical performance at that time!

Inwardly holding her head up, Monica followed Felix helplessly.

＊ ＊ ＊

“We’ve arrived.”

This was the very classroom that Felix had led her to. When Monica saw the
sign on the door, she bawled her eyes out. Maybe her eyes had gone a little
white, maybe her heart had almost stopped.

‘Practical Magic.’

It was the worst course that Monica could have chosen.

To Monica, who was shaking all over, Felix said with an oddly amused look.

“I haven’t taken this particular course, but I think you might be well suited for
magic.”

“W-What made you think t-t-that way…?”

What made him think that way?

Felix answered Monica’s sluggish question with a simple answer.

“It’s said that the more math-oriented one is, the better one is at magic.
You’ve got an outstanding grade in mathematics, don’t you? So I figured
you’d be good at it.”

That’s exactly right. Monica’s ability to calculate has allowed her to create
numerous new magic formulas and mastered the art of no-chant spells.

However, Monica absolutely could not allow herself to pick this course.

How can I find an excuse to leave this place? As she pondered this, Felix
opened the door to the classroom and called out to the teacher standing at the
podium.

“Professor MacLegan, I’ve brought two candidates who wish to observe.”

“Hmm?”

The teacher standing at the podium slowly turned around to look at their way.

He was a small old man with thick white eyebrows and a long beard that hid
his eyes and mouth… Monica recognized him.

While Monica turned pale and Casey looked curious, Felix said cheerfully.

“This is Professor MacLegan, the teacher in this practical magic course.

Until a few years ago, he was a teacher at the most prestigious magician
training institute, Minerva…”
P-Professor MacLegan!?

MacLegan was the teacher who had taught Monica magic when she was a
student at Minerva. Naturally, they were acquainted.

She had heard that MacLegan had retired from Minerva at about the same
time Monica was graduating, but she never imagined that he was teaching
here!

The words “mission failed” raced through Monica’s head.

I-It’s over… the whole thing’s been exposed…

As Monica stood there looking like a dead man, MacLegan said in a tone that
was rather cute for his age.

“……Who are chuu?”

“I’m Felix Ark Riddile, the student council president.”

“Oh, so you’re that student council president… yeah… thanks for bringing
them here… uh, are you two the visitors? I’m sorry, but I don’t have very
good eyesight. Are chuu boys or girls?”

“Both of them are girls.”

“Ah, so they’re girls. Yes, yes, more girls are taking this course these days.”

His tone was cute for his age, and he spoke uniquely, referring to other
people as “chuu” instead of “you”, just as Monica remembered.

…and also, the fact that he has trouble seeing.

Maybe… h-he hasn’t noticed? I still have a chance. I can still escape now.

To begin with, Monica came to this school not as ‘Monica Everett’ but
‘Monica Norton.’ Unless someone called her by her first name out loud, it
was unlikely that she would be recognized as the same person…
“Ohhhh! Is that you, Monica? Are you picking a practical magic course too,
Monica?”

Monica’s head went total blank for a few seconds.

As Monica came to her senses, she was approached by Glenn Dudley, who
was in high spirits today, and Neil Clay Maywood, another student council
member.

Neil greeted Felix politely when he caught sight of him.

“Hello, President. And Miss Norton too. Are you all going to be picking this
course?”

Felix shook his head at Neil’s words.

“Unfortunately, I have not taken it, but I thought it might be suitable for Miss
Norton, so I was showing her and her friend around.”

“What? Really? I can barely manage to count two-digit addition… Maybe

I’m just not very good at it?”

The fact that Glenn had also come to this classroom meant that he was
planning to pick a practical magic course.

That reminds me, Glenn… is an apprentice magician, I think?

Glenn has performed his flying magic several times in front of Monica. It’s
not an easy technique, so Glenn must have some talent.

As Monica was thinking about this, MacLegan cleared his throat, “Ahem.”

“Don’t stand there talking at the entrance, please come and take your seat.
Also, on the subject of what makes someone is suitable to become a magician
and what doesn’t, I’ll explain it to you so that it’s easier for the other students
to understand.”

MacLegan urged Monica and the others to sit down at an empty seat.

Even Felix, who was not a candidate, sat down next to Monica with an
amused look on his face. She hoped that he could back to his job of showing
the students around as quickly as possible.

“Okay, ahem. First of all, to become a magician, all you need is these three
talents. It’s ‘amount of mana’, ‘ability to comprehend magic formulas’, and
‘skill to manipulate mana’.”

MacLegan wrote the three aspects he had just mentioned on the blackboard
and circled the words ‘the quantity of mana’ first.

“Whatever you say, the most important talent is the amount of your mana.
Without it, you couldn’t cast any spells in the first place. Nowadays, it’s easy
to measure with a mana-measuring tool, but to be an apprentice, you need to
have about 50 points of mana. Over 100 is pretty good, over 150 and you
could become one of the Seven Sages.”

When he mentioned the word of ‘Seven Sages,’ Monica’s heart jumped

again.

Oh, how bad for the heart!

“Next is ‘ability to comprehend magic formulas’… magic formula is like

mathematical equations. As chuu all said earlier, this is the reason why
children who excel in mathematics are suitable for magicians. The magic
formula is ‘the blueprint and framework of magic,’ that is. The more you
comprehend the magic formula correctly, the mooooooore accurate your
magic will be. It was what the Silent Witch had said, though.”

*Monica shriek internally*

“Oh, incidentally, many of the magic formulas that “Silent Witch” created,
often appear on written tests, so keep that in mind.”
Please don’t keep that in your mind!!

“Well, it’s no exaggeration to say that she’s an amazing magician who turned
the theory of modern magic upside down.”

That’s an exaggeration. Please stop with that praise!

Monica’s complexion was no longer pale, but ashen. She would like to
escape from this place right now if she could. Next to her, Casey whispered,
‘Monica, are you okay?’ but Monica could only give a small nod with a
strained smile on her face.

“Finally, ‘skill to manipulate mana’. This refers to the process of weaving

mana based on a magic formula, and it requires a great deal of sense. A girl
with excellent sense can effortlessly turn mana into a spell, while a girl with
poor sense will always end up losing her mana. In many cases, a child can
use spells to some extent, even if their understanding of the magic formula is
low if he has excellent ‘skill to manipulate mana’. In crafting, even with a
rough blueprint and framework, you can still create some kind of form. Well,
you can’t expect a good product out of it.”

Perhaps Glenn was that type of person. Even if this type of person does not
have a good comprehension of magic formulas, they can formulate a spell to
a certain extent with their natural sense.

“Well, it’s preferable to have all three of these talents. The basic premise is
that you can’t use magic if you don’t have mana. All the students who want to
take this class have to have their mana measured.”

MacLegan then placed an armful ornament on the podium. It was a metal base
with a clear crystal ball on it. The pedestal has a number scale from 0 to 250
on it.

“This is called a mana measuring tool, and if you put your hand on this
crystal ball, it can easily measure your mana. Here, just like this.”

When MacLegan placed his hand on the crystal ball, the crystal ball glowed
a pale blue, and the number on the scale moved to 158.
His mana numbered 158… he’s unquestionably at an advanced magician
level.

“My mana is 158, with blue light, so my best attribute is water… You can
easily find out what your mana is like. Pretty impressive, isn’t it? Okay, you
two, take turns touching it.”

………….do I have to?

Monica’s heart beat fast with an unpleasant sound.

The general guideline for the quantity of mana is as follows: 1~49 is for
ordinary people with no talent, 50~99 is for apprentices and low-level
magicians, 100~149 is for intermediate magicians, and 150 and above is for
advanced magicians. Over 200 is rarely seen.

And since Seven Sages are required to have a mana of 150 or more, they
must be measured once a year. Therefore, Monica knew exactly how much
mana she had.

M-My last measurement was… 202.

Since the amount of mana grows at its peak in the latter half of the teenage
years, there is a possibility that it may have increased even more if things
went badly.

And having mana over 200 was not a common number by all accounts.

W-W-W-W-W-What should I do!?

Monica shuddered as her whole body was drenched in cold sweats.

 V6C4: War Simulation

There is an all-purpose excuse that is always used when one wants to escape
from certain situations.

———Which is, ‘I need to go to the bathroom.’

However, not everyone is comfortable with this all-purpose excuse. For

those who are extremely shy, even speaking out in public is a hurdle.

So Monica remained rigid in her seat, trying to say this all-purpose excuse,
only end with her mouth shut, and then open it again, and then close it all
over again.

I’ll say it this time, I’ll say it next time, I’ll say it when there’s good timing
in the conversation, I wonder when good timing is, I’ll say it anyway, I’ll
say it, I’ll say it this time, this time… In the meantime, the mana measuring
tool slowly came closer and closer to Monica. Currently, it was Casey’s and
Neil’s turn to put their hands on the crystal.

If she touches that thing, it will be the end for Monica. And they’ll know
she’s not an ordinary person.

“Hmm, my strongest attribute is fire, and my mana is 52… not so great.”

“It is said that the more magic you use in your youth, the more your mana will
grow, and it may grow in the future.”

After Casey, it was Neil’s turn to touch the crystal. Neil’s results showed that
his strongest attribute was earth, and his mana was 96, which was not a bad
number.

Felix admiringly remarked Neil.

“Young Maywood, you’ve never used magic before, have you?”

“Yes, I’ve only learned a little bit in my class. I heard that my father can use
it quite well.”

“Well, the Maywood family has been good at earth magic for many
generations.”

Now! Now is the time to say, ” I need to go to the bathroom…” But, with
this timing, won’t they think I’m interrupting His Highness’ speech?

“It’s my turn now!” said Glenn cheerfully and took off his gloves.

Waaaah, once Glenn’s done with his turn, I’ll be next… I have to get out of
here before that happens…

As she was holding her head and sweating heavily, she heard a snapping
sound right next to her.

Why a creaking sound?

The sound came from the mana measuring tool in Glenn’s hand. A portion of
the crystal ball where Glenn’s hand was touching was glowing red, revealing
a small crack in it.

“Oh no,” Glen exclaimed, and the next moment, a large crack appeared in the
crystal ball. Glenn hurriedly took his hand away from the measuring tool.

“Professor! This thing’s broken!”

“No way. How much do chuu think that thing costs?”

“No, no, it’s not my fault! It must be defective! It’s defective!”

The glowing red in the crystal indicated that Glenn’s strongest attribute was
fire. The problem was the amount of his mana. The scale indicating his mana
was completely overflowing to the very end.
The maximum value of that instrument was 250, which meant that Glenn’s
mana exceeded 250… but how’s that possible?

Within the kingdom, there were only a handful of people whose mana
exceeds 250. Even among the Seven Sages, only two people have that much
mana.

If Glenn’s mana is more than 250, that would be great, but…

Everyone in the room seemed to think it was a malfunction of the measuring

tool. It was the same for Monica.

Glenn gingerly lifted the cracked measuring instrument and said, ‘This won’t
explode, will it? It’s going to be okay, right?’ and was fussing over it.

The other students were also watching Glenn, as they were buzzing around—
now was her chance to get out.

“Um, I… I need to go to the restroom.”

“Oh, sure.”

Casey nodded easily, without questioning Monica. Relieved by this, Monica

sneaked out of the classroom.

T-That was close…

Haaaaaa… puffing out a long breath, Monica leaned against the wall.

Her heart was beating fast.

However, she could not rest assured here. There was still plenty of time left
for the observation of the elective courses. If she didn’t go back to the
practical magic course, Casey and Felix might get suspicious.

As she trudged down the hallway, Monica pondered over what excuse she
should give.
Perhaps she should just pretend that she had been in the bathroom for the
whole time because she had a stomachache… As she was thinking of some
crude excuse, she caught sight of the classroom of another elective course
ahead of her. Since the classroom door was filled with glass, she could see
what was going on in there.

Is that… chess…?

Inside the classroom, the students were quietly playing chess. Monica had
never played chess before and didn’t know the rules, but she knew that such
tabletop games were popular among the nobles.

So chess is also one of the subjects at this academy…

Pulling the handout out of her pocket, she saw that chess was indeed one of
the courses on the elective list. Judging from the number of students in the
classroom, the course seemed to be reasonably popular.

I wonder if there’s a certain rule behind the movement of those pieces.

Somehow, as she was peering through the glass at the table closest to her, the
door in front of her rattled open.

Surprised, Monica jerked and took a step back.

The person who opened the door was a boy with droopy eyes—the secretary
of student council Elliot Howard.

In the past, he had mocked Monica’s dance practice, taken her badge, and
thrown it on the roof.

As Monica reflexively clutched the badge on her lapel, Elliot smiled, raising
his lips to a grin.

“Oh, isn’t that His Highness’ favorite little squirrel? Are you interested in
chess? Come on, I’ll teach you.”

“N-No, I just…”
Before Monica could turn on her heel, Elliot’s hand grabbed Monica’s wrist
and dragged her into the classroom.

A few of the students who were playing chess in the classroom stopped and
paid attention to Monica. Monica felt very awkward about it and quickly
lowered her head.

“Well, you can sit here. How long have you been playing chess? …oh, you
don’t know the piece names, by any chance?”

“N-No, I don’t know…”

When she gave a foolishly honest answer to Elliot’s joking words, he

chuckled. It wasn’t just Elliot. The whole classroom was laughing at Monica.

As Elliot laughed and shaking his shoulders, he took a seat in front of

Monica.

“Then I’ll teach you what these pieces are and how you move them. This is
the pawn. The weakest piece.”

Elliot held up the black and white pieces and explained what they were and
how to move them.

Monica’s knowledge of board games and cards was limited. It’s not that she
wasn’t interested, it’s just that she had never had the chance to play them
before. When she was still a student at Minerva, she could only see the
children of the nobles playing chess from afar.

When Elliot finished explaining the pieces, Monica timidly raised one hand
and asked.

“Um, I have a question… what do I have to do to win?”

“Haha! You really don’t know where to start from, do you? The winner is
simple. The one who takes the enemy’s king wins. That’s it.”

Elliot picked up the white king with his fingertips, squinted his eyes, and
smiled mockingly.
“Chess is a form of mock warfare… an important pastime for the nobles to
develop a sense of strategy.”

“…mock warfare”

Monica looked down at the pieces lined up on the board.

Pawn, knight, rook, bishop, queen, king… mock warfare using those six types
of pieces.

“…in which positions does the magic soldier hold?”

“Maybe something along the lines of a bishop. Since in the past, the monks
preferred to use spells.”

“Then, are the magicians’—monk soldiers’ spell capability fixed? What are
their main strengths and ranges, and how fast can they set up defensive
barriers? And what are the individual combat capabilities of the soldiers and
the food reserves of the fort?”

“Hah?”

As Elliot’s eyes widened, Monica questioned more quickly.

“Does this mock warfare have a defined season, climate, and temperature?
What is the height of the terrain? How about the wind direction?”

Elliot was puzzled by Monica’s serious question, but then he started laughing
out loud.

“Oh, come on, how can there be that many elements on this board! This is
just a game, little squirrel. You talk like you’ve been to war before!”

“I have… never been in a war.”

Right, Monica has never participated in a war between humans—but she has
participated in dragon slaying.
At that time, Monica had been thoroughly drilled by Louis Miller on how to
read strategic charts.

The wyvern that Monica defeated had to be killed in the air—that’s why she
had to know the terrain, the direction of the wind, and the strength of the wind
in order to release her magic accurately.

But this board had none of that.

“It’s just a flat surface, okay? Height is irrelevant. The pieces only move in
predetermined ways. No negotiations between superiors, just defeating the
king.”

“O-Oh…”

Monica asked to make sure, and Elliot nodded with a look as if he were
looking at something strange.

Still staring at the board, Monica opened her mouth.

“Then, that would be quite simple, I think.”

 V6C5: Castling

“Then, that would be quite simple, I think.”

Monica’s statement brought chills to the atmosphere in the classroom.

——How fearless… and shameless, this little girl.

Elliot lifted the edge of his mouth, his droopy eyes narrowing fiercely as he
glared at Monica.

“Do you understand what you are saying, Miss Norton? You’ve just made
enemies of everyone in this classroom.”

Monica didn’t answer him. She just stared at the board in silence.

“You’re not going to move that pawn forward one square and say, ‘See, I
could have easily moved this pawn!’, aren’t you?”

Monica still didn’t say anything. But the blank expression on her face as she
stared at the board reminded him of something he had seen before. It was the
same expression as when she was reviewing the accounting records she was
assigned to before. At that time, she gave no reaction when Bridget slapped
her on the cheek, instead, she kept staring at the numbers with her eyes.

Elliot felt a strange, unfathomable eeriness in the same blank expression as

that time. What came to mind was something Felix had said to him before.
When he asked Felix why he had chosen Monica Norton to be student council
treasurer, Felix replied,

——Because I don’t know where Miss Norton’s ‘standing’ is.

Then I’ll measure her ‘standing’… in this place.

Elliot then rearranged the pieces on the chessboard that Monica was staring
at so that the white pieces were lined up exactly in her direction. Monica,
who had been staring at the board, slowly raised her head and looked at him.
He returned Monica’s gaze with a fearless grin.

“Why don’t we play one game? I’ll play without the queen.”

“…who will move first?”

“The play starts from the white piece. How about you go first?”

Monica looked at him with wide eyes as he removed the black queen from
the board.

“Then, I’ll go first, is that okay?”

“Yeah, sure.”

While nodding leisurely, Elliot felt a strange irritation in his chest. Even as a
beginner, Monica Norton has noticed that in this game, the first one to move
has the advantage.

“…okay, I’ll make my move.”

With that, Monica didn’t hesitate to advance the pawn in the center by two
squares. The way to proceed with a pawn seems simple, but it is more
complicated than it seems.

Basically, it can only move forward one step at a time, but it also can move
two squares from its starting point if there are no other pieces in front of it. In
addition, the movement becomes unusual only when taking an enemy piece,
sometimes moving diagonally, and if it advances to the far end, it can be
‘promoted’ to another piece.

…I doubt she can understand it after just one explanation.

Moving the center pawn ahead was a common move. If the front pieces were
not moved quickly enough to open the way, the back pieces will not be able
to get through.
…an amateur approach, I guess.

Looking down at the board with cold eyes, Elliot also moved his pieces.

The pleasant clicking of the pieces was a sign of someone who was used to
playing chess. In comparison, Monica’s manner of playing was that of an
amateur. Even the way she held and placed the pieces seemed awkward.

——And yet, there was no hesitation in the way she moved her pieces.

When Elliot played his piece, Monica followed quickly with her next piece.

This game was just for fun. It wasn’t timed, and there was no time limit, to
begin with. Then, she should have taken her time and think about it as much
as she wanted, but when Elliot moved his pieces, Monica moved hers
without pause. It was so fast that he wondered if she was moving it blindly.

…is that how you’re going to put pressure on me? …wait.

Looking down at the board, Elliot furrowed his brow. Monica’s strategy was
like a theory written in a textbook. If this had been any other person, he
would not have been so surprised. But Monica was someone who had just
learned the rules for the first time.

…even so, will using theory alone could make her hold the game this long?

Elliot pondered for a moment and then moved his piece. Again, Monica
quickly moved her piece. It made him couldn’t help but open his mouth.

“There’ s no time limit on this game, you know. Why don’t you take your time
and think about your move?”

“……….”

Without replying, Monica just stared at the pieces on the board. Elliot
frowned slightly and directed his next move. Immediately, Monica made her
next move.

* * *
At some point, people began to gather around their tables.

But the current Elliot didn’t pay attention to the gallery around him. His gaze
was fixed on the board, and his mouth, which was now covered with one
hand, was tensed under his hand.

…how could it become like this?

He was one of the three most skilled players in this classroom. Despite the
disadvantage of having no queen, he did not slack off. He was going to beat
Monica thoroughly with a handicap, and then checkmate her thoroughly after
he got rid of every single piece of the white camp.

And yet, he was the one who was now being cornered. That much was
apparent to everyone.

Monica Norton did not play any strange or bad moves as beginners often do.
Her moves were as clean as a textbook—very precise and without any
waste. She read all of his moves and then crushed them one by one before
collapsing his camp. If this continues, it will only be a matter of time before
it falls apart.

…no, wait.

Staring at the board, he realized that there was one thing that could turn the
tables. In his camp, his king and rook have not moved yet. And there are no
other pieces in between.

I can use castling.

Only under certain conditions can a king and a rook be moved simultaneously
in a single move. That’s what castling is. However, he had not yet taught her
how to use castling. He thought he could easily beat her without using
castling.

…If I use castling, I can win.

But she didn’t know about castling.

Still, do I have to use it against her?

His pride wavered. Should he continue to be defeated? Or win by using the

castling that he hadn’t taught Monica? The moment his hand stops, the people
around him start to stir. They were probably wondering why he hadn’t used
castling move.

——That’s right. These guys didn’t know I haven’t taught Monica Norton
how to do castling.

When he realized this, his hand moved unconsciously to move the king and
rook simultaneously… to do castling move.

Monica, who had been staring only on the board, blinked and looked at him.

Stop. Don’t look at me.

Trying to escape from Monica’s gaze, he turned his gaze away. And yet, his
mouth fluently spouted out his excuses.

“What I just did was a castling, which can be used when you have a king and
a rook you haven’t moved yet, no other pieces between them, and the king
isn’t being checkmated…”

“I lost.”

Before he could finish his explanation, Monica declared defeat.

“If that ‘castling’? is valid under the official rules, then I don’t think I will
able to win.”

He was astonished.

Why is Monica Norton not angry? She had been beaten by a rule she had not
been taught. She has the right to be angry that this is not fair. She has the right
to do that.

And yet, Monica gave him a faint smile without a hint of anger.
“I’m sorry for saying it was easy… but chess was harder than I thought… no
matter how hard I tried to make the best move, my opponent was human… so
there were a lot of uncertainties.”

He was the winner of this game. But what he felt in his heart was a bitter
sense of defeat… and self-loathing.

If only Monica have blamed him for being unfair in using a move she had not
been taught, that would make him feel better. But, seeing none of this as a
significant issue, she rearranged the pieces and pondered about castling.

He was about to say something to her. Whether it was an apology or a

questioning voice asking why she didn’t blame him, he couldn’t tell for
himself. Still, he felt he had to say something.

But before he can voice it, Boyd, a teacher of this classroom, interjected.

“A female student over there. What’s your name?”

Monica’s gaze wanders left and right, but this classroom has only a few
female students in it. And she was the only female student in Boyd’s line of
sight.

“Mo, Mo, Mo… Moni, Moni, Moni…”

She was wincing as she tried her best to move her mouth, but she could not
say her name very well, only repeating the same sound of Moni Moni.

Boyd was a bald tough-looking man. His muscular and robust body made him
more suited to be wielding a sword or spear than a chess teacher. It was no
wonder Monica was frightened.

Elliot let out a slip voice of ‘good grief’ then interjected.

“This is Miss Monica Norton. Like me, she is a student council member,
Professor Boyd.”

“I’ll remember.”
Boyd said briefly in a low voice as if came from the bottom of his stomach
then handed Monica a sheet of paper… it was an application form for a chess
course.

Still making strange Moni-Moni voices, Monica alternately looked at Boyd

and the application form with teary eyes.

In response, Boyd told Monica in a low voice.

“Be sure to take the course.”

Monica still whined Moni-Moni as she could only agree to him before
motioning her head up and down stiffly.

That probably is a face that doesn’t understand what she’s getting into.

Elliot closed his eyes as he let out a sigh exasperatedly.

 V6C6: Circumstances Behind
The Chocolate

After school, for the first time in a week, Monica showed up at the student
council room, and Felix was watching her as he lowered his brows.

“Miss Norton, I haven’t seen you around halfway through the course
observation… where have you been, I wonder?”

Monica winced and decided to make the same excuse she had made to Casey.

“U-Um, you see, I went to the restroom, and on the way, I… was invited into
the chess class.”

To be precise, she was not invited but was dragged in forcibly by Elliot.

After that one match with Elliot, the course observation period was over, so
Monica couldn’t visit the other courses.

Felix seems to get a bit surprised when he heard her mentioned the chess
class, so he turned his gaze to Elliot Howard, who was doing some
assignment in the back.

“Speaking of chess, I remember Secretary Howard was picking up such a

course.”

Elliot was quietly going through the paperwork, probably pretending not to
hear.

Elliot and Bridget, who clearly weren’t pleased to have Monica as a student
council member, treated her as if she were air or something non-existent
when she was in the student council room.
But today, Elliot was a little strange. The way he ignored her was very
obvious as if he had disgruntled towards someone.

D-Did I do, something wrong or say something rude, again?

As Monica was breaking out in a cold sweat, Cyril Ashley came back from
the archives room and stared at Monica.

“You’re not forcing yourself, are you?”

“I-I’m not. And I’m sorry for the inconvenience… of taking a w-week off.”

The last time she saw Cyril was in the infirmary after Monica had been
poisoned and collapsed.

It has been a while since the time he had shouted at her on how he was going
to tie her up with a rope if she ever tried to escape from her bed.

After done staring at Monica’s face intently, Cyril then crossed his arms and
snorting haughtily.

“I’ve got to take over your work for the past week you’ve been absent. So, be
prepared, because I’m going to give you a thorough work today.”

“Y-Yes!”

Monica nodded tensely with tears in her eyes and took the bundle of
documents that Cyril handed to her.

She then moved to her work desk to check the week’s worth of documents,
but there was nothing particularly unusual to note—in fact, all the work had
been neatly organized. All Monica had to do was to read the contents.

The meticulous, detailed handwriting probably belonged to Cyril. He had

taken over Monica’s work for a week.

Determined not to cause him any more trouble, Monica refocused her
concentration on the documents.
As expected, the thickest document was things related to the school festival
which held on next month. As she was looking over the draft budget, a voice
came from behind Monica.

“Hey.”

Not realizing that it was directed at her, Monica kept her eyes fixed on the
draft budget.

Cyril, who was working on something else besides her, looked at her in
exasperation.

“Monica Norton. You’re called out.”

“W-Wha?”

After letting out some silly words, she turned around and saw Elliot standing
behind her.

Elliot seemed to have a bitter look on his face when he turned his gaze down
at Monica.

“Miss Norton, do you have some time after this today?”

“Eh? Um…”

When she heard about the after-school call, ‘would it be what they called
love confession?’ but Monica didn’t have the nerve to get excited about it.

This might what you call when someone calling a person out in a place
where absolutely no one around, only to abuse that person and beat her/him
up later. Perhaps, he’s planning to take her badge again.

As Monica unconsciously clutched the badge on her lapel as she cast her
head down, Cyril interrupted him.

“Make it another day. She has a week’s worth of work to catch up on today.”

“Well, okay. I’m sorry for interrupting your work.”

Strangely, Elliot looked relieved and went back to his seat.

As Monica watched his back, Cyril whispered to her.

“Did something happen between you and Secretary Howard?”

“I-I’m not sure… but during chess class, I might have said something rude.”

She just played one game of chess during the course observation. However,
Monica might not have noticed, but there was a great possibility that she had
made Elliot displeased.

…but playing chess seems fun. I’d like to take that course.

Unlike mathematical equations, the opponent in chess is a human being.

Therefore, a strategic aspect of the game cannot be won by just calculating
probabilities. And that kind of aspect was what made Monica’s got interested
in it.

“Are you not going to take the magic courses?”

At Cyril’s sudden words, Monica’s hand that was holding the pen trembled.

Why do Felix, Cyril, and everyone else want to encourage Monica to pick up
the magic course?

“I think it’s too difficult for me… what about you Lord Ashley, did you
choose the practical magic as your elective course?”

“I currently taking up an Advanced Practical Magic course.”

Advanced Practical Magic was a special elective course that required

students to complete a certain number of courses.

“Advanced Practical Magic is only available to those who have excelled in

Practical Magic in their first or second year. If you wish to pick up that
course, you must have completed both Practical Magic and Elementary
Magic within your first or second year.”
“I see…”

“In other words, if a second-year like you want to take Advanced Practical
Magic course next year, you have to pick both an Elementary Magic and
Practical Magic this year.”

“Oh…”

As Monica vaguely responded to him, Cyril tapped his fingers on the desk
and eyed Monica.

“So let me ask you again, are you not going to take the magic courses?”

“Um… Well…”

Monica was an undercover student at the academy who was hiding her true
identity.

Even if it’s just an elective course, whenever there’s magic involved, she’s
got a feeling she’s going to slip up. Especially when magic formulas are
involved, she might inadvertently get carried away.

“I will not pick up the magic courses…”

“I see…”

After a short murmur, Cyril returned to his work, and Monica decided to
concentrate on the documents in front of her.

＊ ＊ ＊

After the day’s student council works were settled, Cyril made a suggestion
to Felix.