“Teaching me, huh?”
Her footsteps come to a halt.
“I might look like this, but I’m the top note-taker in the second year. So, I’m confident I can teach well. What subject did you learn today, Junior?”
That setting also existed.
Top note-taker in the second year.
After a brief moment of thought, she returns to her seat.
Olivia is okay, but maybe because she’s tsundere, it’s exhausting to be around her.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to let Kasumi handle the review once.
“…Let’s say I’ll trust you just this once.”
“Okay!”
Hearing Kasumi’s response, she pulls out her textbook from her bag.
It’s time to start the real review.
*
After the review ends, Kim Deok-Sung leaves the Reading Club Room.
Kasumi, left alone, sits in her seat.
“…He said I was pretty.”
A low voice slips from her lips.
Her face goes flush.
Embarrassed for no reason, she hides her face behind a book.
‘Kim Deok-Sung…’
Kasumi rolls the name of the junior who visited the Reading Club around in her mouth.
He’s not the first junior to come to the club.
The Starlight Witch, Hoshino Kasumi.
There are plenty of juniors who want to befriend the top student in the second year.
She just pushed them away.
‘Someone like me doesn’t deserve to have friends…’
New World League.
As long as she’s connected with them, Kasumi can’t genuinely treat others.
Her only refuge is this empty club room.
Even her one friend is in their hands, and she can’t see them.
At the academy, Kasumi was always alone.
Constantly tormented by guilt and self-hatred.
Her only friend was the books.
Until yesterday.
“I—I really… That was too much, Junior.”
She recalls what happened today.
When her identity was suddenly exposed, Kasumi was flustered.
A secret known to no one.
But she never imagined that the black-haired student from Korea would spill her secret and reveal her identity.
Ironically, when her identity was uncovered, Kasumi felt relief.
‘I’ve been committing sins all this time.’
She knows that the excuse of “for my friend” is nothing but a disgusting justification.
She is committing an unforgivable sin.
Against the academy, her classmates, her supervising instructor, and everyone in the world.
Paradoxically, she wanted someone to stop her, so she accepted her fate.
‘…Because I’m a monster.’
Ending like this wouldn’t be too bad.
That’s what she thought.
“The junior promised me. We pinky-swore… He said he would definitely save Rena. He said he’d give me a chance for revenge…”
“Bae-kun promised. We pinky-swore… that he would definitely save Rena. He said he would give me a chance for revenge…”
Kasumi gently stroked the pinky finger he had linked with her right hand.
“Junior isn’t being honest.”
Capturing photographic evidence and working as a double agent isn’t even about reporting to the outside or being a target; it’s just too absurd.
No matter how you think about it, it doesn’t add up.
Even if he cursed and reported her to the association, she wouldn’t have a single word to say in her defense.
But he didn’t do that.
“…As expected, he’s kind.”
Kind enough to think about her miserable situation.
If he weren’t, she would have already been dragged to the association.
Kasumi thought she understood the genuine feelings hidden beneath Kim Deok-Sung’s blunt remarks.
If he had heard her thoughts, he would have been horrified.
Kasumi absentmindedly fiddled with her hair with her fingers.
“He even told me that my hideous appearance is, um, pretty…”
Her face flushed like a sunset.
She still remembered.
Her childhood as an orphan abandoned by her parents.
How she unknowingly followed a family that turned out to be a secret research laboratory, where she endured unspeakable horrors.
The physical pain was one thing, but the mental anguish was the hardest part.
Kasumi remembered.
The scientists who conducted unspeakable experiments on her, the words of the villains from the New World League.
‘A monstrous girl.’
‘You’re not human.’
‘Though it’s necessary, a fusion of human and otherworldly species is utterly disgusting. It’s infuriating.’
Not human, but a monster.
A being that should have been discarded long ago if it was deemed useless.
That’s how she lived, treated as such.
In a world filled with nothing but hatred, her only refuge was her friend Rena, who was also an experiment and a monster.
But cruelly, the New World League took ill Rena hostage and forced her to be a spy, leaving Kasumi alone once more.
She thought no one would understand her.
She believed no one would embrace her.
So she kept her distance from others.
Because she was a monstrosity.
Neither human nor otherworldly—a grotesque thing.
‘That wasn’t true.’
It was a misunderstanding.
Though he wasn’t honest, he called even her true self beautiful.
What she thought was comfort turned out to be a serious correction that it was no mistake.
Those words sounded so warm and kind.
It made her unbelievably happy…
With that thought, a smile formed on Kasumi’s lips.
Kasumi muttered as she caressed the chair still warm from his presence.
“Rena. I’m not alone anymore.”
What luck.
In a classroom just after the lesson had ended.
Olivia sat at her desk with her chin resting on her right hand, watching the students leave.
In her line of sight was the back of Kim Deok-Sung.
He left the classroom without a hint of hesitation, not showing even a glimmer of his face.
“I can’t believe it!”
Olivia pouted her lips.
“How dare he treat me like his lowly maid and then ignore me like this… This is unacceptable!”
That indifferent demeanor of his irritated her.
“I put my heart into proposing that we go out together, and yet…!”
Olivia’s anger flared.
It was a bold message she had sent to muster up her courage for an outing.
But he coldly refused, not even bothering to show his face after class before storming out.
He not only cut her off coldly, but also left without showing his face after class.
“Fool, idiot… Unbelievably the worst…! A rude person who doesn’t even know manners!”
No matter how she thought about it, she was upset.
“Uggghhhh…”
Olivia let out a groan and turned on her phone.
There was still no reply from him.
Her face turned bright red.
“Completely the lowest, irresponsible… leaving a lady all alone!”
Olivia sighed, her shoulders drooping as she looked at her phone.
“…Is it because of the White Flame Sword Technique?”
Tomorrow.
That’s the deadline he set.
If she’s going to respond tomorrow, she needs to decide by today.
The frown on Olivia’s face deepened as she recalled the worries she had been trying to push aside.
The White Flame Sword Technique is the royal vision.
It cannot be passed on to outsiders.
But what if she exchanged it one-on-one for the established royal vision, the Black Flame Sword Technique…?
Olivia shook her head.
It was confusing.
“Brother. What should I do…?”
She called out to the deceased Black Prince as if it were a habit.
What would the Black Prince have done?
Would he have accepted the proposal to exchange the two visions one-on-one?
Endless questions swirled in her mind.
There was no answer from her deceased brother.
His figure appeared in her mind.
Ten years ago, she remembered the scene of him stroking her head when she was still young, at the Omega Rank interdimensional raid Parnifir’s deployment ceremony.
“If I don’t return, from that point on, you are the Black Prince. My sister Olivia. You must protect our motherland. Do you understand?”
The feeling from that time seemed to still vividly linger in her mind.
Her brother’s figure, the Black Magic Power, Durandal, the Black Flame Sword Technique.
Everything resembled him, flooding back to her.
“No!”
Olivia shook her head vigorously.
The Black Prince and he are different people.
Absolutely not the same.
It’s absurd to associate him with her brother.
Maybe… That could be it.
“Princess Bonaparte?”
At that moment, Olivia heard someone’s voice in her ear.
Her cheeks rapidly turned red.
She lifted her head and nervously adjusted her platinum hair, saying, “Yes.”
In Olivia’s line of sight was the cadet who called her.
With impressive orange twin-tails, a beautiful girl flaunting peak beauty, enough to make even other girls jealous, stood there.
Olivia’s expression turned icy in an instant.
She knew exactly who the stunning girl in front of her was.
“What is it, Nishizawa?”
Nishizawa Eri.
Ranked third in entrance scores and the school idol.
She drew fans of all genders around the school and was already famous enough to have a fan club online.
However, there was no connection between her and Olivia.
For Olivia, someone with no connection falls into one of two categories.
An enemy or a parasite trying to exploit her status and position.
Either way, it wasn’t a pleasant encounter.
Nishizawa Eri flinched under Olivia’s wary gaze.
“…I have something to tell you.”
Nishizawa spoke in a shaky voice, unusual for her.
Thump.
Nishizawa’s heart raced.
The platinum knight princess, Olivia.
Ever since she outperformed Japan’s top talent, Shinozaki Rin, with overwhelming skill to claim the first place in the academy entrance exam, Nishizawa Eri had been admiring her.
With an elegance and grace that came from her noble status, and a natural talent and powerful skills that no man dared to challenge.
The elegance and grace that come from her position are complemented by an innate talent and formidable strength that no man would dare to approach.
In every aspect, Olivia was Nishizawa’s idol.
“You are the Platinum Knight Princess…”
Nishizawa pouted, gazing at Olivia.
Up close, she seemed even more magnificent.
Yet how dare a mere man, a C-rank cadet from a small nation, claim her as his own.
Unforgivable.
Flames sparked in Nishizawa’s eyes.
“What do you mean? If it’s not an important topic, could you leave? I’m a bit busy.”
Clatter.
Olivia packed her materials and stood up.
Her mind was already in a mess.
There was no need to discuss anything with someone she didn’t even know.
The moment she turned her back.
“…It’s about Kim Deok-Sung.”
An unbearable name slipped from Nishizawa’s lips.
Olivia halted.
“Why are you bringing up that fool’s name?”
Olivia’s eyes narrowed.
Nishizawa Eri and Kim Deok-Sung.
There was barely any intersection between the two.
So why on earth did she mention his name?
Could it be that he was involved with Nishizawa somehow…?
‘Ugh… Why do I have to worry about that fool!’
Olivia flushed.
Nishizawa Eri stepped forward.
“I heard a rumor that you’ve become Kim Deok-Sung’s exclusive maid due to your duel loss… Is it true?”
With that question, Olivia’s face turned crimson.
“Th-that’s…”
Since the previous excavation, she had known that the contract of exclusive maid had spread in the form of rumors.
However, no one dared to speak such words before the Platinum Knight Princess, the top student of the grade.
Nishizawa Eri was the first.
Thump.
Olivia’s heart raced.
Her hands and cheeks trembled.
The princess of a nation became the exclusive maid of a cadet from a small country.
It was nothing short of humiliation and shame.
But even now, as she was being interrogated, Olivia couldn’t deny it.
Because she was the princess of the Bonaparte royal family and the heir to the Black Prince of France.
“…It’s true.”
Olivia nodded seriously.
Nishizawa’s brow furrowed.
“So it really was true…”
Her voice shook.
The rumor was fact.
The noble French Knight Princess had fallen under the filthy grasp of a man whose name was ugly and unsettling.
Nishizawa couldn’t accept that wretched reality.
She couldn’t let a mere man tarnish her noble and beautiful idol.
“…Don’t you want to escape? The exclusive maid?”
“Well…”
Olivia’s shoulders slumped.
Seeing that, Nishizawa’s blood boiled.
She took another step forward, facing Olivia.
“I’ll help you. I’ll challenge that guy to a duel and nullify the results against you. I will definitely…”
“There’s no need for that, Nishizawa.”
Olivia interrupted Nishizawa’s words.
