“Hmm, my ears are itching. Is someone talking behind my back?”
It sounds like I can hear the hero’s voice.
No way.
But it might actually be quite entertaining to hear that guy scream.
Still, I really don’t understand how he became a hero.
But right now, that’s not important.
The women in front of me are what matter now.
“Hello, Lady Olivia!”
In front of me, the daughter of the Logran Marquis family, with her golden Castella-shaped hair draped on both sides, was looking down at me dismissively.
“What’s wrong?”
“What do you mean, what’s wrong? How can you walk around with your head held high after being broken off? I want to know your secret!”
Is it really a secret? You just possess someone else’s body.
But I doubt she’d believe that.
“Oh, the secret? Just clear your mind and attend the academy.”
“Are you really asking that?”
You want to know the secret, right?
Wow, she’s really acting like a saint.
And she has followers too.
“Oh, is there a reason why you shouldn’t come to the academy after being broken off?”
“Don’t you have any pride as the daughter of the Ashtar family?”
Um, sorry, but I’m not the disgraced original owner, Olivia.
Hmm, it seems the daughter of this marquis family wants me to take the bait.
Normally, I’d deal with this forcefully, but first, she needs to understand that I am Olivia.
“Pride doesn’t put food on the table. So, did the well-regarded marquis’ daughter come to mock a defeated person like me?”
“Considering your usual behavior, you deserve to be mocked.”
The blonde Castella fanned herself and laughed scornfully with her followers.
Hmm, Olivia really has many enemies.
Especially with all the noble daughters competing to become the Crown Prince’s fiancée.
This marquis’ daughter got pushed back by Olivia, and now that Olivia herself has been broken off, she probably wants to mock her.
Noble ladies are truly terrifying.
Rather, it’d be better to settle this with a sword, fist, or magic.
Seeing her and her followers twisting the narrative like that makes me pity whoever becomes her husband.
What a hassle.
Even if I hear such words, I won’t be hurt since I’m not the original owner, but can’t I silence that mouth of hers?
“And what’s with your hair? From blonde to white hair? You must have been quite shocked, huh?”
“Oh, yes.”
“No, are you really Olivia? You’re not wearing heavy makeup like usual. What’s this? Trying to make a late impression on His Highness the Crown Prince?”
Was Olivia originally one to wear makeup?
So that’s why there was so much talk about her appearance.
“I have no intention of doing that.”
“You say you have no intention? Don’t you know what you’ve done to us? You’ve been getting in our way while we tried to get close to His Highness the Crown Prince!”
Wow, how annoying.
“So, what do you want from me?”
“In any case, everyone knows that you are now a loose end. Apologize to us right now!”
Hmm, an apology.
Apologies are good.
They are a nice way to mend divided human relationships.
Ella, just flirt with the hero appropriately.
You better not touch my hero!
I recalled the women of the Hero Party.
Anyway, it seems that these noblewomen have suffered a lot at Olivia’s hands, and now they want to retaliate.
In the end, what they want is an apology, right?
“So, you’re saying that I obstructed you from getting close to His Highness the Crown Prince?”
“Wha-what do you mean, obstruct?”
Seeing them blush and snarl like that is just like those women I saw in the Hero Party.
The original owner was probably no different from these women.
“Let’s be clear. You’re trying to snag the position of Crown Princess late in the game for your family’s wealth and fame, aren’t you?”
“What? What did you say?”
I have no intention of being discouraged by being ostracized by these women, and given the academy’s nature, I can’t wield any authority as a noble.
Since this academy, where even commoners attend, has made it so that status doesn’t matter here.
“Whether I mocked the ladies or the ladies tried to win that position with flattery, when you think about it, there’s really no reason for me to apologize.”
“Have you said all that?”
I haven’t even finished yet.
“Instead of dealing with me, shouldn’t you be going to meet your new fiancé, Lily, and make a good impression? Or are you so incapable that you can’t even take the place of someone who’s been broken off?”
“Don’t you remember insulting our family?”
Insult the family?
“Insulting the family?”
“Yes. Didn’t you ridicule the hairstyles of the women of the Logran family and say you would marry the bakery guy?”
Oh, I can see how they could take that as an insult from a noble’s perspective.
But isn’t the original owner’s statement not wrong?
With Castella hanging off her head, the original owner’s judgment isn’t mistaken.
“…If you don’t want to be called the bakery girl, then maybe you should take down those Castellas.”
“What? What did you say?”
“Isn’t it true? Those Castellas are really distracting.”
“How could you carry something like that around?”
“This is for our family.”
“Family or whatever, you’re just a Castella.”
“Ugh. You really are something.”
As I watched her, with a face flushed red, looking as if she might kill me at any moment, I realized that my thoughts were mistaken.
Right.
From her perspective, she might feel offended.
Whatever the reason, considering Olivia’s past actions, it would be right to apologize for the sake of her new life ahead.
Anyway, I had to apologize given the situation I was in.
I deeply bowed my head.
“Well, if you feel bad, I sincerely apologize. I’m sorry, Lady of the Logran Marquis family.”
“Huh?”
“I will ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
“Huh?”
Her face was contorted in confusion.
Did I do something wrong?
“Yes?”
“Are you saying that the heiress of the Ashtar family is apologizing to us?”
“Yes.”
“Huh, isn’t it a bit humiliating for someone who used to look down on us?”
Humiliation? I had long discarded the notion of humiliation while traveling with the hero party.
In the first place, my body doesn’t even belong to me.
“Well, if I’ve done something wrong, it’s only right for a person to apologize. Shall I take my leave now?”
“Where are you going?”
“I need to study, right? Students must study to become great people.”
I have to work hard to prove my worth and raise my grades.
“Wait, what are you all doing? Do you really need to gang up on a weak woman like that?”
Just as it seemed we were going to reconcile warmly, a young man of the hero’s age appeared.
With short hair and quite a big build, he must be in his second year, perhaps in the swordsmanship department, or in his third year, maybe a knight’s major.
“Lord Plant, please refrain from getting involved in the affairs of ladies.”
This blonde Castella seems to know that guy.
“Our Plant family cannot stand by in the face of injustice. Knights must never turn a blind eye to a woman in distress!”
Oh, it’s been quite a while since I’ve encountered a character like this.
Even in the kingdom, the captain of the knights was like that.
Eventually, he got caught up in a political struggle and died, though.
“No, we are clearly the victims here.”
“In this situation, who is the victim, and who is the perpetrator?”
“Uh. Ah. Anyway, you’ll see next time!”
The Castella and his companions left like that.
It’s a line that some intelligent beings from the Demon King’s army used to say.
They’d come back next time and get beaten again.
“Um, Lady. Did you have a quarrel with the heiress of the Logran Marquis family?”
Why is this guy butting in since earlier?
“No. I just apologized because I did something wrong. I’ll be going now.”
It’s not good to get tangled with men for no reason. I turned my back first.
“Oh, hey! Lady! May I know your name?”
I need to finish attendance check quickly, but he’s being so picky.
“Olivia Rapha Ashtar. Is that enough? Then I’ll be off.”
“What? Oh. Olivia?”
As expected, the original owner is an impressive woman.
Whatever she did, it was probably just by telling him her name.
I chose to ignore the screams coming from behind.
Well, I thought I wouldn’t have to see this strange Lord again.
But, of all places, I ended up meeting him in the swordsmanship department.
“I never expected you to be the Lady Ashtar.”
The guy in front of me was that same one from earlier.
Unlike before, he was now glaring at me.
I’ve gotten used to it, so I think of the original owner as a fool in my mind.
“Is that really important?”
“I’m aware of the unsavory incident that happened with the Ashtar family. However, that doesn’t erase the evil you committed.”
Of course, the original owner must have done something terrible to this righteous fellow.
“What have I done to you?”
“The Crown Prince is a person who will handle the nation’s important matters. You have disturbed his mind and provoked conflict by looking down on other nobles.”
Impressive, Olivia!
“So what have I done to you?”
“Didn’t you harass others? I even heard you signed up for all the required subjects.”
It can’t be helped if I want to separate from the Ashtar family.
“Why does that matter?”
“Do you think the swordsmanship department is a joke?”
“No, not at all.”
My title is sword master.
Why would I look down on swordsmanship?
I don’t know how long I’ll have to clean up the mess left by the original owner.
“Then why is the Lady here?”
I could tell he was hostile.
That look of his, as if he was granting me favor simply because I was a woman, surely wouldn’t have happened if the original owner had been a man.
But you know, choosing a major is a freedom.
“Are you saying I don’t qualify? Anyone attending this academy should be free to choose their major, right?”
On the surface, the academy promotes the freedom of learning.
“Lady Ashtar wouldn’t seriously make such a choice, would you? Don’t you remember what happened when you first came to the swordsmanship department?”
Uh, well, I don’t remember at all.
“What did I say?”
“In front of Raileur Plant from a knightly family, you swung your sword recklessly, tossing it aside and saying that swords are something for meat shields to use!”
Uh, but that’s not entirely wrong.
In the kingdom, many infantrymen primarily used swords.
In fact, it’s more efficient to save iron for making spears, but the kingdom has developed swordsmanship more.
Naturally, those guys were used as meat shields against the Demon King’s army until the heroes came.
They would have been lucky to just push back the Demon King’s army.
“I’m sorry. I don’t remember.”
“You don’t remember that?”
Hmm, what should I do? He seems to harbor even more hostility toward me.
Why do I have to make such an effort to clean up after the original owner?
Right now, I don’t have any excuses.
I have amnesia, so I don’t remember at all.
Oh, so you plan to run away like that!
Imagining that, I realized that wouldn’t work.
Should I just speak honestly?
I woke up and found myself as Olivia Rapha Ashtar.
How much do you plan to insult the Plant family?
That wouldn’t work either.
This isn’t good.
It would have been easier if I knew even a little about Olivia’s memories.
In this situation, I have no choice but to be somewhat shameless.
I’ve become quite brazen because I’ve been carrying around that troublemaker Eugene.
In swordsmanship, ultimately, it’s all about strength.
In other words, only the logic of power works.
Even if it’s the shameless justification of a shameless opponent, if a brazen person wins, that person becomes justice.
So, I decided to suppress the swordsmanship department with force.
“Perpetrators tend to forget what they’ve done, unlike victims.”
***
‘What am I saying?’
I said that with a grin.
‘I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it feels like an utterly ridiculous statement.’