Student Council Room
The student council of Athelina Academy is usually composed of those with excellent grades or strong support from the students.
Among them, the student council president is elected not only through the support of students but also by the unanimous agreement of the council members.
Currently, the position was held by the imperial crown prince, Aslan von Armeria.
Recently, after breaking off his engagement with the notorious Olivia and regaining his freedom, Aslan had become re-engaged to Lily.
Since then, both his academy life and his relationships with the nobility seemed to be going smoothly.
However, there was something particularly bothering him today.
One of the student council members, Yungsik Raileur of the Plant family, was sitting gloomily on the sofa.
Normally, Aslan would have overlooked it.
But since Raileur was not only a close noble peer but also someone he had grown up with, ignoring it entirely felt wrong.
“Raileur, isn’t this your swordsmanship class hour? Didn’t you say you were excited to attend it?” Aslan asked.
“Yes, Your Highness,” Raileur replied, his face crumpled, indicating that something was definitely wrong.
Seeing someone like Raileur—who would probably only cry over the death of his parents—on the verge of tears made it clear he’d suffered some grave injustice.
“Then why are you here? I even saw your classmates sighing deeply outside,” Aslan pressed.
At this, Raileur let out a deep sigh, just like his classmates.
“Ah, well… I was expelled,” Raileur admitted.
“Expelled? Such a humiliating thing to admit.”
“From the swordsmanship class? How did that happen?”
“Well…,” Raileur hesitated before explaining everything—from the first time he met Olivia to what had happened in the swordsmanship department.
Despite the absurdity of his story, he recounted everything in detail.
“A girl with silver hair, Miss Olivia Ashtar, made a bet with you. The condition was that if you lost, she’d quit the swordsmanship class herself, and you all lost?” Aslan asked incredulously.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“What kind of nonsense is this? You expect me to believe you lost to her? That woman couldn’t possibly defeat you,” Aslan said, skeptical.
No one knew Olivia better than the crown prince.
She had been a constant source of trouble for him.
It seemed unbelievable that Raileur, a member of the Plant family, could lose to her.
However, Raileur looked quite serious.
‘Though straightforward, he’s not a fool,’ Aslan thought.
“It’s true. Honestly, after the annulment of her engagement, she’s completely changed. Moreover, the power she displayed… it couldn’t have been something acquired overnight,” Raileur explained.
“Power that couldn’t be acquired overnight? Do you think she made a pact with a demon?” Aslan asked.
“No, that’s not possible. The Ashtar family would never overlook something like that, and she had no means to contact a demon,” Raileur replied firmly.
Aslan nodded. It was true.
After their engagement was broken, Olivia had been confined to the dormitory under constant surveillance by knights and maids sent by the Ashtar family.
She had even attempted suicide during that time.
There was no way she could have made contact with a demon.
If a demon had entered the female dormitory, the academy’s anti-demon barrier would have activated immediately.
“Indeed. With the Demon King’s territory already unstable, it’s unlikely a demon would come all the way to the empire just to grant power to a rejected woman,” Aslan agreed.
“Exactly.”
“Then, could it be that she was hiding her power all along?” Aslan pondered aloud.
“It’s possible, but it’s hard to say for certain,” Raileur replied hesitantly.
***
While they were discussing this matter, the academy’s secretary, Yuria, who had been reviewing the student enrollment list, chimed in.
“If Raileur’s mistaken, we might need to rethink the empire’s defense system. Regardless, it’s best to see this matter for ourselves,” she said coolly.
Though unlikely, Aslan knew it wouldn’t hurt to be cautious.
Moreover, considering Olivia had once attempted suicide, there was a chance she had found a way to acquire such power, no matter the cost.
Worst case scenario, this could be seen as a sort of protest.
“Are you sure you’ll be alright with this?” Yuria asked worriedly.
Aslan chuckled. “She was my fiancée, after all.”
“You once swore you’d never see her again.”
“Well, regardless of my feelings, the Ashtar family is involved. Now that Lily is my fiancée, I’ll inevitably have to face Olivia.”
“Olivia’s obsessive nature had always been problematic.”
‘If it were simply a matter of her noble upbringing and training as a future empress, maintaining the engagement would have been fine.’
‘But her obsession had caused too many issues.’
‘Still, if Olivia had genuinely changed, perhaps they could establish a more amicable relationship.’
With that, Aslan decided to visit the swordsmanship department with the student council members.
***
Aslan was met with an unexpected sight.
“My, my. I didn’t think there’d be so many applicants for the swordsmanship department. You pathetic weaklings. This Olivia shall personally soften those rigid brains of yours,” Olivia declared with confidence.
Even though she had changed, it seemed she had changed drastically.
The swordsmanship department wasn’t composed solely of Raileur and Lily’s followers.
Despite that, Olivia seemed to dominate.
Among the crowd, there were far more applicants than Lily’s small group of supporters.
Over forty students had applied for the swordsmanship class, proving how popular it had become.
Even Lily’s supporters had initially approached Olivia, asking for her name.
“My, my. So many new recruits. You weaklings are in for a treat today,” Olivia repeated, her tone brimming with arrogance.
Olivia’s forceful demeanor had even brought a tear to the professor’s eye.
The poor professor, a slightly older woman, seemed overwhelmed.
Seeing this, Olivia smirked.
She had managed to dominate even the noble knights who had opposed her.
Eventually, the professor timidly approached Olivia and spoke hesitantly.
“Olivia Rapha Ashtar.”
The professor carefully called Olivia by her full name.
“Yes, professor?” Olivia replied with a smile. ‘Go on, praise me. Right now, Olivia needs all the praise she can get! Heap it on!’ she thought.
“I had heard about you since last year, but I never imagined you’d be like this. I thought you were just some obsessive lunatic who was dumped by the crown prince,” the professor said.
“Well, that part is true,” Olivia admitted with a grin.
“Now, I see you’re simply a lunatic. At this rate, there won’t be any students left in the swordsmanship department.”
“Haha. Not my problem,” Olivia said, completely unfazed.
While Olivia enjoyed her victory, the professor sighed deeply.
“Look, Olivia, I have a reputation to uphold. As the professor of the swordsmanship department, if all the applicants quit on the first day, it’s going to look bad for me,” the professor said with frustration.
“Ah, I see. That would be unfortunate,” Olivia replied indifferently.
“Exactly! So, stop picking fights with every student that comes in, alright?”
“I understand, professor. I’ll take it into consideration,” Olivia replied with a smirk.
As I patted the professor’s back without realizing it, I couldn’t help but think of that hero who tries to seduce every pretty girl he sees.
“Really?”
“Yes, I fully understand.”
“Alright, then.”
Right now, I was Olivia.
And I had officially registered for the swordsmanship department.
“Therefore, to make your job easier, professor, I’ll tell the incoming swordsmanship students that not only should they quit the class, but that it’s beyond their pitiful abilities to learn anything here.”
“It was the first day, so there would still be a few students showing up for their lessons in the coming days. No issues there.”
“That’s not what I meant! Did you even understand what I was saying?”
“Isn’t one hardworking genius better than a bunch of clueless fools? And isn’t a genius who works hard scarier than anything else?”
“It’s often said that effort beats talent.”
“But when a genius puts in the effort? It’s game over.”
“You casually call yourself a genius, don’t you?”
“Given how I’ve handled every student here, wouldn’t it be ridiculous if I went, ‘Oh my! How could a delicate girl like me wield a sword?’ It’s better to admit it outright.”
“Honestly, what should I do after knocking everyone out and then pretending I’m weak? It’s obvious. I’d look like the most detestable person alive.”
“That… well, I suppose you have a point.”
“Right?”
“But still, I can’t be convinced. My job is on the line here!”
‘A job, huh. The thugs in the slums seemed pretty good at setting people up with jobs.’
“I know some people who could help you find a new job—”
“There’s no way I’ll find a better job than this one!”
The professor stomped her feet on the training ground floor.
True, working at the Central Academy was leagues apart from what those thugs could offer.
“That might be true.”
“You always deflect like that when it’s inconvenient for you.”
-“The hero stole my wife! What are you going to do about it?”
-“That can happen.”
-“What?!”
-“If I smack you across the head at a 45-degree angle, you’ll forget all about it.”
I always muttered that phrase under my breath because of that damn hero. That bastard. He was the one who seduced married women, yet I was always the one cleaning up his mess.
‘Come to think of it, I’ve also been cleaning up the mess of this body’s previous owner.’
‘Was I a traitor in my past life or something?’
Anyway, that’s not the point.
After showing off with a grand entrance and getting beaten by Raileur, it took me thirty minutes to deal with the rest of the students.
Now I had to head to another department and get my attendance checked.
“Professor, sometimes life throws curveballs. By the way, professor—”
“What?”
I leaned in and whispered softly into her ear.
“Is there a lesson today?”
She glanced around the room before answering.
“Do you think there is?”
“Of course not.”
Questions like these are just formalities.
“Alright then, I’ll be off.”
“Where are you going?”
“My next class. It’s Magic Engineering.”
I needed to get my attendance marked there and cause a bit of chaos, too.
“Ah, alright. Go on, then.”
“You’re not planning to dock my attendance points or anything, are you?”
After all, I was the only one left in the class.
I’d attended, proven my skills, and made everyone else quit.
“No! With your skills, I don’t even need to put you in practice battles. You’ll get good grades. Happy now?”
“I like that you’re willing to give up.”
At some point, I had given up on Eugene, the hero who did nothing but seduce women and slack off.
Once I let go, life became much more comfortable.
The same goes for the professor.
Once she lets go, things will get easier for her, too.
All she needs to do is think of me as a monster in human form.
‘Just give me decent grades and move on. That’s all.’
‘See? Look at her face. It’s so peaceful now.’
“Shouldn’t you be encouraging me to work harder or something?”
‘Nope. Never.’
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