Inside the rattling carriage, Lilian alternated her gaze between the sleeping Catherine and Yulia, bursting into a suppressed laugh. As they returned to Apatem Academy, the two seemed to be peacefully snoring away, perhaps from exhaustion. Yulia’s head rested on Catherine’s shoulder, while Catherine maintained a dignified sleep that was almost amusing.
It was a sight that stirred a bit of jealousy, but since she was the one who had seated Catherine next to her, Lilian merely turned her gaze out the window, contemplating that it was about time to organize her thoughts as they were progressing into the mid-game stage.
The game often discusses that Apatem Academy places little emphasis on exams. Most of the students are nobles’ children and heirs, accumulating knowledge through private tutors, which is why the courses at Apatem Academy consist of subjects that are hard to come by in traditional education.
As the continent’s best academy, the faculty was indeed impressive, but the real issue was that most students had no interest in lectures. Then there’s the current Student Council President, Elia Bronwey, a person who was quite dissatisfied with this atmosphere.
In fact, not just the Student Council President, the current council members also held some grievances about the existing noble society. It wasn’t about institutional complaints or anything like that; they were more like conservatives who thought, “Those MZ nobles are the problem.”
Young nobles certainly caused a lot of trouble, but that was simply the way the Empire had become—Lilian thought to herself. However, Elia was a typical example of someone who thought differently.
This prevalent attitude sparked complaints among students during the ball after the midterm exams. The penalties imposed on students who failed the exams were already amplified once, giving delinquent students a reason to revolt. But Elia must have been far from satisfied with that. After all, Catherine and the princess had flawlessly suppressed the rebellion, solidifying her convictions even more.
At the finals, Elia Bronwey announced a new decree. It was about raising the exam difficulty and strengthening penalties, which was only possible given the tremendous power held by the Student Council of Apatem Academy. In reality, strengthening the penalties simply meant increasing the proportion of failing students, but the issue was that “Lilian” found herself on that list.
Being a member of the House of Portus, it was an immense disgrace for her to end up among the flunkies, and following her in the wake of the ball, the dormant “Animal Party” began to stir again—this was the story of the final term chaos.
Of course, Lilian wasn’t a member of the Animal Party, and despite the increased flunk rate, she was confident she wouldn’t end up among them. She had always been good at studying back on Earth, and since coming to this world, she had been consistently getting academic help from Catherine.
Yulia was also scoring average. But would the Animal Party just sit back and do nothing? Absolutely not. They were in a position to demolish the current student council, regardless of any petty excuse they could find.
Most of the Animal Party members were children of foreign nobles or nobles who had been pushed to the outskirts of the Empire. They organized factions within the academy, seeking just a bit more power, constantly hindering the protagonists’ romances. Their goal was to dismantle the Student Council of Apatem Academy and seize control themselves.
Some might say it’s easier said than done, but in the game, they did succeed. Sure, there was some reason why Lilian joined them, but the members of the Animal Party were also quite competent individuals—not exactly the kind of people who would fall behind Elia Bronwey.
Although the current situation differed greatly from the original game, it was unlikely that the behavior of Elia Bronwey and the Animal Party would change drastically. Reflecting on the impending storm, Lilian let out a small sigh.
#
“Young Lady, you must wash up before going to bed.”
“Ugh… I know.”
As soon as they returned to Apatem Academy, once all the luggage was moved to their room, Lilian dozed off on her bed, looking like she was about to hit the dreamland any second. No, she was practically out cold. I gently shook her body and grabbed her thigh as she slowly raised her waist with dazed eyes.
“Eek?!”
Ignoring Lilian’s strange squeak, I started to undress her, peeling off the stockings that clung to her snowy thighs. She finally seemed to snap out of her stupor, sitting up abruptly. I stripped her down completely and led her to the bathroom.
As Lilian sank into the warm water, she began dozing off again. Suddenly, she opened her mouth to speak.
“By the way… isn’t Catherine embarrassed?”
“What do you mean?”
“Hey, I’m completely naked right now…”
“I don’t see how that’s my problem.”
“…That’s so mean.”
What do you want me to do? It wouldn’t even be particularly embarrassing for me to hop in the tub next to Lilian right now. Sure, a part of me—the wolf inside—might awaken, but why isn’t it up now?
“Because it’s work.”
There was a time when I desperately tried not to see Lilian’s naked body out of the notion that it was work. But honestly, I just got used to it over time.
…Actually, no, I didn’t really get used to it. Lilian is still a beauty that I can’t get used to, even if I try. I had just noticed that since being born into this body, my libido had significantly lessened. Of course, it hasn’t disappeared completely. I still feel excited when I’m between Lilian and Yulia. But most of the time, I repress it in the name of work.
“I see…”
But why is she suddenly bringing this up after saying nothing at all so far? This was a question that young ladies would never have asked. Was that incident just a figment of my imagination? I pondered this while washing Lilian’s hair, and she slowly spoke again.
“I’m embarrassed.”
“You’ve shown yourself so many times before; how can you be embarrassed now?”
“If you say that, it makes me sound like a pervert…!”
It’s the truth, though. Sure, I admit my phrasing was a bit awkward, but it’s funny to suddenly act shy now. Of course, during the early days, she did avoid me like a plague and categorically rejected bath duties, but look at her now, doing just fine. Seeing me say that, Lilian tilted her head slightly with half-closed eyes.
“Um, is that so?”
“Yup.”
“Don’t do that… but it is comfortable… and it feels very lady-like…”
“Well, you are a young lady.”
“Uh-huh, you’re right…”
With her voice hazy from sleep, Lilian rambled on and then let out a small yawn. Then, she looked at me and beamed with a smile.
“Yeah, I really like Catherine…”
“…”
The moment she finished that sentence, I sighed softly at the sight of Lilian, who was now snoring softly. I slowly took her out of the tub, dried her off, and dressed her. It was a bit of a struggle, but since waking up a sleeping Lilian seemed out of the question, I willingly carried her to bed.
After that, I started unpacking and tidying up the room. As much as I wanted to clean, kicking up dust while someone was asleep was out of the question. My luggage was minimal, so I finished that quickly, but Lilian had a lot to unpack, so I took my time organizing.
While sorting through one pile after another, I stumbled upon something odd and reached for it. It was a notebook that seemed completely useless to Lilian. Picking it up without much thought, I opened it.
“…What’s this?”
[Date: Some month, some day, Sunny]
Having written a diary my whole life, I figured there was no reason not to continue writing it just because I ended up in this world. Although it’s just a thin layer of writing. The first thing I’m going to write about… well, it’s obviously just fascinating. I mean, I saw both the antagonist noble lady and the antagonist maid at the flower festival. Of course, I am the antagonist noble lady.
[Date: Some month, some day, Rain]
I definitely need to avoid Catherine. I’m the bad maid who brainwashes the antagonist noble lady to make her my puppet. I’m sure I ensnared the antagonist noble lady just because of that beautiful appearance. What’s the point of making a maid who’s already of lower importance among the antagonists look that pretty?!
“Diary?”
A diary? Written in Korean, no less. After reading the first two pages, I quickly closed the notebook. Not because I felt I was invading someone’s privacy, but because the content was so shocking. It mentioned that this world was based on a work of fiction. Well, honestly, I had a hazy notion of it already. It was supposed to be a fantasy world, but with mana depleted, it couldn’t be a typical medieval setting either, considering monsters appeared and that curious character named Yulia also existed.
Should I read more? A dilemma hung in the air. For a moment, the notebook seemed to represent forbidden knowledge—like a Necronomicon. But having already seen it, I couldn’t step back; my pride as a man pleaded against it. Biting my lip slightly, I ultimately decided to dive back into the notebook.
