After exchanging appropriate greetings with Seraphine and Luke upon entering the student council room, I sat at the administrative desk Luke guided me to, waiting for the other student council members to arrive.

I already had an idea about some of the members from what Seraphine had told me, and I was roughly aware of the student council composition from the original story.

As I sat at my desk in the student council room, making small talk with the other members, familiar faces began to appear one by one.

"Long time no see, Lilith."

"...It's been a while, Lady Auguste."

"Did you have a good summer vacation? I spent mine leisurely at an estate owned by the Auguste Merchant Company."

"That sounds wonderful. I'm glad you had a good time."

"...If it's alright, perhaps next summer we could..."

"I would prefer if you didn't cling to my maid too much, Lady Lizzy Lynn Auguste."

"...My apologies."

A noble lady boasting about her summer vacation story quickly averted her gaze and retreated at Ethan's appearance.

"Is everyone here~? Hm? This young lady here seems unfamiliar~."

"Nice to meet you, Senior Orion. I am Lilith Blackwood Rosewood, a first-year in the Magic Department."

"Oh, so you're that girl~? I've heard a lot about you~."

"Really? What have you heard...?"

"Oh, just this and that~? You're already quite famous among the first-years in the Magic Department~. I think you and Agnes are the most well-known, right~?"

"...Senior Orion, please don't get too close to my maid..."

"Oh my, Ethan~! Long time no see~! The last time we met was at the royal palace, wasn't it? You've grown a bit taller and look a bit more manly~."

"...Pardon?"

"Please step away from Young Master Ethan, Senior Orion!"

Just like in the game, Senior Orion from the Magic Department was a mysterious and seemingly dangerous figure.

...And on top of that, there was another character I only knew by name and who had no significant presence.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Gwen Ivelt, a second-year in the Engineering Department."

"Ah, yes. I'm Lilith Blackwood Rosewood, a first-year in the Magic Department."

"Noted. I'll remember that."

"...Thank you."

Because of his faint presence, he was in some ways even more enigmatic than Orion.

This was my first meeting with Gwen Ivelt, a rival character in Luke's route.

Gwen Ivelt

Honestly, I barely remembered anything about him besides his name and appearance.

One might wonder how I could forget a rival character after spending thousands of hours on Luminor Academy, but he was really that forgettable.

He was quiet, had no significant connections with major characters, and thus had no impact on the story, practically making him an NPC.

With short brown hair, standing about 180 cm tall, and having a stoic personality, he looked like a character the developers might have thrown together out of boredom.

He had no memorable traits and no main storyline. Even characters like Old Ethan or Caraham had main storylines.

Despite being a rival character, he didn't act like one. If the protagonist started to build a bond with Luke, he would naturally fade into the background.

So why call such an extra a rival character?

Because if you didn't show any interest in Luke, the ending would simply state that Luke married him.

So he was treated as a rival just for ending up with Luke in the conclusion.

The Student Council Meeting

Two weeks had passed since we began following the order set by Seraphine in the student council.

It was the season after the midterm exams of the second semester, offering a slight breather.

Nothing particularly special had happened during those two weeks. After all, why would any special events occur for Ethan and Lilith, who weren't the main characters?

The most notable event during that time was probably losing another duel to Harold during his class.

Although I lasted a bit longer compared to the second duel, I still couldn't create as intense a battle as the first duel.

I might have had my first and last chance during the first duel.

The more I dueled with Harold, the more he would get used to fighting me. So I should have somehow landed a strike during the first duel when he had no information about me.

I hoped I wouldn't go the entire semester without winning once.

Although not winning against a fencing instructor wouldn't result in a failing grade for a Magic Department student, it felt personally unsettling not to score even once against Harold.

...Maybe it was because of the dreams I started having frequently after my third defeat to Harold.

Nightmare

"Incompetent, Lilith. Even if you wield a dagger, how can you go an entire semester without landing a single proper attack?"

"I'm sorry, Master. It's my lack of skill..."

"I can no longer keep such an incompetent maid by Ethan's side. From next year, you will no longer be his personal maid and will leave the Blackwood estate."

"No, Master! Please give me one more chance...!"

Waking up several times from such unsettling dreams, it was hard not to focus on them.

Although I knew Harold wasn't the type to dismiss a personal maid for such reasons, the contents of my recent dreams were troubling.

Regardless of the dream's content, I needed to score at least one win against Harold before the semester ended to leave a good impression.

Blocking all my attacks with just one sword while I used three daggers and various spells was increasingly annoying.

No matter how skilled a Sword Master he was, I still wanted to win at least once. Even more so because he fought with both his physical and magical abilities sealed.

Ethan's Duel with Harold

While watching Ethan and Harold's duel from the audience, Ethan, who was close to reaching Sword Expert, was fighting in a completely different style compared to my duels with Harold.

-Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

"Huff, huff... haah..."

"..."

Ethan, swinging his dual swords with a fierce intensity as if to devour his opponent, and Harold, seriously blocking his strikes.

Since the Kraken battle, Ethan had undergone significant changes.

Ethan's swordsmanship had grown at an incredible rate since that day.

He continued to attack Harold tirelessly and with more vigor during their evaluation duels, and in weekly monster-hunting classes, he achieved better results than before.

Seeing the threshold of Sword Expert seemed to have ignited Ethan's motivation.

Ethan's Victory

-Clang!!

"...Ugh!"

"Huff, huff... haah..."

With Ethan's horizontal slash, Harold's sword momentarily flew into the air.

Students watching the duel let out soft exclamations.

"...What?"

"Did he just disarm Professor Harold...?"

"As expected of the Blackwood family..."

For the first time, Ethan achieved a "complete victory" during a duel with Harold.

Among the students taking the same class, he was the second to do so after Gyeongmwajogyegigwat.

"Ethan."

"...Yes."

"Since you achieved a complete victory against me, like Gyeongmwajogyegigwat, you will receive a perfect score for this semester."

"Thank you!"

"Additionally, from now on, I will also use my magical abilities during our duels. Be prepared."

"Yes!"

Ethan had effectively graduated from Harold's class for this semester, just like the hero.

Meanwhile, as a mid-level student, I had yet to win even once against Harold, who wasn't using his physical or magical powers.

While everyone has their own strengths, this made me feel oddly inadequate.

Conversation with Ethan

After finishing the duel with Harold, Ethan returned to my side, and I offered him a calm compliment.

"Congratulations, Young Master Ethan. Your skills are improving rapidly."

"...Thank you, Lilith."

"Since you won against Master Harold, I will prepare a reward for you tonight, as usual, Young Master Ethan."

"...About that, Lilith."

"Yes?"

"Today, it's not just any win, but a 'complete victory' against my father, right?"

"...That's correct."

"Although it feels a bit strange for me to say this, shouldn't a complete victory warrant a more significant reward?"

"...Do you want a different reward for your complete victory?"

"It's not that I want a different reward. I just feel like we should take things a step further. After all, we are temporary lovers now. Of course, if you say no, I'll understand."

"...Understood. Since you put it that way, Young Master Ethan, I'll prepare a reward suitable for a complete victory."

"I'll look forward to it, Lilith."

...What should I do?

I hadn't thought about a reward for a complete victory.