"Did you say everything you needed to?! You, you fat lump of flesh!!!"

"Kyah?! Lady Agnes!"

"Wait, Agnes! What are you doing?!"

"Don't rush at Lillis, Lady Blaze!"

The fake falling-out plan to convince everyone that Agnes and I had a rift was a resounding success, thanks to her passionate performance. Agnes's outburst, charging at me as if genuinely angry, and the perfectly timed intervention by Gwyn and Ethan, who had been waiting outside the square, made the scene look all too real.

Agnes's face was flushed with rage as she yelled at me, fully immersing herself in the role.

"Let go! Let me go!! That Lillis! That… that wretch!!"

"Calm down, Agnes! Why are you acting like this with your friend?"

"She’s not a friend!! Friends don’t say things like that to each other!! You, you’ve always thought that, haven’t you? That I’m flat-chested and short?! That I have no curves and a cold heart?! You awful…!!!"

"……."

I was so taken aback by Agnes's performance that I momentarily forgot my lines, simply staring at her in stunned silence. This was the first time I realized that Agnes had such a talent for acting, making her seem like a completely different person from the Agnes I knew.

I knew she was trying, but I didn’t expect her to throw herself into the role like this.

When we practiced the fight, her acting had been so awkward that I’d had to create a more realistic scenario to make it work. But now, seeing her deliver such a convincing performance, I was genuinely surprised.

No one would suspect that this was just an act—she looked like she was genuinely furious with me. Even Gwyn and Ethan, who had been briefed to intervene at a specific moment, seemed to have rushed in earlier than planned, likely because they were also fooled by Agnes's performance.

I couldn’t help but feel a surge of appreciation for Agnes, who was going to such lengths to make our plan work. I never imagined she would try this hard for my sake.

"Agnes, what if someone thinks you're really angry? We agreed to just pretend to fight."

"B-But she… Lillis… she…."

Gwyn, who had pulled Agnes away from me, was whispering to her. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I assumed they were just reviewing the plan.

Meanwhile, Ethan, who had rushed over as soon as the fight began, put a comforting hand on my shoulder and whispered into my ear.

"Are you okay, Lillis? Did you get hurt?"

"I'm fine, Young Master Ethan. We’re just pretending to fight; it’s not a real fight."

"R-Really? You’re not actually fighting?"

"Of course not. This was all part of the plan Agnes and I came up with. You were briefed on it beforehand, weren’t you?"

"Well, yes, but… this doesn’t seem like what we discussed…."

That’s just how acting goes. Sometimes, you have to go off-script if it makes the performance more believable. Ethan looked at Agnes with a concerned expression, likely worrying about something unnecessary.

There was no way Agnes would be truly upset over a few jabs about physical traits—especially since she was the one who’d brought up that topic in the first place.

Even Ethan, who knew about our plan, seemed uncertain, which spoke volumes about how convincing Agnes's angry performance was. She might have been awkward during rehearsals, but she was a natural when it came to the real thing.

"Y-You… you awful… you awful person…! Sniff… sniff…"

Agnes, fully committed to deceiving everyone, even teared up as part of her performance, making me wonder if this was all really necessary. Still, I was grateful for her dedication—everyone watching would undoubtedly believe that a severe rift had formed between us.

This would certainly fool McHart, who would think our bond had completely broken. He would undoubtedly seize the next opportunity to attack, believing that Agnes was no longer by my side.

That’s when I, Ethan, and the unexpectedly involved Agnes would trap him, and Gwyn and Celesta would join in for the final battle. This staged fallout was just the first step in that plan.

Feeling confident that we had set the plan in motion perfectly, I fought back a smile. Any sign of satisfaction now could ruin the rest of our strategy.

With the semester nearing its end and the Magic Department classes over, there was no need for Agnes to guard me any longer. The only event left was the evaluation match a week later.

As I silently congratulated myself on the timing and execution of our plan, Agnes, still in character, shouted one last time at me:

"You… you just wait! I won’t let this go! You’ll be on your knees, begging for forgiveness!!!"

Her final, dramatic exit, complete with a tearful performance, drew the crowd's attention fully to us. The slightly risky plan to stage a falling-out was brought to a perfect close as Agnes stormed off toward the Magic Department dormitory.

…At least, that’s what I thought at the time.

⁂ ⁂ ⁂

A week later.

Back in reality, I was now sitting quietly in the waiting room for the evaluation match, pondering over recent events.

I still couldn’t fully understand why I was about to face off against the top student in the Magic Department in the final evaluation match.

Why is Agnes insisting on finishing the semester with a duel against me?

The incident in front of the Student Council Hall a week ago should have been more than enough to convince everyone that we had fallen out.

So why continue the charade with this evaluation match? The more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed.

If Agnes had truly been furious at me that day, then maybe this duel made sense. But if it was all an act, why would she choose me as her opponent?

Was it possible that her anger back then wasn’t entirely an act?

"…Oh."

Maybe I had been too narrow-minded in my thinking.

It was odd, indeed. The performance Agnes had given that day was so convincing that it was hard to believe it was just acting.

If her anger had been real, and if her final words about making me kneel and apologize were genuine, then it wasn’t difficult to understand what she had planned.

"…Agnes’s performance isn’t over yet."

I nearly fell for it myself.

Agnes had anticipated how she would act if she were truly angry, and one of those actions would be dragging me into the final evaluation match to use me as a test subject for her magic.

For someone who had screamed and shouted at me with such intensity, it would have been odd for her not to challenge me to a duel. She knew that to make the act believable, she needed to follow through with her typical behavior when she was furious.

Agnes had been thinking several steps ahead of me. She was making sure that McHart couldn’t possibly suspect that anything was amiss by creating a flawless performance.

"She really got me this time."

To think that she had guided me into such a natural situation without even giving me a heads-up. I had originally thought I would have to help her improve her acting skills, but it turned out I was the one struggling to keep up with her.

At least I realized it now. I had genuinely worried that Agnes was so angry she was ready to end our friendship.

"We will now begin the first-semester final evaluation duel for the second-year students of the Magic Department! The first match is between the top student of the second-year, Agnes Elizabeth…."

Hearing my name called alongside Agnes's from outside the waiting room, I headed toward the evaluation arena with a lighter step.

Our staged fallout was nearing its final act.

⁂ ⁂ ⁂

As I entered the evaluation arena, I immediately spotted Agnes stepping out from the opposite waiting room and making her way to the center of the stage.

Her eyes were serious, filled with a resolve I hadn’t seen in a long time. Having spent so much time with the more relaxed and friendly version of Agnes, it was almost jarring to see her like this.

She reminded me of the Agnes from our first day in the Spirit Studies class, the one who had called me a crazy woman. In fact, she seemed even more determined than back then.

Given that she had brought along her low-level fire spirit, Infernosilia, which I had helped her contract before the end of that class, it was clear she was fully prepared for this duel.

"Hey, you! Big boobs!"

"Yes?"

"You made my Agnes cry! I don’t care if you’re her friend—this time, I won’t let you off!!"

"……."

I couldn’t believe she even got her spirit to play along with the angry act.

Impressed by Agnes's thoroughness, I stood there quietly as she followed up with her own challenge.

"Lillis."

"Yes, Lady Agnes?"

"…This time, I won’t let you off the hook."

"What do you mean by that, Lady Agnes?"

"I’m going to show you the difference in our abilities and make you kneel before me and apologize."

For an evaluation duel, her taunt was almost cute.

Of course, no matter how much this duel was part of our plan, I had no intention of losing to Agnes’s magic without putting up a fight.

If I went down too easily, not only would my first-semester evaluation rank plummet out of the top ten, but McHart might also start to get suspicious if he was watching.

This duel wasn’t part of our original plan, but now that it was happening, I intended to give it my all.

"I hope you achieve your dreams, Lady Agnes."

"……."

Agnes tightened her grip on her staff and moved to the arena’s edge, preparing for the duel. I also took my position, ready to face her in what would be the final act of our staged fallout.

This was the last phase of our plan to deceive McHart.