The Third Imperial Prince, Sredo Crown, while enrolled in the academy, did not show himself in classes or events. This was because his purpose for enrolling was not growth or learning.

What he desired was survival. Caught between the First Imperial Princess, who grinds her adversaries to dust and brings storms of blood, and the Second Imperial Prince, who quietly expands his network and support base from the shadows── he simply wanted to survive.

So, he fled. But fleeing alone was not enough.

Fearing that the First Imperial Princess or the Second Imperial Prince might send assassins, he allied himself with a faction of dark sorcerers.

They needed the value of Sredo’s name, and Sredo needed the power to protect himself… It was a mutually beneficial deal.

Of course, a nagging voice in his mind occasionally pricked him for allying with dark sorcerers.

But he had a complacent belief that nothing too terrible would happen from just this one deal. What could possibly be done with the name of someone completely ousted from the throne succession?

“Lord Sredo. A new professor has been appointed to the academy. It’s──”

And, in the end, his judgment proved correct.

“I knew it… I just knew it.”

The Second Imperial Prince used his power to plant a self-tower sorcerer in the academy. He seems to be sweeping away the dark sorcerers and teaching the students with innovative methods that no one else has attempted, but.

Is that really all there is to it? Could he have received secret orders from the Second Imperial Prince? For instance, if the opportunity arises, to eliminate the Third Imperial Prince without any repercussions──.

Had he not allied with the dark sorcerers, he would have died unnoticed. Rumor has it that he traps students in a labyrinth teeming with tentacles, tormenting them before their death.

So, allying was the right decision. It was necessary to survive. Ah, if only I hadn’t been born into such a bloodline. If only I had been born a commoner in an ordinary family, living life tilling the fields…

Sleido Crown curled up under the blanket. He detests being awake. Living in reality only brings a myriad of painful worries. As if all his other senses had completely atrophied, he only feels fear.

So he squeezes his eyes shut again, trying to slip back into the world of dreams, but his body, having had enough sleep, shows no sign of slumber.

No matter how much he knocks on the gateway to dreamland, the lock remains firmly shut.

Thus, he deceives himself by pretending to sleep.

Pulling the blanket over his head and squeezing his eyes shut, he repeats to himself that this darkness is everything in the world. In this way, the fear subsides a little.

“……..”

But perhaps today is not the day.

He hears a noise from outside. A sound coming from beyond the window. In that direction. Someone is talking to the guard at the gate. Who could it be this early in the morning? And why?

He tries not to pay attention, but his focus drifts there. Dark and frightening thoughts keep surfacing. Then… let’s check with our own eyes. And then go back to sleep.

Sleido Crown crawls and slightly parts the curtain. And through the slightly opened gap, he looks down below.

There were three beautiful ladies.

Two of them were familiar faces. They were succubi who regularly visited the mansion where Sleido stayed.

They were kind people who occasionally provided ‘sleep therapy’ to help fulfill Sleido’s wish to sleep deeply and not wake up, as he could hardly ever sleep.

He feels extremely tired when he wakes up, but that’s what he likes. It allows him to fall deeper into sleep.

Then, could the third person in their group also be a succubus? It’s hard to see from a distance, but she seems to have long black hair down to her waist and red eyes.

The guard she was talking to laughed out loud, “Hahaha!”

It was the first time he had seen such a laugh. The guard was very stubborn and gruff, an oppressive man who intimidated others. Could he actually laugh?

What could they have talked about?

Curious, Sleido opens the curtain a bit more. At that moment, their eyes meet. Those bewitching red eyes.

She gives a faint smile and slowly winks with one eye.

“……..!!”

Sleido quickly draws the curtain and hides.

His heart races. Why? It was just a wink. Just eye contact, but why… does his heart feel like it’s plummeting.

Creak. The sound of the gate opening.

The succubi have arrived, and now they’re entering. Does this mean he’ll encounter her up close? Her.

In a fluster, Sleido hurriedly starts to tidy his hair in front of the mirror. He doesn’t understand why he’s moving like this. It just felt like he had to.

The young man in the mirror has a face flushed red.

—

Having easily melted the guard and breached the main gate, we successfully sneaked into the mansion.

The mansion where the Third Prince stayed was hidden in a secluded spot, unnoticeable. Unless one knew the location and sought it out, one would never have seen it even while living at the academy.

The mansion didn’t seem to have frequent visitors. The upkeep was ‘moderately’ done, neither spotless nor filthy, and most of the rooms were unused.

Casual chatter with the guard subtly led to the discovery that the Third Prince seemed to be staying on the second floor.

I didn’t pry further into specifics, like exactly where on the second floor, as it might have raised suspicion. Fortunately, a chance glance through a window led to our eyes meeting.

Alright, now just to go up there and overpower him as easily as taking candy from a baby.

As I clicked my heels up the stairs, Pingballez asked me,

“…How did you do it?”

“Do what?”

“The man on the second floor, with the golden hair – that must be the Third Prince. He almost died from just one wink of the mad sorcerer… Did you use magic?”

“It’s not magic, it’s all in the technique…”

As I played coy, Pingballez remained silent, but Kkamanlez twisted his body. He seemed incredibly curious too.

I elegantly flicked my hair to the side and began a lecture on “The Art of Seduction.”

“Where do you think dignity comes from?”

“Isn’t it from the blood of nobility?”

“There’s a genetic factor, sure. If you look noble, that’s a bonus. But no matter how noble your birth, if you act like a scoundrel, you’ll be seen as lowly.”

“So what then?”

It all comes down to information.

If your movements ooze ‘I am superior’, ‘I command others with a mere gesture’, you appear noble.

If they scream ‘I am terribly excited’, ‘I want to be with you’, you come off as lascivious.

So, if I can encapsulate the information I want in non-verbal cues… I can create any atmosphere I desire.

And I am a master of information.

“Considering your pale skin hasn’t seen much sunlight, you don’t seem to go outside often. Your expression was generally subdued, and the way you partially opened the curtain to peek out was quite defensive.”

In short, you gave off a hikikomori vibe.

The incident at Hwahwagung, the poisoning of the First Prince. It dealt a severe mental blow to the current generation of imperial princes. Perhaps this was an aftermath. For a person of imperial blood to be so diminished…

Pingballez and Kkamanlez were disguised with the image of a succubus we had captured, to hide their identities. And the Third Prince, seeing the two, felt at ease.

It must mean that a succubus regularly visits the mansion…

“A young man in his prime visited regularly by a succubus? He must be leading a life that hardly spares the bed frame. He’s probably quite desensitized to s*xual stimuli. Based on such grounds.”

I considered him as the archetype of a petulant, spoiled young noble.

I infused a harmless and warm gentleness. A look that seemed to say, if asked for help, he wouldn’t hesitate to offer it. This, I borrowed from the pre-corruption Niore.

I added a sense of familial love and inclusiveness. A feeling as if he would embrace you and spin you around thrice. This, I took from Princess Elaine.

With such preparations, I set to unlock his heart and lower his guard.

Based on the pride of a high-pressure aristocrat, I’m going to launch a fierce attack. It’s not okay to be taken lightly. This is Rodolus’s style.

Finally, I top it off with the most thrilling gaze I’ve ever had. The hunger that was whipped up in Pinball’s eyes earlier, I refined it calmly and added it.

And then I shot it.

That’s it── ‘In a normal setting, I can be a warm and gentle person, but it’s not easy to approach me and sometimes I can be intense and feminine, like a woman’── that’s what I become.

The information is tightly packed and spread out like “Speaking with Eyes”.

This is the secret to “Heart”‘s success.

“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”

“What’s wrong with your expression, Kamanre?”

“⋯⋯a bit, I’m uncomfortable. A man can’t be so coy and flirtatious with another man⋯⋯.”

“Characters are separate from players! I’m acting as the succubus ‘Rize’, not me, I’m not like that, innma!”

Kamanre’s expression was one of utter incomprehension. It was as if she was saying, “That’s not it, is it?”

But it’s different. It’s clear that it’s different!

If I think about it like that, I’m actually a Centra, so I’m in a relationship with the 2nd Prince, and I’m also in love with Namgung Seong-ah, and I’m also close to Rodolus, but that’s not true. I created a character and put it out there, but I’m not the character itself.

“Ah, yes.”

“Eyes⋯⋯!”

Yes, how can a sparrow understand the intention of the phoenix? But Pinball will understand it. I sent her a gaze that said, “Please understand.”

However, what came out of Pinball’s mouth was not a cover, but a revelation.

“Is my gaze the most thrilling?”

“⋯⋯Don’t confirm it and pretend to confirm it!”

I chuckled and turned my head away. After all, I can’t control my playful nature.

Pinball looked at me with a cute expression, then suddenly pulled her arm out and wrapped it around my waist. Her hands were adorned with a fantasy magic, but since the magician is gone, I can see it clearly.

I thought it was a normal physical attack, but it’s a bit different.

Yu-Ri Lantis grabbed my hand, and with her other hand, she caressed my palm and wiggled her fingers.

My attention is drawn to my fingers more than my chest. I pretended to be nonchalant, but I’m actually feeling a bit awkward. I asked, “⋯⋯what are you doing?”

“I want to act out a scenario.”

“What scenario?”

“You really like me. That’s the setting.”

It’s a joke, but the emotional intensity is different. This kind of light-hearted flirting is something we do every day, but it feels more serious and aggressive.

I was about to accuse her of breaking the treaty as I looked at her.

But then, I saw a twinkle of mischief and regret in her eyes. It’s as if she’s saying, “I’ll be leaving soon, so this much should be fine, right?”

Instead of pressing her, I changed the subject.

“…You’ve learned well just from verbal explanations. Speaking with your eyes.”

“Aren’t you going to counterattack?”

“……”

Yuri Lannister pushed her chest forward a bit more. It’s a provocation. My heart raced at her approach, yet… I felt a bit sad.

Is that so? Does she want to play a little more…?

Because she will leave. To embark on a long journey for revenge against the Succubus Queen. Even if she joins her party with my help, priorities will have changed by then.

In our spare time. Instead of playing and joking around like this, she will have time to work on her revenge.

Like spending a whole day playing with a friend who’s transferring schools, to ease the sadness of parting. She seems to want to play to her heart’s content with me.

Then…

It’s a head-on challenge, Pingballez.

Today, I’ll face you without holding back. Just like when we first met, and in the carriage right after. Without any concessions.

I lifted our interlocked hands and pressed my lips to the back of Yuri’s hand, saying,

“It’s acting, right? What’s the setting?”

“We’re in a forbidden love. Succubi feed off the opposite s*x, so love between the same s*x is a ‘loss.’ We don’t gain energy from it. Yet, I still like you.”

It’s a roundabout metaphor.

The time we spent playing and making noise at the academy was a loss for her. It was far from her goal of revenge. Yet, she’s saying all that time was good.

I respond in kind.

“I’m a very capable succubus, able to steal the hearts of many. But in truth, I don’t know real love. The love I give to others is all an act, a pretense. But when I see you… I feel something a bit different. I’ve started to become aware of it.”

It’s easy to stir NPCs into emotional turmoil. I’ve created them and even entered their minds to act directly. But those are all emotions from a step removed.

As I said before, even if the Centra in my head loves Irid, it doesn’t mean I’m interested in the Second Prince.

But the feelings I have for Yuna and Yuri Lannister, while not as passionate as theirs, are certainly genuine. They are my own emotions.

We bring our faces close together.

“The roles are set, miss.”

“Then, shall we see how it goes? The scene closes… until we leave this mansion. Is that okay?”

“Fine by me. When we meet again, let’s go as far as to be embarrassing, if you don’t run away…”

“I’ve been losing up till now, but today will be different…”

Our faces draw closer. Slowly. Until our breaths mingle, and our noses nearly touch.

Memories flit through my mind. What was it like in the carriage?

I didn’t want to lose. To the vile Pingballez, who sought to plunder Yuna, I didn’t want to lose in this battle of wills. It seemed to be all about the thrill and tension.

But now?

I think I’m a bit excited. For what’s to come in the next few seconds.

“……..”

“……..”

From noble mtl dot come

This is no joke. Yuri said with her eyes.

Right? I replied with mine.

Just before our lips perilously brushed, we both pulled away. Then, we casually linked arms and walked on. Our destination was the third prince’s chamber.

Behind us, the black lez quietly followed.

She didn’t complain like before, telling me to stay away from her senior or not to cling. She knew too. That once today’s prank was over, Yuri Lannister would return to the path of annihilation.

That fact ignited my competitive spirit. To think she’s so composed. What if I shatter Pingballez’s act here and completely enchant her?

“……..uh, ugh.”

No, it’s not composure. Was she simply unable to keep up with the situation?

Good. It begins. I’ll charm the third prince and extract information, all while competing with Pingballez. The victory condition is… I’m not sure. It’s not that important.

I changed my tone. A gentle smile crept onto Pingballez’s expressionless face. My heart raced at this unseen side of her. She spoke demurely.

“Let’s go in together, miss.”

Did she even know she could make such a voice?

I squeezed the hand I was interlocking a bit tighter and whispered.

“Yes. Hold my hand tightly so I don’t fall, so I don’t disappear with the breeze, Yuri.”

“Of course. I’ll be here, just like this. Entwined like roots.”

Hehe. I laughed.

Yuri Lannister and I, our private masquerade had begun.

—

Three hours until the third prince, Thredo Crown, becomes an ardent supporter of the lily.