A few days passed since the absurd day when I had to face Princess Mezzlen’s ridiculous infatuation.

Life at the academy returned to its usual pace, without any particularly notable events.

To get straight to the point, I decided not to interfere in the relationship between Harold and Mezzlen any further. There was no guarantee that my involvement would improve the situation anyway.

The fact that he hasn’t forgotten his wife, who passed away 20 years ago, means that Harold carries a deep wound in his heart, one that can’t be easily touched by others. No matter how special Princess Mezzlen’s feelings for Harold might be, to Harold, it’s probably just another instance of the same flirtations he's endured from countless noble ladies over the years.

If I foolishly tried to meddle and bring the two together, I could end up making things worse. So, I decided to pull back early. I would only answer questions about Harold as long as it didn’t violate my sense of duty as a maid, but I refrained from sharing any personal or subjective advice.

She had already declared that she would challenge this difficult love, so in the end, she would have to face the pain and endure the heartbreak on her own.

‘She probably won’t give up until she’s gone through that pain.’

No matter how much I wanted Mezzlen to find someone who could truly love her, if it meant interfering with another person’s love, things would get complicated.

I don’t think it’s wrong to find new love after losing a spouse, but forcing someone to remarry when they don’t want to isn’t my idea of an ideal romance.

‘She’ll have to experience it herself. She’ll realize that not everything in the world can be solved with beauty and power.’

Even that foolish, shameless, and lustful princess will improve a little once she gains some life experience. For now, I’ll put any involvement with her on hold.

With that, I decided to put Princess Mezzlen on the back burner for my plan to pair up the heroines. Now, there were only three left.

Cael from the back alley, the new professor Angela, and Princess Rainy.

Since I figured Cael was the easiest of the remaining three, I planned to set him up with Cedric from the Engineering Department. But this situation didn’t seem to require much interference from me either.

“Cael, you’re hurt again? Didn’t I tell you last time to always wear the enchanted protective gloves I made for you?”

“Sh-shut up! Do you really expect me to wear those ridiculous gloves?!”

“Ridiculous? They have a cute design, don’t they?”

“There’s not another idiot in the world who would put a cat embroidery on protective gloves, you idiot!”

“Really? But isn’t it great since it looks like you? I made them while thinking of you, Cael.”

“Y-you! Who said I look like a cat?!”

A little while ago, I went near the Combat Department’s building to see Cael and stumbled upon this scene.

Seeing Cael, who fits the perfect mold of a tsundere heroine, paired with the refreshing yet straightforward Cedric, filled me with a strange sense of satisfaction.

I didn’t know what had happened between them while I left them alone, but it was easy to imagine their story as a well-written, wholesome couple.

‘Come to think of it, in the original, they would’ve gotten together even if the protagonist hadn’t interfered.’

From the start, there was no need for me to get involved in Cael and Cedric’s story.

Now, only two heroines remained without a match. The new professor, Angela, had already been handled by the troublemaker. So, that left me with just one final pairing to set up…

“Haa…”

Yes, I knew it. I should be preparing myself for this.

Princess Rainy. If I could just match her, who was likely Ethan’s fiancée, my mission would be complete.

‘Seriously, it’s so complicated.’

Even just this morning, waking up in the same bed as Ethan, the thought of cheering him on with another woman was absurd. But since I’d already committed to this, I had no choice but to see it through.

Princess Rainy was a character I’d grown attached to during my time playing Luminor Academy in my previous life, and I genuinely hoped she would get a happy ending.

“What’s wrong, Lilith? Why are you sighing?”

“…It’s nothing, Young Master Ethan.”

The one responsible for my worries, speaking to me as he sat next to me in the carriage’s driver seat.

Lately, we’ve had a lot of outdoor exploration lessons, and whenever I drove the Blackwood carriage, Ethan insisted on sitting beside me, even though there was plenty of room inside the carriage.

‘I don’t even know why we bother with the carriage if it’s like this.’

Sometimes, I think it might be better to ride a horse together, rather than take the carriage. At least that way, we’d be traveling more efficiently.

But then again, if Ethan and I rode on the same horse, with our bodies pressed together for hours, I’m not sure I’d be able to handle it.

No matter how used I’d become to sharing a bed with him, moving for hours while being pressed up against him, swaying back and forth, would definitely make things feel… inappropriate.

“Are you worried about today’s lesson?”

“Huh?”

“I mean the exploration class. Are you worried because it’s necromancy today?”

…Ah, right. I had almost forgotten that today’s class was necromancy. Ethan just had to remind me of it.

As he said, the Blackwood carriage we were riding in was currently headed toward the training site for this semester’s fourth exploration class—necromancy.

Yes, the one filled with ghosts, spirits, and zombies. That class.

‘If this were the modern world, I wouldn’t mind as much, but of course, this is a fantasy world.’

In the real world, I could easily prove that ghosts or spirits don’t exist. Gravity and physics alone would disprove their ability to interact with the physical plane.

But in this world, undead creatures are an actual classification. Any logical argument would just lead to someone saying, “It’s a game world, so what?” leaving me speechless.

In this world, ghosts and spirits actually exist.

Which means I wouldn’t be able to avoid encountering ghost-type monsters during today’s class. And judging by Ethan’s smirk, he could tell how uneasy I was.

“Don’t worry, Lilith. If any ghosts or spirits appear, I’ll protect you.”

“There’s no need for that. Against ghost-type monsters, my magic is far more effective than your swordsmanship. I just need to keep my composure and focus during the battle.”

“For someone saying that, you seem pretty tense. Your shoulders are all stiff.”

“Driving a carriage requires constant attention. You never know when the horses might act unpredictably.”

“Oh, by the way, I heard from one of the senior students in our department that about three years ago, a whole team went missing during a necromancy class, and the academy caused a big uproar…”

“Is that one of those baseless rumors meant to scare students? I’m not interested, so you don’t have to tell me.”

“…Is that so?”

Ethan answered with a mischievous grin, but I could already guess what was going through his head.

He was probably imagining me screaming like a little girl and clinging to him during the necromancy class. Even though I tried to act nonchalant, Ethan knew better than anyone that I wasn’t fond of fighting ghost-type or undead monsters.

“Well, that was just a joke, so don’t take it too seriously.”

“…”

“And don’t worry, Lilith. I’ll protect you no matter what happens. I even learned sword techniques from my father last week that are specifically for dealing with ghost-type monsters.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yeah. Even if you can’t do anything, I’ll take care of it, so relax.”

“…Thank you for your kind words, Young Master Ethan.”

His reassurances somehow made me feel a bit better.

With Ethan around, at least I wouldn’t fail miserably due to fear during the class. All I had to do was focus on overcoming my weaknesses.

…Wait a minute. Doesn’t something feel a little off?

“Young Master Ethan.”

“Yes, Lilith?”

“You’re saying all this, but wasn’t it you who signed up for this necromancy exploration class in the first place?”

“…It would be nice if we could arrive before it gets too late, Lilith.”

Ethan deliberately turned his head and changed the subject, ignoring my reasonable question.

Whoever he inherited that shameless attitude from, I could only marvel at his boldness as I steered the carriage toward the necromancy class site.