Five months had passed since the day I offered my chest to Ethan for the second time.

The year had changed, and February, which could be considered the last month of winter *1, was right around the corner.

This also meant that the date when Ethan and I would enter the academy was not far off.

Of course, our admission to the academy wasn’t confirmed yet.

There was a rule that to enter Luminor Academy, whether noble or commoner, one must take the entrance exam.

Even Lizzy from the August Marquis family had a record of failing, showing that there were no exceptions to the academy’s admission rules.

…Of course, the difference in difficulty of entrance exams between nobles and commoners was unavoidable.

 

‘The academy needs funds to operate, too.’

 

It’s well known that Luminor Academy’s tuition is expensive, but in fact, compared to the academy’s operating costs, it was rather ridiculously cheap.

They had a rich facility infrastructure that could be said to allow learning of all desired knowledge.

They had a proper curriculum from veteran specialist professors with 10 to 20 years of continuous service.

The current principal even has crazy connections, inviting retired Mage Tower sages, Imperial Sword Knight captains, or former hero party members as guest lecturers.

Considering these aspects, the reality of Luminor Academy was that it had to run a deficit every year, even with the expensive tuition of 1 gold coin per semester.

In fact, the parts that couldn’t be covered by the tuition were being filled through the empire’s national budget.

What somewhat subsidized Luminor Academy’s operating costs was the relatively easier academy entrance exam for nobles.

Usually, there was a kind of custom where high-ranking nobles entering Luminor Academy would pay huge donations to the academy in addition to tuition.

So, while on the surface, it was said to provide equal educational opportunities to commoners and nobles. But when you actually looked into it, the ratio of noble students to commoners was overwhelmingly high. That was Luminor Academy at its core.

It was a natural phenomenon, given that nobles who had received private tutoring and education from childhood were bound to be superior to commoners on average, and on top of that, there was a difference in the difficulty of entrance exams.

Of course, that was also set to change slowly starting from this year.

As I mentioned once before, from next year’s incoming students, the academy’s capacity will increase to three times the current size.

The major storyline was already flowing as it did in the original game.

Among the measures announced by the empress, who felt a crisis coming after the attack on the Imperial Palace, to enhance the national defenses was the increase in the academy’s enrollment capacity.

No matter how easy the entrance exam for nobles was, the absolute number of nobles was fixed in the end.

 

‘Even characters like the detestable Ethan in the original game could enter at this time, so there was that much spare capacity.’

 

In the end, after admitting all available nobles, the remaining spots would have to be filled with commoner students.

From this year on, the atmosphere of the academy would gradually change from aristocratism to egalitarianism.

Of course, even if the admission criteria were relaxed, we still had to take the entrance exam, so both Ethan and I had to visit Luminor Academy on the exam date.

Today, Ethan and I were planning to take a carriage to move to the Island of Knowledge to take the entrance exam.

 

“Have a safe trip, Young Master Ethan.” (T/N: Dittmeyer? I guess?)

“Yeah, I will.”

“If you make a mistake and fail the entrance exam, be prepared for the consequences then.”

“…I’ll keep that in mind.”

 

Ethan nodded with a slightly tense voice at Harold’s words.

Well, given Ethan’s level, he was sure to pass comfortably not only by noble standards but even by commoner standards, so there wasn’t much worry.

If there was any problem at all… it was more about the magic exam I would take.

 

“L-Lilith! Do well on the entrance exam, okay?”

“Yeah, don’t worry, I’ll do well.”

“M-Miss Lilith, do your best…!”

“Thanks for the support, Senior Catherine.”

 

One of the things that I found to be most comfortable after obtaining my noble status was that no one found it strange when Catherine called me “Miss.”

Of course, after entering the academy, there wouldn’t be many occasions to hear Catherine call me “Miss”, anyway.

With some concern about the academy entrance exam in my heart, I also prepared to depart for the Island of Knowledge, receiving encouragement from Isabel and Catherine.

They did so while I packed my luggage with clothes and towels good for three days, along with various other essentials in both hands.

The reason for bringing clothes and towels for three days was that we would have to stay at a lodging near the academy for that period of time.

If we just took one exam and returned, we could stay for just one day and come back, so this much luggage wouldn’t be necessary. Unfortunately, Ethan and I each had to take two exams – one for the Swordsmanship Department and another for the Magic Department.

To take the Swordsmanship Department exam on the first day of the entrance exam and the Magic Department exam on the third day, we had to secure lodging to stay during that time.

Considering the number and variety of students entering the academy, it would be impossible to complete everyone’s entrance exams in just one day.

Some departments even had different exam dates for nobles and commoners, so it was unavoidable for the exam period to naturally become longer.

If it were in the imperial capital, we could somehow go back and forth in half a day by carriage, so there wouldn’t be a need to get lodging. However, the Island of Knowledge, where the academy was located, was a place that took almost half a day to reach by carriage from the Blackwood Estate.

Therefore, it was safer to leave with a generous three-day allowance in preparation for any contingencies.

The time it takes to travel from the Blackwood Estate to the Island of Knowledge is one to two days.

We’d have to stay at the lodging on the Island of Knowledge, wash the laundry accumulated during travel, take exams, and stay for about three days again…

…and it’ll take another one to two days to return to the estate.

It was a long schedule, taking from five days at the shortest to a week at the longest, which made me feel a bit dizzy, but it was still a level I could sufficiently endure.

I could bear this trouble as much as needed to enter the academy.

As I was about to enter the passenger compartment following Ethan, after loading the luggage prepared for the one-week maximum journey into the carriage’s luggage compartment, Harold suddenly stopped me as I was about to board the carriage and began to speak to me with a serious expression.

 

“Lilith.”

“Yes?”

“Even if you happen to fail the academy entrance exam, don’t forget that the contract is still valid.”

“…”

“I’m talking about the contract for you to continue as Ethan’s exclusive maid for the four years he attends the academy.”

 

…Ah.

So that’s what he was talking about.

Well, to begin with, whether I entered the academy or not wasn’t a very important part of Harold’s request for me to be Ethan’s exclusive maid.

Rather, from Harold’s perspective, there might even be a possibility that he hoped I would fail to enter the academy.

After all, it would be much more reliable to have someone without being a student of the academy to serve as his son’s exclusive maid.

Well, of course, I had no intention whatsoever of failing the entrance exam.

And even if I failed, I had no intention of giving up a cushy job worth 40 gold coins a year.

So, I just bowed my head to Harold and gave a formal reply.

 

“There’s no need to worry, master. Whether I enter the academy or not won’t be a reason for me to neglect my duties as Ethan’s exclusive maid.”

“Yes, of course, it shouldn’t be. Well then, have a safe trip.”

“I will escort the young master and return safely.”

 

With that, after giving my final greetings, even to Harold, I boarded the carriage. With the sound of the coachman’s whip, the two-seater carriage started moving towards the Island of Knowledge.

It was the moment we finally departed for the main stage of “Luminor Academy.”

About two hours after the carriage carrying Ethan and me passed the walls of Blackwood territory…

The inside of the carriage, where only the occasional sound of the coachman’s reins could be heard, had maintained silence for quite a while since departing from the Blackwood mansion.

 

“…”

“…”

 

It wasn’t because there was nothing to talk about. Rather, there was more than enough to discuss.

We could talk about things like the Luminor Academy and the Island of Knowledge we were heading to right now or about life after entering the academy…

…or even just encouraging each other not to make mistakes in the entrance exam a few days later.

It’s just that it felt strangely awkward to make eye contact with Ethan right now, so I didn’t want to talk.

That’s because if I made eye contact with Ethan now, it felt like what happened in his room last night would come to mind again.

It had been 5 months since Ethan started learning dual-wielding techniques in earnest.

Ethan, who started putting serious effort into dual-wielding as per my advice, began showing tremendous talent in the newly learned swordsmanship over the past few months.

Recently, I was clearly feeling with my whole body that he had grown even more than in the past when he used to duel Harold with a single sword.

…Really, I mean literally feeling it with my ‘whole body.’

 

‘Haaaaa… You really are a stupid girl….’

 

Recalling Ethan, who had been winning one match against Harold in their sword duels almost every two weeks recently, I mentally scolded my past hasty self several times.

Damn it, why did it end up like this…