The rumor that Harold had been newly appointed as a professor spread quickly throughout the entire Swordsmanship Department.

After all, he was quite famous. He was also a war hero.

He was a legendary Sword Master that anyone in the Empire who knew how to handle a sword would know about, so the rumor spread quickly, not just in the Swordsmanship Department but to other departments as well.

 

‘No wonder Harold seemed to be absent from the mansion on the day we left…’

 

I never imagined he was preparing to be a temporary professor at the academy during that time.

When I first encountered Harold, who had followed us to Luminor Academy, I almost let out a scream. It’s fortunate I was too surprised to even let it out. {GalaxyTL/Axiomatic}

I had a rough idea of how he came to take on the role of an academy professor.

To begin with, the Argentian Empire wasn’t the type to leave a war hero like Harold to leisurely manage his territory.

Although he had already retired from his position as one of the king’s Three Swords, he was still a person whose combat ability was among the top ten in the Empire.

He must have been receiving love calls from various imperial institutions. He probably refused most of them but took on the position of a temporary professor at the academy just for this semester.

…Although I’m not sure if it really is a temporary position, given that he can extend it as much as he wants if he desires.

 

“I never imagined Father would come all the way to the academy. I guess he must have felt lonely staying alone in the mansion, haha…”

“…Yes, I suppose he might have, thinking about how you, Young Master Ethan, who was always there, would be gone.”

 

Ethan was talking so carefree in the midst of this, so I just responded appropriately to match him.

In truth, Ethan probably didn’t have much to regret. With his father being a professor in the Swordsmanship Department, getting good grades would become much easier.

Compared to other professors in the department, there were hardly any who could match Harold’s status and achievements, so most would naturally give good evaluations to curry favor with him.

Of course, Ethan would probably get good grades in most subjects even without using such underhanded methods.

…If there was a problem, it was probably on my side.

Now that Harold was at the academy, swordsmanship lessons between Ethan and Harold could happen at any time.

They could happen not only during the weekly Basics of Magic Swordsmanship class, but there was also a possibility they might have regular duels for training every week, just like at the mansion.

Even in their last duel, Ethan was winning about one match every two weeks, and if the current Ethan, who had grown a bit more since then, engaged in duels at the same frequency as before…

 

‘He might even win one match against Harold every week.’

 

This was troublesome.

Really troublesome.

That’s because the dormitory room Ethan and I are using now isn’t a space used by just the two of us. {GalaxyTL/Axiomatic}

With Isabel living in a space separated by just a not-very-thick door, giving chest… rewards like before was dangerous to say the least.

If I accidentally let out a moan, we’d probably be 100% caught.

…But suddenly stopping what we’ve always been doing until now was something my pride couldn’t accept.

A man can’t disgracefully go back on his word once he’s said it. 

…Even though this body is Lilith’s.

 

‘Well, I probably don’t need to worry about it just yet.’

 

It was only a problem worth worrying about if Harold and Ethan’s duels actually happened and Ethan managed to beat Harold in those duels.

Since Harold had just been appointed as a temporary professor, he’d probably have a busy schedule for a while, and he couldn’t duel with every student during class.

Just ten days after starting at the academy, the conditions weren’t very good for the two of them to start dueling right away.

Maybe their schedules would conflict, and the duel itself might never happen.

Thinking that way, worrying about it now would be foolish. Thinking like this does make me feel reassured.

 

‘Besides, Harold doesn’t seem to teach any classes other than Basics of Magic Swordsmanship, and even if Ethan has a sword duel with Harold in other classes, it would be hard to prove that I saw it.’

 

I just need to avoid it well once a week, just once.

While I was trying to reassure myself with such thoughts…

…the duel between Ethan and Harold came much faster than I had expected.

On the day marking exactly two weeks since I started attending Luminor Academy with Ethan…

Today was the day of the common class I take with Ethan once a week.

That’s right, the lecture given by Harold. Unfortunately.

As soon as my morning classes ended, I quickly packed my things and hurried out of the classroom, leaving the Magic Department Building.

If I dawdled, Ethan would come to my building to fetch me again this time.

Ethan coming to pick me up at my building two weeks in a row was careless of me as an exclusive maid, no matter how I thought about it…

 

“Ah, Lilith. Looks like your class ended a bit early today.”

“…Young Master Ethan.”

“Ah, just in case, I should mention that I wasn’t specifically waiting for you. I thought it would be a waste of time to just stay in the Swordsmanship Department Building, so I was thinking of taking a walk around the academy.”

“…What a coincidence. You just happened to pass by the Magic Department Building right when my class ended while taking a walk.” {GalaxyTL/Axiomatic}

“Right, it’s a really strange coincidence, isn’t it?”

 

…Ethan is getting more shameless by the day.

Anyone could see he came all the way to the Magic Department Building to pick me up, yet he’s trying to play innocent.

Seeing him act like this right after I cautioned him that it looks bad for an employee, I had reasonable suspicion that he might be doing this to deliberately put me in a difficult position.

 

“Isn’t the cafeteria much closer to the Swordsmanship Department Building than the Magic Department Building? Why do you always take such an inefficient route…?”

“I’m hungry, so let’s go quickly, Lilith. We have Father’s class this evening, so we can’t be late, right?”

“Of course, that’s true, but…”

“If it really bothers you that much, why don’t you take off those lace cuffs and your headdress? You wouldn’t need to fulfill the formalities of an exclusive maid then…”

“That’s not allowed.”

“…If you don’t like it, L-Lilith, then there’s nothing I can do.”

 

It’s the only means to prove that I belong to the Blackwood family, so I need to wear it and be clearly identified.

Moreover, I’ve already been attending the academy like this for two weeks, so if I suddenly stop wearing it, rumors might spread that I’ve been fired by Ethan.

I wanted to avoid troublesome things in many ways. To do that, I had to do my best in the role of Ethan’s exclusive maid until our graduation from the academy.

That was the way to survive at the academy as Lilith.

It’s the second week of the Basics of Magic Swordsmanship class, taught by Harold.

As soon as the time for the afternoon class came, Harold appeared in the Indoor Dueling Arena and announced today’s lesson to the gathered students.

 

“To roughly assess everyone’s individual skills, from today we’ll have time for dueling in pairs.”

 

While the first day’s class felt like an orientation and passed vaguely, it seemed they were definitely entering into full-fledged classes from the second week.

 

“Before pairing up for duels, the four people I will call should come forward separately.”

 

Thinking they might be called, several students from the Swordsmanship Department looked around curiously.

As soon as I heard the first syllable of the names coming from Harold’s mouth, I could immediately grasp what criteria Harold had used to select the four.

 

“Gyeongmwajogyegigwat Volt.”

“Ethan Richard Blackwood.”

“Natalie Sharp.”

“Caraham Jamuel August.”

 

…Right, this is how it would usually be.

From the moment he called Gyeongmwajogyegigwat’s name first, I could immediately grasp that this was a group of honor students… no, ‘inhuman’ level individuals.

No one among the freshmen in the Swordsmanship Department at Luminor Academy now could beat those four there. {GalaxyTL/Axiomatic}

If he had paired them up to duel with other students mixed in, it would just end up with their opponents getting thoroughly beaten for nothing.

 

“You four are strictly forbidden from dueling with other students except for dueling with each other here.”

“”””Yes, sir.””””

“I believe you know best why I’ve separated you out. Right?”

“”””Yes, sir, we understand!””””

 

As expected of kids whose specialty is handling swords, their answers were overflowing with confidence.

Especially Natalie, answering with a confident expression among the three men, looked particularly cute.

 

‘Enrolling in Luminor Academy is a good idea in this aspect.’

 

Seeing Natalie, who was my favorite character in my previous life, in person right before my eyes probably means I’ve achieved about half of my goals for entering the academy.

I think anyone would fall for her charm if they knew it. Of course, she’s pretty, but more charming than that is her bold personality.

Like how she answers confidently despite being the only commoner without any powers among nobles and heroes who can use magic.

Seeing her not shrinking back despite being the only woman among men made me smile fondly, feeling like I was still seeing Natalie from the game in my previous life.

If it were my previous life, I would have pressed the PrtScrn key almost every time her expression changed, not to mention collecting separate CGs.

It was just regrettable that I couldn’t save the image of her orange ponytail fluttering in the gentle breeze.

 

‘Still, somehow, it doesn’t make my heart race like before.’

 

I suppose it might be because the years I’ve spent as Lilith in the world of Luminor Academy have become too long.

Well, with this body, I can’t be with Natalie anyway, and she originally had Thomas, her childhood friend, as a partner. {GalaxyTL/Axiomatic}

I had no right from the beginning to interfere with the love between those two that even the protagonist, Gyeongmwajogyegigwat, is trying not to disturb.

Just being able to watch my favorite character from my previous life move alive like this from afar was satisfying enough.

 

“……”

 

While I was relieved in one sense that I no longer felt romantic emotions towards the character I had loved…

…Still, feeling depressed that I could no longer feel the emotions I once had was an unavoidable force majeure.