After haggling with the female shopkeeper of the underground general store over whether to buy the book in my hand or not, I ended up leaving empty-handed. 

Unable to acquire the book entitled “Understanding Mana Flow,” I sat on a bench in the Central Plaza near the underground store, feeling dejected and expressing my gloomy mood.

 

“Haaaa, damn it…”

 

Yeah, that’s just my life.

Whenever I try to put effort into something, this single-digit Luck keeps tripping me up. It was inevitable for me to feel frustrated.

I was frustrated at Lilith Rosewood, a character with a Luck stat of 1 or 2, whose basic stats couldn’t be overcome by my efforts alone.

Originally, she was a character who typically only used support magic to assist the protagonist (or Ethan), so there was no need for her Luck stat, which symbolizes hit rate, to be particularly high. However, as I somehow needed to learn offensive magic, I had to seek out every opportunity to raise my Luck.

Among those opportunities, I had just lost the chance to use the most unconditional one of them all, the “hidden book from the underground general store,” so I really had no idea what to do now.

 

‘What am I supposed to do with just 2 Luck?’

 

At this rate, I would fail all the midterm evaluations for the various subjects on offensive magic I was taking, as well as subjects where accuracy was important. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

If I couldn’t improve my Luck stat by the end of the semester, I wouldn’t be able to avoid failing or being at the bottom of the class in the remaining subjects, including the battle during the final evaluation. If I wasn’t careful, there was a possibility that my entire academy life could go awry.

It was a desperate situation for me, who had planned a learning curriculum focused on improving hit rate and luck from the first semester of the first year to the second semester of the fourth year in order to develop Lilith into a character specializing in offensive magic.

It was natural for my head to be filled with complex thoughts while thinking about the future that would go downhill from now on.

 

‘Should I ask Ethan to lend me money? No matter how I think about it, he probably won’t lend me 10 gold coins easily… Or should I secretly meet with the protagonist and ask him to buy it for me? But if I approach him out of the blue, I’ll definitely just arouse suspicion. Besides, Ethan told me never to interact with him…’

 

As a member of a branch family of the Blackwoods and an exclusive maid, I couldn’t freely use money or act as I pleased.

Of course, complaining wouldn’t improve my miserable life. So, as I was about to get up from the bench after somewhat collecting myself…

Suddenly, a young lady with long sky-blue hair approached the seat next to me and greeted me as if we were acquainted.

 

“It’s been a while.”

“…Lady Lizzy… Lynn August?”

 

I almost habitually blurted out the familiar name I only used in my head but hastily added her full name and title.

Lizzy, who sat down on the bench next to me, spoke to me with her hand to her mouth and an arrogant expression, like that of a noble lady with high self-esteem.

 

“We met briefly at the underground general store earlier, didn’t we, Miss Lilith?”

“How do you know my name…?”

“Hmm, are you thinking of playing dumb? Although it’s been over half a year, we did meet once at the Princess’s Masquerade Ball, didn’t we?”

“……”

“You look like you’re wondering how I knew. Miss Lilith, you probably wanted to hide your identity because you felt uncomfortable meeting me, but unfortunately, I never forget the characteristics of someone I’ve met once. Even if you were wearing a mask, I could easily recognize you by your other features. I even greeted you at the entrance ceremony, did you not see me?”

 

…No, I saw you. I just didn’t respond because I didn’t realize the greeting was for me.

In many ways, this Lizzy character was quite unpredictable to me. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

After all, Lizzy should have normally died in a monster wave incident at this point.

No matter how many times I had cleared Luminor Academy – 24 times to be exact – I couldn’t know the characteristics and personality of a character who didn’t appear in the main story.

 

“I apologize, Lady Lizzy Lynn August.”

“Well, I understand. It might be somewhat burdensome for you to meet me now, Miss Lilith. After all, you received an apology from me as an honorary daughter of a viscount, so you might have been afraid that I would seek revenge if we met again, right?”

“……”

“Of course, I don’t hold any ill feelings towards you, Miss Lilith. I have a personality that clearly distinguishes between gratitude and grudges.”

 

…If she really had a personality that clearly distinguishes between gratitude and grudges, she should have been desperate to tear me apart.

Not only was she humiliated at such a precious social event as Princess Seraphine’s birthday, but later that day, she was also forced to give up her silver dagger to me.

As I was bewildered by Lizzy’s incomprehensible logic, she continued speaking to me.

 

“It seemed like you had a bit of an argument with the shopkeeper earlier, is that right?”

“…I showed an embarrassing side of myself.”

“You wanted to buy something but didn’t have enough money, right? Even I thought 20 gold coins was a bit excessive… Well, with my wealth as the young lady of the August family, I could manage it somehow.”

“……”

“Of course, it would have been a burdensome amount for you, Miss Lilith, an honorary viscount’s daughter and Young Master Blackwood’s exclusive maid.”

 

I wondered what her purpose was for suddenly appearing, but was it just to mock me as I had feared?

Well, it made sense that Lizzy wouldn’t have good feelings towards me. It was only natural, considering what had happened that day.

Thinking that listening further would only hurt me more, I was about to get up, mentioning Ethan’s name, when a book with a green cover was quietly pushed in front of me.

 

“I’ll excuse myself first to attend to my duties as Young Master Ethan’s exclusive maid…”

“…Take this, Miss Lilith.”

“…This is…”

“You seemed to need this book earlier, right?”

“……”

“Oh? Perhaps it wasn’t something you needed?”

“Ah, no… I do need it, but…”

 

The book entitled “Understanding Mana Flow” unexpectedly came into my possession in an unforeseen situation.

Normally, my confused thoughts should have been sorted out after somehow obtaining this book that I was about to miss out on. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

Rather, my mind became more confused by this woman’s sudden kindness, and as if anticipating my reaction, Lizzy looked into my eyes and said,

 

“Please think of it as… compensation for the rudeness I showed you last time.”

“Pardon?”

“I’m talking about when I accidentally spilled my drink on you at the masquerade ball. And then, concerned about saving face in front of others, I got angry and lashed out at you instead. Even now… I feel so embarrassed thinking about it.”

“……”

“So I’d like you to accept this as an apology for that time. Of course, it’s probably too late an apology for you.”

 

…What’s with her?

Did she eat something wrong?

Is this really the same Lizzy who threw a fit at me at the masquerade ball?

I almost accepted her surprising kindness without question due to the natural flow of the conversation, but sensing something ominous in Lizzy’s attitude, my body refused to accept her kindness at face value and rejected it once.

 

“Ah, no. I can’t accept such kindness without giving anything in return.”

“Your hands are trembling, Miss Lilith.”

“The, the debt from that day was settled when I received your silver dagger that could save my life, right? Look, I’m still using it well even now.”

“Yes, it seems you’re still using it well. You used that blade in your duel with that foolish fourth son of the Raidenharts, didn’t you?”

“……”

“I understand your suspicion, but I’d like you to accept it simply as a gesture of goodwill. After all, it’s just a book worth five gold coins.”

“Ah, no… I can’t accept such an expensive item… Wait, what did you just say…?”

 

…Just now, it seemed like something I couldn’t just ignore had slipped past my ears.

 

“I understand that you’re suspicious of me, but this is just a gesture of goodwill I have for you…”

“No, not that part, the part about this book being worth five gold coins…”

“Oh, that? That’s just because the female shopkeeper of that underground general store is an old maid who gives discounts to handsome men.”

“…Pardon?”

“It’s a bit awkward to say this about my own family, but my younger brother Caraham is quite decent if he just keeps his mouth shut. He’s tall, from a good family, and has many qualities that are good for charming women. That’s why I bothered to bring him to the underground general store. After all, I don’t have a fiancé like you do.”

“……”

“If you had come with your fiancé, you probably wouldn’t have been overcharged. Was there a reason you had to keep this a secret from Young Master Blackwood?”

 

…How am I supposed to know such unnecessary details attached to an NPC?

The fact that the underground general store’s female shopkeeper is a sucker for handsome men was something I heard for the first time in my life. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

Originally, I only visited as the protagonist character during gameplay, so there was no basis for comparison. No wonder the price seemed to skyrocket unreasonably.

 

“Five gold coins shouldn’t be too burdensome an amount for you as an honorary viscount’s daughter, right?”

“……”

“Or do you think that I, the young lady of the August family, am in such dire straits that I can’t even afford to give a gift worth five gold coins?”

“…No. Since you put it that way, I’ll gratefully accept it.”

 

Feeling that refusing any further would definitely be impolite, I silently accepted the book Lizzy handed to me.

She looked at me with a slight smile and extended her right hand as if to shake hands.

 

“Let’s get along from now on, Miss Lilith. Although we’re in different departments, we’ll probably run into each other ‘by chance’ quite often in the academy, right? The Magic Department building and the Pharmacy Department building aren’t that far apart either.”

“…Understood, Lady Lizzy Lynn August.”

“You can call me Lizzy. I’ll call you Lilith in return.”

“…I’ll call you Lady August.”

“…Well, whatever makes you comfortable.”

 

…And that’s how my connection with Lizzy began three weeks ago.

Now, three weeks later…

For some reason, I couldn’t understand why I was spending time sharing the same space with her in a dessert café.

What’s even more ridiculous is that this has been going on for almost three weeks.

At first, we would talk for 10-20 minutes after accidentally meeting on campus, but at some point, it changed to properly sitting down and talking for an hour or two.

Recently, it had become so natural to meet regularly that we would meet in the central plaza during our free periods in the academy.

It was inevitable to feel a bit dumbfounded every time I objectively thought about my current situation.

 

‘How on earth did we end up like this…?’

 

Anyway, for now, I had no good reason to distance myself from Lizzy, and I had some sense of debt regarding this book I was currently reading, so I was going along with it.

Also, the coffee at this dessert café that we occasionally visited was quite decent.

Although coffee in this world wasn’t so rare and expensive that commoners couldn’t afford it, it was still too expensive to drink daily, like water, as in my previous life. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

Originally, it would have been strangely out of place for me to brew coffee in the dormitory room I shared with Ethan, so the caffeine I drank on these occasions was helpful in many ways.

Although this body belonged to Lilith, my soul was still imprinted with the spirit of a modern South Korean.

 

“Lilith, you really like coffee, don’t you?”

“…Yes. I’ve become quite addicted to it since I first tasted it, thanks to Lady August’s kindness recently.”

“Our company steadily imports and processes coffee beans from the southern regions. That’s why we can operate stores that serve drinks using these beans.”

“…I see.”

“If you’re interested, Lilith…”

 

While I was maintaining a conversation with Lizzy, occasionally making eye contact, and mentally continuing to read the book to increase my Luck stat…

Thanks to the reactions of other people, I could sense by the atmosphere that some unusual guest had entered the café.

Along with that subtle commotion, an unexpected guest approached our table in the café without hesitation.

 

“Oh my, what a coincidence to meet you here, Miss Lilith. And the person in front of you is… Miss Lizzy, the second-ranked student in the Pharmacy Department, right?”

“…Princess Seraphine?”

 

Luminor Academy’s first-year representative, Seraphine.

It was the moment when the Moonlight Shadow Princess appeared in front of Lizzy and me.

…But where did she suddenly pop up from?