Luminor Academy, Swordsmanship Department Building, Second Outdoor Training Ground.

 

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

 

Ethan Richard Blackwood is the only son of the Blackwood Ducal family.

The sound of Ethan, who is currently taking his second afternoon class, “Basics of Mental Concentration,” swinging his sword in proper form, echoed throughout the training ground along with the breeze.

Unlike his usual dual-wielding combat style, Ethan was swinging only a two-handed sword straight ahead. Even so, he didn’t particularly dislike this class.

For a swordsman, mental concentration was always an element that needed to be cultivated, and whether one swung a greatsword or dual-wielded wasn’t that important in the process.

Only Natalie, ranked third in the Swordsmanship Department and usually wielding an estoc, was struggling a bit with this period of swinging and mental concentration that lasted longer than two hours. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

After all, dual-wielding meant that there was considerable pressure on both arms, so for Ethan, this was a good opportunity to concentrate with a sword that evenly distributed the weight.

Especially these days, when thoughts of Lilith were disturbing his mind, this simple mental concentration training was absolutely necessary.

 

<A, a little… Y-yes….>

 

A month ago, during their evening activities, Lilith made a shy self-confession.

Although it was a short statement uttered in a quiet voice, he had clearly heard and remembered…

…that Lilith had said she felt good from his touch.

 

<It feels good because of Young Master Ethan’s touch…>

“……!!”

 

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

 

Was that Lilith’s way of shyly confessing to him?

…Or was she just honestly talking about a physical, physiological reaction?

One thing for sure was that Lilith’s reaction was the most positive response he had seen from her during their evening activities so far.

Because of this, Ethan had been noticeably thinking about Lilith more frequently over the past month.

From Ethan’s perspective, until now, Lilith had only tried to hide or conceal what she felt when his hands touched her chest, and she had never shown any direct signs of favor towards Ethan regarding it.

The fact that she didn’t get angry even when he went overboard by using his mouth might mean that she was hoping for more from him.

If they were to progress beyond just touching her chest, then maybe next time…

Thwack!

“Ethan! Your energy is scattered! Concentrate!”

“Yes! I’m sorry!”

 

Struck on the back of his head by the professor’s bamboo sword, Ethan hastily shook off the image of Lilith that had appeared in his mind and once again focused only on the sword in his hand and his energy as he continued swinging.

At that time, Ethan had no idea what was happening to Lilith.

He wouldn’t have known that there were already quite a few other people targeting Lilith and that they were approaching her while avoiding him entirely.

A café in Luminor Academy’s central plaza.

At a table where one person had left from what was originally a group of three, the remaining two female students sat quietly facing each other and talked.

 

“Hmm, we were rejected.”

“……”

“Actually, I somewhat expected this. I just asked to be sure, but I didn’t expect her to say it was to keep her ‘loyalty’ to Young Master Ethan.”

“……”

“I had even left my exclusive maid position open, hoping to keep her by my side if possible, but in the end, I only got a clear answer… It’s a bit troublesome that things didn’t go according to plan for once in a while.”

 

The blonde princess sipped from the teacup in front of her with a self-deprecating smile.

The sky-blue-haired margrave’s daughter sitting across from her simply maintained her silence and listened to her words. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

While waiting for her guard knight, who had been sent away briefly for the conversation, to return, Seraphine shared her thoughts on the tea in her cup.

 

“Is this Nilgiri-based, mixed with Darjeeling and Assam *1? It’s quite a good blend for something sold at the academy cafeteria…”

“…It’s because of you, Your Highness.”

“Pardon?”

“I-If I had just had more time, I could have made her come to my side! If only you hadn’t interfered!”

“Is that so? Didn’t you just say you were going to talk to her today?”

“……”

“And I don’t think the result would have been much different even if I hadn’t intervened. The only difference might have been whether the hesitant Lizzy would have been rejected a few weeks later or not.”

 

Lizzy couldn’t refute Seraphine’s cold assessment any further.

She just quietly rinsed her mouth with the blended tea to soothe her bitter feelings.

 

“It wasn’t my only chance, anyway. I thought it would be difficult to bring her as an exclusive maid when she already served someone… although it would have been best if it had worked out that way.”

“…Is that so?”

“I don’t think you’ve given up either, Lizzy.”

“…Well, I wonder.”

“You don’t need to hide it. I can predict well enough what kind of plan you’ll use to approach Lilith next anyway.”

 

Seraphine smiled calmly, trying to hide her regretful emotions by deliberately putting on a composed expression and taking the upper hand in the conversation with Lizzy, who was in the same situation as her. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

Lizzy, unable to completely hide the emotions on her face, avoided the princess’s gaze.

In the café where only two women rejected by one woman remained, only the bitter scent of coffee she had left behind lingered.

Luke, Seraphine’s knight who had returned late from his “walk,” approached his master, tilting his head at the somewhat awkward atmosphere.

 

“Did something happen, Your Highness?”

“No, nothing special.”

“I see. I thought the atmosphere seemed a bit gloomy, so I wondered if Your Highness…”

“It’s just that I was hoping for that ‘nothing special’ to happen, which is disappointing.”

“……”

“Well, meeting her today was just a probe at an opportunity that suddenly arose. It seems difficult to recruit her this semester, so I’ll have to aim for the student council president election next semester.”

“…I understand.”

 

Luke tried to match Seraphine’s mood after confirming that things didn’t go well and was about to leave the café with her.

However, Seraphine was already thinking of something else as she looked at Luke, her guard knight. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

Luke also started to feel an ominous emotion quietly in his heart as soon as he noticed her strange gaze.

 

“The most difficult problem I have is that I now need to fill the completely vacant position of my exclusive maid soon.”

“…Is that so, Your Highness…”

“The issue is that bringing in an exclusive maid from outside requires prior approval from the academy. I could bring someone in from next semester, but I didn’t register for someone to fill in the exclusive maid position this semester.”

“……”

“There’s still half of this semester left, what should I do, Luke?”

“…I’m not sure.”

 

No, actually, Luke knew.

He had already expected the order that followed.

 

“Luke.”

“…Yes, Your Highness.”

“Today, we need to go into town briefly to have a Luminor Academy uniform tailored. I’ll need a female uniform that fits your build perfectly.”

“…Understood.”

“Should we add maid frills to the sleeves like Lilith’s clothes? And a headdress and lace cuffs, too…”

“…As you wish…”

 

Luke’s title had suddenly changed from guard knight to exclusive maid due to the incident Lilith unintentionally caused.

Without Lilith knowing, Luke only grew his hostility towards her once more in his heart.

Swordsmanship Department Building. Men’s Locker Room.

Among the male students soaked in sweat after finishing their second afternoon class, Ethan, who had changed from his training uniform to his school uniform, left the locker room a bit quicker than the other students.

 

“I’ll be going ahead. See you all tomorrow.”

“Ah, good work today, Young Master Blackwood.”

“Haha, take care on your way home, Young Master Ethan!”

 

After exchanging words with the other Swordsmanship Department students, he walked out of the training ground with slightly quicker steps.

Thinking of her, who would be waiting for him at the end of today’s classes as well, his footsteps were light as a feather even after the grueling class. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

As soon as he stepped out of the Men’s Locker Room into the Main Building of the Swordsmanship Department, he could see Lilith, his exclusive maid.

 

“Lilith.”

“…Have you finished your classes, Young Master Ethan?”

“Yes, I’ve just finished them.”

“…As I mentioned yesterday, today is the regular holiday for the dormitory cafeteria. We’ll need to buy dinner from a nearby store and return. Isabel will probably be waiting for us, too.”

“Right, we should head back quickly then.”

“…Yes.”

“…?”

 

Unlike usual, Lilith’s response seemed a beat late today for some reason.

Having been by Lilith’s side for a long time, Ethan immediately noticed that her attitude was slightly different from how she usually treated him. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

Feeling somewhat uneasy, Ethan carefully asked his exclusive maid.

 

“Um, Lilith.”

“…Yes, Young Master Ethan.”

“Do you have something on your mind? You seem to have a bit of worry mixed in your expression today.”

“…No, that’s not the case.”

“If it’s not a worry… perhaps is there something you want to tell me?”

“……”

“…Lilith?”

“…If there’s something I want to tell you, Young Master Ethan, there is a little.”

 

The young master of the Blackwood family started to feel a frightening emotion as if his heart was collapsing at Lilith’s answer.

Although Ethan was a bit scared by the unusual aura he felt from her, he didn’t want to avoid hearing what Lilith wanted to tell him.

Ethan asked Lilith again, who seemed to be hesitating about something.

 

“Um, Lilith.”

“…Yes, Young Master Ethan.”

“What is it… that you wanted to tell me…?”

 

Could it be that she suddenly wanted to quit being his exclusive maid?

Or was she going to say that her current dormitory life was uncomfortable and she wanted to move to the Magic Department dormitory? 

Either way, it didn’t seem like it would be a pleasant scenario, so Ethan was hesitating about how to react if such a response came back.

However, what came out of Lilith’s mouth was an answer that rather reassured him again.

 

“Young Master Ethan.”

“…Yes.”

“Please continue to take care of me as your exclusive maid in the future.”

“…Huh?”

“That’s all I wanted to tell you.”

“…Oh, yes. Sure. I-I’ll be in your care too, Lilith.”

“Yes, Young Master Ethan.”

 

It wasn’t the answer he had expected, but with that, the young Blackwood master was rather relieved. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

Quietly confirming his reaction, Lilith steeled her heart once more.

Indeed, it seemed that this position by his side was the most comfortable place for her, more than being by anyone else’s.