episode_0020

“······.”

“Hehe~”

-Tap, tap.

An awkward atmosphere began to flow between Lulu and Yustetia sitting across from each other.

Yustetia exuded an alluring yet elegant aura, emitting a royal vibe as she tapped her tea gracefully, but not Lulu.

As the headmaster delayed entering more and more, unease started creeping in.

If the headmaster didn’t come into the office soon, it would cause a delay. If that happened, it would postpone the time when the blame would shift onto Sieline.

Lulu, who wanted to clear Sieline of any wrongdoing as soon as possible, was absentmindedly biting her nails, forgetting even the fact that it would be okay to do so within this week.

Then, a question arose in Lulu’s mind.

Why on earth was this person, or rather the First Princess Yustetia, who wasn’t even a student of this academy, in the headmaster’s office?

It wasn’t unusual for royalty to visit an academy within their kingdom. However, why would a princess who wasn’t yet a queen nor a student of this academy be in the headmaster’s office?

It was almost unheard of. Such interactions usually occurred when they became queens or kings.

Nevertheless, rumors about this particular First Princess being peculiar were circulating, so Lulu simply brushed it off as her being exceptionally unique this time.

As the awkward tension between them persisted.

-Knock.

“Wow, the food is delicious this time.”

Headmaster Lira entered the office, wiping her mouth with a napkin, clearly having just finished lunch.

Moreover, to what extent she had relaxed could be seen from the fact that even the hidden wings of the Red Dragon, usually concealed in a state of alertness, were slightly protruding.

“Hmm? What are you two doing here, Lulu and… Princess Yustetia, isn’t it?”

“Yes, Headmaster Lira. It’s Yustetia.”

“I have no idea why Princess Yustetia is here. So, what about you, Lulu?”

Looking puzzled at Lulu, Headmaster Lira, sensing an opportunity, stood up promptly and spoke.

“Headmaster Lira! I admit that I made the nobles faint at the social gathering this time! Therefore, the demerits should be given to me!”

Firmly and resolutely, Lulu addressed Headmaster Lira.

Perplexed by Lulu’s words, Headmaster Lira hesitated once again, speaking up.

“What are you talking about, Lulu? The accuser has come forward… Why do you claim to be the culprit? Weren’t you the one who fainted?”

Headmaster Lira had witnessed the accuser injured and the nobles fainting at the social gathering this time.

In truth, it was not the foolish dragon who judged based solely on the accuser’s words; it was Headmaster Lira, who, without much resistance from Sieline, inadvertently concluded that Sieline was the culprit.

If she weren’t the culprit, she would have cried out in injustice. However, Sieline not only refrained from crying out but instead challenged Headmaster Lira, causing her embarrassment.

Recalling this, Headmaster Lira’s cheeks flushed. She had never revealed her scales to anyone because of her pride.

Her daughter Amel, also known as the essence of mana, the heart of the Dragon Heart. A creature created by extracting the magical power of the Dragon Heart.

Creating a living being with magic was extremely difficult. It required intricate manipulation of magic and a deep understanding of the body, not to mention an abundance of magical power.

Moreover, it was a technique that could only be performed once at birth, requiring utmost care.

However, possessing most of the world’s knowledge and knowing how to manipulate magic to the extent of possessing a Dragon Heart called the essence of mana made it an easy task for the dragon, resulting in the creation of Amel, the Dragonean.

Why was a Dragonean created of all things? It was because Headmistress Lira didn’t create Amel in the form of a dragon but in the form of a human.

Amel, created in human form, was composed of dragon magic. Thus, she became a Dragonean, a hybrid of dragon and human.

To be honest, this was also what Headmistress Lira aimed for. She wanted to raise Dragoneans who would last longer in human form rather than as children of dragons.

Headmistress Lira herself didn’t particularly dislike humans; in fact, she liked them. That’s why she desired children in human form.

Anyway, setting aside this useless knowledge for later explanation, getting to the point, according to Lira’s perspective, Sieline was identified as the culprit.

However, Lulu seemed to firmly believe that she was the culprit, stating confidently, “I am the culprit! Sieline is simply… simply taking the blame due to Karla’s misunderstanding! I feel guilty about this fact, so I am confessing like this…”

Including reasons for confession that Headmistress Lira could inquire about, one might wonder if Lira was truly genuine.

It was indeed strange. It was odd to pick out the culprit based solely on Karla’s words, and Sieline might have admitted guilt to shift blame.

If Sieline had truly taken the blame and intentionally used Karla to bear that blame… everything made sense.

Nobles sacrificing Sieline on behalf of Lulu. Quite romantic.

Lost in such thoughts, Lira felt her mouth gaping open and cleared her throat before speaking, “Ah, I see. In that case, let’s remove Sieline’s demerits and transfer them to you.”

As Lira finished speaking, Lulu suddenly brightened up with a smile.

Realizing that the demerits unfairly obtained by Sieline had now properly returned to her, Lulu felt an overwhelming joy as if she could fly to the sky.

Just as Lulu was about to express her gratitude by holding Headmistress Lira’s hand with a bright expression, at that moment…

– Knock knock.

“If it’s about the culprit of the noble fainting incident, I know who it is.”

Sitting elegantly, stirring her tea, Yustetia’s shocking statement entered the ears of the two.

Upon hearing Yustetia’s words, Lira thought that Yustetia’s statement held more credibility than Lulu’s.

Because Yustetia, out of curiosity, had not left the social hall until almost everyone else had left, a fact she knew from having secretly placed a royal exclusive tracker on her.

The king had informed Lira of this fact unnecessarily, but at this moment, Lira felt certain that this information was meant to be used now.

Yustetia was indeed someone who stayed until the end, almost like a tracker. Considering this, Lira regarded Yustetia’s words as more credible than the fainted Lulu and Karla’s words.

With a serious gaze, Lira looked at Yustetia and asked, “Who was it then?”

In response to Lira’s question, Yustetia rubbed her chin with her hand, closed her eyes as if recalling, and said, “Hmm, well, he was a man with white hair.”

“What on earth—!”

“Shut it, Lulu.”

Enraged by Yustetia’s nonsensical statement, Lulu’s anger surged, ready to pounce on Yustetia, but Lira intervened.

Lulu found herself restrained by Lira, unable to move, forced to listen to Yustetia’s nonsense. Despite trying to say something, Lira ignored Lulu since Yustetia’s words were deemed more credible than Lulu’s.

“But that alone isn’t enough to know. Don’t you have more precise information?”

No matter how strongly Sieline inherited the genes of the first human and had white hair, it wasn’t conclusive evidence since there was more than one person with white hair.

As if recalling that statement, Yustetia began to ponder once again, making a sound of contemplation before exclaiming, “The eyes were orange like pumpkins.”

“Sieline, huh.”

Eyes as orange as pumpkins.

In this world, orange eyes were not a common color, so aside from Sieline, there was not a single person in the academy with white hair and orange eyes.

Ignoring Lira’s attempt to say something after confidently identifying Sieline, Yustetia thanked her.

“Thank you, Your Highness. For sparing a poor student who was about to be falsely accused.”

“Don’t mention it, hehe… Shall I leave then?”

Looking at Lira with a mocking smile, Yustetia opened the door of the principal’s office and walked out.

However, instead of leaving, Yustetia briefly opened her eyes again and mouthed towards Lira, “Actually, I know everything.”

– Smirk.

With a wicked laugh, Yustetia now truly escaped near the principal’s office, descending to the first floor of the academy while hearing Lira’s screams.

Or rather, she headed towards the ‘Itan Dormitory.’

Because Sieline, the only candidate for her future husband, was in the Itan Dormitory.

After taking an interest upon hearing Sieline’s stats, Yustetia chose Sieline as the sole candidate for her future husband.

Though just a candidate, nothing was set in stone yet, but she thought it would be fine to build some rapport. So, on her way, she asked her guards to investigate Sieline’s background.

Well, there were some shocking details among them, but since they weren’t criminal, she simply ignored them.

“Well then… Shall we go?”

Changing her steps, Yustetia began to head towards the Itan Dormitory.

Lira could have followed her and resorted to violence, but Yustetia was confident she could easily defeat an academy student like Lira.

Her Moon Magic was powerful enough to easily overpower around 100 students from the prestigious Leonios Academy.

“Hehe… Sieline, you should be grateful to me. You should thank me for accepting your proposal so readily, trying to use me to entangle that woman in ‘filth’ and ‘obsession.’”