Ch.21The Vain One (2)

“Good day, my lady.”

A sly greeting.

I hide the trembling Lezia behind my back. In front of me stands the blue-haired villainess.

I draw a relaxed eye-smile.

“How wonderful to see you again. It’s an honor.”

“Ha.”

Her lips twist.

Ameila openly sneers.

“Protecting such a subpar coward… I suppose birds of a feather flock together?”

“What delightful words.”

“Which part?”

“If I’m someone who suits Miss Lezia, that would be the greatest honor of my life.”

“Wouldn’t it be the greatest shame?”

“That depends on the person.”

“Hmm.”

Ameila taps her lips as if finding me pathetic.

Her uniquely insolent smile stands out.

Our strange confrontation continues.

The girl’s blue eyes are filled with vicious malice.

“To think I’m in the same class as this man. I feel my standards dropping.”

“I too am pleased to have you as a classmate, my lady.”

“How disgusting.”

The girl clicks her tongue briefly. It was a response dripping with contempt.

“Top of the year… I hope you don’t mistakenly believe that position truly belongs to you.”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“I must admit, your shamelessness is impressive.”

“Hmm?”

“If Her Highness the Princess hadn’t suddenly withdrawn… you would never be standing here.”

She can’t accept the class placement test results.

It was a reaction I somewhat expected.

The faculty had been watching inside the barrier through magical tools, but the students hadn’t.

In their eyes, it must have looked like Charlotte let me win.

That’s why I’m still called the “bubble valedictorian.”

Because I hadn’t shown them a convincing process.

In an academy filled with proud geniuses, this was perhaps a natural reaction.

“It’s not a place for someone like you.”

“Such disappointing words… I actually considered you a friendly rival.”

“My, how unpleasant.”

Ameila was the same.

She didn’t acknowledge me. Or rather, she couldn’t acknowledge me.

“If you want to consider yourself my rival… shouldn’t you at least have the skills to match?”

Venomous colors swirl in her blue eyes.

At first glance, she seems angry about an undeserved result, but I knew the true nature of her emotions.

What the girl felt was none other than…

‘Inferiority.’

An inferiority complex stemming from a need for recognition.

The type who obsesses over others’ opinions.

Such people often lose themselves to jealousy, which manifests in negative behaviors.

Ameila fell into exactly that category.

“I can’t believe I was pushed to third place… because of an obstacle like you.”

A vain person.

Vanity is the desire for recognition, and the absence of others’ attention leaves a great pain.

In short, it was a disease she carried in her heart.

“My lady.”

There’s an appropriate way to deal with such people.

“You are already in a sufficiently excellent position.”

It’s offering sincere encouragement.

Judging by her manner of speaking, I wanted to blast her with illusion magic right then and there, but she was ultimately a person with a wounded heart.

I didn’t want to treat her too harshly.

“Hehe.”

I smile sweetly.

Satisfying her need for recognition.

In the original story, she became twisted from uncontrollable thirst, but perhaps this time could be different.

What if I filled her void?

“Isn’t this an absurd situation?”

“Pardon?”

“After all… you’re ‘third place,’ my lady. I don’t think you’re in a position to criticize me, the valedictorian.”

“What did you say…?!”

Ameila’s intense reaction.

Apparently, she was embarrassed by the praise. But I had no intention of letting up.

This was execution disguised as petting.

I’ll praise her so highly she’ll die of shame.

“It’s fine. Even third place is an excellent achievement. Though I am the valedictorian.”

“Third place… pfft, truly a position worthy of being a role model for students.”

“Yet you call me a bubble valedictorian? I can’t help but laugh.”

“Looking at the Venati family’s noble daughter… I can now gauge the level of the Venati house.”

By now, the girl’s face had turned bright red.

Her slender shoulders occasionally twitched.

Perhaps my praise was too embarrassing.

It might have been humiliating since other students were listening too.

“Hic.”

For some reason, Lezia standing behind me starts hiccupping.

She looks at me with a face that has turned pale.

I wonder if something’s wrong.

“How dare… how dare a lowly snake like you speak to me, the daughter of House Venati…!”

“I merely stated facts.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! Did you think you could insult me like this and get away with it?!”

“Insult? This was the highest praise I could offer you, my lady.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!!”

The trembling villainess glares at me with wide eyes.

She seemed to have crumbled under my shower of elaborate compliments.

How pleased she must be to have her mouth corners twitching.

She must be unable to hold back her smile.

As I watch her with a satisfied expression, an extremely agitated voice returns.

“We’ll see how long that arrogant attitude lasts!”

“My~ If you’re going to watch over me so eagerly, I’m embarrassed by such forwardness.”

“Ha.”

As I smile awkwardly, the villainess’s gaze turns cold.

“You’d better be careful. Before I crush you completely.”

“How frightening.”

“You’ll die that way.”

Well, death, is it.

I have my own expertise in killing, though…

“I look forward to it.”

“I certainly hope so. So everyone can see your pathetic self.”

Ameila coldly spits out before turning her back.

The girl leaves with her followers.

‘Was I too humiliating? Her reaction is quite sharp.’

I think as I watch the retreating drill-haired girl.

As I tilt my head in confusion, I feel numerous gazes following.

“Hmm?”

“……”

Students all with rabbit-like eyes.

Everyone was shocked into silence. Even Lezia had a similar reaction.

“Why is everyone acting like this…?”

Did I do something wrong?

***

“Why is everyone acting like this…?”

As if the previous tense atmosphere had been a lie, the boy casually raises a question.

His characteristic shamelessness was clearly evident.

“……”

Lezia stares blankly at the boy.

Looking at his sly smile and narrowed eyes, the tension that had stiffened her heart gradually loosens.

The breath she had been holding escapes.

Cold sweat that had formed on her forehead drops to the floor.

-What a well-matched pair.

-One is a bubble valedictorian… and the other is an outsider who doesn’t know her place.

When the Venati noble daughter suddenly approached them, Lezia felt her body freeze instantly.

A feeling like her mind had been bleached white.

Only a terrible trembling remained at her fingertips.

It was a kind of imprinted fear.

-You need to recognize your place.

-This is a place for those who qualify… not somewhere a mere commoner should aspire to.

It had happened just a few days ago.

The class placement test where she had been helplessly defeated. Just recalling the memory made her shoulders instinctively shrink.

-Leave, outsider.

Those cold blue eyes.

The softly whispered voice trampled her heart. All those scenes remained terribly vivid.

Perhaps that’s why.

Lezia couldn’t help but be terrified.

Receiving those contemptuous gazes made it gradually harder to breathe. Her heart pounded as if it might burst.

Just as she was about to suffocate under the pressure, what saved the girl was…

-Shh.

Once again, it was the narrow-eyed boy.

He hid the panic-frozen Lezia behind his back and faced the Venati noble daughter alone.

-Good day, my lady.

House Snakus, with its long history and tradition.

There was no doubt it ranked among the top in the Empire, but even that became mere dust before a ducal family.

That was the limit determined by birth.

Normally, one wouldn’t even dare make eye contact.

But Judas willingly stepped forward.

He received the malice-filled noble’s provocations and engaged in a tense battle of wills.

-You’d better be careful. Before I crush you completely.

-How frightening.

-You’ll die that way.

-I look forward to it.

It was not at all a beneficial action.

The opponent was the eldest daughter of the Empire’s highest-ranking family. Falling out of favor with her would clearly bring no good.

Nevertheless, the boy continued to protect Lezia.

‘Why?’

A question she couldn’t help but ponder.

This wasn’t the first time.

It was a question that constantly arose whenever she was with the boy.

‘Why does he go this far for me?’

It had been that way since their first meeting.

His attitude was incomprehensibly kind.

The boy always took care of Lezia.

Especially a few days ago, on a rainy day, he even came looking for her with an umbrella.

The words she heard then were still clear.

-How about it, Miss Lezia.

-Would you allow me to come closer?

He was an utterly incomprehensible person.

She wanted to ask.

What was his purpose in doing all this?

Why was he so kind to someone as weak and unremarkable as herself?

“Miss Lezia?”

“…Ah, yes, Young Master.”

Lost in complex thoughts, she feels the boy tap her shoulder.

He smiles brightly and says.

“We seem to have been delayed a bit… shall we head back now?”

“Yes, yes…!”

Lezia belatedly comes to her senses and nods.

They turn to walk toward the carriage station.

As she takes a step, something gently strokes the girl’s head.

“Ah… Y-Young Master?”

It was none other than Judas.

He wore his usual playful smile.

“You don’t need to be afraid.”

“Pardon…?”

“Of Lady Venati. You seemed worried since earlier.”

“Ah.”

Was it that obvious?

Lezia hurriedly composed her stiffened expression. She felt heat rising to her face.

Then his voice continued.

“If anything happens, I’ll protect you. So don’t worry too much.”

“……”

“We’re friends, after all.”

Tap, tap-

A touch filled with unique tenderness.

Her head moves along with the stroking hand. An inexplicable ticklish feeling lingers in her chest.

Was it because of the embarrassing word “friends”?

“…Thank you.”

Lezia slightly averted her gaze.

‘He really is incomprehensible.’

Muttering quietly to herself.

The girl organized her tangled thoughts as she walked toward the station.

***

Meanwhile, in an alley near the dormitory building.

A girl was taking out her anger on an innocent wall.

Crash-!

Her fist strongly strikes the hard wall.

A dull pain follows the rough impact sound.

Still not satisfied, the blue-haired girl extended her fist several more times.

Thud, crack-!

“How dare…! That bubble valedictorian!”

Her eyes are filled with venomous light.

Though her skin was torn and blood flowed from her knuckles, the girl fiercely gritted her teeth.

“A lowly snake! Daring to… against the noble bloodline of Venati…!”

The hateful narrow eyes flicker in her mind.

She chews over the mockery that remains in her ears. Her pupils gleam with hatred.

-Third place… pfft, truly a position worthy of being a role model for students.

-Looking at the Venati family’s noble daughter… I can now gauge the level of the Venati house.

Crunch-.

Her teeth grind.

Judas Snakus. The one she called the bubble valedictorian.

The insulting words from someone she had looked down on struck sharper than any dagger.

The girl recalls.

-I look forward to it.

The boy smiling ominously.

She wanted to tear that pale face to shreds right then and there.

“You may be so high and mighty now… but let’s see how long it lasts.”

Her muttering voice is filled with murderous intent.

The girl had no intention of letting this situation stand. She was determined to set things right.

She would definitely drag him down to the ground.

“A duel… I wonder if a mere commoner will dare to accept.”

Muttering with vicious sarcasm, the girl moved on.