Ch.39Plan – 1

The next day, we were waiting at the academy’s main gate for the escort of the saint candidate sent by the Pope’s side. This included even the Chairman and the Crown Prince.

Apparently, he had specifically requested that these two come out to the main gate to greet him, saying someone of his stature deserved such treatment.

‘This guy doesn’t understand how the world works at all.’

There was absolutely nothing to gain from openly disrespecting those two like this. I could tell how arrogantly he must have been raised, flaunting his status as the Pope’s son.

‘I don’t understand why they even accepted his request.’

The position claimed by the Starlight Order for this guy was “a strong candidate to succeed as the next Pope.” As Rosaria had said, they seemed to be thoroughly concealing the fact that he was the Pope’s biological son.

Still, I wondered how it was possible for a mere candidate for papal succession to make the dragon who had shared history with Bellium Academy, not to mention the first in line to the imperial succession, wait for him at the main gate.

Even considering how important priests and nuns were for maintaining the front lines, this suggested the Pope’s power was practically on par with the Emperor’s. The more I thought about it, the more suspicious it felt.

‘Should I change my plan?’

Perhaps it wouldn’t be a bad idea to accelerate the timeline for unleashing healing magic.

Since the Empire was at the mercy of the Order because holy healing was the only means of real-time recovery, one healing spell could completely bring them down. I could throw in status ailment healing magic as a bonus too.

They’re going to betray humanity and collude with demons only to be discarded anyway. This would just hasten their inevitable downfall.

“Quite a crowd has gathered.”

“That shows how shocking the news was.”

Rosaria murmured, looking around. Magic barriers prevented other students from approaching the main gate except for us, and beyond those barriers, I could see crowds of students gathered.

The news had spread that the Starlight Order had demanded the “return” of Saint candidate Rosaria Leone de Michaela.

Of course, there was no negativity in the gazes directed at Rosaria. She had been diligently building goodwill, truly acting like a saint candidate. Most people expressed regret that she was leaving so soon.

‘Not a return, but a “return” huh?’

I sneered inwardly. The word choice revealed how the Pope viewed Rosaria.

“Still, it feels nice.”

“What does?”

“To receive looks of regret at my departure. You know what I mean, right?”

Since we weren’t alone with just the possessed, I nodded at her vague statement. In the original story, Rosaria was dragged away labeled as a heretic, amid all kinds of persecution and finger-pointing.

This kind of situation must be a first for her.

“It’s been a while, student Mira Crate.”

“Chairman.”

“I didn’t expect we would meet again under such circumstances.”

As the wait grew longer, the Chairman approached me casually and struck up a conversation. We were at an angle not visible to the students pressed against the magic barrier.

She was already a head taller than me, and wearing high heels on top of that made her seem like an impressively tall figure.

“Have you thought about what you will ask of me?”

“…Not yet. I’m sorry.”

“That’s fine. Take your time. Not much time has passed yet, after all. As I said before, just answer within a hundred years.”

That absurdly long time perception unique to dragons hadn’t changed. As I awkwardly nodded, the Crown Prince approached from the side.

“It has been quite a while for us as well, Mira Crate. But why haven’t you greeted me first? I’m truly heartbroken.”

I was wondering why he was staying quiet. Inwardly, I was disgusted, but I couldn’t ignore the Crown Prince, so I turned my head.

“…?”

And raised a mental question mark.

‘Something seems different about him?’

It was hard to explain in words, but something definitely felt changed. His body seemed to have developed more defined lines.

The change was subtle enough that I could dismiss it as my imagination, but not so subtle that I could completely ignore it. It was enough to cause an inexplicable sense of dissonance.

His chest was still flat like before, but there seemed to be subtle curves now, and his hips and pelvis appeared more spread out than before, with his waist relatively more slender.

Above all, his face had shifted dramatically from androgynous to feminine. He had always given off more of a female impression, but now he looked completely like a woman—

‘Have I lost my mind?’

I shook my head lightly. No matter how suspicious something might be, why was I appraising a man’s body?

But the Crown Prince wouldn’t miss my gaze.

“My, my. Are you interested in my body, Mira Crate? I’m afraid I cannot respond to such burning looks.”

My expression soured at those words, making the Crown Prince chuckle. The Chairman beside us also looked like her irritation had partially subsided.

The Crown Prince continued to smile and chat with me incessantly. Just as my patience was reaching its limit and I was seriously considering whether to leave, something extravagant appeared in the distance.

“Finally, they’re here.”

The carriage of the culprit who had made us wait endlessly for 20 minutes after sending a nun ahead to announce their imminent arrival was, to put it simply, disgustingly ornate.

It was studded with an indescribable number of jewels packed tightly together, appeared to be made of pure gold, and was pulled by spotlessly white horses.

Around it, close to several dozen nuns formed a tight escort. It was hard to tell who was escorting whom.

The smiles that had appeared on the faces of the Chairman and Crown Prince while chatting with me were replaced with irritation again. Regardless of our reactions, the carriage leisurely passed through the main gate and stopped nearby.

A nun quickly opened the carriage door. Someone stepped out with heavy footsteps. Another nun hurriedly fixed his disheveled waistband. He made no attempt to hide whatever he had been doing in the carriage.

“Greetings, ladies.”

The Pope’s biological son looked in our direction and bowed politely. He was remarkably composed for someone who had just simultaneously insulted the Chairman and Crown Prince, who had been waiting for a long time after being told the carriage would arrive soon.

‘I want to punch him in the face.’

That was my first thought upon seeing his face. Rosaria had described him as someone who aggressively pursued women, relying solely on his looks and status, and she was right. There was already a sleazy look in his eyes.

Seeing that look, Rosaria responded by raising both middle fingers while hiding behind me so he wouldn’t notice.

Priscilla showed complete disinterest, and the Chairman and Crown Prince’s reactions went without saying.

“Welcome. Finish your business quickly and leave.”

The Chairman left only those words before turning away. The man bowed politely to her back, thanking her for coming out to greet him. At this point, it seemed fair to assume he was deliberately provoking her.

He approached the Crown Prince, who was tapping his foot irritably with arms crossed.

“Are you the Crown Prince?”

“I am. And who might you be? I haven’t been properly informed.”

“I cannot tell you directly, but you should know that I am someone with a very high probability of becoming the next Pope.”

At least he seemed aware of the need to hide his identity. If even the Crown Prince couldn’t obtain information about him, it would make sense for him to keep his mouth shut.

“Let me introduce myself first. I am Alexander Reinhardt. Pleased to meet you, Laura Ercarenchia Crescenne von Yuperantis Bellium, Crown Prince.”

The man who introduced himself as Alexander extended his hand. The Crown Prince stared at the outstretched hand for a moment, then grabbed his wrist rather than his palm with a fierce look.

—Crack!

The sound of breaking bone was instantaneous.

“AAAAARGH?!”

“How impudent. Alexander Reinhardt. Who do you think I am to display such behavior?”

As he screamed and fell to his knees clutching his broken arm, the nuns startled and tried to approach. But immediately, someone in a maid uniform leaped out from the Crown Prince’s shadow and pointed a weapon at them.

Without hesitation, she severed the ankle of one of the approaching nuns. The nun who lost her ankle in the blink of an eye rolled on the ground, spraying blood. A commotion spread.

Understanding the meaning of this action, the rest stopped in their tracks. Meanwhile, the Crown Prince continued speaking.

“AAAGH! Why, why are you doing this?!”

“Since you asked why I’m doing this, I’ll gladly answer. It’s because you’ve committed four offenses. First, daring to speak to me, the Imperial Crown Prince, as if giving orders. Second, making me wait here for you. Third, looking at me with those filthy eyes. Fourth, presuming to be my equal when you’re nothing but a religious pawn. Do you understand?”

Crack! This time his wrist was twisted 180 degrees. His face contorted even more severely.

“My hand! My hand!”

“Let me warn you now. I am not someone you can dare to consider your equal. Remember that.”

Alexander twisted his body along with his wrist, writhing pathetically in pain.

“I think I should just cut this off. After all, you people have priests and nuns to spare, don’t you? Reattaching a severed arm shouldn’t be any problem. Unlike us who, as you said, can barely maintain the front lines without the support of priests and nuns.”

From those words, I could roughly guess why the Chairman and Crown Prince had come out in person. It seemed this guy had threatened to withdraw his order’s people from the front lines if things didn’t go his way.

While the front lines collapsing would put them in immediate danger too, considering that the Starlight Order’s higher-ups would eventually side with the demons, they probably didn’t care whether the front held or not.

“I don’t know exactly who you are. But remember this: I will never tolerate such behavior.”

With those final words, the Crown Prince twisted Alexander’s wrist completely and let go. As if having touched something filthy, the maid who had been blocking the nuns quickly approached and disinfected his hand with alcohol.

Turning away, the Crown Prince spat out:

“I forgot to say this. Welcome to Bellium Academy. We have nothing to offer you, so leave as soon as possible.”

“Ughh…”

As he disappeared into the distance with his maid, the nuns hurriedly approached to treat Alexander’s arm. Rising with a pain-filled groan, he glared at us with eyes completely opposite to when we first met.

I couldn’t understand why he was looking at us with murderous intent when he was the one who had acted like an idiot.

‘Was he poorly raised?’

Or perhaps not raised at all.

“ROSARIA!!!!!!”

“Don’t casually call people by their names.”

He barked loudly. Rosaria retorted with annoyance. Alexander strode closer. As I moved to block him from Rosaria, I sensed something unpleasant.

‘Wait, this is…’

Roxanna had confessed that she kept trying to seduce me, and Priscilla and Rosaria had explained that people enthralled by succubi emit a special wavelength.

But to detect it, one would need to have been exposed to succubus pheromones several times, which would normally be impossible without being enthralled first. However, there was exactly one person who met those conditions.

That person was me.

‘What the hell? This guy is enthralled by a succubus?’

That’s how I could tell. This Alexander was enthralled by a succubus.

It seemed that as the original storyline twisted, the demon side had accelerated their efforts to draw in the Starlight Order. Otherwise, there was no way the Pope’s biological son would appear enthralled by a succubus at this timing.

‘So that’s why he was acting so recklessly?’

If he was under a succubus’s command, he clearly wouldn’t be thinking about the consequences. Now I understood why he had acted with such reckless disregard.