Ch.48Midterm Exam Preparation – 1

“Shall we get going now?”

After the regular student council meeting ended, Roxanna was the last to gather her things and stand up. She had been left alone with the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince was still looking over documents related to the academy’s operations even as Roxanna packed up her belongings.

This was behavior only possible for the heir apparent to the Empire. Whoever becomes the next student council president, they certainly won’t enjoy the same extensive authority as the current Crown Prince.

‘The atmosphere has changed somewhat.’

This was the thought that crossed Roxanna’s mind whenever she saw the Crown Prince these days. Before, despite having androgynous features, he had definitely given off a masculine impression, but now he seemed much closer to being female than before.

Her succubus instincts were telling her so. The face shape, the eyes, the figure, and most decisively, the scent emanating from his spiritual energy was completely different.

The spiritual energy of males and females is fundamentally different. The vast majority of succubi greatly preferred male energy. Many succubi outright rejected female energy, and Roxanna was one of them.

‘It definitely used to taste good before…’

Now she felt no attraction to it at all.

Female spiritual energy was often compared to the sensation of green vegetables or produce, and Roxanna, having lived in the human world for a long time, thought this was a very accurate comparison.

“Roxanna Astriere.”

Just as she was about to leave the meeting room, the Crown Prince’s chilling voice stopped her in her tracks.

While the succubus Roxanna might have been able to refuse, Roxanna Astriere, a second-year student at Bellium Academy, absolutely could not ignore that voice.

“…Yes, Your Highness. What can I do for you?”

‘Oh, damn. You scared me. Why are you suddenly calling me out?’

While inwardly cursing the Crown Prince, Roxanna responded calmly on the outside. The Crown Prince spoke without taking his eyes off the documents.

“It seems you’ve been frequenting the club that Mira Crate recently joined quite often. I’ve heard rumors that you’re submitting membership applications once a day, so I called you to confirm directly whether my ears are accurate.”

“Ha, haha… You noticed?”

It was true. The human persona Roxanna was playing was supposed to be someone who, though annoying, couldn’t be genuinely hated, and she was working hard to maintain that image.

Her efforts seemed to be working, as Mira, while finding her annoying, didn’t outright curse at her or tell her to get lost. In fact, Priscilla, who was always clinging to Mira’s side, showed even stronger wariness.

Of course, the truth was closer to wondering what this succubus was trying to accomplish, but Roxanna had no way of knowing that.

“How could I not have noticed? Rumors have spread throughout the academy. They say Roxanna Astriere is working very hard to join a certain club. And since the person in question is Mira Crate, it would be stranger to find someone who hasn’t heard about it.”

Mira Crate had been quite famous since the entrance ceremony, but recently her recognition had grown to the point where it would be harder to find someone in the entire academy who didn’t know her.

Not only was she involved in all sorts of incidents, but she was also close enough with the Saint candidate that Rosaria approached her without hesitation, always seen with the daughter of Duke Agnes creating a strange atmosphere, and maintained good relationships with both the hero chosen by the holy sword and his childhood friend who ranked second in the entire first year.

With those five people forming a club, rumors were bound to spread, and now Roxanna was trying to join them too. Rumors breed more rumors, and naturally, gossip about Roxanna was also circulating.

“Tell me your purpose.”

“…Pardon?”

“I asked why you’re trying so diligently to join that club. Are you making me repeat myself twice?”

The Crown Prince finally took his eyes off the documents. His blood-red eyes were filled with a murderous intent he had never shown before.

‘Is this really something to get so angry about?’

Something was suspicious. Roxanna decided to trust what she had built up so far and probe a little deeper into the cause of those emotions.

“…May I humbly ask Your Highness why you are curious about my affairs?”

“My reason, you ask.”

The documents in his hand fell onto the desk. The Crown Prince stood up. Their eyes met, and the distance between their bodies slowly began to close.

“If your actions show such strong passion not for the club but because of a person…”

The Crown Prince, now directly in front of Roxanna, folded his arms. His long eyelashes came into view.

“Your remaining time here will become exceedingly difficult.”

‘…What? Is he also involved with Mira Crate?’

Hearing those words, Roxanna was certain. That was jealousy. The jealousy that only a woman could show toward another woman eyeing what was hers. Being a succubus, she could clearly sense all those emotions.

He hadn’t been like this before, but changed after becoming entangled with that human, Mira Crate. The Empire’s first in line for succession, no less.

‘This could be…’

An opportunity. The thought occurred to Roxanna. What if she could brainwash Mira Crate and use her to cloud the Crown Prince’s judgment?

The entire Empire falling into the hands of a succubus wouldn’t be just a dream. If that happened, she might even receive direct commendation from the Demon Lord.

No, even just the truth about the Crown Prince’s real gender would be valuable enough to exploit.

‘Good. This is worth reporting.’

Roxanna couldn’t decide on such a major matter alone. She needed to inform the Queen and plan together.

There was also one condition that needed to be met before successfully brainwashing Mira Crate.

“Of course it’s because of the club. Haven’t you seen how they’ve decorated their clubroom?”

Having made her decision, Roxanna immediately began making excuses. Right now, avoiding the Crown Prince’s suspicion was the priority.

“Hmm…”

“What’s with that expression?”

“After four peaceful days, you suddenly feel anxious?”

“…Sometimes I think you’re not quite normal either. Anxious because it’s peaceful? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know, like in horror movies when they say ‘it’s too quiet here.’ That kind of feeling.”

Rosaria seemed convinced for a moment, then made a face that said, ‘Am I really being persuaded by this?’ I thought I had explained it properly, but apparently not.

We’ve done everything we can, and from here on out, it’s in the realm of prayer. Prayer that those demon bastards will invade within reasonable limits.

Since we don’t know when, where, or how it will happen, it’s natural to feel anxious.

“I can sort of understand, but… you really say the strangest things.”

“I can understand it perfectly. Because it’s you who said it, Mira.”

Priscilla, who had been quietly clinging to my side enjoying my warmth, suddenly interjected. Then she pulled up one corner of her mouth and mocked Rosaria.

The two started arguing again. Our club as usual.

“…Sigh. I should just stop talking. By the way, Mira, are you going there?”

As always, Rosaria, defeated in the argument, turned to me while trembling with frustration. Priscilla happily buried her face in my embrace again.

“Where do you mean?”

“The dungeon practice experience. Since the midterms are for two nights and three days, they said they’d let us experience it instead of lectures to help prepare for the exam.”

I thought I knew what she meant. Brunhild and Aria had come looking for me to form a team together. When I asked if the three of us could team up this time, the professor said we’d find out soon enough.

“I have to go. Even though it’s absolute evaluation, it’s an area where Priscilla can’t help me.”

“I thought so. What about you, Priscilla? You won’t see Mira for nearly three days, maybe you should practice being apart from her starting now?”

“I’m going with her.”

“…Going with her? You? To a first-year lecture? How?”

“I’ll cast an existence erasure spell and follow along. I’ve confirmed that even the professors can’t detect it yet.”

“You’re really something. With that dedication, if only you studied… well, I guess you don’t need to. You already get perfect scores anyway.”

Rosaria seemed to have given up on Priscilla too. Priscilla made a triumphant expression.

To cut to the conclusion, Priscilla’s plan didn’t work out.

The dungeon entrance itself used teleportation to enter. Someone of Professor Jeina’s caliber could easily notice if an extra person joined the teleportation.

Trying to enter separately via teleportation was impossible without knowing the dungeon’s spatial coordinates. As a result, Priscilla ended up crying sadly and locking herself in my bed.

I tossed a few clothes to Priscilla who had holed up in my bed, and arrived at the location Professor Jeina had mentioned, along with the two who always accompanied me. Almost all the first-year students seemed to be participating, as there were quite a number of them.

Rosaria was with Professor Jeina. She said she would be watching the situation with the professor and would immediately step in if anyone got seriously injured.

“Since you’re here, I assume you’ve seen the notice, so I’ll just give you a quick summary. This artificial dungeon in front of you was created by the Archmages working together. Go in and destroy the dungeon core. Once the core is broken, it’s over. You’ll be able to return right here. It’s designed to take about 8 hours to clear, so be prepared.”

“Will all these people enter together? Wouldn’t that defeat the purpose of forming teams?”

Someone raised their hand and asked. Professor Jeina looked at the student as if they were being ridiculous.

“Do you think the Archmages wouldn’t have considered that when creating this? You’ll be in the same location but different spaces, so you won’t be able to see or interfere with each other. The traps will also operate separately in each space. There’s a reason they’re called Archmages, you know.”

The students let out sounds of admiration. They knew how difficult it was to overlap different spaces in the same location.

After finishing her explanation, Professor Jeina sent the students into the dungeon one by one. Our trio was last in line. When Aria, Brunhild, and I stood in front of the teleportation magic circle, Professor Jeina gave us a meaningful smile.

“Do you know why I allowed the three of you to be in the same team?”

“…No?”

Brunhild shook her head. The meaningful smile grew even stronger.

“When I told the Archmages about you three, they suggested putting you in the same team and making the dungeon structure especially difficult. If this were an exam, there might be concerns about fairness, but there’s no such worry now, and they were curious about your abilities, so they put a lot of effort into creating it. It will probably be very challenging.”

I was curious just how difficult it would be if an Archmage had put in a lot of effort and the professor was saying it would be very challenging.

Brunhild seemed to feel competitive as she fingered the holy sword at her waist, while Aria was exactly the opposite.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be watching over you constantly. We also have a Saint candidate here. Ah, should I tell you about the dungeon configuration in advance?”

“Yes, please.”

Aria politely put her hands together and asked. Professor Jeina spoke with a softer smile than when she looked at Brunhild or me.

“The Demon King’s army commanders will appear. All of them, from the 1st Division to the 7th Division Commander.”

“…”

Brunhild, who had been burning with fighting spirit, froze.