[A Troublesome Encounter (2)]

Not only was my morning walk to school with Ethan interrupted, but now, I was robbed of my free hour before class started.

The woman responsible for this had called me aside only to make the most unexpected and absurd request I could imagine.

“Please teach me how to seduce a man, Senior Lilith.”

“…What?”

…Hearing such a sudden request is quite shocking in many ways.

I don’t even understand why she’s asking me, of all people, someone she doesn’t even know.

“How to seduce a man, Senior Lilith.”

“I didn’t ask you to repeat because I misheard. It was just… an instinctive response to something so unexpected.”

“…”

How to seduce a man? Logically, how would I know such a thing?

Well, I suppose with Lilith’s body, seducing men would be easier than eating chocolate while lying down. 

Just swaying my chest a few times in front of them and giving them a flirtatious smile would probably make most men fall for me.

But ‘being able to do something’ and ‘actually doing it’ are two completely different things. I hadn’t used my body to seduce men since entering the Academy.

…Except with Ethan.

Besides that, I could use my knowledge from my previous life as a man to understand what men find attractive and what they can relate to, but that was an absolute secret that even Gyeongmwajogyegigwat didn’t know.

There’s no way a first-year barbarian girl with no connection to me would know about that.

‘But if I just tell her to leave now, she’ll probably show up again this evening or tomorrow.’

I had absolutely no intention of fulfilling Lilia’s wish, but I at least needed to clearly explain to her why I couldn’t teach her.

With this troublesome junior, a moment of peace wouldn’t last forever. 

If I didn’t give her a proper answer, she might bother me for at least a week, possibly a month, or even the entire semester.

“First, I understand why you’ve come to me, Miss Fionis.”

“Yes!”

“However, I don’t understand why you’d ask me such a question. If you want to know how to seduce a man, there are probably better people than me to ask.”

“If not you, Senior Lilith, then who would you suggest?”

“Um… perhaps a friend from the Spearmanship Department?”

“…I don’t have friends.”

“…What about other departments?”

“No.”

“…”

Ah, right. She’s a barbarian.

Since the Academy was still predominantly noble, with a certain level of racial discrimination remaining in this world, I could fully understand why it would be difficult for her to make friends.

“Then, what about other seniors?”

“That’s why I came to you with this request, Senior Lilith.”

“No, I mean, besides me. Surely, you must have other seniors you’re close with.”

“…A senior I’m close with.”

Lilia’s face flushed as though recalling someone in her mind.

This wasn’t the reaction I had intended with my question, but one thing became clear: the man Lilia wanted to seduce was one of the Academy’s seniors, not a classmate.

‘Logically speaking, it must be Gyeongmwajogyegigwat.’

Recently, I’d seen many cases of “heroines” from the original story having something going on with other characters—Natalie and Thomas, Agnes and Prince Antonio—but nevertheless, Lilia was still a heroine character from Luminor Academy.

A senior she was close enough with to fall for? Logically, it was hard to think of anyone other than Gyeongmwajogyegigwat.

‘The problem is that even if something good happens with that bastard Gyeongmwa, it ultimately means nothing.’

Loving that Hero, who was only thinking about returning to Earth after abandoning all the heroines once the game was completed, would only end in tragedy.

Who does he think he is? Not even Romeo, yet trying to create how many Juliets in this world before leaving? 

Even though I claimed to be a unicorn in my past life, I couldn’t tolerate the creation of virgins who would never experience love in their lifetime.

Virginity is most valuable when it’s given to the one person you love most.

A virginity that goes unused and fades away is no different than leaving a delicious apple in storage until it rots.

“The person I would call a ‘close senior’ is a man, not a woman.”

“Do you have feelings for this ‘close senior,’ Miss Fionis?”

“…Yes.”

“I understand. Although I’m not sure if my advice will be helpful, I’ll do my best to assist you as much as I can.”

“…Really, Senior Lilith?”

“But only if you agree to one condition.”

“…Yes?”

This was a special measure to prevent Lilia from clinging to an unrequited love.

It’s also a strategy to prevent Gyeongmwajogyegigwat from expanding his harem indiscriminately.

“I’ll help you only until the moment you can confess your feelings to this ‘close senior.'”

“Yes.”

“If, despite my help, this ‘close senior’ rejects your confession, then you must promise to let him go without regret and never love him again.”

“…What?”

“I absolutely cannot tolerate the act of pathetically clinging to someone who has already rejected your confession. If you’ve come to me, a stranger, for relationship advice, you need to be prepared to that extent.”

“…”

Lilia appeared to be deep in thought at my somewhat strong statement.

She was contemplating the idea that if her confession failed, she wouldn’t be able to get close to Gyeongmwajogyegigwat again. 

Seeing her like this made me even more irritated as that bastard’s face came to mind.

Thinking about someone who planned to abandon all those beautiful women lined up for him and return to his own world made me not want to do anything good for that bastard.

“Alright, Senior Lilith.”

“So, what will you do?”

“I still want you to help me, Senior Lilith. If I’m going to express my feelings just once, I think it would be best to follow your advice.”

“…Very well. You’ll keep your promise, right?”

“I swear on my tribe.”

Yes, this was the expected response.

For her sake—someone who couldn’t stop once she started running, like a runaway carriage—I had no choice but to create a very special plan from now on.

I really wanted to see that damn Hero’s bewildered face at least once.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Now that I had decided to help Lilia, there were three key elements that had to be included in her confession:

One, make the recipient of the confession (Gyeongmwajogyegigwat) flustered.

Two, thoroughly create a confession that would be rejected, ensuring it wouldn’t appeal to Gyeongmwajogyegigwat.

Three, make sure Lilia could cleanly let go of any lingering feelings for Gyeongmwajogyegigwat when the confession was rejected.

How to seduce a man? I never intended to teach her that from the beginning.

First of all, I didn’t like the idea of her asking me to help seduce that Gyeongmwajogyegigwat guy, and even if she succeeded, he was the type who would abandon all the heroines in this world without a moment’s hesitation when it was time to return to Earth.

If she did something like that, the straightforward Lilia would probably say, “Even if you’re no longer in this world, I will forever be your companion. I cannot betray the husband I’ve taken into my heart,” following a similar path as Seriste and Selena.

While those two were already so deeply corrupted that they were beyond my help, I at least had to try to reduce the number of victims within my sphere of influence.

At the very least, if she failed in her confession or didn’t develop a deeper relationship, Lilia might be able to find another love in the future.

“So, why did you call me here?”

Agnes, who had been reluctantly dragged out on the weekend due to my summons, grumbled in a dissatisfied voice. She seemed somewhat displeased about having her weekend research time interrupted.

The fact that she still responded to my call and showed up meant that she was prioritizing her relationship with me over her research, which I could appreciate.

The reason I called Agnes to this meeting was simple. In the process of planning Lilia’s “confession failure strategy,” I needed one more person who would support my opinion.

‘I did consider Isabel, Lizzy, and Agnes…’

Ultimately, for various reasons, I determined that Agnes was the most suitable. Since the plan I was preparing was a “confession failure strategy,” there was no better expert in this field than Agnes.

Isabel, who, upon hearing that Ethan and I were officially dating, immediately said, “That’s wonderful! I’ve been cheering for you all along! I knew you and Young Master would make a good couple!” would never help ruin someone else’s romance.

Lizzy, with her undeniable social butterfly tendencies, might give all sorts of advice and end up turning a doomed confession into a success, which made me anxious.

In that sense, Agnes was reassuring. As someone who, in the original story, possessed neither popularity, charm, nor any feminine advantages, she would naturally be an expert on how to fail at confessions.

Even without prior consultation, she would naturally guide us toward methods that would lead to a failed confession. Well, at least, she would agree to my outrageous suggestions without much thought.

“I thought it would be nice if you could join me on this weekend outing with Junior Lilia.”

“…So I’m just an add-on.”

“How could that be? Besides, friendship means building bonds by meeting anytime, even without a specific reason. It doesn’t have to be for something important.”

“…”

“I consider you a friend, Agnes, but perhaps you don’t enjoy spending your weekend with me?”

“…No, I don’t mind. I happened to be free, anyway.”

As expected, she loses her composure when the word “friend” is mentioned.

It’s no wonder Agnes couldn’t resist Seraphine’s words in the original story. Since that same Agnes was now my friend as well, it was quite useful to call her for something like this.

“Hello, Senior Lilith! And Senior Agnes! I look forward to spending the day with you!”

“…Oh my! I thought my heart was going to drop.”

Agnes clutched at her non-existent chest in surprise at Lilia’s loud greeting as she approached us.

The key figures of the “confession failure strategy” had all gathered.