[Confession (Failure) Strategy (1)]

T/N: This bonus chapter is sponsored by Soothsayer (8/10).

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“Since we’re outside the Academy today, and this is a meeting to help you, Miss Fionis, I’ll speak more casually.”

“Yes, Senior Lilith! You can even call me Lilia comfortably!”

“Then, I’ll call you Miss Lilia. Still, we’re not close enough for me to call you just by your name without any title.”

“Yes…”

With Ethan absent, I returned to a slightly more relaxed way of speaking and asked her the most important question before proceeding with the plan.

“Before we begin, I have the most important question for you, Miss Lilia.”

“Yes, Senior Lilith!”

“Among all the female seniors, why did you ask me to teach you how to seduce a man? I know there aren’t many women prettier than me in the Academy… but there are certainly some.”

Objectively speaking, there were only two women I considered prettier than myself: Seraphine and Natalie.

Seraphine is the undisputed main heroine of Luminor Academy, and Natalie gets bonus points from my personal preference for her healthy vigor and cheerful nature.

Besides those two, there were Selena, the only elf at the Academy; Seriste, who despite her subtle presence had high “femininity” that made her attractive; or Lizzy, who was pretty and had social butterfly tendencies that made her popular.

There were many other people besides me to ask about how to seduce a man, so Lilia must have had her own reasons for choosing me as the source of advice.

“That’s because… I heard rumors that Senior Lilith is a genius at seducing men!”

“A genius at seducing… what?”

“Pfft.“

As I was bewildered by the ridiculous statement from Lilia’s mouth, Agnes beside me couldn’t hold back her laughter and let out a snort.

“I-I don’t understand… W-Why would I be considered a genius at seducing men…?”

“But Senior Lilith, aren’t you engaged to Senior Ethan?”

“…W-Well, yes, that’s true.”

“For a maid to become engaged to the noble she serves—isn’t that something only a genius at seduction could accomplish? You made him fall so deeply in love with you that he overcame class differences!”

…Is that how it works?

Now that I hear it, it kind of makes sense. Or maybe she’s just spouting nonsense, and I’m going along with it.

Well, since Lilia likes the Hero, it’s not strange that she would admire the love between Ethan and me that overcame class differences.

The class difference might not be as great as between a commoner debt-maid and the only son of a duke, but there was certainly a class difference between a barbarian girl and the hero who saves the world.

“A genius at seduction… Pfft, cough…”

“…Well, I understand why you came to me with this request. Though I don’t agree that I’m a genius at seduction.”

“Why not?”

“Because there’s someone else who truly is a genius at seduction, someone who has overcome class differences… right here.”

“Huh?”

“Huh? Why are you suddenly looking at me…”

Agnes muttered in confusion as the attention suddenly turned to her, but I had already offered her as the next sacrifice to Lilia.

“Agnes here has made a member of the Royal Family fall for her after meeting just once! She’s truly someone who has achieved a love that overcomes class differences, even more so than I! How could I dare use the title ‘genius at seduction’ when Agnes is right here?”

“Oh-Ohhh! That’s amazing, Senior Agnes!”

“N-No…!! L-Lilith is talking nonsense…! A-Antonio and I are not like that at all…!”

“But it’s true that Prince Antonio likes you, isn’t it?”

“…It’s true that he likes me, but what does that have to do with me being a genius at seduction…?”

“You see, Miss Lilia? In my case, I made some effort to seduce Young Master Ethan, but Agnes seduced Prince Antonio without even being aware of it! Doesn’t the title ‘genius at seduction’ fit Agnes better than me?”

“Ohhh, that’s right! Seduction Genius Senior Agnes!”

“Agnes is a genius at seduction!”

“S-Stop it…! D-Don’t call me that!”

Though Agnes denied her new title with a reddened face, Lilia and I didn’t stop praising her genius talent.

“Seduction Prodigy!”

“Seduction Master!”

“Seduction Extraordinaire!”

“Seduction Expert!”

“Seduction Artisan!”

“Seduction Maestro!”

“B-Both of you, shut uuuuup…!!”

Agnes, with a bright red face, swung her staff around, trying to silence Lilia and me. That’s what she gets for not being careful about who she teases.

I think this amount of Agnes-teasing for today is enough, so it was time to officially begin Lilia’s confession strategy.

“Miss Lilia.”

“Yes, Senior Lilith!”

“Actually, I know the identity of the ‘close senior’ you want to confess to.”

“…Really?”

“Yes. And I personally have some acquaintance with him, too. May I try guessing who it is?”

Nod, nod.

Lilia nodded her head with a half-doubting look toward me. I calmly described Gyeongmwajogyegigwat’s characteristics to her in a way that anyone would recognize.

“First, the department of the senior you like is probably the Swordsmanship Department, right?”

“Y-Yes, that’s right.”

“And he’s exactly one year ahead of you.”

“Y-Yes, that’s right.”

“He has the right to designate his opponent in evaluation matches… which means he’s ranked within the Top 5 in his department.”

“Yes, yes…”

“He has such a high status that, currently, you would find it difficult to approach him, right?”

“That’s right…”

“And finally, one decisive factor.”

“…”

“The person you like is definitely a man, right?”

“Ohhh, a-amazing! As expected of you, Senior Lilith!”

Lilia nodded her head and grabbed my hands enthusiastically as I listed each of Gyeongmwajogyegigwat’s characteristics.

As expected of a muscle-brained character, she wasn’t difficult to handle once she had made up her mind.

“It’s nothing special. I actually guessed who you liked from the beginning.”

“…Of course, the person she’s confessing to is a man.”

Agnes muttered in disbelief beside me, but I ignored her appropriately. In these situations, creating the right atmosphere is most important.

It’s like fortune tellers—what matters isn’t how genuinely psychic they are, but how much information they gather in advance to appear all-knowing at once. That’s the secret to their business.

Once I gained Lilia’s trust, everything else would go smoothly. This simple barbarian girl was the type of character who didn’t know how to doubt someone she had started to trust.

“First of all, your confession won’t be too difficult. After all, you’re quite beautiful, at least, in terms of your face.”

“Thank you!”

“Don’t misunderstand, Miss Lilia. For your confession, everything except your face needs significant improvement.”

“…Yes.”

Barbarian Lilia.

Apart from her beautiful face, there were many other aspects of her that were quite burdensome.

A height slightly taller than the protagonist. A chest that could generously be called slender but was actually almost non-existent. 

Six-pack abs and sun-tanned skin. And a needlessly loud voice for a girl, along with a somewhat lacking muscle-brained personality.

From my perspective as someone who appreciates healthy vigor, she was quite an appealing character, but honestly, from an average man’s viewpoint, she had many elements that could be divisive.

Characters whom everyone would call “pretty” were firmly occupying the main heroine positions of Luminor Academy. Among the main heroines, perhaps only Agnes had beauty standards that differed from the general public.

It was inevitable that sub-heroines, especially those with minor roles, would have more divisive features. After all, game companies need to prominently display the main heroines on the cover to sell their games.

Gyeongmwajogyegigwat’s standards of beauty probably wouldn’t differ greatly from the average man’s. 

Lilia’s appearance wouldn’t satisfy someone who was planning to return to Earth while ignoring even Seraphine’s confession, as Seraphine could be considered the embodiment of “beauty” itself.

In other words, Lilia’s confession was destined to fail from the start, so if it was going to fail anyway, it was important to ensure she was rejected definitively, leaving her without even a hint of lingering feelings for Gyeongmwajogyegigwat.

I wasn’t going to be considerate toward that Hero who didn’t appreciate his own fortune of being surrounded by such blessed women. This is your karma, so accept it.

“There are exactly two things you need for your confession. The first is clothing, and the second is an appropriate manner of speaking.”

“Clothing, manner of speaking…”

“I won’t say you need to change things like your appearance or personality. Those are determined from birth and can’t be changed, anyway. Besides, Miss Lilia, you shouldn’t have any lingering feelings for a man who doesn’t like a beauty like you.”

“Ah, I understand, Senior Lilith!”

“So, there are only two things I can change about you for your confession. One is sophisticated clothing that would catch any man’s eye, and the other is a romantic confession phrase that will increase your chances of success. Even if we prepare just these two things properly, the chances of your confession succeeding will increase exponentially.”

“I-I see.”

“So, first, let’s change out of those unnecessarily revealing rags.”

“Rags…”

Gyeongmwajogyegigwat would already be used to such shabby clothes, so they wouldn’t surprise him.

That’s why I was planning to completely establish dominance starting from her outfit.