[Confession (Failure) Strategy (3)]

T/N: This bonus chapter is sponsored by Soothsayer (9/10).

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The place I brought Lilia to check her confession phrase was none other than the Training Grounds of the Academy.

The appearance of a female knight in full plate mail… or rather, judging by the figure in armor, one could easily mistake her for a male knight.

As she walked around the Academy, several female students took an interest and shifted their gaze toward her. Since Lilia’s hair was covered, her androgynous appearance made her look like a male knight.

‘If she had been born a man, she would have made many women cry.’

With that thought in mind, I moved to the Training Grounds, holding two daggers in my hands, and gave Lilia a spear.

“Here, take this, Miss Lilia.”

“Senior Lilith?”

“Take it and spar with me now.”

“What? But you clearly said you’d teach me a confession phrase…”

“This ‘sparring’ is also part of the confession phrase. Give it your all, Miss Lilia.”

“…”

Lilia firmly gripped the spear in both hands but hesitated to charge at me. She probably knew I was a mage and was hesitant to rush in.

Generally, mages couldn’t handle close combat against swords or spears.

“It’s fine, just do it.”

“Huh?”

“Lilith is much stronger than you think. If you don’t go all out, you’ll be the one who ends up falling pathetically.”

“…Understood.”

Lilia seemed to make up her mind after hearing Agnes’s encouraging words. She then charged at me with her spear, letting out a battle cry.

Thwack!

“Hyaaaaaaah…!!”

What followed was a light exchange between me with my dual daggers and Lilia rushing in with her spear.

When Lilia thrust her spear, I would dodge by turning my body; when she swung it, I would block with my daggers and look for a counter-attack. Similarly, Lilia would avoid my daggers and somehow maintain the exchange.

It was a duel where I only used support magic, as using vision magic would make the fight too serious, but the difference between a second-year and a first-year was still evident.

Thud.

“Haa, haa, haaa…”

“Huuu, huuuu…”

Lilia collapsed on the ground with me above her, holding a dagger to her neck. Both of us were exhaling tired breaths, but the situation clearly showed my victory.

Though she was quite strong as a heroine of Luminor Academy, she wasn’t skilled enough to face me yet.

Even though we fought in close combat, I still had to win. After all, I was a main heroine of Luminor Academy, while Lilia was a sub-heroine.

Considering the difference in ability and my personal training, this was the expected outcome.

“Senior Lilith… Y-You’re really strong… “

“You were sharp too, Miss Lilia. You only fell because your opponent happened to be me.”

“Is that so…”

Lilia wore a slightly bitter expression, averting her gaze with the regret of defeat. To comfort her and for my own purposes, I finally told her the special confession phrase for Gyeongmwajogyegigwat.

“Miss Lilia.”

“Yes?”

“If you were to suddenly challenge that ‘close senior’ to a duel, as you did with me, what do you think the result would be?”

“…Probably not much different from now. Since that senior specializes in swordsmanship, he’d likely be even stronger than you, Senior Lilith.”

Right. That would be the case. I had never won a sword duel against the Hero either.

“That’s right. Then that ‘close senior’ would probably subdue you and ask something like, ‘Why did you do that suddenly?’ or ‘What’s the reason for your unexpected attack?'”

“That’s right.”

“Then, you should proudly answer, ‘I couldn’t control my burning feelings for you, senior!'”

“O-Ohhhh…!”

“…What?”

Lilia looked surprised, as if she had realized something after hearing my planned confession phrase. Agnes muttered with a somewhat incredulous expression, but I didn’t particularly mind.

“That senior would probably be surprised, right? He might be embarrassed by the sudden confession.”

“Y-Yes, that’s right.”

“So that’s when you pour out everything. Use your loud voice to gather attention from everyone around, creating witnesses to your confession, and make such a passionate confession that everyone who sees it will have to acknowledge it. Make it so he can’t escape without giving you an answer.”

“Can’t escape… I’ve learned a lot.”

“At the end… how about saying something like this? ‘I want to spend my entire life crossing swords with you until the last moment! Please accept my feelings!’ Something like that.”

“W-Wow, woow, wooow…”

“What kind of confession phrase is that…”

Agnes muttered with an incredulous expression, but what mattered was Lilia’s reaction.

True to her muscle-brained character, Lilia didn’t find anything strange about the confession phrase. Instead, she was responding enthusiastically with a bright red face, so there was no need to worry.

“A-As expected, you’re amazing, Senior Lilith! This is the first time in my life I’ve heard such a passionate and moving confession!”

“…”

“How about it, Miss Lilia? This should be enough to capture his heart, right? And if he doesn’t respond to your confession even after all this… you know?”

“C-Certainly… If a man rejects such a heartfelt confession, there must be something wrong with him. For example, he might have a dysfunction in his male sexual function…”

“That’s right. You understand well. As the only daughter of the chieftain who will continue the Barbarakus tribe, you can’t take a partner with sexual dysfunction, right?”

“Your words are absolutely right! As expected, Senior Lilith always says the right things!”

“…I don’t even know anymore.”

…As someone who already knew the outcome of this confession, I felt a bit guilty, but ultimately, this was the most helpful approach for Lilia.

Make her confront her object of affection with what she believes is her best passion, and then provide a way for her to cleanly let go without regrets if she’s rejected.

This would be a much better future for her than suffering and pining over an unrequited love for her entire life.

‘Plus, I can really get one over on the Hero.’

Though that was just a bonus and not the main point. Having crafted the perfect confession phrase for Lilia, I got up from on top of her with a satisfied expression.

“…Men like this kind of confession? Are you serious, Lilith?”

“Men naturally like women who affirm their hobbies. If he’s the kind of man Lilia would fall for, he’s surely a training maniac obsessed with dueling, so what’s wrong with a confession phrase promising him a lifetime of duels?”

“Hmm… Is that so…?”

“How would you feel if Prince Antonio gave you access to the magic library of the Crimson Tower? It’s a library full of rare books that are difficult to acquire, no matter how much money you have. Then, he promises to spare no expense in sponsoring your magical research when he becomes the head of the Crimson Tower in the future. I think it’s a similar feeling, Agnes.”

“Ah, I completely understand… but why is he your example again…?”

“Just because.”

Even while preparing Lilia’s confession failure strategy, I was also developing a strategy for Agnes to properly respond to Prince Antonio’s interest.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Lilia’s confession, now that the phrase was decided, took place quite early.

Her personality wasn’t one to drag things out, anyway. Once she’d made up her mind to confess, it was in line with her character to get it done as quickly as possible.

And so, on the first day after the weekend, during lunch/free period, the Central Fountain Garden of the Academy was crowded with people due to an ongoing commotion.

Clang! Clang! Claaang!

“What’s going on? A fight?”

“I heard that barbarian girl provoked it first.”

“Shouldn’t someone call a professor?”

In this world, professors occasionally appeared to mediate when fights broke out. The professors at Luminor Academy had the ability to subdue fights between students.

Of course, there was no need to worry about this particular duel. It wasn’t a serious duel to begin with, and at most, it would last a few minutes before Lilia was subdued, so the problem would resolve itself if left alone.

“Looks like a fight.”

“It seems so, Young Master Ethan.”

“…”

Ethan murmured while looking toward the sound of spear and sword clashing, while Agnes looked up at me with an incredulous expression as I calmly pretended not to know anything.

Probably, in the middle of that crowd, Lilia and Gyeongmwajogyegigwat were exchanging sword and spear in a “surprise duel.” 

Although the people made it hard to see, the clattering sound of Lilia’s full plate mail was clearly audible, making it easy to identify who was in the center of the crowd.

“Perhaps someone is having a lover’s quarrel? Luminor Academy gathers students from all over the world, so it’s not unusual for men and women with different values to fight occasionally.”

“Hmm, is that so…”

“If you’re concerned, should we take a quick look? If it seems to get dangerous, we could bring Professor Harold, and…”

My words trailed off naturally when I saw someone in front of me, because at that moment, I spotted someone who absolutely should not have been there among the crowd watching Lilia’s confession disguised as a duel.

“…Lilith?”

“…Uh, uh…”

“Lilith? Why are you suddenly like this?”

“N-No… W-Why…”

A man standing in the middle of the crowd, flanked by Seriste and Selena, was watching Lilia’s duel.

The face of the Hero, who should have been receiving Lilia’s confession right now, entered my field of vision.