[Evening Festival (1)]

‘H-Huh…? W-Why is he…’

Seeing the Hero standing away from the center of the commotion, now just a spectator, I was overwhelmed with confusion.

The fact that he was here, when he should have been in the middle of the crowd receiving Lilia’s confession (disguised as an attack), meant two things:

One, Lilia’s confession target was never the Hero from the beginning.

Two, I had taught Lilia a confession method that would shock anyone who received it.

“…”

Tremble, tremble…

“L-Lilith…? Why are you shaking?”

…I’ve messed up.

While my confession failure strategy was partly aimed at getting back at the Hero, its main purpose was to make Lilia at least a bit happier—to help her find her own new love without lingering feelings for a Hero who would abandon all the heroines and return to Earth.

But what if the Hero wasn’t the intended recipient of her confession?

What if Lilia never had any interest in the Hero from the beginning and had already set her eyes on a new love interest?

And what if a certain crazy mage had interfered with that confession and completely ruined that love?

Dash!

“L-Lilith?!”

…I need to stop this somehow.

I needed to somehow prevent the inevitable rejection from ever happening and prevent the words from escaping Lilia’s lips.

With a cold head and trembling limbs, I hurriedly pushed through the crowd, but Lilia’s “special confession” that I had taught her was already nearing its conclusion, and her confession target had already subdued her and pinned her to the ground.

“Miss Lilia? What is the meaning of this?”

“I-I couldn’t control my burning feelings for you, Senior! Th-That’s why I suddenly requested this duel!!”

“What?! D-Does that mean…”

Oh no, it’s too late…

“I’ve been in love with you since we first crossed swords in the joint Swordsmanship Department class! I truly feel the emotion of love for you, Senior, as you wield your greatsword so reliably!!”

“Wait, Lilia…”

“I want to spend my entire life crossing swords and spears with you until the last moment of my life!!! Senior Caraham Jamuel August!!! P-Please accept my feelings!!!”

“…Huh?”

…Wait, Caraham?

So does that mean the “close senior” Lilia mentioned that she liked wasn’t the Hero, but Caraham…?

<First, the department of the senior you like is probably the Swordsmanship Department, right?>

<And he’s exactly one year ahead of you.>

Caraham, like Gyeongmwajogyegigwat, is in the Swordsmanship Department and is in the same year as Ethan and me… that matches.

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

Caraham ranked 3rd in the last Evaluation Duel. Natalie fell to 4th after losing to Ethan.

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

The son of the August Margrave family. Although he has an older sister, being the son of a margrave is still a high status that ordinary people would find difficult to approach.

‘Come to think of it, doesn’t this description also include Ethan?’

…Right, Luminor Academy still had more nobles than commoners.

I had overlooked the fact that there were actually quite a few skilled swordsmen with high status in the Swordsmanship Department.

That’s because, when playing games, people tend to focus only on the protagonists and supporting characters, regardless of whether the extras are nobles or not.

But now, the top-ranked students in the Swordsmanship Department had a somewhat different composition than in the original story due to various changes in the storyline.

Ethan needs no explanation, but Caraham, who should have been wandering aimlessly after losing his motivation following Lizzy’s death in the original timeline, was now diligently wielding his sword.

‘No, wait. This isn’t the time for that…’

First, I need to explain to Caraham about Lilia’s confession. I had to tell him that the confession she just made wasn’t really her own thoughts, but a prank I had set up.

At this rate, Lilia’s first love would end miserably because of my prank…

“Th-That statement just now… D-Do you mean it, Miss Lilia…?”

“Yes… S-Senior Caraham…”

“W-Wait a moment, Young Master August. What Lilia just said isn’t a strange meaning, it’s…”

“…As the son of Margrave August, I’ve had many marriage discussions with various noble ladies, but you’re the first to make such a passionate confession to me, Miss Lilia.”

“…Huh?”

“To want to spend your entire life crossing swords and spears with me until the last moment… H-How could you say such moving words…”

“S-Senior Caraham…”

“…”

“I completely understand all of your sincerity…!”

…What is this?

Wh-What the… Why is the atmosphere so good…?

“Senior Caraham…”

“Miss Lilia. …No, Lilia.”

“…Senior Caraham.”

“If you’ll have someone like me, I’ll accept your confession.”

“…Senior!!”

“Lilia!!”

The two of them created a deeply moving atmosphere and brought their faces together in the middle of the park.

Even I was surprised by their unhesitating, bold kiss, which heated up the atmosphere around them, and I could only stare at the scene with a dumbfounded expression.

Smooooooch!!!

Smack, smoooooch!!!

Whoa. Oh my.

No matter how you look at it, that’s a bit… 

In the middle of the campus, they’re both quite bold in various ways…

I had a feeling that the number of students using the married/engaged dormitory would increase by one couple in the next semester.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

The confession failure strategy that ended in Lilia’s success caused a major ripple throughout the Academy.

‘Come to think of it, since the confession succeeded, does that mean the confession failure strategy failed…?’

Well, that isn’t really important. What matters is that what I did came full circle and flowed according to the original plan.

My desire to create a new partner for Lilia, someone other than the Hero, was fulfilled, so in terms of results, it was a perfect success.

The issue was that this confession changed not only the relationship between the two of them but also the relationships of quite a few students in the Academy.

Students from close-combat departments—Swordsmanship, Spearmanship, and Martial Arts—began to imitate Lilia’s confession method when confessing to others.

“Senior! Please accept my feelings!”

Clang!

“Darian! This is my heart!”

Claaang!

“Lazarus! The truth is, I’ve liked you for a very long time…!!”

Thwack! Thwack!! Thwack!

This confession method—challenging the person you like to a duel and then saying you fought them because of your love—spread quickly among students majoring in close combat in the three departments.

There was so much dangerous sword-waving and spear-thrusting in the middle of the Academy that the administration issued a notice saying, “If you’re going to use the duel confession method, please use the Training Grounds.” 

Thanks to this, Luminor Academy’s Training Grounds were packed with all sorts of couples for the entire semester.

‘I never imagined there were so many women like Lilia in the Academy.’

That is, several athletic girls wanted to express their feelings to someone but were too shy to do so.

The refined confession methods used by typical noble ladies were not accessible to these girls. Female students in departments like Swordsmanship, Spearmanship, and Martial Arts tended to have less girlish charm compared to typical female students.

For girls who weren’t good at writing pretty love letters to call someone to a confession spot, making sweets or chocolates to build affection, or conveying emotional words that would make the listener’s heart race, Lilia’s confession method was a hopeful rain during a drought.

The confession method of disguising it as a duel, clashing emotions with the other person, and then revealing true feelings when asked why they did it didn’t require neat handwriting, cooking skills, or logical speech.

This fiery confession method, which conveyed emotions clearly, spread like a storm among athletic female students.

Conversely, why did male students accept such confessions from female students as if it were natural?

‘This isn’t really something that needs much thought.’

Typically, when a woman confesses to an unattached man, he usually accepts it as long as there are no major issues.

Receiving a confession from a woman was like a medal of honor for men. Although I had never received a confession from a woman in my previous life, I still had the experience of being a man, so I could easily understand that psychology.

These days, male students even brag about whether they have been called to the Training Grounds by a girl. 

In the past, such an event would have elicited responses like “What grudge did you incur?”

This trend would probably cool down after about a semester, but thanks to Lilia and Caraham’s spectacular initiation, Luminor Academy was experiencing a boom in new couples.

…And so, about a month after that confession commotion…

“Thank you for your hard work this year, Young Master Ethan.”

“Yes. You too, Lilith.”

Clink.

Now, I was raising a glass with Ethan at the Evening Festival, the final event of the Hunting Festival.

“Senior Lilith! Your glass is empty!!! Let me fill it for you!!!”

“Young Master Ethan, have some too!! I can’t let Lilia be the only one pouring drinks for Lilith! AHAHAHAHA!!”

“Y-Yes.”

“…Sure, just a little, please.”

…With the loudest couple in the world seated across from Ethan and me.