Confession (Failure) Operation (3)

The place I brought Lilia back to in order to review the confession lines was none other than the Academy’s Training Ground.

The appearance of a female knight fully armed in full plate mail… No, just looking at her armored physique, one could easily mistake her for a male knight.

As she walked around the Academy, several female students turned their heads with interest. 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 my head, I moved to the Training Ground, holding daggers in both hands, and handed Lilia a spear.

“Here, take it, Lilia-yang.”

“Lilith-seonbaenim?”

“Take that, and from now on, let’s have a sparring match.”

“Huh? But you said you’d teach me confession lines…”

“Even this ‘sparring match’ is part of the confession lines. Clash with all your might, Lilia-yang.”

“……”

Lilia gripped the spear tightly in both hands but couldn’t easily charge at me. She probably knew I was a mage, which made her hesitant to attack.

Normally, a mage couldn’t even contend in close combat, whether with a sword or a spear.

“It’s fine, just do it.”

“Yes?”

“Lilith, she’s much stronger than you think. If you don’t go all out, you’ll be defeated meaninglessly.”

“……Understood.”

Listening to Agnes, who was egging her on as if setting the mood, Lilia made a determined expression. With a single spear gripped in both hands, she charged at me with a shout.

-Thwack!

“Hwaaaaaa…!!”

After that, a light skirmish ensued between me, holding daggers in both hands, and Lilia, who was attacking with a spear.

When Lilia thrust her spear, I dodged by turning my body. When she swung, I blocked with my daggers, looking for a counterattack. Conversely, Lilia also dodged my daggers, somehow continuing the engagement.

It was a sparring match where I only used support magic, as using arcane magic would make it too serious, but the difference between a second-year and a first-year was clear.

-Thud.

“Haa, haa, haaa….”

“Whooo, whooooo….”

Lilia lay collapsed on the floor, and I stood over her, a dagger pointed at her throat. Both of us were letting out tired sighs, but the tableau clearly showed my victory.

She was quite strong, being one of the heroines of 『Luminor Academy』, but her skill wasn’t enough to contend with me right now.

Even though we fought in close combat, I had to win at least this much. After all, I was the main heroine of Lumia Academy, and Lilia was a sub-heroine.

Considering the fundamental difference in our abilities, as well as my personal training, this was a natural outcome.

“Y-you’re strong… Lilith-seonbaenim….”

“Lilia-yang was sharp too. It’s just that your opponent happened to be me.”

“Is that so….”

Lilia averted her gaze, a slightly bitter expression on her face due to the disappointment of defeat. To console her, I finally taught her the special confession lines for Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot.

“Lilia-yang.”

“Yes?”

“If Lilia-yang were to suddenly challenge that ‘close senior’ of yours to a sparring match, just as you did with me, what do you think the result would be?”

“…Perhaps, it wouldn’t be much different from now. That senior-nim specializes in swordsmanship, so they would probably be even stronger than Lilith-seonbaenim.”

Right. That’s how it would be. I had never won a swordsmanship sparring match against The Hero either.

“Exactly. Then that ‘close senior’ would probably subdue Lilia-yang and ask, ‘Why did you suddenly do that?’ or ‘What was the reason you charged at me out of nowhere?’ something like that.”

“That’s right.”

“Then, Lilia-yang, you proudly answer them like this: ‘I couldn’t control my burning feelings for senior-nim, so I had no choice!'”

“Oh, ohhh…!”

“……What?”

Lilia made a surprised expression, as if she had realized something upon hearing my confession lines. Agnes muttered with a slightly dumbfounded look, but I didn’t pay it any mind.

“Then that senior would probably be flustered, wouldn’t they? They might even be surprised and embarrassed by the sudden confession.”

“Th-that’s right.”

“So, at that moment, you pour out everything you have, Lilia-yang. Gather the gazes of the people around you with your booming voice, make them witnesses to your confession, and deliver a confession so passionate that even onlookers can’t help but acknowledge it. So they absolutely cannot escape without answering.”

“Cannot escape… I’ve learned a lot.”

“Finally… how about saying something like this? ‘I wish to live my entire life, clashing with senior-nim until the very last moment of my life! Please accept my heart!’ Something like that.”

“Wow, woah, woaaah….”

“What kind of confession lines are those, seriously….”

Agnes muttered with a dumbfounded expression, but what mattered was Lilia’s reaction anyway.

And Lilia, true to her muscle-brained character, felt nothing strange about the confession lines and was instead responding with a bright red face, so there was no need to worry.

“Y-you truly are amazing, Lilith-seonbaenim! I’ve never heard such passionate and moving confession in my life!”

“……”

“How is it, Lilia-yang? This should be enough to capture their heart, right? And if, even after all this, they don’t respond to Lilia-yang’s confession… you know, right?”

“W-well, certainly… if a man were to refuse after hearing such a heartfelt confession, there must be something wrong with him. For example, someone with male sexual dysfunction…”

“Exactly. You understand well. Lilia-yang is the only daughter of the chieftain-nim who will succeed the Babaracus Tribe, so you can’t take someone with sexual dysfunction as your partner, can you?”

“You speak truly! As expected, Lilith-seonbaenim always speaks only what is right!”

“…I don’t know anymore.”

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

To make her confront the other person with her best desires, and if rejected, to confess in a way that leaves no lingering regrets.

Rather than suffering a lifetime of heartache over an unrequited love, this path would undoubtedly lead to a much better future for her in many ways.

‘Plus, I get to properly hit The Hero with a surprise attack.’

It was just a bonus, not the main objective. Having created the perfect confession lines for Lilia, I stood up from over her, a relieved expression on my face.

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

“Men naturally like women who affirm their hobbies. If Lilia is so smitten with a man, he’s probably a training fanatic obsessed with sparring, so what’s wrong with confessing that you want to spar with him for the rest of your life?”

“Hmm… Is that so…?”

“How would you feel if Prince Antonio-nim gave Agnes access to the Crimson Magic Tower’s magic library as a gift? A library filled with rare books that are hard to acquire no matter how much money you have.

And then, he tells her that when she becomes the Red Tower Master, he won’t spare any expense in supporting her magic research. I think it’s a similar feeling, Agnes-yang.”

“Ah, I perfectly understand… but why is he the example again…?”

“Just because.”

Even while preparing Lilia’s ‘Confession Failure Operation,’ I was also devising a strategy to capture Agnes for Prince Antonio.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Lilia’s confession, with the confession lines now set, happened quite soon.

Lilia’s personality wasn’t one to drag things out anyway. Once she made up her mind to confess, handling it as quickly as possible suited her character.

And so, on the first day back after the weekend, during lunchtime and a free period, the Academy’s Central Fountain Garden was bustling with a crowd due to a commotion.

-Clang! Clang! Bang!

“What? Is it a fight?”

“I heard that Barbarian kid started it first?”

“Shouldn’t someone call a Professor-nim?”

In this world, if a fight broke out, a professor would occasionally appear to mediate. The Professor-nim of 『Luminor Academy』 had the ability to subdue fights between students, at least.

Of course, there was no need to worry about this particular sparring match. It wasn’t a serious one to begin with, and Lilia would be subdued after only a few minutes of clashing, so it was a problem that would resolve itself if left alone.

“Looks like a fight.”

“It seems so, Ethan-doryeonnim.”

“……”

Ethan muttered, looking towards the source of the clashing sounds of spear and sword, while Agnes looked up at me with a dumbfounded expression as I nonchalantly replied, pretending not to know.

Lilia and Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot were probably in the middle of their ‘surprise sparring match,’ exchanging blows with sword and spear within that crowd. Although it was hard to see them because of the people, the clanking sound of Lilia’s full plate mail was clearly audible, so I could easily identify the person inside the crowd.

“Perhaps someone is having a lovers’ quarrel? Luminor Academy is where students from all over the world gather, so it wouldn’t be strange for men and women with conflicting values to occasionally fight.”

“Hmm, is that so.”

“If you’re curious, should we take a quick look? If it seems to get a bit dangerous, we could bring Professor Harold-nim, then…”

My muttering, as I thought of The Hero struggling to subdue Lilia without hurting her in the middle of the crowd, naturally stopped when I saw someone in front of me.

Because it was the moment I found someone who absolutely shouldn’t have been among the crowd watching Lilia’s confession disguised as a sparring match.

“……Lilith?”

“……Uh, uh…”

“Lilith? What’s wrong all of a sudden?”

“Ah, no… W-why on earth…”

In the middle of the crowd, a man stood watching Lilia’s sparring match, with Celista and Silena on either side of him.

The face of The Hero, who should have been receiving Lilia’s confession right now, came into my sight.