episode_0055

I silently stared at the paper hanging on the wall.

The bulletin board at the academy where various information gathered. Among the numerous wall posters hanging there, about half of them were about me.

Thanks to being exposed in the middle of the academy, there was a commotion for a while as people searched for me.

Thanks to Lily, I passed without any problems, and thanks to Charlotte’s perception-distorting magic, I was able to walk around the academy without any problems.

It’s surprising that there are still wanted posters looking for me even though some time has passed.

I didn’t expect things to escalate like this just because of a veil, but am I really that pretty…?

I spent time browsing through various information on the academy bulletin board.

While I was enjoying the interesting information at the academy, Lily, holding my hand, yawned and said with a sleepy expression, “Amelia, let’s go take a nap. I was so sleepy in class this time.”

I gently stroked Lily, who leaned on my shoulder, and said, “Shall we quickly go back to the dormitory?”

“Yeah…”

Lily nodded sleepily in response to my words.

Supporting Lily’s body, we returned to the dormitory.

As soon as we arrived at the dormitory, I laid Lily down on the bed.

I gently stroked Lily’s head as she drifted off to sleep, intending to do some cleaning after a long time.

“Amelia, are you not going to sleep well?”

My plan failed as Lily grabbed my maid outfit.

“Can I sleep next to you?”

“Yeah. I can’t sleep without you now.”

She’s still a child after all. Or is it just because she likes me?

I carefully lay down on the bed where Lily was lying. Lily then hugged me tightly.

“Amelia, I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Now Lily knows that her love for me is not just as a mother. So, I whispered back to her, expressing love as a person, not as a daughter or princess.

Receiving such love from Lily, she giggled.

I kissed Lily on the forehead, enveloped in her loving embrace.

The next morning.

After seeing Lily off to the academy as usual, I entered the lounge where the maids and servants were resting.

However, although the academy was the same as usual, all the maids and servants seemed excited today.

I was puzzled by their behavior.

“What’s going on?”

A timid and cute voice came from behind me.

“Oh, maybe there’s going to be a festival soon.”

The owner of the muffled voice was Mary, Charlotte’s maid. Mary also seemed expectant from her voice.

“Hello, Mary. But a festival?”

“In a week, there will be a festival at the academy, where academies from other countries come here for an exchange!”

“Oh.”

A festival, finally a fantastical event! But don’t they usually announce it in advance and prepare something?

Was Lily unaware of this? Ah, come to think of it, recently Lily seemed to always be sleeping during class.

Academies from various countries come for exchange activities. Does that mean they will have duels like in comics or novels?

“And on top of that, there will be martial arts competitions to select the strongest in order to uphold the honor of the academy!”

“Wow, does that mean Lily will participate too?”

Mary laughed and shook her head at my words. I was puzzled by Mary’s denial, and she kindly explained to me.

“Because the honor of the academy is at stake, they select 10 people from each academy to participate.”

“How many academies are there?”

“I heard there are a total of 5 academies, including this one! So, there are 50 people in total!”

Mary, who was always timid, began explaining passionately at the martial arts competition.

“It seems that each academy holds a separate selection competition, and they choose the top 10 from there. So, I think 10 out of those 10 are mostly from the graduating class, the 4th years.”

Hmm, I definitely think a 4-year age gap is significant, whether you’re ordinary, a criminal, or talented.

But Lily is a genius who surpasses even that amount of time? The best genius acknowledged by Camilla, the Red Dragon herself!

Surely Lily will win everything and even become the representative of the top 10 in the academy.

As we talked about the academy festival, time quickly passed. Before we knew it, as the class was about to end, Mary and I quickly cleaned up our seats and moved to greet our masters.

As soon as we arrived at Lily’s class, everyone was stretching and leaving the classroom as if the class had just ended.

I bowed my head when I saw Lily and Charlotte coming out together.

“Good work, Lily, Charlotte.”

“T-Thank you!”

Mary also bowed her head next to me and greeted them.

“Amelia~”

Lily immediately jumped towards me, and I hugged her.

“U-Um, hello, Amelia.”

As I comforted Lily, Charlotte cautiously approached me and spoke.

“Oh, Charlotte, thank you for the last perception interference spell. Is there something wrong?”

“N-No, it’s just that, um…”

What’s this? When I saw them last time, it seemed like a timid Mary was being teased by Charlotte, almost like a master-servant relationship. But now, they seem like equals.

They fidgeted with their hands, stole glances at each other, and blushed. It’s like they’re worried about who Mary belongs to.

But why are they acting like this?

Ah…!

“Could it be that they need to check the magic?”

This is a very important issue. Since Lily has very complicated magic, and she asked for Charlotte’s help, we can’t assume that it will continue to work perfectly.

After all, Charlotte said it needs to be checked periodically.

“Oh, yes! W-We need to check the magic.”

Just as I thought. Thanks to Charlotte’s perception interference spell, Lily is doing well as her assistant at the academy. She can move around comfortably without attracting attention.

“Shall we go to the dormitory together?”

“T-Tomorrow!?”

“Yes.”

While eating the meatballs I made, Lily casually mentioned that tomorrow is the day when they will select the representatives.

Well, anyone would think Lily will win, especially after seeing her fight Camilla and Helena, but you never know what will happen in a fight…, well… Lily will definitely win, right?

“Lily will win, right?”

With a pounding heart, I imagined Lily standing as the representative of the academy.

“Huh?”

Lily’s spoon paused for a moment as she was eating the meatballs.

“Lily?”

“I was going to skip it because it’s a hassle… Do you want me to be the representative, Amelia?”

“Oh, being a representative sounds cool, right? But if you don’t want to, it’s okay.”

“No! I will definitely become the representative.”

“Gulp, Lily!?”

Charlotte quickly swallowed the meatball she was chewing on and looked at Lily.

“Why?”

“Most of the graduating class will be there, right? They’re 4th years! And on top of that, they…”

Charlotte stopped herself from trying to stop Lily out of worry. Probably.

“No, if it’s you, you might win… You’re not going to use dirty tricks, right?”

“Lily, do you usually do that in practice matches!?”

“No! I haven’t done that since then!”

Charlotte seems to be recalling Lily’s first practice match. Indeed, Lily’s appearance back then was quite shocking even to me.

So, in my mind, I asked Lily if she really doesn’t go out often, and Lily was startled and denied it.

“Charlotte, aren’t you going out?”

“Oh, Amelia, Lily is strangely strong. Fourth graders are really strong.”

Honestly, I think Charlotte is also really strong, so I asked if Charlotte also goes out for the selection, and Mari explained about the strength of fourth graders while being flustered.

Mari seems to be really knowledgeable about the academy. This level of knowledge is almost like a wiki.

Now, it seems okay to ask Mari if there is anything I’m curious about.

“Charlotte will have a hard time. She’s much weaker than me.”

“Oh, Charlotte, I’m sorry. I spoke out of turn.”

“I’ll go out! For the selection!”

“Charlotte!?”

It seems like she made a impulsive decision, but is it okay?

The next morning, I dressed Lily up more diligently than ever before.

While doing Lily’s makeup, I asked her about the mask that looked like a gas mask that I saw last time.

“Lily, I saw you wearing a mask last time, what was that?”

“Uh, that? I should be honest, right…?”

“Then I’m okay with that.”

But what is it that she’s so hesitant to reveal? Could it be something bad for her body!? Indeed, Lily is close to being in the second year of middle school. Could it be cigarettes…?

“That… it’s a mask that smells like the necklace Amelia gave me.”

“So… it’s a mask that smells like me?”

-Nods.

I thought it was like cigarettes, but maybe it’s better to smell like me. It’s a bit dizzying…

Well, at least it’s not cigarettes.

After saying it, Lily blushed in embarrassment, and I leaned in to her face.

“Amelia, chuup.”

I kissed Lily and deliberately passed my saliva to her.

“Chuup. This should be enough, right?”

“I’ll break everything and come back.”

“Okay! If I rank first and become the representative, I’ll, um… feed you meatballs!”

“From mouth to mouth?”

“Oh… um, yes…”

“Wait a bit. I’ll kill them all and come back.”