I Hope We Get Closer (3)

Although I was invited to Princess Seraphine’s Student Council Cabinet formation, I didn’t feel particularly flustered by it.

I could somewhat grasp from our recent conversation that she wasn’t truly serious about recruiting me into the Student Council.

‘She’s targeting Ethan.’

Given the current Ethan Richard Blackwood, he was a quite suitable candidate for the Student Council Cabinet.

Good looks, good family, and his personality… at least from what was visible, seemed quite decent.

As he hadn’t formed or joined any faction yet, he had almost no noticeable followers, but the moment he joined a Student Council Cabinet somewhere, that would only be a matter of time.

Especially if he were to join under someone like Seraphine, who had already established her own faction to some extent.

This current proposal must be just one of her strategies to entice Ethan rather than me. Recruiting me, his exclusive maid, first would be less conspicuous to others than directly proposing to Ethan…

‘No, wait. Something’s off here?’

“…Princess Seraphine-nim.”

“Yes, Lillith-yang?”

“May I ask a question that might be rude to Princess-nim?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Perhaps, have you mistaken the subject of your recruitment offer? If you intend to recruit Young Master Ethan and me together, it would be better to persuade Young Master Ethan directly rather than me.”

“…….”

Seraphine remained silent for a moment at my question, only offering a smile.

Honestly, logically, this was the correct assessment.

Who on earth would recruit a noble’s servant first when trying to draw the noble into their faction? It made no sense.

Moreover, Ethan, the one Seraphine needed to persuade, was a boy in his prime. And a fervent one at that, to the point where I almost had to quell his surging libido about once a week at the mansion.

With Seraphine’s looks, she could surely charm a boy like him, so I couldn’t understand why she bothered making such a recruitment offer to me.

“I haven’t mistaken the subject of the offer, Lillith-yang.”

“What?”

“I am making the recruitment offer to Lillith-yang. Of course, it would be great if I could recruit Prince Ethan as well, but even if that’s not possible, I intend to recruit Lillith-yang.”

“……What?”

“And, if I can recruit only Lillith-yang, I can bring in Prince Ethan much more easily.”

“……?????”

“So, Lillith-yang, you just need to state your opinion.”

It felt like the more we talked, the more strange questions arose.

For now, her reaction suggested that pressing her further wouldn’t yield a different answer.

For now, it was rational to assume that Seraphine harbored an ulterior motive to entice Ethan by using me, while hiding her true intentions.

Nobles often hide their true feelings and say things different from their original intentions, and that’s even more true for imperial family members.

Anyway, the Student Council Cabinet…

‘At least, looking at the offer itself, it’s not a bad one.’

If the Student Council Cabinet members were chosen by Seraphine, each one would likely be quite capable.

There was a good chance she had already recruited some of the heroines from 『Luminor Academy』. And being a heroine-level character in 『Luminor Academy』 also meant they were, at the very least, talented individuals capable of pulling their own weight and more.

Furthermore, as I mentioned earlier, the final evaluation for the second semester’s end was the Monster Hunting Festival held in the Black Forest, so building friendships with other members of the Student Council Cabinet and participating in the Final Hunting Festival together was entirely possible.

‘But I haven’t even properly contacted Lizzie yet, and if I get involved with Student Council duties, I’ll really have no free time this semester…’

“…It seems Lillith-yang’s concern is deepening, so perhaps I should reveal one person Lillith-yang might know.”

“What?”

“Lizzie Lynn August-yang. She has also decided to participate in the Student Council Cabinet I will be forming this time.”

“Young Lady August?”

“…Though it’s still conditional for now.”

If Lizzie had already decided to join Seraphine’s faction, then there was no particular need to worry about this reason.

With my mind somewhat made up thanks to that, I replied to Seraphine, implying that I would leave the option open.

Of course, whether to join the cabinet itself would depend on Ethan’s will, not mine.

“For now, I will consult with Young Master Ethan. I cannot decide on such a matter without Young Master’s permission.”

“Yes, of course.”

A subtly meaningful smile played on her lips.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

After finishing the day’s schedule with Ethan and returning to the Dormitory, I sat at my desk and mentally organized the tasks I needed to do, one by one.

Regarding the various events that had suddenly begun as soon as this semester started.

「Build a friendship with Agnes to resolve the growling feelings between us, and contract a Low Spirit before this semester ends.」

「Reply regarding Princess Seraphine’s Student Council Cabinet formation. (Consultation with Ethan required)」

「Restore relations with Lizzie and ask her to manufacture potions for the Final Hunting Festival. (Contact possible through Seraphine’s Student Council)」

For now, these were the immediate tasks. Among them, in Lizzie’s case, I would only get a chance to contact her if Seraphine’s matter went well.

To have to build friendships with three women in one semester. What kind of bishoujo dating sim is this… No, now that I think about it, it *is* a bishoujo dating sim.

It’s just peculiar that I keep getting entangled with women in a protagonist-like position, even though I’m not the protagonist.

It couldn’t be helped. 『Luminor Academy』 was a game with so many choices that you could ‘never’ complete all the heroines’ romance events in a single playthrough.

Even without the protagonist, the events that would have occurred to the existing heroines wouldn’t disappear, so the original stories would continue to unfold.

For some reason, I found it hard to shake off the feeling that I kept getting caught up and entangled in those situations.

‘The protagonist must be busy with Celista and Silena this semester.’

The event of helping Celista, the Fake Saintess, regain trust, and the event of dealing with the troublesome chores that entangled Silena, the academy’s only elf, were concentrated in the second semester.

Judging by what that guy did in the first semester, he seems to have a certain sense of responsibility, so he’ll definitely move to conquer those two this semester.

Building affection to properly form the Demon King Subjugation Force only started from the third year. Before that, solidifying the cards in one’s hand was the standard play.

At first, just seeing the name Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot, I thought he was an unreliable guy, but after observing his actions for a semester, I somewhat changed my mind.

To the extent that I felt I should somehow meet him at least once and properly talk as fellow reincarnators.

Anyway, since only the events he presumably wouldn’t get involved in were linked to me, there wasn’t really a problem. Seraphine probably made the offer to the Hero first before offering it to me.

Picking up an event that Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot had already given up on wouldn’t cause any trouble. After all, this much wouldn’t really interfere with him.

“Lillith, the bathroom’s free.”

“Young Master Ethan, I have something to discuss with you for a moment.”

“…What is it?”

I discussed the offer Seraphine made today with Ethan, who had just finished bathing in the bathroom.

After hearing everything, Ethan, in turn, first posed this question to me.

“What do you want to do, Lillith?”

“Huh?”

“…I’m just going to use it as reference. It’s not like I’m necessarily going to follow Lillith’s opinion.”

Ah, so it was just for reference.

Indeed, Ethan must have his own thoughts, so he wouldn’t just thoughtlessly follow whatever I suggested.

Since I heard that what I said wouldn’t particularly influence Ethan’s decision-making, I, too, conveyed my thoughts to him without much burden or reservation.

“For now, I don’t think it’s a bad offer.”

“…Really?”

“Princess Seraphine-nim has already formed her own independent faction within the Academy, using her status and virtue. If there are no major issues, this support base will likely be maintained until Princess-nim graduates from the Academy.”

“Yes, I agree with that.”

“In that case, I believe it would be best to join Princess Seraphine-nim’s faction now, while she still has fewer close associates. From the third year onwards, the curriculum will largely consist of practical training, blurring departmental boundaries, which means there’s much greater potential for development compared to other factions that form connections only within their own departments.”

“Hmm…”

Ethan wore a somewhat displeased expression.

Indeed, as a Prince of the Blackwood Family himself, he probably wouldn’t be too keen on joining someone else’s faction so soon.

Having somewhat read Ethan’s mind, I tried to pique his interest with another suggestion.

“Alternatively, Young Master Ethan could form his own independent faction starting now… but honestly, I believe it would be difficult to cultivate it to the same extent as Princess Seraphine-nim, who already has momentum.”

“Right. I think it’s a bit late to do that now.”

If the goal was merely to graduate from the Academy safely, then forming or joining a faction didn’t matter. In the first place, most commoner students couldn’t even associate with these noble factions.

However, Ethan was a Prince of the Blackwood Family in his own right, so it would be difficult for him to erase his presence and focus solely on graduation in that manner.

Unless one possessed the military might to simply silence everyone, like Harold, a noble needed a certain degree of factional support.

Unlike ordinary commoner students who could live comfortably with just an Academy diploma, the society of nobles required maintaining relationships with their factions even after graduating from the Academy.

In that sense, the most efficient way for Ethan, a scion of the Blackwood Ducal Family, to build connections now was to join a large faction favorable to him, and Seraphine’s faction was one of them.

Other factions that had the potential to grow into large factions later and had shown a favorable attitude towards Ethan so far…

“If Princess Seraphine-nim’s faction doesn’t appeal to you, there’s also the option of building a friendship with Hero Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot-nim. Currently, Hero-nim is showing a favorable attitude towards Master-nim, so if you make a good impression on him early on, perhaps Hero-nim would also…”

“The Princess-nim would be better.”

“What?”

“Tell Princess-nim that I’ve accepted positively, Lillith. I don’t really want to get close to that lecher… no, that Hero.”

“Understood, Young Master Ethan.”

What was that? Did he and the Hero have a fight somewhere I don’t know about?

Seeing Ethan’s expression harden the moment the Hero’s name came up made me feel a little uneasy, but in any case, it meant Ethan had chosen Seraphine.

For me, who still had issues to resolve with Seraphine, this was not a bad outcome.