Lizzie Lynn August (2)

After arguing with the female owner of the underground junk shop over whether to buy the book in my hand or not, I eventually left the shop empty-handed and came back up.

Having failed to obtain ‘Understanding Magical Flow,’ I sat on a bench in the academy’s central park near the underground junk shop, feeling utterly dejected.

“Ugh, damn it….”

Yeah, that’s just how my life goes.

Whenever I try to put in even a little effort, my single-digit luck stat keeps tripping me up. It’s only natural that I feel frustrated in every possible way.

Lillith Rosewood-a character whose base stats are so low that I have to stake my life on a luck stat of 1 or 2, making it impossible to overcome through effort alone.

Originally, she was just a character who supported the protagonist (or Ethan) using only ‘Support Magic,’ so her accuracy-based luck stat didn’t need to be high. But now that I need to learn offensive magic, I have to seize every opportunity to raise my luck.

Losing the ‘hidden book from the secret junk shop,’ which was the most accessible option without any conditions, left me completely at a loss for what to do next.

‘What the hell am I supposed to do with a luck stat of 2?’

If things continue like this, I’ll fail all the midterm evaluations for offensive magic and other accuracy-dependent subjects.

If I don’t improve my luck stat by the end of the semester, I won’t be able to avoid failing or ranking at the bottom in the final evaluation and other subjects. There’s even a real risk that my entire academy life could spiral out of control.

For someone like me, who had meticulously planned a learning curriculum from the first year to the fourth year to turn Lillith into an ‘offensive magic specialist,’ this was a hopeless situation.

Thinking about how my future could unravel step by step from here, it’s no wonder my mind is a mess.

“Should I ask Ethan to lend me some money? But no matter how I think about it, he wouldn’t easily lend me 10 gold coins… Or should I secretly contact the protagonist and ask them to buy it for me? But if I approach them out of nowhere, they’ll definitely just get suspicious. Besides, Ethan told me never to interact with the protagonist…”

As a baronet’s daughter in name only and a personal maid to the Blackwood prince, I don’t have the money or freedom to act as I please.

Of course, complaining about my miserable life won’t make it any better, so I tried to pull myself together. Just as I was about to get up from the bench and leave-

A noblewoman with long sky-blue hair suddenly approached me and greeted me as if we were old friends.

“Long time no see.”

“…Lady Lizzie Lynn August?”

I almost blurted out her name casually, as I had only ever referred to her in my head, but I quickly corrected myself and added her full name and title.

Lizzie, who sat beside me on the bench, spoke to me with the haughty expression of a prideful noblewoman, placing a hand over her mouth.

“We met briefly at the underground junk shop earlier, didn’t we, Miss Lillith?”

“How do you know my name…?”

“Hmm, are you pretending not to know me? Even though it’s been over half a year, we did meet once at the princess’s masquerade ball, didn’t we?”

“……”

“You look like you’re wondering how I knew. I understand you might have wanted to hide your identity from me, Lillith, but unfortunately, I never forget the features of someone I’ve met even once. Even if you were wearing a mask, the rest of your features were enough for me to recognize you. I even greeted you once at the entrance ceremony-did you not see me?”

…No, I saw you. I just didn’t realize you were greeting me, so I didn’t respond.

In many ways, this Lizzie was an unpredictable character to me.

After all, this Lizzie was supposed to have died in a monster attack by this point.

No matter how many times I cleared 『Luminor Academy』, there was no way I could know the traits and personality of a character who never appeared in the main story.

“My apologies, Lady Lizzie Lynn August.”

“Well, I understand. I suppose meeting me now might be a bit burdensome for you, Lillith. After all, as a baronet’s daughter, you did receive an apology from me, didn’t you? Were you afraid I might seek revenge if we met again?”

“……”

“Of course, I hold no ill will toward you, Lillith. I’m the type to settle debts clearly.”

…If she’s the type to settle debts clearly, she should be seething with the desire to tear me apart.

Not only was she humiliated at Princess Seraphine’s prestigious social event, but she also had her silver dagger forcibly taken by me later.

While I was bewildered by Lizzie’s inexplicable logic, she continued speaking to me.

“Earlier, it looked like you were arguing with the junk shop owner-was that correct?”

“…I must have looked quite pathetic.”

“You wanted to buy something but didn’t have enough money, right? Even I thought 20 gold coins was a bit excessive… Well, with the wealth of the August family, I could manage it somehow.”

“……”

“For a baronet’s daughter and personal maid to the Blackwood prince like you, Lillith, it must have been a burdensome amount, of course.”

I had wondered what her sudden appearance was about, and now it seemed like the expected sarcasm had arrived.

Of course, Lizzie couldn’t possibly have any goodwill toward me. Looking back at what happened that day, it was only natural.

Since there was no point in listening further and it would only irritate me, I was about to get up, citing Ethan’s name-when a book with a green cover was quietly pushed toward me.

“I must excuse myself first to attend to Young Master Ethan’s personal maid duties…”

“…Take this, Lillith.”

“…This is…?”

“Earlier, it seemed like you needed this book-was I right?”

“……”

“Oh? Was this not the item you wanted?”

“N-no, I do need it, but…”

A copy of ‘Understanding Magical Flow,’ which I had unexpectedly received in this unforeseen situation.

Since I had somehow gotten my hands on a book I was supposed to miss, my confused thoughts should have settled-but instead, my mind grew even more chaotic due to her sudden kindness.

As if anticipating my reaction, Lizzie looked me in the eye and spoke.

“Consider this compensation for my rudeness to you before.”

“Huh?”

“Remember when I accidentally spilled my drink on you at the masquerade ball? And then, concerned about appearances, I got angry and cornered you instead. Thinking back on it now… I feel nothing but shame.”

“……”

“So please accept this as my apology. Though I know it’s far too late.”

…What the hell is this?

Did she eat something weird?

Is this really the same Lizzie who threw a tantrum at me during the masquerade ball?

Her natural tone made me almost accept her bewildering kindness at face value, but sensing something off, my body instinctively resisted.

“N-no, I can’t accept such an unconditional favor.”

“Your hands are shaking, Lillith.”

“T-that matter was settled when I received the silver dagger that saved my life, remember? I still have it and use it well.”

“Yes, I saw you using it well. Even in that duel with that idiot fourth son of the Reidenhardt family.”

“……”

“I know you’re suspicious, but please just accept it as a gesture of goodwill. It’s only a five-gold-coin book, after all.”

“N-no, such an expensive item… Wait, what did you just say…?”

…Wait, did she just say something I can’t ignore?

“I know you’re suspicious, but this is just a gesture of goodwill from me…”

“N-no, the part about this book being five gold coins…”

“Oh, that? It’s just that the owner of the underground junk shop is an old maid who gives discounts to handsome men.”

“……What?”

“It’s a bit awkward for me to say this as family, but my little brother Karaham is quite the catch if he just keeps his mouth shut. He’s tall, comes from a good family, and has many qualities that attract women. That’s why I bothered to bring him to this secret junk shop. I don’t have a fiancé like you do, after all.”

“……”

“If you had come with your fiancé, you probably wouldn’t have been overcharged. Was there a reason you had to keep it a secret from Prince Blackwood?”

…How the hell was I supposed to know about this random extra character’s obscure backstory?

This was the first I’d heard about the underground junk shop owner being a man-crazy spinster.

During the game, you only visit as the protagonist, so there’s no basis for comparison. No wonder the prices seemed absurdly inflated.

“Five gold coins shouldn’t be too burdensome for a baronet’s daughter like you, right?”

“……”

“Or do you think the August family’s daughter can’t even afford a five-gold-coin gift?”

“…No. Since you insist, I’ll accept it gratefully.”

Refusing any further would have been rude, so I silently took the book Lizzie offered.

She smiled slightly at me and extended her right hand as if to shake mine.

“Let’s get along from now on, Lillith. Even though we’re in different departments, we’ll likely ‘coincidentally’ run into each other often at the academy, won’t we? The Magic Department and Pharmacy Department buildings aren’t that far apart.”

“…Understood, Lady Lizzie Lynn August.”

“You can call me Lizzie. In return, I’ll call you Lillith.”

“…I’ll stick to ‘Miss August.'”

“…Well, suit yourself.”

And so began my relationship with Lizzie, which had started three weeks ago.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

And now, three weeks later.

For some inexplicable reason, I found myself sharing a dessert café with her, spending time together.

Even more absurd was the fact that this had been going on for almost three weeks now.

At first, it was just occasional 10-20 minute chats after running into each other on campus. But at some point, it turned into proper meetups lasting one or two hours.

Lately, it had become so routine that we even arranged to meet regularly during breaks at the central plaza.

Every time I objectively thought about my current situation, I couldn’t help but feel a bit dumbfounded.

‘How the hell did we end up like this…?’

At any rate, I had no immediate reason to distance myself from Lizzie, and I still felt somewhat indebted for the book, so I went along with it.

Plus, the coffee at this dessert café I occasionally visited with Lizzie was decent enough.

In this world, coffee wasn’t so rare or expensive that commoners couldn’t afford it, but it was still too pricey to drink like water as I did in my past life.

Brewing coffee in the dorm room I shared with Ethan would have been awkward anyway, so these opportunities to drink caffeine were helpful in many ways.

Even though my body was Lillith’s, my soul was still that of a modern-day Korean.

“You really like coffee, don’t you, Lillith?”

“…Yes. Ever since I first tried it thanks to your kindness, I’ve grown quite fond of it.”

“Our trading company imports and processes coffee beans from the southern regions, so we can operate cafés like this.”

“…I see.”

“If you’re interested, Lillith…”

As I continued to exchange small talk with Lizzie while mentally focusing on reading the magic book to raise my luck stat-

The murmurs of other customers alerted me to the arrival of an unexpected guest at the café.

Amidst the subtle commotion, this unanticipated visitor approached our table without hesitation.

“My, what a coincidence to meet you here, Miss Lillith. And the person with you is… Miss Lizzie, the vice-president of the Pharmacy Department, correct?”

“…Princess Seraphine?”

Seraphine-the representative of Luminor Academy’s first-year students.

The moment the Moon Shadow Princess appeared before Lizzie and me.

…So where the hell did she come from now?