Chapter 22: Caught...?

“...Young Master, you’re awake?”

The next after a rather long night, I woke up to find Kania waiting in front of me in a suit.

“mhmm.”

“Then shall I prepare your breakfast?”

“No, it’s fine. I don’t have much of an appetite today.”

Eventually, I refused in case Kania would have trouble preparing breakfast, but she frowned and said.

“...Young Master, you shouldn’t skip your meals.”

“Is that so...?”

“Yes, especially breakfast is essential for a balanced meal.”

“...Then, please prepare something light.”

“...Yes.”

I succumbed to her stern gaze, so in the end I asked for a light meal. Soon I got immersed in my thoughts as I watched Kania leave the room.

‘...For some reason, Kania’s attitude towards me seems to have softened.’

I’m not sure, but maybe Kania doesn’t despise me as much as I thought.

Of course, she still has her memories of the previous timeline, and I wonder if it’s actually possible... but it might be because of her kind heart.

Originally, the hearts of the warlocks gradually become more evil because of the dark mana they possess.

Kania, however, has such a kind heart that doesn’t erode, even though she has the talent to grow into a warlock who can shroud the world in darkness.

Of course, there are other reasons besides having a kind heart.

That reason is...

“...Ugh.”

Suddenly, my head throbbed in pain. I guess it’s because I pushed myself quite hard yesterday.

I held my head for a while, then for some reason I couldn’t recall what I was thinking about, so I was momentarily puzzled, but when I heard the sound of the door opening, I quietly got up.

“Kania, are you here already?”

“...Yes, I’ll leave the breakfast here.”

Kania, who opened the door and entered, put down the buttered rye bread and coffee, then walked out of the dormitory room again.

“...Then, I hope you enjoy your meal.”

After saying those words, Kania disappeared, and I silently muttered while chewing the rye bread.

“...It’s strange.”

Something is strange

Buttered rye bread was one of my favorite foods when I was a kid. That was even before Kania joined as our butler.

But ever since I grew up, I never asked for it to be prepared... How did Kania know about this and prepare it for me?

‘...Is it just a coincidence?’

For a moment, I tried to put it off as a coincidence, but there are a lot of oddities to write it off as such. The attitude she showed me last night, her more frequent outings these days, and today’s rye bread with butter...

It seems I have to investigate what Kania is up to these days.

“...Um, Young Master Frey?”

Engrossed in such thoughts, the moment I left the dormitory, the dormitory manager approached me from afar, and bowed his head.

“...What?”

“I apologize, but... it’s just that... we received dozens of complaints last night, so...”

“Complaints?”

“Yes, so... uh... please exercise a little restraint while making love with your servant in the middle of the night...”

“.........”

It appears that I will have to cast a soundproofing magic on the dormitory in the near future.

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“...Heup!”

“I-Irina! Don’t overdo it!”

I sneaked into the training hall and was spying on Irina’s training.

The reason why I’m doing this is because I need to plan how to lose to her in the upcoming performance evaluation duel.

If she is still in a state where it’s difficult to even use basic magic, I’ll have to do something stupid, such as tripping while charging at her, or accidentally stabbing myself while swinging a sword.

However, if she is in a state where she can at least use basic magic, she can defeat me in the duel if I act moderately.

In this world, I have been jeered at as a third-rate chef who cooks street food with first-grade ingredients, a fool, who despite possessing the stellar mana is unable to use it.

In other words, even if I lose to basic magic, I might be mocked for a while, but it won’t be a big issue.

“...Ha!”

“Irina...!”

While I was immersed in my thoughts, five fireballs appeared over Irina’s head.

Looking at them, I stopped wondering about how I should lose to her for a moment, and observed the fireballs burning above her head with a rather impressed look and muttered inwardly.

‘...Even if she is mana exhausted, she’s still the future Archmage, isn’t she?’

Fireball is not only the highest level basic attack magic spell but also the most commonly used combat magic spell.

In actual battles and wars, the ❰Fireball❱ spell, which is more practical and faster to chant than advanced magic spells such as ❰Meteor❱ and ❰Earth Quake❱, is used more often and easily causes more fatalities.

Furthermore, if she can add and enhance various attributes along with summoning five fireballs, which are the basics of combat magic in a mana exhausted state... Perhaps Irina might even defeat a few foolish nobles.

‘...But the key is accuracy and power.’

Of course, summoning five fireballs, which are said to be the basis of combat magic in a mana exhausted state, is quite commendable, but the reality isn’t that easy.

This is because the fireball magic spell is not about summoning alone.

It takes a great deal of concentration and mana just so it could hit the target, not to mention precise control is also essential in order to detonate it once it hits the target.

Her inability to defend herself when she was constantly being harassed by the nobles is also likely to have caused problems in the process of controlling her magic.

In other words, it’s an arduous task for Irina in her mana exhausted state.

“Hey, Irina! Aren’t you overdoing it? After all, about three...”

“That... fucking bastard... if I want to land a shot... I’ll have to do at least this much...”

While I was immersed in my thoughts, I began staring at Irina with trembling eyes, as she glared at the target while swearing at me... The next moment, one of the fireballs that was floating above her head flew towards the target.

“...Ugh!”

The fireball hit the exact center of the target, and the moment I smiled quietly at the thought that in this way I would easily lose to Irina and give her my mana...

“Argh...”

– Whoosh...

Suddenly, Irina staggered and lowered her outstretched arms, and then the floating fireballs, which had been burning fiercely, disappeared into thin air in the blink of an eye.

“Irina... See. Isn’t five too much?”

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“...It’s packed today as well.”

When I arrived at the classroom, I found various gifts in my drawers and on my desk. Seeing such a scene, I couldn’t help but sigh.

One might wonder isn’t it nice to receive gifts, but these aren’t just gifts, but bribes accompanied by long letters.

And of course, the content of the letter is nothing but a clear indication that they want to have a good relationship with the Starlight family or want to become my lover.

“...Today is a free-day, so shall we take a look at the overdue bribe?”

However, bribes should always be taken regularly.

Because the letters will come in handy as evidence when I reform the Empire later, and the bribes will fund my evil deeds.

Recently, I have some funds in my hand, thanks to the money in the borrowed-name account left to me by my esteemed father, but... one is always in need of more money.

Of course, I won’t spend it on personal expenses, rather I will mostly use it for relief and charity once everything is over.

There is no better place to spend black money than that.

“...Hmm?”

Anyway, I chanced upon a rather strange piece of paper in my drawer while I was pocketing all the overdue bribes during my once a week free-day, where I could choose to attend the classes or take a break as I wish.

‘...What’s this?’

When I tilted my head and closely examined the scrap of paper, I discovered something wrapped around it with letters written in an illegible form.

“...Envelope?”

I wondered if there was a diamond or chocolate inside, and once I opened the envelope, a letter slipped out.

I tilted my head for a moment and eventually when I discovered the words written at the top if the letter folded inside the envelope; I froze for a long time.

Blackmail Letter

Seeing the rather incomprehensible words, which were still written with the utmost pressure to produce thickness and sharpness so as to convey the will of the writer, I began to read the contents of the letter with a serious expression.

I know who you are, Frey Raon Starlight.

And after reading the first line, I closed my eyes for a moment and muttered inwardly.

‘...Don’t tell me, the Saintess found out about me?’

In the Sunrise Academy, where even the students of the lowest class C are skilled, the only person who would use such an unconventional semantic is the Saintess.

But how could the Saintess be able to recognize my true identity?

The Saintess, despite having regressed once, has only an intelligence value of ‘2’ as seen through the ⟦Inspect⟧ skill.

And frankly, if it wasn’t for having the knowledge of the previous timeline, it would have appeared as ‘1’ unconditionally.

Even though the Saintess was hailed as the ‘Pure White Saintess’ who appeared for the first time in a thousand years and boasted the highest status in the Church, she was still deprived of her authority in the end.

No wonder there are so many jokes spread among the people that the Sun God while giving the Saintess power accidentally touched her head and turned her into an imbecile, or that she is actually a mastermind and even more of a genius than my fiancée, Serena, and everything is just a part of her grand plan.

It’s unbelievable that such a Saintess discovered my identity.

But then, what is the meaning of this letter that no one can imitate? Could it be that the Sun God, whom I couldn’t see, secretly whispered something in her ears?

‘...It’s all right. The penalty window hasn’t appeared yet. First, let’s continue reading... no, let’s try to decipher it.’

After panicking for a moment, I continued reading the letter, remembering that the penalty window hasn’t appeared yet, and still holding onto the hope that the Saintess only suspects I’m a False Evil.

If you don’t follow my instructions, I’m going to [captive/expose] (<- Which of these is correct?) your secret to the academy students.

“...Ha.”

After examining the paper for a while and finally interpreting its contents, I read the last sentence, then quietly put the letter in my pocket and grumbled as I walked out of the classroom.

So, if you don’t want your secret to be revealed, come to the cathedral of the Sun God as soon as the academy ends today.

[Per를̶X를̶ Astellade]

“...This is really driving me crazy.”

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When I hurriedly got on a passing by carriage and arrived at the cathedral of the Sun God, Ferloche welcomed me with a bright smile

“...Welcome, Sir Frey.”

“........”

The subtle light emanating from above illuminated the seated Saintess, creating a halo.

“What the hell is that letter...”

“...Silence.”

I tried to ask her about the letter, but she cut me off with an icy voice.

“...I already know who you are, Sir Frey.”

Eventually, when she spoke in a cold tone, I had no choice but to revise her assessment in my mind.

‘...The theory that the Saintess has been the mastermind all along, isn’t that a joke?’

The chilled and confident expression isn’t something that comes from a person who is acting upon mere suspicions. Indeed, it seems Ferloche Astellade knows something about me.

And maybe that’s...

‘...Wait, then why doesn’t the penalty window appear?’

For some reason, the penalty window didn’t appear.

To be honest, I came here prepared with various response scenarios, believing that the Saintess called me out because she is suspicious that I might be a False Evil.

However, the Saintess now has a confident look on her face.

Then... Why the hell doesn’t the penalty window appear?

“From now on, I will sentence you in the name of Sun God...”

In a situation where I couldn’t let my guard down at all, I began to listen to her in silence, wishing that I could have borrowed at least half of Serena’s intelligence.

“...Lady Frey.”

“.....?”

The next moment, I couldn’t believe my ears.

“What did you call me just now...”

“...Shh.”

I stood there with a puzzled expression on my face, as the Saintess, who once again cut off my attempt to ask her a question with a nonchalant look, pulled something out of her bag and threw it in front of me with a triumphant smile.

“No, what the hell is this...”

“From now on, you are...”

And after hearing her next words, my mind shut down.

“...to become my personal maid and serve me until the day you die.”

“.....!?”

And there remained a maid outfit with cute, frilly decorations at my feet.

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