Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Waiting Room #02
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"Are you telling me to intentionally lose the duel right now?"
Marianne de Lectour showing up with good news was something I hadn't really expected.
Well, actually, I had hoped just a tiny bit.
The Marianne from my memories was a strict yet approachable figure—someone admirable and trustworthy.
"Well, something like that."
So I couldn't wrap my head around this situation.
Why was Marianne—someone overwhelmingly stronger than me, with an upright personality—urging me to cheat?
"May I ask why?"
Naturally, I couldn't maintain the polite demeanor I'd held until moments ago. A cold tone slipped out instead.
It was infuriating how she didn't even raise her voice at me, let alone meet my eyes.
"Why? If I said it was for your sake, would you believe me?"
For my sake? In the previous regression, Marianne had been the one encouraging me to challenge impossible dungeons.
"Princess, whom I've just met today—why are you telling me to throw the duel for my benefit? I'd appreciate a proper explanation."
"Ah, damn it. I didn't actually come here to tell you that. I just wanted to see the face of the guy who mouthed off to the Student Council President."
At my words, Marianne scratched her lion-mane-like orange hair irritably.
"I know it's nosy, but if you win this match, Ricardo senior from the Wisen Family will probably try to get you expelled."
"The Wisen Family... That Ricardo senior?"
I had to ask again, caught off guard by the sudden mention of his name.
Ricardo, the second son of the Wisen Ducal House—the kingdom's most powerful noble house after the royals—was the guy in the original story who tried to expel the protagonist for disrupting academy order.
Of course, thanks to the efforts of Agnes the Imperial Princess—his main heroine—and Princess Marianne, he ended up exposed for bullying other students. He received disciplinary action just three months before graduation and quietly left the academy without further mention.
'Is this really the butterfly effect?'
All I'd done was refuse the bullying victim role from day one of enrollment, yet it felt like I'd ruined something massive. Events that never happened in past regressions were chaining together.
'Besides beating Rexton Wise, did I do anything else different?'
I couldn't recall. After that, I'd just been hospitalized and picked a fight with Sion leading to this duel.
"He kept bringing it up at the tea party—saying a discarded heir from a baron's house was disrupting order."
In other words, all the aggro meant for the protagonist had come my way.
"...But why tell me this?"
After sorting my thoughts for a moment, a strange feeling hit me. She wasn't the type to be this nosy toward a freshman she'd just met.
"Why? Who knows."
As if she herself didn't know the reason, Marianne pouted and tilted her head.
"If I had to pin it down... a gut feeling? No, something even stronger than that?"
"A gut feeling?"
Hard to grasp what she meant.
She'd always had good instincts, but something stronger? What did that imply?
"On paper, you look like you'd lose, so I thought you were crazy... but seeing you in person, my heart's telling me you'll beat that knight."
As she said it, Marianne thumped one side of her ample chest without a care.
"And weirdly, I don't want to see you end up in a bad spot."
With that, she seemed to give up puzzling over her inexplicable emotions and flashed a bright smile, baring her teeth.
"I don't get it myself. First time feeling like this. You remind me of my little brother for some reason. Wonder why?"
That laugh and the sudden warmth in her voice matched the Marianne from my memories perfectly.
Maybe because I'd been holding back Violet's reaction inside me, watching her like this brought an unexpected wave of deep relief.
Not knowing how to express it, I ended up pulling the Marianne in front of me into a tight hug.
"Huh? Hey?! What are you doing?! I'm the kingdom's princess! Show some respect!"
Any other guy would've been slammed to the floor the moment he hugged her, but strangely, she didn't do that to me.
"Hey! Are you listening?! Let go, Arthin Ludwig!!"
At her scolding, I released the hug. Her ears red, Marianne quickly pulled away and eyed me warily.
Right now, she felt less like a lion and more like a cat.
"Thank you for worrying about me."
"...You're the type who hugs anyone when you're grateful? Pervert. Ruffian."
Even her prickly response didn't bother me now that I saw it as endearing.
"I'm going to win the duel. No plans to lose on purpose, and I'm even more confident I won't."
"Didn't I warn you? You'll get on the bad side of the noble faction."
"Doesn't matter."
My goal was the protagonist, who might become this world's strongest. Before him, I'd challenged the Demon King—the current strongest—four times.
To someone like me, Rexton and his ducal second-son status were no big deal.
An annoying pest I could crush anytime if he came at me.
"I told you, I'm confident I won't lose. Even to that fifth-year senior."
"What gives you that confidence? Trusting your friend Jorba Pelkas?"
"No."
I shook my head.
"My teacher once told me: Don't fear an opponent you haven't fought yet. Just clash once, and somehow it'll work out."
At those words, Marianne's mouth fell open in surprise.
Of course—those were the exact words she'd said to encourage me at the start of my fourth regression.
Back then, I'd dismissed it as brute-force stubbornness.
Ridiculously, though, it became one of the strongest pillars supporting me through that year of solo charging into demon territory.
"Really?"
Suddenly, Marianne sidled up beside me and hooked her arm through mine.
"You're a crazy pervert, but I kinda like you. From now on, call me big sis."
Grinning wide, I linked arms with her in return.
Marianne seemed to be the same Marianne I knew, no matter the regression.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Rexton Wise eventually left the bathroom and returned to the waiting room on his own.
Betraying his faint hope that she might have left, Sion greeted him with a beaming smile.
"My, you were in the bathroom quite a while, Young Master?"
He wanted to shout that it was her fault, but he couldn't.
What caught his eye first was the iron training dummy riddled with holes from the sword aura rippling around Sion, now sprawled on the floor.
"Ugh, my stomach's been off. Bad digestion or something."
"Oh dear, trouble digesting breakfast? That's my fault for not managing the chef properly."
"No! No! It's just... stress from that bastard Arthin!"
As she mentioned the chef and trailed her finger along her rapier's edge, the killing intent in her gaze made Rexton wave his hands frantically, blaming Arthin as an excuse.
"Ah, so that damn brat ruined your mood, Young Master?"
Seeming to buy his excuse, Sion's eyes flashed, and Rexton sighed inwardly in relief.
Sion's obsession had always bordered on madness, but she'd rarely directed it at him.
More accurately, she'd at least played the role of a gentle bodyguard and servant toward him.
The problem started after Arthin Ludwig beat him down and provoked her—her mania had noticeably worsened.
Using the entrance ceremony incident as an excuse, she shadowed him 24/7 under the guise of protection, monitoring his every move. Surveillance, or voyeurism, might be more apt.
She insisted on sharing every space except bathroom and bath time—from meals to sleep.
And she stopped hiding her own ferocity and sadism.
When one of the maids attending him accidentally knocked over his teacup, Sion had genuinely tried to kill her with a glare.
Rexton was certain that if he hadn't been there, her rapier—not just her eyes—would've pierced the young maid's face.
The day he heard Arthin rejected the Student Council's offer, he'd overheard her whispering about sneaking out at night to kill him, forcing him to keep her close.
He harbored a vicious desire to cripple one of Arthin's limbs for bloodying his face, but he hadn't reached the point of wanting to kill yet.
"Don't worry. I'll torment that Ludwig cripple plenty today—make him beg for his life."
The hand Sion slowly walked over and gripped tightly felt strangely firm, like she had no intention of letting go.
'Better if... that bastard Arthin wins instead.'
Over the past three weeks, Rexton had written letters home multiple times about Arthin Ludwig's insolence, Jorba Pelkas's arrogance, and above all, Sion Idris's mania.
But his father's replies were ice-cold.
Every one boiled down to: cleanly resolve the Ludwig issue, befriend Pelkas, make Sion Idris your own, and become an outstanding student.
The moment he realized removing Sion with family power was nearly impossible, one improbable solution dawned on him.
If that idiot Arthin actually beat Sion, she'd fail her duty despite her high pay—losing to a level 1 mage and botching the duel.
That would tarnish a noble's honor—Rexton's—and stain the Wise Family name. Firing an underperforming bodyguard would be beyond even his father's interference.
But perversely, it remained impossible. No matter how hard Arthin tried or artifacts he scraped together, he couldn't touch Sion's toes.
Unlike Rexton, who'd lost to a sudden rock toss, Sion was one of the academy's top elites who could deflect arrows shot from hiding without even looking.
Ultimately, Arthin beating her fair and square was impossible. He'd need to die and revive about ten times for even a sliver of chance.
'Wait, there's an easier way than making Arthin win?'
As he stared at Sion—lost in thoughts of carving up Arthin—with terror-filled eyes, Rexton felt a stroke of genius hit him like divine revelation.
'Making Arthin win is impossible, but making Sion lose... Yeah, that might work.'
All he needed was a catalyst, time, and the right timing.
"Sion, could you run a quick errand for me?"
Having finalized his plan, Rexton overcame his fear and faced her. Sion tilted her head.
"Pardon? What are you saying right now?"
"...What, planning to defy me just because the duel is soon?"
Pfft. Sion let out a small laugh.
"If it's what you want, Young Master, I'll do anything."
He was seized by the impulse to tell her to vanish from his sight forever, but he held back.
He was certain he couldn't handle the moment that mad smile and murderous intent toward Arthin turned on him.
Thus, Rexton desperately prayed to god, demons, and even the Demon King that his newfound plan would work.