Practical Exam (1)
I didn’t know why the Crown Prince was with Medeia, but judging by the way things were going, the atmosphere was anything but pleasant.
“Can’t you hear me? Did that curse rot your ears away too?”
“...I can hear you.”
“Then why don’t you answer my question?”
“...”
“Tch.”
The Crown Prince looked down at Medeia with blatant displeasure.
“This is my last warning. Leave the academy. This isn’t a place for a woman like you to set foot in.”
As if there was nothing more worth saying, the Crown Prince turned on his heel.
He was just about to leave when I stepped in front of him.
“...?”
His brow furrowed, clearly not expecting someone to suddenly block his way.
His face already looked obnoxious enough. Once he scowled, it somehow became even more unbearable.
I wanted to plant a fist in it, but I held back.
There was no point making this worse. It would only put Medeia in a tighter spot.
“And who are you?”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
I bowed lightly at the waist.
“I’m Kael, Lady Medeia’s butler.”
“And what business does a butler have with me?”
“I know this is rude, but I happened to overhear your conversation while passing by. What you said to my lady was out of line.”
At my words, the Crown Prince tilted his head slightly, then broke into a sneer.
“So?”
“...Pardon?”
“So what exactly do you expect me to do about it?”
The Crown Prince swept me with a contemptuous look.
“Looks like you’re the blind butler Rosalyn mentioned.”
“...”
“A cursed young lady and a blind butler. What a fitting pair.”
Whatever was so amusing, he chuckled under his breath, shoulders shaking with laughter.
Watching him, I could feel my patience starting to run thin.
Should I just hit him?
The thought was serious enough to scare me a little.
“Kael? How did you—”
But I couldn’t do that.
Though her face was hidden behind a veil, I could still see it.
Medeia was looking at me with clear worry.
When someone was worrying about me that openly, I couldn’t just go and start a fight on sheer impulse.
I took a breath, forced the anger down, and spoke as politely as I could.
“Apologize.”
The Crown Prince’s amused expression froze.
“What?”
“Apologize to my lady.”
“Ha!”
He let out a disbelieving laugh.
“Who do you think you’re telling to apologize? Do you even know who I am?”
“I do. You’re His Highness the Crown Prince of the Eberhard Empire.”
“And knowing that, you still dare speak to me like this?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want to die?”
The Crown Prince glared at me as though he meant to kill me on the spot.
But I didn’t back down even an inch.
“If you want to kill me, then apologize to my lady first.”
“...”
Silence fell for a short moment.
And it wasn’t broken by me or by the Crown Prince.
“Kael! Stop.”
It was Medeia.
She hurried over and grabbed my wrist.
“Let’s go back.”
As she said it, she tugged hard at my arm.
But I didn’t move.
Her frail strength couldn’t do anything against me.
“I said let’s go back!”
Medeia told me to go back more than once, but for once, this was a request I couldn’t obey.
I had no intention of leaving until the Crown Prince apologized.
“Apologize.”
“You really want my apology that badly?”
“It’s not that I want it. It’s that you should be doing it. What you just did to my lady was an obvious insult.”
“...”
The Crown Prince glared at me in silence for a moment, then his shoulders began to shake as he laughed.
“Khah! This is amusing. Really amusing! You’re the first fool I’ve met with this little fear.”
Still smiling, he lifted one finger, as if he’d just come up with something delightful.
“You said you wanted an apology? Fine. Then let’s make a wager.”
“A wager...?”
“A simple one. There’ll be a practical exam at the academy soon. If you beat me in that exam, I’ll formally apologize for the insult I paid your master.”
At his words, I was speechless.
I only asked him to apologize. What the hell was this obsession with wagers?
What the hell was wrong with the imperial family of the Eberhard Empire?
Rosalyn was bad enough, and now this guy too—every one of them seemed to love duels and bets.
There had to be something wrong with their dopamine receptors.
“Of course, that would be boring if it were just that.”
Like a man absolutely soaked in dopamine, the Crown Prince added another condition.
“If I lose, I’ll not only apologize, I’ll become your slave for a month.”
That part was tempting.
If I won, didn’t that mean I’d get to order around that son of a— no, that Crown Prince— for a whole month?
Not bad.
“However, if you lose, Medeia and you will both be expelled from the academy.”
He looked me dead in the eye and asked, “What will it be? Will you accept this wager?”
There was nothing to think about.
If I won the bet, I’d get an SSR Crown Prince pet unit, time-limited to thirty days. If I passed up an opportunity like that, I’d be a complete idiot.
“Fine. I’ll take the wager.”
***
After Kael promised the wager to the Crown Prince, Medeia and Kael returned to the villa by carriage.
Tap!
“Ow!”
Tap!
“Y-You hit the same spot again!”
Inside the carriage, Medeia kept kicking Kael’s shin over and over.
“Why didn’t you listen to me?”
“I-I’m sorry.”
Thud!
“Ack!”
Kael, hit squarely on the shin, let out a yelp.
“That hurts, my lady!”
“Be quiet. That’s your punishment for not listening to me.”
“But... I only did it for your sake.”
“If it was really for my sake, you should’ve stayed quiet.”
“B-But he insulted you. How was I supposed to stay quiet after hearing that?”
“You still should have. I’m... not bothered by it.”
It was a lie.
Every time she heard the words cursed woman, it felt as though her heart was being torn to pieces.
But now it was all right.
Because Kael was there beside her.
Because he was the only one who looked at her not as a cursed woman, but as Medeia, a person in her own right.
And yet.
Why do you keep pushing yourself like that?
Kael always went too far for her sake.
He had done it with Rosalyn, and now again today.
She couldn’t say she disliked that fact.
It made her happy that someone would step forward for her.
But at the same time, she was afraid.
Afraid of losing Kael.
She didn’t want to lose him.
Thanks to Kael, she had come to know the warmth of the world.
Thanks to him, she could smile again.
And if she lost someone like him—
I don’t even want to imagine it.
Medeia looked across at Kael, who was sitting opposite her.
Even while wincing from the kicks to his shin, he kept grinning at her like a fool, and that made something in her chest ache.
What is this?
She carefully laid a hand over her chest.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
It had been perfectly normal a moment ago.
But when she looked at Kael, her heart had started racing for no reason at all.
Why...?
She couldn’t understand it.
But strangely, it didn’t feel unpleasant.
Then Kael, noticing something was off, asked in a worried voice, “My lady. Are you all right?”
“Huh? Y-Yes. It’s nothing.”
“That’s a relief.”
Kael smiled, visibly relieved.
At that moment.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Her heart began beating even faster than before.
“Ngh.”
That day, Medeia’s heart didn’t calm down until the carriage finally reached the villa.
In the end, she never found out why.
***
After returning to the villa, I looked up everything I could about the practical exam.
And what I found was shocking.
“A monster-subjugation exam conducted in teams of three, huh. I already looked into this back at the Colosseum, but does this academy really intend to turn students into monsters?”
By the standards of the modern world I’d lived in, it was basically lunacy to throw three minors into a forest crawling with monsters.
“So first I need to gather three people...”
Me and Medeia were already a guaranteed pair.
The problem was finding a third student willing to form a team with us. I doubted anyone would want to join.
A lady hated by everyone and a blind butler... If I were them, I wouldn’t team up with us either.
Had I made a stupid bet for nothing?
It felt like I’d let myself be dazzled by the thought of an SSR Crown Prince pet unit, time-limited to thirty days, and made a mistake.
No. If I look around, there’s bound to be someone willing to do it.
For now, I should narrow down the candidates.
I could handle the vanguard, and Medeia would be perfect in the rear.
She might be hated by everyone, but Medeia was still a gifted mage.
The balance between front and back was already perfect.
The only problem was the final slot.
For a party like this, it would be best to have a cleric, no matter what anyone said.
“A tank class wouldn’t be bad, but it’s better to have someone who can heal people if they get hurt.”
Good.
I decided I’d look for a cleric as our final teammate.
“Then let’s go find one.”
My destination was the Temple.
The place where the clerics gathered.
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