Chapter 53: Two-Timing (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 53: Two-Timing (2)
I stared at Senior Loreliya with an incredulous expression as she suddenly linked her arm with mine, acting as if we were close.
I mean, sure, we are close. But not "linking arms in public" close.
‘Play along.’
She gave me a beaming smile, her lips moving silently so only I could see.
It seemed she was being cautious because the guy over there was also a knight aspirant, meaning he might overhear even the quietest whisper.
‘I mean, even if you say that so suddenly...’
I was currently known as the Saintess’s boyfriend.
And now I was two-timing?
People in the know would realize it was fake, but most people in the Academy didn't fall into that category.
‘If I do this, I’m going to look like total trash.’
‘Don’t worry. I have a plan.’
Was she for real?
If it had been Violet saying that, I would have told her to stop talking nonsense.
But since it was Senior Loreliya, I decided to trust her for now.
“Fancy meeting you here, Senior.”
“Hmm, indeed. Were you watching the match?”
“Yes. I heard the Minor Sword Emperor was on a winning streak.”
“Now that you mention it, you two are quite close, aren't you?”
My eyes narrowed momentarily as she pulled my arm closer, flaunting our supposed intimacy.
However, because of the guy across from us—who looked exactly like a typical RoFan villain—I had no choice but to play along to a reasonable degree.
“Sister, who is this...?”
As I naturally chimed in with Senior Loreliya’s conversation, the RoFan villain-looking guy, who had been waiting for a while, stepped forward and asked.
“Ah, I was so excited to run into my lover in such an unexpected place that I lost myself for a moment. Let me introduce you. This is my lover, Adam Smith. He’s from the Leon Kingdom.”
An international romance, if you will.
Watching Senior Loreliya introduce me so shamelessly, I realized that she was indeed a noble.
How could a person be this brazen!
“Now, Adam. This is Rizel. He’s my cousin, so don’t be too jealous.”
Every single line made me doubt if this person was really Senior Loreliya.
No matter how much she hated the idea of losing to this Rizel guy...
Could a person really change this much?
I even started to think that maybe this was her true personality.
“Adam... Wait, that Adam?”
“That’s right.”
Look at her. She was grinning deviously at the sight of Rizel’s bewildered face upon hearing my name.
Is this what they call a RoFan villainess?
“The Saintess’s lover... How?”
Rizel stared at Senior Loreliya, his voice dropping sharply as if he were trying to suppress an outburst.
His face was a mask of pure confusion, wondering how on earth this was possible.
Savoring that expression, Senior Loreliya brushed her hair back with her hand—a gesture straight out of a manga.
“Am I not quite charming?”
“……”
“……”
Me, Rizel—no, even their escort knights—stared at her with looks of utter disbelief. But Senior Loreliya didn’t even flinch, continuing her brazen act.
“So, I stole him.”
Since I had things stolen from me, it’s only fair I do the same.
As she said that, Rizel and the escort knights turned their silent gazes toward me.
“……”
I had no choice but to look away.
Honestly, it was because I was dying of embarrassment.
“He’s a man too precious to be lost to the Saintess. Even if he looks like this, he’s a man even the Minor Sword Emperor couldn't defeat. The fact that he isn't from the Empire might be a hurdle, but love is...”
Was she trying to make me die of shame?
As Senior Loreliya stood beside me, singing my praises so excessively, my image of her was shattering into pieces.
“Adam... was it?”
It seemed the other side felt the same way, as Rizel had now reached the point of ignoring Senior Loreliya entirely.
“That’s right.”
“I heard you were the second-in-command of the Swordsmanship Department.”
As the atmosphere shifted, Senior Loreliya finally shut her mouth.
If that was what she intended, I’d almost want to tell her it was a brilliant move.
“In terms of grades, yes. Why do you ask?”
But that probably wasn't her intention.
So, I feigned ignorance and threw out a hook.
Rizel’s lips curled into a smirk as he spoke provocatively.
“Then how about a match?”
Just as I thought. He had been talking about wanting to fight the Minor Sword Emperor and whatnot; it seemed he wasn't just bluffing.
“Sure.”
I nodded at his confident expression.
I watched the back of his head for a moment as he went off to rent a dueling ring.
“What should I do?”
I asked Senior Loreliya how she wanted me to handle him.
“That’s obvious, isn't it?”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Senior Loreliya replied.
“Crush him. Thoroughly.”
Judging by her tone, she clearly had a lot of pent-up resentment toward him.
Against a first-time opponent, the Defeat Sword tended to be less efficient.
If I didn't know the opponent's swordsmanship, I couldn't make a proper assessment.
In that sense, a first-time opponent could be considered a hard counter to the Defeat Sword.
“Urgh!”
But that only applied if the opponent had a certain level of skill.
I could get a rough estimate of someone like the Minor Sword Emperor after clashing a few times.
A swordsman of this level, however, didn't even require an understanding of his style.
“Hmm.”
Just by watching his movements in real-time, I could sufficiently deconstruct and analyze him.
“You...!”
Rizel, the villain candidate, gritted his teeth.
Well, I couldn't blame him.
I was tapping and breaking the flow of his swordsmanship at every turn.
It would be one thing if he were crushed in a single blow, but being thoroughly toyed with would make anyone furious.
But...
“Hooo.”
What can you even do, even if you are angry?
I expressed that sentiment lightly with my sword.
I wasn't just blocking his attacks; I was preventing the very act of attacking.
By simply observing his footwork and the movement of his arms and joints, I could predict his next move.
Based on that, I shut down the actions he wanted to take.
To an outsider, it might look like a fairly intense battle.
In fact, some onlookers were even watching in admiration.
Because of that, I felt a bit sorry for him.
“Guh! No? Then, take this!”
Rizel, whose eyes were fixed solely on my sword, didn't even have the luxury to look around.
If he could see the reaction of the crowd, he’d realize even more clearly that he was being toyed with.
“You bastard...!”
But if this was the best he could do, he wouldn't have the luxury for that.
“At this rate, you’re at the bottom tier of the Academy.”
This wasn't an attack meant to provoke him psychologically.
It was just a casual assessment that slipped out of my mouth.
Having sparred with most of the Swordsmanship Department, I was probably the person who knew the skills of the first-year students best, second only to the Sword Emperor.
Even if he was from a branch family, as a collateral relative of the Empire’s greatest Ducal house, his innate mana capacity and the way he deployed his swordsmanship were decent.
However, the person using it wasn't wielding the sword; he was being dragged along by it.
He didn't properly understand his own techniques, to the point where he couldn't even stop me from breaking his flow.
I truly meant it when I said he was at the bottom tier of the Academy, but...
“What did you say?”
As if I’d pressed a berserk button, he gritted his teeth and lunged at me.
His already unstable sword path wavered even more, and now he had reached a state where he was self-destructing even without me breaking his flow.
Wow, he’s trying to lose all on his own even if I just leave him be.
Is that the true essence of the Defeat Sword?
“……”
Watching Rizel in his state of self-destruction, I glanced at Senior Loreliya.
The toy is broken; what should I do?
Senior Loreliya seemed to catch my drift.
She pondered for a moment, then made a light throat-slitting gesture.
It seemed she really did have a lot of resentment, so I decided to play with him for about thirty more minutes.
Unable to last thirty minutes, Rizel defeated himself ten minutes later. He fled with the classic villain line, “Urgh, you’ll pay for this next time!”
Left alone with Senior Loreliya, I decided to ask her directly without beating around the bush.
“So, what’s the plan?”
Even without a subject, Senior Loreliya nodded as if she knew exactly what I was asking.
“Hmm, about that.”
Then, she made a bold declaration as if it were nothing.
“We just have to say that I confessed first.”
My mind went blank for a moment, and I could only ask back in a dumbfounded voice.
“What?”
What on earth did that mean?
Was it some secret technique passed down among the high nobility of the Empire that I didn't know about?
Thinking there might be a cultural difference, I trusted Senior Loreliya and waited for an explanation.
And the reward for that wait was...
“If you seduce someone first, you’re trash. But if the other person falls for you first, it’s a talent.”
It was completely nonsensical.
“...What are you even talking about?”
“Hmm. If I fell for you on my own and confessed to you, then it’s not your fault.”
“Seriously, what kind of trashy logic is that...?”
The logic was so garbage that my true feelings leaked out.
“Hmm, I suppose one could call it a trashy statement depending on how you look at it.”
Yet, seeing her nod and admit it so brazenly, I could finally feel a bit of why this person was the villainess of the original work.
“Isn't it just trashy no matter how you look at it?”
“You’re more romantic than I thought, Junior. But what’s the problem with a capable man having multiple women?”
“...Excuse me?”
I was about to wonder what kind of crazy talk this was, but then I realized something from her comment about me being "romantic" rather than "conservative."
“In this day and age, even a woman can have multiple men if she has the capability. No matter if Daisy is the Saintess, she doesn't have the right to monopolize you.”
Right, this is a medieval fantasy world.
Even the King, who is whipped by the Queen, has two other wives, even if he doesn't have concubines.
So, it was just as she said.
A man who openly hits on women everywhere is a piece of trash.
But a man who stays still while women approach him first because they like him is a man with incredible "capability."
He would be treated as the legendary "Alpha Male"!
“Therefore, we can at least go on a date.”
I almost nodded at her confident statement.
“Other people will think the same way, right?”
“...Probably?”
At Senior Loreliya’s last comment, where she avoided my gaze, I couldn't help but stare at her with narrowed eyes again.
Around the time they were waiting for the Pope, whom they would soon reunite with...
As if the saying "rumors have wings" were true, they were just sitting there waiting for the Holy Kingdom’s delegation when a certain rumor naturally reached their ears.
The rumor that Lady Loreliya of the Jeyka Ducal House had found a man.
Up to this point, it was just common Academy gossip, but!
When the rumor added that the man in question was the Saintess’s lover, silence began to permeate the room.
Violet couldn't help but tilt her head in confusion.
‘What?’
What kind of nonsense was this?
Violet blinked her eyes and thought.
I mean, our boss...
‘Didn't he say he didn't want to get involved in RoFan?’
That’s why he didn't even look at the Flower Arrangement Club.
So why was he two-timing between the RoFan female lead and the villainess(?) lady?
Was he really planning to change his job from a RoFan extra to the protagonist of a "RoFan Extra" story?
“Hmph~”
While she was thinking that, a strange humming sound came from the seat next to her.
Violet turned her head with a creak and saw it.
“Are you mad?”
“Not at all.”
She was definitely mad.
Even if it was fake, anyone would be angry if their partner openly cheated.
...That’s why she’s mad, right?
Unable to bring herself to ask that, Violet could only wait while walking on eggshells.