Chapter 23
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Be Mine
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Luise von Libelshtein.
The sole Grand Duchess of the Libelshtein Grand Ducal Family, and the de facto family head now single-handedly leading that massive golden dynasty.
Rumors had it that she'd lost her parents at a young age and become the head of the family far too early, with plenty of whispers wondering if the Libelshteins were on the path to ruin.
But that was just a delusion on the part of the rival nobles who'd been gearing up to pounce, assuming she'd weaken.
While other noble ladies spent their time at tea parties and making names for themselves at balls, Luise had been reading documents, reviewing contracts, and personally leading negotiations that traded in gold and blood—starting at that very age.
And the results were clear as day.
Far from collapsing, the Libelshteins had grown even stronger than under the previous family head, and the name "Golden Family" was once again etched across the entire empire.
Honestly, considering the era, her achievements hit even harder.
This wasn't 21st-century Korea.
It wasn't a society where laws guaranteed gender equality, or one that clapped and cheered "Impressive!" when a woman proved her talent.
This was a medieval world laced with fantasy.
A place where a woman stepping to the forefront naturally drew murmurs, suspicion, and outright hostility.
And she'd bulldozed right through it all to seize control of the empire's second-most powerful house single-handedly?
Compared to my past life—
Eleanor of Aquitaine, born Duchess of Aquitaine in 12th-century France, who became queen of both France and England, shaking the heart of medieval European politics.
Empress Matilda, illegitimate daughter of Henry I of England, denied the throne solely for being a woman yet fighting to the end for her succession rights through the era known as the Anarchy.
And Joan of Arc, born to peasants in 15th-century France, claiming divine visions to lead armies and single-handedly reverse the course of the Hundred Years' War.
Luise von Libelshtein stood shoulder-to-shoulder with women like that without a hint of awkwardness.
Accomplishments like hers, at her age, built so quietly.
...But then.
Why.
Why on earth did a woman like Grand Duchess Luise know about a slave-turned-butler like me?
The answer turned out to be surprisingly simple.
Our first encounter was the day after the academy entrance ceremony.
No matter that she was the Grand Duchess of Libelshtein and head of her family—she couldn't treat Lady Elysia, the sole Duchess of Valenhardt Duchy, lightly like some common noble's daughter.
Their bloodlines were worlds apart.
Elysia was direct Hero lineage.
Born with destiny etched in her veins to prove herself on the battlefield.
Maybe that's why.
Instead of ignoring Lady Elysia, Grand Duchess Luise chose to pull her into her own camp.
After the ceremony, at the entrance banquet in the academy's central hall.
A gathering of imperial royals, grand ducal heirs, and ducal scions sizing up each other's houses and gauging potential—there, Grand Duchess Luise approached Lady Elysia herself.
A polite smile on the surface.
But the intent behind her words was crystal clear.
Join her side.
Or more precisely, bow her head and fall under her influence.
"Duchess Elysia. I hold you in high regard."
"Is that so?"
Lady Elysia replied calmly.
"Yes. That's why I invite you to join my faction."
Grand Duchess Luise's gaze didn't waver an inch.
"If I become student council president, I'll give you the vice president's seat."
Student council president and vice president.
In modern terms, they might just be fancy titles with no real power.
But this was the Imperial Academy.
A place where noble heirs from across the empire gathered to forge future connections and plot political paths.
The student council was a microcosm of future power.
And standing at its center meant leaping straight into a higher echelon of the world—a position of immense significance.
She was offering that seat with the words, "Just come under me, and it's yours."
Most would have accepted without a second thought.
But.
"No need."
Lady Elysia didn't hesitate for a moment.
"I'm not interested in that sort of thing."
"...Huh?"
For the first time, a flicker of bewilderment crossed Grand Duchess Luise's face.
And that—that was the moment our fates intertwined.
"N-not interested in the vice presidency...?"
Grand Duchess Luise's eyes narrowed.
"Does that mean you're not satisfied with that and plan to compete with me for president?"
Even if not president, vice president was a highly prestigious role.
In noble society, calling it a "guaranteed future" wouldn't be an exaggeration.
Seeing her brush off such an offer so casually, Grand Duchess Luise must have pegged Lady Elysia as a woman of ambition hiding her greed—a kindred spirit.
But.
She'd misjudged from the start.
Not satisfied with just vice president?
That wasn't why Lady Elysia moved.
"No."
Lady Elysia tilted her head.
"I just... figured being vice president would be a hassle, so I passed."
"W-what?!"
Exactly.
That was truly the whole reason.
The only daughter left to Joseph after his terminally ill wife passed—cherished and raised with far more freedom than other noble ladies, Lady Elysia knew exactly what she wanted.
And right then, she'd just finished her coming-of-age ceremony.
Smack in the middle of youth, discovering the world, people, and what she loved.
Fun academy life mattered more than stuffy titles.
"A hassle...!"
Grand Duchess Luise, meanwhile, looked utterly incredulous.
"Being vice president would elevate House Valenhardt's standing even further!"
"Hmm..."
But Lady Elysia just pondered briefly before shrugging it off.
"Even if you say that, our house is already shining plenty bright as is."
"Urgh...! At your age, you should know to act for your family's future!"
Water and oil, through and through.
Maybe because their first impressions clashed so hard from the get-go, but after that, Grand Duchess Luise nitpicked and sniped at Lady Elysia at every turn.
That solidified their relationship.
But up to here, it wasn't anything special.
The Imperial Academy was a social hub for noble heirs from around the world—and a miniature battlefield.
Barons sizing up earls, pushing and pulling, picking sides—it happened several times a day as routine.
So at this point, their dynamic was just a rivalry between two heavyweight houses.
That summed it up neatly.
Above all, Grand Duchess Luise had no reason to notice the slave-turned-butler trailing behind Lady Elysia.
Me, that is.
To someone in her position, I was just a bug flitting by in this stratified society.
In fact, the noble students at the academy barely glanced at slaves as a baseline—and sometimes vented frustrations in hallways with shouts or beatings.
Who stopped them?
Lady Elysia, and no one else—not even student council folks stepped up.
Because this world buried human rights under the banner of status.
In a way, they were the norm here; treating a slave like a person made Lady Elysia the outlier.
That's why.
I wanted to help her, even a little.
She was already slipping in grades, daydreaming fairy-tale romances with various young lords, and needed straightening out.
So I stuck my neck out.
And looking back now, that was one of the biggest mistakes of my life.
"So this is how the noble heirs of the Imperial Academy solve problems..."
The classroom was already empty.
After the lively lecture ended, only tangled numbers and symbols remained on the blackboard.
I stared at it, taking a slow breath.
In a way, this felt more familiar than my past life's lab.
Tiered desks, podium, massive blackboard.
Perfect setup for teaching.
'Reminds me of my grad school days, cranking out papers after my PhD.'
I'd TA'd under professors and even done short stints as an adjunct lecturer.
Those note-taking habits lingered in my fingers.
But I hadn't stayed in the deserted classroom for nostalgia.
I needed to tutor Lady Elysia—which meant learning the material first.
Sweeping my eyes over the blackboard problems, realization dawned.
"Ah... Math level here's pretty advanced."
No fantasy nonsense like "medieval means just addition and subtraction, no multiplication."
Any civilization with states needed taxes, trade, corvée, rations, land calculations—and this world was no exception.
Just... no modern systematic notation or frameworks.
So it looked needlessly complex, with bloated steps.
For instance, the final problem the noble students had butchered: "triangular land calculation."
Middle school geometry by our standards.
But here, without a solid grasp of "angles," they solved everything via verbose length and boundary coordinate descriptions. Bizarre.
Solvable, sure... but with ass-backwards inefficiency.
So I reorganized it modern-style, converted to equations, simplified variables, and wrapped it in three lines.
"Hm, done."
The blackboard-sprawling mess condensed into a neat one-line answer.
And then.
"Did... you do that?"
"?!"
That voice sliced like ice down my spine.
Turning, there stood Grand Duchess Luise.
The Black Rose who'd dominated the noble banquet earlier.
Her eyes were locked on the blackboard.
"That equation. It's an advanced application problem given only to upper-level classes at the Imperial Academy..."
"Ah... Was it?"
"And you solved it 'like this'?"
She approached the board slowly.
Three lines, replacing the nobles' rambling dozens.
"Length proportionality... central point coordinate substitution... boundary values unified into an equation?"
Her gaze fixed entirely on me.
"Even academy professors can't do this."
Not the look you'd give a slave.
The sharp curiosity of a noble spotting some exotic new specimen.
"What are you? Whose subordinate?"
That was the moment Grand Duchess Luise first truly noticed "me."