Hanna's Second Proposal

Hanna's second proposal took place in the academy's student council room. The executive members seated around the round table let out deep sighs. Student council president Shartia, looking utterly exhausted. Witness Mikhail. And even Ruin and the crown prince, both visibly irritated. The council had gathered due to the incident during the final evaluations.

Shartia was in a foul mood. There was just so much to do now. They had to come up with countermeasures for the interrupted exam, and as the princess, she herself had to conduct the fact-finding investigation. No wonder her expression was grim.

Bam!

"This damn academy never runs properly."

Shartia fumed at the thought of having to write letters to parents after the meeting, assuring them there was nothing to worry about. She steadied her raging heart with shaky breaths. To conduct a proper meeting, she needed to think rationally. Taking a deep breath, she looked at Mikhail sitting before her.

His face was covered in wounds. His poor expression suggested the shock from the heretic attack still lingered. It had been a week since the incident, yet he couldn't pull himself together... He must have been terrified. Seeing the usually confident and bold Mikhail like this filled Shartia with mixed feelings.

"Mikhail. Could you tell us what happened that day? We need your account to proceed with the meeting."

Mikhail nodded slightly. He stood from his seat and began recounting the events to the executives.

"It started with some man's groans."

He went into detail. How they ended up descending deeper into the dungeon by chance, why he tried to save the man—Mikhail spoke honestly, without deception.

But when the story reached its climax, Mikhail's mouth clamped shut.

"We almost died, and then..."

He couldn't continue. Shartia sighed deeply. She knew why. His pride must be holding him back from admitting he was saved by someone he despised.

Shartia's testimony matched the report perfectly, so she waved him down into his seat.

"Alright, good job. We'll cover the rest from the report."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Shartia pointed to a section of the documents on the table. The report on this incident. Mikhail's testimony. Yuria's testimony. Testimonies from the knights attacked by heretics. She eyed the end of the summarized report with a meaningful gaze.

Mikhail bowed his head upon seeing the pointed section. It was something he didn't want to say aloud. He could grit his teeth and talk about being overpowered by heretics or Yuria being in danger, but that part... he couldn't voice it himself. Was it shame? Embarrassment? He just kept his head ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠down.

Shartia said to him,

"Ricardo saved you all, right?"

"Yes."

"Haa..."

Frustrated, Shartia rubbed her face. Ricardo... Why did he always show up at times like this? Circumstantially, it was hard to suspect him of being involved with heretics. No, if he were on their side, he would've killed Mikhail outright. And Shartia knew Ricardo well enough—he was too lazy to bother mingling with heretics.

—Is the student council room your personal bedroom?

—Assault on a classmate!

—...How about chilling out a bit?

—Bottling up anger causes illness. Long life without sickness is my dream...

He was always tangled in suspicious incidents, but every time, things never reached their worst. The academy fire. Capturing the heretic disguised as a student. Even Yuria's bullying—all involved Ricardo, but all ended positively. No wonder his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠name in reports brought relief. Seeing Ricardo's name appear after so long was welcome, yet it drew another deep sigh from Shartia.

"You're sure it was Ricardo?"

"Yes."

Mikhail hung his head. Shartia massaged her throbbing forehead and sighed deeply as well.

"We'll send someone to talk to Ricardo about it, so keep that in mind."

He'd probably just say, "I got lucky." But even that was a relief to Shartia. One death. Thirty injuries. All thanks to Ricardo. Without him, the death toll wouldn't have stopped at one heretic—it would've been dozens.

Shartia sighed again at Mikhail's bowed head and flipped through the documents.

'Mikhail... You're no fun anymore.'

The Mikhail who always brought excitement with his righteous deeds, a spark in her boring school life. But after meeting Ricardo, her favorability toward him had dropped. He felt stifling, frustrating, rigid. She used to admire his fearlessness toward nobles, but after seeing a madman casually challenge nobles to duels, she couldn't see Mikhail's merits anymore.

Reading his bluntly written report, she felt a twinge of annoyance at his actions, like they choked the air from the room. Ricardo would've just written, "He had it coming, so I beat him."

Shartia smirked inwardly and turned the page.

—Rustle.

This page held the personal details of the heretic killed in the dungeon.

Shartia muttered,

"Fucking psycho."

Robbery, kidnapping, murder. No crime left untouched. His rap sheet was packed like he was collecting certifications. Shartia couldn't muster polite words. The thought of this monster sharing space with students made her heart sink, but uprooting him brought relief.

Shartia read the report aloud for all to hear. As she detailed the perpetrator's crimes, the executives' faces twisted in various expressions—horror like hers, disgust furrowing brows, deep sighs. Among them, Mikhail took it the hardest. His face paled and stiffened. He seemed unable to believe it was true.

Thinking he'd be shocked at fighting such a criminal, Shartia offered faint condolences. But Mikhail was lost in complicated thoughts.

'A murderer?'

He'd heard heretics were evil, but dismissed it as rumor. He'd fooled himself into thinking it was misunderstanding or a tragic backstory. But imagining what would've happened if Ricardo hadn't appeared and he'd let the heretic go—his face drained of color, stiffening further.

'Was I wrong...?'

With all accounts done, the executives sighed wearily, discussing the incident.

—We almost had a real disaster. A murderer, man... Wow.

—Lucky, right? If it weren't for Senior Mikhail, we'd be dead too.

—Yeah, yeah!

Amid the giggling students chatting about Mikhail,

Bam!

Hanna slammed her meeting minutes onto the table and stood. As the secretary scribbling everything down, she glared at each one prattling about Mikhail. The girls flinched. Hanna muttered,

"Ears clogged or something?"

She wasn't pleased. The final resolution centered on Mikhail's exploits. He'd saved students in peril. Sure, someone else helped a tiny bit, but Mikhail, Yuria, and the helper won the fight—though it involved unavoidable killing. Conclusion: Award Mikhail. He's the hero.

Bullshit.

Hanna, dutifully noting it all, was pissed. She didn't know the full story as a third party, but she knew the butler had helped Mikhail. She had a gut feeling that suckers like him got squeezed dry and tossed. Her blood boiled. It was unfair. The real hero who solved it all was getting robbed of credit.

Hanna raised her hand and looked at the president.

"Um, may I make a suggestion?"

Shartia's weary eyes turned to her. Hanna shot Mikhail a sharp glare, then boldly stated what she'd prepared.

"I think Senior Ricardo deserves the most credit for this."

Bam...!

"Hey. Shut up and sit down."

Ruin glared at Hanna and spat curses at her nonsense. Hanna didn't flinch. To intimidate, you needed the chops. Ruin's threats, after losing to her in the rankings, were less scary than a passing cockroach.

Hanna coldly ignored him, but enraged by the junior's dismissal, Ruin snapped back with fierce eyes.

"Your senior's telling you to shut it."

"You shut your mouth. It's embarrassing."

"...Hah, you fucking bitch!"

Ruin shot up. Hanna channeled aura into her hand, but Shartia's sharp glare and slamming sound made her unclench her fist.

"Where do you think you are, starting a brawl in this sacred council room...?"

The two flinched. Ruin had plenty to say, but under Shartia's glare, he kicked his chair and stormed out.

Shartia looked at Hanna.

"What do you want to say?"

Hanna declared confidently,

"Please allow Seniors Ricardo and Olivia to reenroll."

Shartia let out a deep sigh and said,

"Rejected."