Chapter 20
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Lucia is Smiling (3)
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I froze in shock, but this wasn't the time for that.
'Get it together!'
I couldn't just die without doing anything.
I activated Prince on the Bed in an instant, smoothed out my expression, dropped to my knees, and bowed my head.
"I greet Her Highness the Princess."
Don't curse me for not fighting back.
A fight with the princess right now wasn't even possible.
It was like a human bowing before a natural disaster instead of standing against it.
My only goal was to bow as low as possible and avoid catching her eye.
Before Academy's Tamer was released and I got dragged into this world, there was a persistent rumor that kept circulating in the community.
【Why?? Is the princess in Academy's Tamer unbeatable?? They made her look this hot and she's actually unbeatable??】
There were endless rumors about why she was unbeatable—like the devs saving her for a DLC, or her being the creator's self-insert, and so on...
But I'd seen the ending, so I knew the real reason.
'...That psycho bitch.'
Everything about the princess was an act.
Her soft tone, her kind gaze, her benevolent actions—all meticulously calculated.
Psychopath?
Not even that.
Liana did have emotions.
She felt sadness, joy, and even empathy for others.
But...
The princess had a madness that swallowed all of it whole.
Her sole criterion for judgment was one thing.
Would it be fun?
Would it not be fun?
Her mindset was closer to a cat's than a human's.
To a cat, ripping a mouse apart or batting at a ball of yarn were both just play. The difference was only in human eyes—one seemed gruesome, the other cute.
The princess was the same.
She acted kindly because hiding her true nature was amusing. Conversely, she plunged the empire into civil war—killing countless people—because that was fun too.
To her, it was all just a game.
How do you even describe a being like that?
'Calamity.'
In this world, the princess could only be described that way.
"You can't do that."
Did I mess up?
My fists clenched tight.
How many times had I run into her in some deserted spot and gotten killed for no reason?
'Oh my, you're still alive?'
That was her line after killing me. Even thinking about it now was absurd.
Half the reason I wrote that 5700-character rant to the devs was because of her.
I died too unfairly.
And thanks to the imperial bloodline magic setting, dying to her even deleted your save file.
If saves vanished in the game, what would happen here?
...I couldn't even imagine.
"Didn't they teach you at Carnea Academy that you shouldn't act like this?"
The princess smiled softly as she helped me to my feet.
Her touching my body sent chills down my spine, but I couldn't let it show.
"Everyone's equal here, right?♪ So call me Liana, not Her Highness the Princess."
Just as the princess said, everyone was equal at Carnea Academy.
At least on the surface.
Students had to use casual speech regardless of status or rank.
But in reality, they only did it with people on their level.
Academy life was short, but life was long.
No one wanted to get on the bad side of a great noble just to speak casually.
Of course, as the heir to one of the great noble houses second only to the imperial family, I was somewhat on her level...
"How could I dare address Her Highness the Princess so informally?"
I didn't want to.
I wanted to avoid any contact with the princess all the way to the ending if possible.
"Hmm. So stubborn."
She took a few steps back, puffed out her cheeks, and turned her head away with a huff. She looked just like a sulky girl.
"...What brings Her Highness the Princess here?"
"Oh? That's what I want to ask you."
"What do you...?"
"How did you get here, Eugene?"
Shit, the princess remembered my name.
Considering she buried the names of people she wasn't interested in deep away, this was bad.
It was proof she'd taken an interest in me.
"By chance. I was walking and ended up here."
"Hmm, by chance?"
"Yes..."
Her beaming face somehow felt chilling.
"By chance..."
She murmured softly and stepped right up to my face again.
Seeing her approach with that smile, my breath caught in my throat.
Step, step.
The princess walked past me and stood in front of the tree where I'd been leaning to rest.
"...You got lost by chance. Wandered here by chance. And you're sweating that much by chance too? I happened to glance at your class ring number, and if I do the math, it looks like you got here in almost record time?"
With that, she reached into a tree hollow so well-hidden you wouldn't notice unless you looked closely...
And pulled out a golden orb.
'Shit? Why the hell is that coming out of there?'
A real curse almost slipped out.
The reason there were 73 orbs instead of 70 was that, aside from the 70 white ones, there was one each of gold, silver, and bronze hidden away.
In all my playthroughs, I'd found the silver one but never the gold...
And it had to be here of all places.
"And that chance even led you straight to the golden orb spot♪"
The princess smiled more brightly than ever.
I'm dead.
I'm dying here.
Whether she misunderstood my lie or just felt like killing me, I was dying right here.
As cold sweat dripped down my back with death certainty...
"Eugene, you really are lucky!"
The princess smiled gently, took my hand in both of hers, and placed the golden orb in it.
"Your Highness...?"
"Here, you got here first, right? It's yours, Eugene."
"...I'm fine. I didn't even know it was here."
I really didn't.
I truly had no idea.
"Hmm, then you really, truly are a lucky guy."
The princess stared straight into my eyes.
The moment I averted my gaze, the atmosphere screamed doom, so I maxed out Prince on the Bed and met her stare.
After a staring contest, she took the orb from my hand again.
"Got it. Then let's do this. You don't need it, and I don't really want it either..."
"Shatter."
With one spell, the golden orb crumbled to dust and vanished.
"So no one gets it."
...Now I get it.
That's why there was no golden orb.
The princess always arrived first and destroyed it—who could find it after that?
"Since Your Highness found it, do as you wish."
"Yeah, sure. I'll be satisfied with this much for today."
The princess's radiant smile was so beautiful it could make anyone fall for her at first sight—if they didn't know her true nature.
"Now I know what kind of person Eugene Calliope is."
"...It's an honor that Her Highness the Princess remembers my name."
Was it my imagination, or did she emphasize my name?
"Hmph, I said Liana. Whatever. I'll rest here a bit, so you can go now."
"Yes, Your Highness... Then I'll take my leave."
With her permission, I walked away from the princess as quickly as I could without showing it.
My neck prickled the whole way, but I managed not to look back.
Only after staring straight ahead and walking for a good while did the tension ease, and my legs went weak.
"I survived..."
I survived that crazy princess.
Watching Eugene's retreating back, Liana let out a small laugh.
'Interesting.'
She'd followed the faintest trace of the orb's magic here and found an intriguing man.
That he'd arrived before her was surprising enough, but what shocked her more was the emotion he'd shown upon seeing her.
Hostility, fear, and disgust.
'How did he know?'
Only one person had ever survived seeing her true nature.
Fabolli Melphisa, who'd served her since childhood.
So why was this man afraid of her?
—I greet Her Highness the Princess.
The emotions he'd briefly shown vanished so quickly it seemed like a mistake.
What emerged after was a typical nobleman, the kind you saw everywhere.
No, not typical. Most nobles tried to use her or showed reverence.
But this man was different.
He focused solely on showing proper respect to the imperial family.
...As if that was simply the fitting response to the situation.
That's when she remembered who he was.
"Eugene Calliope."
Ten years ago, when she was still a child, the four families ruling the empire gathered in one place.
Imperial House Lumenhark
Northern Calliope
Western Ursula
Southern Amelia
The reason was a party to bless the four children born that year.
The Eugene Calliope she'd seen there was just a sniveling kid mourning his mother's death.
Nothing more, nothing less.
So she'd erased him from memory.
The others too. The only one mildly interesting was Lucia Ursula, maybe? Her talent and looks had caught even Liana's eye.
But...
Who was this 'Eugene Calliope' standing before her now?
Human nature doesn't change.
She knew that better than anyone.
But for that briefest moment...
The glimpse of Eugene she'd seen wasn't the 'Eugene Calliope' she remembered.
In other words, the Eugene Calliope from ten years ago had been hiding his true nature, just like her.
'Why?'
Simple.
Eugene Calliope had known her true nature even back then.
And to avoid her gaze, he'd hidden his own for a full ten years.
Realizing that, heat rose from her lower abdomen, and her heart pounded.
Had anyone ever fooled her eyes before?
She could say with certainty: no one.
...Except one.
Eugene Calliope.
She raised her hand, gazing at his slowly departing figure.
The power she sensed from him was laughably weak.
She could kill him in an instant.
But if he'd truly hidden his nature like her...
Wasn't it possible he was concealing his strength too?
'I see...'
She couldn't help but wonder what tricks Eugene had up his sleeve.
"Shatter..."
She suppressed the spell she'd been about to hurl at him and lowered her hand.
'...I shouldn't.'
She was past the age of devouring candy the moment it appeared before her.
Hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back, hold back...
She wanted to savor the candy's sweetness filling her mouth when she could hold back no longer.
"...Eugene Calliope."
Just saying his name made sweetness spread in her mouth.
"I'll be looking forward to it."
She hoped he'd entertain her.