Let's Make a Bet

I hadn't slept a wink the night before.

All because of the endless scenarios I'd been spinning about what Iren might pull, now that she'd claimed the seat beside me.

She was a deranged imperial princess who had brazenly declared she'd hunt down the person I loved out of pure jealousy and then do unspeakable things. There was no telling what she might attempt during our time at the Academy.

From what I'd gathered yesterday, my magic was superior to hers, so that much wasn't a concern. But she was still a princess of the Empire. There was no predicting what underhanded methods she might employ.

Which was why I needed to down a bottle of my homemade awakening drink before heading to class—

"Did you sleep well, Frey?"

"Pwah!"

"Oh—are you all right?"

Pat, pat. A soft, delicate hand patted my back. I stopped spewing the drink as fast as I could and straightened my posture.

"Did you rest well, Young Lady?"

"It's a little late to start acting refined, don't you think?"

"Not at all. In your presence, Young Lady, I maintain perfect cleanliness at every moment."

There wasn't a shred of falsehood in those words. The moisture from the sprayed drink had been evaporated with fire magic, and any residue had been blown out the window with wind magic.

The only evidence that I'd spat out my drink lived on in the Young Lady's memory. Not a single physical trace remained. That was the caliber of the Katram Ducal House's head butler!

…Even if I was currently an Academy student.

"You look unwell. Did something happen yesterday?"

"Ah, well, you see… No. It's nothing at all."

I'd nearly brought up Iren, then stopped myself. I had no desire to make the Young Lady anxious by casually mentioning the imperial princess.

"It's only that someone of my lowly station has been permitted to attend the Academy. I was simply nervous."

"My, Frey? The same Frey who has waited on far more distinguished guests for our house?"

"I believe the circumstances are rather different."

The post I had seized with my own hands and the Academy student identity I'd assumed by deceiving the Empire carried entirely different weights of pressure. If my true identity were exposed under any ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠set of circumstances, it would inflict enormous damage upon House Katram.

"An Academy that can make even Frey nervous. How intriguing."

"No, Young Lady. Now that I think on it, it may have been better ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if you hadn't gone at all."

"Pardon? What do you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mean by that?"

"There are… reasons. At any rate, I should be on my way."

"All right. Have a good day, Frey."

The Young Lady saw me off with a soft, radiant smile. The Young Lady herself, seeing me off! I could die right here and have no regrets!

I calmed the pounding in my chest and arrived at the Academy. Today was when the real Academy life began.

Over the next three years, I would learn as much as possible and grow into someone even more useful to the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Young Lady. And to that end—!

"Hello."

"Haaaah."

"Sighing in the presence of an imperial princess? How insolent."

"Yes, yes. Please uphold the principle of equality."

"Hahaha. I really do like you."

Ascending to the position of head butler had granted me a certain ability: an eye for reading people.

Whether someone harbored hostility toward me, how far they would permit me to push a line—I could sense it after only a few encounters.

From the start, it was clear that the princess held a favorable opinion of me (for reasons I still couldn't fathom).

That being the case, it stood to reason that she would let a bit of playful rudeness slide.

Just look at her now. She scolded me for sighing, yet she was letting it go without a fuss, wasn't she?

"I understand that House Katram possesses the finest magical ability of any house outside the imperial family."

"And why is that suddenly relevant?"

"As an imperial princess, I have the privilege of knowing what the first class will be. It's—"

Just as Iren was about to speak, the front door of the classroom opened and someone entered.

A soft rustle. No footsteps—only the whisper of fabric. Round glasses sat on her face, and her messy black hair fell all the way to her thighs. Her face was youthful, yet her figure was unnaturally voluptuous—an imbalance that somehow sat poorly with me.

The professor flaunting that unbalanced physique opened her mouth.

"Ah, h-hello. Young masters, young ladies. And Your Highness. I-I'm Professor Violet, and I'll be teaching the Basics and Understanding of Magic course. I-I look forward to working with you this year."

It was an exceedingly timid self-introduction. Iren smiled as she replied.

"Professor Violet. You don't need to use a special form of address for me. This is the Academy, and I'm a student here."

"B-but that would be lese-majesty…"

"Professor?"

"Eek! A-alright. Then… Iren."

"Yes, Professor."

"Haa… I-I'll begin the lecture."

Professor Violet began her class.

True to the course name, the content centered on fundamental explanations of magic.

Magic is Word-Spirit. It is the act of imbuing the mana flowing through one's body with one's will, giving it form through language, and speaking it forth to commune with the world.

To become a mage was no different from researching how to commune with the world on a deeper level.

The language of the world was infinite, and so it was impossible for any human to master it all. Thus, we had created a limited set of words through which we could speak with the world—and those words were what magic called incantations.

Therefore, we…

As that explanation continued, a folded note dropped onto the desk in front of me with a soft tap.

The sender was none other than Iren in the seat beside me.

She grinned and gestured for me to open it at once. I wanted to focus on the lecture, but I was also intensely curious about what kind of note an imperial princess would pass during class.

In the end, curiosity won. I unfolded the note. It read as follows:

The moment I finished reading, the letters glowed faintly—just enough for my eyes alone. I recognized the phenomenon at once.

A scroll was a sheet of paper that held a spell.

A member of House Katram could never claim anyone but the Emperor as their master. But that was something I couldn't say aloud.

A smile curved at the corner of Iren's lips.

Why did that feel both casual and brazen at the same time?

More than that—something I'd find irresistible. I couldn't even begin to guess what Iren had prepared. And that made my curiosity boil over.

Even if I lose, it's just one outing in the city.

Win and I gain something. Lose and I lose nothing. What could possibly come of going out into the city together once?

The instant Iren finished speaking, Professor Violet clapped her hands together with a sharp crack.

"Y-you've all already mastered basic magic, so this must be a b-bit boring. Th-that's why I give a g-gift at the start of every first class?"

An ominous purple current began to swirl around Professor Violet. The students' eyes went wide—and in that instant, her magic unfurled.

The moment the magic manifested, I understood.

Ah. I'd walked straight into a trap.

My vision blacked out for a beat, and my head spun as though I'd been pulled into a whirlpool.

When my eyes cleared again, I was no longer in an Academy classroom. I was seated at the dining table of the Katram Ducal House.

It was the seat of honor—a place a butler would never, under ordinary circumstances, be permitted to occupy. And yet there I sat, and beside me a beautiful woman with shimmering golden hair smiled as she looked at me.

She dabbed at my mouth with a handkerchief and spoke.

"My Duke. You have sauce on your lips."

"Ah—er."

"Honestly. Shall I wipe it for you again?"

"Ah… Young Lady."

The Aylin before my eyes blinked.

"My, why are you suddenly using the old title? You'll confuse the children."

She laughed softly and stroked her belly. It was a belly anyone could see was heavy with child.

This was a dream I could never achieve.

Marrying Lady Aylin, inheriting the ducal house, even having a child together—a future of such perfect happiness.

A future that would never be permitted to a mere head butler. And so I recognized at once that all of it was false.

But precisely because of that, I wanted to savor this space for even a little longer.

Having finished wiping my mouth, Lady Aylin resumed her meal with demure grace. She was so beautiful that I lost myself watching her.

She looked about six years older than the Young Lady I knew—a mature, adult form that still retained every bit of the pure innocence of her girlhood. Even the brief flicker of her tongue as she caught a bit of food was sacred.

When the time spent admiring that living portrait had passed, the Young Lady spoke to me.

"Have you no appetite today? Or shall I prepare something special for you myself?"

"No—no, my wife."

The word wife slipped out naturally. How blasphemous! And yet no sound had ever been sweeter.

"You're not unwell, are you?"

"I am not."

"I'm glad. When you are ill, my Duke, I fall ill as well."

She clasped my hand tightly as she said it. Unlike the ailing Young Lady of reality, her hand and wrist brimmed with healthy vitality.

Bang!

The moment I made that comparison, I slammed my forehead into the table.

"Kyaah! My Duke?!"

"I'm sorry. Forgive me."

Even though it was only an illusion, I offered my apology to the Young Lady.

"I have work I must do. I need to escape this place even one second sooner."

I understood now what Princess Iren intended to give me. It was something I truly needed.

The moment I declared my will, the ducal dining table and the Young Lady's form vanished entirely. All that remained was a pitch-black void in every direction.

The dream I had longed for was gone, but my body had yet to break free of the dream itself. Dispelling this final space would be the correct answer to the professor's test.

"If it's a magic that shows dreams, the mana would start at the head, pass through the heart, and flow out through the organs."

First the memories would be examined, then ownership of the entire body seized. After projecting the target's desired fantasy, the body would be put into a state similar to sleep.

All magic could be undone through reverse calculation. That meant starting from the feet—where the mana would have arrived last.

"Feet, knees, groin, belly, arms, heart, neck. Reverse the flow of mana against the spell… and drive out the professor's mana lodged in the heart."

I could feel an ominous violet mana seething within my heart. But my reversed mana swept it clean and expelled it outward. Time elapsed so far: three seconds.

Yet the mana pooled in the heart was only a portion. What truly bound me was the high-density mana that had seeped into my brain.

I re-read the arrangement of mana wrapping my head and began unraveling the solid mana aggregate as though untwisting a knotted rope. As expected of a professor's spell, it was extraordinarily complex and durable.

But for me, this much was nothing. Snap. I undid the final arrangement. Now it was a soft, jelly-like clump of mana. I drove it out completely with an incantation.

What I wanted was a thorough cleaning.

A rushing wash of power. The violet mana clinging to my head was rinsed away completely. Time elapsed for this stage: ten seconds.

Combined with the two minutes spent inside the illusion, I had dismantled an Academy professor's magic in two minutes and ten seconds.

I opened my eyes and found myself back in the classroom.

"Yes! I wo—"

"Too bad."

A soft hand stroked my head. It felt just like the hand that had held mine in the illusion… Wait.

"Huh?"

"I won, Frey. Keep this weekend free. Understood?"

Iren grinned in triumphant delight.