Exam Results

One week later, I received with trembling hands a sealed letter that had arrived from the academy.

(I did my best, but the chances that I passed are probably quite low.)

The memory of that frustrating test, with more than half of it left blank.

I was so afraid to see the result that I almost wanted to throw it away unopened, but the villainess had also said that unless one faces defeat, one cannot obtain the fruit called victory.

(Only by overcoming pain can one obtain true strength.)

I carefully opened the letter.

(Even if I failed the magical kingdom’s lowest-ranked school, it would not change in the slightest that I am the coolest and most stylish person in the world.)

That is right. A test is not such a big deal at all.

Even if it goes badly, that often leads to a leap forward in the future.

Telling myself that it would be all right, I opened the letter inside with a, “Here goes.”

It said, “Accepted.”

I jumped out of my room, about to go report to everyone, “I got in!”

When I turned the knob and opened the door, there was a dull sound of something being hit.

“Ow,” came a small voice.

(Huh? Is someone there?)

Wondering that, I opened the door, and Ciel was holding her head painfully.

Beside her, Vincent was silently holding his forehead.

Apparently, they had been eavesdropping in front of my room.

(They were worried about my exam results.)

I felt warmth filling my chest.

Relaxing my cheeks into a smile, I gave my report.

“I got in!”

“We did it! You did it, Lady Mythia!”

Ciel hugged me tightly.

The two of us spun around and around in the mansion hallway.

“As expected of you, Lady Mythia. To pass the magical kingdom’s most difficult academy through self-study.”

Vincent said that while holding his forehead.

(His got hit worse than Ciel’s.)

Thinking, I am sorry I opened the door so forcefully, I then noticed, Huh? I feel like there was something in that sentence that caught my attention.

“The magical kingdom’s most difficult academy?”

“It is the magical kingdom’s only S-rank academy, after all. It is known for boasting one of the highest difficulty levels on the continent.”

“Doesn’t S-rank mean the easiest?”

“You do tell excellent jokes, Lady Mythia. S means the highest grade. It is the term used to indicate the very best in this country.”

“…………”

I silently looked up into empty space.

Silence followed.

Ciel was rubbing her cheek against my head.

Vincent said with a slightly puzzled face,

“Could it be that you truly misunderstood?”

“No, I understood everything. It was a splendid villainess-like joke of mine.”

“I see. That is a relief.”

Vincent looked relieved.

(I shall take this misunderstanding with me to the grave.)

I resolved to quietly bury this distinctly unsplendid misunderstanding.

(I see. No wonder it was so difficult.)

And about a third of the questions had been mixed in without answers that could possibly be solved.

It was an unexpected turn of events, but I had passed, so I decided to take it positively.

(It seems fate is telling me to aim higher.)

A kind, easygoing environment would be nice, but there are also good things that can only be nurtured in a harsh environment.

My original goal had been to become a villainess easily and leisurely, but if fate wished it, then I would meet it head-on while trying not to overdo it.

As for not having aptitude for standard magic, there was no problem at all as long as it did not get exposed.

As a genius girl living her second life, I had no openings.

(I will conquer this highest-difficulty academy full of geniuses and reign as a cool villainess.)

I struck a splendid and stylish pose.

Ciel sniffed my head and said, “Lady Mythia smells like sunshine.”

“I hear she is a genius who solved questions from the First-Class Mage Examination at the age of eleven.”

The royal capital of the magical kingdom.

In one room of a villa owned by the royal family, two boys were talking.

“There are enough geniuses to sweep up and throw away. To begin with, this academy is the kind of place where you cannot even enter unless you are the sort of person called a prodigy.”

The beautiful blond boy said that while solving a workbook spread out on his desk.

His feather pen moved busily.

“As expected of Your Highness, the Third Prince of the magical kingdom and the top student of S-Class. You are called the emperor of this academy, which proclaims absolute meritocracy.”

The other boy was dressed in butler’s clothes.

His refined and androgynous features were devoid of emotion like a machine.

“You are also called one of the academy’s twin pillars as a genius who rivals me. You are holding back so that I can remain top of the class.”

“That is not—”

“It is fine. I know. All we can do is keep dancing in order to become the selves everyone expects us to be.”

The blond boy gripped his feather pen tightly.

“In this world, results are everything. I absolutely have to win. No matter what means I must use.”

A shadow crossed the expression of the boy in butler’s clothes for an instant.

But perhaps that had just been an illusion.

The next moment, his expression had already returned to the same blank look as before. He nodded.

“Yes. That is correct.”

The room was wrapped in silence.

Only the sound of the pen moving echoed through the room.