Unexpected Situation

When I confessed in order to be rejected, it somehow succeeded instead.

Faced with a situation I had not anticipated in the slightest, I ended up clutching my head.

“That’s amazing, Mythia! To actually get a yes from His Highness that Prince after confessing to him!”

Kate celebrated excitedly for me, but this was not a situation where I could be happy at all.

“That’s not it, Kate… I needed to be rejected.”

“What do you mean?”

“I needed to confess and be rejected in order to obtain my ideal future. I failed. I have to correct fate immediately.”

“…Come to think of it, you did say you were cursed by the world. That you could never walk the same path.”

Kate pressed her lips together as she spoke.

I had only said something that sounded appropriate on the spot, but apparently it had remained in Kate’s memory as a striking line.

“Two people who must never be joined, heading toward an unhappy fate…”

Kate took my hand and continued.

“I’m rooting for you! Don’t give up. Don’t lose to fate! I’m sure you can reach a future where you’ll be happy!”

“That’s not it! I must not reach that future!”

“So you’re trying to step aside and make the person you love happy…”

Kate’s eyes had turned moist.

She had completely misunderstood.

(First I need to understand the situation)

The next day, I called Prince Felix out to the area in front of the rooftop.

“What is this supposed to mean?”

“I do not know what it is you wish to say.”

“I’m asking why you accepted my confession.”

“Because I wanted it.”

“Even though you didn’t even know my name?”

“I knew your name.”

Prince Felix said,

“My older brother spoke of you before. The acting lord who saved Lineage in Count Lumiore’s territory. I had heard you possessed intelligence and talent beyond your years.”

“…I see. So you knew.”

After sighing, I said,

“I don’t even remember your name.”

“I thought as much. Even the name on your love letter was misspelled.”

“Then why did you accept my confession?”

“Because out of everyone who has confessed to me so far, you were the one least interested in me.”

Prince Felix said,

“I was astonished when I read the letter. It did not seem remotely like something to give to the person you were confessing to. Eighty percent of it was spent describing how to tell whether vegetables were fresh.”

“There was so shockingly little for me to write. It couldn’t be helped.”

“I became interested in you. I thought you would be useful.”

“Useful?”

“A shield to deflect confessions. Being called out every week by people I have never even spoken to, only to have them cry in front of me, is not enjoyable.”

“You could just not go.”

“As a prince of this country, I need to avoid the risk of earning unnecessary resentment.”

Prince Felix said with the corner of his lips raised.

“I have absolutely no affection for you, nor will I ever have any. I have no interest in something as ridiculous as romance, and girls who are the shortest in class and look like little children are even more impossible.”

“I’m delighted we feel the same, you vile, rotten trash prince.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment. I’ll say this first: you would be wise not to try to reject this arrangement. If you do, unfortunate coincidences may pile up and make it impossible for you to remain at this school.”

“Are you saying that as a threat?”

“Yes. Isn’t that what you always do?”

(…He knows that I have been moving in the shadows of noble society as a villainess)

I did not know how much he knew.

But if I handled this badly, the people of Lineage might suffer as well.

“Fine. I’ll go out with you, you lowest, cruelest, most depraved prince.”

At my words, Prince Felix gave a wicked grin and said,

“Good. I look forward to it, you bean-sized girl trying too hard to look cool.”

(Unforgivable…! To call me bean-sized…!)

After that conversation on the rooftop, I was trembling with anger.

My height was not as small as a bean, and besides, was that way of putting it not also terribly rude to the legumes we farmers worked so hard to grow?

(That garbage prince… someday I’m absolutely going to make him regret it…!)

I considered telling Vincent and his team of agents to dig up Prince Felix’s weaknesses, but somehow managed to stop myself with, H-he’s still just a child. And I’m an adult.

“Listen, Kate. That prince is the worst.”

I told Kate what had happened on the rooftop.

“His Highness that Prince?”

Kate said in surprise.

“I can’t believe it. He’s always perfect, never showing anyone an opening, the popular prince everyone admires.”

“That’s only his surface. His true nature is outrageous. He’s hopeless.”

“I guess that makes sense. He does seem like he lives in a way that would build up a lot of stress, so maybe he really does have that side to him.”

Kate put a hand to her mouth and looked thoughtful.

“But that means you ended up dating a two-faced prince whose dark side only you know about, even though you don’t like him.”

“Depending on how you look at it, yes.”

“That sounds just like the heroine of a romance novel.”

“Hauugh.”

I staggered and writhed.

“No… no. I want to become a villainess…”

“I think being the heroine would be better, though.”

“Absolutely not. I have to fix this situation quickly if I’m going to guide the future in the right direction.”

But Prince Felix clearly thought I had value to him.

And from the perspective of a romance novel villainess, he had to be the one to cast me aside, so it would be difficult to break things off immediately.

(Then if Prince Felix were to find someone he truly liked…!)

A thought flashed through my mind.

And this academy had the perfect person for that.

The transfer student from a commoner background in F-Class.

I made inquiries and gathered information about her.

Her name was Claris Maitland.

She came from a poor working-class background.

Even though people around her told her that commoner girls had no need to study magic, she studied desperately and won admission through her own efforts.

She was serious, hardworking, and kind-hearted.

(I see. She’s completely different from me)

She really did sound exactly like a protagonist.

And as the lifelong archenemy of me, the strongest villainess, her strength of heart that did not bend even in adversity was very reassuring.

(First, I need the meeting scene. Since this is the encounter with my lifelong archenemy, it has to be impressive enough to stay in her memory for the rest of her life)

I thought about what kind of meeting it should be.

If I wanted it to feel villainous, maybe it would be better if I seemed unpleasant at first.

Wouldn’t something like brushing past her on purpose, making her drop to her knees, then looking down at her and saying, “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you,” score highly on the villainess scale?

Then afterward, if I muttered in her ear, “Hurry up and rise,” it would give off not just a simple villain vibe, but also the aura of a powerful character, which was very much to my taste.

Good. Let’s go with that.

(To shove the protagonist properly when I run into her, I need to practice body-checking first)

After practicing tackling, I retied the laces on my thick-soled shoes and headed for the South Wing, where F-Class was.

That place, also known as the Lower Tier, was clearly set apart from the other sections.

All the equipment was a generation older, and the students looked as though they hated everything in this world.

It was probably full of people who had experienced their first setback in life at this meritocratic academy and had simply soured afterward.

It seemed to be extremely rare for an S-Class student to come there, and everyone was widening their eyes and saying things like, “H-hey, look at that,” and “Why is the transfer student from S-Class here?”

(It doesn’t feel bad at all)

Feeling like a powerful character in a story, I looked around at the exterior of the South Wing.

Then, just as I was about to go inside, I realized that I did not know what the protagonist Claris looked like.

(If I don’t know her face, I can’t body-check her, look down at her with a smug face, and then say something that shows I recognize her talent and gives me that powerful-character aura…!)

I needed to ask where she was, so I looked around.

My eyes landed on a girl sitting on a deserted emergency staircase, eating her lunch.

I approached her, thinking I would ask her, and then caught my breath at the angry shouting I heard.

“Just because teachers favor you even though you’re only in F-Class, don’t get carried away!”

Three girls were looking down at the girl who had been eating her lunch.

They had surrounded her, and were hurling insults so contemptuous I wanted to cover my ears.

(Is that girl being bullied?)

I hid behind a tree and watched.

The next moment, the sound of a lunchbox being knocked over rang out.

“Come on, eat it. You’re always eating our leftovers anyway, so it’s the same thing, right?”

Laughter overlapped.

(Ah, no. This is unacceptable)

That was what I thought.

Bullying someone who did not resist, and then treating food so carelessly.

They were the weak kind of evil I hated most.

If that was the case, then what was I supposed to do when I saw it?

That was obvious.

Become true evil—cool and magnificent evil—and blow away this worthless evil.

“What are you doing?”

They must not have expected anyone to be watching.

At the sight of me appearing, the expressions of the three girls twisted.

“Would you mind not interfering when you’re not involved?”

“This has nothing to do with you.”

“Wait. Isn’t she that transfer student from S-Class everyone’s been talking about?”

Unease spread across the faces of the three girls.

“We were just playing around.”

“Right, it’s not bullying or anything. Really.”

“Well then, we have somewhere we need to be.”

The girls fled as though escaping.

(It didn’t even come to me blowing them away)

Sighing, I picked up the scattered side dishes and returned them to the lunchbox.

“It’s dirty. Your hands will get filthy.”

“It’s not dirty. You made this lunch by getting up early so you could save money, didn’t you?”

“How do you know?”

“I can tell just by looking.”

Dishes made from parts of vegetables that would normally be thrown away, and crusts of bread carefully prepared so they could still be eaten deliciously.

As someone who worked in agriculture, I took an immediate liking to her lunch.

“Come with me.”

Wiping my hands with a handkerchief, I took her to the clock tower where S-Class was.

“This isn’t a place someone from F-Class like me is allowed to enter…”

“It’s fine because I’m here.”

Into the cafeteria reserved exclusively for S-Class.

I ordered an extra-large serving of the “Luxurious S-Class Exclusive Lunch.”

“I-I’ve never seen such a luxurious meal before…”

The girl from F-Class stared blankly.

I accepted the cafeteria meal made by the dedicated chefs and looked for an empty seat.

“Huh, Mythia? Didn’t you have plans today?”

I set down my tray at the empty seat next to Kate.

“I found a little kitten soaked in the rain. Change of plans.”

“A little kitten soaked in the rain…?”

Kate looked doubtful, then blinked in surprise when she saw the girl from F-Class.

“Is this okay? She’s from F-Class.”

“I’m the one ordering it, so it’s fine, isn’t it? Besides, I think the rule itself is questionable, treating students differently based on grades.”

“That may be true, but…”

“When I’m in doubt, I choose the coolest way.”

After saying that with a composed face, I held out the extra-large luxurious lunch to the girl sitting across from me.

“Here, let’s eat together.”

“I-is that really okay?”

“I accidentally ordered too much. I can’t finish it by myself.”

The girl from F-Class stared blankly at me, then—

“Th-thank you very much!”

—hesitantly began eating the luxurious lunch.

“Wah, meat… it’s real…”

The girl from F-Class shone with delight, stuffing her cheeks with the luxurious lunch as though she were touching a treasure she had never seen before.

(She’s such a good girl…!)

Smiling softly, I urged her to eat more.

“You can have some of mine too.”

Kate must have felt the same way.

She held out some of her own side dishes and said,

“N-no, but that would be…”

“I’m on a diet. It would be a waste to turn it into leftovers, right?”

“Thank you very much…! Then I’ll have some!”

While eating the luxurious lunch, she teared up and said, “Am I really allowed to be this happy?”

(What a pitiful girl…! I want to make her happy…!)

Holding back the swell of something inside me, I watched her happy face.

(…Huh? I feel like I’m forgetting something important)

Then it hit me. I remembered.

That’s right—I had gone to the South Wing in order to declare war on the F-Class protagonist.

(That said, this development isn’t bad. I managed to become close to a girl from F-Class. Through her, I can gather information on the protagonist and move in the shadows)

Satisfied with this major result and progress, I said to her after she finished the luxurious lunch,

“By the way, I’m interested in Claris Maitland from F-Class. Is there anything you know about her?”

“Eh?”

The girl from F-Class blinked and said,

“Um, I’m Claris Maitland.”