At the moment when Lilith was figuring out the identity of the chain wrapped around her neck and having a conversation with the spirits...
In front of the dormitory door, Ethan and another of his maids were talking about her.
"...So that's why Lilith ended up like this, sir."
"Yes. I don’t care if others misunderstand me, but I wanted you, as Lilith’s friend, to understand. You know as well as I do that Lilith has a tendency to recklessly throw herself into dangerous situations."
"Lilith... certainly does have that tendency."
Isabel recalled Lilith a few years ago, when she had no training in magic or swordsmanship, rushing bare-handed at the Hookfang.
Even though it had been several years since that incident, it was still a terrifying experience that occasionally surfaced in her dreams. So she could only nod in agreement with Ethan's words.
"It's not that I don't trust Lilith’s abilities... but this situation is far too dangerous. Besides, it's not even something Lilith should be handling in the first place."
"I agree with you, sir."
"I'm sorry to ask you this, but if she tries to do anything strange with the chain, please do your best to stop her. Since you're her longtime friend, she might listen to you a little more."
"I-I'll do my best!"
Even though Isabel was far from Lilith's level in terms of strength, she didn’t mind.
After all, Lilith had a soft spot for her and Katarina, never once using her full strength against them.
Isabel, fully prepared to throw herself in harm’s way to protect Lilith, only nodded with determination at Ethan's request.
"Right, I'm counting on you. I might come back late tonight, so please keep a close eye on her."
"Oh... Is it because you're busy with something related to Lilith?"
"Yes. Seeing how compulsive she’s become, it seems like I need to resolve this quickly. If I don’t let her know that she doesn’t have to handle this herself, she might keep acting this way."
"...If it's Lilith, that sounds likely."
The two of them, who had known Lilith closely for a long time, shared the same understanding and agreed.
"...I’d hope that she might calm down a little before graduation, but maybe I’m expecting too much."
Muttering to himself, Ethan walked off into the distance, and Isabel returned to the dormitory. The moment she entered, the sight that greeted her was...
"Lilith, I heard everything. Sir told you to stay quiet and—"
Clang, clang, clang.
"...Ah."
"Lilith...?"
Lilith was dismantling a table that was bolted to the dormitory floor with a dagger.
⁂ ⁂ ⁂
"Lilith, since Sir will be late today, it looks like we'll have to eat dinner by ourselves."
"...Oh, right. Well, if we're heading down to the dormitory dining hall, could you loosen this for a bit...?"
"Hmm? No need. There are ingredients in the dormitory fridge, so I'll cook for you. How’s that?"
"...Alright. I'll wait quietly, then."
"What are you talking about, Lilith? You’ll help too, right? You're not planning to leave me alone in the kitchen while you get up to something strange, are you?"
"...Of course not."
With a bright smile, Isabel half-dragged me, with the chain still around my neck, into the kitchen.
My operation to dismantle the table, which was about 60% complete, came to a halt thanks to Isabel’s intervention on Ethan's orders.
'I shouldn’t be wasting time like this...'
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Even at this very moment, the ones who kidnapped Princess Mezzlen might be up to something. And I had a responsibility to see this twisted story through to its conclusion.
The story had already diverged so much that it was possible things would unfold in completely unexpected ways, but if anyone could adapt to those changes, it would probably be me.
...The biggest problem was that Isabel was interfering in ways I hadn’t anticipated. I nearly panicked when she shoved her hand under my dagger while I was working on the table earlier.
'Ahhh! What the heck, Isabel?!'
'What are you doing, Lilith? Sir told you to stay quiet.'
'But putting your hand under a dagger?! That’s dangerous! It’s a good thing I stopped in time, or what if you got hurt?!'
'That’s what I should be asking you, Lilith. Why do you keep throwing yourself into situations where you might get hurt?'
'I... well, that’s... it doesn’t concern you, Isabel...'
'Even though I think Sir’s method of restraining you is a bit extreme, I still believe it’s best for you to stay quiet this time. So don’t try to run off, and stay in the dormitory until things are resolved.'
Swish.
'I told you, don’t do that!'
'And stop putting your hand in the way! It’s seriously dangerous!'
'It’s not dangerous if you don’t do anything weird, Lilith!'
After a brief exchange like this, it was clear that Isabel was fully prepared to throw herself in my path if I tried to escape.
In the original story, she had helped Lilith sneak into Ethan's room and even risked her life to buy time, but now, for some reason, she was siding with Ethan instead of me.
If I hurt Isabel by accident, ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself. I had no choice but to leave the table only partially dismantled, with three out of the five screws loosened, unable to do anything.
"Alright, Lilith. You look a bit tired today, so after dinner, let’s get some rest."
"...Okay."
"With that chain around your neck, it’ll be hard to bathe on your own, so I’ll help you."
"..."
"And don’t even think about sneaking away while I’m asleep. You know I’m a light sleeper, right? Plus, Sir said it’s fine for me to sleep in the same bed with you tonight, so I’ll be hugging you tight."
...There really was no getting away. Why was she being so overly thorough about this?
In a way, she was even harder to deal with than Ethan. At least with Ethan, I could go all out without worrying about hurting him, but Isabel didn't care about getting hurt and kept putting her body in the way of my dagger.
Isabel was one of the people I most wanted to avoid hurting in this world. My first friend, my closest friend, and someone who had no combat ability, meaning I always had to protect her.
And in the original story, she helped Lilith until the very end. I wanted her to stay on my side, which was why I wanted to avoid harming her at all costs.
"Thank you for the meal."
"...Thank you for the meal."
After finishing a tense dinner where I was keeping an eye out for an opportunity to escape, while Isabel kept watching me...
Once we cleared away the table, which was slightly wobbly because of the loosened screws, Isabel naturally led me toward the bathroom. Realizing I couldn’t let this go on, I made up my mind.
"Alright, Lilith. Let’s bathe and go to sleep."
"Isabel."
"Hm?"
"Sleep."
"Huuuh..."
Thud.
Lilith's third-tier auxiliary magic: Sleep.
Isabel, who was far too under-leveled and lacking in magic resistance, easily fell victim to the sleep spell and collapsed into my arms like a puppet with its strings cut.
"I’ll apologize properly later, Isabel."
After laying the unconscious Isabel gently on the bed, I unscrewed the last two screws from the table with my dagger.
...The night hadn’t even begun yet. If I left now, I wouldn’t be too late.
⁂ ⁂ ⁂
"Me-Mezzlen! How is Princess Mezzlen?!"
Several maids and butlers arrived in a hurry at the academy church, their footsteps echoing through the halls. Among them, a blonde maid with an air of elegance rushed into the room where Mezzlen lay.
"...She woke up briefly but fell asleep again. But at least it seems her life has been saved."
"Oh, thank goodness... truly, thank goodness..."
"She needs rest now, so she’s sleeping again. Seraphine and Rosewood did a lot of hard work."
"We’ll definitely have to repay those two later... oh, and the same goes for Sir Volt and Lord Ethan..."
"There’s no need to worry too much. We only did what we had to as citizens of the Empire."
"...Still, it’s royal etiquette to repay those who help. Especially since you saved my one and only sister, we won’t let this favor go unnoticed."
Seraphine, who had failed repeatedly in her dreams of future visions but had finally managed to save her sister, felt a wave of relief as she spoke to the person next to her.
"When you visited Professor Harold earlier... that was because of Seraphine, wasn’t it?"
"...Yes. He happened to be visiting the café to meet Lord Ethan today, so I asked him just in case. Since his blood type matched my sister's, I thought he could help if there were any complications."
"Thanks to him using the blood transfusion spell without hesitation, we managed to save her. Be sure to thank him later."
"...It couldn’t have been an easy decision for him. I thought he might refuse because the transfusion spell takes such a toll on the body."
"With a princess's life on the line, he wouldn’t refuse. Even Silena, despite her constant bickering, would use the transfusion spell without hesitation if Seraphine's life were at risk."
"Hmm... I'm not so sure. I’ve fought with Silena so many times that I can’t tell. She might even be pleased to have one less competitor."
"..."
The person speaking with Seraphine briefly showed a frustrated expression before relaxing again.
As the final day of the Academy Festival came to a close, a sinister group began to stir quietly in the shadows.