Chapter 90
‘Since earlier…’
It’d been buzzing in my head since I left ho, grating on my nerves.
Fine, I get sothing’s about to happen, but this was excessive.
‘What the hell is it…’
Worse, I had no way to find out imdiately.
Clicking my tongue, I leaned against the window and closed my eyes.
After a while, Teacher Hectia entered, starting the morning assembly.
“Long ti, everyone. I’m deeply moved no cadets died over the break. The second sester of your first year has begun, so strive harder. Don’t lose your initial resolve. Reflect on why you’re called cadets, not students, and the decisions that brought you to the Academy.”
Teacher Hectia was truly stoic.
Jokes and pleasantries were foreign to her.
“And…”
“….”
“Hm…”
“….”
I’d never seen Hectia drag her words or hesitate like this.
It was refreshing, but what was causing it?
After much groaning, she declared.
“There’s a transfer student.”
Instantly, the eyes of Class A’s first-year cadets lit up.
“A transfer student?”
“What?! For real?!”
“Whoa! Aweso!”
‘What?’
My eyes widened too.
Scratching her forehead uncharacteristically, Hectia continued.
“In the Academy’s history, while many drop out within half a year of the entrance ceremony, mid-term admissions are unprecedented.”
‘Exactly.’
Even in the original story, I’d never read of new or transfer students.
What was happening?
“This transfer student is special. Despite sufficient ability, they refused enrollnt until recently, when they decided to join. The Academy’s upper echelons, recognizing their talent and potential, granted special admission to our Class A.”
Intriguing.
This ant a highly talented individual was joining.
‘This is good.’
A unique character absent from the original?
Perfect for my apocalypse-preparation ally collection!
‘If original-breaking goes this way, I’m all for it!’
My actions must’ve caused a butterfly effect… but calm down.
I was getting uncharacteristically excited.
This was a rare opportunity—I wouldn’t miss it.
“But before I introduce them, a warning: please refrain from rude behavior. I an it. Be delicate.”
“How long will you keep waiting?”
Hectia flinched, looking at the front door where the voice ca from.
But… she couldn’t have been as shocked as I was, my heart sinking.
The door slid open with a crash!
A woman in an Imperium Academy uniform entered.
Was it truly the sa uniform?
Her elegance and splendor never dimd, with noble golden hair and eyes.
She ascended the platform, looking down at Class A with poise.
“I permit you. Greet , rabble. I am Princess Adela.”
I buried my head on the desk.
This… no.
What was this?
What was happening?
A dream?
It’s a dream, right?
A dream?
I snapped my head up to the platform.
Adela, scanning the classroom, t my eyes.
Her eyes curved into crescent moons, and I accepted reality.
‘Daaaaamn.’
The crude curses I avoided for Lilac’s sake surged in my mind.
Not voicing them was thanks to superhuman restraint for the future.
Wild Instinct (Lv 3) wails in despair.
‘You were right…’
As my vision darkened, one person ca to mind.
‘Lilac, I think I’m screwed…’
The urge to “burn it all down” I felt when I first saw Gilbert at the Academy resurfaced.
‘No, no… Get a grip.’
It wasn’t just .
All of Class A froze.
The mad Princess Adela, granted command of part of the Shadow Knights by the Emperor, had arrived.
A single wrong word could lead to assassination that very day, with entire houses wiped out—an absolute tyrant.
Looking at Gilbert, he saw Adela as a new villain to defeat.
I felt dizzy.
‘Stop!
You’ll die if you challenge her at your level!’
He was one of the few I’d purely rejoice to see die from a fit, but only after the apocalypse was fully resolved.
While I steadied my mind, Hectia, feigning calm, addressed Adela.
“Where would you like to sit, uh, where’s good? Sit anywhere.”
“….”
Adela turned, staring at Hectia.
Her golden eyes glead, silently daring her to speak again.
“…Where would Your Highness like to sit? Please choose anywhere.”
“That spot will do.”
Adela’s finger pointed to the back corner by the window.
The loner’s only sanctuary.
My seat.
‘Take everything, why don’t you?
The powerless sure have it rough.’
I started packing, dumbfounded.
“No, stay put.”
Descending the platform, Adela strode toward with confident steps.
No hesitation in her gait.
“Having soone to block the sunlight isn’t bad.”
She sat naturally beside .
“So.”
Adela looked at .
Seemingly confident, but…
“Since it’s our first eting, shall we introduce ourselves?”
Awkward.
Like soone mustering great courage.
“I’m the Princess of the Imperium Empire, second in line to the throne…”
She shook her head, chuckling as if that wasn’t right.
“No, forget that. I’m Cadet Adela.”
She gazed at , smiling softly, a faint blush on her cheeks.
“Tell your na.”
“…Uh, ugh.”
Honestly, to my eyes, she was just a demon.
“Martin of Ulvhadin.”
“…Good.”
Adela smiled, as if that was it.
Yes.
This was how it should start.
This was right.
“Let’s get along, Martin.”
As an aside, witnesses later claid they saw Martin’s face turn pale and white for the first ti.
***
“Hello, everyone. It’s been a while, today… Eek!”
“Hey! It’s gym class today! Everyone get ready… Uh…”
“Uh, h-hello… I-I teach archaeology…”
Every teacher entering class froze or groveled upon seeing Adela.
Without exception, they trembled before her golden eyes—so even teared up.
Teachers, no less!
‘What the hell…’
Was Adela’s influence in the Academy, absent from the original, at play…?
It made sense…
Fine.
No more pompous teachers from the Vice Principal’s faction, so it wasn’t bad for .
But…
“Anyone want to solve this problem?”
During class.
“.”
“Ah, uh, P-Princess Adela. Would you like to solve it?”
She crossed her arms.
“No, Martin wants to try.”
She kept singling out—every class!
“Y-Yes! M-Martin, co up! Hurry!”
Dragged up, I solved the problem with a manic laugh.
“Good, as expected of the top written exam scorer. Go back.”
Turning, I saw the classroom, and my breath caught.
“….”
“….”
“….”
Class A, Matthew, the protagonist’s party—they all looked at with pity.
‘Tch, tch, tch…!’
Every curse imaginable surfaced, but I couldn’t voice them.
At the break between classes, I shot up from my seat.
I had to escape.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“….”
“Sit. Be my sunshade. Don’t leave my side.”
“….”
Through sheer endurance, I avoided bloodshed.
When lunch arrived…
“Hm, I’m not familiar with the Academy’s layout. Soone should guide .”
Class A’s hearts sank.
But then…
“Preferably soone unintrusive, with no friends.”
“….”
Everyone turned to in unison.
It felt like a punch to the gut.
‘No, wait.
This is an opportunity.’
Pretending to guide her to the dining hall, I took Adela to the Academy’s deserted rooftop.
Pinning her against the wall, I demanded.
“Princess Adela!”
She chuckled, as if unable to resist.
“Heh, what’s this, Martin?”
Heh?
Heeeh?
Look at her, laughing like it’s amusing.
“What’s your sche? Why co to the Academy and cause chaos?!”
“Let’s hear it. What do you think I’m here for?”
Her giggling, like a chatty schoolgirl, infuriated , and I blurted out everything.
“Looking to recruit Academy cadets for the Shadow Knights? Or to bury soone who’s annoyed you? If not that, then what? Have you taken control of the faculty and co to monitor them?”
Despite my rant, Adela smirked, chuckling as if delighted.
“No. I just ca.”
“What? Just ca? I hope you don’t expect to believe that.”
“Then let ask. Why can’t I co to the Academy?”
“….”
That question left speechless.
There was no reason she couldn’t.
But no matter how I thought about it, it didn’t suit Adela.
She should be embroiled in imperial intrigues, not at the Academy!
“It’s just… not like you.”
“What’s ‘like ’?”
Her questions kept coming.
Proof I was getting swept up by her.
“You’re…”
“Is there a law saying I can’t have a normal school life, unlike Kazaks?”
“…No.”
“Must I, in my youth, with a life full of misfortune, be denied even that?”
“…That’s not what I…”
Adela murmured with a faint smile, as if speaking of soone else.
“A daughter who killed her mother at birth, abandoned by her father—can’t she go to school?”
“….”
Hearing that… I had no words.
“Or soone who couldn’t protect her nursemaid and only knight…”
“Stop, stop! Enough!”
I surrendered.
Adela chuckled.
Was it my imagination that her smile seed more genuine than those in the palace?
Sighing inwardly, I began guiding her to the dining hall.
“Look, I heard the Academy’s Four Seasons dining hall is famous.”
“…Yes, where to?”
“Let’s go to Sumr.”
The Sumr Dining Hall had hot and cold breezes simultaneously, creating a unique pleasure.
Half the floor was a sandy beach, the other half a sea-like area with fish.
“Oh, this is it. Hm, the food’s better than I expected. Martin? Go fetch mine.”
“Tell the nu.”
“Dare you waste my ti, ant for grand affairs, with such trifles? Get sothing I’d like, now.”
“….”
So I grabbed a few of the priciest items.
“Tasteless.”
“….”
“But since you brought it, I’ll eat well.”
“….”
After eating, instead of returning to class…
“Be honored for generations. I permit you to guide .”
She abruptly asked to show her around the Academy.
“Sigh…”
While dragging Adela around, I realized sothing.
‘Co to think of it…’
I’d never explored the Imperium Academy like this.
I’d only shuttled chanically between classrooms and lecture halls, never caring what was where.
“Oh, oh. Not even the imperial greenhouse has this. Seeing a plant from books in person is quite moving. Good for walking a dog.”
I didn’t know the Academy had a greenhouse for plants.
“Hm, insolent rabbits… ignoring my call. So different from dogs.”
“….”
Or that cadets raised rabbits.
“Is that soccer? Looks tiring. Walking a dog would be better.”
“….”
Or that male cadets played soccer during lunch.
‘I wasn’t interested.’
To , the Imperium Academy was a battlefield, not a playground.
…But seeing kids enjoy their youth like this…
‘Not bad.’
After morning classes, lunch, afternoon classes, and evening, stuck with Adela exploring the Academy instead of going ho, we ended up at the rooftop of the magic studies building, notably tall for stargazing.
Standing on the rooftop overlooking the Academy grounds, Adela murmured.
“Not bad.”
Coincidentally, the sa as my thought.
A night breeze blew, her hair fluttering like golden threads, beautiful.
“Martin.”
“What?”
“Here’s to our school life ahead.”
“…Yes…”
I finally pieced it together.
Adela had changed, unnoticed by .
Even yesterday at the tournant, in the moving carriage, she was odd.
Joking about wrinkles from frowning.
Here, too, she was brazen but didn’t cross lines.
Perhaps…
“Is there a law saying I can’t have a normal school life, unlike Kazaks?”
“Must I, in my youth, with a life full of misfortune, be denied even that?”
“A daughter who killed her mother at birth, abandoned by her father—can’t she go to school?”
Adela might be seeking sothing beyond revenge.
‘I don’t know if this is good or bad.’
The answer would co in the future.
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