Perhaps because he had used some quite provocative words, Milia was noticeably flustered.

"What are you talking about? I just made this to watch people who might be a threat to me!"

"H, however, there are ordinary people inside too, and you don't know what they might do. Watching all of that, isn't that voyeurism...?"

"Ahem, Ottbo. It's not voyeurism, but stealing sight or stealing glance."

"Ah, r, really?"

"Well...maybe later it could actually become real voyeurism."

"Gasp!"

"What do you mean by that?!"

Luca subtly provoked, and Milia reacted with even more intensity.

"This is a technology that will become a fence to protect us! We never know when or where the attacks from the First Prince or Third Prince might come, so what's wrong with being prepared?"

"I never said it was wrong. But from the public's perspective, I think Ottbo's reaction is the answer to what you're doing."

"Well...that...uh......"

Luca's matter-of-fact tone seemed to shock Milia even further.

She was at a loss for words and unable to respond, while Luca just shrugged his shoulders.

"I understand the situation you're in, and I know how you are dealing with it. But you must know yourself that it's not exactly something admirable to show others, isn't it?"

"I... I just wanted to give you trust! You were put in danger because of me......"

It seemed Milia was quite confused by reactions she hadn't expected.

She had thought that Luca and Ottbo, upon seeing this ability with limitless utility, would react with, "Wow~ amazing~ as expected, someone we can trust and follow!"

Since it was a power that could protect them after they were involved in the power struggle of the Fourth Princess.

But Luca furrowed his brow, speaking with a cold voice, as if dissatisfied with her words.

"You wanted to give us trust? That's a strange story. Are you saying you expect us to betray you?"

"Huh? Ah, no......"

"I think I get the gist of it. Maybe you were worried that us helping you would make us targets of your enemies like the Third Prince, and you thought we'd be afraid of that."

"... That's right."

When Milia nodded her head, Luca narrowed his eyes.

"If we were afraid of that, we wouldn't have come to save you in the first place."

"..."

"This guy and I are only first years, but as the second sons of Count families, we know quite a bit. We can do some calculations. The Traverse family and the Gress family, for example, are not so easily oppressed without evidence."

Not just any Count family, but the Traverse family in charge of national defense, and the Gress family, founders of drive magic, held considerable power.

Even as second sons, they had the dignity not to stand idly by if someone tried to oppress their bloodline without evidence.

"That might be true, but..."

"And one more thing: frankly, from an objective perspective, helping you is a stupid thing to do. I calculated that it'd be a loss to some extent."

"Eh."

At Luca's frank words, both Milia and Ottbo stared at him wide-eyed.

Seeing their reactions, Luca gave a cynical smile.

"Even so, we helped you. What do you think the reason is?"

"... Is it because you're just count second sons with no inheritance rights, so you saw potential in the Fourth Princess' faction?"

"Right. Since you think that way, that's probably why you so proudly showed us something only a paranoid person would think of."

At Luca's scathing words, Milia's face turned red as if she'd taken a blow.

She thought she'd found the perfect technology to protect herself with that surveillance system—but hearing it put that way, she felt embarrassed.

"I don't want to have to say this, but there's only one reason we helped you. Because you're a friend."

"Fri...end...?"

"Yeah. Friend. There's no other reason to help you."

Luca spoke such embarassing words in a deadpan tone, making them sound even more sincere for it.

"Ottbo said he wanted to have lunch with you again. Isella asked us to investigate Theodore Partigel. And at the end of that investigation, we found your crisis."

Luca looked at Ottbo, Isella, then Milia in turn.

"So we decided to help. Rationally, helping you is crazy. But it couldn't be helped. Playing together with you and Isella was too much fun. Isn't that right, Ottbo?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah. That's right."

Luca suddenly passed the baton. Ottbo was flustered, but soon put on a serious expression.

"When I heard the Third Prince was involved, I worried a lot. But I didn't want to lose a friend. So I chose to help you along with Luca."

"That's your reason? Are you serious?"

Milia asked in disbelief, and Luca replied in a detached tone.

"I don't think I'm the type to lie about something like this."

"... That makes no sense."

"Milady."

Still unable to believe, Milia was grasped by Isella on the shoulder.Milia turned her head and met her eyes.

"...."

Isella said nothing, but the look in her eyes said enough.It was time to accept it.

"... Fine. So. Haa."

Milia let out a sigh.Then with her eyes a little glazed over, she spoke.

"I'll be honest. Because of the First and Third Princes, I've lost too many people around me. So I'm afraid you two might end up like that, too. And even more than that... I was afraid you might betray me, too."

She had been betrayed many times.

By people she'd hired, by people who said they'd be her patron, by those she did business with.

And even this time, someone she thought she liked had betrayed her.

"So I wanted to give you trust. To show that the path you chose isn't a weak or disappointing one. That I'm someone you can trust."

That's why she didn't want to be abandoned anymore.

She just wanted them to stay by her side. That was all.

"Can't you make up your mind—are you calculating, naive, evil, or good? Pick one."

Then Luca cut her off in a brusque tone.

Luca's eyes met Milia's.

His lake-like pupils reflected her.

"You don't believe I helped you because you're a friend, yet you show us that thing and tell us to trust you? Interesting."

"...."

"Be honest about how you feel. Your ugly act doesn't work on me."

No matter how much they called each other friends, it was quite harsh talk for facing a princess.

But the instant she heard those words, it was as though something in her chest was released.

'So he found me out.'

Milia gave a bitter smile.

Yes, it had all been an act.

From the moment she first met Luca and Ottbo, Milia had been acting.

Whenever she met them, she never once showed her real self; she always played the part of a girl from a novel or the ideal school life she dreamed about.

The reason was simple.

She only thought of them as tools to make her school life more fun.

Isn't it funny?

Just a count's second son, and he rejected serving as the Fifth Princess's escort.

That annoyed her, and she wanted to see what kind of person he really was, so she told Isella to intimidate him.

But he blocked Isella's intimidation.

A mere count's second son, yet he blocked the Imperial secret weapon, the Blade of Moonlight.

Even if it was just a small threat, it was a surprising feat.

'He might just be a more fun toy than I thought?'

She thought that, so she decided to hang around him even in the academy.

Once they were together, it was even more fun than she thought. It was fascinating how he subtly affected Isella.

So she thought she'd keep him in her hand and maybe nurture him into a card she could use someday.

A toy for amusement, to be thrown away when she tired of it. Giving the minimum of care so he didn't break.

That was about the extent of Milia's feelings for Luca.

She was never interested in Ottbo. To her, he was just an accessory that came with the Luca toy.

On the other hand, Theodore was a bit different.

She was attracted to him because, to some degree, she thought he was her equal.

The fifth son, perhaps, but with an excellent family background, and he'd built his own little faction. He showed her pleasures she'd never experienced before.

So she was drawn to Theodore, and gave her heart to him.

What she wanted from school life was to have fun, and in that respect, Theodore satisfied her more than Luca.

But now, looking back, Theodore turned out to be just a pawn of the Third Prince, while Luca protected Isella and herself with his own power, strategy, and connections.

Even though he was just a count's second son, he made the risky move of challenging the Third Prince.

On top of that, he'd realized early on that she was only acting.

'He wasn't a toy, after all.'

He wasn't some toy to play with and throw away whenever she got bored.

A chess piece on the board—or maybe an opponent sitting across the board.

At the very least, he was someone she couldn't measure.

'Maybe Isella was right.'

Raising Luca to S-class, she'd expected him to entertain her, but honestly, she only wanted a bit of fun during academy life.

But to think he'd do this much.

The scale in her mind was tipping in favor of Luca.

"... But calling me ugly is a bit much, isn't it? And are you really a first year?"

"I don't think you have any right to say that."

"Well, I'm not really a first year, after all. I'm your senior."

Milia said that, then let out a deep sigh and fiddled with her hair.

"I wanted you to obey me. Whether by my charm or by my power. By any means."

It was the first time she admitted her true feelings.Luca chuckled in response.

"Finally, revealing your foul inner self."

"Oh, come on! Don't say it like that!"

"Yeah, yeah. Either way, keep going."

Milia glared at Luca's teasing words, then sighed again.

"I thought that you'd feel some awe seeing that system. It's a powerful and scary thing, being able to watch everyone."

"But Ottbo here made it just seem dirty."

"Exactly! You really get on my nerves."

Milia shot at Ottbo, who looked flustered.

"N-no, that's not what I meant..."

"It's fine. Just joking. Haa...how should I put this. I was just surprised at your innocent reaction. I didn't think someone could see it that way."

Milia now seemed composed, her emotions settled.

"From the start, I wondered how I should deal with you. Luca was interesting, but Ottbo honestly wasn't much use. So, I just acted as pure as possible. Like sampling what friendship was like. It was kind of fun, even though I didn't think you'd actually be any help to me."

"Y-you thought of us like that?"

"I guess my act worked pretty well. Judging by your faces."

Ottbo looked quite shocked.Milia smiled, satisfied, then frowned at Luca.

"When did you notice? That treating you all as friends was just an act?"

"Well. I suppose it was from the beginning."

"Huh, impressive."

Truthfully, he hadn't known that. He knew in the original story she was a cold-hearted villain who used everyone as chess pieces, but he thought she was better than that now.

'At least, before I came here.'

But after arriving here, he found out.

She was already a near-villain figure, even more than he thought.

She hadn't experienced any critical turning point yet and hadn't completely fallen, but there was definitely a dark side to her.

'Women are scary. I thought she was a pure girl talking about love, but it was all just an act.'

Luca marveled inwardly, but kept a calm face on the outside.

"Still, this fool seemed to like you, and being part of this farce was more fun than life at home, so I kept quiet. Playing friends isn't too bad."

"Lu, Luca!"

As his own secrets kept being revealed, Ottbo blushed and tried to stop him.

Seeing this, Milia found herself laughing before she realized it.

"... That's true. Playing friends... it's not so bad."

After that, they all quieted down for a moment. They needed time to sort their thoughts.

After a while, Luca spoke abruptly.

"Shouldn't we be heading back? If we don't rest now, tomorrow's classes will be tough."

"... Right. Well, we can talk again at lunch tomorrow."

"Ottbo, you're finally getting what you wanted."

"Lu, Luca!"

"Hehe. Did you want to eat with me that badly, Ottbo?"

"Ugh..."

Ottbo looked as if he wanted to crawl into a hole.

The four of them were about to leave the club hideout when Luca, as if recalling something, spoke.

"Oh, as I said, I don't think that thing is necessarily bad."

"... The surveillance system?"

"Yeah. But it feels lacking."

Luca recalled something he'd thought of when he'd read the original *'I Became the Savior of the Academy.'

"It's a pity if it's just for surveillance. If it uses your Dimension Core, couldn't it do more than surveillance—like interference?"

"That...well...um..."

"And one more thing—using it sparingly when necessary, rather than indiscriminately, isn't really shameful at all, in my opinion."

Luca finished speaking and left the hideout, and Milia, following after, had a strange look on her face.

"So that's how it is...?"

Luca himself probably couldn't have known that this short conversation would awaken Milia in a completely different way.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=I hope Ottbo and Milia end up together...That would be good imo...Though I'm not sure if it would be good for Ottbo, he'd end up henpecked...But at least he would get what he wants...【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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