“Of course, I’m still working on finding those herbs. But, Your Highness, my job also involves protecting you,” Alfred turned back to his brother, his face burning with rage. “I wish to inform you now. This man, he’s manipulating you. I can see it in his face. He’s a Defense Forces trooper, of course, he’d stoop so low to do this. Nothing else matters to these men than killing demons.”

  “And what’s wrong with killing demons?” Wilhelm asked with a laugh, when suddenly, Alfred’s sword nearly struck his neck. But in response, Wilhelm merely leaned close to it, his skin touching the blade and drawing blood. “Come on, Alfred. Isn’t that why they send so many young men up north? To kill demons? What’s wrong with doing the job we were assigned to do?”

  Is killing demons a touchy subject between these two? Ugh, they’re so weird.

  Alexa watched from the sidelines as they continued their little fight. She did feel a bit concerned though. After all, it wasn’t like Alfred wasn’t making a good point.

  This Wilhelm person…

  He came to her because he knew that she had an ability that might be important for something, maybe even for fighting demons?

  Now that she remembered it, he did practically the same thing to Phoebe. She could kill archdemons, thus, he did everything to awaken her saintly abilities and make sure that she’d eventually turn into the greatest weapon humanity had.

  Was Wilhelm doing the same to her?

  Then why, in the original timeline, did he never approach Alexa Theresa? Did it happen behind the scenes, but Alexa Theresa simply rebuffed him?

  This plot is too messy. Geez, why can’t the author just write something much simpler? Like seriously, this’ll be so much easier to navigate if the story were less convoluted!

  “Please, would you two cease this?” Alexa asked, exasperated. “And Sir Alfred, stop doing those theatrics again. I know you can’t truly push that blade to finish the job. Give up on that silly act of yours.”

  “Tsk,” Alfred withdrew his sword, while Wilhelm remained smiling as he stepped back. “This one-eyed freak is bad news, I tell you, princess.”

  “I can see that,” Alexa looked up at Wilhelm. “Now, peasant, I asked that you help me gain my rightful powers, and you agreed if I lend you my help, didn’t you? Then I demand, right now, that you spill the truth. What do you want from me?”

  “I merely ask that you use your authority as Imperial Princess to deploy one of my battalions near Perlenstadt. I need more of my men here to train recruits who’ll become elite demon hunters. I’ll also send my men an order to bring necessary ingredients for a stopgap elixir that will help in your condition, should you honor my request.”

  Alexa narrowed her eyes. Is that the excuse this weirdo wants to use? She doubted ‘training’ was his only goal. Considering what he did in the story, being the catalyst for the saintess’ journey to becoming a true heroine, he must want more than that.

  I see…that’s right! He’s trying to get his men closer to the Grand Academy so that when the time comes…

  The passages from the novel suddenly flashed in front of Alexa’s eyes. Her death, the death of so many students, the Imperial Capital being half-destroyed, with so many civilians dead, and Sloth…all of that, maybe it could be stopped with his men here?

  Maybe, he could even take the spotlight from the Von Hecker group if he doesn’t die. After all, during that battle, when Wilhelm and his men died, even when they technically did most of the work to defeat Sloth, it was Von Hecker’s men who liberated the city, and thus, were visible to its people.

  Not Wilhelm.

  This peasant…indeed. He has good use. I just need to play along a bit.

  With a smug grin, Alexa nodded.

  “I see then. I’ll do my best to aid you in that goal. After all, Sir Alfred here did tell me that last year’s ‘Winter Campaign’ had been so bad, that our valiant defenders in the north require more trained men to bolster their ranks,” Alexa smiled, as she placed her gloved hand on her chest, trying to act as if she was a fine strategist. “This should help greatly to meet our Empire’s needs.”

  “But, Your Highness!” Alfred protested again. “Don’t fall for his trap. Not even the Regency Council will permit such foolishness. To let those rats near the Imperial Capital—what if they try something?”

  Alexa’s eyes turned cold.

  “Did you call me a fool? And did you call the peasants defending the Empire rats?” Alexa asked. That quickly silenced the knight, while Wilhelm smiled with amusement beside Alfred.

  A peasant is a human being working for me. Rats are pure yuck. Don’t you dare equate them!

  “...No, of course not, princess,” Alfred finally answered.

  “Have some backbone, Sir Alfred. Tsk, I suppose all peasants truly are peasants no matter how high they are. Anyhow, this is my decision on the matter. After all, I need Mr. von Eisen’s aid here to secure my magic,” Alexa curled her fist. “That’s why, I must do this. For my good, and the Empire’s good.”

  Hehehe, see? I’m so much smarter than Alexa Theresa. Hey, system, you agree with me, right?

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Shut up!

  That runt hadn’t been helpful for quite a while, and Alexa was already getting annoyed by its antics.

  She already told the system that she didn’t like her odds when she’d be playing with cardiac arrest, but it simply didn’t listen.

  “In any case, if you two have disagreements, I’m not in the mood for it. Please keep it to yourself,” Alexa turned away from them, before turning back with her head. “And please, if you wish to turn your brotherly quarrels physical, keep the blood and filth at a minimum. I prefer to preserve this academy’s harmony while I stay here. Have a good day.”

  Waving at them, she left the garden, before wincing.

  Damn it, I totally smell nasty right now. Those jerks, holding me up for so long when I needed a bath!

  +++

  “Franz is stepping up again?”

  “My, he’s starting already.”

  “His magic is truly wonderful!”

  “Man, I wish I could be half as cool as him.”

  Alexa boredly eyed the singular man in the center of their spacious class hall. As the professor who taught them water magic continued her lecture about common water magic spells, she used Franz von Hohenzollern, the next in line to the Duchy of Hohenzollern, as a sort of human prop to present it to the class.

  In the story, this guy was one of the love interests for the saintess, and so, as usual, he was truly handsome, with flashy purple hair and purple eyes. The girls gushed over him, and the boys were inspired by his coolness, save for the few lower noblemen at the back who shot him jealous stares.

  As for Alexa, she was bored. There were, to be honest, not a lot of things new about this class, and it didn’t matter to her yet, because unlike everyone in the room, she was de facto magicless.

  Indeed. Even the lowliest student here had some form of magic. Unlike her. Normally, if someone else were in her position, they’d be ostracised and bullied. She doubted they’d even get into the academy.

  But Alexa, even when she just sat here silently listening to the lecture, taking notes in her notebook using her fountain pen, she was surrounded by the highest-ranking noble girls who looked up to her.

  They gossiped, talked about the lesson, and some even talked to her with smiles and laughter. Of course, it was amusing to Alexa how much these girls gushed and praised her, as she was the most perfect princess out there.

  But…

  Each time she saw how each student showed their magic, and if they had even the most minor imperfections, the faces of the girls near her would turn monstrous, as they gossiped negatively about them.

  She sometimes feared that they only treated her well because she was the Crown Princess.

  No way.

  Alexa shook her head, laughing internally at those silly thoughts.

  No, I simply am so good and beautiful that even without proper magic, they can see how brilliant I am. Of course.

  They certainly would be so much more dazzled once Alexa finally overcomes her main hurdle, and completes a formation ritual.

  With magic, and her already well-established superiority, it would be positively reinforcing. At that point, she might even become so popular that a guillotine would be an impossible problem.

  She continued jotting down notes, enjoying the show of magic from a distance, as she was consumed by a fervor of trying to catch up to her peers.

  Learning more about magic, even if she wasn’t able to use it, was still necessary. It would speed up her progress much more later, after all.

  When she was done, Alexa left the classroom with a smile on her face, surrounded by groups of noble girls all talking about how amazing Von Hohenzollern was. They even compared him to the two other noblemen who were at the top of the classes in the university, but Alexa wasn’t that much interested in it.

  For her, what mattered was getting to Wilhelm quickly so she could try completing more of his silly training and finally get what she needed for the formation ritual.

  But she suddenly bumped into Phoebe.

  Immediately, the noble girls went silent, then, they promptly gave their goodbyes to Alexa, and left, most of them either refusing to look at Phoebe or snarling at her. Phoebe was a bit surprised by it, and when they were gone, she looked down a bit on the floor.

  “Hey,” Alexa suddenly called out, one of her hands on her waist as she frowned at Phoebe. “Raise your chin.”

  “Y-Your Highness?”

  “I said raise your chin. Tsk,” Alexa huffed. “Ignore them. They’re just like that. It’s normal, but that does not mean you’ll let yourself be beaten down like that.”

  “I apologize,” Phoebe meekly said. “I didn’t mean to look so weak.”

  Alexa sighed. She had been meeting with this girl daily already, trying her best to befriend her fully in order to avoid being sliced. But each time she met her, the more she felt bad about her, and the treatment she received from the rest of the school.

  It annoyed Alexa that she was truly feeling something for her supposed archrival, but, whatever. It wasn’t like she wanted to follow that novel anyway.

  “Say, are you up for another tea party then?” Alexa asked, smiling a bit. “I’ve asked my servants to prepare me a cake today, and I feel like sharing…”

  Phoebe’s eyes suddenly glowed positively at Alexa’s proposition.

  “Wait. Cake?!”

  “Indeed,” Alexa proudly bragged. “And, only the finest, of course. Though it has a strawberry flavor. If you prefer other flavors besides that, I’m afraid you’re out of luck. It’s still very good though.”

  “Umm…” Phoebe tilted her head. “Strawberry?”

  “Do you not know them?”

  Phoebe cautiously nodded a bit, confused.

  Ah. I see. They did say strawberries are a bit expensive, and are only grown in cooler areas near the north. She’s from the south and was born poor, so maybe she never tried one?

  “I see,” Alexa grinned, suddenly taking Phoebe’s hand and dragging her through the hallways. “Then you better try one. It’s better than vanilla and chocolate, I tell you!”

  “Your Highness! W-wait, you’re running too fast!”

  Mr. Scary Face can wait. I need to show this girl the true luxuries of life!