"Wait, wait – no, wait...! This IS the ugly attendant...?!

"

"Watch your stupid mouth! It's sir Zoemi you're talking about!

"

"Hmph~

"

...the reaction of most of the students watching the entire scene plays out simply couldn't have been more in favor of the black-haired attendant – which pleased the gold-haired first prince immensely, even to the point of him scoffing with satisfaction when some of the positive comments had reached his ears.

"My prince, it was obvious for me to do so...

"

"!!!

"

"You've heard that!

"

"So admirable!

"

Zoemi shook his head and tried to back off as if overwhelmed by the trust he received from Horeo – which spurred even more awestruck voices from the bystanders.

|Without you, Miriette won't have a perfectly happy life...|

Still - he finished in his mind without changing his expression.

|...is what I used to think until a minute ago...|

The black-haired attendant lovered his head and stealthily glanced at the unconscious heroine under the wall left there with no one even trying to approach her.

|...she has no plot armor because this isn't a game... wow... I feel kind of... stupid, now...|

Zoemi smirked to himself before straightening his back and showing a calm and composed expression to Horeo, Miriette, and everyone else who was watching.

...

…....

Karestas and Yarvestreg were still holding the unconscious Surou waiting for the first prince's instructions – it was more than obvious that both of them fully support the first prince and don't care about the second prince – or his opinion which was getting worse and worse the longer he was still present in the Academy in his unbecoming state - at all.

"Take him to my father and report everything that happened!

"

The gold-haired prince commanded, using the chance to rebuild the just and rule-abiding persona at the cost of his younger brother's already ruined image.

"Not only did he destroy the ancient artifact he also attempted to assassinate me, his own brother! It is obvious that he took the bracelets out of the royal treasury to figure out how to destroy them! He is nothing more than a traitor of the crown – twice so!

"

Horeo declared coldly, carefully deepening the grave that Surou's opinion has fallen into.

"But it is also obvious that a plan like that couldn't be coined only by him... Oh...! I see now...!

"

The gold-haired boy made a whole show out of his speech and nodded his head as if he realized something profound although he was making things up as he went - and ended up dramatically turning towards the knocked-out blond girl slumped by the opposite wall.

"The second prince must have been using his supposed relationship with the commoner girl as a distraction while getting in touch with the real perpetrator....! What a cruel man, using a young girl's naive affection, even though it brought so much pain to her...

"

"...ah...!

"

"So that's why...?!

"

"Yes...! I always knew that it was weird for them to be so close...!

"

"So the commoner was being used as a pawn...? I kind of feel sorry for her now...

"

Horeo's declaration met with the shocked voices of the students who instantly believed every single word that left his mouth as if it was gospel.

|...Here - a treat from me, for healing Zoemi...|

...the first prince scoffed internally, sparing one last glance on the heroine before going back to his speech.

|...Zoemi looked like he wanted to help her, so this should stop him from doing something stupid...|

He thought while the black-haired attendant entered his field of vision.

"Still - this must have been planned by someone far smarter than him, this should not be ignored! As far as we know this might be a part of a larger plot - tell my father that I suggest Zorus for the job of getting the truth out of the second prince. After all, he and the torturer are clearly already acquaintances.

"

"

"Yes, my prince!

"

"

Karestas and Yarvestreg bowed their heads and disappeared into the flash of light together with Surou.

"...

"

Zoemi who backed off and was waiting by Miriette's side was looking between the two princes and furrowing his brows.

|...Horeo is just saying that to burrow Surou's chances of running for the throne – all the students will undoubtedly report everything they saw and heard here to their parents... but...|

The black-haired attendant clenched his teeth and turned back to the unconscious heroine.

|...this whole situation reeks... why does no one mention that whole mysterious supporter Burushiitto told me about... Damn it...! That should come up at some point, right...? What a bad time for her to be down...|

Zoemi breathed out in disappointment.

|With the bracelets gone Miriette might be safe from the bad events that happened in the game, but that doesn't mean that she is guaranteed a happy life with some bastard plotting things in the background...!|

He scoffed to himself while a nasty feeling was twisting his insides into a knot.

"...!

"

Suddenly Zoemi felt an odd sensation on his back – so he hurriedly looked around as if expecting to see someone standing there poking him for fun...

"...

"

But behind him was only the hallway filled with other students – the black-haired boy easily spotted Grazio – looking extremely shocked, maybe because of Zoemi's healed-up appearance, as well as the green-haired Reo and the brown-haired Xeonith...

It seemed that almost all capture targets were gathered there...

No – not almost – they were all there – it took a second for Zoemi to notice because the last person was standing the furthest away – but the white-haired Arisu Karde Lazaram, the third-year student and the capture target who always stood out the most was there too.

For a brief second, the black-haired boy and the white-haired boy's eyes meet and...

|YOU...!|

"...!

"

A bellowing voice somewhere deep within Zoemi's consciousness roared out causing the black-haired attendant to tremble – the amount of hatred that flooded his mind easily dwarfed the one he felt towards Grazio – but Zoemi had no idea where it came from!

"Zoemi...? Is everything alright...?

"

"My lady...! I...

"

Miriette noticed the odd behavior of her attendant and asked in a worried voice, causing Zoemi to flinch and smile in a reassuring manner, feeling the unreasonable hatred fade away.

"It's nothing... Sorry – I might have used too much mana and my body acts funny.

"

The black-haired boy quickly came up with a reasonable excuse – after all Miriette didn't know about his rapidly enlarging mana reservoir.

"Ah! I see!

"

The dark-haired girl blushed and inched closer to the boy as if encouraged by his words – but Zoemi didn't notice that.

"...?

"

Instead, he looked over at the hallway in search of the white-haired Arisu – but the third-year capture target was already gone and what he saw was Grazio glaring right back at him instead.