Chapter 19

Nishizawa's eyes trembled.

"He is definitely a fool, a moron, a pervert, a shameless man, and the most despicable and worst man in the world... but..."

Olivia pouted her lips.

No matter how she thought about today's events, they were infuriating and disappointing.

But.

"...Still, he is a man who has the qualifications to have a noble French princess as his exclusive maid."

Olivia's blue gaze turned to Nishizawa.

'Qualifications...?'

Nishizawa's mind became confused.

She had thought he was only following her because of the forced result of the sparring.

She had expected him to welcome her help.

But the Olivia in front of her did not.

Instead, she acknowledged Kim Deok-sung.

As someone worthy to be her master.

Nishizawa could not accept this reality.

"Thank you for your concern, but this is not something Miss Nishizawa should worry about. This is a matter between Kim Deok-sung and me."

Olivia drove the point home into Nishizawa's trembling ears.

"Then, I'll be going now."

Leaving the confused Nishizawa behind, Olivia left the classroom.

The after-school classroom, empty of people.

Amidst the cherry blossoms fluttering through the open windows, Nishizawa clenched her fists with trembling hands.

A low voice escaped from Nishizawa's lips.

"I can't accept it."

*

By the time the review was over, it was already sunset.

Stepping out of the first annex, I stretched to wake up my stiff body.

'Hoshino Kasumi, a bit more useful than Olivia.'

Today's review was satisfying.

Kasumi, who not only excelled as the top student in the second year but also taught much better than Olivia.

If Olivia was a local cram school teacher, Kasumi was on the level of a top national one-on-one tutor?

I was honestly impressed by Kasumi's ability to explain concepts kindly and thoroughly, unlike Olivia who was always ticking off.

'I should entrust my reviews to Kasumi from now on.'

The process was a bit of a mess, but it was fortunate that she had some use besides being a double agent.

While walking towards the dormitory with these thoughts in mind,

"Hey, black hair."

A familiar voice rang out.

I turned my gaze.

There she was, in the middle of the cherry blossom-lined street.

The top-ranked beauty in the prefecture, Nishizawa Eri.

She looked at me with disdain and said,

"You're finally here. I've been waiting for a long time."

Her voice was filled with contempt.

Even before hearing the main point, I felt my blood pressure rising.

Why did the author put in such a setting of misogyny?

Was the author a masochist?

Nishizawa Eri glared at me with a cold voice.

"I'll be straightforward. Let's have a sparring match with—"

"I'll have a sparring match with Olivia? No way. Why should I?"

I cut her off.

I knew this would happen.

It was so predictable that it was almost absurd.

Nishizawa flared up.

"Well, you forced—"

" Forced? Did Olivia say that?"

"That's—"

Nishizawa's words were cut off.

Even though Olivia was tsundere, she did not deny someone she had once acknowledged.

"But—"

She spoke in a meek voice.

This was also as expected.

If the world always turned out this predictably, how wonderful it would be.

If I could turn back time, I would have sent 5700 characters to the paid annual web novel author.

Fuck.

Why can't I enjoy a happy academy life like other protagonists in possession stories?

Suddenly, I got angry.

"Then, is this just a delusion? Are you seriously willing to fight me over this useless fantasy? You know unauthorized sparring is punishable, right?"

"That's—"

Nishizawa's face hardened.

Her hands trembled.

Nishizawa Eri, a character who hates men and feels fear towards them.

The reason she could freely stir up trouble in the academy was that there was no man stronger than her.

In short, it was a case of the strong preying on the weak.

In the original third volume, after Nishizawa Eri challenged the protagonist over Olivia and lost, she feared and avoided him because of this.

I took a step forward towards the trembling Nishizawa.

She stepped back.

"Still, if you really want to fight, put something on the line."

"…What kind of stake?"

Nishizawa asked.

"Olivia put her position as an exclusive maid and the Transcendent Weapon Durandal on the line. Shinozaki Rin put a family treasure on the line."

I looked her straight in the eye.

"What will you put on the line, Nishizawa Eri?"

Nishizawa Eri's face turned pale.

A heavy silence filled the cherry blossom-lined street.

I crossed my arms and waited for her answer.

As the sunset faded and the moon rose,

Nishizawa Eri moved her lips.

"…I'll put something on the line."

"What did you say?"

I didn't hear it clearly.

"I, I'll put myself on the line!! Black hair! If I lose, I'll become your possession."

"You'll become my possession?"

Nishizawa Eri glared at me, her voice trembling.

She was putting herself on the line.

It was the answer I expected.

Unlike Shinozaki Rin or Olivia, who were from noble families, Nishizawa, from a poor family, could only put herself up as a slave.

This was the natural outcome and the proposal I had guided her to make.

I drew a smile on my lips.

'The protagonist would refuse, saying it's not right to take someone's body.'

Nishizawa Eri was a character who thought all men were beasts who lusted after her body.

If I refused her proposal like the original protagonist, saying, "No, that's not right," she might start her delusional circuit, thinking, "Wow, you're the first man who didn't lust after my body."

'But that would take too long and be too much of a hassle.'

It might work if I were as handsome as the protagonist.

But I, who lacked both good looks and time, couldn't do that.

Moreover, her perception wouldn't change so easily, and she would likely continue to torment me.

I wasn't that much of a pushover to walk down that path.

Let the protagonist do that.

So, here.

"Sure, why not."

Acceptance was the answer.

If I could beat Shinozaki Rin, Nishizawa Eri would be a piece of cake.

I was a bit worried about the aftermath because the third volume's story had collapsed due to my early raid on the Sacred Sanctuary.

But for the third volume's title heroine to volunteer as the third slave unit.

'What good luck.'

There was no need to worry about her breaking her promise or betraying me due to her misogyny.

This was a world where people were too strict about keeping their word.

Just look at Olivia...

Fuck. Thinking about it again, it's still a mess.

"…If I win, you have to free the princess."

"Of course. I'll set the time. In two weeks."

"Fine, do as you please."

With those words, Nishizawa Eri quickly left, as if she didn't want to talk to me anymore.

She'll regret it.

But that's not my problem.

I resumed my steps.

It's really time to go to bed now.

Because of the lady.

On the way back to the dormitory,

Nishizawa Eri clenched her fists with trembling hands, gritting her teeth.

'Disgusting... '

Ever since she was abused by her father, who had left home, she had no good memories of men.

Every time she received lecherous gazes from men who lusted after her body, she felt nauseous.

She could sense the sticky, lustful gazes of men because she was sensitive to them.

'They're all the same.'

No man could resist her beauty, which Kim Deok-sung would call "extreme realism."

From high-ranking heroes to students and ordinary people.

Every man harbored a desire to possess her.

The difference was only in how openly they revealed it.

Moreover, the world only judged her by her appearance.

Even when she ranked third in the entrance exam and achieved an A-rank in suitability.

The media, the world, and men only focused on her looks, not her abilities.

The top-ranked beauty in the prefecture, the top beauty in Japan, the galaxy-ranked beauty, the school idol.

'I feel like I'm going to vomit.'

She deeply hated the world's gaze that saw her only as an object of desire, not as a hero.

Her extraordinary beauty was a curse to Nishizawa.

She had experienced all the world's filth.

But Kim Deok-sung was, without a doubt, the worst man she had ever met.

'How could he accept such a proposal without a moment's hesitation?'

Nishizawa felt goosebumps all over her body.

Just thinking about what had just happened made her feel as if maggots were crawling on her skin.

Even if a man was below her standards, there were social norms.

If she had made such a proposal, it would have been polite and proper to reject it with a flinch.

If he had rejected it, she might have seen him differently, even for a moment.

But Kim Deok-sung chose the worst option.

'The lowest, the worst, a beast, a trash...!'

Just thinking about his gaze made her shudder.

Kim Deok-sung saw women as mere objects of desire.

What kind of treatment Olivia, who had become his exclusive maid, was receiving...

It was so disgusting that she didn't even want to think about it.

Nishizawa bit her lip.

'So, the princess's words back then were not sincere.'

After-school classroom.

She recalled the memory of having a conversation with her idol, Olivia, in the same space.

Olivia's incomprehensible words.

But now, Nishizawa could grasp the hidden meaning.

'Even in my childhood, I thought abuse was normal.'

So-called Stockholm syndrome.

Unfortunately, her idol might have been so traumatized that she now considered the abnormal as normal.

Her past self had been the same.

Nishizawa muttered in a low voice.

"…I will definitely save you, Princess."

Whoosh.

A chilly spring night breeze enveloped her body.

*

At the same time.

Olivia's dormitory.

Olivia, who was enjoying a midnight tea time on the terrace overlooking the cherry blossom-filled campus as usual, shouted while looking at her phone.

"Finally, not a single word of contact all day! He really has no manners at all!"

Her hand holding the phone trembled.

Because Kim Deok-sung had really not contacted her all day.

Olivia's face flushed.

"Ugh... "

A groan escaped her lips.

She kept being bothered by thoughts of Kim Deok-sung.

If he had just used her for relic exploration like yesterday, she wouldn't have been so bothered.

But this complete indifference was something else.

"I can't believe it. It's one shock after another!"

She had never experienced this in France, her homeland, or in Japan, the island nation of the Far East.

Since childhood, she had been treated as the successor to the Black Prince and the top talent and princess of the powerful nation of France.

Wherever she went, people gathered like clouds, and everyone paid attention to her every move.

'Even in the Far East, my status remained unshaken.'

Japan, a world-renowned hero power on par with the United States.

She was the top student in the entrance exam of Shuou Hero Academy, the top-tier hero training institution in Japan.

An unprecedented event in Shuou Hero Academy's history, where a foreign exchange student had topped the entrance exam.

With her shining beauty and the status of a French princess, she was already a celebrity in Japan, to the point where an Olivia Princess Fan Club Far East Branch had been established.

"So, ignoring me like this is unacceptable!"

It was the first time.

Being ignored like this by someone.

Just as Olivia was trembling,

"Princess, is there something troubling you?"

A calm voice sounded in her ear.

Olivia's exclusive maid, Bella.

"W-well, it's... No, nothing!"

Olivia shook her head.

Bella, who was both her exclusive maid and a sister-like presence.

Olivia trusted Bella enough to be a bit more honest in front of her.

But this time, she didn't want to reveal her inner thoughts.

It was embarrassing to admit that she was bothered by Kim Deok-sung, and ultimately, it was a matter of the White Flame Sword Technique, an ultimate skill.

Olivia still hadn't made a decision about his proposal.

A faint smile appeared on the maid's lips as she looked at Olivia.

"Your master hasn't contacted you at all, has he?"

Olivia was startled by Bella's words.

"H-how did you know, Bella...?"

"I'm your exclusive maid. I can tell your troubles even with my eyes closed."

Olivia fell silent at Bella's answer.

She seemed to recall a few times when this had happened before.

Just searching for "hamburger" on her phone, and Bella had somehow known and led her to a fast-food restaurant.

She really couldn't hide anything from Bella.

"Princess, do you know?"

"K-know what?"

"Shinozaki-san has set up a sparring match with your master."

"Wait, wait a minute. Why is Shinozaki-san setting up a sparring match with that fool?!"

Olivia was startled and shouted at Bella's casual remark.

She knew Shinozaki Rin.

Her opponent in the entrance exam and the daughter of the prestigious Shinozaki family in Japan.