LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 35
✦ Chapter 35 — Wager (1) ✦
「Translator — Creator」
᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃
“Yerika?”
[Yes!]
When I addressed her casually as Yerika, she responded immediately. It seemed, in her own way, she had an even more unflappable demeanor than I did.
“Ms. Yerika?”
[·············]
“Yerika.”
[Yes!]
“Lady Yerika?”
[·············]
“Yerika?”
[· · · Yes.]
“Your Highness.”
[Oh, honestly! Please stop teasing me!]
Unable to bear it any longer, she finally snapped, her tone filled with frustration.
“Haha, sorry. Your reactions are just too amusing to resist.”
[You know, I wouldn’t even mind if you just dropped the honorifics and spoke casually.]
“My use of honorifics is a habit I can’t break, unfortunately.”
[Let’s take it slow with the informal speech. Now, what prompted you to reach out first, Humble Clown?]
I wondered if the day would ever come when I could actually speak to Yerika informally.
“It’s not like we only contact each other when something happens, right?”
If I had said something like that to Clara or Sepia, their reactions would have been either flustered silence or outright dismissal—nothing in between.
[Well, I suppose our relationship is a little special.]
But Yerika’s reaction was different. She didn’t get flustered when I said that, but retorted.
[So, what happened at the Academy today?]
“Nothing special happened.”
Actually, a lot of special things happened.
The worm had become someone who had offended the Crown Prince in an instant, and the entire academy knew about it.
But I didn’t tell her about any of this.
[Hmm, really?]
However, for some reason, her voice carried a tone of doubt.
“Huh?”
[Actually, I heard about what happened today—from my brother. He told me what happened and why it happened.]
Her voice was laced with both concern and subtle reproach.
[The prince of Kingdom of Archen has been harassing you, hasn’t he? Why didn’t you tell me about this yesterday?]
“I didn’t think it was something you needed to worry about, Yerika. And besides, it’ll be resolved soon.”
This wasn’t a lie to comfort her; I truly believed it.
[But he’s a prince of the Kingdom of Archen, even though he’s a student here. Who knows what he might do to you after you graduate from the academy?]
This phrase, it sounded familiar.
Where had I heard it?
[Humble Clown, when you graduate from the academy, will you be my bodyguard?]
Aah, I now remember where I had heard it.
When I first met the worm, Johanna had made a similar proposal to me in the cafeteria.
But this—this was different.
Yerika’s bodyguard?
“I’m just a Clown, you know?”
[Then how about becoming my Clown Bodyguard?]
What, was she joking?
“Wow, I know you’re joking, but the idea of being Yerika’s bodyguard is quite flattering!”
[I’m being serious.]
She was serious?
“But to be your bodyguard, I would need the Emperor’s permission…”
[Father already agreed.]
The Emperor agreed?
That can’t be right.
There’s no way the Emperor, who loves Yerika so much, would so easily agree to let her have me as a bodyguard.
[At first, when I said I wanted to choose my own bodyguard, he refused, but when I said I wanted you as my bodyguard, he immediately agreed.]
“What?”
[Do you know what the imperial family looks for in a bodyguard?]
Yerika asked me, looking puzzled.
If you’re talking about what they look at when choosing a knight for the imperial family…
“Wouldn’t it be strength?”
[Of course, strength is there, but the important thing is trust. Can I entrust my life to this person? That’s the most important thing.]
“But I’m not strong enough to be entrusted with your life yet.”
[Of course, you may not be that strong right now, but what about three years later?]
Three years later is when I’ll graduate from the academy.
[My father said that by the time you graduate from the academy, you’ll be one of the strongest in the empire.]
If this was the case, there was no way to avoid it anymore.
[You said it yourself earlier, Humble Clown. You said that just imagining being my knight felt amazing? In three years, it won’t be an imagination but a reality, so you must be happy about it.]
Huh?
.
.
.
.
The next morning, after finishing my daily training, I was heading to the dorm for rest.
And because it was still early, I could see only a handful of students on the academy grounds.
As I was walking through the academy grounds, feeling the cold wind, I thought about the conversation I had with Yerika yesterday.
I had deflected the conversation and ended the call, but she didn’t seem like the type to give up so easily; the best course of action in situations like this was normally to avoid calls and keep my distance for a while.
But…
“I can’t really do that, can I?”
Last night, I’d slept soundly without needing my usual sleeping medications.
Yerika truly inherited that trait from the Empress.
Now that I know I can sleep well without medication, I can neither refuse Yerika’s calls nor avoid calling her.
‘Am I really going to end up as her Clown Bodyguard?’
If I can’t sleep without medication after I graduate, becoming her Clown Bodyguard isn’t a bad idea. If I’m in charge of her protection, I’ll be able to sleep comfortably every day.
‘Let’s think about what will happen later… later.’
Her matter was definitely urgent, but there was something even more urgent — getting rid of the worm as soon as possible.
.
.
.
Today’s class ended the same way it always did—with all of us in the Special Class ganging up on Professor Elysia, only to be utterly defeated together.
“You’ve got an hour until lunchtime. Take a break, then have lunch,” Professor Elysia said as she delivered her usual closing remark before leaving the Special Classroom.
‘Where does Professor Elysia eat, anyway?’
I’d seen other professors in the cafeteria from time to time, but never her. She seemed to disappear during lunch hours.
“Loki, want to eat lunch together again today?”
Lucas approached me as I was lying down, resting.
“Of course. Why don’t we invite everyone to come with us this time?”
I suggested to the other special class students that we all go to lunch together, and everyone but two accepted my offer; the two who haven’t agreed yet are Clara and Sepia.
“Sepia, would you like to have lunch with us?”
I approached Sepia first.
She glanced at me but immediately turned her head away with a haughty expression.
“Why don’t you eat with Lady Freya again today?”
She was clearly still upset about what happened last time.
I pondered how to smooth things over, but unexpectedly, the problem resolved itself.
“W-what?”
It’s because the spirit whispered something to Sepia.
“Why should I?”
Although I couldn’t hear what the spirit said to Sepia, Sepia decided to eat lunch with us after hearing the spirit’s words.
“Fine. Let’s eat together!”
Now, the only one left was Clara.
“Clara.”
“· · · · · · ·”
She didn’t look up from her book even after hearing me.
Anyone would think it meant refusal, but I had no intention of giving up.
I whispered something in her ear, making sure no one else could hear.
“Clara-noona.”
“Ahh!”
She looked at me with a contemptuous expression after hearing me.
“If you eat with us today, I’ll stop calling you that.”
“Ha, fine.”
And so, for the first time, the entire special class headed to the cafeteria to eat lunch together.
“Look over there. It’s Lady Clara.”
“Are those kids over there the newly formed Special Class?”
The students murmured as we walked to the cafeteria.
It was natural for students to stare because the Special Class itself was newly created.
“Will Lucas be alright?”
“What’s that bastard Lophrey doing?”
On top of that, the student newspaper had published an article yesterday about the prince spilling a drink on Lucas. Every pair of eyes in the cafeteria seemed glued to us, whispers following our every move; the murmuring showed no signs of stopping even while we were eating.
Despite being stared at by all the students, the special class students ate their meals comfortably as if nothing was wrong.
*Shiver shiver shiver.*
Actually, now that I look at it, it seems like one of us wasn’t okay.
‘Is it even possible for a human to shake this much?’
The shaman, Frederic Nicholas, shivered as if he was uncomfortable with people staring at him; to be honest, I knew people would stare, but if I hadn’t brought Frederic along…
Frederic would have definitely cried, thinking he was being ostracized, so I just brought him along.
While I was wondering how to take care of him, the cafeteria suddenly became noisy.
“Your Highness.”
I could tell the reason right away.
It was because the worm had approached Lucas.
“I am truly sorry about yesterday!”
The worm immediately knelt in front of Lucas.
In a way, it was the best he could do right now, but…
He’s still in the palm of my hand.
“I mistook someone yesterday and committed such rudeness to Your Highness!”
Lucas glanced at me.
I asked Lucas for a favor before coming to the cafeteria.
“Mistook, you say? You’re saying that you acted that way yesterday because you mistook me for someone else? Does that mean you were originally going to do that to my friend?”
“Th-that’s…”
The worm visibly wavered when Lucas called me his friend.
“If you apologize to my friend, I’ll forgive you for what happened yesterday, as a special exception.”
It was a huge opportunity to be forgiven with just an apology after doing such a thing to the crown prince of the Empire, but the worm hesitated.
It seemed like he would rather die than apologize to me.
Meanwhile, I approached the worm and said, “You don’t want to apologize to me, do you?” I don’t want to receive your apology either.
The mere thought of him apologizing to me made me nauseous.
“Lucas, would you forgive this person if I forgave him?”
“If you forgive him, I forgive him, too.”
Actually, I talked about this with Lucas beforehand.
Of course, what would happen next wasn’t part of the plan I’d shared with Lucas.
“Then how about a little wager?” I said, smiling faintly. “If I lose, I’ll forgive him.”
“Wager? What are you talking about?”
I looked around. All the surrounding students were watching, and the president of the newspaper club even had a camera in hand.
“Let’s fight. Three days from now.”
The worm, as well as the other students around us, were horrified after hearing my suggestion to fight; the students, once horrified, were even more horrified after hearing my next words.
“The loser gets expelled from the academy.”
That sent the crowd into a frenzy.
I just couldn’t stand the thought of this worm staying here another day.
“Unless, of course, you’re too scared to accept,” I added, tilting my head slightly, knowing full well that he wouldn’t be able to refuse at this moment when all the students are watching.
END of CHAPTER
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