LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 33
I’m so sleepy.
Actually, since I crossed over to this world, I’ve never been short on sleep.
I should have something to do at night.
In this place without a phone or anything, the only thing I could do was exchange messages, and I only had one person to message: Seria.
[Seria: It’s getting late. I’m going to bed now.]
And that Seria is a model princess who makes sure to go to sleep before 10 PM.
Thanks to that, I really have nothing to do after 10 PM.
With nothing to do, I end up going to bed early, and even when I sleep enough, it’s often still early in the morning when I wake up.
But yesterday, I got dragged into Reina’s monster capture operation and went to bed late for the first time in a while… waking up at school time was quite the ordeal.
It was the first time I had woken up to the alarm clock beside my bed. I always woke up first and turned it off.
And I wasn’t the only one like this.
Even the model princess had not lived up to her standards yesterday.
“Rudion. Good morning.”
“Your face doesn’t look good at all.”
“…Does it show that much?”
Yup. Your eyes are already half-closed.
“Actually, you’re right. It’s not a good morning at all. I’m so tired.”
“Then why did you bother waiting around…?”
No matter how tired we were, we couldn’t skip class, so I headed to the classroom with Seria.
I was staggering as if I could fall asleep at any moment.
If that’s the case, I could have just gone in first and rested. But I kept waiting.
In the end, both Seria and I ended up dozing off in class.
Yawn What’s going on with us?
From the professor’s perspective, it must be frustrating. The two highest-achieving students are sleeping side by side in the front row…
And one of them is a princess, while the other is her direct assistant. A smirk couldn’t help but slip out.
Thanks to the deep sleep, when I finally came to, the lecture had ended.
“Rudion, Seria? Can you come see me for a moment?”
And just like that, we were dragged away.
Seria and I didn’t say a word and simply followed behind her.
In front of Reina’s personal research lab, which she just arrived at yesterday, I could see the bags scattered around, indicating she hadn’t unpacked yet.
Seria and I waited for Reina to say something, but all she did was look at us, sip her coffee, and repeat.
Ultimately, Seria couldn’t hold back any longer.
“Professor Reina, may I ask why you called us?”
Reina smiled and replied, “Do I have to tell you for you to know?”
“…I apologize for dozing off during your lecture.”
As Seria apologized, Reina shook her head.
“No, that’s not it. I called you for another reason. Honestly, I don’t care whether you listen to my lecture or not.”
“Then what is it…?”
“Rudion.”
“…Yes?”
Suddenly, Reina called my name. It was quite surprising since we’d been having a conversation.
Reina finally revealed the reason she called us.
“Yeah, you. Why did you sneak around the girls’ dormitory last night?”
While she didn’t say it directly, it was a clear enough question to know why we were being called.
“…Was it all exposed?”
“Of course. Although it was late, there are plenty of students who stay up studying until that time.”
“Oh dear.”
Thinking back, that was indeed the case. I had been so busy playing around that I overlooked the fact this place was a prestigious academy.
With midterm exams coming up, it’s only natural for students to study late into the night.
So…
“This morning, a report came in saying you were loitering in front of the girls’ dormitory at midnight.”
It wasn’t surprising that it came to this.
However, Reina didn’t seem to suspect or despise me at all.
The atmosphere didn’t seem bad, so I was listening calmly when she quietly said something that only Seria could hear.
“Well, to be honest, I didn’t really believe it… but seeing you two sleeping together, it paints a clear picture. Ahaha! Oh my, Seria, you’re growing up!”
“…Please don’t tease me.”
Seria’s face turned bright red. What in the world did they talk about?
Reina laughed, finding it cute, then took a moment to compose herself before continuing.
“Anyway, the problem is this: the person who reported you left out any mention of Seria.”
“Wouldn’t the answer come out if we look into it?”
You can’t just capture someone because of a report! That doesn’t make sense.
This academy isn’t naive, and there’s no way they’d handle things so recklessly.
There are surveillance magic stones placed around the dormitory. You can check them.
While they don’t have real-time monitoring or recording features, they can utilize magic engraved in the stones to confirm what happened in case of an incident.
Since this was just last night, it should be clearly recorded what transpired.
Reina nodded at my suggestion, agreeing, but it still felt like the problem remained unsolved.
“Right, that’s so. But the issue I’m mentioning isn’t that…”
As she spoke, Reina pointed at Seria.
“Who is she?”
Seria.
No, Seria Rubetia, the imperial princess.
“I don’t care what you do at night. But… do you really think the royal family wouldn’t care?”
If something happened involving Seria within the academy, it must be reported to the royal family immediately, following the emperor’s wishes.
What happened before, when Seria blew up the cafeteria ceiling, probably got reported an age ago without any particular reaction.
Initially, the reason the reporter left her name out is likely because anyone who inadvertently touches her could face serious repercussions.
They’d also be treated as an associated party.
And in this situation… it wasn’t a good idea to involve Seria.
Even if they linked her, my fault for approaching the girls’ dormitory wouldn’t disappear, but it would only escalate the issue.
“Do you really want to investigate? I’ll do it as you wish. After all, I’m responsible for this matter.”
There were two options:
Reveal the truth and implicate Seria in this case, or just take it all on myself.
“Which one do you choose?”
She spoke as if the choice was mine, but the answer was clear from the start.
“I’ll bear it alone. There’s no point in dragging the royal family into this.”
“Fufu. Right. Good thinking.”
It couldn’t be helped. If it was going to be exposed, denying it would be difficult.
Guess I’ll just brush it off as my fault.
Just like that, I thought the conversation would conclude, but Seria, who had been silent, poked me lightly and hesitated before speaking.
“…Um, Rudion?”
“Yeah?”
“I, um, I wouldn’t mind if this gets reported to the royal family…”
What is she talking about?
Do you want your parents to hear about how you were wandering around with a boy in the middle of the night?
But I could see why she would say something like that, so I didn’t really scold her.
“Seria. If it’s because of me, you don’t have to worry. Just because you’re involved doesn’t change my mistake.”
“That’s not it, um… I don’t know. Do as you please.”
Seria, usually so confident, was showing rare signs of timidity.
In reality, if I had just been a little more careful, this wouldn’t have happened. The ‘Alignment: Absolute Good’ really does think differently.
Either way, it was ultimately decided I would take responsibility for this incident.
If I just say I got lost in my sleepy state, maybe they’ll consider it a mitigating circumstance?
With the alibi of coming back late with Reina, I think it’s valid enough.
After all, just wandering around isn’t a major offense, it should only be a point deduction or some campus service.
For now, I had no choice but to wait and think about that.
“But Seria, just to ask… are you two really not dating?”
“D-Dating?! No way!”
What are they talking about so happily? I don’t find it amusing at all.
“Well, I’ll leave the rest to you. You two head back for now, and be more careful next time.”
“Yes!”
This incident was not big enough to warrant a special committee meeting, so it didn’t seem like more preparations were needed.
After replying to Reina, as I stepped outside with Seria… I found Lilith waiting outside. The training must have finished just yesterday.
When I asked why she was waiting, she suddenly started spouting something strange.
“Hey, you guys! Is the rumor true?”
“What are you talking about? What rumor?”
“It’s all over the place that Rudion was kicked out of the girls’ dormitory by Seria after trying to force his way in!”
…Huh?
“Who said that?”
“It’s not one person, the rumor has spread among the first years!”
It was just a while ago I was loitering in front of the girls’ dormitory.
Now it’s transformed into someone trying to sneak into it.
Seriously? Did the rumor really distort that much? What should I do if a rumor with no legs has transformed into a triple metamorphosis?