“How could this be? I thought my plan worked…”

  Alexa was disturbed, very much so. The thing she was reading, oh, it almost was enough to make her faint. The novel changed, yes, but her hopes for victory were now once again dashed.

  Instead of seeing herself as an Empress who died in a violent revolution, or an Empress who built the most wonderful nation imaginable—she found herself absent in the damned ending.

  She had been fully replaced by the saintess. By the end, Phoebe was the Empress for years already it seemed. Except, she was overthrown by a military coup supported by revolutionaries, then, her head was cut by the guillotine, and a new republic rose in her Empire’s ashes.

  Alexa’s eyes darted deliriously, left to right, as she read the new main antagonists.

  Von Hecker.

  He became ‘President von Hecker’, a popular figure said to be the hero of the people, and the only one who could set the Lotharingian people free. He was the one standing triumphant in the story’s ending.

  It was…unbelievable.

  It seemed that befriending the saintess led to a massive change in the timeline. She must have died earlier. Damn it, she knew that girl was bad news, but this was something else.

  Had she betrayed Alexa?

  To think I gave her the finest tea and sweets, yet this is how she repays me—?!

  She stopped reading, as she finished flipping back to the early parts of the book, accidentally stopping on the page where she—Alexa Theresa, died in the hands of a demon.

  The Archdemon of Sloth.

  The one crying in front of her corpse, however, was not Adele, or Alfred, or her sister, or anyone close to her. It was Phoebe, and she seemed like she was vowing to avenge her ‘new and only friend’ in front of the cackling Archdemon.

  “...So I died in the academy?” she gulped. “That means, I only have a few months left. But why? Why would I die?”

  In the original timeline, during Sloth’s attack in the Academy, Alexa Theresa unceremoniously fled under heavy protection by her knights, before she returned weeks later after the saintess and her friends managed to subdue the Archdemon and its kin.

  Alexa read the passages faster, as she realized what had happened. It seemed that she got a bit too close to the saintess, causing rifts between Alexa and her old friends, until it reached the point that only Phoebe stood beside Alexa, and only Phoebe listened to Alexa’s warnings about the demonic attack.

  W-what? I placed all of my faith in her too. No way, like I’d ever do that!

  She couldn’t believe what she said before she died unceremoniously. Alexa quite literally told Phoebe to just ‘use her magic’ while Alexa would valiantly buy her time, believing the power of their friendship would blast away the demonic fiend.

  Then, of course, Alexa died pathetically. She practically turned herself into a narrative device so that Phoebe would have a reason to kill demons to avenge her first and only friend.

  “Ugh, this is so cringey!” Alexa angrily threw the book. “Seriously, system, is this book even working properly?!”

  Alexa curled her fist.

  “Tell me then, what am I supposed to do now?”

  “It’s not babysitting. I just want answers,” Alexa pouted. “But, okay, I get it. Fine, I’ll just take my time to read this dreary thing. I’m sure there will be something in it.”

  And so, Alexa sat on her chair after picking up the book, then she began to read, read, and read. Demons, demons, demons—that was going to be her main problem in the short term, and she only had a few months before then.

  She wondered if she could run, but something blocked her. During the incident, it seemed that this ‘Von Hecker’ person and a group of soldiers from the Imperial Army helped the saintess subjugate the Archdemon. It was how he gained enough popularity as one of the heroes who saved the Imperial Capital.

  Eventually, he would rally enough people on his side to take power for himself as a consequence.

  Running away would mean she would end up similarly to the original Alexa Theresa, who looked like a selfish coward who fled her subjects as they brutally died. That wasn’t something she could afford.

  Therefore…

  I will stop this Archdemon. Both to survive and make myself more popular.

  That was going to be her main goal. Besides, letting Phoebe die kinda felt unnerving to her now. After reading how tragic her death was, she almost felt like crying.

  Am I actually feeling bad for her? Ugh, these stupid thoughts. Get out of my head. I have work to do!

  And work hard she would, she vowed.

  +++

  I guess fighting demons is kinda easier said than done though…

  Alexa yawned.

  “It is for this reason that even the best mages aren’t advised to fight a demon one-to-one,” Wilhelm slammed his stick on the blackboard. “To fight a demon requires more than a human being’s internal magic. It requires effective usage of numerical advantage and magical weaponry.”

  Alexa strained to keep her eyes open, as she felt herself turning dry at his dreary lecture. All those illustrations he made on the blackboard made her head hurt too.

  They were just boxes with symbols and numbers on them, and there were these arrows in front of them pointed at opposing diamond symbols too.

  Whatever it meant, she’d lost its meaning.

  She tried to understand it earlier, but at this point, Alexa gave up.

  She yawned again and mumbled about how ‘boring’ this was.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  That finally received the attention of the veteran instructor. In a room full of noble boys who fancied themselves as future Imperial Army officers, the presence of the Crown Princess with her vibrant and frilly dress was quite unusual.

  It was a miracle it took this long before the instructor had had enough.

  “Get out of my class,” Wilhelm said as he locked eyes with Alexa, his eyes blank and neutral. “You seem quite bored, so please, we do not require your attention here.”

  “W-what?” Alexa was taken aback, as she raised her head. She was expecting him to ask why she was here, so that she’d have a chance to make a passionate speech about her desire to learn how to protect her people. Then, she could later offer him a generous arrangement where he could help her save this academy.

  Instead, she was being treated like an ignorant noble girl who knew nothing about warfare, like how her older brother once told her, “Teaching you FPS gaming is pointless, you’ll get bored anyway.”

  It was simply insolence! It was as if this peasant was suggesting that she couldn’t fight.

  “Good sir,” Alexa said, standing up. “I am simply here to expand my knowledge in the art of war. What authority do you have to kick me?”

  “Yet you were dozing off. Unfortunately, this elective is quite obviously not fit for your taste,” Wilhelm’s eyes turned cold. “Now get out.”

  “But Mr. von Eisen—”

  “Alexa Theresa,” he called again, with her given name no less. “Get out. Now.”

  Alexa stood her ground, petulantly refusing to leave. Until the deafening silence around her became too intense, and she felt herself turning cold.

  Almost everyone tried to avert their gaze at her, yet, from what Alexa could tell, they were all annoyed by her presence already.

  ‘You do not belong here,’ they all practically said.

  Feeling her cheeks burning hot in shame, she made her ungraceful exit with an audible huff.

  This kind of maltreatment of hers deserved a visit to the Headmaster!

  She gave Wilhelm the opportunity to reach out to her so easily, as he needed her to kill that demon. Yet, in exchange for her giving him easier access to someone with Imperial authority, he repaid her this way.

  It grated her, so she quickly got into the Headmaster’s office and began throwing the finest complaints she could make to the old man until she was sobbing, while the Headmaster could only listen to her ramblings with a dry gaze.

  Manfred von Olston indeed seemed like he couldn’t care less yet for Alexa’s righteous indignation. It annoyed her further.

  When she was done, she stormed out of his office in tears, before she bumped into Wilhelm.

  “...You stayed there for an hour?” Wilhelm asked, as he looked down at her with his uncovered eye. “Your ability to complain must be one of the best in that case.”

  Alexa pointed her index finger at him, angry.

  “You humiliated me. I was merely trying to learn how demons work, and you made a mockery of me. Tell me, how will you repent for this crime?”

  “What crime?”

  “A girl is in front of you, crying!”

  “...Oh. Apologies, I’m not the brightest in understanding the legal code, so I must have overlooked it.”

  “Legal code…?” Alexa paused, realizing what he meant. To think that he couldn’t even pick up her complaints, that he turned them into something technical…

  She pouted further as more tears ran down her cheeks.

  “...Hmph. What an irritating man you are.”

  “Ouch.”

  Alexa wiped her tears with her handkerchief.

  You’re such a big meanie. I can’t believe you’d do this to me. What an awful, awful teacher. Just because you’re three years older than me, doesn’t mean you can like…look down on me.

  “So…are you done throwing a fit now?” Wilhelm breathed out tiredly.

  “I am not throwing a fit!” Alexa denied, stomping her feet a bit. “And don’t think I’ll forgive you this easily. I told the headmaster to dump extra workload on you, so have fun with that punishment!”

  “Dump extra workload on me?”

  “Yes. You deserve the worst torment, Mr. von Eisen!”

  “...Ahaha, well, I see. Maybe I do deserve that.”

  Why isn’t he the least bit concerned by it? Don’t tell me he’s a workaholic who loves work?

  Her plan, her brilliant plan to punish his insolence…it failed!

  “Anyway, so you want to learn about demons, I see?” Wilhelm asked. “Why is that? I may have been harsh to you earlier, but I simply had no choice as your presence was a grave distraction. Still, it is clear that you wanted something, so let me hear it out.”

  “Grave distraction?” She turned red again. “But all I did was sit and listen at the back.”

  “My students could hear you mumbling ‘boring’, ‘silly’, ‘dull’, ‘unpleasant’, and—”

  “F-fine,” Alexa used two of her fingers as if she were holding a small imaginary candy. “Perhaps I was a teeny-tiny bit bored. But did you have to treat me so harshly?”

  “...Why not?”

  She felt her cheeks burning at his audacious question. This man…he truly had no respect for royalty. It was like he viewed her as nothing but a commoner girl. It both felt quite outrageously disrespectful, but also somewhat nice?

  Ugh, out with those thoughts!

  She crossed her arms and looked away.

  “Alright. I felt the need to go to your boring class because I need it. There, are you elated now, Mr. von Eisen?”

  “You need it?” he laughed. “But why? It’s not as if you’re ever going to be sent to the Northern Front.”

  “B-because obviously, demons still exist,” her eyes went wide at his stupid question, before she started using her hands to visualize them to him. “They’re absolutely…terrifying, and gnarly, and they disgust me. My goal is to exterminate them. So I wish to know how.”

  “I see,” Wilhelm’s lips curled into an unnerving smile. “Well, I happen to also really love killing demons. Their blood when they fall on the battlefield, it’s quite a beautiful and most gorgeous sight.”

  “Ugh, Mr. von Eisen, you’re being so scary…”

  “Am I?” he stopped, then he looked back at her eyes. “Then be straight with me now. You have never met a demon. You’re detached from this problem. And you have no true desire to shed blood. Don’t hide behind that silly pride of yours. Tell me why you came to my class.”

  Alexa was taken aback, and she felt herself turning small as she stepped back a bit. She felt like a mere cute little rabbit facing a blue-eyed wolf that wanted to eat her. She almost squeaked, and she looked down while playing with her fingers.

  “Well…erm…uhm…”

  Damn it. Is he like a mind reader or something? He’s so cold and scary and he can see through me. I feel like dying…

  “You see,” she looked to her side, still averting his gaze. “I feel like this Academy might be in danger. Therefore, I’m concerned, and I want to know how to protect myself…and my friends, and everyone.”

  I just don’t want anyone to die.

  She finally managed to face him directly. Wilhelm’s gaze turned steely, and then he grimly turned at the glass windows on the side of the hallway.

  “I am not going to ask much, but you have the ‘Rose Eyes’ ability, don’t you? Yet strangely, you don’t have the golden crown…”

  “What are you blabbering about?”

  “Still I do know there is something about you that may explain how you know of this.”

  He suddenly walked past her.

  “Follow me. Now. If you wish to know how to kill a demon,” he looked back at her. “Then you better prepare to follow me and put in the effort.”

  She stiffened. He sounded so strict and so disciplined in comparison to her knight. It was as if she found a true trainer in front of her, instead of someone who only gently guided her on how to use magic.

  Indeed, she felt like this man wanted to push her to her limits. Did he see an ability of hers that he wanted to have?

  Is that why he knows my ‘Rose Eyes’ skill?

  Her heartbeat thumped rapidly.

  He knows too much. So scary…

  “Alright. B-but if you try anything, I swear—hey wait!”

  She ran fast to catch up with him, as he walked away with rapid, purposeful steps in the hallways.