LIGHT NOVEL
LIGHT NOVEL
— Lily’s perspective —
“So you’re actually a dunce.”
“Wha—?!”
That—to me, heiress of a great noble house—is what Yuinas said!
“Y-you—to whom exactly do you think you’re speaking in that—”
“To Lily, certified dunce?”
“Ngh-gh-gh-gh…!”
It was lunchtime at school. The instant we’d started eating in the cafeteria, Yuinas had opened fire with abuse…!
I shot her my sharpest glare; Yuinas pressed on, supremely unbothered.
“To begin with, what was that quiz score? At this rate you’re getting held back, aren’t you?”
I-I see… she saw the quiz they returned in fourth period, and on that basis alone she’s branded me a dunce.
G-granted… that quiz did not go well… but held back? The exaggeration has limits!
So I puffed out my chest and informed her!
“A f-fluke! That was a fluke! I am merely a touch weak in Magical Studies! I can’t use magic in the first place—it simply can’t be helped!”
The world seems to assume every noble can use magic—but in truth, it isn’t so. The gift does run by blood, yes; these days, however, the nobles in whom that blood actually flowers are a rare few.
Which makes dear Sister’s gift all the more staggering—no, “gift” is far too soft a word for it. A child of heaven, chosen by the gods themselves—perhaps that comes close to describing her?
And I was not granted that gift, so on this point I concede honestly: Magical Studies is not my subject.
“In any case! Studying magic when one cannot use magic is terribly hard going!”
I laid all this out at eloquent length—and Yuinas, gnawing her bread, evidently not having listened to a word, said,
“I can’t use magic either.”
“Urk…!”
“And I scored a perfect hundred in Magical Studies.”
“Ngh…!”
“It’s memorization, start to finish. How does anyone fail it?”
“Guh…!”
M-memorization, start to finish, she says…
Does this girl have any idea how vast the body of magical theory is?!
But lose this exchange and the honor of a great house falls with me! I countered with sound argument!
“In the first place! What earthly use is Magical Studies to those of us who cannot use magic!”
“You don’t need to cast magic to develop magic. That’s why the capital has light after dark, water without a well, fire without firewood—and lately they’re even developing a golem that does the cleaning, I hear. Useful everywhere you look, no?”
“Th-that is… possibly so, but…”
Shot down in a single exchange, I lost a little of my steam—but silence here would ratify my certification as a dunce!
So I mustered a further excuse—rather, a further rebuttal—but Yuinas got there first!
“Besides—your arithmetic was hopeless too.”
“Urk…!”
“Geopolitics, also failing. And you a noble.”
“Ngh…!”
“The only subject you scraped points in was history—and only the modern history where Tisli’s on every page. One good subject won’t carry the exams, you know?”
“…!”
Argued past the point of any comeback, I was—yes—slightly teary-eyed. But even so, I would show her a noble’s mettle!
“I-it hardly matters… whether I can study or not… I am a great noble; my future is secure regardless…”
“Huh. Well, if that’s enough for you, suit yourself.”
Yuinas—for all her jabs at me, seemingly not that interested—chewed through a mouthful of chicken sauté, then said,
“Though what Tisli will say when she sees your grades, who knows.”
“…!”
Dear Sister’s name—here, now, of all moments…
The sweat came down my back like a waterfall…!
Watching me, Yuinas grew another shade more exasperated!
“You didn’t.”
“………”
“You’ve been feeding Tisli fake grades. Haven’t you.”
“………?!”
Th-this girl…
How is her intuition always this sharp?!
To me—now sweating past any hope of concealment—Yuinas threw up her hands in a big “I give up” gesture!
“If that’s the case, then no amount of matchmaking on my end is going to save you—so no whining at me later, okay?”
“…!”
“Besides, if you actually flunk, no cover story survives that. After all, lately Tisli’s been coming to our mansion several times a week, right?”
“…!!”
“You’ve managed to fudge it so far, sure. But now that you’re seeing her this often, flunking even once would give you away in a heartbeat.”
“…?!”
“Which is why—hey, do me a favor and tell Tisli to stop coming over so—”
“Yuinas!!”
I shot to my feet and seized both her hands!
“Teach me, I beg you!”
“Haah…?”
This is bad—bad, bad, bad!
It’s true—lately, dear Sister comes to our mansion and stays for dinner!
Which has me walking on air every single day, wishing Yuinas would simply live with us forever—!
But Yuinas is right…
Seeing dear Sister this often means my grades could come to light through any stray thread of dinner conversation! And an actual flunking could never be papered over!
Conclusion: my grades must rise. By any means necessary!!
Yuinas, meanwhile, looked thoroughly put-upon!
“Ehh… pass. Just tell Tisli to quit coming over instead.”
“Why would I do that?! Your entire role is to smooth the way between dear Sister and me, is it not?! Turning dear Sister away defeats the whole arrangement!”
“Tch… so you caught that.”
“This is not a matter of catching or not catching!”
“Eh, you’re a dunce, so I figured even that level of argument might talk you around.”
“You underestimate me entirely too much, don’t you?!”
“Then raise your grades.”
“Which is precisely why I require your help!”
“Ehh, sounds like work. Just hire a normal tutor.”
To Yuinas, whose face showed open reluctance, I confided a certain bitter history…
“A tutor… just won’t do…”
“Why not?”
“That is… my rank is the cause, I believe, but every one of them handles me with kid gloves—and so my grades never rose an inch…!”
“Ah-h, I see. Nobody can run a strict lesson with a great noble sitting across the desk.”
“Precisely! And on that point, you would have no difficulty whatsoever, would you?!”
“…Oh-h?”
For some reason, Yuinas’s eyes narrowed, silkily.
“Meaning: you want me to instruct you strictly?”
For some reason, I sensed something like bloodlust rolling off her, and flinched despite myself—but fail to hook her now, and she’d never take the tutoring on…!
“J-just so… and naturally, you would be paid, of course.”
“Oh-h? And how much would that be?”
“L-let me think…”
I recalled what we’d paid the tutors of years past.
“One gold coin monthly—how does that sound?”
“Deal!”
She pounced on it before I’d finished the sentence!
“Getting paid gold to berate you? That’s almost too delicious!”
“Not berate—instruct!”
“Same difference. Because a dunce like you needs some seriously strict house-training, you know.”
“It’s not house-training, it’s education!”
…And at this point, already…
I understood that entrusting my tutoring to Yuinas had been a mistake…
But flunk out, and dear Sister might cast me off entirely…
There was no road back…!
“So then, Lily! Let’s begin with ‘shake,’ shall we!”
“For the last time, it is not house-training! And now I don’t even rate as human?!”
And thusly…
For the foreseeable future, study sessions straight out of hell would be my lot…
…and I, meek as a lamb, would have no choice but to endure them…
And another thing!
Why is Yuinas that intelligent?!
Going by how she usually acts, I was so sure she was a little fool! That’s not fair!!
(The End)
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