I’ll Make It a Bad Ending Like a Villain - Chapter 41

Chapter 41

***

Ian, who was sitting proudly in Weaver’s work area, said as he raised his lips slightly.

“It’s been a while. Lord Weaver.”

Weaver bowed his head further to Ian’s plain voice. It was hard to get used to the noble atmosphere, though he felt it every time.

Every time he met someone from the Imperial Palace, there was a solemn tension in the air, but especially every time he met Ian, there was an air of intensity that was hard to describe. Was it because of his beautiful golden eyes, which bore a striking resemblance to those of His Majesty the Emperor?

Or maybe it was because of the atmosphere of isolation that flowed from Ian. Regardless of everything else, it was a fact known to all people that Ian Alvar was better suited for the position of Crown Prince than anyone else.

“Yes, what brings you to the Swordsmanship Academy, Your Highness?”

The fact that Ian had visited the academy without any particular reason did not bode well. Perhaps it was to take the cadets to a battle for political purposes.

According to the people at the Imperial Palace, the cadets who would be going into battle with them would not be involved in any particularly big battles.

It was unknown if that was true or not… When the Imperial Knights called for cadets, it was almost always for the reason of protecting someone, but the cadets would fill the area around the important person, and the Imperial Knights would fight in a circle around them.

Therefore, if it was a battle that the Imperial Knights would win, it meant that the cadets would not be hit in any way. However, if they were in a moment of inability to fight, the cadets would be helplessly bullet. Of course, everyone was silent on this matter.

Officers and students who participated in battles with the Imperial Knights were given the opportunity to join the Imperial Knights with special compensation.

That was a great benefit.

And so, when the announcement came from the Imperial Palace that they were looking for talents for battles, the cadets were excited.

The Imperial Palace only chose those who had moderate skills.

Those who were capable were wasteful to be used as bullet receivers, while those who were not capable were useless. They couldn’t even stay long enough to join the Imperial Knights.

“I didn’t come here for anything special………”

Weaver frowned reflexively at Ian’s murmur.

If he didn’t come here for anything special, then why in the world did he come to the Military Academy?

As he was thinking so, Weaver noticed that Ian was staring intensely at something. It was a document with a list of admitted students spread out on the desk.

Weaver moved his eyes and looked at Ian again.

Since when did Ian care about students entering the Academy?

Ian had never paid much attention to cadets who had not received proper education, no matter how talented they were.

“Are all the new students now in the class?”

Weaver replied, nodding.

“Yes, they are all doing their best to participate.”

“I see. How is the intensity of the classes? Is it hard for new students to keep up?”

Weaver was confused and fell silent as Ian kept asking questions.

He asked if the classes were hard? He worried that the new students will have a hard time catching up?

When Weaver didn’t respond, Ian, who had been looking at the papers, dropped his gaze.

“Why are you not answering, Lord Weaver?”

His cold voice was imminent as Weaver flinched his shoulders and replied.

“I’m sorry, but this is the first time I’ve seen you’re interested in my new students, so I’m confused. The intensity of the classes were not that hard yet.”

“…… is that so?”

Ian, who was reciting in a low voice, gently raised his lips and lowered his gaze again.

His fingers, which had been up on the desk, lightly tapped the papers.

“Indeed, I haven’t looked at any freshmen before…..”

Ian mumbled quietly, staring at someone’s photo on the document.

“I still think I should see their faces.”

Weaver’s brow wrinkled at his words.

He didn’t know who the hell Ian was talking to.

He could barely make out the words “freshman directory” on the paperwork on his desk. The rest was too small to see clearly.

The picture of the person on the far left was hidden in another booklet where Weaver was.

Ian’s back leaned deeply against the chair. Then he said arrogantly as he roughly tossed the document in his hand in front of Weaver.

“Bring Filina here right now.”

On the document thrust in front of Weaver was a picture of Filina with her red hair neatly tied up.

***

“After passing the advancement examinations and becoming a common knight, the ordination ceremony is held in church. This ceremony is a very long standing custom in the Alvar Empire and it is only through the oath to chivalry that one is officially recognized as a knight.”

Filina was taking a theory class. The low voice of the instructor was the only sound in the desolate atmosphere. Just then, there was a small knock outside the classroom door.

“I apologize for interrupting your class.”

It was Lawrence who opened the tightly closed door and showed his face.

“What can I do for you?”

The instructor stopped the class for a moment and approached him. Then the students in the lecture hall yawned and stretched as if they had been waiting for this moment.

Filina also turned her stiff head from side to side, and her eyes met Lawrence’s, who was standing in front of the door. But his gaze immediately shifted to the instructor who was standing right in front of him.

Filina had a somewhat ominous feeling. Sure enough, the instructor, who had finished talking to Lawrence, turned his head and called her.

“Debussy.”

Filina, who hid her face slightly next to Bessie for no reason, sighed at his call and got up from her seat.

“Follow the Vice-Commander now. You can make up for your class later.”

She twisted her eyebrows at the instructor’s last sentence. Except for the free time to eat, all of her classes were full, and he told her to make up for her class later?

Filina stared at Lawrence with a resentful expression, then quietly lowered her eyes when she met his gaze. Lawrence didn’t take his gaze off her until she was out of her seat and approaching him. The door to the lecture hall closed, leaving the annex completely behind, and he finally spoke up.

“I’m sorry to call you so suddenly.”

Filina replied with a sullen face.

“No, you’re not. By the way, what makes you do that?”

From the direction she was walking, she was heading to the interrogation room or the office. Filina couldn’t hide her uneasiness.

Could Weaver have declared her a fraudulent admission?

However, despite her thoughts, the interrogation room passed by quickly.

“We have a very important guest here today.”

She finally heard Lawrence’s reply after a while, and it was somehow tense.

“Important guest?”

Filina asked with a look of incomprehension on her face.

It was forbidden to meet with outsiders until the students became official knights.

Of course, she wasn’t sure if the new students would also get the right to go out directly for their achievements at the academy, but…

Lawrence’s lips raised smoothly as he answered.

“At first, I thought he was coming to see the Commander, but to my surprise, he wanted to see Sir Debussy.”

Before she knew it, they had reached the front of the office building. Filina quietly followed Lawrence.

The thought that the person had come to see the Commander was that at least it wasn’t her family. If it was a noble guest, his status must be quite high.

And knowing that visiting new students is forbidden, this person’s request was accepted right away. How many people in the Alvar Empire had the authority to do that?

Filina’s feet came to a halt. She could feel Lawrence looking at her with a strange expression on his face. The office room, where Weaver was, was right in front of her.

Before she knew it, she spat out with a tense look as she snatched Lawrence’s wrist urgently, who was about to open the door.

“Can’t I not meet the guest?”

“What?”

Lawrence looked at Filina with a puzzled expression. Then he contracted his eyebrows and asked with a strange look on his face.

“Do you know who is in the office?”

They walked so hurriedly that he couldn’t even tell her who had come to visit. But from the look on Filina’s face, she seemed to know who it might be.

“Maybe.”

She replied quietly, one eyebrow raised. Lawrence could only stare at Filina with his head tilted.

Did she really know Crown Prince Ian is here? Then why is her expression so bad? Filina, who inherited the Duke of Debussy’s blood, resembled her father more than anyone else.

Not to mention her appearance. Her red eyes, as mysterious as ruby jewels, were as beautiful as roses, but the sharp thorns reflected in them gave off a cold atmosphere.

She also did not have the personality to laugh often like Duke Debussy, but rather frowned in frustration most of the day. Sometimes she would stare blankly at the sky while taking a class, and when that happened, strangely, Lawrence felt as if she was from another world.

She had been in and out of the Imperial Palace countless times since she was a child, and there were rumors that she had surprised the people of the palace by giving the Crown Prince very expensive gifts for his birthdays.

So when Ian got engaged to another woman, people were secretly curious about Filina’s reaction. But she went to the social gatherings with the same expression on her face as usual.

Some thought she was hiding her grief, others that she didn’t like Ian from the start, and that the Crown Prince loved her, but when she didn’t respond to his heart, he proposed to another woman out of spite.

This speculation spread to the Academy. In a desolate space where only men gathered, the Crown Prince’s love story was a rather interesting subject, even more so for them to gamble on.

Of course, the bet ended in vain as soon as Lawrence caught it. One interesting fact was that when Filina entered the Academy, no one recognized her.

As mere commoners, there was no way they would have known her face.

Of course, those from the aristocracy knew her, but they couldn’t pretend to know her openly. It was unknown if it was because the rumors about the Debussy family were not too good or because of Filina’s cold atmosphere.

Lawrence said in a low voice.

“The Commander can’t even refuse.”

After all, it meant that it was impossible for her to refuse.

Filina sighed heavily and nodded.

She knew that fact, too. She just didn’t want to see Ian, but it was inevitable.

“I’ll knock.”

Lawrence said as he looked at Filina as if to tell her to prepare herself. At the same time, the sound of knocking on the door in silence spread steadily.