The next morning, Calca arrived at the classroom clutching two books. One was the standard introductory magic text used by the royalty; the other was the biography of the First Holy King she had borrowed from the library. She figured that if her plan succeeded, she would be spending the entire day in this classroom, and she had no intention of wasting that precious spare time.
As soon as she entered, she spotted two familiar figures: Damien and Spar.
Both were sitting bolt upright, wearing expressions of intense academic focus. Calca felt a prickle of suspicion. It was only 8:40 AM; since when did Damien have the fortitude to show up twenty minutes early? Sensing Calca's skeptical gaze, Damien instinctively looked away, then quickly put on a fawning smile and gestured for her to sit. Spar's smile was equally wooden.
Calca arched an eyebrow. They were clearly hiding something. She walked straight to a seat in the front row by the window and patted the chair beside her without looking back. This simple gesture made the two "quails" tremble even harder, but faced with the "Witch's" invitation, Damien had no choice but to bite the bullet and sit next to her with an air of extreme servility.
"Damien, why are you here so early today?" Calca asked, flipping through her book nonchalantly.
"I just wanted to thank you!" Damien said, rubbing his small hands together with forced gratitude. "Thanks to your suggestion yesterday, Mother actually rewarded me for once. Look, this is the magic item she gave me."
On cue, Spar pulled a silver circular bracelet from his bag. It was crafted from pure silver and could automatically adjust its size. Calca extended her wrist, and Damien slid the bracelet on, tapping a surface that lit up with numbers: 8:43.
As expected, it was a magic watch. Thanks to the Six Great Gods, this world utilized Arabic numerals and a standard time system; otherwise, Calca would have developed a migraine just trying to read the words for time.
Calca looked at Damien with a deadpan expression. "Spill it. What went wrong?"
Damien looked sheepish. "Well... yesterday, when I was giving the suggestions to Mother and Great Priestess Mariana, Mother saw right through me. I had no choice but to mention your name too."
In truth, Damien had realized halfway through his errand that if these "Hellish Proposals" actually went into effect, every royal sibling would hate him for the rest of his life. He'd had a sudden flash of inspiration: he wanted to use the suggestions to avoid punishment, but he didn't want to take the blame. So, he decided to push Calca forward as the mastermind, claiming he had "accidentally let it slip."
Damien had fantasized about giving Calca a taste of the "social death" she often dealt him, and he had even prepared a mountain of excuses to maintain the upper hand. But Calca simply gave a soft, "Oh."
The reaction nearly made Damien scream. I prepared all this drama and you just give me an 'oh'?!
While Damien was caught in his internal struggle, the other princes and princesses began filing into the room. Shortly after, Great Priestess Mariana entered, but the person following behind her was someone entirely unexpected: Queen Elizabeth Southkorf!
Damien's heart skipped a beat. Why is Mother here in person?!
The entire classroom immediately rose to offer their salutations.
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My : https://[email protected]/AuAuMon
I'm not the Queen Greatsword. (59 Chapters, Ongoing)
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