Episode 44: The Villain Behind the Scenes

While Siegfried was living his life at the military academy… at the Kreving Earl’s mansion.

“Hehe… As expected, this refined maid outfit suits you perfectly, Celestina-san.”

Smiling in front of the mirror was Fine, the head maid of the Kreving household. Standing beside her was Celestina, the ‘Crimson Princess,’ dressed in a maid outfit with a white and black color scheme.

The simple, unadorned long skirt complemented Celestina’s tall figure beautifully.

“What do you think, Celestina-san? Would you prefer a shorter hem…? I can adjust it right away if you’d like.”

Fine asked as much. They were in the middle of trying on a maid outfit tailored specifically for Celestina.

When Celestina first arrived at the mansion, she had worn a standard maid outfit meant for general use. However, it had felt a bit restrictive for her tall frame and ample chest, so a new one was made from scratch.

“It’s not like I have any particular preference…”

Celestina gazed at her reflection in the mirror.

“But it feels… kind of strange. Me, wearing a maid outfit? …Does it really suit me?”

Once a member of royalty and feared as the ‘Crimson Princess,’

the idea of wearing a maid outfit still felt utterly foreign to her.

“Yes, it suits you wonderfully, Celestina-san.”

Fine gave her a gentle smile. Celestina met her gaze, studying the maid’s unpretentious demeanor.

“Hey, you. Didn’t he… Siegfried, give you some important task? Is it really okay for you to be fussing over me like this?”

“Yes.”

Fine nodded. As Celestina had pointed out, before heading to the military academy, Siegfried had entrusted Fine with a significant mission.

“I’m steadily making progress on the task Siegfried-sama assigned me. However, taking care of you, Celestina-san, is also an important duty he entrusted to me. And besides…”

Fine’s smile took on a slightly mischievous edge.

“Choosing clothes with you like this is just so much fun.”

At that innocent, almost childlike smile, Celestina cast a skeptical glance.

“There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask for a while… Aren’t you… scared?”

“Scared…?”

“Yes. I’m one of the ‘Seven Calamities,’ aren’t I?”

Celestina wasn’t familiar with the term. The ‘Seven Calamities’ was a name coined after she had been sealed away. Yet, she could clearly sense the fear and hatred embedded in that title.

“And it’s true—I’m a monster who destroyed two entire nations. Even now, if I wanted to… I could kill you without breaking a sweat.”

Though her power was suppressed by the ring Siegfried had made, overcoming that restraint would be trivial for her.

“Aren’t you afraid of someone like me?”

“I’m not afraid.”

Fine answered without a moment’s hesitation.

“If you were the kind of person who would kill me, Siegfried-sama would never have tasked me with looking after you.”

Her words carried an unshakable trust in Siegfried.

“And above all—”

Fine leaned in, peering into Celestina’s face.

“Having spent time with you, I don’t find you frightening at all… It’s okay. You may indeed be one of the ‘Seven Calamities’ and have destroyed two nations in the past. But… I don’t believe you’re someone who would kill without reason.”

Celestina fell silent for a moment.

In that instant, a single figure surfaced in her mind—a woman.

Long ago… 500 years in the past. The image of her irreplaceable best friend.

She and Fine weren’t alike, not in the slightest. And yet… that friend, too, had never once feared Celestina.

“Um… about the maid outfit.”

Celestina murmured, her voice tinged with a hint of embarrassment and a touch of coyness.

“I think… it’d be better with more frilly ruffles. That’d make it… cuter.”

“Understood. I’ll have it altered right away.”

Fine beamed brightly. Her smile was infectious, and a gentle one crept onto Celestina’s cheeks as well.

But the warmth felt oddly ticklish, prompting her to change the subject.

“By the way… I wonder what he’s up to right now.”

“You mean Siegfried-sama, don’t you?”

Fine placed a finger to her chin, striking a thoughtful pose.

She couldn’t quite picture the specifics of his daily life at the military academy. But she held one firm conviction.

“I’m certain that no matter the environment, Siegfried-sama is living each day true to himself.”

“…Yes, I suppose so.”

Indeed, that much was undeniable… or so Celestina thought.

 

◇

 

The Royal Military Academy had four dormitories, but the grandest and most opulent by far was the Grantzile Dormitory.

Most of its residents were the scions of high-ranking nobility.

Second only to the main school building in scale, its exterior and interior were more akin to a luxury hotel than a dormitory.

Each student was assigned a private room, and a concierge was stationed on the first floor.

Even so, to the noble offspring residing there, it was still a ‘confining place.’

They had only one room to themselves, with no personal butlers or maids to attend to their every need.

That said, by common standards, a dormitory this lavish was practically unheard of.

Late into the night, at the top floor of the Grantzile Dormitory—

“…And so, the second son of the marquis family, Prosper von Icklinger, was utterly crushed by Siegfried.”

The voice of a noble student echoed, kneeling respectfully as he delivered his report.

The room resembled a suite in a high-end hotel, furnished with sophisticated decor. No one would believe at first glance that this was a student dormitory.

This was the private chamber reserved for the student representative.

“Hmph, pathetic… Prosper’s idiocy was no match for him, was it…?”

Lounging on a sofa at the center of the room, the room’s occupant—Randolph—spat out the words disdainfully.

“The clash between Siegfried and Prosper went exactly as planned, but…”

A few days prior, Randolph had summoned Prosper to this very room and spoken to him.

—Prosper-kun. Your family is a prestigious house that once produced a knight commander. And you, inheriting that blood, are a courageous man.

…By the way, a transfer student named Siegfried joined your class, didn’t he? Rumor has it His Majesty the King has taken a special interest in him… but to me, you seem far more exceptional.

Or so he had said.

(Flattering him like that was bound to inflate Prosper’s ego even further. I predicted it would naturally lead to a confrontation with Siegfried…)

But Prosper was simply no match for Siegfried. In the end, Prosper was thoroughly defeated without so much as landing a scratch on him.

“No matter. I have plenty of other moves to play. —You may leave.”

“Yes, sir.”

The reporting student bowed and quietly exited the room.

Left alone, Randolph propped his elbows on the desk before the sofa, slowly clasping his hands.

“This is my domain… I won’t let a man like him do as he pleases…”

Heir to the Steyart Dukedom, one of the five great noble families, and son of the academy’s headmaster, Randolph was nothing less than a ruler in this military academy.

He had no intention of letting a mere transfer student disrupt his domain.

“One day, I’ll make you kneel before me… Siegfried.”

Randolph’s eyes gleamed with hatred as he let out a low chuckle.

—But at that moment, unbeknownst to him, the darkness stirred quietly.

Hidden in the veil of night, a shadow peered into the room from outside the top-floor window.

Peering from such a height was unthinkable by normal standards. But for him, it was effortless.

“Heh…”

A faint, sly chuckle escaped the man—Siegfried von Kreving.

Using magically enhanced fingers to scale the building’s exterior, he observed the room through a gap in the curtains.

“Quite the impressive villainous performance, Randolph… Especially that pose, chuckling with your hands on the desk—superb. I’ve seen it in fictional works, but to witness a real villain striking that pose in person… remarkable.”

Siegfried muttered, clearly pleased.

“You don’t get to see a villain’s ‘scheming scene’ like this outside a closed environment like the military academy. Not only does he send lackeys my way, but he even puts on a show of his behind-the-scenes plotting. How considerate.”

Randolph hadn’t the slightest inkling that his words and actions were being watched from beyond the window.

He remained at the desk, elbows propped, lost in whatever schemes he was weaving in his mind.

“Look forward to it, Randolph. I’ll give you a stage befitting a villain who’s entertained me so well.”