I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince

Prince Antonio’s passionate confession to Agnes.

To start with the result, it didn’t go as well as I had thought.

The outcome I expected—Agnes telling Prince Antonio that she wanted to take more time to observe him—seemed to be going well, so I wasn’t particularly worried. However, Prince Antonio’s subsequent response wasn’t very good.

<…Yes.>

<…I understand. Then I have no choice.>

<…>

Agnes tensed up momentarily when the words “I have no choice” came out of Prince Antonio’s mouth, but she quietly relaxed her stiff shoulders when she heard that he would accept it in the end.

Although she pretended otherwise on the surface, Agnes must have been nervous because she ultimately desired an engagement with the prince

I thought it would end with Agnes having more time to get to know her potential partner instead of a hasty engagement, and Prince Antonio making an effort to win Agnes’s heart by taking a step back – a desirable relationship. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

…If only he hadn’t added that unnecessary final sentence.

<…What is it?>

<…What? What do you mean?>

<…>

<…I’m already attending.>

<…Pardon?>

In this way, Prince Antonio ended up severely prodding at Agnes’s complex, and their engagement concluded ambiguously.

Somehow, it seemed like my unnecessary words might have widened the gap between them, but since it was the prince’s verbal mistake, not mine, I didn’t need to worry about it.

I could only pray that Antonio would somehow make up for his mistake and develop a good relationship with Agnes. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

Thus, the finale of the events at Prince Antonio’s birthday banquet ended with a push-and-pull relationship between its protagonist celebrating his 18th birthday and Agnes.

…And I quietly hoped in my heart that it would end with just that.

『Lilith has reached Level 17!』

A week had passed since Antonio’s public confession to Agnes

After the end of various events timed with the conclusion of the academy’s midterm exams, including the prince’s birthday banquet, the somewhat chaotic atmosphere within the academy returned to normal within a week.

The greatest achievement of mine in the past week was leveling up after a long time.

My growth had been slow due to the lack of recent events to gain XP, but I was finally able to achieve one level of growth by accumulating hunting experience from the common course Practical Monster Hunting that I took with Ethan, and sparring experience from the Application of Magic Swordsmanship class.

‘Anyway, it’s damn hard to level up even once.’

If only leveling up could be a bit easier, I could progress much more smoothly.

Still, I should be grateful that it wasn’t a growth rate that lagged behind for a second-year student in the Magic Department of the academy.

Of course, the fact that I leveled up meant that Ethan, who had many more opportunities to gain experience than me, was likely to have leveled up as well. So, having grown side by side, Ethan and I were now glaring at each other with swords in both hands.

…While each of us exhaled tired, rhythmic breaths.

“Huff, huff, huff…”

“Haah, haah, haah…”

Application of Magic Swordsmanship is a common subject for the Magic and Swordsmanship Departments in the second year, first semester.

Originally, there was no way Ethan, a Tier 1 student, and I, a Tier 2 student, would be designated as sparring partners during class. But with the changes in Harold’s curriculum, as we entered the second year, Ethan and I found ourselves engaging in combat like this, holding swords. *1

‘Indeed, it’s fucking intense…’

Having already exchanged blows dozens of times, I was naturally quite exhausted mentally.

To begin with, there was no way for me to win against Ethan in one-on-one swordsmanship, so my approach to combat was essentially trying to predict Ethan’s psychology and move one step faster.

At least, I had observed how Ethan has moved in certain situations up close for the past two years.

…Of course, it was only because it was Ethan that I could hold out with such tricks. Sparring with other Tier 1 students was nothing short of one-sided bullying.

Needless to say, the Hero was perfect in all aspects, be it attack or defense.

Natalie’s swordsmanship, attempting to thrust several times per second with movements much faster than me wielding a dagger, was also sharp.

Caraham, though slow, was also a monster difficult for me to handle, with his absurdly strong greatsword that completely eliminated the option of blocking for defense when swung with intent.

‘Anyway, the Swordsmanship Department students of the Protagonist’s Generation are full of nothing but monsters…’

Even though it’s a game mainly about swordsmanship and magic, a department with one heroine and two minibosses certainly had many problems in terms of power balance.

And among them, if we consider compatibility, Ethan should actually be the most difficult to deal with.

Despite holding swords in both hands like me, Ethan’s superior reach, speed, and power in all aspects meant that sparring with him could only result in a one-sided match.

It was only by using the aforementioned tricks and the fact that Ethan showed a strange hesitation when facing me that I had the chance to exchange a few sword strikes.

To explain further, it wasn’t that Harold was making me spar with Tier 1 students from the Swordsmanship Department to torment me after the humiliation last semester. From the start, about four students besides me were rotating weekly to have mock battles with the four people from Tier 1, or with Harold. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

As you might have guessed, these five students, including me, were those who had managed to land a hit on Harold last semester and had their skills recognized.

While not at a level to face the inhuman-grade students of Tier 1, we were at a level where we could easily achieve victory against ordinary students from Tier 2 and below.

Harold had designated these five as belonging to Tier 1.5 and had started new training from the second year’s first semester. We were to serve as a bridge between Tier 1 and Tier 2 swordsmanship for the overall growth of all students.

‘The problem was that we were put into sparring matches with handicaps where we could only get beaten by both Tier 1 and Tier 2.’

If we fought with our existing skills, there would have been no reason to raise me and the other students to Tier 1.5, so it was decreed that Tier 1.5 students would fight differently depending on the opponent.

When a Tier 1.5 student fought a Tier 2 student, magic was prohibited, and they had to fight using purely swordsmanship, while Tier 2 students could only use defensive magic.

Conversely, when fighting Tier 1 students, Tier 1 students were prohibited from using magic, while Tier 1.5 students could use magic limited to defense.

Thanks to this awkward handicap, Tier 1.5 students, including me, were accumulating only defeats in daily sparring sessions. Not only against Tier 1 students but also against Tier 2 students.

‘Of course, it’s a given from the point where we can’t tear through Arcane Barriers with swordsmanship.’

Tier 1 students could naturally tear through Arcane Barriers using pure swordsmanship. They could even cut or break through most defensive magic and attack.

Being able to use defensive magic against such students wasn’t particularly advantageous for Tier 1.5 students. Even if we entered the sparring wrapped in Arcane Barriers, most of them would break through the barriers and land attacks.

Moreover, to make matters worse, Tier 1.5 students hadn’t yet reached the level where they could tear through Arcane Barriers with swordsmanship like Tier 1 students.

In my case, I could somehow tear through it using auxiliary magic spells, like Sharp Blade, but of course, that was a skill I couldn’t use due to the magic prohibition rule.

In other words, even if I managed to land the first attack, it would only result in allowing a reversal as it was blocked by the Arcane Barrier. Looking at it this way, the Tier 1 students who could destroy Arcane Barriers with swordsmanship alone suddenly seemed quite impressive.

Anyway, Harold probably anticipated this level of skill difference from the start. He was likely using this intense training to raise the achievement of Tier 1.5 students to be able to destroy Arcane Barriers.

Thanks to this, although I could tangibly feel that my attack power when wielding a sword had noticeably improved now that more than half a semester had passed, my mental strength was gradually being chipped away. In a moment of distraction, Ethan rushed towards me and unhesitatingly struck down the dagger in my hand with his sword.

Clang!

“Ugh?!”

Before the stinging vibration in my hand could fade, Ethan’s other sword came flying towards my other hand. 

As I hurriedly tried to respond by pulling out another dagger from my bosom, Ethan’s hand grasped the wrist of the hand that had lost its dagger. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

Claaang!

“Argh!”

As the dagger fell from my other hand, I felt my wrist being grabbed, and my body fell backward onto the sparring ground, with Ethan pouncing on top of me.

Thud.

“…Do you want to continue, Lilith?”

“…I’ve lost, Young Master Ethan.”

It was a moment of utter powerlessness in the face of such a humiliating defeat.

T/N

The actual Korean used here directly translates to “Part 1” and “Part 2”. I changed ‘part’ to ‘tier’ so it makes more sense from the English perspective. From the context in the chapter, Tier 1 is the highest.

Hello! Axiomatic here.

See you in a bit for the bonus chapter! (fr this time)