I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince

T/N: This bonus chapter is sponsored by James B. (12/14). If you enjoy reading and are willing to help me catch up to the latest chapters faster by sponsoring bonus chapters, see my Ko-fi.

“……”

Lilith, who had conspired to create discord with Agnes as a preliminary step to remove Machart’s suspicions, suddenly provoked her.

Agnes felt momentarily confused, not knowing how to respond to the provocation that came out of Lilith’s mouth.

Their plan was for Lilith to pretend to pick a fight with Agnes first, and then Agnes would pretend to get angry in response, creating the appearance of discord between them.

They had even decided in advance what the content of their argument would be about – they were going to fight about Spirit Affinity, a topic Agnes had already received criticism for once before. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

But when Lilith suddenly changed the subject to criticizing Agnes’s magic circle, Agnes felt quite flustered.

‘Weren’t we supposed to fight about whether my Spirit Affinity was good or bad…?’

Although Agnes was confused by the sudden change in topic, she calmly tried to understand why Lilith had provoked her with this topic.

Surely, Lilith couldn’t actually dislike her magic circle. It was strange in the first place to criticize the magic that even the professor had praised for its minimal mana loss.

If so, then there must be a reason for changing the conversation topic, and Agnes had some idea of what it might be.

She suddenly remembered an incident that occurred when they had practiced together in a previous test run.

<…Alright. I’ll figure out something about your poor acting skills. But we’ll still push through with the plan to create discord between us, okay?>

Agnes quickly recalled in her mind the last conversation they had when they came up with the plan to pretend there was discord between her and Lilith.

She never expected that the “different method” would involve Lilith provoking her with a completely different topic than what they had prepared.

From Agnes’s perspective, it was certainly an unexpected situation and in some ways a truly excellent solution. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

Rather than showing an awkward reaction with poorly prepared acting that no one would fall for, Lilith had brought up a completely different topic to elicit a spontaneous reaction.

“Agnes?”

“Uh, what?”

“Why haven’t you said anything? Were you that shocked by me saying your magic circle was terrible?”

“Ah, no… That’s…”

“Or did you not understand properly? Should I clearly state that a magic circle full of curves with no symmetrical structure and no clear starting point is nothing more than a self-consoling magic circle with absolutely no practical use?”

“…?!?!”

Seeing no reaction from Agnes, Lilith repeated her insult, this time, even more scathingly.

Agnes was quite shocked to hear Lilith digging into her heart with even harsher words compared to the first time.

‘She’s just acting… right?’

If these weren’t thoughts Lilith had been harboring all along, how could she come up with such words on the spot?

Although Agnes knew Lilith was deliberately picking a fight with her, the thought occurred to her that perhaps these words were Lilith’s true feelings, and consequently, a rebuttal naturally came out of Agnes’s mouth.

“D-Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Pardon?”

“No practical use because it’s full of curves, has no symmetrical structure, and no clear starting point? Are you just not intelligent enough to understand my magic circle?”

“…What did you say?”

“Even a first-year at the academy knows that a curved structure is advantageous for reducing mana loss and increasing power in a magic circle. Saying my assignment, where every part of the magic circle is curved, has no practicality, is a stupid answer. Of course, it would seem impractical to you since you can’t even properly memorize my magic circle and can only copy it while looking at it. That’s why you’re saying my magic has no practicality, right?”

…Yes, this she could do.

Even if she was poor at acting, she could naturally respond to this kind of verbal sparring.

Although she was a bit confused about whether this situation was Lilith’s true feelings or not… for now, she had no choice but to pretend to respond as if it were real.

If she didn’t do at least this much, it wouldn’t be easy to deceive the academy students and Machart…

“What’s the point of saving 1-2 mana with such a complex structure in a spell that consumes only about 50 mana at most?”

“If you use it 30 times, you can use it one more time with the same amount of mana. Are you too stupid to calculate that?”

“I’m asking what’s the point of using such a low-level spell one more time? And isn’t it better to focus on multi-casting or preparing for the next spell rather than concentrating on drawing a magic circle full of curves?”

“Do you really need to concentrate on a magic circle so simple you can draw it with your eyes closed? Your premise is wrong from the start.”

What started as a verbal sparring to deceive Machart’s eyes had gradually evolved into a magic discussion that Agnes found increasingly interesting as time passed.

From the outside, it would look like nothing more than an argument between people on the verge of falling out, but in reality, Agnes and Lilith were having a passionate and serious discussion about magic. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

Especially for Agnes, who had hardly anyone she could call a friend, it was naturally enjoyable to talk about magic, her favorite subject. Even if it outwardly looked like an emotional argument.

…And perhaps it was inevitable that Agnes, caught up in this excitement, would momentarily let her guard down and make a verbal mistake that crossed the line.

“Why are you struggling to draw such a simple magic circle? Did all the nutrients that should have gone to your brain go to your chest fat instead and make you stupid… Ah.”

“……”

If it was just a discussion about magic, it wouldn’t matter how sharp the words exchanged were. After all, it was a debate disguised as an argument, a discussion disguised as anger.

However, the moment personal attacks are added to the argument, the conversation can no longer be called a discussion.

Agnes, who had inadvertently mentioned physical characteristics in the heat of the moment, felt momentary confusion and thought she should apologize, but Lilith calmly countered Agnes’s words with a sardonic smile.

“I-I misspoke just now…”

“And in your case, Agnes, is it because all the nutrients that should have gone elsewhere went to your head that you’re so flat in both height and chest?”

“…Huh?”

Unfortunately, Agnes had overlooked one fact.

If they had only been discussing magic, Lilith might have been able to maintain a plausible conversation by pretending to be on equal footing. 

However, in reality, she had been subtly feigning a debate while remaining slightly behind Agnes in terms of magical knowledge.

If the argument were to spread to areas ‘outside of magic’, there was no way, even if she died and came back to life, that she could win against Lilith.

“Well, I suppose this doesn’t really apply to you, Agnes. You have one less area than me where nutrients need to reach. No wonder your brain works better than mine.”

“T-That’s… I mean…”

“Come to think of it, could your hot-tempered personality also be due to a lack of capacity in your chest? They often use the expression ‘warm-hearted’ to describe kind people. In that sense, you must have the coldest and most detached chest of anyone, Agnes.”

“L-Lilith…? P-Please stop joking…”

“I was inconsiderate. I momentarily forgot about the difference in our physical conditions.”

As Lilith said this, she deliberately crossed her arms to lift her chest, leaving Agnes increasingly dizzy from Lilith’s relentless attacks.

What is this? It’s a one-sided and unfairly unjust conversation.

It seemed like they were having a magic discussion disguised as an argument just a moment ago, so why did it suddenly change to this content?

Of course, the topic of the fight changed starting from her own slip of the tongue, but was it really necessary to go this far?

Weren’t we friends, Lilith? Why are you saying such things between friends?

Unlike Agnes, who was experiencing hell in real-time, Lilith was calmly continuing the argument, including personal attacks.

In fact, Lilith hadn’t initially planned to go this far with her words. She knew better than anyone that Agnes had an inferiority complex about her height and chest.

Therefore, she hadn’t intended to bring up such a topic in an argument and have such a cowardly conversation, but Agnes’s accidental mention of breasts had become the trigger.

From Lilith’s perspective, since Agnes had first mentioned the physical weakness that Lilith had been deliberately refraining from mentioning, she thought Agnes had given her permission to discuss physical flaws. In an argument on this topic, the loser was determined even before opening their mouth.

Naturally, from that point on, Agnes could only be miserably and one-sidedly defeated in the argument. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

Eventually, the argument that had turned into a one-sided attack from one person gradually built up anger in Agnes’s heart, and Lilith’s final words became the decisive blow that triggered the anger of the red Chihuahua.

“Come to think of it, I can now understand why your magic circle is so full of curves. Since your body is nothing but straight lines without a single part that could be called a curve, perhaps you want to feel the curves you don’t have through your magic circle at least…”

“Are you done talking?! Y-You lump of fat!!!“

In the end, Agnes exploded.

She completely forgot the original purpose that led to this conversation.

T/N

Hello! Axiomatic here.

Seems she took it personally; poor girl.

See you tomorrow!