Chapter 4

Bianca rested her chin on her hand, staring at her friend standing in the middle of the training ground. She quietly clicked her tongue.

‘Tsk tsk, that idiot.’

She thought she should have tried harder to stop her, but realized she couldn’t have anyway.

No, the one who had ruined their weekend outing to town was him. So if he got beaten up by Alexa, he deserved it.

‘Alexa, go ahead and hit him hard.’

Bianca wished for it in her heart.

Standing in the training ground, Alexa had her long, wavy hair—reaching to her shoulder blades—tied up in a single bun. Her healthy, reddish-brown hair swung wildly every time she wielded her sword, and that was the image that defined Alexa. Preparing for battle with her wooden sword propped between her legs, she was a sight often seen at the Academy.

‘But today, it really isn’t supposed to be a match.’

The boy who would soon come to see Alexa was probably going to be quite flustered. Secretly, Bianca was looking forward to that sight and grinned.

It had been half a year since they entered Konstanz Academy. In that time, Alexa had become a celebrity. After losing to Reinhardt in her first match, Alexa had trained as if her life depended on it.

As if to prove that her runner-up status wasn’t a fluke, she hadn’t lost since. Her sword was fierce, and she never went easy on her opponent. Especially with some noble boys—she was even harsher, and Bianca later learned those were the ones who had mocked Alexa. Bianca had laughed until her stomach hurt when she heard that.

Now, no one said Alexa was runner-up by luck or that she lacked ability. After all, everyone had taken a turn getting beaten by her sword; no one had the guts to say such things anymore.

And in that half year, Alexa had faced Reinhardt just once more. And she lost. The look on Alexa’s face when she returned to her room that day was truly terrifying.

“Oh, here he comes.”

Bianca spotted a boy entering the training ground and muttered. Sure enough, he was dressed in the best clothes he owned, from head to toe looking like money had been poured onto him. Plus, he was carrying a small bouquet of flowers. Bianca had to bite her lip—hard—to keep from bursting out laughing.

Alexa seemed just as surprised. As soon as she saw her classmate enter the training ground, she grabbed her wooden sword, but he didn’t look ready to swing a sword at all.

“…You, what are you doing?”

Alexa’s voice came out dazed. The boy was just as flustered.

“N-no, um… Did you really think this was a match?”

His hand holding the bouquet trembled with embarrassment. But he quickly composed himself and bravely approached Alexa, holding out the bouquet.

“W-would you go out on a date with me?”

“Mm, no.”

But his invitation was rejected instantly. Apparently, he hadn’t expected to be turned down so flatly, and his face went blank. Watching from a short distance away, Bianca counted silently. 

‘Oh yeah, seven.’

That was the number of boys who had asked Alexa for a date or to go out, only to be rejected. The number kept growing steadily.

“Maybe… you’re already with someone else…?”

“Yeah, see, she’s waiting over there.”

The boy’s face twisted in anguish as he quickly turned around. Seeing Bianca waving and smirking at him, his face contorted even more.

“Lady Bayreuth isn’t your lover!”

“I have plans with Bianca today.”

“Then, then maybe another day…”

“No.”

“Why?!”

“I don’t date guys who are weaker than me, Daniel.”

‘Can you beat me in a match? If you can, I’ll go out with you.’

It was a clean and ruthless rejection. Daniel’s skills were nowhere near Alexa’s—he was still just lingering at her feet. In shock, the bouquet he held dropped to the ground. Alexa picked it up, brushed off the dust, and hugged it to her chest.

“But you brought it for me, so I’ll take the flowers, okay? That’s fine, right?”

“…Huh? Uh…”

“Sorry, Bianca’s waiting. I’m heading off first.”

Leaving the dazed Daniel behind, Alexa quickly trotted over to Bianca. Bianca, making a show of it, linked arms with Alexa and rested her head on Alexa’s shoulder. It was obvious she was doing it on purpose, so Alexa chuckled.

“Why are you doing that? He’ll get hurt.”

“What are you talking about? He’s already suffered irreparable shock from what you said.”

“I was trying to be considerate, you know.”

“You mean when you said you don’t like guys weaker than you?”

“At least I didn’t say it was because I don’t like his looks.”

Wow… Bianca stared at Alexa, mouth agape. Alexa wrinkled her nose and handed the bouquet she was holding to Bianca. Bianca took the flowers, sniffed them, and burst out laughing.

“Seriously, Alexandra Lindau, aren’t your standards way, way too high? Not just the top of your head—your standards are tied somewhere up in the sky!”

“But Daniel von Schwerin just isn’t my type.”

“Alexa…”

In the end, Bianca shook her head.

Her roommate and best friend was truly strict about men’s looks. Honestly, Daniel, who had asked Alexa out today, was one of the most handsome students at the Academy. She’d heard he got several confession letters a day. He was a bit delicate-looking, but he was still a good-looking guy.

And yet Alexa had firmly drawn the line, saying he wasn’t her type.

“Is there anyone at this Academy you think is good-looking?”

Bianca giggled as she asked, and Alexa’s body tensed slightly at her next words.

“Well, does it have to be someone like Young Duke Odenwald to catch your eye?”

“…That guy? I’m not interested.”

Bianca knew all about Alexa’s hostility toward Reinhardt. At first, she’d wondered if Alexa might actually be interested in him, but soon, every time Reinhardt’s name came up, Alexa would tremble with anger. Apparently, she’d lost to him in a match, and that had made her furious.

Either way, Bianca didn’t want to upset her friend by dragging out the topic, so she quickly changed the subject.

“Oh, there’s a new seafood restaurant in town. Let’s go there first.”

“Great!”

Shaking off her mood, Alexa cheerfully changed her tone. The two of them, with light steps, headed for the carriages waiting at the Academy entrance to pick up students.

Meanwhile, Daniel, left alone in the training ground, ran his hand through his hair and sighed in disappointment.

People had warned him. ‘Alexandra won’t accept your confession, every guy who’s confessed to her has been rejected, whether senior or classmate, she never says yes. If you act cocky just because of your looks, you’ll definitely get dumped.’

But Daniel had been pretty confident. No girl had ever turned him down because of his face. Besides, he honestly felt he and Alexa had gotten pretty close.

First, he’d never once talked down to Alexa, so he thought he’d scored points with her (or so he believed). And they’d partnered up for class matches several times, exchanging meaningful glances (or so he believed). They’d greeted each other with smiles in passing, enjoyed light conversations…

“She even answered when I asked what flowers she liked…”

Honestly, what reason does a guy have to ask a girl “What flowers do you like?” When Alexa’s eyes sparkled—as Daniel imagined—while she told him the name of a flower, he thought, ‘That’s it!’ He believed that if he brought that flower and asked her out, things would go well.

But the result was this miserable. It seemed Alexa hadn’t expected anything romantic from their meeting at all. Instead, that sword-obsessed lady had thought he was challenging her to a match and was waiting with her wooden sword!

“Haha, ah… How embarrassing.”

Getting rejected hurt and stung, but he figured there was nothing he could do—maybe he’d just been too hasty.

He was sure Alexa wouldn’t act awkward around him. If this date proposal was going to make things awkward, she wouldn’t have kindly taken the flowers so he wouldn’t feel embarrassed. Still, thinking about his friends teasing him made his head ache and his cheeks burn.

“Ugh… Let’s just go. Huh?”

Just as Daniel, having lost his purpose for coming here, turned to leave, a shadow fell across his path. Daniel’s eyes widened as he faced someone he hadn’t expected at all.

“Wait, what are you doing here…?”

A bad feeling crept over him. Daniel felt a chill run down his spine. He stepped back, but there was nowhere to escape.