Chapter 170

There was one week left until the Academy Festival.

At a time when everyone, led by the Student Council, was putting the final spurt into festival preparations, Ciel came to my office.

Our conversation began with small talk here and there, but as it started to warm up, Ciel finally brought up the real topic.

“Specifically, what are you planning to do~?”

It was obvious what Ciel was referring to.

My plan was to use this Academy Festival to help Miyu grow, and to push through the Act 3, Part 2 scenario.

But aside from simply presenting the card called “festival,” I hadn’t shared any concrete details of what or how I planned to do it—not with Ciel, nor with the other transmigrators.

I had only told them to just live their daily lives as usual until further instructions from me.

The first reason was so that they wouldn’t develop unnecessary thoughts if I revealed my plan too early, and the second was that I had no intention of casting them in this scenario anyway.

That’s why I had only made prior arrangements through Ciel and Kara to set the stage for the “play.” In the end, Ciel couldn’t hold back her curiosity and came to ask.

Of course, I could just kick her out with, “Don’t concern yourself with useless things and just do your own work.” But I thought there was no need to be that cold to Ciel, who had obediently carried out my instructions until now.

Well, it won’t matter if I tell her.

Where should I start from?

After running through the calculations in my head, I opened my mouth.

“Do you remember the original content of Act 3, Part 2?”

“Mm~ what was it again~?”

“The episode where Miyu’s inventions, made at the request of the students, go berserk. The protagonist’s group ran all over the Academy trying to catch the rampaging machines.”

“Ahh, now that you say it, I remember. You actually remember all that~?”

Of course. I had read the original so many times.

Back then, when I was mentally in a rougher place, I reread over 200 chapters multiple times… No, that part doesn’t matter.

“As a result of the invention rampage incident, Miyu finally begins to overcome her social anxiety and face the world. She realizes that blindly making things for others isn’t the right answer.”

“Mhm. And so~?”

“The key point here is…”

In the middle of explaining, a message came from Maria. Usually, this happened when a sudden visitor arrived—and I had a pretty good guess who it was.

[Young Master, Miss Beresford has arrived.]

“……”

[What should I do?]

“……”

Sure enough, it was Serena.

As I hesitated to answer, a holographic projection popped up before me.

The camera was showing the first-floor Academy main entrance, and inside a flying limousine was Serena.

Since she was an outsider, if she tried flying straight into the 249th-floor parking lot, the turrets would riddle her with bullets and send her crashing down. So she had no choice but to come through the ground entrance on the first floor.

“She’s been coming quite often lately~”

“……You’re telling me.”

Ever since we met at the West Skyline University Festival, Serena had been coming here nearly every day around lunchtime. Thanks to that, the moment news came that Serena had arrived, I could roughly tell it was lunchtime.

I wondered if her university life was really okay.

And did the great politician Mr. Beresford know that his daughter was skipping grades just to drop by the office of some man with whom she technically had no real relationship?

What’s more, Serena had an uncanny way of never visiting on days when I was really busy, as if she knew and was considerate of me. In some ways, I was grateful, but at the same time, it was a little scary—wasn’t this bordering on stalking?

“Haa… Let her in…”

I sighed as I allowed Serena entry, and not long after, she barged into my office, flinging the door open.

“Dear husband~ your beloved lover has arrived~”

The moment I was about to retort, Who’s your dear husband?, I realized it was a trap. If I said that, she’d surely respond with, Oh my, so you don’t deny being my lover! and get carried away by her own fantasies. On the other hand, if I answered with, Who’s your lover?, she’d just counter in a similar fashion.

No matter which tack I chose, I’d fall into her trap. And I had no intention of playing along.

“Who’s the dear husband, and who’s the lover?”

“Why, you’re the dear husband, Aaron, and I am… fufu…”

Unable to finish her words, Serena twisted shyly, face blushing as if embarrassed. So both choices were traps after all.

Even if I said nothing, she’d insist that “not denying it counts as admitting it.” It was basically a forced checkmate. A foul move, really. Too much.

“Honestly…”

“Fufufu.”

When I looked at her in disbelief, Serena just laughed.

Where did that shamelessness come from?

Was it genetic? Was it because she was a politician’s daughter?

As I sighed inwardly, Serena finally noticed Ciel’s presence. Her face shifted to a completely different, more “normal” demeanor as she greeted her.

“Oh my, you’re here too, Ciel.”

“Hello, Miss Serena~”

Ciel bowed at a perfect ninety degrees, her movements so natural they seemed ingrained. But Serena barely gave her a glance and strode straight to the guest sofa.

Then, with a thud loud enough to echo, she plopped down the large package she was holding and turned to me with a triumphant look.

“You haven’t eaten yet, right? I brought a homemade lunch.”

“Lunchbox?”

“Yes. A lunchbox.”

“Homemade?”

“Yes, made by hand with all my love.”

“…I’m not eating it.”

“What!? Why not!”

Because it feels like you put something weird in it.

I’d seen too many cases of stalkers slipping strange things into food… but I bit my tongue, sparing her feelings.

“Our chef used to work at a seven-star hotel, and under his guidance, I carefully selected the finest ingredients to make this lunchbox…”

“……”

“Are you really not going to eat it…?”

Ah, this was ridiculously burdensome.

Resigned, I got up from my seat and headed toward the sofa. Since it was lunchtime anyway, I’d just eat Serena’s lunchbox today.

When I checked the contents of the lunchbox with that in mind, contrary to my worries, an array of delicious-looking dishes awaited me. I couldn’t tell what ingredients they were made of, but the aroma was rich and appetizing.

“There’s a lot.”

“I made plenty so you can eat a lot.”

“…Fine. Thanks, I guess.”

As I said that, I gave Ciel a look suggesting she should join us. But she only sat in her seat, gently shaking her head, showing no intention of eating. I was sure I’d bought her a “digestive system” part last time, but who knew why.

Well, if she didn’t want to eat, there was nothing I could do.

I picked up my chopsticks and grabbed the nearest dish. Just then, Serena hurriedly picked up one herself and held it toward me.

“Here, say aaah~”

“……”

I ignored her and just picked it up myself.

Fitting the flashy presentation, the taste was quite excellent. Still, I couldn’t tell what ingredients had been used. The texture suggested some kind of fish… After becoming this body, I had eaten plenty of expensive dishes, but this was unlike anything I’d ever tasted.

“How is it?”

“It’s good, but what ingredient did you use?”

“Eel.”

So it was eel.

In this world where fish itself was a rare delicacy, eel was an incredibly rare ingredient. I nodded, then pointed to another container.

“And this one?”

“A stir-fry made with pork and chives.”

Pork and chives? Surprisingly ordinary.

But in this world, where commoners had no choice but to eat synthetic meat and genetically modified vegetables, this was still quite the luxury.

“And this one?”

“Fried oysters.”

Oysters were definitely an expensive ingredient too.

But… there was no consistency in the dishes.

Tilting my head, I pointed at each dish in turn, asking what they were, and Serena patiently answered each one.

—“Pasta with plenty of tomatoes and garlic.”

—“That one is octopus, and that one is omija.”

—“That one is a dragon-and-phoenix soup with soft-shelled turtle.”

“……”

Soft-shelled turtle?

Don’t tell me…

And my suspicion was confirmed when she revealed the final boss.

“Oh, that’s sea lion testicles.”

“…Cough!”

“Ah, are you okay?”

They were all aphrodisiacs!

I wasn’t some crazy northern dictator—I had never imagined I’d put things like this in my mouth.

As far as I knew, most wild animals had gone extinct in this world thanks to the Mystics. So where the hell had she even gotten all this?

No, more importantly…

“Cough—what in the world made you serve dishes like this… cough…!”

“I-I heard they’re good for men. That they make your muscles bulge, you know…”

Bulge.

The moment that word left her lips, I almost spat out the food again, but barely held it in.

And, unbelievably, Serena’s expression was dead serious. Judging from those innocent, clear eyes, she clearly had no idea which specific “muscle” that referred to.

No, that made no sense!

At twenty years old, she should know!

And she wasn’t just some sheltered noble lady—she was a transmigrator!

How could she not know!

Unlike her usual eccentric antics, this was a bizarrely misplaced lack of common sense. I had no idea where I was supposed to begin fixing this twisted mindset and behavior of hers.

“Pff, phuhuhuhuhu…!”

“……Don’t laugh.”

Ciel, watching from the side, burst into outright laughter.

Should I smack her? She was just a machine, so even if she broke, I could fix her.

Anyway.

I was once again reminded that Serena was completely insane in many ways, and I stuffed as much of the food down as I could.

Her intentions were impure, sure, but it wasn’t like the food tasted bad. And wasting such expensive ingredients? The Korean inside me—now living as Aaron Stingray—couldn’t forgive that.

By the time I finally finished the meal after all that trouble, I felt completely drained. My body was strangely overheating with energy, but since my mind was exhausted, it didn’t help at all.

While Serena busied herself tidying up the lunchboxes, I returned to the conversation I’d been having with Ciel. Serena was distracting, but since she was also a transmigrator, it should be fine if she overheard.

Where had we left off again?

Right—about Miyu.

“Miyu needs to grow mentally during this festival. That way she won’t be blindly swayed by others, but will instead make her own decisions and use her power on her own terms. You understand that much.”

“Yes, for now~. So you want to help Miyu overcome her shyness and social anxiety~?”

“That’s a one-dimensional solution. When your temperature rises from an infection, simply taking a fever reducer won’t solve the underlying problem.”

“Then what~?”

Ciel tilted her head.

Meanwhile, Serena had finished packing up the lunchboxes and gave me a look, as if to say she wanted to join the conversation too.

But after that whole lunchbox incident, I was in no mood to indulge her, so I ignored it and answered.

“I plan to get seriously injured during this festival.”

“Eh?!”

Serena’s face went pale.

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