“I wish summer wouldn’t come.”

[My lady.......]

“I’m joking, I’m joking.”

Walking past the lakeshore, Camilla glanced at the butler-ghost Derrin, who looked on the verge of tears at her words, and let out a small laugh.

“Do you really have to follow me all the way to the Academy like this?”

[Lord Hersel is waiting with his neck practically stretched from longing.]

Of course he is.

He’s waited so long it curdled into regret. How frantic must he be. A day must feel like a year.

‘I understand how he feels, but.......’

Can I really do it?

Cold water was one thing; she honestly wasn’t much of a swimmer.

The lake looked fairly deep. Could she really find the egg—wherever it was down there—and bring it up in one piece?

[Do not worry. As I told you before, I have already confirmed where in the water the Guardian’s egg lies. All you need do is follow me.]

“......”

As if reading her mind, Derrin reassured her once more.

‘I’ve never been afraid of water, exactly.......’

I’ve shot commercials and films underwater more than a few times.

‘Well, it’ll work out somehow.’

Camilla averted her eyes from Derrin’s look that begged her to dive in today—tomorrow at the latest—and started walking again.

“Talk to me.”

“I have nothing to say.”

Hm?

Just as she ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) was about to step out of the dense woods, Camilla stopped at the sound of voices. A man had grabbed a woman and was trying to talk to her.

“Just have a cup of tea with me.”

Wow.

‘What is that prehistoric line?’

Hey, even the local punks these days don’t say stuff like that. Why am I the one getting secondhand embarrassment.

Camilla shook her head. She tried to slip away, keeping her footsteps as quiet as possible.

Thwack!

“I’m not interested.”

The woman snapped, wrenching free of the man’s grip. While that was happening, Camilla was getting farther and farther from them.

“Ha! Know your place......!”

She halted.

Know your place?

‘Why is that word showing up here?’

Camilla stopped dead.

She’d thought it was just a guy chasing a girl he liked. Her gaze slid back to the pair.

“A house as low as yours thinks it can stand up to me?”

She saw the man snatch the woman’s wrist again.

And the woman, spooked by his rough words and behavior, froze for a beat before she started struggling—too late.

“Let go of me!”

Despite her refusal, the man didn’t budge. He smirked and yanked the woman toward him.

“Ah!”

The woman’s legs buckled under the violent tug.

She must have twisted her ankle; she sank to the ground and couldn’t get up. Noticing this, a mean smile curled at the man’s lips.

“Do you know who my family is? You should simply say, ‘Thank you,’ and come along. Enough of this—”

“It isn’t the house that’s the problem. It’s the person, isn’t it?”

“......!”

“Do you sleep through language class? That’s why your word choice and your comprehension are both this poor. She doesn’t hate the house. She hates you.”

The man—Juid—whipped his head toward the voice and flinched when he saw its owner. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

“Ca—Camilla Sorpel?”

“No need to thank me for recognizing you.”

Juid, flustered, darted a look around Camilla.

Only a moment later, something seemed to click; ease crept back onto his face.

“Did you come alone?”

“Yeah. So what?”

The moment he heard that, derision spread across Juid’s face. The contempt was obvious.

“Unbelievable. This place is crawling with people who don’t know their place.”

If no one was watching, Camilla was no problem. Nasty temper aside, she was practically a discard inside the ducal house.

“Do you still not know your station? Mind your own business and get lost.”

“My station, hmm.......”

Camilla gave a thin smile.

“Shouldn’t you be more worried about yours than mine?”

“What?”

“Juid Hevely, second son of Count Hevely. Age twenty... really twenty? You look decades older. Born to a concubine, with a strong tendency toward thuggery from childhood.”

“What the hell are you spewing!”

The ease fell off Juid’s face; it twisted. Camilla didn’t care at all and went on.

“Three years ago, March fifteenth—you chased Viscount Sabley’s daughter to death’s door and got reported for sexual assault. Pathetic. Anyway, your family paid a fortune to hush it up. Last year, July third—you and your friends got caught trying to kidnap the second daughter of Baron Zailune. You really are living a pitiful life.”

“...What are you?”

Juid’s eyes shook nonstop.

How could she possibly know things known only to his father and the family? He couldn’t make sense of it.

The incidents coming out of Camilla’s mouth had long since been buried with heaps of money. And yet—!

“How do you know that!”

“Good question. I’m curious too.”

Camilla turned her head slightly and looked at Derrin beside her.

How does a butler know another family’s son’s dossier this well?

[Th—that wretch...! My lady, that man is actually......!]

He seemed calmer than a moment ago, but Derrin’s face was still ferocious.

‘Derrin, what are you, really?’

Are all butlers like this?

“I asked you a question!”

Wow... not even recyclable, and he’s throwing a tantrum.

Even with Juid glaring like he could kill her on the spot, Camilla let out a small laugh.

“Know your place.”

“What?”

“A house as low as yours thinks it can stand up to me?”

“......!”

Flushed red, Juid heard his own words thrown back at him.

“You’re an orphan leeching off a ducal house!”

Wow... childish. Fine, I can be childish too.

“I’ll tell on you.”

“Tell—what!”

“I’ll tell the very kind man who took in that orphan and raised her.”

Look at that face. So you do know enough to fear the Duke.

Until now he’d felt safe bullying her, knowing Camilla would never breathe a word...

‘But there’s a problem.’

I’m not her.

When she said she’d tell the Duke about today, sure enough, Juid flinched at once.

“Hah......”

But a moment later, his composure returned.

“If you know what I’ve done... then you also know this.”

Wearing a sour smile, he stepped closer to Camilla.

“That I have never once paid for any of it. Why would this time be any different?”

Wow... first time I’ve been astonished three times in a row by the same person. You can be stupid, but how do you get that stupid?

“Stop! She hasn’t done anything wrong!”

The woman cried out urgently behind her, but Camilla didn’t spare her a glance.

“What should I do with this little bastard.”

I’m busy enough deciding how to handle him.

‘Well, no one’s watching.’

And I admit, I have no reputation left to lose.

So Camilla threw it. What? The bracelet.

“Huh? Hey—waugh!”

“Oh.”

The bracelet that fit snugly around her wrist stretched and stretched, turned into something like chains, and wrapped Juid up tight.

It was a gift from Ravi; even as she threw it she wasn’t entirely sure, but for that, the result was extremely satisfying.

“W-what is this! Let me go! Get this off me! Hey! Aaaagh!”

Ugh, noisy.

“Aaaah! Wh-what are you doing! Aaaah!”

She raised her arm and Juid’s body shot upward. In no time he was dangling from the top of a nearby tree, wailing pitifully.

“L-let me down! Please!”

“Keep screaming and I really will.”

“Let me down!”

“Really? You want me to? If I let you down from there......”

“......!”

She swallowed the rest, but Juid understood immediately and snapped his mouth shut.

“So you don’t want to die after all. Anyway......”

How do I actually undo that?

She’d heard the operating instructions and uses—like levitating the bound target—but not how to release it.

‘Ravi, if you’re going to teach me, teach me properly!’

Granted, who could have known she’d need it right away.

Though rattled inside, Camilla smiled like she could drop him any time.

That was when—

“Juid? What are you doing up there?”

“You took so long we came to check.......”

“Didn’t you say you could handle it alone?”

More people appeared. Three men.

Juid’s face brightened at once as he dangled from the tree.

“Hey! Grab that woman! Now!”

Quick on the uptake, the men took in the situation in a flash and closed in to surround Camilla.

“Son of a—”

She hadn’t expected him to have friends nearby; Camilla regretted using the bracelet too early. She also blamed her own foolishness for not asking Ravi ahead of time how to undo it.

‘When I get back today, I’m going to make him teach me the full instructions.’

To do that, she had to get out of this in one piece.

Watching the men approach, Camilla eased backward a step at a time.

She worked her mind hard for a way out, but nothing came.

Could she outrun them? Classes were already over; there wouldn’t be many people left on campus.

“—gh!”

“Ugh!”

“......?”

Lost in thought and unconsciously retreating, Camilla suddenly felt something was off.

All three men, who had been strolling toward her like they were driving a rabbit, stopped at the same time.

Their faces had gone stiff. What’s with them?

‘What is it?’

Puzzled, she kept edging back. She wanted as much distance as possible.

And then—

Thunk.

“......?”

She bumped into something behind her.

Thinking it was a tree, she whipped her head around—and her eyes went wide. Someone far more unexpected was standing at her back.

“Brother?”

It was Ludville.

“What are you doing here?”

That’s my question.

“What brings you here?”

“Passing through.”

Where would you have to be going to pass through here?

Camilla stared at Ludville, incredulous, for a beat. Still, she couldn’t remember a time when his arrival was more welcome.

Grab.

Before she knew it, she had a tight hold on his sleeve. Ludville glanced down at her hand, then asked in a calm voice,

“Is it them?”

“Sorry?”

“The ones who made you cry.”