I Became the Absolute Hidden Villainess Princess of the Academy

The Princess is Amazing (2)

With small, steady steps, Esti made her way to the mana measurement stone.

The cadets watched her back with warm eyes.

Unlike the wary gazes they usually cast upon each other, this time, their eyes were filled with genuine hope for her success.

…This was quite an unexpected phenomenon.

Rankings were based on relative performance.

Which meant that deep down, most cadets wished for others to fail, for their peers to rank lower than themselves.

And yet, Esti was a princess.

Someone who could have everything she wanted, even without a high ranking.

On the surface, there was no reason for the cadets to cheer for her.

And yet—

'Princess, you can do it…!!'

'I wonder how brightly she’ll smile if she gets first place. Hehe.'

…Esti was simply too cute.

She even managed to pull off wearing cat ears effortlessly.

And when she realized it and grew embarrassed?

Her face turned bright red as she hastily yanked off the headband, covering her head in a panic while exclaiming, ‘I forgot to take it off…!!!’

Faced with such pure and harmless adorableness, no one could bring themselves to be jealous of her.

Because against cuteness, all resistance was futile.

So—

"…Achoo!!"

—Crack.

"O-Ooh!! As expected of the Princess!!!!"

"Huhhhhhhhhh!?!?"

When Esti accidentally shattered the mana measurement stone with an overwhelming amount of mana—

Instead of feeling envious of her now-certain first-place ranking, the cadets erupted into applause.

—Clap, clap, clap!

"Princess, you’re incredible!!"

"Amazing!! Absolutely incredible!!!"

"This is truly the mana of the last disciple of Lady Stella!!!"

A standing ovation, given with one heart and one mind.

Esti, utterly flustered, waved her hands in denial.

"N-No, I mean… um. That was…"

"Princess, you’re the best!!"

'This isn’t what I wanted!!!'

Esti nearly leaped in frustration.

She had only meant to hold back her power.

But thanks to an ill-timed sneeze, she had ended up unleashing her full strength.

To her, this was nothing more than an embarrassing mistake.

But now, receiving a standing ovation for such a blunder?

Even she couldn’t help but feel flustered.

Her face turned a deep shade of red.

"T-That’s not…"

"As expected of the Third Princess!!!"

"Princess Esti, you’re the cutest!!!!"

The cadets, seeing her reaction, showered her with even more praise.

It was impossible to personally pat the Princess’s head due to the authority of the Imperial Family, but—

Praising her like this was entirely within bounds.

And so, the cadets indulged in this responsibility-free pleasure, all while smiling warmly at her blushing face.

"This isn’t what I wanted……."

'I don’t want to be praised for sneezing!!!'

And so, on the second day of her Academy life—

Esti, amid the cheers of her peers, became the top-ranked freshman in the magic department.

An utterly ridiculous, yet fitting, first place.

***

While everyone was busy praising Esti, Irene’s expression stiffened.

The overflowing violet mana Esti had unleashed.

The warmth she had felt from it was the cause.

'…Warm mana?'

Warm, yet not hot.

It felt as gentle as the sunlight on a spring day.

…A stark contrast to the cold, yin-infused mana of a witch, which chilled the very soul.

Irene’s mind began to race.

'This is strange. She didn’t even cast a spell, she merely released her mana. So why does it feel warm?'

Witches were born with an innate understanding of magic.

Though her powers were currently sealed, Irene’s theoretical knowledge surpassed even that of the Academy’s professors.

Even Lady Stella couldn’t compare to her insight.

So Irene immediately recognized how unusual Esti’s mana was.

To imbue mana itself with warmth, rather than through magic?

It seemed insignificant, but in reality, it was an extraordinary feat.

And in Irene’s judgment—

'…Divine power?'

Rather than ordinary mana, it felt closer to the divine power bestowed upon believers by the chief deity.

A power that nurtured and embraced life.

A symbol of benevolence.

A force fundamentally opposed to the dark magic of witches.

Irene’s mind spiraled into chaos.

'No… That can’t be. You can’t use divine power for magic.'

If it wasn’t divine power, then how could that warmth be explained?

There was nothing else in existence that could radiate warmth merely through energy alone.

But it couldn’t be divine power.

What Esti had released was clearly mana.

Furthermore, considering that she—who was fundamentally incompatible with divine energy—was completely unaffected, it had to be something else.

This contradiction threw Irene into deep contemplation for the first time in a long while.

'What in the world…?'

—Tap, tap.

"Ugh… So embarrassing…"

"……?"

—And just like that, her deep thoughts vanished the moment she saw Esti return from her assessment.

Cheeks trembling with shame. A face flushed bright red.

An expression that simultaneously invoked maternal instincts and an urge to tease her further.

'Wow, what’s with her? I kind of want to make her cry.'

A fleeting thought crossed her mind—she wanted to tease this overly kind girl just a little to see her cry.

A truly witch-like impulse.

And Irene was a witch.

She didn’t hesitate to voice what came to mind.

"…Cute."

"Irene, not you too… Ugh, so embarrassing…"

—Shiver.

'…I like this?'

A shiver ran down Irene’s spine.

***

After nearly ten minutes of endless praise, I managed to escape.

But even after sitting down, my face refused to cool down.

Because Irene had picked me up and placed me directly onto her lap.

"Your mana capacity is truly astounding, Princess. To achieve that even with a sneeze."

"Let’s stop talking about it. Please? Your turn is coming up, so focus on that."

"The professor is still fetching a new tablet. We have plenty of time. Hehe. Oh, and by the way, your sneeze was adorable too."

With her arms wrapped around my waist like a seatbelt, she whispered her praise directly into my ear.

I puffed out my cheeks in protest.

"……Muuu."

"Was it ‘achoo~’? Even your sneezes are cute. As expected of the Princess."

"Muuuuu!!!!"

No use.

Irene kept going, unbothered.

…For someone so perceptive about her man, she was hopelessly dense about everything else.

I glanced around for help.

—Fidget, fidget.

"Princess, even your hands are so small and soft… Gasp…!!"

'Yeah, she’s a lost cause.'

Lady Schefor was sulking about losing her seat to Irene, fidgeting with my hands.

"Uh, Louis…?"

"I saw nothing."

"……."

'Well, thanks for pretending, but could you actually help me!?'

Louis outright refused to make eye contact, scowling at anyone who dared to stare our way.

Which meant that for some reason, I was the only one capable of stopping praise-overdrive Irene.

I wiggled uncomfortably in her lap.

—Squirm, squirm.

"Irene, thank you. But that’s enough. I’m really embarrassed."

"Oh, don’t be. By the way, when you sneezed, Lady Schefor—"

'I can’t even get mad because it’s all praise…'

It didn’t work.

Instead, she hugged me even tighter, my head nearly sinking into her chest.

And her words still didn’t stop.

"Oh, and your cat-ear headband earlier? So cute. Even Lord Louis gasped."

"T-That was… I mean… that…"

"Princess, you’re definitely the cutest in the Empire. No, in history. I doubt even history has a sneeze cuter than yours."

—Flinch.

"S-Stop it…"

Never in my life had I been praised for sneezing.

Even my sisters never went this far.

After the cat-ear incident and the sneeze blunder, my embarrassment had reached its limit.

…I had no choice. I had to use that.

'I rarely do this, but… I have no choice.'

"Uuu…"

"…Princess?"

"I said… stop…"

I lifted my head and met Irene’s gaze.

My eyes shimmered slightly with unshed tears.

'Secret technique: Fake Crying…!!!'

This was a trick I had perfected in the Imperial Palace.

Convincing myself that I had just lost a month’s worth of cookies, or something along those lines, would naturally make my eyes glisten.

With this look—

Most things always went my way.

As expected, my ultimate move worked perfectly.

—Flinch.

"W-Wow…"

Realizing she had gone too far, Irene’s hands trembled slightly.

Then, she finally apologized.

"I’m sorry, Princess. Was it really that embarrassing…? Enough to cry?"

"Hmph. I wasn’t crying…"

"Hehe. I had no idea you disliked compliments so much."

'…Why does it sound like she’s holding back laughter?'

Her lips twitched suspiciously, but whatever.

I had to use this opportunity to set boundaries.

"Anyway!! It was really embarrassing, so from now on, no more mentioning the cat ears!! No more talking about my sneeze either!!!"

"Of course. Hehe."

'…Why does she look so pleased?'

She looked entirely too satisfied for someone who had just been scolded, but fine.

***

After some time, the professor returned with a new measurement stone.

The ranking assessment resumed.

"Hup."

—Crackle.

"Lord Louis, you’re likely second place, but… why are you holding your spear?"

"It helps."

"…This is the magic department, you know."

"I know."

"………"

Louis ranked second.

"Let’s see… Hmm. You have rather low mana reserves."

"I’m aiming to be a theoretical mage."

"That makes sense. Your initial ranking will be in the late 300s, so keep improving."

"Yes…!!"

Irene ranked 380th.

"I can’t use mana at all!"

"…Then why did you enroll in the magic department?"

"For Esti!"

"……You’ll be placed last."

"Understood!"

'Wow, she’s shameless.'

Lady Schefor ranked 423rd.

With that, classes for the day concluded.

That evening—

"Hey, Lady Schefor. Want to move into my estate?"

"…Gasp!!!?"

"The bathhouse is big enough for the three of us to bathe together."

"Bathing… with Esti…? G-Gasp, gasp…!!!!!!!"