Chapter 2: Unexpected Trouble
“Martina-sama, it seems there might be a reason for you to be in pain with regards to my textbook, but could you please explain it if possible?”
Rachel approached Martina in the middle of the classroom, neither displaying anger nor hostility towards Martina, but rather speaking to her as if engaging in casual conversation with an acquaintance they met on the roadside.
“It, it’s all your fault!”
In contrast, Martina, upon being caught in the act of causing pain, hesitated slightly, expressing anger and expresses hostility towards Rachel, as if she had met her parents’ enemy.
“If you don’t explain to me what and how I wronged you, I won’t understand.”
Rachel tilted her head slightly, wearing a puzzled expression as if she truly couldn’t understand the reason, while approaching Martina and asking. However, Martina perceived her gesture as playing dumb, which irritated her, dispelling any remorse for tearing the textbook and the fear towards Rachel, who appeared like a ghost. Well, in reality, Rachel was indeed feigning ignorance…
“Yo, your acting like that is exactly what I hate! In the first place, for a mere Viscount’s daughter to speak casually to me and Koron-sama’s fiance. Know your place!”
Martina scolded Rachel, glaring at her sharply while pointing her finger.
Rachel, upon hearing those words, touched her cheek and made a thoughtful gesture, contemplating. Rachel herself was the victim of the damaged textbook, with Martina being the perpetrator. However, Rachel, being a daughter of a viscount, and her opponent being the child of a marquis, intended to respond with proper etiquette and manners, mindful of their respective statuses. However, being told by Martina that her attitude was inappropriate made Rachel wonder if she hadn’t executed the etiquette properly or if her inner feelings had manifested in her demeanor, making her appear impolite. Rachel resolved to refine her manners further.
More importantly, she pondered the reason behind the textbook being torn. The textbook had indeed been torn, and the motive behind it was as Rachel had known from the “story.” With all the pieces falling into place, it was not a dream or her imagination; this was undoubtedly reality, and Rachel hadn’t been mistaken in entering the world of a “certain story.”
With these thoughts in mind, Rachel couldn’t help but sigh, even though she was on the verge of confronting Martina. She sighed because she had inadvertently stumbled into the world of “a certain story” and was currently being embroiled in a situation for a truly trivial reason within that story’s world.
To begin with, the reason why Rachel’s textbook had been secretly torn was due to an incident in the prologue of this “certain story.” Upon enrolling in the academy, Rachel had encountered five young men referred to as the “capture targets” of the story. It was because she had been envied by the “villainess” known as one of the fiancées of these five young men. And now, glaring at Rachel with trembling anger before her was one of those “villainesses,” Martina Miel Juno.
When Rachel herself had been inadvertently brought into this world, she had speculated that her appearance, the environment around her, and so on resembled the world of “a certain story” she knew from her previous life. However, she had also realized that while the world may be similar in terms of its setting, the history, the so-called story or narrative, and the events that occurred might lead to different outcomes depending on her actions.
If Rachel didn’t prefer to follow the course of the story, she could have chosen not to attend this academy. However, as the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat, Rachel succumbed to her curiosity, or rather, she willingly exerted effort in studying for the entrance exam to enroll in this academy, driven by her curiosity.
And so, when she arrived at this academy and reached the plaza, she was shocked to see the figures of the five young men called the ‘capture targets’ according to the story. It was there that Rachel finally realized she wasn’t merely an observer or reader overlooking this ‘story’ but rather a ‘character’ within it, and moreover, the ‘protagonist’.
Rachel immediately understood her situation. And because she had certain feelings and thoughts, she attempted to escape from the position of being the ‘protagonist’ of this ‘story’. In other words, she tried to avoid getting involved with the five young men who were the ‘capture targets’.
Rachel averted her gaze from the young men and hurried towards the school building. However, whether it was the force of the ‘story’ at work or not, she was called out to and detained by the young men, ultimately getting involved with them.
However, even though she got involved, Rachel pondered. In the original “story,” it was “I” who initiated the interaction. And there should have been a pleasant encounter with the five “capture targets.” However, Rachel’s involvement was merely being stopped and giving a response. She wondered if there could be a change in the outcome from there.
And so, Rachel pondered if there could be a change in the subsequent event in the “story,” namely the “textbook tearing incident,” following her encounter with the five “capture targets.” However, the result remained as it was currently.
“If I had approached them familiarly and ingratiated myself, it might have been different, but just being stopped and replying, it’s really frustrating to be envied for that…”
Rachel muttered her complaints while calmly contemplating the unchanged reality.
“Haah…”
“Wh, what! What are you going “Haah…” for! You’re making fun of me!! “
Rachel raised her head in surprise at Martina’s angry voice. Before her, Martina’s palm was thrust forward.
“Huh!?”
As Rachel let out a small voice at the situation before her, something emitted from Martina’s palm passed through Rachel’s body in an instant.
“Ah…”
As Rachel let out those words, her body suddenly felt heavy, and she couldn’t keep her eyelids open. Yes… Martina had cast a spell on her!
Rachel had expected to endure insults or at worst, a slap from Martina, but she hadn’t anticipated being directly targeted with such malevolence by the daughter of a noble.
Rachel tried to resist the magical slumber, but Martina, being the daughter of a marquis, had formidable magical power. Rachel’s efforts were futile. Her knees gave out easily, her arms couldn’t muster any strength to support her, and she collapsed to the floor. All Rachel could manage was to gaze up at Martina from the ground.
“…Serves you right.”
Due to the magical slumber, Rachel’s consciousness became increasingly muddled. In her final moments of awareness, she caught a glimpse of Martina’s malicious expression through her blurred and wavering vision, along with Martina’s words. Then, she fell into complete unconsciousness.
“If only you had behaved yourself and stayed quiet. But no, you just had to come here, didn’t you…”
Martina, while feeling a twinge of regret for what she had done, realized that there was no turning back now that she had come this far. She glanced around nervously, and then noticed the knife she had dropped earlier while using it to tear the textbook, gleaming on the floor.
With a gulp, Martina hesitantly picked up the knife with trembling fingers. She stared at the shining blade that now rested in her hand.
‘I’m not the one at fault… I’m not the one at fault… I’m not the one at fault…’
Martina repeated this mantra as if praying to the blade, justifying her upcoming actions. With determination, she turned her attention to the task at hand, steeling herself to carry it out.
“What?! W-What is… this…”
Martina couldn’t help but let out unexpected words, her surprise evident in her voice.
