Chapter 7: The Transfer Student

“Sigh… so sleepy.”

Liyakade yawned, sitting in the back row of the classroom with two dark circles under her eyes.

“Miss Liyakade, what’s going on with your eyes?”

Alice looked at Liyakade, whose complexion was paler than most, making the dark circles under her eyes even more noticeable.

“Stayed up late writing a self-criticism report, missed the best sleeping hours.”

Liyakade flopped onto her desk like a deflated balloon.

Last night, Irina Zi disturbed her, then she stayed up late finishing the report, and woke up early to hand it to the teacher. This whole process left Liyakade with very little rest.

“Ah, it’s all my fault for not staying up with you, Miss Liyakade!”

Alice felt guilty, thinking the two of them should have written the report together, but in the end, only Liyakade was punished to write it.

“I don’t like hearing that. It was my idea to drag you into this mess, so don’t blame yourself.”

Liyakade weakly stretched out her hand, pointing to her eye bags, “More than that, Alice-chan, can you use magic to get rid of my dark circles?”

“Of course I can!”

Alice quickly cast Light Magic, and Liyakade instantly felt much more comfortable.

However, Light Magic had little effect on mental fatigue, so Liyakade was still very drowsy.

Just as Liyakade was about to have Alice keep an eye on the teacher while she rested her head on the desk for a bit, the teacher’s words from the podium startled her awake.

“Class, we have a new transfer student today. Although a transfer, I believe you all know her.”

“Please enter, Princess Field.”

As Field entered the classroom, the surrounding students were instantly surprised, most of them excitedly welcoming the arrival of Princess Field.

Field walked in, glanced around, and Liyakade wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, but Field’s gaze seemed to linger on her for a few extra seconds.

But soon, Liyakade realized it was not a trick of her mind.

After Field introduced herself, she went straight to the back row and sat down to Liyakade’s left.

Damn it! I just remembered!

With Field’s arrival, Liyakade’s memories of the Original Work’s plot surged back. In the Practical Combat Class, after Liyakade injured Alice, Princess Field immediately fixed her attention on her.

A few days later, Field transferred to Liyakade’s class to secretly observe her.

But now, Field’s approach was much more aggressive—not only transferring the very next day but also deliberately choosing the seat right next to Liyakade’s, practically saying, “I’m here for you.”

It was probably because of the storm Liyakade caused yesterday. In the Original Work, Alice only suffered minor scrapes, but according to rumors going around yesterday, Liyakade had thrown Alice from a high place, and if not for the Mage Teacher’s protection and rescue, Alice might have been paralyzed from the waist down.

No wonder Field came today looking so serious. It’s like one crisis after another.

Now, with Field sitting to her left and Alice to her right, these two bigwigs flanking her, Liyakade was wide awake.

“Princess Field, what brings you here?”

Alice asked through Liyakade, puzzled.

“I thought this class had a better atmosphere, so I came.”

Field responded coldly.

Yeah, right!

Liyakade turned her head stiffly to the right, signaling Alice with her eyes.

[You told Field I didn’t bully you, right?]

“Don’t worry, Miss Liyakade, I’ll wake you up when the teacher comes.”

Thud—

Liyakade suddenly dropped her head onto the desk, looking completely hopeless.

“Looks like Miss Liyakade is really tired, she fell asleep just like that.”

Alice’s tone was full of sympathy.

This is bad… I was still basking in the joy of fooling Irina Zi-sama and forgot to avoid triggering this Death Flag.

Next, they’ll collect evidence and tear me apart!

No!!!

I absolutely can’t fall here.

It’s still possible to fix this.

After all, Field only heard rumors and didn’t see me bullying Alice with her own eyes.

There’s no proof. Even if Field wants to punish me, she has no proper reason.

So the problem now is how to “bully” Alice under Irina Zi-sama’s watch without making Field or Alice think I’m really bullying her.

So troublesome…

Liyakade thought it over and decided not to actively “bully” Alice in everyday life, only doing the minimum bad deeds when ordered by Irina Zi-sama.

After figuring this out, Liyakade finally calmed down. Field’s early arrival was a wake-up call, keeping her from getting too caught up in the happiness of deceiving Irina Zi-sama.

“Good day, Princess Field.”

Though Field came with ill intentions, she was still royalty, and showing no greeting would look suspicious. So Liyakade respectfully greeted her, though since they were in class and about to start, she skipped formalities.

“Hmm.”

Field only gave a cold reply, revealing nothing about her mood.

She’s definitely a tough one to deal with.

Liyakade thought silently.

“Miss Liyakade, have you rested well? That was fast.”

“Yeah, I decided to pay attention seriously after all.”

After this unexpected interruption, Liyakade’s sleepiness was gone. She had to focus, but with Field sitting next to her, it was hard to concentrate.

Dinglingling—

“All right, class is over. Remember to review what we covered.”

“Alice, bye!”

Liyakade, restless like a needle on fire, took the chance to say goodbye and rushed out.

“Don’t run so fast in the classroom!”

Alice reminded her, but Liyakade had already disappeared, “Miss Liyakade, really.”

With Liyakade gone, other students gathered around Field.

“Princess Field! Why did you suddenly transfer to our class?”

“I’ve always admired you!”

“To be in the same class as Princess Field is so lucky!”

“…”

Field listened absentmindedly to their words, but her thoughts were elsewhere.

Alice… really got tricked! You two have so much interaction!?

And what’s with calling her “Alice-chan”?

How dare she be so close!?

Just wait… I’ll catch your sly tail, Liyakade!