Volume 2, Chapter 27-3 – Good Sister— You Screwed Me Over

The Second Faust Watch of wisdom and Spellcraft.

Most of Lilith School’s classes were concentrated during the Second Watch, so the corridors of the old school building were spacious and deserted, with only the occasional student passing through.

Most members of the Lionheart Society had gone to class as well. Few remained in the clubroom. Besides Stella, who had decisively skipped class, only Propaganda Officer Dorothy remained.

The clubroom was extremely quiet. The only sound was the ticking of the wall clock.

Dorothy stood before the mahogany table, deftly arranging what looked like a rather expensive tea set.

“President, would you like to try some?”

“This is rare Abyssal flower tea. It can bring the vast fragrance of entire mountainsides straight to your lips and teeth. Drink some tea, and as the fragrance slowly unfurls through infusion after infusion, the strings in your heart will loosen before you even realize it.”

Dorothy carefully scooped a small pinch of rosemary from the jar with a silver spoon, paired it with two dried hell roses, added a little mandrake native to the Abyss, then slowly poured in boiling water.

The distinctive fragrance of rosemary rose with the steam.

“Sorry to trouble you, Dorothy.”

Stella nodded from her exclusive high-backed chair.

At the moment, she had nothing to do except mull over Remedios’ script.

Although her only task was to sit here and act as a mascot, her heart simply refused to settle down.

What if her acting was terrible and gave everything away? Wouldn’t all their previous efforts go to waste?

“The tea stalk is standing upright!”

Dorothy’s delighted voice interrupted Stella’s thoughts.

Stella came back to herself and followed the direction of Dorothy’s pointing finger.

In the middle of the amber-colored tea, a tiny tea stalk stood perfectly upright, gently swaying with the ripples.

“President, this is a sign of great fortune.” Dorothy clasped her hands together, her eyes sparkling. “Looks like you’re going to have good luck today.”

‘Good luck?’

‘At least it is a good omen.’

Stella relaxed slightly.

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That was true.

Since this was Remedios’ arrangement, she might as well choose to trust her.

After all, Stella had always regarded Remedios as a good sister.

Although there was still a divide between them because of their races, Remedios had helped her quite a lot in one way or another. Especially after what happened in the Forbidden Forest last time, when Stella had personally watched her friend nearly fall at the hands of the Lord of the Forest for her sake, it was impossible for Stella not to feel guilty.

That was what good friends were like. Like sisters and mothers, they could always make you furious, make you cry, and break your heart. Even so, whenever you encountered hardship, they would still stay beside you and make you laugh through your darkest moments.

For her good sister, if she had to sacrifice her reputation, then so be it.

Besides, this was also for her little “slave,” Lainia.

Stella made up her mind.

No matter how outrageous Remedios’ script was, there was no way it could shake the Stella of today.

So this time, she chose to trust Remedios’ judgment…

Bang bang bang!

Just as Stella was about to reach out and pick up her teacup, a sudden burst of rapid, violent noise exploded from outside.

Rather than knocking, it sounded more like someone was trying to smash the door down.

Stella’s fingers froze in midair.

Immediately afterward, a familiar voice slipped in through the crack beneath the door.

“Where is Stella? I need to talk to her!”

It was Cheryl.

Stella instinctively shrank her neck.

‘Has Remedios’ operation… already begun?’

At first, the voice outside was still timid and quiet. After a brief silence, however, it became louder and louder.

“Can the people inside hear me?! Tell Stella to get out here! I need an explanation! I absolutely cannot accept what she did to me!”

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Stella blinked, looking somewhat confused.

‘I know Cheryl is acting, but aren’t those lines a little… excessively bitter and vengeful?’

She exchanged a glance with Dorothy.

Dorothy was clearly stunned by the sudden turn of events as well, but as the Lionheart Society’s Propaganda Officer, she reacted immediately. A vicious gleam of protectiveness flashed through her eyes.

Dorothy put down the teapot, strode to the door, and decisively yanked it open.

Creak.

In the corridor outside, Cheryl Valentine stood all alone. Her red hair looked somewhat disheveled, her chest rose and fell violently, and her entire body resembled a flower that had bloomed in an instant only to already be on the verge of withering. She seemed to have no idea what to do with herself and could only carefully shield her chest.

“What are you making such a racket for, Valentine?” Dorothy crossed her arms and blocked the doorway, her attitude hostile. “President isn’t here. Even if she were, she wouldn’t want to see you.”

“Ah…”

As though those words had stabbed her, Cheryl dramatically took half a step backward. An extremely complicated expression appeared on her face, filled with both disbelieving shock and the anger brought about by that shock, all displayed in a somewhat affected and exaggerated manner.

“She’s not here? She won’t see me?”

“Did you all hear that?! This is her attitude!” Cheryl shouted loudly. “She put her hands all over me, humiliated my dignity, toyed with my feelings, and now she’s pretending she doesn’t even know me!”

“Stella Darkfallen dumped me!”

“Cough, cough” Stella nearly sprayed out a mouthful of tea.

Her face flushed bright red, and her hands began trembling uncontrollably. The teacup nearly slipped from its saucer, so she hurriedly set it back down on the table.

The cup did not fall, but tea spilled all over the floor.

‘Wait.’

‘This is the direction the script was going?!’

‘Humiliated her dignity?’

‘Toyed with her feelings?’

‘Dumped Cheryl?!’

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‘Isn’t this quite different from what Remedios had described as sacrificing a bit of her reputation?’

Stella hurriedly put down her teacup and shrank behind the door like a frightened cat.

“Get her out of here…” Stella forced the corners of her mouth into a strained expression and silently pleaded with Dorothy through the movement of her lips. “Please, Dorothy. Hurry up and make her shut up.”

Cheryl seemed to have completely entered her role.

Or perhaps, after enduring the peak of humiliation, she had simply stopped caring altogether.

“Oh, so a younger sister has to suffer just because of her elder sister’s twisted tastes?” Cheryl’s voice turned into a soundless sob, somehow even more sorrowful than outright wailing. “As if what she did to me before wasn’t already bad enough… She clearly knew I was a Valentine, clearly knew how proud I was, clearly knew we were sisters, yet she deliberately crushed every last bit of it little by little!”

Dorothy was also stunned senseless by the overwhelming amount of information, but she still remained steadfast in her duty.

“What kind of lies are you telling, Valentine?” Dorothy shot back. “Our President has extremely high standards. There’s absolutely no way she’d be interested in you! Besides, you have no appeal to her whatsoever. Just look at that pathetic figure of yours. It’s absolutely terrible. No one is going to believe your lies!”

Those words seemed to strike directly at Cheryl’s sore spot.

“My… My figure is terrible… is that what you’re saying?!”

Cheryl was stunned.

She shut her eyes, steeled herself, and decided to throw everything away.

“You say I have no appeal?”

“If I have no appeal, then why did her pearly white teeth gently bite my lip until they were stained scarlet, and afterward bite every one of my fingers…”

Cheryl couldn’t continue reciting the line.

Although her movements remained composed, her face slowly turned red. Even she could tell something was wrong. Her entire face was burning hot, showing just how badly she was overheating right now.

She couldn’t see it herself, but everyone else definitely could.

The moment she thought of that, she panicked, and her face became even redder.

“…”

Stella was completely dumbfounded.

Dorothy’s mouth hung wide open as well. She had utterly lost the ability to speak.

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Cheryl’s cheeks were so red they looked ready to drip blood, but she clenched her teeth and forced herself to keep acting.

“Whatever. I’ll give all of you some time to think carefully about this.” Cheryl sneered and straightened her slightly disheveled collar. “But either you make her give me an explanation tonight, or I’ll personally write to my Elector mother. And I’ll make sure I get justice from her.”

“I’ll wait for Stella in the old art classroom.”

After throwing down that forceful threat, Cheryl turned and left.

Even after Cheryl’s figure had completely disappeared around the corner of the corridor, the two people inside the clubroom remained silent.

“President…” Dorothy’s voice trembled. “Those things she just said… about biting all her fingers, and… that thing about her lips… Was all of that true—?”

“Slander! It’s all slander!” Stella wailed out that defense immediately.

“…Slander?” Dorothy murmured.

Slowly, very slowly, she slid down from behind the door until she was squatting on the floor.

She wrapped both arms around her knees and buried her face in them.

‘Remedios…’

‘This was what you called sacrificing just a little of my reputation?’

‘This was what you meant by intense?’

Stella wanted nothing more than to find a crack in the ground and crawl inside.

Seriously.

‘Good sister… you screwed me over.’

Translator Note

HAHAHAHA damn I didn’t expect this either xD