Chapter 6: 5

Savage Fang – Volume 1 Chapter 5: The Academy

A year passed, and now, at the age of fifteen, I finally departed from the Petyul mansion, leaving the Laelier Duchy to come to the Zelfoir Academy of Magic, located at the center of the land.

“Woah… This place is even bigger than I thought it’d be…”

The majestic opulence of the Academy building left me speechless.

All I could think was of how only an extravagantly wealthy country could have sunk excessive funds to build this… It was like they were trying to show off how wealthy they were or something.

I usually have a bad impression on people who spend money wastefully, but seeing something like this left even me impressed.

Then again, considering that children of noble families from all sorts of countries will be gathering here, this level of splendor was probably a necessity, as a way to show that the Academy was a place appropriate for aristocrats and to display Zelfoir’s own prestige.

Since confirming I would be attending the Academy, I began pushing myself and training even harder. Having had no experience using magic in my previous life, it was important that I learned as much as I could now through training and self-study.

To that end, I read every book on magic I could at the Petyul mansion, from the most basic texts to more advanced tomes, but I sensed I would soon be reaching the limits of self-studying.

Thankfully, the timing on what I began feeling couldn’t be any more perfect.

At home, Balzac was no help; he was an amateur in magic, and the only reason why he was head of House Petyul now was because he inherited the position from his parents. It could only be beneficial for me to leave for the Academy, coming to a place where I could consult experts in specialized fields that would push me further ahead in my pursuit of power.

And then there were a number of obstacles in the way, like annoying formalities and tedious procedures. In the end, I was just happy to have everything done now that I’d made it here.

Not that I wanted to sound pretentious or anything, but it was a pleasant sunny day today, like the weather wanted to celebrate this new start with me.

That aside, the most important change now was having gotten away from House Petyul.

The servants fawning over me were noisy busybodies, but they were just annoying at most. What was worse was the stress of having to live under the thumb of that crappy old man.

I had been planning to leave the house behind one day, but it was still refreshing to have freedom after all this time — well, this was just a taste of what was to come, really.

“Did you see her? The one over there?”

“She’s completely different from what the rumors say. Do you see how elegant, how refined she is?”

Well, I guess I still wouldn’t be getting any peace and quiet here, either. As always, the Hair of Sulberia was all too eye-catching to not become the center of attention.

While it held indisputable authority in Iltania as a symbol of God’s Blessed, to other countries, it was an indicator of a person with great talent.

And it seemed even at this Academy, where noble children from across the land have gathered, Mylene would easily stand out from among them.

“They say she’s a violent brute and quick to anger!”

“I heard that she loves showing off and has even said she was ‘loved by God’ or something of the like.”

Naturally not every rumor about me was positive.

Me being violent aside, I don’t remember ever saying I was loved by God. If God really did exist, I’d sooner believe I was actually hated rather than loved.

It was possible that Mylene had called herself that before I took over… She really was a piece of work…

To this day, Mylene’s phantom — her influence — still haunts me in some way, namely with her family, her misdeeds as a child, and the uniqueness of the Hair of Sulberia. It was a little depressing thinking about how I would have to continue dealing with this, but I couldn’t say I wasn’t getting used to it.

Well, the important thing was that I came here to the Academy to obtain more power, not to go around worrying about rumors.

I really didn’t care to waste any time correcting misconceptions these pampered noble brats may have had about me.

“Lady Mylene! It has been far too long!”

“Tch… Well met, Your Highness. As you say, it has been quite some time since our last meeting.”

There, wading through a crowd of people to grasp my hand, was the crown prince who looked more girl than boy, Prince Albert.

The surrounding whispers grew even louder, and I could feel more gazes turning towards us.

I secretly clicked my tongue in annoyance but quickly greeted him with proper manners.

“Oh no! Please don’t act so distant with me, Lady Mylene! Are we not much closer than that?!”

“…Perhaps if it were just the two of us, but at the moment, it would be inappropriate if I were to act so casually with you, Your Highness, seeing as we are in a more public setting.”

“What ever are you saying, Lady Mylene? I, Albert, have been faithfully yours ever since that fateful day, when we first met! As you say, we are in a more public setting, but this is a perfect opportunity to teach everyone just how great you are!”

“Cut it out, you idiot… If you keep acting like that, people will start thinking our kingdom’s a joke and not take us seriously.”

I quietly reprimanded Albert, but outwardly, I kept up my ladylike behavior as though playing along with Albert’s behavior.

I would live my life the way I wanted, and I would let no one stand in the way of that. At least, that was supposed to be my goal, but… reality wasn’t kind enough to be that simple.

You are reading story Lady Savage Fang – History’s Greatest Mercenary Reincarnates as the World’s Cruelest Lady and Becomes Peerless in this Second Life at novel35.com

The title of ‘crown prince’ carried with it power and authority, so I couldn’t just aggressively brush off Albert and leave him behind.

“…Doesn’t it look like Prince Albert is hanging onto her every word?”

“It looks almost like worship to me… What kind of girl is she?”

Those that believed in the Iltanian faith would probably accept it albeit find it strange, but everyone else was probably wondering why a crown prince would bow his head to a random girl.

Albert’s reputation aside, I’d rather not have others start looking down on Iltania. On the other hand, the little prince here doesn’t seem to care about how this all looked, and he just kept acting as he usually did.

We haven’t met with each other for a while because I had been busy with enrolling in the Academy, but his sword skills had been rapidly improving even until the our last meeting. I was impressed with how he had been growing, but…

…it seemed he would need stricter instruction with his behavior in public. Unfortunately there wasn’t anything I could do about it right now with all these people watching us.

“Oh, there you are! I have been searching for you, Mylene!”

As I thought about how I could deal with this annoyance called Prince Albert, a new headache stormed onto the scene.

“If it isn’t Princess Colette. It has been some time since we last met.”

“Why are you acting so distant? As I said before, I shall make you mine! But for now, we are simply friends, equals to one another. As such, there is no need for formalities between us.”

The imperial princess of the Colhoun Empire, Colette, had arrived.

I could feel my face beginning to cramp as I forced myself to maintain my smile. As a mere daughter of a duke, how was I supposed to address royalty so casually, let alone the princess of a neighboring country?

“Princess Colette, she… she actually called someone her friend…”

“That Mylene Petyul de Laelier… Who in the world is she..?!”

Colette’s entrance had drawn even more attention than Albert before her, but while I did like her as a friend, right now, she was nothing more than a huge nuisance…

I approached the two of them with the biggest smile I could muster, channeling as much intimidation into it as possible.

“Haa… Are you just playing dumb, or are you actually unaware of how your presence is affecting the people around us?”

I drew in close and muttered in a low voice so only these two could hear me.

“Exactly! Though you may be royalty, Princess Colette, that does not give you the authority to simply bother Lady Mylene like this!”

Albert supported what I was saying, but… Hey, what I said included you too, you know? You don’t get a free pass.

“Ah, Prince Albert. I do believe it would be wise if you were to first look upon yourself before assigning blame to another.”

“I have done absolutely nothing wrong. In fact, it is impossible that I would possibly cause any trouble for Lady Mylene, unlike the problems you are making, Princess Colette!”

“And I, on the other hand, was simply making my presence known. I need not mind how the rabble thinks, when I simply desire a casual conversation with my friend, do you not agree?”

Iltania and Colhoun were supposed to be two of the most powerful countries around, and yet right now, the heirs to each throne were squabbling… over me.

To put it lightly, this must have been pretty big news. The shock and confusion around us that watched these two bicker only continued to grow, spiraling out of control.

I might have underestimated how much trouble these two could cause, and, honestly, I was beginning to feel everything would have been easier if I simply stayed at the Petyul estate.

“If it’s like this, then I guess at least things won’t be too boring…”

I only had a bitter smile as I muttered with sarcasm.

For now, better or worse, there was no way for me to avoid standing out, having become caught in the center of all sorts of rumors.

It wasn’t as though I was trying not to stand out; I was already expecting attention due to my status. In the first place, if I could manipulate how my reputation spread, that would make it easier later on, after I struck it out on my own.

…But being at the center of a commotion like this was far more trouble than it was worth. My hopes for a quiet and peaceful life were already up in smoke.

I looked away to escape from this mess before me and noticed another girl glaring daggers at me.

When our eyes met, she gave a sudden start and looked away, trembling in fear.

…That was it? If that was all it took, then, Albert and Colette aside, things might be less annoying than I thought.

I guess they were still just kids in the end, making assumptions based on what they saw. Well, not that that mattered; my goal was to live life the way I wanted, and I would not allow anything to interfere. Idle gossip was no different, and really, if that were all it took, then there would have been no meaning in coming here in the first place.

So for now, I need only think about how I wished to spend this school life. If there was anything that would dare stand in the way of that, to that I would bare my fangs and ferociously carve my way through.

You can find story with these keywords: Lady Savage Fang – History’s Greatest Mercenary Reincarnates as the World’s Cruelest Lady and Becomes Peerless in this Second Life, Read Lady Savage Fang – History’s Greatest Mercenary Reincarnates as the World’s Cruelest Lady and Becomes Peerless in this Second Life, Lady Savage Fang – History’s Greatest Mercenary Reincarnates as the World’s Cruelest Lady and Becomes Peerless in this Second Life novel, Lady Savage Fang – History’s Greatest Mercenary Reincarnates as the World’s Cruelest Lady and Becomes Peerless in this Second Life book, Lady Savage Fang – History’s Greatest Mercenary Reincarnates as the World’s Cruelest Lady and Becomes Peerless in this Second Life story, Lady Savage Fang – History’s Greatest Mercenary Reincarnates as the World’s Cruelest Lady and Becomes Peerless in this Second Life full, Lady Savage Fang – History’s Greatest Mercenary Reincarnates as the World’s Cruelest Lady and Becomes Peerless in this Second Life Latest Chapter