I almost kicked the bastard’s face in while he was down.
But I decided against it. Barely.
The reason I attacked was simple. Judging from his 【Script】, he was about to try subduing me.
That, and my personality—that familiar itch I get whenever I’m forced to use online certificate software and wonder what kind of parent raised the developer.
“Grrk! Ugh, ghhkk...!!”
The guy rolled on the ground, scrambling to draw his sword, but the pain was too much. He collapsed again. Blood ran down his cheek.
Clerics rushed in to heal him.
With that much divine power poured into him, he wouldn’t be left with any lasting damage.
The pain, though—that would stick around for a while.
In any case, after this mess, my opinion of Rebecca—whom I hadn’t even met yet—plummeted.
If an emissary behaves like trash, the blame falls on their nation.
If a guardian knight acts like garbage, the blame falls on their princess.
With that thought, I turned to leave—only to be blocked by a maid who ran up with hands pressed together.
“I-I’m so sorry, Professor Dante! The guardian knight just got assigned here... He acted completely out of line...”
“Will you lead me in?”
“Yes! It’s just... Her Highness is waiting inside right now. Could I ask you to come in? Please...?”
Attitude matters.
If you come at me with disrespect, expect the same.
But if you approach with courtesy—I’ll respond in kind.
“...Very well.”
I climbed the stairs and knocked on the priest’s chamber.
“Come in,” said a voice from inside.
As I opened the door, warm, dim light greeted me.
One assassin disguised as a maid.
One knight disguised as an old retainer. Both monsters.
And between them—
Rebecca, seated in a chair, greeted me.
“Oh my.”
She stood and approached, smiling sweetly.
“I’m glad you came.”
A cold unease crawled up my spine. There was nothing in her 【Script】—and yet.
She was only pretending to be a saint.
My instincts screamed: this woman was dangerous to the bone.
“You may sit if you’d like.”
And yet, for whatever reason, she was pretending to be a cadet today.
It felt like playing house.
A typical professor might play along politely, but I chose to match her performance with one of my own.
“If you want a meeting with me in the future, submit a request through my TA.”
The maid and the old man behind her both twisted their faces at that.
From their 【Script】, I saw they thought I was insane.
But Rebecca just smiled.
“My apologies, Professor. Things have been... hectic. It’s been hard to find the time.”
“If you’re busy, I’ll be blunt. What do you want?”
She blinked slowly—expression blank for a moment—then spoke smoothly.
“Would you two step outside for a moment?”
Once the other two left, she began.
“Just the other day, Kaiser spoke about you. Said you were truly exceptional.”
“Kaiser has a good eye.”
“He does. I’ve never seen him praise anyone so highly. It surprised me. So, naturally—I wanted to see for myself.”
Her voice was smooth as silk and polished like jade.
I didn’t want to think that. But it was true.
“I doubt you called me here just to look at my face.”
“Of course not. It’s just... it’s hard to bring up something I know you’re already aware of.”
“I’ll hear it.”
“There are students—strong ones. Maybe they’re just kids now, but in time, they’ll become the greatest talents on the continent.
But they’re... lacking. They need help.”
“That strikes me as odd. As I understand it, you all come from noble houses or rich organizations.”
Rebecca gave me a melancholic smile.
“When painting still life, you turn the rotten fruit away from the canvas.
Professor, did you hear? Earlier this year, an imperial princess hanged herself.
She was beloved by all, rich beyond imagining, and held the world’s highest power.
Even she must have needed help.”
She lifted her eyes again to meet mine.
“I understand what you’re trying to say. But let me ask you something: why come to me instead of a senior professor?”
That had puzzled me all along.
The senior professors weren’t just stronger than us—they were on a different level altogether.
Compared to them, even the elite cadets at the Dormant Dragon Institute were nothing.
Even we professors learned from them.
They were the nation’s pillars—the assassins among assassins.
Rebecca narrowed her decadent red eyes.
“Because I don’t trust the professors.”
Her voice was quiet.
But her tone was firm.
“You don’t trust them?”
“They lack passion. And they don’t like us.”
“Because you’re dangerous?”
“That too... But mostly, because I’m not a pretty little student.”
“...”
“Even those who pretend to care—only want to use us.”
“And yet, I’m still a professor of assassination.”
“Yes, but I heard you scolded the cadets who tried to assassinate you—for their lack of effort.
That came from Kaiser. And his judgment has never been wrong.”
It was starting to make sense.
Hiaka Academy wasn’t exactly a nice place.
“I understand that emotions alone can’t sway you.
So I’ll make sure there’s nothing you lack. As a princess... Please.”
Rebecca looked up and asked softly,
“Would you consider becoming the guiding professor of the Dormant Dragon Institute...?”
I took a moment to think.
It was the same request Kaiser had made.
The message he left me—asking me to correct them if they strayed—was still saved in my 【Crystal Orb】.
I hadn’t answered then because I wanted to check the 【Script】.
But nothing showed.
“I’m afraid... my answer is the same as I gave Kaiser.
I have no intention of mentoring anyone.”
“...”
This was a small trap unique to [Hell Mode].
The kind of person arrogant enough to believe they can change others might fall into it.
But not me.
I knew exactly what stood before me now—
a monster baring its fangs.
“...That’s a shame. Kaiser will be disappointed too.”
Surprisingly, Rebecca just nodded.
“I understand. I wish you the best of luck, Professor.”
It was a formal dismissal.
As I turned to leave, the 【Script】s of the two waiting outside came into view.
They’d seen me knock the knight flat.
They were now fuming over my refusal.
They were also thinking, "So much for having good judgment—what a joke."
I had no desire to argue.
But something caught my eye.
＊ Liturgical Veil [Curse, Curse, Curse] ＊
Hanging from the coat rack by the door—
a liturgical veil, cursed three times over.
It was just like how I’d spotted the deadly poison in Kaiser’s Five-Colored Black Tea.
Strange. Normally, this shouldn’t be visible.
But considering this was the start of an exceedingly dangerous relationship,
I figured a warning wouldn’t hurt.
“Princess Rebecca.”
“Yes, Professor?”
“Assign a detection mage to your escort.”
“...Pardon?”
“Have them check your surroundings thoroughly.
The imperial princess didn’t commit suicide. She was murdered.
And someone out there is praying for your death too.”
I tapped the coat rack with my foot.
The veil dropped to the floor.
I left her with one last thing.
“Replace your new ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) knight.”
And that was the end of my meeting with the princess.
****
After Dante left—
“...”
Princess Rebecca stared quietly at the door he exited through.
The smile had vanished from her lips.
Soon, the old knight and the woman in disguise returned—and immediately began complaining.
“That man! Arrogant beyond belief! Shallow, petty! How dare he speak so brazenly before Her Highness when no one else was around!”
“My opinion aligns with Lord Cheonglu.
Your Highness has no need for such a professor.”
Of course. She was royalty, after all.
Even the Head of the Assassination Department would kneel and bow in her presence.
“Just say the word, Your Highness! I’ll ensure that man is removed from his position at once—”
“It’s fine.”
Rebecca silenced them with a few light words.
She then gazed at the veil on the floor.
The others caught the meaning in her stare.
“Ah, about that... You needn’t worry, Your Highness.
Surely he said that without knowing anything.
Everything that touches your body is under the supervision of your attendants—”
Rebecca cut him off.
“Lord Layme.”
“...Yes, Your Highness?”
“Is Dean Ezekiel of the Mage Department still in Zone 2?”
“Yes. I believe so.”
“Go confirm it for me, will you?”
Sir Layme of the Shadow Guard grimaced inwardly.
It felt like Professor Dante had only caused unnecessary worry for the princess.
‘What a joke. That arrogant bastard...’
Dante, professor of Hiaka. No combat grade. No known history of assassination work. A low-grade professor, really.
‘He’s nothing special...’
Layme repeated his insults in his head, over and over.
Strutting around like he knew anything. Acting clever without a clue.
And then—
When he visited Ezekiel, the [Challenger]-class mage, the answer he got back was... strange.
“He was right.”
“...Excuse me?”
Wait, what?
“There are three curses. Brutal ones.”
“But... the inspection from the attendants—”
“They could’ve been added afterward. One of them only activates when worn by a young woman. Easy to miss. Very clever, this.”
Layme couldn’t believe it.
“What should we do? Destroy the veil?”
“No... it has to be collected.”
“Then take it.”
They parted ways after that.
Layme left feeling... confused.
‘...Lucky guess.’
So the guy knew a bit about cursecraft.
‘He probably just felt something off and made a wild guess, huh?’
Still, he returned and reported it to the princess.
And as he did, he worried what kind of punishment he’d receive for it.
But Rebecca just stared blankly at the veil.
As if retracing the past, something clicked in her mind.
“There’s a maid with twin braids. Rosy cheeks. The cute one.”
“Yes, Princess. That would be Heart.”
“Bring her.”
Three minutes later, the maid was dragged into the princess’s chambers by the arm.
Layme, the female agent of the Shadow Guard, kicked the girl behind the knee—
She collapsed with a scream.
Rebecca stepped forward and grabbed her by the hair.
“It was you, wasn’t it?”
The maid, terrified, shook her head.
“P-Princess! I-I didn’t... I didn’t know anything...!”
“Why did you do it?”
“I-I just did what I was told...! I swear I didn’t know what it was...!”
“You and I have been together for how long?
You comb my hair every morning—gently.
So tell me—why betray me now?”
“Princess...”
“Tell me. Did you hate me too?”
“......!”
The maid recoiled, burying her head—
but Rebecca’s grip held firm and pulled her up again.
Those crimson eyes stared into her.
“I want to know what you think.
Did you think it too?
That I’m nothing but the daughter of a street whore—
that I’m filth in royal clothing?
That I don’t deserve to be called princess?
You too?”
The maid’s face went ghostly pale.
Even now—even now, when the roles had reversed—
Rebecca’s expression was calm.
She let go of the maid’s hair.
The girl couldn’t look up. She pressed her face to the floor.
“Lord Cheonglu.”
Sensing a command was about to fall, the maid began to beg again.
“P-Princess... please... just once, please let me live... I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you who ordered me...!”
“That won’t be necessary.
These days, the dead can speak—technology’s come a long way.”
“...!”
“But I am curious.
What curses were laid on that veil?”
“I-I don’t know, Princess... I swear, I don’t... nothing—!”
“Then I’ll just have to find out.”
“How would y—ack!”
Rebecca yanked her head back again by the hair—
and shoved the liturgical veil into her mouth.
Didn’t Ezekiel say one of the curses only affected young women?
“...We’re about the same age, aren’t we?”
The maid thrashed and tried to spit it out—
but her arms were tied behind her back.
Rebecca didn’t loosen her grip until the veil was fully inside.
She herself had unusually high resistance to curses, for certain reasons.
But the maid did not.
“...Mmph!”
And then, just as Dean Ezekiel had warned—
the curse activated.
The maid’s face began aging in real time.
“Mmm—! Mmmmmmph...!”
It was a vicious curse.
Her youthful features shriveled, wrinkled in seconds.
Her hair turned white, spreading out like two ghostly braids.
“How grotesque... aging is.”
Rebecca watched, somber.
Eventually, the maid vomited the veil back up.
It was soaked in spit and blood—hardly something you’d want to touch again.
“Lord Cheonglu.
Cut off her arms and legs. Feed her to Moong.”
“Yes, Princess.”
A flat order.
The old knight drew his blade.
Schwing—
Then he stepped forward, like always.
The aged maid flailed and screamed.
“Y-You monster...! You bug, Rebecca, you worthless piece of—!”
The old knight raised his sword high and thought to himself:
How do I explain this one as an accident?
Another slip-and-fall.
The knight would be expelled.
⋮
When all was over—
Princess Rebecca sat on her bed, gazing out the window.
She looked up at the stars—
those stars she loathed so deeply.
And with a strange wonder, she murmured to herself:
“...How did he know?”
The professor.