The results were posted three days after the exam.
“You have dark circles under your eyes, did you know?” Claire approached me in the hall after class, where I was waiting in front of the bulletin board for the results.
“Yes, well, I actually didn’t sleep a wink…”
“Oh ho ho ho. How very unfortunate. But a promise is a promise now, isn’t it?”
“Yes. I just couldn’t stop daydreaming about what favor I should ask of you, and before I knew it, it was morning.”
“That’s what you meant?!”
Of course. I wouldn’t have been able to make any such requests of Claire in the real game—this was unbearably exciting.
“Do you really think you can beat me? You are so oblivious,” Claire was bursting with confidence, which made sense from her point of view.
“Well, we won’t know how it went until we see the results, will we?”
“It’s perfectly obvious.”
“Heh heh. You two certainly have become close,” said Yu, butting his way into our conversation. “How confident are you, Rae?”
“Well, a bit.”
“Heh. I’m looking forward to it. How about you, Misha?”
“I did my best,” Misha didn’t look particularly happy to be talking to the boy she was crushing on. She was convinced she wasn’t worthy of Yu, that ever since her house had fallen into ruin, she had nothing to offer someone as talented as he was.
Still, the most infuriating thing about love is that it can’t be stopped.
“All right then, who will be number two?” And there was Rod, implying, of course, that there was no doubt in his mind he had the top marks. He was so good at finding ways to rekindle my disdain.
Silence followed.
Far from Claire, who was first in line waiting for the results, and myself, who was standing next to her, stood Thane with a blank expression on his face. He probably wasn’t looking forward to being forced to face his own inadequacies. Don’t get me wrong, though—Thane only seemed inferior in comparison to his brothers. He was a completely capable person in his own right.
“It’s here,” Misha’s voice brought me back to reality. The office clerk was headed in our direction with a piece of paper.
“Are you ready?” Claire asked smugly.
“I am very ready to enjoy you, Miss Claire.”
The first score sheet to be posted listed the results of the culture test.
Culture Subject Results
1st Rod Bauer (100 pts)
2nd Yu Bauer (98 pts)
2nd Rae Taylor (98 pts)
4th Claire François (95 pts)
…
…
7th Misha Jur (90 pts)
…
…
10th Thane Bauer (87 pts)
…
…
“Wha?!” Claire exclaimed. Personally, I was disappointed that I’d missed two questions.
“Well! I expected myself and Yu to finish first and second, of course, but way to go, Rae,” said Rod.
“Great job, Rae.”
“Thank you very much.” I glanced at Claire while the two princes praised me. She seemed baffled that she, an aristocrat, could have scored lower than a commoner.
As I said before, most players looked up answers online. Not me, though. I’d gone out of my way to memorize every single one of the questions and answers on the culture exam. The reason was simple: I wrote Revolution fanfiction.
Short fanfiction can be composed without a complete grasp of the story’s world and perspective. However, I wrote fanfiction about Claire after she lost the game and truly became a villainess, charting her rise to power. To properly imagine how the game world would change in years to come, I bought the character reference guide and immersed myself in it. To be honest, I was confident I knew the world better than the game’s developers at this point.
All of which was to say that I wasn’t the least bit surprised by these results. Claire, meanwhile, was clenching her fists so tightly that her knuckles had turned white, trembling with rage.
Next, the results of the etiquette test were posted.
Etiquette Subject Results
1st Yu Bauer (100 pts)
2nd Rod Bauer (98 pts)
3rd Claire François (97 pts)
4th Thane Bauer (95 pts)
…
…
8th Misha Jur (90 pts)
…
…
22nd Rae Taylor (75 pts)
…
…
Color returned to Claire’s face after the shock of the culture results. She sneered at me with a triumphant expression. Augh, she was transcendently cute. Really.
“So, the first one was just a fluke. The wolf has been stripped of her sheepskin.”
“Yes, you’re right.”
Exactly right, in fact. I knew every criterion that would be evaluated in the etiquette test, but knowing them and implementing them in real time were two separate things. In high school, back in my world, I’d been a member of the Japanese Kimono Club. But etiquette differs from culture to culture, situation to situation, and I couldn’t hope to master Bauer’s rules in the short time I’d had so far in this world. There was no way I could compete with Claire, born and raised as an aristocrat. I actually felt like twenty-second place was pretty good for me.
Finally, the results of the magical power test went up.
Magical Power Subject Results
1st Rae Taylor (Immeasurable)
2nd Misha Jur (98 pts)
…
…
6th Claire François (92 pts)
…
8th Thane Bauer (90 pts)
9th Rod Bauer (88 pts)
9th Yu Bauer (88 pts)
“Wh-what is this…?” Claire was flustered again. I, of course, was elated.
In truth, the outcome of this test had been set in stone. As the heroine of the game, I was scripted to have aptitude in both earth and water. While having multiple aptitudes was already special, both of mine were at the “super” rank. As magical tool-wielding efficacy was proportional to the wielder’s innate magical power, the player character inevitably placed first in this exam.
Finally, the overall scores were pinned.
Comprehensive results
1st Rod Bauer (286 pts)
1st Yu Bauer (286 pts)
3rd Claire François (284 pts)
…
…
8th Misha Jur (278 pts)
…
…
10th Thane Bauer (272 pts)
…
…
*Note, due to the unprecedented results attained by Rae Taylor, her score will be handled separately at this point in time. The Academy will review its methods of evaluation going forward.
There it was.
“I don’t get it…” Claire bit her lip, and her minions rushed to reassure her.
“But you’re second after the two princes! That’s amazing!”
“That’s right! We knew you could do it, Miss Claire!”
“Yes… Yes, that’s right.” Claire looked like she was starting to feel a little better, when—
“Misssss Claaaaaire!” Of course, I dashed over to her as well.
“Huh?!”
“How cruel! You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I do not. What do you want? As you can see, our competition has been voided.”
“What are you saying? Miss Claire, you were unable to beat me.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t you remember your vow? If you beat me, I would leave the Academy. If you didn’t beat me, you would grant me a favor.”
“I am aware—and we were unable to come to a conclusion.”
“Right. So you didn’t beat me, Miss Claire.”
“Ah…”
Now she got it. The condition I’d set for my favor wasn’t “beat Claire,” it was “Claire doesn’t beat me.” As such, logically speaking, this included scenarios where the results were inconclusive.
“H-how cowardly!”
“Yes, I left the wording ambiguous to trick you!”
“Then it doesn’t count!”
“What? You’d break your vow? But you swore to God.”
“Err…” Claire’s beautiful face was conflicted. Hook, line, and sinker. “Well then… What is your request?”
“I knew you would come through, Miss Claire! I love you!”
“That’s enough. Just hurry up and tell me!” Claire was on the verge of losing her temper.
I clasped my hands in front of me and looked her directly in the eyes. “Please don’t give up.”
“Huh?”
“No matter how hard things get: don’t give up until the very end.”
Claire wore a puzzled look as she listened to my words. Silly as they sounded, there was a purpose to my request.
“And that’s all?”
“Yes?”
“I thought you would ask me for something completely unreasonable.”
“Would you prefer that?”
“No. This is fine.” Perfectly straightforward. Claire, whose shoulders had begun to slump, stood straight once more when her eyes met mine. “I swear to God that I will not give up. I promise never to abandon hope and to keep going until the end.”
“That’s wondrous, Miss Claire.” What a beautiful thing it is to make such an oath. This was exactly the response I’d hoped for.
“I won’t lose the next one.” With those words, Claire turned to leave. Truly, I thought, a graceful exit for an exquisite villainess.
“Oh, Miss Claire.”
“What is it now?”
“I love you.”
“Well, I hate you!”
And just when it felt like things between us were going so well…
Still, this was perfect. After all, this was exactly how my Claire ought to be.