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Chapter 5
“For a student cafeteria, this place is incredibly extravagant.”
It was supposed to be nothing more than a restaurant where students ate their meals.
And yet there were spires, golden bells, stained glass windows…
It looked like an extremely luxurious restaurant somewhere in Europe.
No, I had to correct myself.
“The dormitory was like this too, and now the cafeteria is practically a palace.”
A building that was impossibly tall, enormous, extravagant, and beautiful, as if it were piercing the sky.
And there were even academy students filing inside.
“But why is my dormitory falling apart?”
My emotions rose slightly without me realizing it, but I soon shook my head and took a deep breath.
‘Phew. I’m a commoner now. Commoners are supposed to live in places like that.’
I had only been in this world for a few days, but apparently, I had already been completely brainwashed.
Nobles should live like nobles, commoners should live like commoners. Huh?!
“…Wait a second. Does that mean this place is for nobles only too?”
Nah, no way.
Surely they wouldn’t go as far as separating people even when it came to eating?
Grrrrrrr.
Whatever. Let’s just eat first.
“They said students can use the cafeteria for free, right?”
This was seriously amazing.
Compared to the boarding house I used to live in, it was something I couldn’t even have imagined.
‘Back then, I got tricked into moving in because of an advertisement saying they provided meals, only to eat nothing but spoiled rice and sour kimchi that was practically rotten every single day…’
Didn’t I even get food poisoning twice because of that?
As memories of Kang Hyunsoo’s early twenties came flooding back, I immediately shook my head, trying to erase those horrible memories.
Then I joined the line leading into the cafeteria.
Beep!
‘Huh?’
I looked toward the sound coming from the front.
Beep!
“What’s that?”
Every time students entered, they held their student ID cards against some sort of pillar.
‘…Is that like a transit card?’
Beep!
For a moment, I felt as though the author of the original novel had suddenly appeared before me and was explaining everything.
You see, my novel is a—
Traditional fantasy.
A romantic and enchanting world filled with swords, magic, and fairies.
Because it’s a fantasy world set in the Middle Ages.
Ah, but dealing with inconveniences is annoying, so let’s make everything else modern.
Refrigerators, showers, air conditioners, card terminals, and so on.
That’s okay, right?
‘Of course it is. If it’s something like this, I’ll welcome it with open arms.’
I quickly nodded at the imaginary author, who seemed to be winking at me.
Come to think of it, the novel <Legend of the Heroes – Choice of the Holy Sword> had quite a few incredibly author-convenient settings.
I hadn’t paid much attention to them while reading…
But damn, I actually like you again, author bastard.
“Well then…”
I confidently held my student ID over the card terminal that combined magical engineering with modern characteristics.
At that moment—
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Red light began pouring out from the pillar that looked like a card terminal.
Bzzzzzzzt!
“What the hell is this?”
A staff member standing at the main entrance of the cafeteria hurried over to the pillar.
“What’s going on?”
He quickly approached and stared at the flashing pillar before asking me—
“May I see your student ID?”
“Of course.”
He slowly examined it, tilted his head for a moment, and then glanced at me.
“Camon Vade?”
“Yes.”
I immediately nodded and answered.
The staff member cleared his throat a few times before slightly averting his gaze.
“Ahem, ahem. This is a student ID that cannot be used to enter this place.”
“What? Why? I heard there were no restrictions on using the cafeteria.”
“Well… this is the nobles-only cafeteria.”
The staff member’s finger naturally pointed somewhere.
And soon, I saw the words written where he was pointing.
[Nobles-Only Cafeteria]
Ah.
So it was because of my social status after all.
“Camon, you are no longer a noble, so you cannot use this place. Go to the commoner cafeteria.”
Ugh.
Damn this ridiculous social hierarchy.
Now they were even separating people based on where they could eat?
No, but…
“Why did that maid tell me to come here?”
She already knew that I had become a commoner…
Wait a second.
Why did this feel strangely familiar?
For a moment, the image of the village chief wearing a sinister smile appeared in my mind, along with the face of the maid—or rather, the dormitory administrator—looking at me with exactly the same expression.
“Ah, no.”
I immediately shook my head vigorously, trying to forget the strong suspicion that had briefly raised its head.
“No way. There’s no way… Ah, screw it. Of course that’s what happened. Those two bastards definitely did it on purpose.”
Just as I muttered that—
“Heh, hehehe.”
I heard snickering from behind me.
I turned around, and there stood the three monster brothers who had fled earlier.
Of course, Sol couldn’t even bring himself to meet my eyes.
“You can’t even use the cafeteria anymore.”
“Hehehe, obviously. He’s not a noble anymore. He’s just a filthy commoner. How dare he try to eat at the same table as nobles?”
The other two burst into laughter one after another, continuing to mock me.
“Hey, cut it out.”
Sol, who was standing beside them, turned his gaze away and tried to stop them.
But—
“Ah, why? It’s true, isn’t it? Filthy commoner bastard.”
These bastards still hadn’t learned their lesson.
This wasn’t going to work.
I should just expose all the secrets those bastards still had left—
“Who was it that just called someone a ‘filthy commoner’?”
A quiet yet extremely cold voice suddenly interrupted.
“……!”
Almost every student standing in line in front of the cafeteria, and even the staff, turned their eyes in that direction.
And then—
Click. Click.
The sharp sound of high heels echoed throughout the area.
It felt as though time itself had slowed down, just like a scene from a movie or drama.
‘She’s…’
One person appeared through the crowd, which parted like the Red Sea as though she had a path of her own.
Her strikingly golden hair and pure white skin immediately caught the eye, along with her sharp nose and plump, pink lips.
Regardless of whether it was a subjective or objective judgment, her beautiful appearance gave the impression that the very word ‘beauty’ had been brought to life.
I was left staring at her with my mouth slightly open.
“P-Princess Francia?”
The shocking words snapped me back to reality as if I had been plunged into freezing cold water.
‘P-Princess? Her?’
“Didn’t you hear what I just said? I asked who used that word.”
At the cold voice that rang out once again, every student standing in front of the cafeteria turned their heads away and moved aside.
And so, the three monster brothers eventually found themselves face-to-face with the princess.
“Th-That…”
The same people who had been so boldly insulting me just moments ago began stammering awkwardly.
“Was it you?”
“…It wasn’t me, Your Highness. He said it.”
“That’s right. He was the only one who said it.”
The loyalty of the three monster brothers ended right there.
Sol and Krollin immediately assessed the situation and threw one of their own under the bus.
“Really?”
“P-Princess, I mean, I…”
Suddenly abandoned by the others, Mork was drenched in sweat and could barely bring himself to make eye contact with her as he stammered.
At his appearance, the lips of Princess Francia, who had been radiating a cold breeze and displaying the appearance of an icy princess until now, twitched slightly.
Then—
“Why are you trembling so much? It’s not as though I’m going to eat you.”
Princess Francia asked with a faint smile.
At the eerie sight of her smiling, Mork finally broke down.
“I-I’m sorry, Your Highness. I was only referring to Camon Vade when I said that. I had no intention of insulting any other commoner students.”
Ah, you idiot.
Why did you have to mention my name?
Damn it.
This situation was heading in a very bad direction—
“Ca…mon Vade?”
“Yes, yes. Over there, Your Highness. He’s right there.”
Mork seemed to think he had found a way out and immediately pointed at me.
Then her gaze turned toward me.
‘No, this isn’t just bad. This is the worst possible situation. The absolute worst. This is hell.’
What would happen if the victim of an attempted murder suddenly came face-to-face with the person who had tried to kill them?
What if that victim was an extremely powerful person with tremendous authority?
‘She’d want to finish me off.’
Anyone could predict what would happen in such an obvious situation.
And yet, when Princess Francia’s eyes met mine—
“It’s been a while, Camon. It’s nice to see you.”
She smiled.
She… smiled?
I froze for a moment at her completely unexpected reaction before awkwardly responding.
“Uh… Hahaha. N-Nice to see you too… Your Highness.”
What was going on?
She had smiled at me.
Why?
What could possibly be the reason?
Questions continued piling up one after another, but I couldn’t find a single satisfactory answer.
If there was one possibility…
‘C-Could she have forgiven Camon?’
I immediately shook my head at the absurd thought, which was practically on the level of believing the entire world had been reborn.
No.
There was no way.
No matter how vast the world was, someone with a heart that angelic couldn’t possibly exist.
“Even so, using words like that is not appropriate. So I think you should be a little more careful about your choice of words from now on.”
As Princess Francia calmly continued explaining, Mork became like a mute who had swallowed honey, barely managing to nod his head.
“And Camon has already paid the price for his actions and received sufficient punishment, so don’t bother him anymore.”
“What? Ah, yes. Understood, Your Highness.”
…Sniff.
‘Is this really the main heroine of the original novel?’
She was an angel.
She really was an angel.
A person with the magnanimity to understand and forgive someone who had attacked her simply because that person had already received sufficient punishment.
‘But was she really like this in the original novel?’
Princess Francia as depicted in the original novel was usually a character who only reacted passively according to the words and actions of the protagonist, Kyle, so it had been difficult to determine what her actual personality was like.
Well, whatever.
‘What matters is that she helped me and defended me to some extent.’
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one thinking that way.
The other students were also looking back and forth between me and the princess while whispering quietly.
“She’s treating someone who attacked her like that?”
“She really is an angel. Our Princess is truly…”
From the quiet reactions around me, I could physically feel Princess Francia’s reputation rising even further.
Just then—
“Um, Camon?”
After finishing her conversation with Mork, Princess Francia had somehow approached me and called my name.
“…Yes? Ah, yes, Your Highness.”
“Could I talk to you for a moment?”
Just the two of us?
I was slightly flustered by her sudden proposal, but I quickly nodded firmly.
“O-Of course.”
Naturally.
Anytime.
I could talk for an hour, three hours, or even all day.
Click. Click.
I followed Princess Francia toward a quiet area behind the cafeteria.
A few students’ gazes followed our backs, but they couldn’t maintain their attention all the way.
Eventually, we were alone in a quiet place.
“So, Your Highness, what did you want to talk about?”
“How are you feeling?”
“Excuse me?”
“I was curious about how it feels to go from being someone who was always treated like royalty to eventually being kicked out of your family and falling to the bottom of your life.”
Princess Francia asked that while still wearing a kind, pleasant smile.
Yet for some reason, I felt a strange sense of incongruity.
‘Something feels off.’
She soon shrugged her shoulders and muttered briefly.
“I wasn’t necessarily asking because I wanted to hear your answer, so you don’t have to answer. And…”
She continued without finishing her sentence.
Then, the smile on her lips disappeared as she leaned her face toward mine.
Wh-What?
Why was she suddenly doing this?
And then—
“Hey, Camon Vade. Or should I call you Camon now?”
“…?!”
“Never mind. You’ll be kicked out soon anyway, so what does your name matter? Anyway!”
Princess Francia’s expression instantly changed into one of mockery.
She looked at me with an extremely contemptuous gaze and spoke.
“Until then, just shut the hell up and stay out of my way. If you don’t want to fucking die.”
Excuse me?
W-What did she just say?
I thought I had opened my mouth to respond, but the voice merely lingered inside my mouth.
“You understood what I said, right?”
Princess Francia returned to her original distance.
Then she smiled pleasantly once again, just as she had before.
