Chapter 140.1
Chapter 140.1. Talent
(…Hmph.)
The royal palace gardens.
As she gazed at the distant balcony of her room, Liliana snorted inwardly.
What did that silver-haired tutor think of her now?
…There was no need to ask. Probably something along the lines of:
A cheeky princess who doesn’t listen to anyone. Rebellious to the extreme, the most troublesome student imaginable.
…It didn’t matter.
She had never asked for a tutor in the first place. Many had come because she was ‘special’ in some way and couldn’t be ignored, but they all met the same end.
──Eyes filled with despair.
──Eyes filled with disappointment.
──Eyes that saw her as something ‘hopeless.’
She was sick of it.
(They expect something from me, make me believe I have potential—only for it all to come to nothing. And then, to save their pride, they look down on me.
How many more times must I endure this nonsense!?)
Fine, then.
She wasn’t going to hope for anything, not anymore.
She would do what she always did:
Show off her talents, make them chase her in vain, never letting them get close—no, she’d mock them relentlessly, toy with them at every turn.
Then, in the end, she’d look down at their pathetic, defeated selves and whisper her ‘magic.’
They would surely despise her, just to protect their pride.
Let them look down on her—no, she wanted them to.
That way, she could say:
──”If you lost to someone like me, that just proves your own worth, doesn’t it?”
That should make her feel a bit better.
…She knew full well it was all pointless.
But still—what else was she supposed to do?
So, she had made her decision.
She didn’t care who this silver-haired tutor was. She had heard about his achievements from Jurgen, but they were too absurd to believe. It had to be exaggerated, just to raise expectations.
And so, she had no intention of losing this game of tag.
Even if it weren’t a competition, she had absolute confidence.
After all…
──She had never lost, not even to Aster, under these conditions.
So, let’s begin.
She waited, watching for the tutor to appear from the direction of the balcony, ready to test his skills—
“Wow, impressive escape skills.”
“KYAAAAAA!!”
A scream burst from her lips.
The voice had come from ‘behind’ her.
“…It hurts a little, being greeted like I’m a ghost, you know.”
“Wha… H-how…!?”
She saw the impossible.
She had run at full speed—using her finely-tuned magical control, faster than anyone could keep up, without letting her guard down for even a moment.
And yet. In the blink of an eye, he had closed the distance. Without her noticing.
──It was absurd. He had overtaken her with speed beyond hers and reached her back.
But the silver-haired tutor continued unfazed.
“Now I understand.”
“U-understand what…?”
“The purpose of this test. It’s reasonable, after all. Students should have the right to choose their teachers, and testing the teacher is perfectly fair. So—”
With a cheerful smile, he said:
“I will do my very best to earn your approval. Now—shall we continue this ‘test’?”
And so, what might have been the first genuine game of tag in her life…
…had begun.
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