After school, Vertus didn’t summon me to the usual tea-time terrace where we always had our conversations; instead, he brought me to his room.7

Vertus’s room wasn’t much different from mine. I guess that just because it was a prince’s private quarters didn’t mean it had to be more splendid or anything like that. However, for someone with the talent to become a swordmaster, he had an unusually large collection of books. Of course, there was physical training equipment as well, but there seemed to be more bookshelves than anything else.0

A hardworking villain—not too bad. But being right next to him and observing him so closely was kind of scary.0

“Let’s have a cup of tea.”0

“Oh, yeah. Sure.”0

Vertus brewed some black tea for me. Vertus actually appeared to prefer doing things himself, as compared to life at the palace, where he would be served everything without having to move a finger.0

Vertus also didn’t display any overwhelming sense of superiority that might have been hidden inside him, and even came off as just a nice guy.0

“So, how was your holiday? Did you get some good rest?”0

“No, it actually felt more exhausting than usual.”0

Indeed, during the terrorist incident, my thoughts were so tangled up that it felt as if my head was going to split open, and after that, I endured relentless training sessions with Ellen, pushing my body to the limits.0

It seemed that my days off had actually been more intense. 0

Vertus chuckled lightly.0

“I wouldn’t be surprised. It seemed like it, judging from the state of your body.”0

He must have been referring to the bruises all over my body, and was giving me high marks for the fact that I was gritting my teeth and really pushing myself in training.0

If all he cared about was spirit and enthusiasm, then not me, but Ludwig, would have been the perfect subordinate. After all, he was someone who would eventually rise...0