Pretending to Be Human Is Exhausting Again Today - Chapter 81

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Pretending to Be Human: Episode 081

It was a shocking twist.

Her speech was gentle, her demeanor composed—yet she’d committed an act so utterly mad, so sorcerous in its audacity.

Even accounting for bitter enmity, attaching an explosive device to the body of someone who had been my fiancé mere moments ago was something even the Demon Realm would struggle to fathom.

When I showed my disgust, Ruslara stepped forward to shield me.

“Your Highness, shall I throw her out?”

“…For now, wait.”

If I let her leave as things stood, there was no telling what she might do next. I glanced around cautiously before ushering her into the carriage.

“Are you taking me on as a servant, Your Highness?”

“Be quiet. I’m simply trying to avoid drawing attention.”

Once inside the carriage, I studied her, noting how her eyes still gleamed with that unsettling brightness.

“First, Cadet Atlas.”

“Please, call me by my name.”

“Fine, Atlas. Do you understand this is a crime? What if someone had died?”

She tilted her head quizzically.

“The explosive force is minimal. It produces only a loud sound and brilliant sparks—no burns whatsoever.”

“So it wasn’t a bomb, but fireworks?”

“Yes, regrettably.”

‘What’s there to regret about that?’

So that was her intention—to suggest I use it if I wanted to see a fireworks display.

I pressed my forehead and exhaled a weary sigh. This child was definitely not normal.

“And why did you even create such a device?”

“It was an impulse. I never imagined you would attack me with such a childish method….”

I was taken aback. I had never encountered a nobleman so candid about their true feelings.

“What would you do if you got caught? You endured breaking off your engagement for the sake of your house.”

“I’m not careless enough to leave evidence. Even if traces of the bomb were discovered, there is no one in the Empire with keen enough eyes to connect it to me.”

‘Quite the confidence, this one.’

I had never encountered such a temperament even in the Demon Realm. Polite and honest, yet violent.

“Just asking out of curiosity, but did you do things like this while attending the Military Academy?”

“No. I made a promise with my father, so I was careful while attending school.”

“Cadet Jo-han was cursing you, saying you harm people.”

“That’s because I knock my opponents unconscious every time we spar.”

She puffed out her chest confidently, clearly proud of her abilities.

“If you restrained yourself that well, why create something like this?”

“As I mentioned, it was impulsive….”

“….”

She tilted her head, as if there was no other explanation to offer.

‘Should I really just let her go like this?’

Judging by her nature, she was the type who would inevitably cause trouble someday. Moreover, she seemed to have no intention of correcting herself despite knowing she was impulsive.

And yet.

“I was deeply impressed by Your Highness the Princess’s conduct. I wish to become like Her Highness the Princess.”

The fact that I had become her life aspiration only made matters worse.

‘If an incident occurs later, she might claim she committed it to emulate me.’

Given her relentlessly candid demeanor, it was entirely plausible.

I never imagined such an absurd powder keg existed at the Military Academy. Ignoring it and moving on would leave me anxious about the future.

“…Cadet Atlas, when is your commissioning?”

“I’m a third-year student this year, so barring any complications, I’ll be commissioned in the second half. My posting hasn’t been decided yet, though.”

The Capital Military Academy’s reputation was low, so at best, she’d be assigned to the Border or some provincial post.

‘About a year should make acceleration possible. Besides, knighthood is an Imperial Family privilege anyway.’

I exhaled a sigh and spoke.

“For now, let me look into whether you can serve as a vice-commander in my Direct Dominion.”

“Truly?”

Color bloomed across Cadet Atlas’s face.

“In exchange, stay out of trouble until I call for you. If you cause another incident, we won’t be able to work together.”

“Understood. I will wait.”

With that, I sent Cadet Atlas out. She had once clung to the door frame, but this time she offered her parting words and vanished without so much as a backward glance.

Exhausted, I collapsed against the carriage seat and muttered to myself.

‘That was more draining than the argument I had in the Banquet Hall.’

Surely nothing like this would happen again at the upcoming banquets.

I never imagined I’d encounter such a situation immediately upon returning to High Society. I fervently prayed that my upcoming schedule would proceed without incident.

* * *

After Deina’s carriage departed, Cadet Atlas returned to the entrance of the Banquet Hall, placing a hand over her swelling heart as she murmured softly.

“At last, my dream has come true.”

I had grown weary of this meaningless Military Academy life long ago. For someone who had lost the drive to dream of the future, the Princess’s appearance was like rain upon parched earth.

‘I must organize my lodging immediately, so I can answer the Princess’s call at any moment.’

Just as I quickened my pace, a familiar voice reached my ears.

“Stop, Cadet Atlas.”

“…Count Johan.”

It was Count Johan, whom I had thought had already left. The anger contorting his face suggested he had not waited to engage in polite conversation.

‘Cocomo is at his side as well.’

Cocomo stood beside Count Johan. She pointed at me accusingly as she spoke.

“Seeing you emerge from the Princess’s carriage, it’s clear you two conspired together!”

“So you’ve attached yourself to Count Johan.”

“Attached? I’ve simply awakened to Count Johan’s love!”

It was a preposterous claim, yet it seemed to touch Count Johan’s heart. He spoke with an expression of profound emotion.

“Your schemes of division will work no longer! Cocomo has confessed that she made mistakes due to the Princess’s anger!”

‘I thought the Princess had handled this well… but I underestimated Count Johan’s capacity for reasoning.’

Who would have imagined he would believe Cocomo’s words in such circumstances.

He seemed to regard Cocomo and myself as star-crossed lovers.

“This was all your scheme! Summoning the Princess, reducing our plans to nothing. Truly, villainy knows no bounds.”

A villainess? How anachronistic a choice of words.

“Come with me at once! And confess your crimes to the Headmaster. Tell him this was all a scheme between you and the Princess! If you don’t….”

“What exactly do you intend to do to me?”

At Cadet Atlas’s question, he let out a scoff.

“I’ll report your misconduct to the head of your house. Do you think the patriarch of House of Medici would tolerate this spectacle?”

‘That’s where his miscalculation begins.’

Only then did I grasp the source of Cadet Jo-han’s confidence. He believed he could pressure House of Medici.

But that delusion held validity only until the banquet.

It was possible because Franz had been his backing, and Deina hadn’t yet taken my hand before that evening.

I rested my chin in my palm, lost in thought.

“So you must understand your place and confess at once—what are you doing?”

He furrowed his brow as I closed my eyes in silence, chin still propped on my hand, despite his enthusiastic tirade.

“I’m currently assessing your value. Please wait.”

“What—”

I measured his worth swiftly.

‘House of Berck is a prestigious military family, but their reputation has certainly suffered from this incident. Moreover, they cannot disadvantage House of Medici’s enterprises. Their backing from the Imperial Family has vanished, and conversely, I possess the Princess’s promise….’

My assessment of him descended through the ranks.

From equal standing with House of Medici’s upper echelon, to peer level, and finally to an insignificant stranger I needn’t concern myself with.

And beyond that.

‘There would be no consequences whatsoever if I caused a disturbance here.’

I had already calculated that I didn’t need to restrain my impulses.

“An evaluation? Right now… Ugh!”

The moment Cadet Jo-han tried to voice his complaints to her again, Atlas’s hand seized him by the collar. Then, just as Deina had done in the Banquet Hall, she drove his body into the ground.

“W-what are you doing!”

‘Not quite like the Princess did it.’

The difference in build made it impossible to pin him completely flat.

Of course, it didn’t matter. The objective was to land the first strike.

“Hup.”

Without hesitation, Atlas leaped up and drove her knee down hard against Cadet Jo-han’s chest.

“Gasp!”

As his chest compressed and breath fled his lungs, Cadet Jo-han coughed violently. Regardless, she raised her fist and struck his jaw.

“…!”

Watching Cadet Jo-han’s eyes glaze over from the blow to his jaw, Atlas thought calmly.

‘My weight alone won’t inflict fatal damage. But a strike to the jaw clouds consciousness. This is my opportunity.’

And with an expressionless face, she began to strike him. Fist clenched, precise and relentless, she swung without mercy.

“Did you know, Count Johan? Your first-place ranking in combat training came only because the other cadets believed women should let their fiancés shine. In truth, I should have been first.”

“Ugh…!”

“When you spread rumors that I was mentally unstable, I endured it. When you told me to take responsibility for your inadequate comrade’s grades, I complied. When you struck me across the face after our failure, I said nothing.”

Verbal abuse, assault, ostracism, false accusations—torments she had never spoken of to anyone.

Grasping Count Johan’s blood-soaked face in both hands, Atlas spoke.

“Every choice I made was for your House. Your family’s value simply outweighed your depravity.”

“…!”

“But that’s no longer the case. Now that your value has diminished, you mean nothing to me. I intended to ignore you. I was trying to erase you from my life entirely.”

Yet Johan returned. To exact vengeance on Cadet Atlas, to taint her future.

“I cannot forgive that.”

A pest that wanders the meadow becomes an insect to be exterminated the moment it enters my garden.

Cadet Atlas lowered her head, meeting Johan’s gaze directly.

“Your words, your actions—all of it is an obstruction. I will show you no further mercy.”

“Ah, I won’t. I promise I won’t do it again, so please….”

“No. I don’t believe you. I will retaliate so thoroughly that you never dare defy me again.”

Verbal abuse, assault, ostracism, false accusations—I will deploy every weapon at my disposal.

“You should have fled when I gave you that one chance.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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