The Teacher of Budding Villains Suffers Today, Too - Chapter 57

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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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Episode 57
Crash—
The sound of the Water Pitcher shattering rang out sharply through the chamber.
Rachel quickly bent down to gather the broken pieces, though the scattered shards refused to be collected with any ease.
“Let us adjourn the session for now.”
Lucas proposed a brief recess, and the nobles seated around the table rose one by one.
‘What do I do….’
Rachel, mortified at the commotion she’d caused, pressed her lips together tightly. No one came to help her. The attendants and servants stood as though they were mannequins, waiting only for her dismissal.
Yet she could not fault them—they were only doing their duty. With a faint sigh, Rachel gathered the glass shards one by one.
As she was collecting the fragments, a shadow fell across her.
“You might cut yourself.”
A familiar voice reached her ears.
She could not mistake whose voice it was. Rachel lifted her head quickly.
Lucas Maxim filled her entire field of vision.
“Your… Your Highness….”
It was already shameful enough to have made such an elementary mistake. At the mere sound of her name, heat flooded her cheeks. That he had come to her aid at all made her too embarrassed to meet his eyes.
Rachel lowered her head again, hesitantly. Then she resumed collecting the glass shards.
“Leave off. I’ll do it.”
Lucas gathered the shards without hesitation, his movements fluid and assured.
Under his quick hands, the fragments were soon cleared away. Relieved, Rachel accepted a fresh Water Pitcher from another servant.
“Rachel.”
Lucas whispered quietly to her. She nodded as though in a trance.
“Leave as quietly as you can. Chase’s Father is here.”
“…Pardon?”
“He might recognize you. If that happens, matters will become complicated.”
“Yes… I understand.”
Chase’s Father was here—it was entirely unexpected. The realization sent a chill through her.
“Leave as naturally as possible.”
“…Yes.”
At Lucas’s command, Rachel rose slowly. As she did, her eyes found Chase’s Father in the chamber. He bore the weight of his son’s fall into banditry, yet now he merely looked composed and dignified.
Rachel slipped carefully from the hall. As the Garden came into view, relief escaped her in a long breath.
‘If Lucas had not been there…’
Without his intervention, the situation would surely have spiraled into disaster. She felt nothing but gratitude toward him for the care he’d shown her. Rachel glanced back once at the Noble Assembly Hall.
But there was no time for lingering. She hurried toward her Palace, her mind churning over what had just transpired.
‘From the way they’ve made Metal Type illegal, I can see exactly what they’re thinking.’
Their arrogance—refusing to share knowledge simply to preserve their own advantage—grated against her.
And yet, in another sense, Lucas seemed all the more remarkable to her. Anyone blessed with privilege could become so selfish, and yet he had not.
‘For a man of his station as Crown Prince to care so deeply for the welfare of the common people…’
Lucas was no ordinary noble. He was the Crown Prince of the Empire. That he should wield such power and yet devote himself to the lives of ordinary folk seemed nothing short of extraordinary.
‘Meeting him has been a true honor.’
The Crown Prince was a man of rare virtue. As Lucas Maxim the person, he was no less so.
‘I need to speak with him again soon.’
Lucas filled her thoughts entirely, as he always did.
* * *
“It seems the Crown Prince has come under considerable influence from the Baron’s daughter.”
“I share that assessment.”
“What in the world is happening?”
The Anti-Crown Prince Faction nobles shook their heads in dismay. The Crown Prince had always been unconventional, but since meeting the Baron’s daughter, his eccentricities had grown more pronounced.
“Legalization of Metal Type, no less! Is this not an even greater threat than the school construction?”
Duke Bayern furrowed his brow deeply. Ever since he’d failed to secure his daughter as the Crown Prince’s betrothed, he had nursed a grudge and made himself an open adversary.
“We must block this at all costs. Should we fail, our position will be further eroded!”
Duke Fugger clenched his teeth as well. His face bore the stamp of grim resolve.
“It is time. Let us return to the hall.”
Duke Hanover released a weary sigh. Not only he, but all the Anti-Crown Prince Faction nobles bore the weight of their anxieties.
“We shall now resume the session.”
Duke Reus addressed the assembly. The nobles turned their gaze toward Reus and the Crown Prince seated beside him.
“As previously mentioned, we shall now take up the matter of Legalization of Metal Type. If anyone wishes to speak, please do so.”
The session resumed. The heated debate between the Anti-Crown Prince Faction seeking to block him and the Pro-Crown Prince Faction supporting him began in earnest.
In her Palace, Rachel waited for the session to end. She did not know what words Lucas was speaking, but she doubted he would yield to the nobles. Her concern for him gave way to other thoughts.
‘Now I understand why he desires Gradual Change.’
Every noble of consequence was crying out in opposition. In such circumstances, voicing an opinion would inevitably spark conflict.
That conflict could sow the seeds of unforeseen problems. The continent’s political situation was already unstable enough. Would Lucas truly want to create discord?
‘Is there no middle ground?’
She wanted to find some compromise that would satisfy them both—Lucas and herself. If not, another collision would come.
‘What am I to do?’
Rachel’s mind turned over the problem. What could serve as a substitute for the Metal Type?
“Ah…?”
As she deliberated, a thought flickered through her consciousness. She rose at once and sought out her Nursemaid.
“Nursemaid!”
“Oh my, Miss, what is it now?”
The Nursemaid smiled brightly at the sight of Rachel. Rachel stepped close and began to speak.
“I need a Law Code. Right now—one where I can find the laws immediately.”
“A Law Code?”
“Yes. A Law Code.”
At Rachel’s sudden request, the Nursemaid’s face went blank with astonishment. Yet without hesitation, she led the way to where the Law Code was kept.
“The books are so thick and contain such vast contents that even the Imperial Palace has only a few copies.”
The Nursemaid pointed to a tome more than two hands’ breadths thick as she spoke.
“That there is the Law Code. Would you like to read it?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Rachel nodded and reached toward the Law Code.
The Law Code was truly complex. Multiple laws lay tangled together within it, and because they had been recorded by hand, some passages were illegible.
‘It must be around here somewhere.’
Rachel did not give up, and continued searching relentlessly for what she sought.
How much time had passed? Rachel’s hand and eyes froze in place.
“Here it is!”
She cried out without thinking. Unaware of the attention turning toward her, Rachel began to transcribe the contents from the Law Code onto the paper she had prepared.
‘This will be more than enough to refute them.’
A smile bloomed across Rachel’s face. She rose from her seat, clutching the sheet dense with notes, and made her way to the Crown Prince’s Palace.
The Crown Prince’s Palace was quiet. Lucas had not yet arrived, it seemed. Rachel sat in the Reception Room and continued to study the notes she had made.
‘I wish Lucas would come soon.’
There was no way to know when he would arrive. Rachel gazed out the window, waiting for Lucas.
After some time had passed, she heard footsteps. Rachel rose at once and turned toward the door.
Click—
The Reception Room door opened and Lucas appeared. He looked somewhat weary. Rachel’s smile faded. When she imagined what he might have endured, she could not smile.
“Lucas.”
“Rachel.”
Yet she had something she needed to say. Rachel opened her mouth.
“Lucas. Even if the nobles oppose it, there is a way to produce books in large quantities. And it would be entirely lawful.”
As she spoke, Rachel’s eyes shone with light.

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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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