At that time, I was sipping tea with Vertical Rolls high above the clouds. Her eyes swam from left to right while her body kept fidgeting. She’s been like that for a while and because I had found it quite cute, I decided to continue observing her reaction.

“Ummm… Lumina-sama…”

“Hmm?”

Vertical Rolls, stiffly placed her hands on her lap and looked at me with a troubled expression.

“I-is it r-really okay… for us to have t-tea here?”

“Hmm, I think so. No one has ever told me not to.”

“I-i-is that so?”

“Yup, by the way…”

I placed my tea cup back to the table and asked:

“Stop being so stiff, I won’t do anything to you. So calm down and relax.”

“B-but, you said I have to take responsibility.”

I pondered for a while and thought what she meant by that. The moment I remembered what she meant, I clapped my hands and told her.

“You’ve already taken responsibility for what you did this morning.”

“Eh?”

“Don’t worry about it, Vertical Rolls.”

“Eh?”

Vertical Rolls’ expression froze the moment she heard me call her ‘Vertical Rolls’. She then touched her vertical rolls and timidly asked me a question,

“D—do you hate this?”

“Nope, not really. I like it instead.”

Her face suddenly became red and her fingers started twirling the edges of her vertical rolls.

“Hmm… by the way. Why are you all so scared whenever I try to talk to you?”

“Eh? Ahhh…. Ummm… it’s cause… well…”

Vertical Rolls started moving her hands around. As large beads of sweat started falling down from her forehead while her eyes furiously swam from left to right. The reaction she made was quite comical, so I waited for her to tell me rather than stop her.

“Uuuhh.... umm… It's cause you're an important person.”

“eh? Important… person?”

“Nn. There’s no other thing that can explain the grace and dignity you possess.”

I massaged my temples as I listened to her.

“I’m not an important person you know. I’m only a daughter of a low-ranking family.”

“Eh?”

“Didn’t Emilia tell you this morning?”

“No. She only told us that the way you acted spoiled in bed was the real you.”

“Hmm… is that so.”

I refilled my teacup and drank it in one gulp to calm myself.

(Ahh~ drinking tea is the only thing that calms me down. Maybe this is the reason why I’m a tea addict.)

“Ummm… then why do you act like that, Lumina-sama. If you’re only a daughter of a low-ranking family, then it’s strange why you need to act like that.”

“Hmm… it’s cause I don’t want to disappoint my family and also…”

“Also?”

“This is the only way I can repay Emilia.”

Vertical Rolls cocked her head to the side and asked me why.

“Because of Emilia who was been assigned to me by the school as a servant. She’s also the very first friend I’ve ever made (in this world). So I wanted to treasure her and give her something. However, because she’s my servant, I couldn’t give her anything.”

This was the norm in this world which was taught to me by my mother. According to her, the only times we can give our servants gifts is when they save our life or die for us. I also felt that Emilia was a strict adherer to this.

“The day I decided to act like this was because of the thought I had during the first day I was enrolled here. Her classmates were with her at the stairs and like her, they were waiting for the people who they serve. It was then that I decided to act like a master she will never be ashamed off. One where she can puff out her chest and say, ‘She’s my master’ In front of her classmates. It was the least I could do for her.”

I placed the teacup back on the saucer and spat out a sigh.

“I didn’t think that it would’ve become the reason why I didn’t have friends. Haaa~ the mistakes of youth.”

“I-is that so?”

“Un.”

Vertical rolls started mumbling on her chair. And when I was about to ask her what she was mumbling, she suddenly stood up and clenched her fist.

“Don’t worry, Lumina-sama. You’ve been really successful! I feel that Emilia’s very proud of you.”

“Fufu… Thanks.”

I gave her a smile and stood up to pat her head.

“What are we gonna do now, Lumina-sama? The teapot’s now empty.”

“Hmm… Let’s do some experiments then.”

“Yes!”

Vertical Rolls made a very enthusiastic shout to me. I then looked at the fields to see if everything was okay on their side.

* * *

Emilia POV

I stood in front of the new servants of Lumina-sama. Behind me were Mary and Victoria. We were assigned my Lumina-sama to teach the students how to combine ‘Null Element’ magic to normal magic.

“Today, as ordered by Lumina-sama, the three of us will now teach you how to properly use this magic.”

The eyes of the students glittered as they stared at me.

“Here’s a simple demonstration.”

I glanced at the two behind made. They nodded in response to my gaze and created a large box that covered all of us.

I then made 50 mana balls appear in the sky and converge on a single spot. The result was a giant ball of mana that was about four meters in diameter.

[Appear before me ]

I casted a small fireball and had everyone see it. Next, I made the fireball fly towards the mana ball and the moment they collided. The four meter mana ball became a four meter fireball. I then manipulated it and turned it into a dragon, a sword, and a spear before them.

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““““ Ooooh!””””

All the students cheered as the saw the fireball change shape. The reason why I was able to manipulate the giant fireball without difficulty was because its base was the mana ball. So, although the mana ball became a fireball because of my magic, I was still able to control it like a mana ball because of its base.

“What’s more, Lumina-sama is able to create a hundred of this thing and with ease.”

The moment I told them this exaggerated lie, the faces of the students became pale. Others became more enthusiastic. All in all, their reactions greatly satisfied me.

“So don’t ever betray her!”

“““ Yes!”””

“Then go practice how to do this with your element. If any of you have any problems come to us and we’ll tell you step by step.”

The students then flew around in groups inside the mana box that was made by Mary and Lumina.

As I surveyed my surrounding, somebody suddenly placed their hand on my shoulder. I turned my head to the person behind me and saw that it was Mary.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ummm… is it really true that Lumina-sama can make a hundred of those?”

“Hmmm… Not really. At most, she can make around 2 or 3 of them.”

Her eyes became wide when I told her the truth. At first I entertained the idea of telling her a lie, but because she was a ‘friend candidate’ of Lumina-sama. I decided to tell her the truth.

“Then why tell them that?”

“It’s for Lumina-sama.”

“Eh?”

I twirled my finger in the air as I tried to come up with a plausible explanation.

“It’s kinda like this. I wanna support Lumina-sama and because of that, I don’t want any of the servants betray her. And the easiest method to strengthen the foundations of their loyalty is to invoke respect by having them fear her.”

“Won’t Lumina-sama become lonely because of this?”

I made a laugh and faced her with a serious expression.

“Do you remember the magic Lumina-sama did last night?”

Mary nodded her head meekly.

“I’ll tell you something because you might become her friend. Do you know ‘Science’?”

“Science?”

Question marks floated on top of her head as she tried to understand the meaning of that word.

“It’s a heretic knowledge that goes against magic. In fact, according to her, ‘Science’ can even explain how the world and the celestial heavens were made. I only managed to understand a bit of that ‘Science’. And it took me five years just to understand its basics.”

Her expression became aghast when I told her that it was a heretic knowledge. My thought of it being a heretic knowledge was solidified the moment she told me about ‘The Big Bang’. In which, according to her, the universe wasn’t created by god, but it was in fact created by a giant explosion. And that explosion created everything around us. But because it was too hard to understand, I didn’t try to tell her that.

“She completely understood all of it at the age of seven! For her to know that heretic knowledge she’s not a prodigy anymore, she’s a ‘Monster’! And even though I knew that she was a ‘Monster’, I still stood beside her, befriending her and supporting her. People who’ll become afraid because she’s powerful or too smart aren’t worthy to become her friend! They should be just her servants. Mindless people who only knows how to follow the strong.”

I narrowed my eyes and frowned at Mary.

“Now that you know that she’s a ‘Monster’. Not because of power, but because of the things she knows. Will you stop being her friend and just become her servant like them?”

Mary stood frozen for a while and after a few minutes, she shook her head to the side and showed me a warm smile.

“No, I won’t because of what happened this morning. If I hadn't seen the real Lumina-sama back then, then I'd surely choose to become her servant instead of a friend. Just remembering her joyful face when she befriended Liza makes me want to protect her. Also, even though you told me that, my jealousy of you only became more intense."

“Jealousy?”

“Yes. It's cause you're the first person to ever understand and know her.”

It was now my turn to become surprised. I had thought she was just a timid and shy person because she rarely talk. However, the fire that ignited in her eyes felt somewhat familiar. It kinda felt like mine back when I first decided to support Lumina-sama. I then accepted her will and showed her a smile.

“Then will you help me? I want to make them fear her more. So that she can find true friends like you.”

“Yes with pleasure.”

After that, I, Mary, and Victoria taught the students how to combine Null Element to normal magic. Also, at the same time, we continued to combine lies with truths so that they would become more afraid of Lumina-sama.

As a result, whenever Lumina-sama would appear before the students. Those with weak hearts would cry while others showed great respect to her. I and Mary were quite happy with the result. However, Lumina-sama would make a very complex face whenever she sees a student cry.

“What did you do?”

“I don’t know. I only taught them what you told me to. Right~”

“Right~”

““Hehehe””

Mary and I giggled as we answered Lumina-sama’s question. And although she glared at us, however, because we knew that she was a kind-hearted person, so it didn’t really have an effect. Though the students that saw her glare became pale and started crying.

* * *

I didn't really have the motivation to write today and what's more, this chapter was quite hard. So, I'll just release one chapter. :S