On the third day of my party event, even more mages and knights entered my villa. I frowned, as this was getting out of hand. However, this was the last day I would hold games and parties like this. So, I relented and let the now over twenty students, a mix of knights and mages, into my villa. My small villa was getting cramped. By the way, the second prince came again with his cohort of mages and guards.

"Ugh! I demand a match that uses mana!" Prince Ludwin threw a tantrum after his consecutive losses. The knight apprentices could only ignore him, as his pride wouldn't allow others to take pity on him. He was such a difficult child, wasn't he?

"Alright! I approve. It was getting boring playing darts or snakes and ladders game like this," Safira said.

"We also want to watch magic duels!" The knight apprentices who had already warmed up to us said. This sentence seemed to raise Prince Ludwin's mood. He loved it when others praised his magical talent. Eli and Alicia never praised him, though. They never went into magic duels together, after all.

"Alright! Magical duel it is! I will show you how mages fight! Let us go to the garden! The garden is small, but it should suffice!" The prince was ecstatic. "Alright! Eli! You will be my opponent! I have improved by leaps and bounds ever since you skipped classes!"

"Alright!" I got fired up. It is still a game. We all used training bullets here. A training bullet is simply a ball attack that causes no harm to its enemy. During training or magic duels, only mana bullet was approved for attacks. At worst, it would only cause concussion. That's why it was dubbed a training bullet. That teacher who tested me at first was crazy to use real fire and ice bullets, albeit its firepower was drastically lowered. Alicia claimed it was okay to use a ball attack if the participants could ensure the firepower was low enough that it would not hurt its opponent.

"Alright! Here I go!" He started to swarm me with a barrage of black bullets. I sidestepped while blocking the ones that would reach me with my dark tentacles. Then, I shot him in the head with a black bullet. The bullet hit his head, and the match was over. He was too focused on attacks.

The match continued, with Nana being the loser of the ten mages attending the duels. The prince was actually really good, earning third place. Alicia's mana was just cheating. She just shot huge balls of mana one after another. A mage's quality was measured not just by their talent but by their mana, too. She showed us that. Safira was mediocre. She lacked training but still got in fifth place.

"Wow. Eli was better than I thought. I thought Alicia was excellent when she ranked number one during the monthly duels," Safira said. Unlike me, Safira and Alicia didn't skip the class. I couldn't skip classes forever, though. Alicia had been telling me that students were whispering that I had bribed the teachers. No one actually believed it now after everyone saw how I beat class number one, Alicia, and class number two, Prince Ludwin.

Starting from the second semester, we would learn about enchanting and magic tools. I had an idea about what magic tools a dark mage could create. A VR headset! Movies and animation were in the realm of light magic, so I couldn't create it. Moreover, it was stupidly expensive. There were no TVs for the masses, but there was a cinema in the capital. I think only royalty owned a TV.

"Ugh!" The second prince knelt on the floor in frustration. I had a cheat in this world, after all. None of this year's students had talent level 8, and I also had a beast instinct skill. It was a sensing and dodging skill. Somehow, I got a sense of where the bullets would hit. Frustratingly for me, moving this tentacle was easier than moving my own hands. Alicia often scolded me when I used this tentacle to eat. I obeyed since I didn't want to be like a cripple and had to do everything by magic. It was creepy, too.

"Alright. It's too bad this is the last party we will have today. It was fun! Invite us sometime in the future, Lady Eli!" Abel said as he waved goodbye.

"Lady Eli, I also happen to be hosting a party tomorrow. Will you come?" the prince said as he bowed down to me. His hand engulfed mine as he knelt in reverence.

"Eh? Um… W-w-why would you invite a countryside girl l-l-like me?" I tried to refuse, but he was adamant.

"You are the daughter of Count Shadowstep. You have the right to attend. Count Shadowstep won't be a countryside lord for much longer once the war with the western frontier dies down. Once it dies down, we could develop your territory. Clearing the woods and bandits," the prince said as he whispered sweet words to me. "Will you come? A count is still a noble, after all. Please come. If none had claimed you, I shall dance with you."

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

"Moreover, I would prefer you and Count Shadowstep, who braved the frontier and defended our kingdom, instead of old families who did nothing right now." His smile turned more sweetly as he kissed the back of my hand. My spine sizzled up at his blatant approach.

"A-a-alright. I will come." I nodded to hide my blushing cheeks.

Once he left, I wondered why he paid so much attention to me. Now that you mention it, why did the second prince ensnare Eli anyway? In the novels, our county was deep in debt and had to do everything the second prince said. In the novels, Eli decided on herself that she wanted to kill the heroine. Was that it? Was he simply ensuring that I didn't go to the first prince's camp?

The second prince always hated the heroine and the first prince. He was a mage elitist! The novel was a typical commoner vs. nobility. It only changed the aristocracy with mages, and that's enough to make the novel popular. The scene of his death in the novel was met with praise for how he was a good antagonist. It was when the first prince killed him, and he uttered the last arrogant words.

"Lady Eli. Stop it! Don't get caught by the prince's honeyed words!" Alicia suddenly hugged me from behind. Her bosom engulfed my head.

"I-I did not! I was simply wondering why the prince invited me to the party." I stammered.

"By party, you mean the banquet that is going to be held tomorrow?"

"Eh? You know?" Alicia was a commoner. How come she knew something that I didn't know?

"Of course. Other noble girls in the academy have been talking about it for a month now. How did you miss it? Wait. You didn't plan to go there?" Alicia suddenly turned sour. I knew about it. I knew about it. It simply slipped off my mind. I never planned to attend that party!

"Yes."

"Since the prince has invited you, that is no longer an option. I wonder if you have nice clothes to wear tomorrow. You need to attend alone since the party is only for nobles."

"Eeeh? You mean, you won't come? No… no, no, no, that won't do! I can't go to the ball alone! You have to accompany me. I must take you with me." I pleaded with tears, similar to a certain water god from Earth's video games. I could dance. However, my etiquette only extended so far. I have no idea about the current trends those nobles would talk to me about. I would be a laughingstock there! A banquet is the villainess nemesis in these romance novel genres.

"Lady Eli. Your disinterest in noble etiquette astounds me. Even I had better etiquette than you. How did this happen?" When Alicia became my maid, I focused on practicing my magic. I also took on several construction jobs helping Brother Zach and thus neglected my lessons entirely. I am not a real genius! I am just a cheater with memories from Earth.

The fact was that this ball was not like other parties. I have read about this kind of ball countless times in web novels. This was the part where the villainess got shamed, either by canceling the engagement or airing her dirty laundry. As a potential villainess, this court ball was my worst enemy. I might get mocked for my intimidating eyes or be called a murderer. I definitely couldn't go to this ball alone.

"Please! You may even wear my new clothes, and I will wear the used ones. But you must come with me." I pleaded so hard that I accepted being engulfed in her bosom and glanced upward, begging.

"Y-your clothes wouldn't fit me, Lady Eli. I must go to the clothing store now and see what I can find there. I hope they have second-hand dresses that suit me…." She turned her eyes away with flushed cheeks.

"Thank you! Thank you, Alicia! You are my bestest friend! Ever!" I hugged her unreservedly. Even when she hated me so much, she still helped me. Thank you, Alicia. "Tell me the price. I might not be able to pay all of it. But at least I will pay half."

"No need, Lady Eli. It's time for me to indulge and buy some dresses after all. I could not possibly ask for such a thing when my master has less money than me." Alicia said as she patted my head.

The dreaded day finally arrived. A carriage came to pick me up from the castle. How many carriages did the royal family hire for this? Weren't there thousands of nobles coming to this ball? Do they pick them all one by one? The driver cast a glance at Alicia. However, I insisted that she must come no matter what. I even threatened not to join the ball if Alicia didn't come, and he finally relented. After a short trip that seemed to last for an eternity, we were finally brought to the ballroom.

"Ugh. Why must I wear a black dress…" I complained. I looked like a bloodthirsty vampire.

"The other dress you have is a pink one, which doesn't suit you in the least. The green dress has a short skirt, which is unsuitable for this occasion. The blue one is ripped. We either need to repair it or throw it away. You hate the red ones more, right?"

I nodded. If I wore that red dress that looked like it had been bathed in blood, which also happened to match my eyes, I might even scare the entire ballroom into fleeing. It was a hand-me-down from Fiona, my only sister. I wonder how she's doing back home. Her blue eyes matched well with the dress.

"Greetings, Lady Eli. Have you been well?" Prince Ludwin personally greeted me and escorted me to the ballroom. Alicia superficially greeted him and wandered off, looking for food in the corner when we arrived at the ballroom. What a traitor! I thought she was my best friend, but she left me alone with this manipulative second prince!

"Will it be okay for you to be together with me? Won't your fiancee or girlfriend be jealous?" I asked him. Many girls were obviously eyeing for a chance to talk to him. However, it appears that I stole it all. I felt bad for them. Moreover, wasn't I supposed to get away from him? Why did he come to me on his own?

"I don't have a girlfriend. And if the powers above me let me be engaged to someone other than you, let us at least indulge tonight's party." His words resounded within me, as sweet as honey and as beautiful as roses. Looking around, I felt many mocking gazes, but somehow, I felt at peace due to the prince's words.

"Let us enjoy the ball tonight," I replied to him. Letting him lead me to a dance.