Two months later, the National Exam was finally set to begin.

Various events had taken place over that time. Avril was called for by Emilia almost every day, and she had to desperately study between that. She also had to visit the villa area at the foot of the Greenie Mountains as part of the inspection. Upon entering a café for rest, the young male shopkeeper fled into the back of the shop at seeing her face and never returned.

She asked a local customer and was told that until about three years ago, he had apparently been the heir of a large merchant company in the royal capital. However, for some reason, he abruptly squandered almost all of his funds in a few days and was disowned by his family. Since then, he’d been running a modest café in the villa area. Avril felt bad, somewhat guessing his circumstances.

Also, when they stopped in a village on the way back from the Greenie Mountains, a girl around Lynn’s age asked, “How do I make men lavish gifts on me?”

From what she heard, a local legend in that village stated that if a strawberry blonde woman were met, one should learn how to get men to lavish gifts on them from her. Of course, it was a very recent legend, having only started about three years.

I see…!

Avril ecstatically taught various girls her specialty— cleaning— as a more reliable way of getting people to lavish them with gifts. All of the girls became good at cleaning, and all of them were able to receive pocket money from their fathers. She was thanked.

A lot really did happen. These two months went by in a flash.

After crossing mountains and valleys, the day of the examination arrived.

The venue was a large auditorium situated within the grounds of the royal palace. There, ambitious individuals, each believing “I alone am worthy!”, assembled from all around the Kingdom of Claughton.

The wind was very strong that day. Even the examinees waiting for registration were having a hard time, their belongings being blown away by the wind and such.

“Wow. There must be about a thousand people here. What an amazing sight.”

A short distance away from the auditorium, Avril sighed out.

She wasn’t keeping her distance because she didn’t intend to take the National Exam. There were simply too many people. Until her assigned reception time came, she wasn’t allowed to approach the venue.

“I believe reception for Avril’s exam number will start in fifteen minutes.”

“Yes. I thought the number of examinees would have been significantly reduced by the preliminary exam, but I was completely wrong. To think that this many people moved on to the main examination.”

Nodding in response to Dylan’s question, she felt her tension gradually rising.

Avril had taken something called a preliminary exam before this exam. The National Exam was a massive exam held once every three years with applicants from all over the country. If only the main exam were to be held, the situation would have most likely become unmanageable, hence such a system had been enacted.

The envoy from the Kingdom of Branwill arrived just in time to submit an exam application. As expected, this wasn’t a coincidence.

Dylan didn’t say it outright, but Avril understood that this was part of Lawrence’s request. If that was the case, then she had to pass with the highest marks. She was even staking her pride as a villainess on it.

Avril was watched gently by Dylan as she clenched her fists and brimmed with energy.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. This is nothing more than a side mission for your role as a villainess.”

“A side mission… for my role…”                                          

“Indeed. Simply being able to advance to the main exam in such a short time is already amazing.”

Dylan was too good at giving compliments. Also, even though he probably didn’t fully approve of her taking the exam, the fact that he never let it show on his face was something she was grateful for.

And as Lord Dylan said… I am a villainess!

So, to keep from attracting attention to the fact that a villainess from a foreign country was taking the exam, she adjusted her score during the preliminary exam to one that was just barely passing and quietly slipped through.

Even so, a fair bit of gossip seemed to have spread with the royal palace. Avril could feel glances directed at her from their restless surroundings, as if they were trying to observe her.

I suppose these gazes were inevitable. All I can do is hope that the exam will finish before the contradiction of a villainess taking the National Exam fully spreads.

As Avril was thinking that, someone spoke to her.

“Lady Avril. It’s an honor to meet you again.”

“Lady Jeanne!”

The one who called out to her was the young lady she had met at the library.

“Is the person from the other day well?”

“Y-yes. She seems to be Her Highness Emilia’s tutor, and I heard from Her Highness that it was nothing serious.”

Avril was startled, but she replied with a smile so as not to let it show.

This was Avril’s first time meeting with Jeanne since that day at the library when Dylan’s mother had collapsed. Having encountered the daughter of the prime minister, she hadn’t gone near the library since, wanting to keep a certain distance from her while on this mission

All the study materials and references necessary for studying for examination had been prepared by Emilia.

Incidentally, that day’s incident had also been properly explained to Dylan. He seemed very worried when he learned that his mother had had something like a seizure upon seeing the fluttering white curtain.

I wonder if Lord Dylan feels anxious at remembering that…

While responding to Jeanne’s question, Avril glanced at Dylan’s expression. He was acting calmly. Apparently, the only one who revealed their thoughts and feelings through words and facial expressions was she herself.

Well, of course. This is Lord Dylan, after all.

Regardless, now that she knew Jeanne was the prime minister’s daughter, she had to properly play her part as a villainess. Just as she was getting ready, she was surprised with a preemptive punch.

“I’m glad to hear that. It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t meet since that day, Lady Avril, but I was certain we’d meet today.”

“!?”

Jeanne was too sharp. The reason they hadn’t encountered each other again was because Avril had been avoiding her, exactly as Jeanne had implied.

Avril pursed her lips tightly to keep her thoughts from slipping out. Defense alone, however, wouldn’t be enough.

She had to somehow smoothly get through this situation as a villainess! So, she decided to call upon Corinna within her heart.

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