I Got Reincarnated as a Villainous Noble, and When I Tried to Create an All-Male Academy to Avoid a Bad Ending, for Some Reason the Gender Ratio Reversed? - Chapter 32

Chapter 32: The Other Male Student

I just couldn’t stop thinking about the other guy who enrolled—Maris.

Especially after seeing him with the crown prince. Something about it gave me a really bad vibe.

Like… it felt tied to one of those doom flags somehow—

“Ol-sama? What’s wrong?”

It was morning.

Like always, for some weird reason Fran was already inside my bed when I woke up, but while I was lost thinking about that guy, she suddenly peeked right into my face.

“If something’s bothering you, please tell me. I’ll set up the whole board perfectly for you.”

She must’ve picked up on my weird mood. Guess that’s what you’d expect from your fiancée.

I was kinda impressed, but decided to just ask her anyway.

“Fran, can I ask you something real quick?”

“What is it?”

“There’s this person I’m kinda curious about…”

The second I said that, her eyebrows twitched just a tiny bit.

“Is it a girl?”

“Nah, a guy.”

I felt this crazy intense pressure for a split second, so I shut it down fast.

“It’s about the other male student who started this year. I’m wondering about him.”

“……………………”

“Do you know anything?”

Fran went quiet for just a moment, then,

“Ol-sama?”

“Yeah?”

“You already have me as your fiancée.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“And even so, you’re still curious about someone else?”

“…Yeah.”

Whether the other guy was interesting had nothing to do with having a fiancée, so I nodded right away, but…

“Looks like I didn’t overwrite you enough.”

Fran gave this faint smile as she said it.

“That’s not it.”

“No, it is. You keep getting interested in one girl after another, Ol-sama. Even though you have me as your fiancée.”

“That’s not what this is abou—”

“…………………………”

But Fran didn’t say anything else. She just kept that smile stuck on her face.

In the end, I got zero info.

Is she… jealous maybe?

But the other person’s a dude?

No way she’d get jealous over a guy, right? So then what’s actually bugging her?

The more I thought about it, the more my brain turned into a tangled mess.

※

Fran overwrote me so hard I couldn’t get anything useful out of her.

So I started thinking who else I could ask.

The people I usually talk to—besides Fran—are pretty much just Lucina, Alenaria, and the cult followers.

“……………………”

Yeah… none of them are normal.

Thinking about it calmly, my social circle is way too narrow.

Sure, it’s all girls anyway, but even among them, it’s like the most intense, quirky ones all gathered in one spot.

Isn’t there anyone more… regular around here?

I racked my brain hard, but nobody came to mind.

So I had no choice but to go straight to the academy head.

“…Excuse me.”

I opened the door to the head’s office and saw something totally unexpected.

“What’re you doing?”

The academy head was eating snacks on top of her desk.

That part was fine. She’s always sipping tea and munching on stuff.

But what she was eating was the problem.

It was bread double-fried and coated in sugar—rusks.

“Why’re you eating that?”

“What do you mean ‘that’? It’s actually pretty tasty, y’know.”

“That’s not the issue.”

The issue was her eating rusks at all.

Because rusks instantly made me think of one specific person.

“If you keep eating those, Alenaria’s gonna show up.”

“Huh? Why would the saintess come?”

“Because she’s like that.”

This was just my theory, but Alenaria probably loved rusks. Like, obsessed-level favorite food.

Otherwise she wouldn’t come up with crazy stuff like musical chairs with rusks or telephone with rusks.

So yeah, Alenaria was a hardcore rusk fanatic.

And the type who’d jump on them the second she saw any.

How was that not dangerous?

“Put those away quick.”

“What? You want some too?”

“No.”

“Then what do you want?”

She shot me a sharp look.

I’d gotten totally thrown off by the rusks, but I couldn’t forget why I came.

I pulled myself together and got to the point.

“It’s about the other male student who enrolled this year.”

The second I said it, the head’s whole vibe changed.

“Something bothering you about him?”

“Yeah. I wanna know who he really is.”

“…Hmm.”

She gave a short nod, crossed her arms, took a sip of tea, then frowned and opened her mouth.

“Honestly, I’d love to tell you, but as academy head I can’t just spill a student’s info without their permission.”

“…Got it.”

“No, wait—normally I would for any other student. But that one’s got special circumstances. Even for the eldest son of a marquis family, even for the guy who reformed this whole academy, I can’t just casually tell you.”

“…Okay.”

I didn’t fully get it, but I could tell he was some kind of special case. Probably someone with really high status.

Higher status than me, a marquis’s son.

That basically meant duke family or royalty, but it only made the mystery deeper.

“If you’re that curious, just go ask him yourself.”

“No way. We’ve got zero connection.”

“You’ve always been like that—super shy despite the attitude. Too much of a coward. I hear all about how you’re always observing classes or sneaking off to the infirmary.”

“…Can’t help it.”

I made this face like I’d bitten into something super sour, and the head burst out laughing.

She’d known me forever, so treating me like a kid was normal for her.

Still, counting my past life I was a full adult, so getting babied always made me kinda itchy inside.

“Well, I’ll get going then.”

In the end I got nothing from the head either. No point pushing anymore—I gave up.

Right as I took a step to leave,

“………………Hm?”

Suddenly I heard loud stomping footsteps from the hallway.

It was bouncy, like a dog wagging its tail and charging over.

—This is bad.

I got a terrible feeling from those steps and instantly tried to dive under the sofa.

But the footsteps closed in way too fast to give me time,

“Rusks! I smell rusks!”

BAM—the door flew open and the dangerous person burst in full force.

“Rusks! It really is rusks!”

Eyes sparkling, drooling—yep, the rusk fanatic, Alenaria.

The second she spotted the rusks on the head’s desk, she locked on like a predator.

“Hehe, time to dig in!”

Breathing heavy, she charged straight for the rusks.

“Hey, stop! Those are mine!”

“Just a little! One bite, just one bite, okay?!”

“I said stop!”

“Rusk~♪ Rusk~♪ Rusk~♪ Rusk~♪”

The head desperately fought back while Alenaria beamed, mouth wide open, chomping chomping.

She looked exactly like a dog begging its owner for kibble.

“……………………”

Yeah… figured this would happen.

I watched the head’s face go bright red as she tried to pry Alenaria off.

I knew the second I saw rusks this was coming. Her crazy brain and pointless energy always kicked in at times like this.

That’s why I said rusks were a bad idea.

“Hey, cut it out! Even a saintess can’t just eat the academy head’s stuff without permission!”

“Then let’s play memory with rusks to decide!”

“What are you even saying?! That makes zero sense!”

“Fine. Loser strips.”

“Are you on something? A saintess doing drugs…?”

“That’s what a normal saintess would say.”

When I cut in, the head shook her head hard.

“Where’s any of this normal?!”

“……………………”

I couldn’t say anything more.

But at least one thing was clear—Alenaria wasn’t stopping till she got those rusks.

“Fine, I’ll compromise. I’ll give you my bread crusts instead. Trade for the rusks.”

“Orufusen! Do something about her!”

In other words, I couldn’t do jack.

“Well, I’m out.”

Now’s my chance to escape.

While Alenaria’s distracted by the rusks, I’m outta here.

※

“Alrighty then.”

I slipped out of the head’s office, ignoring the screams echoing behind me, and started walking.

Today sucked. I just wanna go home and chill.

While I was thinking that and heading down the hallway, something suddenly felt off.

“………………Hm?”

I glanced over casually and spotted a figure on the rooftop through the hallway window.

The person had their hands on the iron fence, just staring off into the distance.

“That’s…”

No way I could mistake it.

It was Maris—the one I’d been thinking about lately.

The other male student who enrolled in this flipped-gender academy.

He slowly climbed over the fence, stood right on the edge of the roof, and spread both arms wide.

“……………………”

Bad feeling hit hard.

His eyes staring into the distance were full of intense hatred.

But at the same time, his face looked kinda resigned, and seeing those totally opposite emotions mixed together made him look way too fragile.

“No way…”

He might actually jump off the roof right now.

The second that thought hit me—

“Wait!”

Before I could even yell properly, his body was already thrown into the air.

Like he’d given up on everything. Like he was accepting it all.

Eyes closed, arms wide, just letting himself fall fast toward death.

“—!”

My body moved on instinct.

I poured magic into my legs and kicked off the floor. Grabbed the window frame and jumped with everything I had.

Normally this would just be suicide.

But I turned the magic into thrust and launched myself straight toward him as he fell.

—Please make it in time.

I prayed while reaching out, and caught his slim body in midair.

I kicked off the wall, used the leftover magic momentum, and forced us back up toward the roof.

When we landed, something slipped out and fell.

It dropped slowly to the ground, and at the same time something fluttered softly.

“…………Huh?”

Then my whole vision filled with bright light blue.

Shining in the sunlight, sparkling—it was hair.

Well-kept, glossy, about shoulder-length, carrying a sweet, flowery scent.

Feeling something off, I landed properly on both feet on the roof and looked at the person in my arms.

“…Huh?”

I was stunned by what I saw.

Slim arms. Graceful body. Skin whiter than snow. Clear sapphire eyes. Ice-blue hair that was almost see-through, falling to the shoulders.

And a face that looked somehow fragile, yet carried this bottomless depth—beautiful.

This wasn’t just familiar. There was no way I could ever forget it.

This face. This presence. This aura. This beauty.

I could never forget it even once.

Because she was—

“—!”

The direct reason Orufusen Starz Island met his doom ending in the original story. The second daughter of the duke family.

The lady who received all the crown prince’s affection.

“Marilyn?”

Yeah—the person I thought was another guy was actually the crown prince’s fiancée—Marilyn Lily Crystal.