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Ciel spoke without changing her natural speech pattern, making Professor Liens freeze in surprise. The sheer difference from how I spoke must’ve given him whiplash; I feel for him.
Still, perhaps thinking that he can’t stay stunned forever, he pulled himself together and replied, 「That’s right.」 It looks like he’s elected to ignore the change in tone.

「In that case, I’ll give two. Before that, right, nice to meet you, Liens. I’m Cielmer.」
「Nice to meet you…?」

Professor Liens’ confusion was obvious for anyone to see. Meanwhile, I’m shocked myself. I never expected Ciel to ever reveal herself on her own accord.
She must have felt something in the professor that made her think it’s fine to tell him, but… Wait, now that I think about it, Professor Liens is undoubtedly the kind of person that would attract Ciel’s interest.

And it feels like her reason for telling him is different from when we shared our secret with Carol and Munyechka.

「Yes, it’s our first time meeting. I didn’t take the sorceric tool course, after all.」
「You’re talking as if you’re two different people.」
「We are. She was just talking to you until now, right?」
「In that case, what’s her…」

The instant the professor asked for my name, Ciel glared at him with a cold, piercing gaze.
Her magic power surged to the point where even people with magic power but can’t perceive it would feel something amiss.

「That’s not something you need to know. There is another person inside me. That should be enough, no?
If you ever tell anyone else about this and cause her trouble, I will eliminate you without hesitation, alright?」

Saying that with a flat tone, she then knocked on the ground twice with her toes. The contact point started freezing, and from it, a frozen path with the width of Ciel’s foot crept towards Professor Liens before sprouting an icicle pushing against his neck.

「I-I understand. I won’t inquire any further.」

Hearing the professor respond while raising his chin away from the sharpened point, Ciel knocked at the floor again, dispersing the icicle.
That should be enough to know how serious Ciel is. In truth, my existence is critical in Ciel’s eyes. Even people who can’t understand this should realize that she’s not playing around after receiving this treatment.

「I’m glad you understand. As for the other thing, my Job is Dance Princess.」

Ciel then unceremoniously revealed her Job.
Hearing that, 「Wha―」 Professor Liens was at a loss for words.

「It’s not a lie. You’ll know if I lie about it anyway. After all, Aineige’s Job isn’t really well concealed. There seems to be a lot of speculation, though.」
「To be capable of so much while being a Disappointing Princess…」

The professor mustered in disbelief. We’ve actually heard that there are various speculations about Ailneige’s Job.
Since we’re a sorcerer and active hunter, many think that it might be a sorcery-related Job; meanwhile most of the students taking combat training with us think that it’s Swordsman-related.
Furthermore, anyone witnessing Ciel cast sorcery through dancing could probably reach the conclusion that she’s a Dance Princess.

Finally, the fact that she is a Disappointing Princess is something that should normally be kept secret. For the upper class, having such a Job is enough to drag you down in life, and that’d be even worse in the case of Fiiyanamia’s adopted daughter. From an outsider’s perspective, at least.
*But in that case, she could’ve mentioned my Job instead…* I thought, but I guess the shock would be too much. Considering how he reacted to the Dance Princess revelation, saying she’s a Song Princess might just cause Professor Liens to faint in shock.

Besides, Ciel seems adamant about not revealing any information about me, so that’s probably part of the reason.

「Wait, in that case, is the other inside you…」
「Come again?」
「N-no, it’s nothing…」

Professor Liens wanted to probe for information about me but was immediately shut down. This time, Ciel didn’t intimidate him much, but he probably remembered the first time.
Still, he’s on the right track. Since there are two of us, then we might have two Jobs, with the other Job possibly being incredulous and the reason why we became Central’s Princess. I’m sure that sounds more realistic in this world than the Central’s Princess being a Dance Princess.

When in reality, it’s the even more disliked Song Princess.

「It shouldn’t be unfair now, is it?」
「O-oh, right. Yes.」

Overwhelmed by Ciel’s eagerness to end this topic, the professor immediately nodded, completely swept along by Ciel’s momentum.
Satisfied by his reply, Ciel says, 「Now let’s continue from before,」 with a smile.

『You’re continuing?』
『Otherwise, what was the point of me showing myself?』
『That might be the case, but…』

I reflexively asked out of surprise, but she has a fair point; if we only needed to convince Professor Liens, Ciel didn’t need to come out. I could’ve been the one to reveal my Job, or Ciel’s Job, instead.
There was no need to reveal that Ailneige was two people either.

「Since I’ve revealed this much, we’ll come to play again in the future.」
「… Why?」
「How do I describe it? Because you caught my interest, I guess?」

Thinking back, I somewhat expected this. Still, I don’t like the way she phrased it. The professor is looking confused as well.

「You see, I don’t dislike people who dedicate their all for something. But even among everyone I know, you feel different, Liens. That’s why I want to observe you.
I don’t plan on helping with the taboo research, but I promise that I won’t be obstructive.」
「I see… If you truly won’t get in my way, then I don’t mind.」
「Now then, I’m going home. No more problems, right?」
「Y-yeah…」

While Professor Liens was taken aback by Ciel’s energy, Ciel ignored him and left the laboratory.

◇

As the day was ending and we returned to our room, I asked Ciel, 『Was revealing that to Professor Liens really alright?』
While I have heard Ciel’s reasoning for keeping an eye on him earlier, I can’t really say that I agree with her wanting to interact with him in the future. How do I say this? There’s no need to risk staying close to him. Still, I do recall the Creator God warning me that I can’t defend against a divine punishment, so perhaps this is just fate.

The Creator God likely knew that Ciel and Professor Liens would be on the same wavelength, somehow.
And with me already thinking that we can capitalize on this experience, I’m probably broken in one way or another. The professor will be a first and as a result of divine punishment at that.

「Right, somehow, I just wanted it to be that way.」
『If that’s what you really want, then I don’t really mind, but you’re not actually interested in the pursuit of taboo or crafting, right?』
「Yeah, not really. I’d be different if certain sorceric tools or taboos could manifest a body for Ain, but currently the Puppet sorcery route is the most reliable path. Besides, Munyechka should have a lot of knowledge about sorceric tools, too, right? 」

Now that she mentioned it, that does sound plausible. Puppet Sorcery is like a hybrid study of sorcery and sorceric tools. With sorceric tools intrinsically tied to it, Munyechka should have some level of mastery in crafting.

『Then why did you…』
「Hmm, let me see. He felt somewhat similar to the past Ain.」
『To… me?』
「Yeah, the way he was so firm about continuing even though it would lead to death was similar. Past Ain planned to disappear on her own, after all. 」

Perhaps recalling the memories, Ciel replied with a pouty tone.
I mean, she’s right, but, except for apologizing, I can’t really do anything about that now, so I decided to continue the conversation.

『The professor certainly has accepted that he’d die via divine punishment.』
「I can’t quite fully understand what that feels like. That’s why I’m curious.」
『You think that you’d understand by interacting with Professor Liens?』

*Don’t you have me already?* I thought, causing my tone to be harsher. However, Ciel didn’t appear bothered at all; instead, she seemed to enjoy the situation, as she was even giggling. She probably knows what I’m thinking.

「I don’t think that at all. And I don’t want to understand either. What’s most important for me is Ain and our time together. After all, if I end up dying to protect Ain, I wouldn’t be able to stay with Ain anymore.」
『That’s… right. I think the same as well.』
「Yes, and I understand that. I’m happy, you know?」

Saying so, Ciel showed me a beautiful smile; I don’t think I can ever win against her. Nonetheless, why did she suddenly say that right now? I guess there’s no point mulling about it. It’s Ciel, after all; while it feels embarrassing to hear her say that, I can’t help but feel happy as well.

『And yet you’ll still interact with him.』
「It’s why we enrolled in the academy, isn’t it?」
『Right, you certainly could say that.』

I really can’t disagree with her reply. The reason why we enrolled in this academy is, broadly speaking, to learn through interacting with various people.
Professor Liens is merely one of the many people to interact with. As for why he was chosen, it’s as Ciel explained earlier. It’s probably part of the reason why she was so direct with him.

It’s not like the Creator God forbade us from associating with him, and even if it’s just needless worry, I just need to protect Ciel as always.

『Anyway, with our goal in the academy completed, that’s a weight off the shoulders.』
「Oh, were you feeling burdened by this in our stay at the academy, Ain?」
『That’s not exactly the case, but mentally…』
「Well, that’s true. With this, we have one less thing to think about.」

With a chuckle, Ciel agreed with my sentiment. She could’ve just answered with this earlier, but I can’t help but find Ciel cute with her roundabout ways.