HTNSA 19

Chapter 19

‘No one in the swordsmanship department will dare look down on Felix now. And by extension, they won’t dare act carelessly around me either.’

Her confidence came from a simple truth—among knights, strength was an unspoken law that dictated power.

But just because Felix’s reputation had changed didn’t mean she could let her guard down yet.

‘Roshia will start making her move soon.’

In the original story, Roshia had quickly won over the nobles using her status and abilities.

‘And she tormented me mercilessly.’

As her thoughts continued, Eila realized she had already arrived at the infirmary.

‘Felix isn’t here yet.’

Today, Felix had delivered an incredibly encouraging result.

But she still couldn’t relax.

According to the original plot, they had only just cleared the first hurdle.

Sitting on the empty infirmary bed, Eila sank into her thoughts.

In the original story, Roshia had toyed with Eila until the very end.

After taking everything from her, she made Eila dependent on her, manipulating her like a puppet.

‘Looking back, relying on Roshia was so stupid. But given the circumstances, I can kind of understand why.’

Back then, Eila had truly been left with no one.

Having lived under the shelter of her family, she had to navigate academy life entirely on her own.

In that situation, Roshia was the only one who treated her kindly.

---

“Your brothers don’t really hate you. They’re just being harsh because of me.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah. I’ll explain everything to them. You don’t have to say anything—it might just cause more misunderstandings.”
“Okay, Roshia.”
“Just trust me, Eila.”

---

But the more Eila trusted Roshia, the worse things became.

Her family’s suspicions of her only deepened, and she grew increasingly isolated.

---

“Eila, did you bully Roshia again?”
“When did I—?”
“Don’t play dumb. Did you really think we wouldn’t find out what you’ve been doing to her behind our backs? We’ve heard everything—even what happened in the magic department.”
“What exactly did they say?”
“That you’ve been harassing poor, innocent Roshia.”

---

Eila had been wronged.

By that point, Roshia had already turned most of the academy’s students to her side.

Eila was the one being bullied, yet no one stood up for her.

Not even Roshia, who had promised to help.

When Eila’s family confronted her, Roshia stayed silent, tears streaming down her face instead of defending her as promised.

---

“It’s all my fault. Please don’t blame Eila.”
“What did I even do? Why are you making it sound like I did something wrong?!”

---

Frustrated, Eila lashed out at Roshia—only to earn her family’s disdain even more.

By then, she had no idea what to do.

It reached the point where even her mere existence seemed to invite misunderstanding.

‘Maybe all of this happened because I refused to accept reality and acted out at first?’

No—anyone in her position would have done the same.

While Eila agonized, the situation continued to spiral.

‘Soon, I’ll be falsely accused too.’

According to the original story, rumors would soon start spreading in the magic department—that Eila was bullying poor Roshia.

But in truth, Eila was the victim.

Students in the magic department would slip bugs into her food, trip her deliberately—all kinds of underhanded bullying.

Recalling the original plot, Eila’s gaze turned cold.

‘I can’t rely solely on Felix for this.’

He belonged to the swordsmanship department.

She couldn’t ask him to guard her all day.

‘So I need another backer.’

She needed a shield—someone who could protect her from direct bullying until she grew strong enough.

Someone in the magic department who wasn’t close to Freya but had enough influence to counter her.

And there just so happened to be one such person.

‘The Empire’s First Princess.’

Due to her frail health, the princess rarely attended the academy, so she had few close acquaintances in the magic department.

Yet no one dared treat her carelessly—because she was second in line to the imperial throne and the emperor’s most beloved daughter.

‘But because of her poor health, no one expects her to inherit the throne. She’s been suffering from an unknown chronic illness.’

Eila’s eyes settled calmly.

She knew the real reason behind the princess’s sickness.

‘Her illness isn’t natural.’

The princess had been unknowingly ingesting poison since childhood.

‘She doesn’t even realize it herself.’

Remembering the novel’s details felt like a miracle.

Because of it, Eila knew exactly what poison the princess had been given—and what antidote she needed.

She planned to use that knowledge to save the princess’s life.

‘And the timing is perfect.’

With the new semester well underway, the princess would soon return to the academy.

In the original story, she reappeared just as Eila began facing serious bullying.

---

“Why do you look so troubled?”

Eila snapped out of her thoughts at the voice.

Felix had arrived.

“Ah, Felix. You’re here.”
“Yes. Was I late?”
“No, I just came early.”
“I got held up. People kept stopping me to talk.”

Eila chuckled.

“Of course. Plenty must be eager to speak with you now.”

Despite his incredible feat, Felix’s expression was as composed as ever.

‘Even after pulling off something so huge, he’s this calm. As expected of the sub-male lead and future Sword Master.’

Every student in the academy was talking about Felix now.

On top of that, Duke Argenta had taken an interest in him.

Yet Felix didn’t seem the least bit smug.

‘Where’s the guy who said he wasn’t confident earlier?’

Felix, however, frowned and pressed the question again.

“More importantly, tell me why you looked so upset.”
“I ran out of herbs.”
“Huh?”
“The ingredients for the temporary treatment I gave you—they’re all gone. I brought everything I could from my family’s stock, but it wasn’t enough.”

Felix’s expression turned serious.

“Then what do we do?”
“What else? We get more. Luckily, the herbs aren’t too far. They grow easily in the forest near the academy.”

Felix gave her a puzzled look.

“But that area’s off-limits to underclassmen because it’s dangerous. We’d need the headmaster’s permission to enter.”

He wasn’t wrong.

The forest near the academy was home to bizarre flora and fauna due to professors’ experiments.

‘Not to mention the occasional dangerous monsters.’

Slimes, wolf-type monsters—it was definitely hazardous for underclassmen.

The problem was that the headmaster was a noble elitist to the bone—not the type to grant favors to commoners.

Eila smirked at Felix’s bewildered expression.

“Which is why we’ll sneak in at night.”