CHAPTER 51………
The next day, the surprise quiz I had announced began.
“Time’s up. Class president, collect the papers.”
“Yes.”
I quickly searched for and skimmed through the answer sheets from Emily’s group first.
Just as I expected, the answers made me let out a short, incredulous laugh.
“All right, from now on, the students I call will come forward.”
At my words, the noisy classroom instantly went silent.
“Emily Luspina, Glenna Schuren, Nea Siedel.”
The three of them exchanged glances before walking up to me.
“These answers are a little strange, don’t you think?”
“What do you mean?”
Emily asked shamelessly, tilting her head, so I did the same.
“These answers—you all have exactly the same ones.”
At that, they burst out laughing as if it were absurd.
“There are only five options for each question. Isn’t it possible we just picked the same ones?”
“Why call us out over something like that?”
Sure, all the answers could match in a multiple-choice test…
If they could be this brazen in front of me, I could only imagine how vicious they were in front of Melin.
“Right, having matching answers isn’t a problem in itself.”
Thud.
I placed the test papers down in front of them a little roughly.
“But why are those answers exactly the same as the ones from before I revised the test?”
“What do you mean…”
Startled, they looked at each other.
“Before coming here, I revised the exam questions once across the board. And yet—”
“…”
Emily’s group was clearly rattled, but I pretended not to notice and went on.
“Even at a glance, none of these answers are correct.”
“That’s impossible…”
Oh, it was entirely possible.
Because I deliberately made the questions the opposite of the ones Melin had stolen.
Every “Choose the correct answer” had been subtly changed to “Choose the incorrect answer.” The difference was so slight that unless they actually read the question, they wouldn’t notice—especially if they had just memorized the answers by rote.
And this wasn’t the first time, either.
In countless past exams, they had exploited this method to complete tests and assignments by harassing other students.
That was why, despite their mediocre C-class entrance grades, they were now maintaining performance on par with A-class students.
“So, how do you explain this?”
“Well… that is…”
Now understanding the situation, they glanced anxiously at one another.
“I think I’ll have to search your dorm room.”
“You think you can invade the privacy of noble ladies for such a ridiculous reason?”
“We’ll file an official complaint!”
“That’s fine. Your parents have already given permission.”
“What—what did you say?”
I had anticipated this, so I had taken precautions.
When I opened the lecture hall door, their parents were waiting outside. Judging from their pale faces, they had been listening to us for a while.
“Countess Jacqueline… This wasn’t what you told us!”
“I told you I suspected your daughters might be stealing from other students.”
The previous evening, I had sent letters to the families of Emily’s group, warning that their children might be involved in theft within the academy.
Alarmed, the parents had come in person.
Expecting to hear accusations about stolen valuables, they were clearly caught off guard by what was unfolding.
“Well, things turned out like this. I didn’t foresee it either.”
Of course, I had planned for things to turn out exactly this way, but I kept my expression appropriately troubled.
“Still, since it’s come to this, we’ll need to search the rooms. That’s fine with you, yes?”
“That’s…”
I already knew they would agree—refusing would only make the cheating an established fact.
There was no need to waste more time.
I quickly led them toward the three girls’ dorm room.
Waiting outside was Lennox.
According to Mion, Emily liked him, so I had brought him along as a special addition.
When Emily saw him, her face flushed red with shame more than ever before.
But why is he here too?
Alfeo, who had tagged along with Lennox, looked like he was enjoying the spectacle immensely.
“Open the door.”
“Emily!”
Emily resisted at first, but under her parents’ stares, she finally opened it.
The three of them shared the same room, so if Mion’s testimony was correct, the evidence would still be here, untouched.
It didn’t take long for me, Lennox, and Alfeo to find the test papers.
…Found it. My original test sheet.
But I pretended not to notice, continuing to turn the room upside down.
Lennox and Alfeo did the same.
The real target wasn’t my stolen test paper—it was all the homework and tests they had extorted or stolen from other students.
The academy’s exams were confidential, so all completed test papers were collected afterward.
Which meant these papers should not be here.
Looks like they were planning to use this as leverage against their victims.
The papers were essentially shackles—evidence to silence victims by making them complicit.
“Oh my, what’s this?”
Feigning ignorance, I continued to dig out evidence of their bullying.
With each discovery, the color drained from Emily’s group’s faces.
“Do these belong to you?”
“Th-that! Give that back!!”
Emily suddenly snatched the notebooks from my hand.
“Why are you touching other people’s things without permission?”
“That’s true. You shouldn’t touch other people’s belongings without permission… right?”
I smiled brightly, meeting her eyes. Nea muttered nervously.
“N-no way… You didn’t do this on purpose, did you…?”
I stepped closer to her.
“Oh, I absolutely did.”
I whispered it just for them to hear, and their faces turned deathly pale.
“And you walked right into it.”
Emily, standing next to me, shouted in a panic.
“T-this is a setup!”
Wow, nice set of lungs.
But the Marquis and Marchioness of Luspina, who had seen everything, were at a loss for words.
They must be shocked.
After all, Emily’s elder sister, Lucia Luspina, was the academy’s most exemplary and diligent student—always ranked first in the entire school.
She had been invited to join a prestigious scholarly society immediately after graduation, at an unusually young age.
Naturally, the Marquis and Marchioness had placed high expectations on Emily.
It was also well-known that the Marquis doted on his youngest daughter.
Which explains why she’s grown into such a little tyrant.
But that indulgence would soon be revealed as a house of cards.
“F-father, mother, this is all a lie! She must have hidden these notebooks in my room to trap me! I don’t know anything about them!”
“Didn’t you just tell me not to touch your belongings?”
I tilted my head and asked innocently.
Her own words had become the snare that caught her. Realizing too late, Emily stammered, pale as a ghost.
“T-that’s because I thought they were mine…”
“Sure, I suppose that’s possible.”
I nodded amiably, but that only made her look more uneasy.
“If what you say is true, we can just compare them to all your past tests and assignments to check.”
“W-what?”
Emily, Glenna, and Nea all fell silent.
If they said no, it would be an admission of guilt; if they said yes, all their crimes would be laid bare.
Before coming here, I had already spoken with the professors.
“Come to think of it, right before every test, we always ended up short one paper…”
“Same here.”
“You too? I thought it was just me.”
It turned out that before every exam, at least one paper went missing.
The professors had simply dismissed it as an oversight, unwilling to believe cheating could happen in the sacred academy.
The Marchioness of Luspina, voice trembling, asked,
“E-Emily… Does that mean all your grades were earned by stealing someone else’s work?”
“How could you do such a thing in the academy?!”
The furious Marquis pressed a hand to his forehead in despair.
“My daughter is innocent! Clemence Jacqueline, retract your statement or you will regret it!”
Where had that voice gone now?
It should be about time…
I took a step back and glanced toward the door.
Then, a new voice broke in.
“Emily, what is the meaning of this?”
Finally.
At the sight of the blue-haired, blue-eyed man, I knew instantly who he was.
“V-Viscount Penelope!”
“W-what brings you here?”
The Marquis and Marchioness turned pale at the sight of him.
