"Neither?" She held her index finger to her chin and smirked at Millis.
"Eh...?"
Millis stared at her with a raised brow, "You're gonna do it solo? Ya gotta kill, like... a BAJILLION monsters, ya know!?" She widened her arms to emphasise.
"... I don't have to kill that many, Millis..." Lillian stared at her with a deadpan expression. And why should she? If she can prove to the examiners that she can take out some high-class monsters by herself by looking over the exam, it'll be fine.
However, this answer caused Millis to puff out her cheeks and pout again.
"Oh yeah? How would you know?"
"Because I'm a noble."
"..." Millis paused at Lillian's answer, speechless, before folding her arms and turning away from her. "You didn't have to pull that card, Lillian..."
Lillian couldn't help but chuckle at her childishness. She was then suddenly asked a question about Marionette.
"How about her then? Aren't ya going to ask, at least?"
Lillian shrugged, "I doubt she's going to do it as a duo." She never did in the original story. Why would she now, so suddenly? Unless something magically influenced her to do it.
Lillian turned around and glanced towards Marionette, who was originally at her corner listening to music but was now gone without a trace.
Millis, following Lillian's gaze and seeing that Marionette had indeed disappeared, spoke out with a confused tone:
"Huh? Where'd she go? She sure does move fast! Looks like you'll gotta be quick if ya wanna embrace her, love." Millis nudged Lillian in a knowing-perverted way, making Lillian cringe a bit. (3)
"It's more stealth rather than speed."
Just as she was about to remark on Millis's comment, a familiar, captivating voice appeared behind them - it was Marionette.
Lillian and Millis, frightened by her sudden appearance, backed away from her.
"What the!? Don't cha know sneaking up on people could give them a heart attack!?" Millis scolded Marionette, who just shrugged nonchalantly.
"Your fault for letting down your guard. You as well, Ms Arius." She said after shifting her attention away from the frightened Millis to Lillian, who was gasping a bit.
"Such a weakness is detrimental."
Lillian rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah... so? Did you need anything, or did you just want to scare us?"
"What purpose would there be to scare you randomly?"
"..."
Millis, who was watching their interaction, turned towards Lillian with a deadpan expression while pointing towards Marionette, "I get that she's smoking hot, but she is hella boring..."
Marionette raised a brow at her before looking towards Lillian, who was blushing a bit while also glaring at the Millis.
"W-what!? Does everything that comes out of your mouth have to be so perverse?" After saying that, she internally facepalmed, 'Of course, she is... how could someone with the future title of "Harem Hero" innocent?'
"Hm? Not everything that comes out of mah mouth is perverted. I can be wise and act smart whenever I want!"
"... Act smart...?"
"Ya get what I mean!"
Lillian chuckled before glancing over to Marionette, "So? What is it that you want?"
"I wish to partake in the exam with you, Lillian Ker Arius."
"... Huh...? But why...?"
Lillian had already planned her steps to secure herself, perhaps first or second place, if she could. Anything lower would be disgraceful to someone like her.
By mentally mapping out the place on which the exam would be based Since the academy doesn't wish to put its students in actual danger, this exam will be taken in a virtual environment.
However, this plan of hers seemed to be taking quite the turn now that Marionette seemingly would like to team up with her. For what reason? She had never done this ever before, no matter what sort of route Lillian took in the game.
"Those men in the alley caused my bloodlust to itch a bit. Pairing up with you would allow me to satiate it."
"... You're planning to kill double what is needed to satiate your—"
"Yes," Marionette answered instantly.
'I knew she was crazy, but damn!'
Lillian slowly glanced towards the purple-haired girl and noticed she had disappeared from her original position and was making her way towards the... second prince??
Millis met her glance and smiled while giving her a thumbs up and mouthing, "You go, girl..."
Lillian, dumbfounded, was soon pulled back her attention to Marionette, who was getting slightly impatient.
"Well? You won't have to do anything because I'll be taking care of it. You can just sit back and relax." She stared intently at Lillian, arms folded and rhythmically tapping her arm with her index finger.
'Argh! What the hell!' Lillian screamed internally. She glanced towards the indicator above her head - the quest was still ongoing! If she refused now, would that affect her chances of befriending Marionette?
Wait... does she want to refuse? What would be the downside? Without a doubt, she would be able to place pretty high if she piggybacked off of Marionette. So why is she hesitating?
"I... refuse..." She said hesitantly, rubbing her arm as she turned her face away from Marionette, who was staring at her with wide eyes.
"You... refuse? For what reason, may I ask?"
Lillian scratched her head, "Well... I would rather not have everything done for me. I like it whether it's difficult or hard... so apologies, Ms Roselle, but I would like to tackle this exam on my own. I hope this doesn't mean we can't become friends!" (3)
Marionette stared at her, her face returning back to her usual stoic expression. However, unexpectedly, her lips morphed into a small smile.
"Hm... that so? Very well. I wish you the best of luck, Ms Arius…"
She then turned around and went back to her corner, leaving Lillian baffled at what she saw.
'She smiled...? Has she ever done that before?'
"Heh... she looked quite beautiful when she smiled..."
Moments after saying that, she twisted her head over to Millis to see how she was doing. She saw that she was doing some overly complex handshake with the Second Prince...