The Villainess' Fate Defying Story - Chapter 15

Her name is Rize Foster.

She lived in a rural town in the east ruled by Count Seska. She was a triplet.

It was a very rare story. But being a triplet was so normal that she had long lost any sense of being special.

The sisters were born with exactly the same parts all over their bodies as triplets, but their personalities and ways of thinking were completely different.

Even though they were given the same environment, their growth was so individual that their family laughed at the credibility of educational theory.

The individual’s innate nature and personality are things that cannot be changed by the environment they grow up in or their parents’ educational policies.

Fortunately, they had different personalities but got along well, and they could make up quickly even if they fought.

It was fun to be with the two of them.

But Rize knew that the situation of being a trio would not last forever. Someday they would live separate lives. It was sad but inevitable.

Rize had a dream.

She was famous in the town as a girl who could study well since she was young. She secretly set a life goal to become a government official in a big city in the future.

It was a rather mature dream for a child to have.

At least, she would be freed from the pressure of being forced to help with the farm work, which she hated to death. Just thinking about it made her feel like she had wings in her heart.

Rize didn’t get along with physical work at all, and she hid in the back of the church and disappeared during the busy season.

She secretly read the books she brought out and slacked off, and was scolded by her mother.

For Rize, who wanted to escape from the rural life, studying was a means to that end.

As a result of examining the stories she heard from traveling merchants, she concluded that if she became a government official hired directly by the country, she could get a stable salary without starving.

She wanted to be a government official! If that was impossible, she wanted to work in the royal capital at least! Rize was suddenly motivated.

“Mom! I want to go to the academy in the royal capital! Please, let me take the exam!”

When she thought about working in the royal capital, that was the only realistic way.

Even if she was a commoner, if she could graduate as a scholarship student there, she would have many opportunities. She could easily reach the government officials.

She could also make the future minister candidates remember her face. It was the most suitable environment for her ambition.

“What nonsense are you talking about!

We don’t have that kind of money!”

But her mother’s answer was always the same.

To become a scholarship student, there was a narrow gate. To take the exam, it cost a lot of money.

It might be a small amount for the rich, but there was no way that a rural general household like Rize’s could prepare a hundred gold coins in cash. First of all, just going to the royal capital and staying there would cost a lot of money.

If they ended up failing, it would all be wasted.

There were not many commoner families who could afford such a gamble-like money.

It’s an investment, mom! I’ll definitely pass and pay you back!

She tried to persuade her mother many times, but it was no use.

It was not an amount that a girl could prepare by herself. No matter how confident she was, she couldn’t do anything about it.

She was told that paying after success was not possible. Indeed, if she spent such a huge amount of money on herself alone, her sisters Rita and Rina would…

She couldn’t say anything when she imagined it.

One day, when she was spending such a gloomy time.

‘Those kids to the royal academy…!?’

A carriage that was too luxurious for the countryside stopped in front of Rize’s house.

It was a very splendid messenger group, and the triplets who were peeping at the situation from the next room looked at each other with a “?” on their faces. She still remembered that scene clearly.

They were offered a scholarship treatment from the kingdom side. It meant that they were recognized for their future potential and would be taken care of for free.

Scholarship student scout…!

Rize’s life, which she had given up on such a miracle happening, changed overnight.

As long as the purpose of the academy was to learn the knowledge necessary for the future by taking lectures, it was necessary to check whether they had the minimum academic ability to do so.

Even if they were scouted, they had to take a test to measure their current academic ability and prove that they had enough academic ability to not fail the cut-off.

Of course, it was nothing for Rize.

Her original plan was to take the exam with her ability and get accepted. It was impossible for her to fail the entrance exam with a loose criterion based on acceptance.

If she could achieve good results at the academy, she could get a job in the royal capital…!

Because of the rarity of being triplets, she couldn’t deny the possibility that they were invited as experimental materials or observation subjects.

The talent recognized by the country was vague and never disclosed. Even now, Rita and Rina wondered why they were scouted as scholarship students.

It was unbelievable that they received a scholarship from the country at the same time. It was a miracle!

The three of them were overjoyed, especially Rita and Rina, who were happier than their parents that Rize’s wish to go to the academy was fulfilled.

They could take the exam without paying money. They would be welcomed to the academy as scholarship students.

It was a rare opportunity for Rize.

She didn’t know exactly what was expected of her, but she took the exam with enthusiasm to show her excellence.

The exam questions were common to all students.

However, the passing standards were different for the children of nobles with titles, the children of wealthy people, and scholarship students.

For example, if they were children of nobles, they could pass with 30% correct. If they were children of wealthy people who donated a lot of money, they needed 50%. If they wanted to enter as scholarship students, they needed more than 90%. What a sense of injustice. But it was originally such a special academy that commoners should not have entered.

Scholarship students were, as the name suggests, exceptions among exceptions.

It was like being in a party venue of the aristocratic society, wearing a dress that was barely decent enough for the occasion, and being allowed to be there by the grace of the authorities. Maybe that was the sense of being out of place.

Rize and her sisters were asked by the country to become scholarship students, so they might have been able to pass with the level of scores for the children of nobles. In other words, they would pass unless they were very stupid.

Or rather, what were they thinking when they scouted them? It was really a mystery.

She wanted them to tell her the selection criteria.

The first half of the exam questions were not very difficult. They were at the basic level that they learned at the town school.

They seemed to be easy because they included the minimum range that the children of nobles who normally entered would understand.

The noteworthy part were the big questions in the second half. That was the only part that had a different level.

In all subjects, the first half were questions to give them points and the second half were questions to weed them out.

It was a test to let the children of the important people pass by giving them some points with easy questions, and to measure how much ability those who wanted to be scholarship students had.

Every year, dozens or even hundreds of people came to take the exam hoping to be scholarship students, but only a handful of them could pass.

Probably, only those who could solve these questions would get the right to enter.

They would be recognized for their excellence by the important people.

The level of the exam in the first half and the second half was too different.

The exam for the children of nobles who attended this academy was obligatory, but it was done with the meaning of making sure that they understood the minimum if they were going to learn.

And yet, they casually threw out difficult questions that few people could solve in the second half.

It ignited her challenger’s spirit.

Rita and Rina would never pass this if they weren’t given special treatment.

…It was also annoying to be seen as a scholarship student who was given a special advantage.

No one would complain if it was a perfect score.

She was sure that she got a perfect score in arithmetic. The other subjects were almost perfect too.

The days when she spent all her pocket money to buy textbooks from merchants and ran away to the corner of the church to read them paid off! She cried at that moment.

But a question arose at the entrance ceremony.

The greeting of the representative of the new students, that is, the person who had the best results in the entrance exam.

It wasn’t her!

The prince gave a speech as a part of the academy management, not as a new student. But that was a later story.

There was a noble boy who did better than her in the exam?

She didn’t care if it was a scholarship student who got accepted by their ability, but that noble boy?

She opened her eyes wide and burned the image of that male student in her mind.

She was surprised that the son of a noble named Sirius had better grades than her.

She realized that the world was wide and that there were many more people who could study better than her. She finished the ceremony with a feeling of tightening her mind.

…It would have been better if she was just surprised.

After that, she heard from her homeroom teacher that Sirius and Rize had exactly the same score. Her surprise turned into intense irritation.

The teacher also acted like it was natural that Sirius-sama was given priority because he was Sirius-sama. She lost the will to protest.

She worked hard while being scolded by her parents to help with the farm work on cold and hot days…!

That greenhouse-grown boy who relied on a private tutor!

He had the same score as her, but he was given priority as if it was natural…!

“That’s why I hate the important people!

They should have said something to me, right!?”

She had a feeling of dissatisfaction that she couldn’t tell anyone her true feelings.

No one would sympathize with her if she told them that she was the best too. They would only think that she was bragging.

So Rize was holding back.

She didn’t feel bad when she wanted to say something nasty to that guy Sirius when she encountered him in the library. She was half rebellious.

In the noble society, commoners were treated like bugs.

Just because they were born in a different place, all the students here were haughty and arrogant.

…Cassandra seemed to be different from them, the pure snobs.

She hated all the noble boys, really.

While chatting with her classmates casually, Rize was thinking only about her career after graduating from this academy.

/////////////

“Hey…! You there!”

It was lunch break. She was walking along the corridor on the second floor.

She was suddenly stopped from behind and Rize turned around, flipping her red ribbon.

The only ones who were stopped in such a rude way were the commoner scholarship students.

She didn’t even hope that they would call her by her name anymore.

“Are you Jake-sama…?”

A boy named Jake stopped Rize with a serious expression.

His coloring of red hair and orange eyes was very flashy. He was tall and had a lean body, so he stood out.

The wind blowing from the window slightly swayed the tips of his short hair.

She wondered if there was any reason to be stopped by him.

He rushed towards her as soon as she turned around.

She felt a slight danger from the mass of intimidation that approached her.

“I’m sorry about the other day!”

And unexpectedly, he stopped in front of her and bowed his head.

It was such a shock that her eyes almost popped out and floated in the air.

“Eh, eh…?

Jake-sama, what’s wrong? Is it a mistake…?”

“…Now that you mention it, the atmosphere is different… Ah, you’re a different triplet!”

Jake looked down at her and stared at her.

He realized the difference between the sisters and slapped his hand and blurted out.

Can she kick this guy?

She faced him with a strained smile.

He judged that Rize didn’t know anything and hesitated a little.

“Actually, last week…”

He told Rize his blunder without hiding anything.

She was confused by the surprising situation.

It seemed to be the same situation as Rita had told her, but she was still shocked that there was a noble in this world who would admit his fault and even try to apologize.

“Now that you mention it, my sister said something about Jake-sama…”

She let it slip, but it couldn’t be helped.

When she invited Miss Daisy and worked hard on making sweets together, Rita was grumbling about something that seemed to be Jake. She said she couldn’t believe it and she was disappointed.

Rize only felt disgusted by what the nobles did, so she completely ignored it. When she heard the story from Jake’s point of view, she thought that Rita had said something like that.

…Did she want to hear the unpleasant stories of her classmates who were only noble boys and girls? No, she didn’t want to hear them even on her days off.

“Was she… angry?”

She nodded to Jake’s question.

She was sure that she was angry. Lying was not good.

Jake looked a little shocked and hurt.

Rize was also surprised, thinking that their thick skin would not peel off with a little thing.

She was always fed up with the thickness of the nobles’ faces.

Did he make such a face? She felt uneasy instead.

“I see…

No, that’s right.”

“My sister hates bullying the weak and things that don’t make sense.”

On top of that, Rita was a girl who had more longing for the glittering fairy tale world of princes and knights and princesses than anyone else, even though she looked like that.

But instead of being more quiet, she said that she kept it as a ‘longing’ because she was rough and had a bad mouth and was not cute.

The first two were fine, but what a rude thing to say to her triplet sisters that she was not cute.

She was normal, normal. She was not a stunning beauty, but she was cute enough to be complimented on it.

She would be disillusioned and angry if the knight she admired started to act in an unreasonable and shameful way.

He looked down on her and smirked as he cornered her.

He wore his background as a badge and didn’t listen to the opinions of those who were lower than him.

She understood why Rita was irritated.

“I see…

I’ve been looking for her since a while ago, but I can’t find her.

Maybe she’s avoiding me?”

“Maybe.”

After complaining and getting angry for a while, Rita realized what she had done and was terrified.

She was afraid of Jake’s existence and avoided meeting him.

She was proud of snapping at the knight as she pleased, but she was embarrassed by Rina and realized the reality. She trembled.

No, she probably had a vague awareness that she had done a terrible rudeness in her anger. She masked it with her anger, but she had no escape when Rina questioned her directly.

The fact that she had been disrespectful to a noble boy in public…!

Miss Daisy might have been forgiven, but there was no way that a commoner with no backing would be forgiven by him!

What if she was expelled for being glared at by the son of an important person? She was sorry if she got caught in the crossfire! Rita said with half tears.

If she was so scared, she should have just ignored Jake and Daisy’s interaction. She was a very impulsive sister.

Rina would have smiled and calmed him down somehow and got through the situation even in such a situation. She could assert that. Rize wouldn’t have fallen into such a scene in the first place.

“When she told me so clearly from the front, I felt ashamed too.

I seem to get carried away when it comes to Cassandra.

I have some pride as a knight with a medal of honor, you know. I was out of my mind then.

I wanted to apologize for that, but”

Unfortunately, she was Rize, not Rita.

“I understand. I’ll tell her that.

Jake-sama was very sorry, I’ll say.”

She didn’t feel like he was a typical noble as she had thought, and her mouth loosened a bit.

He looked like he was struggling with various things, with his mouth in a pout. It was quite interesting.

Yes, she felt an illusion that it was like a conversation with a normal classmate.

“Jake-sama!

You were there!”

A boy’s voice came from the window of the corridor, facing the garden.

It had a desperate tone and a sense of crisis that tore the relaxed space. It also brought it to Rize.

“It’s a fight, a fight! Please stop them!”

At the earnest request from downstairs, Jake showed no hesitation and hooked his long legs over the window frame.

“…Huh? This is the second floor…!”

He left Rize behind in astonishment and jumped out of the window on the second floor.

Are you kidding me?

There was someone else in this world who could jump out of the second floor without any resistance, other than Rita…!

Are you Rita? She had some incomprehensible words stuck in her throat.

Is that a noble boy?

Where did the common sense of this academy go?

She hurriedly put both hands on the window sill and looked down.

What she saw below was exactly what the boy who had asked for help had said.

Two classmates had some kind of trouble, but the tense atmosphere was completely dissipated by Jake.

The two who were glaring at each other and ready to explode also had to lower their fists when Jake scolded them.

He seemed like a normal boy when he talked, but he was a head taller than the other students and his way of settling the situation was certainly not normal. She thought so.

It had only been a week.

She could tell by looking that he was respected.

He noticed Rize’s stunned gaze and raised his hand and shouted.

“Hey, triplet!

Say hi to your sister! …Tell her I’m sorry!”

What’s with this guy?

…He usually had a more prickly atmosphere in class or when he was with his friends. He looked more like a “proper” noble.

He’s just like…

A normal boy!

There were guys like him in town!

“I understand! And my name is Rize.

Rize Foster!”

No good.

His figure waving his hand and calling her name again pierced her heart.

“…What should I do?”

She turned her back to the window and stood still.

Why was her face so hot?