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T/N: As per request, I tried distinguishing polite vs. casual using markers.

❖ denotes politeness,

✘ means the character is speaking casually.

“Hurry up and put me down!”❖

“You really are stubborn,”✘ Duke-Sama says, but he still acquiesces, gently placing me back down on the ground. Though only after having brought me into his classroom.

Uwah. I’m getting an incredible amount of attention right now.

It’s all because the prince, one of the most popular and well-known students in the academy, barged into the room while carrying me, the academy’s scourge, over his shoulder…. An entrance like that probably makes me seem more like a misbehaving child than a wicked villainess.

“What is Alicia doing here?”✘ Albert-Oniisama asks straight out. He’s watching me from his seat in the very back of the room.

Now that I’m looking around, this classroom is quite spacious. And since every row of seats rises higher as you move towards the back, it looks more like a university’s lecture hall than a regular classroom…. Well, at least I think that’s what it looks like. I’ve never actually attended a university before.

After a cursory look at all the students already in their seats, it seems that the higher your rank and social status, the further back you sit.

“She’s going to be taking classes with us starting from today,”✘ Duke-Sama says expressionlessly.

Has he always treated Albert-Oniisama like this? Like he’s barely worth talking to?

“And what about that little boy?”✘ Gayle-Sama asks while looking doubtfully at Gilles.

Gilles doesn’t shrink under his gaze. He just sends a glare right back at Gayle-Sama.

….If I’m being honest, I’d like get out of here as quickly as possible. I get the feeling that I won’t be able to retain any of the knowledge the professors impart on us if I take classes under this suffocating, heavy atmosphere.

However, I can’t just run away. That would mean utter failure as a villainess…..

Truly, today has been a flurry of one awful event occurring after another.

“Now, now. Everyone, please take your seats.”✘

From behind me I hear a mild, soft voice call out.

Isn’t that…

I slowly turn around to face the voice’s owner.

I was right. He’s the man who gave me Liz-san’s essay two years ago.

“Professor John?”✘ I say in surprise, my eyes widening ever so slightly.

“Ah. So you remembered me,”✘ Professor John says, smiling warmly at me.

His mere presence is so refreshing somehow. Most likely it’s because I never thought that anyone in this academy would ever smile so peacefully at me like this.

“Professor John, starting today Alicia will be attending this class too,”❖ Duke-Sama says while looking straight at the professor.

With the way he spoke, it’s not a question. Not a request. It’s more like he’s making an announcement.

His tone was light, but his eyes carry an overbearing pressure. Surely there should be no need for him to go this far though, right? This geezer–…. grandpa doesn’t seem all that difficult to deal with, so isn’t this going a bit overboard?

Professor John just seems like a harmless elder. Speaking of which, he’s the sort that really suits the name Grandpa. Grandpa Will on the other hand really is more like an uncle than a grandfather. I was very young when I first met him, so I’m thinking that’s why I must have mistook him as being much older than he actually is.

“Of course. That’s fine,”✘ Professor John say readily, not missing a beat.

No…. I wanted him to refuse. He was my last chance of getting out of this! But that hope was smashed in a matter of seconds.

Duke-Sama doesn’t dally any longer. He grabs hold of my wrist and starts steadily climbing the steps up to the back rows of seats.

I know where he must be taking me. Of course we’ll sit in the very last row, the one obviously designated for the five great noble families’ children. Though, clearly someone didn’t get the memo, since a glaring exception to that rule is already sitting there like it’s nothing. But, that’s just Liz-san for you. Oblivious as per usual.

Ahh, I don’t want to go back there. But I can’t just run away…. Of course, even if I did run, I’d probably be caught instantly anyway. So there’s no use even considering it.

As I walk, I try not to meet any of the curious gazes of the other students that I pass by. Even without looking up though, I can still feel their eyes on me. Every single student in the room is probably staring.

I’ve been getting so much attention today. Too bad it’s been for all the wrong reasons.

As we reach the very top, I sit down in the seat that Duke-Sama indicates for me.

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T/N: TL;DR of the below notes: What do you think of the politeness/casualness markers? And I changed the translation in the into having Duke carry Alicia like a sack of potatoes.

If you’d like more details, feel free to continue reading the notes below. Sorry for the wordiness. Even I think it’s comical that they are practically the same length as this whole chapter

Chapter Note:

There were at least two or three people mentioning that you wanted markers to denote honorifics, so I thought this short chapter would be a good trial run. What do you think? Do you like this? It should be fairly easy for me to continue doing this as we go forward. Or, I can just save these markers for the chapters when honorifics are mentioned…. What do you guys think?

Unfortunately, going back and changing the 120 s would be quite the undertaking as it means I need to compare my translations with the raws. I can definitely do this if you guys find that worthwhile, but I cannot do this and come out with 5 chapters a week. That would be too much for me. So, leave me a comment if you think this would be worth it, and if even one person wants it, then I’ll put out a poll. Since it will likely affect my release schedule, there probably needs to be a sizeable amount of readers wanting me to do this. BUT! If I do end up going back, then I could also work on creating another version of each of the chapters where I replace all the Japanese honorifics like -san and -sama with something more westernized like Lord, Lady, Miss, etc. I know there have been a couple of people who wanted that as well. (A nice compromise would be if someone compiled me a list of chapters where they’d like the markers. If I didn’t have to do them all, then it would be a much easier project to take on.)

Translation Correction:

In Japanese it’s really easy to be vague. And I know that can be frustrating, so I try to make it less vague, but that also means that there are times when I’m guessing the meaning myself haha. In the last chapter, the raws said that Duke carried Alicia on his shoulder, which if you saw my original translation, could be her sitting on his shoulder like a child. It can also mean he threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

I initially thought he’d have more decorum than to throw her over his shoulder, but one commenter asked how Curtis-Sama was able to whisper into her ear with Alicia being carried like that, which made me start questioning my decision. Then, in this chapter, Alicia mentions that he’s carrying her like a child who was bad, and that made me think that the “sack of potatoes” version might be more accurate. So that has been changed!

Sorry for the confusion. I seem to be making a lot of a bad calls lately T-T And since I’m going forward chapter by chapter, I feel like this is only going to continue happening…. So please bear with me! And sorry in advance!! Please make sure to keep questioning these things as well! I’ve caught most of these mistakes thanks to your guys’ astute observations, so keep ’em coming. I really appreciate it!