The third time Professor Pierce ignored my question, a live feed materialized in front of me, text scrolling through the air. 「Go, hero, go! A true gentleman, ignores everyone but Sera. 10/10.」 「Get lost, you snake. Stop getting in the way of Julian and Sera's epic romance!」 One comment, glowing a furious red, stood out. 「Seriously? He’s a professor. It’s his job to answer questions. If he only wants to teach the heroine, he should just offer private tutoring.」 And that’s when it hit me. I was the villainess of this story, denied even the right to ask the male lead a simple question. The moment I understood, I dropped his class and found a new mentor. Later, after I won the Grand Championship in the Mech Artificer competition and became the nation's newest Grandmaster, Julian Pierce appeared on stage, his arms full of flowers, his eyes soft. "Luna," he said, "if you ever have any technical questions, you know you can always come to me." I offered him a smile as distant as a dying star. "I have my own master to answer my questions, but thank you. Perhaps you should use this time to comfort your dear Sera. She looks like she’s about to cry." It seems that without the villainess to drive the plot, the hero and heroine's halos don't shine quite so brightly. 1 "Professor, I have a question. Why does this set of components keep slipping after assembly?" It was the Q&A session in Mech Engineering, Section 7. I was the first to raise my hand, eager to ask Professor Julian Pierce for help. His eyes flickered over me for a fraction of a second before moving on, settling on Seraphina, the girl in the front row who was dozing off. The moment his gaze landed on her, his expression softened. He tapped her desk, his voice a stern but gentle caress. "Miss Seraphina, do you have any questions?" I blinked, stunned, and raised my hand a little higher. "Professor, I have a—" A soft groan from Seraphina cut me off. She stretched luxuriously, yawned, and then looked up at him with a bewildered expression. "A question? About what? This assembly is so simple. Don't you know how to do it, Professor?" The class erupted in laughter. Professor Pierce sighed, a look of helpless fondness on his face. "Go back to sleep." He addressed the class again. "If there are no other questions, that's all for today. Go to the materials lab, pick up one set of Part Five and one set of Part Six. Assemble them at home. I'll check them tomorrow." I shot to my feet, my voice rising. "Professor, I have a question!" It was as if he couldn't hear me. He cast one last look at Seraphina, who was already slumped back over her desk, and then turned and walked out of the classroom. I sank back into my seat, a hot wave of humiliation and anger washing over me. Why did he always ignore me? Every single time I tried to ask him something, he acted as if I didn't exist. If he treated everyone this way, it might not have stung so much. But his favoritism toward Seraphina was blatant. If Sera had a question, he would answer with infinite patience. If she didn't, he would personally ask if she understood the lesson. We were all his students. Why the hell was he treating us so differently? It made me burn with jealousy, and I couldn't help but resent her for it. As my glare threatened to bore a hole through her back, the feed appeared again, words drifting in the air before me. 「Yes, King! Protect your queen! He only has eyes for Sera.」 2 I stared at the floating text. King? Were they talking about Professor Pierce? 「Ugh, that snake Luna needs to just disappear. Stop getting in the way of Julian and Sera's relationship!」 I'm Luna. Since when was I a snake? And a relationship? They'd only known each other for a week. Another comment, this one in bold red, scrolled past, echoing my own thoughts. 「This is messed up. A professor's duty is to teach his students. If he’s only going to focus on the heroine, he should just be her private tutor.」 Exactly! That’s exactly right! If you're a teacher, you treat everyone the same. Why should Seraphina get special treatment? The lines of text kept coming, and with them, the answer. We were living in a novel. And I was the designated villainess. In this story, I was in love with Julian Pierce. I couldn't stand seeing him be so kind to Seraphina, so I constantly targeted her. According to the feed, my next move was to steal her materials to make her fail the assignment. But the plot would twist. She would use the incomplete set of materials to build an even more powerful component, shattering the existing performance records for that part. Her genius would catch the eye of a legendary Grandmaster, who would take her on as his personal apprentice. Meanwhile, the component I slaved over all night wouldn't even be deemed worthy of testing before being tossed into the recycling bin. Right on cue, we were all collecting our materials. If you weren't eating in the campus dining hall, you could go home. Seraphina casually tossed her materials onto her desk, patted her stomach, and smacked her lips. She nudged her deskmate. "Kira, dining hall?" Her deskmate was Kira, an ice queen who preferred to be alone. I had tried to be friendly with her several times, but she'd given me the cold shoulder. Now, after less than a week of knowing Seraphina, she was like a different person. Her frosty eyes seemed to melt. Though her expression remained neutral, her voice was soft. "Yeah." The feed went wild. 「See? No one can resist our sunshine girl, Sera!」 「Anyone else: 'Get lost.' Sera asks: 'Yeah.' The ice queen and the sunshine girl. I ship it.」 「LOL, Luna the snake is about to have a meltdown!」 I'll admit, it stung. My family was wealthy, and I'd been doted on my entire life. I was used to having a circle of "friends" constantly trying to win my favor. I'd never been the one to initiate friendship. Except for with Julian Pierce. And with Kira. And both of them treated me with utter disdain while putting Seraphina on a pedestal. How could I not be furious? As I watched them walk away, I clenched my jaw and glanced at Seraphina's materials. Just as they reached the door, Kira paused. "You're just leaving your stuff on the desk? Will it be okay?" Seraphina stuck out her tongue. "What could happen? Let's go, let's go, I'm starving!" The feed flashed a warning. 「Sera, baby, be careful! The snake is about to steal your parts!」 「Go, brave Sera! No fear! Even if Luna steals her stuff, Sera will do it a hundred times better!」 Steal? My pride would never let me stoop so low. I gave the materials one last look, then turned and walked out. I'd like to see how the girl who slept through the entire lecture was going to do a hundred times better than me. 3 "Look, there's a sliding mechanism here. You have to push this piece in, then lock the component underneath into place. That should do it." Professor Alan Shaw, the instructor for Section 1, patiently explained the solution to my problem. The light bulb went on in my head. I followed his instructions, and the assembly clicked together perfectly. "Thank you, Professor Shaw!" I beamed. He waved it off. "It's a common mistake. Most students overlook that detail and fail the assembly. The fact that you noticed it on your first try is impressive." I lifted my chin proudly. I was, after all, the top-ranked student in the Mech Engineering department. It wasn't just for show. But according to the feed, I wouldn't be number one for long. My grades were about to plummet because I'd become so consumed with envy and hatred for Seraphina that I'd forget to improve myself. As if, I thought. I'm not stupid enough to waste my time trying to sabotage her. Why would I target another talented woman over a man with questionable professional ethics? Was I insane? Speaking of which, how did she create that higher-performance component? Was it possible that this assembly didn't actually require all these materials? With that question burning in my mind, I started disassembling the part I had just completed. Professor Shaw looked puzzled. "That was a solid build. It would have tested above 90% efficiency. Why are you taking it apart?" Mechs are graded from Level 1 to 10, with each level having low, mid, and high-tier classifications. Components are the same. A part needs at least 80% performance data to be usable. Below 85% is low-grade, 85-90% is mid-grade, and above 90% is high-grade. The Part Six we received today was for a Level 2 mech. The current market record for it was 96.8%. But in the novel, Seraphina's version reached an astonishing 98.91%. I don't deny that geniuses exist. But I'm one of them. If she could do it, so could I. I pressed my lips together. "I want to see if I can do better." A smile of appreciation spread across Professor Shaw's face. "I like your spirit. That's a great attitude to have." His tone then became a little wistful. "Why did you transfer to Section 7, anyway? With your grades, Section 1 is a much better fit." I was originally in Section 1. I only transferred because of Julian Pierce. Three years ago, my family was taken hostage by star pirates during a vacation. Julian, a mech pilot at the time, led the rescue team that saved us. He fulfilled every fantasy I ever had about a hero. I worshipped him. As I got older, that worship blossomed into a crush. When I found out he was teaching at my academy—in Section 7—I immediately requested a transfer to be closer to him. It had only taken one week to shatter that perfect image. "Professor Shaw, you're right," I said. "Section 1 is a better fit. Can I apply to transfer back?" 4 Professor Shaw's eyes lit up. He immediately pulled open a drawer and started rummaging for a form. "Of course! Anytime! You keep working on your component, I'll fill out the transfer application for you!" Watching him scribble away eagerly, I couldn't help but smile. Whatever the feed said, I had no intention of being a supporting character in someone else's story. I didn't care how their plot developed. My goal was, and always had been, singular: to become a Grandmaster Artificer. ... I didn't sleep that night. I assembled and disassembled the two parts over and over, until my hands were raw and blistered. But finally, I discovered a new method. As dawn broke, I headed to the academy with dark circles under my eyes, carrying my finished components to find Professor Shaw for data testing. When he saw the pile of leftover materials I hadn't used, his jaw nearly hit the floor. He rushed me to the testing lab and placed my component in the diagnostic machine. Three seconds later, a set of numbers lit up the display. 5 "Who took Miss Seraphina's materials? If you come forward now, I'll overlook it. But if I find out who it was…" I was five minutes late for class. As I reached the door, I heard Professor Pierce's cold, hard voice. "Then I will ensure that a student with such poor character is expelled from this academy." What was going on? Did Seraphina's materials go missing after all? I glanced around. Seraphina looked unconcerned, Kira looked indifferent, and the rest of the class just looked confused. The feed was scrolling frantically. 「Check the security cams, hurry! Before Luna deletes the footage!」 I rolled my eyes. I didn't steal anything, why would I delete the footage? "Permission to enter," I called out. Professor Pierce narrowed his eyes at me, not letting me in. "Miss Seraphina's materials are missing. Are you aware of this?" I nodded. "I am now. You just said so." He let out a long, meaningful "Ohhh." Then he asked, "And what are your thoughts on the matter?" His tone and expression infuriated me. "She lost them, so she should find them. What other thoughts could I have? If you don't know how, Professor, I'd be happy to help you pull the security footage." My attitude seemed to surprise him. His brow furrowed. "Whoever dared to steal them wouldn't be stupid enough to leave the footage behind." "Speaking of which," he said, his eyes locking onto mine, "why are you so late today? What were you doing?" He might as well have just announced to the entire class that my tardiness was due to me tampering with the security system. As expected, his words made every student in the room look at me with suspicion. The scrolling feed was just as annoying. 「Pierce is in protective husband mode!」 「Yes, King! You deserve a wife like her!」 I ignored him, walked straight into the classroom, and went to my seat. "What I do is my business, not yours," I said coolly. "And as for the footage, even if it's deleted, I can restore it. Just because you can't, Professor, doesn't mean I can't. Don't worry, I'll get your precious Sera the justice she deserves." Then, right in front of everyone, I made a call. "Dad, a student in my class lost something. Could you have someone pull the security footage for me?" After I hung up, Seraphina turned to look at me, her expression dismissive. "Luna, there's no need to go to all that trouble. The materials are gone, so be it. I'll just get another set and start over. I hope the professor can give me a little more time." So this time, she had lost all her materials. She clasped her hands together, blinked playfully at Professor Pierce, and pouted. "Please?" He chuckled, completely charmed. "You. You just don't care about anything, do you? But this is about more than just some missing parts." I cut him off. "The components we build are collected by the factory. Not a single one can be missing." The materials we used were supplied directly by a major mech corporation. The parts we made were sent directly back to them for use. "At its simplest, this is a case of missing materials. At its worst, it affects the trust and partnership between this academy and the corporation! This must be investigated thoroughly!" I had another reason for pushing this. My father was on the academy's board of directors, and my mother owned the corporation. What was stolen was, essentially, my family's property. Of course I wanted it found. I wanted to shove the truth in the faces of every single person who doubted me. With a directive from a board member, it took less than thirty minutes for the Dean of Students to arrive at Section 7 with security and the surveillance footage. Halfway through the video, I couldn't help but laugh. "Seraphina, is this what you call 'missing'?" 6 The security footage was crystal clear. After lunch, she had returned to the classroom, picked up her bag with the materials inside, and left. She still had them when she reached the academy gates. The Dean, a man of impressive resources, had even managed to obtain the public surveillance footage from outside the school. Seraphina boarded a hover-train and traveled to a mech parts factory where she worked part-time. At the factory gate, she met a gray-haired man who was wiping tears from his eyes. He was a worker there who had lost a set of materials he'd taken home to assemble. The parts were expensive, and he was terrified of having to pay for them and losing his job. When Seraphina learned the missing set was Part Six, her charitable spirit took over, and she gave him hers. With the truth revealed, Seraphina ducked her head in embarrassment. After a moment, she looked up, forcing a pained smile. "If I miss one assignment, the worst that can happen is a failing grade. But that man has a family to support. If he lost his job, how would they survive?" "I admit I shouldn't have given away the materials," she said, tears streaming down her face, "but when I saw him like that, I just couldn't bear it…" I snorted. "I have no problem with you doing a good deed. But you shouldn't use things that don't belong to you to do it. And you shouldn't have lied and said they were stolen. Without this video, every single student in this class would have been branded a potential thief because of your lie." "You couldn't bear to see that man get fired, but you could bear to see us carry the weight of a crime we didn't commit?" Seraphina sobbed and apologized. "It's my fault. I have no excuse. I'll pay for the materials myself, as compensation to the school." I scoffed. "You should pay for them. They were—" "Sera was just being kind!" Pierce cut me off, his voice sharp. "Is it a crime to do a good deed now? That's enough, Luna. Stop wasting everyone's time." His hypocrisy made me laugh. "The ones wasting everyone's time are you and Seraphina, aren't they? One of you lies about being robbed, and the other stops class to play detective for her. Now you're trying to pin the blame on me? Professor, try not to be such a staggering hypocrite." My words left him with a face as dark as a thundercloud and her with a face as white as a sheet. Whatever lingering admiration I had for him completely evaporated in that moment. I had planned to stay for the rest of the class, but now I couldn't stand to be in that room for another second. I gathered my things and walked toward the door. "Class is in session! Where do you think you're going?" Pierce demanded.
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