I Was Confessed to by the Golden Sun

34 – 34. The Student Council President is Sinister.

It’s been three days since Raul, Lucia, and I gathered at a café to plan our operation.

We agreed that the actual core theft would take place on the seventh day, the day the third episode begins.

“Hey, so where are we going?”

“…Please don’t call me ‘hey,’ people are staring.”

I’m currently with Lucia, heading towards the starting point of the plan we discussed three days ago to “overcome the security company.”

If you’re going to call me “hey,” why did you bring Lucia along?

She’ll serve as my conversation partner, playing the role of a companion to keep me from getting bored while I’m alone and on security duty.

Lucia also asked me to bring her along, and it’s nice for me too, so I agreed.

“I’ve become quite honest.”

If it were the old me, I would have drawn the line with myself, saying “I have no personal feelings” before having such thoughts.

It would probably be good to express my intention to get closer, to try to get a little closer.

“Because you like me, that’s why you call me honey. No one else has ever said such things to me, so consider it an honor!”

To be honest, I am leaning towards liking Lucia.

To put it grandly, this might be considered self-awareness, and if I had realized it, it might have been a good time to be a little more honest.

“Thank you.”

“Oh… You’re grateful…?”

Lucia tilts her head as if she didn’t expect me to say that.

For three days, she has been talking nonstop, and all I had to do was treat her a little better.

I feel guilty because it seems like I haven’t been good to her enough.

“Can I hold your hand?”

“Umm… Yeah! Of course!”

Of course, suggesting holding hands might be a little too forward, but there is a reason for it as well.

Two days ago, Lucia and I had a deep conversation and wrote down various things in a notebook about how far skinship is acceptable between friends.

We had different opinions; I asked if skinship is even necessary between friends.

Lucia probably wrote something like “Anything is possible! (limited to Jack Orlante)”.

Therefore, this act of holding hands is a symbolic expression of wanting to go a little further than just being friends.

“But now that I think about it, isn’t this too vulnerable of kindness…?”

The meaning of “anything is possible” can be interpreted ominously depending on the person interpreting it.

Indeed, this scatterbrained author, Yeongae, needs proper correction before she experiences the bitterness of the world…

“Hey, we’ve arrived at the student council room. Shouldn’t we go in? Can I just go in?”

Before that, we arrived at our destination, the student council room.

The student council president holds considerable power within the academy, so personal rooms like this exist…

“To put it simply, it’s like roleplaying the student council president, right?”

Yeah, there’s no point in hiding anything.

The student council president of Campbell Academy, Francis Watson, is also the male protagonist of this novel…

Well, to be precise, she is a female character pretending to be a male.

“It annoys me that you’re going to meet a girl.”

Lucia’s reason for following me probably lies here.

After revealing that the student council president was actually a girl, I heard creepy comments like, “There shouldn’t be any other girls around Jack…”

Come to think of it, she’s been telling me not to go off on tangents since yesterday. Could it possibly be because of this?

“Lucia is much prettier than the student council president, so don’t worry.”

“Ugh… You’ve been acting strange lately…”

I praised her, thinking it might make her feel better, but her reaction was like this.

Pretending to be a little upset, I clenched my fist, and Lucia added awkwardly, “Oh.. No! It’s not that I don’t like it! I mean… I really like it!”

“Pfft.”

Her rambling response was so endearing that I couldn’t help but laugh. Blushing, Lucia lightly hit my arm with her fist.

Even if she were to hit an ordinary person, it would be with enough force to break bones.

Yet, her right hand holding mine exerted even more pressure, and it warmed my heart, as if she was worried I might not like it.

– Crunch! Crunch!

…No, cancel that. It really hurts.

I wonder how it’s possible to make the sound of chopping wood with an axe when hitting with a fist.

Is this the mystery of the human body?

“Well, public displays of affection are strictly prohibited on campus.”

A neutral voice echoed from behind us.

No, it was a light voice that seemed like a woman imitating a man’s voice.

Before the person behind us could approach, I leaned in close to Lucia’s ear and gave her one last piece of advice.

“You remember what we talked about, right? Don’t act out, and never look directly into their eyes.”

Lucia nodded in understanding, clenching her fist tightly.

I smiled slightly and turned my head towards the source of the voice. Of course, I didn’t make eye contact.

“I apologize for the late iNT*Roduction. I am Francis Watson, currently serving as the student council president of Campbell Academy! Nice to meet you, new students!”

A guy with blue hair and round glasses, looking like a character from a romance fantasy.

Whether in men’s clothing or not, he showcased considerable handsomeness.

If his heart matched his face, that would be wonderful.

“You must have some business to be in front of the student council president’s office, right?”

How should I describe this guy?

Meticulous, composed, confident, mysterious. There are various ways to put it.

But in the end, amidst all those words, there is only one conclusion.

There is no better phrase to describe Francis than “a person with a coNT*Rasting exterior and interior.”

“If you tell me what’s going on, I will do my best to help!”

In front of others, he pretends to be a kind and good-natured student council president, but behind their backs, he tries to manipulate situations to his advantage.

He views the world as a chessboard, where everyone, including himself, is a chess piece.

Perhaps because he was born into the Watson family, which focuses on commerce, he analyzes the world with only practicality in mind.

He has held a higher position in society since birth, which has caused him to lack common knowledge.

Francis Watson.

“So, whatever it is, feel free to tell me without any burdens.”

She smiles brightly at us.

However, she soon realizes that we are intentionally avoiding her gaze and her expression hardens.

It feels like the pressure is similar to that of an animal opening its dangerous eyes.

“Just a freshman, huh? Seems like you know something.”

Of course, the reason we avoid Francis’s gaze is not because we dislike his face.

“The persona, one of the five mysterious items I mentioned last time.”

Simply making eye contact for a few seconds can manipulate emotions.

To put it simply, even the guard we feel right now could be instantly turned into love.

What’s even scarier is that unless you know the true nature of the persona, you won’t even realize that your own emotions have changed despite being manipulated.

The owner of such an item is Francis Watson.

“Of course, there are limits to its power.”

If someone, like a prince or a saint, knows the true nature of the persona through their information-gathering abilities, they would never make eye contact in the first place.

The activation condition for emotional manipulation is that it can only be done to someone who maintains eye contact for more than 10 seconds.

Aside from situations where discourse is exchanged, there are rarely any conditions that can trigger it.

“However, deliberately making eye contact in everyday conversations is not impossible.”

While it is difficult to maintain eye contact with someone for more than 10 seconds if you know this fact,

we continue to intentionally avoid eye contact just in case.

We’re not giving them any openings.

“Oh, speaking of which, it seems like everyone knows about personas these days.”

Francis murmurs to himself, saying “These days, he’s quite a powerful person if he says so himself.”

He opens the door to the student council room,

takes a seat on the chair placed in the center, and looks at us.

“Jack Orlante, the one who caught the prince, right?”

“..Yes.”

I had hoped that this person wouldn’t have heard about me toppling the crown prince.

Although the Duel held for admission to the academy is technically a secret, I still hoped it would be kept under wraps.

“It’s really annoying.”

Somehow, there are almost no people in this academy who don’t know that I defeated the crown prince.

Even though regular students know, how can the student council president not know? But there must be room for hope.

Only when you dream of something that seems impossible to reach can you truly call it hope.

“As expected, hopes aren’t realized!”

Since entering this damn novel, my hopes have only gone down the opposite path, but honestly, things could still turn out well for once.

Out of irritation, I gestured to Lucia to bring out the bat from her hands.

If she doesn’t comply, I will just beat it out of her.

“Here.”

Of course, it wasn’t me but Lucia.

Our Lucia is good at beating people up.

“You have to say what you want before I listen, starting with the bat.”

“I have the Empire’s certified demon hunter certificate, don’t I?”

What we want from her is the Empire’s certified demon…let’s just call it a hunter’s certificate.

If you’re wondering what a hunter’s certificate is used for, think of it as a professional license to hunt down monsters and supernatural beings like nightmares.

Of course, we won’t be personally going out to hunt down monsters, but we need the hunter’s certificate for our plan.

That’s why we’ve come to meet the student council president, the person who is the easiest to approach among those who possess it.

‘It’s a concept almost similar to taking away the Rosario from the crown prince for our plan…’

So, no matter what, I need to get the hunter’s certificate…

“Here.”

I should have taken it and left.

“…?”

The hunter’s certificate was handed to me too easily, even more than I expected.

No, normally I thought you would have to go through a bloodbath to obtain something like this.

I had to confirm if it was fake, so I looked at the front and the back, but there was no mistake—it was definitely a hunter’s certificate.

“Take it and leave, alright? I have no business with you anymore. At least return it within a month.”

After handing it over, the student council president started urging us to leave with a gruff voice, pushing us out of the door.

No, they’re giving this to me so easily? Without any struggle or anything?

As I was pushed outside the door, I was stammering.

– Bam!

The door to the student council office closed without even giving me time to think.

“Jack, is this for real?”

Lucia asked next to me, but I couldn’t give a proper answer either.

And so, for a moment, the only sound between us was the rustling of a piece of paper in my hand.

“What on earth is going on?”

It felt like I had touched something I shouldn’t have.

‘There’s definitely something going on here.’

But why do the episodes I touch never seem to be resolved properly?

I’ve just given myself another unnecessary concern.

…Should I just drop out, regardless of murder threats or anything?