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Her name was Sophia Rosenberg. Even though she was the daughter of a Marquis, she wasn’t old enough to attend many parties yet. Nevertheless, she had gathered enough attention for the rumors about her to have reached even the ears of the commoners.

According to these rumors, she was a saintess that descended upon high society.

Although she was just 12 years old, it was said that her conduct could put adults to shame. She was also extremely quick on her feet and was able to accurately respond to unexpected situations. Of course, just because the Rosenberg household employed a lot of commoners didn’t necessarily mean that she would go as far as to treat them kindly herself, but in his current situation, she was the best employer candidate he could think of. Determined that he had to do what he could to get hired by her no matter what, Raymond slow began to plot his future.

His first chance to realize his beautiful vision of the future came sooner than he had expected. During the written examination of the academy’s middle school entrance exams, a young Lady made an appearance in the assembly hall, her glistening platinum blonde hair fluttering behind her. Raymond found that the girl who had quickly become the centre of the crowd’s focus sported the shiny, Rosenberg household crest on her collar. While her beautiful features appeared to be a little headstrong, her expression remained gentle throughout. The young Lady, having a prior understanding that she was rumored to be a saintess, gave a charming smile. 

‘I mustn’t let this opportunity pass me by!’ 

Of course, he understood that addressing her before the exam was bothersome but even if they both ended up attending the same academy, their courses would be different, leading to it being extremely difficult to be able to talk to her. If he let this chance slip by, he had no idea if he could get another opportunity to talk to her. On the contrary, if they acquainted themselves here, this biggest hurdle would be easily overcome.

Therefore, Raymond, who felt like he was about to be crushed by this pressure, encouraged himself before springing forward.

“Miss Sophia, you’re Miss Sophia from the Rosenberg household, am I right?”

Although Lady Sophia looked surprised, she didn’t reveal any disgust. 

‘So she’s kind to commoners after all,’ he thought to himself. 

However, at that moment, something that Raymond hadn’t expected took place.

“Who are you? You’re being rude towards the young Lady. Please step back.”

A young boy, standing next to the young Lady, had butted into their conversation. From his demeanour, Raymond could tell that he was a butler. Raymond remembered the academy’s exclusive system, but since the entrance exam wasn’t over yet, he realised that it couldn’t apply to this situation. It was likely that he was a butler from her household that she had brought with her. This butler had tried to prevent Raymond from approaching her, however-

“Cyril, I don’t mind.”

“But, my Lady-”

“I heard that at the academy we are all equal regardless of our social standing. Since that’s the case, there are no issues with his behavior, right? Or am I wrong?”

“As you wish, my Lady,” the butler called Cyril said in response to Sophia’s words and retreated.

Upon witnessing their exchange, Raymond realized that the situation wasn’t favorable. 

He had heard of the name ‘Cyril’ before. It was the name of Lady Sophia’s exclusive butler. The boy was said to have been born into the prestigious family that had served the Rosenberg household for generations. Raymond realised that he probably didn’t like his master showing compassion towards a mere commoner.

It would be troublesome if the butler was trying to eliminate commoners from the young Lady’s surroundings. Earlier, I should have only said what my business with her was.

“I’m- no, I am Raymond1. Please, make me your exclusive butler, my Lady.”

As he had expected, the young Lady was startled and so, he explained to her all about the exclusive system the academy had. It was the same as picking a fight with Cyril, her exclusive butler. However, if Cyril was trying to keep commoners away from her, Raymond couldn’t avoid clashing with him either way.

He didn’t care if Cyril was born into a noted family or something. As if Raymond could bear to lose to someone with a sheltered upbringing and a promised future as a butler the moment they were born. Raymond smiled at him in challenge.

“There’s no way I would fall behind such an unreliable guy like him! Using the entrance exam, I will prove that I am better than him! Therefore, when that time comes, please allow me the honor of being named as your exclusive butler.”

“…Alright. If I feel that you are better than Cyril, I will name you my exclusive butler.”

“Thank you very much!”

With this outcome, Raymond felt that he had created a good impression upon Lady Sophia. Of course, at that time, Raymond had no way of knowing that he was greatly mistaken and that he had unknowingly made an enemy out of the very Lady Sophia, who was extremely essential to his plans.

However, to appraise him as a fool would be too premature. The information Raymond obtained was too fragmented. That the reason why Cyril brought up social standing was in order to guide Sophia into disagreeing with him, was not something Raymond was capable of imagining.

Still misunderstanding his intentions, Raymond laughed at Cyril’s dance score of 51 points without verifying the reason behind it. He also voiced his objections against such a guy becoming the class president. He repeatedly shot himself in the foot, and finally, even his teammates2 abandoned him.

Although it was disappointing when his teammates cursed at him and told him that it was his own fault, he knew that they were absolutely right. That was the reason why he ended up fleeing the classroom, unable to bear that reality.

He fell into a deep pit of self-hatred and was feeling extremely pathetic and ashamed. Yet the one who came to pick Raymond up during this state was Cyril, his supposed enemy. Raymond glared at him, not wanting to reveal to Cyril any more of his pathetic self.

“…The hell, what did you come here for? Did you come to laugh at me?”

“No, I came to pick you up.”

“Pick me up? What are you saying?! It’s funny, isn’t it? So, laugh! I clashed with you and lost so pathetically that even my friends turned away from me!”   

“But, you didn’t run away from your responsibility.”

Those few words pierced Raymond’s chest. He was ashamed of his mistakes. Unable to bear the responsibility for them, he had run away from them. But Cyril evaluated him not pushing the blame onto others as evidence of Raymond’s accountability. 

He was reminded of the numerous rumors he had heard about Cyril since they began setting up the venue for the party. If he were to put all the rumors together, Cyril wasn’t the type of person to look down on commoners. Even when it came to the entrance exam, he actually got perfect scores for all the subjects and his dance score was the result of him saving a young Lady. That 1 point out of the 51 implied that his score was even higher than 100 points.

Then, he remembered what Sophia Rosenberg had said during the first year students’ greeting : 3. 

“In truth, the person worthy of standing here isn’t me.” 

A lot of people were convinced that her words were meant to show her respect to the Second Prince, who had enrolled with her in the same year as her classmate. It’s possible that none other than Sophia, the current head student, felt that perhaps the person worthy of being their year’s head student might have been Cyril. 

Up until now, Raymond wasn’t able to just obediently accept it. But now that Cyril had come up to him and showed compassion to the defeated Raymond, he was finally able to accept that Cyril was someone worthy of being Sophia Rosenberg’s exclusive butler.

At the same time, he regretted that it was too late now for everything. If Raymond had wanted to save his family, he should have sought out Cyril’s cooperation instead of picking a fight with him. It was too late now. If he resolutely left the academy now, he would still have some dignity left. 

With these thoughts swirling in his head, he decided to leave. However, Cyril told him: 

“It’s too early to give up.”

“You’re… are you saying that you’re giving me, your enemy, a chance?”

“Didn’t teacher Tristan tell us that we should make mistakes and learn from them while we can? Saying it like this might sound haughty, but I believe it was to be expected that you would make mistakes.”

After being told this, Raymond remembered his conversation with teacher Tristan. Unlike Raymond who had neglected to gather information about the reason behind Cyril’s score of 51 points, it was unthinkable that the teacher wouldn’t know the details. 

‘Make mistakes and learn from them.’ 

Having realised that he properly never thought about the meaning behind these words, he accepted that he had failed completely. He felt pathetic and was close to tears. And yet, Cyril extended a helping hand to him.

“Raymond, let’s become friends.”

“…Friends? Me and you?”

“Yes, that’s right. If you become my friend, I won’t spare any efforts in helping you to get hired by a household this year. So, let’s become friends4,” he said as he peered into Raymond’s eyes.

Cyril had extended a helping hand to Raymond, a person who was hostile towards him all this while, so naturally he was amazed by how broad-minded Cyril was, and at the same time, he felt miserable about his own self, for deeming this kind boy as his enemy. His chest then grew warm in response to Cyril’s words, who was telling him that he wanted to become friends with his pathetic self. Raymond sobbed as he apologized over and over again.

From this day on, the number of Raymond’s goals had increased by one. He had decided to try catching up to Cyril, who was walking far ahead of him; and to become a reliable butler like him. Fortunately, this wasn’t in conflict with his other goals. Raymond had turned over a new leaf and began to ardently study in order to become a butler like Cyril one day.

However, Cyril’s conduct was far beyond Raymond’s expectations. For example, the incident with Count Ares. If you were someone who gathered even just a little bit of information, it was a well-known fact that Count Ares’ second and third sons misused the Second Prince’s political power and acted arrogantly towards Sophia. One reason behind their actions was because of the speculations that Sophia was part of the Elitist faction and would therefore forgive them for their arrogance. However, Raymond, who had talked to her directly, knew that it was a misconception. He imagined that if he were Cyril, whom he admired so much, there was no way that he would leave the situation be.

Thus, when the two nobles involved were absent from school at the same time, he understood that Cyril had finally begun to realize his plans. Normally, there was no way a butler could make any moves against a noble. However, since this was Cyril, it was possible that he would be able to at least push them into being confined to their own homes for a while. Before long, Raymond whose speculations were full of these sorts of expectations, had learned that Count Ares had fallen to ruin.

Naturally, Count Ares’ second and third sons had also disappeared from the academy. Raymond was unable to comprehend Cyril’s actions and how they led to this result, but he knew that this was undoubtedly Cyril’s doing. At least now the Second Prince, the poster child of the Elitists, had lost both of his flanks.

Soon, it would be difficult for the Second Prince to operate as well. Just as he was thinking this, a rumor spread that actually, the Second Prince didn’t belong to the Elitists faction but was affiliated with the Commoners faction instead. Moreover, there was another rumor connected to it, proclaiming that Cyril was the Second Prince’s tutor.

‘Why and how on Earth could a mere butler, who was a butler of another household nonetheless, become a prince’s tutor?!’

Likely, this wasn’t something that only Raymond’s mind cried out, but a thought that had crossed countless minds as well. Moreover, the rumors didn’t stop there. The main topic of every conversation was that the Second Prince, who had asked Cyril to teach him, was affiliated with Sophia’s faction. Sophia’s name wasn’t listed under the Second Prince’s faction but the Second Prince’s name was listed under Sophia’s faction. No matter how one thought about it, the order was reversed.

At this point, Raymond began to worship Cyril. He had heard that Sophia and Cyril’s violin duet was wonderful, so it was only natural that Raymond wanted Cyril to play a duet with him as well. 

On a different note, the preparations for the school festival had begun. Raymond had willingly let go of the honor of working under Cyril during the New Students’ Welcome Party, but now he was looking forward to learning under Cyril during the school festival.

However, because Cyril was busy devoting himself to the Student Council’s play, he said that they should elect a Class Vice President. And thus, Luke was chosen. Although in comparison to Raymond, Luke’s grades were a little lower, he was nonetheless a student who had joined Cyril during the New Students’ Welcome Party from the beginning. Therefore, he wasn’t dissatisfied with him becoming the Class Vice President.

However, he was dissatisfied that he wouldn’t be able to learn under Cyril. Cyril had joined the Student Council and even took on the role of being the Second Prince’s tutor, so Raymond wasn’t sure if a chance to work under him would come around again. He regretted letting go of such a precious opportunity before.

This was why he was seized by an indescribable feeling of jealousy and envy when he heard that Luke had learned under Cyril as his assistant before. However, it was also true that if he were to work under Luke, he would be able to learn Cyril’s methods indirectly.

No matter what, he wanted to stay near Luke and watch the way he worked. Since his thoughts were steered in that direction, he was truly astonished when Luke asked him if he would become his assistant. Although he had reconciled with his teammates that he had set up the courtyard venue with, there was still some ill-will between him and the people who had prepared the assembly hall. Although they acted friendly towards him on the surface, he didn’t think that they would put him in charge of anything important.

“Are you saying that you too are giving me, someone who was your enemy, a helping hand?”

In response to his question, Luke gave a strained laugh. If he were his previous uptight self, he would have probably snapped, “What’s so funny?!”. However, the current Raymond wasn’t like that anymore.

“Why are you laughing?” he asked honestly. 

“Ah, sorry. It’s because I said something like that to Cyril, too. And when I did, Cyril told me this: They’re not enemies that you should hate.”

According to Luke, Cyril believed that competing in class was part of their studies as well. Also, he thought of the mistakes of the courtyard group as his responsibility too, since he was the class president. And so he began to lay some groundwork behind the scenes.

“…He’s amazing, isn’t he?” Raymond’s adoration of him increased yet again.

“He really is. Although I was chosen to be the Class Vice President, I believe that if there are going to be any issues with the school festival preparations, Cyril still plans on dealing with them. But, I don’t plan on resigning myself to be completely reliant on others. For the school festival to finish without me having to trouble him, I need a reliable assistant. So, please help me out.” Luke said as he held out his hand. Raymond hesitated for merely a second. If he were to miss this opportunity, his dream of catching up to Cyril would stay just that, a dream. 

“As if I would pass up this opportunity,” he said and shook Luke’s hand.

From that day onwards, Raymond began to work as Luke’s assistant. The first thing that was supposed to happen was the reconciliation between the main venue group and the courtyard group. Thanks to Cyril’s mediation, they weren’t quarrelling openly, but there were still a lot of people who were left with bad tastes in their mouth. 

Raymond did his best to resolve this. He made adjustments, so their teamwork wouldn’t just be a mere pretence, but so that everyone would become one unit and collectively try their best. He led discussions with Luke, and they asked themselves: ‘If I were Cyril, what would I do?’. It was during that time that their class became unified.

However, unexpectedly, the reason why their class became one solid unit was due to an external factor. They were challenged by Class B, who said there was no way they would lose to Class A when they had no Cyril, especially when Class A was working together with the losers from the courtyard group. Spurred on by this, the main venue group was fired up to show what they could do well even without Cyril while the courtyard group was fired up, saying that they wouldn’t lose to the likes of Class B.

Besides, at that time, rumors surfaced that through Sophia, Cyril had connections with many nobles, the Second Prince, as well as influential commoners. Although Cyril spent all his time and energy on the Student Council’s play, he would probably drop by their class’ café during the actual days of the school festival. Since that was the case, it was a given that future employer candidates would be coming to visit their café as well. To not let this opportunity pass them by, the class proceeded with the café preparations, working together, as one team. ——————————————————————————————————————– Thanks to the quick work of the new editor and our proofreader, I am able to get the chapter out this week! ? Big thank yous to them! Also barebones (the usual editor) told me to say that she\'s sorry and that she will be back soon! (After her exam.) Best of luck barebones! <3 Also thank you for reading!!  If everything goes well, next chapter should get posted on Tuesday/Wednesday!

1. Raymond first uses 俺 – ‘ore’, which is a word usually men refer to themselves as, but then he changes it to 私 – ‘watashi’ which is a slightly formal way of referring to oneself
2. teammates, as in the people who he prepared the courtyard venue at the New Students’ Welcoming Party with
3. 新入生挨拶 – ‘shinnyuusei aisatsu’ – literally greeting of the newly admitted students, I believe this is a speech done by a representative of the first years (probably someone with the highest score, like Sophia here) during the admission ceremony at the beginning of the Japanese school semester.
4. In the first two instances, Cyril uses the term 仲間 – ‘nakama’ – teammate, companion, but in the last one, he uses 友達- ‘tomodachi’ – friend. Since the meanings are very close and it would be kinda weird to switch from something like acquaintance to friends, I will translate it as the same term in English.