Chapter 52: The Transfer Student’s Real Goal...?

"...Fine, but what are you going to do while I’m speaking with Lady Rose?"

"I’ll just go sightseeing around your room, or sit down and wait. I hope that isn’t an issue?"

Aqua didn’t answer right away. Her eyes narrowed slightly, weighing something behind them. I’d seen that look before, back in the assessment, right before she yielded.

Then she laughed, crossing her arms as she settled onto the edge of her bed and gestured for Anna to take the chair across from her.

She’s letting me stay. Either the Bank of Aurion has her family more worried than she’s letting on, or she’s finally started believing my power is worth the gamble.

Either way, I’d take it.

"The version of you from the assessment really wasn’t a fluke. To think you’d use your own secrets just to help Lady Rose approach me for guidance..."

She muttered, clearly remembering how I’d covered her with my own clothing after her magic had left her soaked.

Honestly, that might be the biggest reason she wasn’t being stricter with me. My new status alone wouldn’t make a noblewoman comfortable sharing a room with a former lecher.

"I’ll allow it. As long as you don’t touch anything private."

Perfect.

"I’ll just be by the window, then."

I moved to the window, keeping my steps casual, unhurried. Aqua’s room faced the eastern side of the dormitory building, which meant if my guess about the layout was right, John Ferrum’s room should be somewhere directly below.

I leaned against the frame, arms crossed, gaze drifting outside like I was simply enjoying the evening view.

In reality, I was pouring mana into my ears.

"—so I told him, if you’re going to cheat, at least don’t do it in front of the professor."

"—no way, he actually did that?"

"—swear on my family name."

Voices filtered in from below. John’s was easy to pick out, light, friendly, mid-conversation with someone I assumed was a dormmate.

I kept listening.

"Y’know, Lord Brimstone is quite interesting," John said.

"How so?"

"Well, he claimed to have changed, but he’s still mainly focused on women... isn’t that suspicious? If the information I gathered is correct, he immediately got close to Lady Rose, Lady Fillaunete, and now he’s even sucking up to Lady Historia."

That’s... actually a very smart argument.

"Holy shit, you’re right. That is suspicious..."

Is this bastard trying to reverse my reputation? Is that his game?

I kept my expression neutral, still gazing out the window like a man enjoying the evening air. Inside, though, I was already reassessing John Ferrum.

He wasn’t wrong. From the outside, my behavior did look suspicious. A notorious lecher suddenly reforms, rises to the top of the academy, and immediately surrounds himself with three of the most beautiful and powerful noblewomen in his year.

Any reasonable observer would assume I was running a long con.

The difference was that my intentions were exactly what they appeared to be. Though I wasn’t manipulating these women only for sex or status.

My intentions were far more benevolent.

Giving them a happy ending by letting their crazy tendencies thrive.

Well, in my mind at least.

But John didn’t know that.

And if he was spreading this line of reasoning to his dormmates, it would spread. Slowly, maybe, but it would spread. The academy already had rumors about me. This would give them a framework that made the old rumors fit with the new reputation.

"Interesting theory," the dormmate said. "But Lady Rose and Lady Fillaunete both seem genuinely happy around him. You think they’re being fooled?"

"I think they want to believe he’s changed. That’s not the same as actually being changed."

I heard the shift of fabric as John leaned back on his bed.

"Besides, why would a man who spent years harassing women suddenly stop? People don’t change overnight. Either he’s hiding something, or he’s playing a very long game."

"I heard he hit his head pretty hard. Maybe that’s why?"

John went still. I caught the pause in his breathing, the sudden silence from his side of the room. If I had to guess, that single detail had just ruined whatever he’d been building.

"He hit his head... then he changed?"

It was faint, but I heard him click his tongue.

Not enough proof. But enough to assume he might be plotting against me.

A spy trying to destroy my reputation?

I think I can fit that into my plan for Trish...

John’s dormmate laughed, oblivious to the shift in John’s demeanor.

"Yeah, apparently it was pretty bad. He was in the hospital for a day or two. When he came back, he was a completely different person."

"A completely different person..."

John repeated the words slowly, tasting them. Then he chuckled, light and easy, but I caught the edge beneath it.

"Well, head injuries can do strange things. I suppose we should be grateful it worked out for the best."

The dormmate snorted. "Grateful? You’re way too nice, John. Half the academy still thinks he’s faking it."

"Maybe. But if he’s not faking, then he deserves a chance, doesn’t he? Everyone deserves the opportunity to become better."

The dormmate groaned. "You sound like a priest."

"I’ll take that as a compliment."

The conversation drifted after that, moving on to assignments and a professor neither of them liked. Nothing useful. I let the voices fade into background noise, keeping just enough attention on John’s room in case anything else slipped.

He was good. The casual dismissal of the head injury, the deliberate pivot to a charitable interpretation of my change, the way he’d framed his suspicions as mere curiosity earlier. He was playing the harmless newcomer perfectly.

But he’d slipped. That click of his tongue, the momentary stillness. That’s the sound of someone just learning something that complicated whatever picture he’d been building.

TAP!

The moment I heard the loud footstep, I cut the mana from my ears. I’d rather not have my eardrums burst again.

"Lord Brimstone, are you okay? You’ve been zoning out and staring at Lady Crimson’s dorm room for a while. Don’t tell me you...?"

I quickly shook my head.

"Don’t get the wrong idea. I had no idea that was even her room."

"...I doubt that."

"Look, I have two beautiful women in the same room as me. Do you really think I’d be desperate enough to ogle a third through a window like some peeping tom?"

Aqua’s expression twisted through several emotions in rapid succession. First was disgust, next reluctant acknowledgment. Though that was quickly replaced when she remembered how I helped cover her back then.

Then she accepted my explanation.

Somewhat.

"I suppose that’s... a fair point. Probably?"