I Became the Male Lead who was Clinging onto the Female Leads

TL/Editor: Raei

Schedule: N/A

Illustrations: Posted in discord.

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"With this, today's class is over. The comprehensive exams start tomorrow, so study hard and I'll see you then."

There were no afternoon classes today.

It was a small courtesy of the Royal Academy of Lucia for the students who would be grappling with exams soon.

"Before we head to the library, let's go to the cafeteria!"

"Right, let's hurry before it gets crowded!"

Students left their classrooms, heading towards the cafeteria, the library, and the dorms, each with their own destination in mind.

"...."

Eugene was sprawled over his desk, passed out.

Due to the intense training that began on Saturday and lasted until Wednesday, Eugene, desperately needing rest, passed out during class.

It was fortunate he passed out sooner rather than later since he had to start preparing for the exams once he woke up.

His naturally gifted physique would probably recover in three hours or so.

"Celine, let’s go grab some food."

"Okay."

After briefly glancing at Eugene, Tina and Celine, headed out of the classroom for the cafeteria.

As they walked, they casually ignored the commotion around them, especially the commotion that came from supporting Eugene.

Being the center of attention was a common experience for them.

While walking, Tina spoke up,

"Celine, are you interested in Eugene too?"

"...What?"

Celine’s face twisted in confusion.

Didn’t that imply Tina herself was interested in Eugene?

Realizing her slip of the tongue, Tina hurriedly added,

"No, I mean, hasn't he changed a lot in the past month and a half? Like, he's strangely excelling in magic and swordsmanship. Aren't you curious about that?"

"Oh, that's what you meant?"

Celine's face relaxed,

"If that’s the case... well..."

Her voice trailed off,

'...I'm not sure.'

She had always been more inclined to hide her feelings rather than show them, even from herself.

'Really... I have no idea.'

About a month ago, she had sparred with Eugene.

That day, she was overwhelmed by her own mistakes and disappointed in herself.

She didn’t have the time to recognize Eugene’s talent.

But when she had a moment to reflect, she realized something.

The swordsmanship Eugene displayed that day wasn't the result of mere chance or effort.

If it were about effort, then the six months he seemingly threw away wouldn’t make sense.

It was simply overwhelming talent.

Had Eugene been born in a renowned swordsmanship family like hers, trained systematically in the art of the sword from a young age, and had consumed the magical elixirs and pills of her family to boost his mana, it's unimaginable how strong he would have been.

'At least as strong as me, if not stronger.'

Though Celine assessed it as such, she knew there was a high probability that he surpassed her.

The duel that day ended in a draw, and had it continued, she, with her mana advantage, would likely have won.

Yet, Eugene had only taken up the sword again less than two weeks prior.

To have sparred with such an opponent for so long was, in itself, already a defeat.

It wasn't an exaggeration to say that I felt the difference in talent.

‘I don't plan on ever being the weaker one.’

In this world, the prestige of a family was unimaginably vast.

Even if my talent fell short of Eugene, I can rise higher through the support of my family.

Even if I'm outmatched in swordsmanship, my overwhelming magical prowess could secure victory.

‘But that's the problem.’

Being outmatched in swordsmanship was the most significant issue.

That's why, when I met Eugene last time, I almost instinctively grabbed him.

My slowly improving sword skills felt suffocating.

I thought that maybe, just like before, he might unexpectedly offer some advice on it.

‘Given our relationship, that's unlikely.’

If it wasn't for our current relationship, I'd at least want to exchange words about swordsmanship.

If only our relationship were different…

“What's on your mind? It's written all over your face.”

“What?”

“You suddenly went silent. I was just admiring your pretty face, but then your expression started shifting.”

“……”

“I think I know what you want to say. Basically, during your last spar, it seemed like Eugene possesses an incredible talent for the sword, right?”

Foolishly, I drew a line preventing me from approaching him first.

If he comes forward first, I'm willing to be more open than before.

But he isn’t making any moves, and it's frustrating.

“I wouldn't say it's frustrating to the point of death...”

But everything she said was spot on.

‘How does she know all this?’

Suddenly feeling a chill, Celine instinctively distanced herself from Tina.

"Why are you moving away?"

"I just felt like it."

"Did I scare you?"

"…A little."

So, she really was scared.

Tina smiled awkwardly.

“There's nothing to be scared of. I was just sharing how I felt.”

“What do you mean?”

“Swap 'sword' in what I just said with 'magic'.”

Oh.

I see.

"What's both surprising and frightening is that Eugene seems to be on a similar level in magic as well."

I feel it, and so does Yerina.

Eugene's talent seems to be on par with ours or even greater.

'You, I get, but even Yerina?'

Celine frowned.

“You and Yerina have different primary attributes, right?”

"Completely different."

“And yet, Eugene's talent surpasses both yours and Yerina's?”

"Yes."

Celine looked astounded.

“How is that possible? Combining you and Yerina gives four attributes. A person with genius talent in all four? If that’s the case, even without swordsmanship, by magic alone he's a once-in-a-century talent.”

“That's why I'm interested. He possesses a genius-level talent in all magic attributes and has similar, if not equal, skill in swordsmanship.”

Facing this hard-to-digest truth, Celine scrunched her face, then finally relaxed.

“And he chose to drag himself down, following behind us, with that kind of talent?”

"Yes."

"…Isn't he insane?"

"Yes… absolutely insane."

Overwhelmed by such insanity, Celine gazed distantly at the sky.

To clear the air, Tina spoke up.

"We've talked a lot about Eugene being obsessed, haven't we? The important thing isn't that, but the fact that we share the same goal."

The goal being...

"You mean your interest in Eugene?"

"Yes!"

It wasn’t in a romantic sense, but rather as a swordsman and magician.

"And luckily, Eugene's attitude towards us isn't that bad."

"He seems to avoid me whenever he sees me, doesn't he?"

He doesn’t even try to be around me, does he?

"At least he doesn't insult you to your face, right?"

"Isn't indifference worse than insults?"

"Um..."

That's a valid point.

Absolutely valid.

But that conclusion isn't acceptable!

As her spirits sagged momentarily, Tina rallied again.

"Eugene's indifference towards us isn't due to any boundaries we've set."

It's just a genuine lack of interest!

"When he looks at us, isn't his gaze the same as when he looks at other students?"

"Does that even mean anything?"

Of course it does!

"If it's indifference due to the boundaries we've set, it means he's disappointed in us, right?"

"Yes."

"That's the 'I can't stand to look at your face' type of indifference."

But what we see on Eugene's face is...

"It's the 'I don't care what you do' type of indifference!"

"Is there really a difference?"

"There is! He doesn't dislike seeing our faces!"

He just doesn't care!

"Is... that so?"

As she continued listening, Celine strangely felt convinced.

Celine cautiously asked,

"…So what are you suggesting?"

Good question! She's finally taking the bait!

Tina asserted with conviction.

"We should join forces."

"How?"

"If we see a situation where we can do something with Eugene when we're together, we should approach him."

"Can't we just do that alone?"

No!

"If you want to approach after drawing a line, it's not enough to just have a bit of courage. It's much harder to do alone."

"Ah, so..."

Because you've made it impossibly hard for yourself by drawing such a clear line, you want us to do it together?

"It's better with two people, right?"

"Yes. Just now, wasn't it better when we both took Eugene's side together?"

...It makes sense.

When Celine defended Eugene alone, the entire class froze, and it felt like time had stopped.

Nobody could speak.

But when Tina stepped in, the tension broke, and the class resumed.

Some students seemed to have simply given up on trying to understand, but the main point was that the situation was diffused.

And if, as Tina said, if our relationship with Eugene improved slightly?

'Maybe we could discuss the sword.'

Collecting her thoughts, Celine said,

"…Alright, I’ll keep it in mind."

"Thanks! So you agree?"

With a beaming smile, Tina hugged Celine.

Despite practicing with the sword every day, how did Celine have such soft arms?

The feeling of her smooth, pale skin felt good.

"Celine, want to have lunch and then go to the library together? We have a test tomorrow."

"I've already studied everything, so..."

"Don't say that~"

Tina leaned in closer.

Suddenly feeling overwhelmed, Celine let out a small groan.

"If you want me to, I’ll go."

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Raei Translations

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Three hours had passed.

In a corner of the empty classroom, Eugene awoke.

He glanced at the clock with a haggard face.

"……Thank goodness."

Only three hours had passed since he had fainted.

If he pulled an all-nighter now to cram for his exams, he could be one step closer to his goal.

His aim was to avoid failing.

He never intended to achieve good grades from the start.

Every second was valuable for honing his swordsmanship; how could he divert that for studies?

History? Noble etiquette?

He didn’t have the luxury of time to stuff such knowledge into his head.

Eugene's plan was to earn just enough grades to prevent being held back in his third year.

'I planned to cram starting three days ago...'

But he was now down to only one day due to unexpected circumstances.

Still, he believed things would work out.

With his natural prowess in swordsmanship and magic, he could achieve decent grades without studying.

Neither theory nor application worried him.

Moreover, without those subjects, more than half of the subjects to study were reduced.

There were no practical exams for subjects other than swordsmanship and magic, and most of them were based on memorization anyway.

'First, to the library.'

Eugene gathered all his study materials and left the classroom for the library.

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