Chapter 1
“What is this…?!”
Belver woke to a completely unfamiliar sight.
The dazzling lights, glittering decorations, and luxurious furniture—he hadn't seen a single thing like them before.
The mere fact that he hadn't returned to Earth was enough to calm Belver down.
He didn't want to go back there.
He should enjoy his new life.
Belver carefully got to his feet.
The body he'd lived in for a week differed from this one in both weight and height.
Her hair brushed his back, trailing past his neck over his thin pajamas, and her delicate hands... They belonged to a woman, not Belver.
“Where's the mirror…?”
Belver had first concluded that he was inside the academy dormitory.
Judging by the style of the room, this wasn't Earth.
If so, the likeliest possibility was that he'd possessed the body of another character, not Belver.
Most of the characters were at the academy.
After finding a mirror in one corner of the room, Belver approached it, walking awkwardly once more.
Then he examined the face of the woman whose body he was now inhabiting.
He thought it might be someone he recognized, and besides, he needed to see her face at some point.
And his suspicion proved right.
“What is this!!!!!”
Belver couldn't help screaming as soon as he saw his face.
The face he'd seen earlier was reflected in the mirror.
To make matters worse, it belonged to a woman who seemed like she'd never scream like that.
“Why did I become Bellatrix…? Isn't this way too out of the blue?!”
He'd hoped to become at least one of the heroines or one of the main characters.
They were all good people, strong enough to protect themselves.
He'd thought that even if one of them ended up in Belver's original body, he could calmly tell them he didn't know what had happened either.
But Bellatrix was out of the question.
If she found out that Belver—the man she'd even called a commoner—was inside her body, she'd tear his soul apart and kill him on the spot.
That would be perfectly natural to her.
“No…. This is just a bad ending….”
Belver collapsed to the floor.
He couldn't see any future in which he made it through the day safely in Bellatrix's body.
Neither the setting book nor his knowledge of the original game based on the novel offered anything that might help.
All he could see was a future where he'd be caught even if he ran.
-Knock, knock, knock
“My lady. May I come in? I heard a loud noise. Are you all right?”
The voice from beyond the door jolted Belver back to his senses.
He pulled himself together, hauling his mind up from where it had fallen through the floor and into the depths of darkness.
Fortunately, Belver had memorized even the setting book, so he knew a lot about Bellatrix.
Until Bellatrix came, he would have to live by imitating her.
“Nothing happened, so don't disturb me.”
For starters, Bellatrix spoke differently to those she considered part of her inner circle and those outside it.
Her tone toward those outside her inner circle was cold and overbearing.
It practically screamed that she didn't care about them and wanted them gone immediately.
On the other hand, she was fairly kind and casual with those in her inner circle.
However, she spoke that way because she saw them not as equals, but as subordinates she had to look after.
So even though it sounded like familiar, casual speech, listeners said it still felt oppressive.
Belver didn't understand what that meant, so he just imitated her way of speaking.
He knew what a gentle yet oppressive voice sounded like, but he also knew it didn't suit Bellatrix's way of speaking.
As a result, to anyone listening, his voice came across as incredibly kind.
Kind enough that the maid outside the door unconsciously froze in place.
“O-oh, yes!”
It couldn't be helped; she'd probably never heard Bellatrix speak so kindly before.
Still, she recovered like a professional.
Though puzzled, she followed the order to the letter.
If she was told not to disturb her, then she shouldn't disturb her.
It wasn't the first time the maid had seen Bellatrix use magic in her room.
“Phew…. Thank goodness.”
After safely sending the maid away, Belver stood up and sat on the edge of the bed.
In this small body, just sitting on the slightly high bed left his feet dangling above the floor.
They'd touched the floor when he was Belver.
This small, subtle difference made him realize this was real.
Having possessed a body once already as Belver, he didn't need to question possession itself.
Now he had to figure out what to do.
Sooner or later, Bellatrix would naturally come looking for him.
What could Belver do in the meantime?
“Nothing, huh…?”
What could Belver possibly do when he couldn't even use magic yet?
He could at least go for a walk.
But what if he ran into someone who knew Bellatrix?
He couldn't think of any way to deal with that.
Belver drooped at the thought that he had to sit still until the grim reaper named Bellatrix came to take his life.
If he'd known this would happen, he would've tried all sorts of things in Belver's body.
He'd been so excited to learn and use magic at the academy that he hadn't even tried casting a spell once.
And that was despite having a body with the greatest talent in the world for everything.
“Could I use magic in Bellatrix's body…?”
The thought suddenly occurred to him.
The reason Belver hadn't used magic in his original body was to prevent an accident.
If he circulated mana through channels that had never once carried it before, he might make a mistake and cause it to run wild, which could kill him on the spot.
Then what about Bellatrix's body, whose channels had already developed and naturally circulated mana?
Could he use the magic he'd studied so thoroughly, or something similar?
The moment he thought of it, Belver put it into practice.
Since Bellatrix was going to kill him anyway, wouldn't it be better to try using magic at least once?
“First, was it something like feeling something other than blood flowing through the veins in your body?”
Belver wasn't sure what that meant, but he recalled the closest sensation he'd ever felt.
Then, despite having done nothing at all, he really could feel something flowing through his veins.
This had to be mana.
“Next, change the mana you feel into whatever shape you want. Visualize it strongly and give the mana an order.”
The mana obediently moved according to Belver's will.
So what spell should he try first?
A standard fire spell? Water? Wind?
As countless elements flashed through his mind, a tiny orb of light appeared above Belver's palm.
It was a spell he could use in the room without any risk of an accident.
All it did was create an elemental orb that gave off light.
“Light.”
Delighted by the first spell he'd ever cast, Belver played with the orb, rolling it around this way and that.
He couldn't feel anything physical on his palm, yet at the same time, he could definitely feel something. It was a strange sensation.
“Why is it doing this…?”
Belver was rolling the orb of light around when it suddenly began to grow brighter, startling him.
He'd never heard of anything like this happening.
It wasn't growing in size or getting hot, but it kept getting brighter.
As though it were about to explode at any moment.
“Gasp…!”
The instant Belver realized what was happening, he squeezed his eyes shut.
Right after that, the orb of light shone incredibly brightly and disappeared.
It shone so brightly that light poured out through the window, even as the sun was setting.
Fortunately, Belver had closed his eyes quickly enough to avoid going blind.
If he'd been even a little slower to react, he might have met Bellatrix while blind.
“Phew…. Guess it was a good thing I didn't try it.”
Belver decided he'd been right not to use magic in his original body.
If this happened even with well-trained channels, something worse might've happened if he'd used channels that hadn't developed at all.
-Knock, knock, knock
“My lady…?”
“Didn't I tell you not to disturb me?”
The maid he'd sent away after telling her not to disturb him had returned to the door.
What could it be this time?
Please, just don't come into the room.
A maid who knew Bellatrix wouldn't disobey her orders over something trivial.
It had to be important.
Belver prayed it was something even he could handle.
“I do remember, but there's a visitor…. Please forgive me….”
“Who…?”
Taken aback by the word visitor, he accidentally spoke in his usual tone.
Could Bellatrix have come already?
Belver wondered if he might be allowed to wander around for a few hours, still flustered by his first experience in a man's body.
Belver prayed that it wasn't Bellatrix.
He didn't want to die so soon.
“It's a male student. He seems to be a new student like you, my lady. He says he has an appointment. Is that right…?”
“Yes. Let him in.”
“Yes, understood.”
It was Bellatrix.
It was definitely Bellatrix.
It couldn't be anyone but Bellatrix.
Though despairing, Belver sat up straight in a chair and waited for Bellatrix.
In his heart, he prayed that he'd make it through the night safely.
A little while later, the door opened, and the man he'd grown attached to over the past week entered the room.
The first words out of the man's mouth after entering were:
“Why does it look like it suits you better than it does me?”
“Pardon…?”
Belver didn't know how he should respond.
All he could do was hurriedly cover his body with both arms under Bellatrix's gaze, which seemed to be licking him from head to toe.
He had no idea that was what the man meant when he said it seemed to suit him better.