I’m Not the Mastermind

The next day.

After enduring an entire night of relentless pestering from Tiamat, Yujin finally greeted the morning.

In the end, he had managed to convince her that he harbored no personal feelings toward Alicia, thus narrowly escaping any further interrogation. However, that alone wasn’t enough—Tiamat had made it clear that any future decisions regarding Alicia’s emotional dependence weren’t something Yujin could handle alone. From now on, he would need to properly discuss such matters with her.

Of course, that scenario would only become relevant if Alicia’s emotions remained unresolved. As long as things progressed according to Yujin’s plans, it wouldn’t even come to that.

For now, he set aside thoughts about Alicia. Today’s focus was on the labyrinth exploration lecture.

Yujin paused in thought.

‘How am I supposed to clear up the misunderstanding with Professor Reina?’

He was once again assigned to a joint lecture with her.

And given what had happened yesterday, her wariness of him had undoubtedly grown even stronger.

Tiamat had suggested that he try being straightforward and sincere, but Yujin wasn’t convinced it would be that easy.

It was good that he had redirected attention away from the Headmaster, but the cost had been steep—Reina’s suspicions had deepened, and now she could no longer even fully trust the Headmaster.

At this point, it was too late to reveal that everything had merely been an act or a joke.

Even if Ines stepped forward to explain the truth, Reina wouldn’t believe her anymore.

Of course, there was always the option of revealing that he was a dragon. But Yujin preferred to keep that as a last resort. The fewer people who knew, the better.

So, as he had originally planned, he would continue playing the role of a morally ambiguous figure rather than a true villain.

And, as per Tiamat’s advice, he would gradually reveal sincerity over time, slowly dismantling the villainous image.

For example—he would still maintain his enigmatic and somewhat threatening presence, but at the same time, he would be a devoted and passionate professor to his students.

At first, people might assume it was just a calculated move to build his reputation.

But over time, his students would come to realize that his sincerity toward teaching was genuine.

And when the time was right—when Reina’s internal image of him had softened enough—he would tell her the truth and offer a proper apology.

Of course.

“……”@@novelbin@@

“Good morning, Professor Sahart.”

Looking into Reina’s eyes, Yujin could tell—her wariness had escalated beyond simple suspicion.

Now, there was unmistakable fear mixed in.

Somehow, it felt like this was going to take longer than expected.

Still, this was his own doing.