NOVEL WEB Chapter 156
Chapter: 156
As time passed, the weather grew increasingly hotter, making it harder to spend time at the Academy.
It wasn’t so much that I was exhausted from doing a lot, but rather from the heat.
I had always been sensitive to heat… so there was no helping it.
“Eww…”
“Is it that hot?”
“It’s super hot…”
Because of that, I found myself sprawled on the bed in the club room, groaning in discomfort.
Even without a blanket, it was unbearably hot.
“Phew…”
“If it’s that hot, just stay still.”
“How can I stay still when it’s this hot…?”
“You’re moving around so much that it’s making you feel hotter, isn’t it?”
“Hmm… I don’t think so.”
The people in the club room today were Ivana and Grace — a bit unusual, but I had gotten used to it over the past few months.
I was just casually resting in the club room.
“Isn’t it a bit silly to be on the bed whining about the heat? The contact area is just different.”
“Oh… I never thought Lady Grace would say something like that.”
“Huh!?”
That Grace would make such an intelligent remark really surprised me.
Honestly, I was pretty shocked.
I had been expecting the kind of advice older people would give, but here she was, offering actual sound advice…
I shot an incredulous look at Grace.
“It’s not even that hot. Why are you making it so hard to concentrate? You’ve unbuttoned your shirt and opened all the windows.”
“I’m really hot, okay?”
“No, you’re not.”
Watching Grace keep insisting that I wasn’t hot made me think again about how much I seemed to suffer from the heat.
I also remembered that Karen wasn’t particularly sensitive to heat either.
Even though it was early summer, Karen had been wearing a sweater all this time.
I got the feeling that the Roseaki Sisters were generally not that sensitive to heat either.
“Ivana is fanning herself over there too.”
So, I pointed at Ivana, who was continuously fanning herself, to make it clear to Grace that I wasn’t the only one suffering.
I had complained often about being hot, but Ivana was definitely feeling it too.
“Why are you only picking on me?”
“…Lady Nordal is quietly sitting still. Unlike you, she’s not fidgeting or groaning.”
“Hmph.”
“Hmph, what…?”
Well, she wasn’t wrong.
I had been the one complaining about the heat, while Ivana was sitting quietly.
But honestly, it was hot, and hot is hot.
It wasn’t like I had Ashley’s Air Conditioning Magic like back at the mansion, so it was even worse.
“Sigh…”
If I had known it would be like this, I should have learned Ashley’s Air Conditioning Magic for sure.
When I found out about that magic last summer, I still lacked skill, but now I was confident that I could master it.
“If it’s that hot… well, just try taking off your clothes or something.”
“Huh?”
“The windows are open, and you’re drinking cold drinks. What other methods do you have?”
“Uh… um… yeah, that’s true?”
It was a sudden suggestion.
I hadn’t expected Grace to come out with something like that, and I unwittingly paused before answering.
It’s not like Grace never said strange things before…
But I never expected her to make such a radical suggestion.
“But isn’t it a bit inappropriate to take off clothes here? It’s not like it’s just me; Ivana and Grace are here too.”
“Well, it’s just girls, so it shouldn’t matter too much, right? Besides, you must be wearing something under your shirt.”
“Uh…”
Hmm…
How should I explain this?
How should I respond to Grace in this situation?
I really didn’t know how to react.
Because of that, I could only look at Grace with disbelief while sitting alone on the bed.
Should I really consider this… innocent?
“Umm… even so, that’s a bit much, right?”
Yes, I thought it was a bit excessive to suggest taking off clothes.
Even though I had already unbuttoned my shirt quite a bit, this was on a whole different level.
“Even so, taking off clothes is a bit extreme.”
“Hmm…”
“Besides, it’s not like we’re close enough to show off our bodies.”
That was a separate issue from how friendly we had become.
Of course, I could easily take off my clothes in front of Rize, but we were in the Academy, after all.
Also, aside from Rize and Rosalyn, I hadn’t shown anyone my naked body.
“And I don’t think Grace really wants to see me naked, right?”
“What?”
“I don’t think there’s any need to show off our bodies just because we’re girls… right? Besides, it’s not like we’re at that level.”
Honestly, I had a lot more thoughts about this than other girls did… so it was even less likely.
If I were a normal girl, maybe I could laugh it off as a joke, or maybe even strip just for fun…?
“No, you’re wearing something under your shirt, right? So it doesn’t really matter, does it?”
“I’m not.”
“…What?”
“…Oh, you didn’t know?”
Oh.
Hmm… so I didn’t mention it?
I guess I wasn’t saying anything specifically, and usually, people wear something under their shirts.
So there was a good chance she never expected it at all.
“I’m wearing nothing under my shirt. To be precise, I’m wearing underwear.”
“Oh, no… um…”
“It’s just really hot. It’s too hot to wear anything under my shirt, you know?”
“I… didn’t know…”
I could see how that would happen.
In fact, I hadn’t said anything, and it is usually common to wear something under a shirt.
Plus, since I happened to be wearing white underwear today, it was even less noticeable.
“Um… I’m sorry. I kept making noise about being hot, and honestly, it was a bit loud…”
“It’s fine. That totally makes sense.”
“…….”
Once I admitted that I wasn’t wearing anything under my shirt, Grace’s reaction became quite cute.
She was far more reserved than her usual fidgety self.
It really seemed like she didn’t know at all, so I didn’t have any particular thoughts about it, especially since I hadn’t thought much about it before.
“Heh…”
It was just so different from before, seeing Grace looking flustered while stealing glances at me.
I found myself wanting to tease her.
“…Why?”
After that thought crossed my mind, I slowly got off the bed.
I originally planned to keep whining about being hot while rolling on the bed… but Grace’s reaction was just too amusing.
As soon as I saw her reaction, I couldn’t help but want to joke around.
“So you want me to take off my clothes if it’s that hot?”
“No… well, I didn’t know…?”
“It seems Lady Grace has a rather lewd side to her, huh?”
“Lewd!?”
Already, her reaction was quite entertaining.
I merely moved closer while teasing her, but her face was instantly turning red.
It was so different from her usual self.
“I never imagined you’d say to take off clothes to someone sweating and complaining about the heat,” I said as I got closer.
The distance between the bed and the table wasn’t that far, so it was really easy to get close to Grace.
I wondered if Grace thought I was angry right now, like she thought I was in a bad mood?
“Are you mad…? Why are you coming closer…?”
“Like this…”
I popped another button open.
Although I had already undone the button at the neck, I started to gradually undo the ones further down.
“Um…?”
“If it’s hot, she said to not wear clothes.”
“Hey, why are you suddenly unbuttoning…?”
“Because it’s what Grace suggested, right? I’m just following your advice.”
As I slowly unbuttoned my shirt, Grace began looking at me with a pretty flustered expression.
Honestly, since we were both girls, I thought she was being way too bashful.
To me, her reaction seemed to mix embarrassment with panic.
Anyway, I kept unbuttoning until I reached the buttons around my waist.
“Hmm…”
“Why are you embarrassed? Isn’t it what you told me to do?”
“Well, that just shows everything!”
“We’re both girls here. Why? Is there something wrong with my body?”
I echoed the same words Grace had said earlier.
Seeing Grace’s face turning not just red but also her ears turning bright red made me want to tease her even more.
Even though Ivana was sitting across from us, I found it more entertaining to tease Grace right now.
“So, what do you think? My body.”
“U-Um, even if you say that…”
“Is something wrong? Am I ugly?”
“No, that’s not it…”
I already knew my body was fairly pretty, but I asked just to get a cute reaction from her.
I was really enjoying her responses.
“How about I just start wearing my shirt like this every day in the club room? It feels really refreshing, just like Grace said?”
“That’s still a bit…”
“But I’m doing it because you suggested it. What’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry…”
“No, what do you mean? Why is Grace apologizing? You did nothing wrong.”
“Ugh…”
Every time I moved closer to Grace, her reactions were so immediate.
Seeing her shield her eyes with her hand because she couldn’t look at me was just incredibly funny.
It’s only a matter of unbuttoning my shirt while still wearing underwear, yet she seemed far too shy about it.
Of course, my waist and the line of my cleavage would be visible a bit, but…
“Heh…”
At that moment, I started to realize how much I had changed compared to when I was younger.
For instance, I no longer thought much about showing my body to other girls in any sort of way.
And another thing was that compared to the past, when Rosalyn would make me blush whenever she did something to me, I had grown significantly less shy about physical contact.
“…….”
Regardless, once I returned to the bed, I just spent some time normally in the club room.
Everyone was either reading books, studying, or doing something else.
Of course, there were moments when I silently noticed Grace stealing glances at me, or I caught a glimpse of Ivana’s face slightly reddening.