NOVEL WEB Chapter 52
Chapter: 52
After taking a walk in the back mountain and returning, we were comfortably relaxing back at the villa.
Some were resting in their rooms, while there were others like Ella, who was relaxing alone in the lobby.
“Ella, what are you doing?”
“Ah! W-What!?”
“Uh… I just asked what you were doing?”
“That’s not it! Why did you suddenly pop up from behind me like that?!”
I casually spoke to Ella, but I didn’t expect her to be this startled.
Of course, I did sneak up on her from behind.
Well, she was sitting all relaxed on the couch, after all.
I was just planning to start a conversation.
“Um…”
“You scared me!”
“So, what were you doing sitting here all alone?”
“I’m just sitting quietly for a bit… That’s why I came here in the first place…?”
“That’s true.”
Um.
That is true.
The plan from the beginning was to just come and relax without doing much.
I was just curious and asked her.
“Did I scare you too much?”
“Yes?”
“I felt like you were hesitant to answer me.”
I just had that feeling.
The question I asked Ella wasn’t odd or anything, but her reluctance to answer was a bit concerning.
“Did I interrupt you too much?”
“No, it’s not that…”
“Then why are you keeping your distance like that?”
Ella, sitting on the couch, was gradually moving away.
What’s going on?
Is it because she disliked my question?
I thought it wasn’t an odd question at all.
“Ella?”
“That’s…”
“?”
“Uh… um…!”
Her face slightly reddened, and she was hesitating to answer while avoiding my gaze.
In many ways, it felt different from the usual Ella.
She never showed this side of her before, so it felt even more awkward.
“Why?”
So I couldn’t help but ask her more.
“W-Wait! Why are you getting so close!?”
“Well, you’re the one moving back, aren’t you?”
What’s this?
Is it that hard for her to answer?
I was speaking from behind the couch, and as Ella kept retreating, I had no choice but to inch closer.
“It’s too close for comfort, isn’t it!?”
“Yes?”
“W-Why are you coming so close!? You don’t need to get all close with that pretty face of yours! I can answer you normally, you know!?”
“…What?”
Ella’s flustered response actually surprised me.
Wait… was I truly that terrifying?
Sure, I did move a bit closer to Ella, but I didn’t think it was enough to scare her.
If someone saw us, they might think we were practically touching noses, but honestly, it wasn’t that close at all.
“Was it really that close?”
“Then is this not close enough…!?”
“Uh…”
I have no idea.
Rosalyn sometimes sat this close to me, and Rize also didn’t maintain much distance.
So I wasn’t sure if what I was doing was really that problematic.
“What are you pondering so deeply about?”
“Oh, sorry. I was just thinking for a second.”
“You really… surprised me by getting so close all of a sudden.”
“I didn’t know it would be such a big deal. I’m sorry.”
“Hmph… Just know that now.”
It’s not like I truly understood, but I responded to Ella like that anyway.
Because if I kept saying I didn’t understand, it was clear Ella wouldn’t like it.
“Uh, right.”
“What’s up?”
Ella moved over to the couch as she wished.
After all, the couch stretched out sideways anyway.
“Are you going to enter the Academy Dormitory alone?”
“Huh?”
“You’ll be using a private room, right? I’m planning to share a room with Rize, so I was just curious about what you’d do.”
“Ah… that?”
Even though there’s still time until we enter, it’s something I’m curious about.
Plus, it’s not our first time talking about the Academy.
“Are you going to be with a maid then?”
“Of course! I want to go in alone, but my father insists on it.”
“I guess there’s no helping it.”
Yeah, I understood.
It wouldn’t seem likely for a noble lady to clean her own room and manage her daily life like an ordinary person.
She’d probably live the exact opposite.
Not cleaning and spending late nights doing who knows what, that’s for sure.
Thinking about that, it seemed better for a baroness to assign a maid to Ella.
Her parents might not seem that way, but they cared for Ella more than expected.
“And you? Are you going with… Rize? That girl?”
“Of course! She’s my personal maid!”
“Well, it makes sense since you’ve often been with her since long ago.”
While I was chatting with Ella about the Academy, Karen happened to walk by us.
“Sis?”
“H-Huh!?”
“Uh… excuse me for a moment, can you come over here?”
She startled me even more than Ella did, but I called out to passing Karen.
So, Karen also ended up sitting on the couch with us.
“W-What’s the matter…?”
“Oh, it’s nothing much, but you’re entering the Academy next year, right? We were just discussing that, and you walked by.”
“I don’t think I’ll be of much help…”
“But you’re an upperclassman at the Academy, so you’d definitely be helpful!”
“Upperclassman…”
I still had plenty of questions, so that was true.
Even though Karen hadn’t done anything particularly impressive at the Academy.
Still, she was an upperclassman who had attended first.
“Is there anything we should be careful about when entering the Academy?”
“Uh! Not really…! Most people are nobles anyway, and the students these days are generally accustomed to noble society from a young age…”
“Oh…”
“Of course, there are sometimes odd students…”
“Like…?”
“…Like that time someone tried to do magic in the auditorium and it blew up…? Or getting into a 1v1 fight with a commoner over girl problems…?”
“…Hmm.”
“…There are indeed quite a few fools like that.”
Didn’t she say it was only sometimes?
Hmm.
I can’t possibly be the only one who thinks there will be tons of issues when I start attending the Academy next year.
I was sure Ella was thinking the same.
“Sis, you didn’t do anything like that, right?”
“M-Me!? Why would I ever do something like that…!”
“Then that’s a relief…”
Hmm.
I was indeed relieved.
Definitely not something Karen would ever do, but hearing the examples made me a bit worried.
Something like explosions and fighting against commoners.
It was too far removed from the noble image I first had.
“What’s the studying like at the Academy? I think I’ve never heard much besides magic.”
Ella asked that question too.
Somehow, I found myself in a position where Karen and Ella were both sitting beside me, and we continued chatting.
Frankly, I didn’t mind being surrounded by pretty girls while casually chatting.
“Oh ho…”
“There’s actually more than I thought! I’m a bit excited for next year!”
“Yeah, there really is more than expected.”
“I don’t think everyone needs to worry too much… Probably…! This year, there were quite a few strange kids causing issues, so I’m sure the Academy will work hard to prevent that next year…!”
That’s a relief.
Honestly, I was already tired of the thought of attending the Academy, and I didn’t have any particular dreams or hopes for it.
Just learning decent things and networking with nobles related to businesses at the Academy would be nice enough.
That’s why I wasn’t keen on having too many annoying things happening at the Academy…
“What are you all talking about?”
“Oh, mother.”
As we were chatting, Rosalyn came down to the first floor.
Today, it seemed she had taken a break after returning from the mountain.
It had been a while since we walked in the back mountain and returned, so she was probably well-rested by now.
“We were talking about the Academy. Since Ella and I will be entering next year.”
“Ah… That’s true. Karen is in her second year now, right?”
“Y-Yeah!”
“Hehe, I had my time at the Academy back in the day as well.”
Now that I think about it, Rosalyn attended the Academy before.
In fact, she usually didn’t react well when talking about it, so I refrained from asking too much.
Still, she was fundamentally an Academy graduate.
“Would you like to join us in our conversation, Mother?”
“Am I allowed to join? I feel like I’d just be lending a hand too much.”
“Of course, it’s fine!”
Honestly, it wouldn’t matter even if she was a graduate.
If you think about the age difference… well… there’s about a 2x difference, but still.
“If I start talking, I feel like it’ll just become all old tales, so I’m a bit…”
“It’s truly alright.”
“Really…?”
Even if Rosalyn shared old stories, who’d think it would be strange?
Truth be told, I enjoyed listening to Rosalyn’s stories.
“Then… Karen? If I may ask, how is the Academy these days? It’s been a few years since I graduated… Haha…”
“These days… it seems like there are quite a few odd students…!”
“Those odd ones have always been around,” Rosalyn replied.
“Is that so…?”
“Yes. It feels strange to say, but when I was at the Academy, so many things happened.”
“Like what…?”
Karen and Ella sat beside me.
And Rosalyn was seated across from us, sharing stories.
Especially listening to Rosalyn’s tales from her time at the Academy was quite entertaining.
Was it because it was the Academy from a long time ago?
In a way, it was almost full of romance, or perhaps, it was barbaric.
There were many bizarre incidents that were honestly way more than I expected.
Really.
“One time, a student drew a sword in the classroom and was being ridiculous…”
“…Wow.”
“Ha… At that time, one of the professors had to freeze a student to calm down the chaos…”
“…….”
Hmm.
Honestly, I felt that the recent events Karen mentioned might be more preferable.
For real.