Chapter 65
So Estelle had decided to stay quiet.
“Ugh, seriously. You got something dirty on my shoes!”
Even when she saw the girl who always admired her being bullied again by the noble kids.
“I– I’m sorry. P-please forgive me…”
Even when she saw the girl apologize without any pride, for something that wasn’t even her fault.
“It’s just that uneducated people don’t know the difference between what’s precious and what’s not. Even if they study in a place like this.”
If only the red-haired woman hadn’t said that.
The moment she saw Sial running toward the classroom, it was obvious something was wrong with him.
Dark circles under his eyes like he hadn’t slept, his clothes a mess, even the buttons fastened wrong.
His bag was wide open like it had slipped off his shoulder, and in his arms he must have been carrying a palette and paints—until he dropped them in a rush.
Must’ve been in a hurry because he really wanted to get to painting class.
Professor Bob liked him, and Sial seemed to like painting as well.
So he must’ve been running, desperate not to be late.
“You. What are you going to do about this?”
“I’m sorry! I’m really sorry!”
“You think saying sorry is enough? Do you know how expensive this is? You couldn’t pay for it even if you sold your life!”
Anyone could see she tripped him on purpose.
The red-haired girl screamed in a shrill voice full of annoyance.
Sial bowed his head low to the ground and apologized.
Even though he knew it wasn’t his fault.
Even though he knew he didn’t accidentally bump into her—she tripped him on purpose.
What Sial didn’t know was…
They had been waiting for him again.
Estelle glanced at the group standing in front of Sial.
A red-haired girl wearing a jeweled headband, dressed without hiding that she was nobility, and her friends.
They bullied Sial everywhere.
They made him do their laundry and their homework.
They kept him awake until late, and ordered him around at dawn when they weren’t even awake themselves.
And like now, they humiliated him whenever they pleased.
“Since you ruined my shoes, I’ll have to throw them away. My father bought these for me after I begged him.”
Click-clack.
The heels on the marble floor stopped right in front of his head.
And then—
Thud!
“Ugh!”
A painful groan, and the sound of a body collapsing.
The red-haired girl had kicked Sial in the head.
Estelle’s eyes narrowed.
“Please, Lady Marinef. Calm down.”
“They’re right. How can you, a noble lady, lose your temper over something so pathetic?”
“Sigh… Lady Lovell, Lady Baratis… you’re right. Someone of noble status shouldn’t be swept up by emotion. But… I’m just so upset…”
“We understand.”
The red-haired girl, Marinef, said with her eyebrows drawn downward in a dramatic frown.
The brown-haired girl beside her held her hand and comforted her.
“It must be exhausting dealing with something like that. Attending this academy on someone else’s money, then causing trouble for others. How shameful.”
“You’re right, Lady Lovell. Just look at these paints. Do you think he bought them with his own money? Obviously using his sponsor’s money.”
An orange-haired girl nodded and stepped forward.
Squish.
She stepped on the paint tubes and burst them.
“He should learn quickly so he can repay his sponsor.”
“But can something that stupid really do that?”
“This is why people like that shouldn’t be allowed into the academy. How did this even happen?”
“It’s all thanks to the late Emperor’s excessive generosity, isn’t it?”
“Oh my. How thoughtless of me. If His Majesty showed such generosity, he surely had his reasons. Please pretend you didn’t hear that.”
“But of course, Lady.”
Their giggles echoed, mixed with the squish of paint bursting underfoot.
Marinef was the first, and then the other noble ladies followed—stepping on every paint tube until nothing recognizable was left.
And when every last one had been destroyed—
“Uneducated people can’t tell what’s precious and what’s not. Even if they study in a place like this.”
Marinef dusted off her skirt.
“Tsk. This is why just anyone shouldn’t be allowed into the academy.”
Looking down at Sial with her tongue clicking.
That was when—
“Haah. Noisy.”
Estelle’s voice rang through the cafeteria.
Silence fell instantly, and every eye turned to her.
“W-what?”
The sudden silence, and the voice clearly directed at her—Marinef panicked.
Then she snapped her head toward Estelle and demanded sharply:
“Were you talking to me?”
“Yes.”
Estelle closed her book with a loud thud.
Then she rose from her seat and walked toward Marinef.
Not fast, not slow.
Even as she moved, Estelle surprised herself.
Why?
She had planned to stay out of it.
But her body moved before her thoughts did.
Her steps stopped just a few meters away.
Standing there like she was protecting Sial… challenging Marinef.
…Annoying.
Estelle was irritated—she didn’t even know why she stepped in.
But what annoyed her most…
“Well, everyone says commoners have no manners. They don’t even know what etiquette is, right?”
…was the red-haired girl right in front of her.
She looked too much like a servant from Claude’s mansion in the past.
No. No, she doesn’t. She doesn’t look like her at all.
Estelle knew that clearly.
This girl looked nothing like that servant.
The only similarity was that they had eyes, a nose, a mouth, ears. Everything else—from hair color to facial features to body shape—was different.
But her expression, her behavior, her tone of voice…
Everything was exactly the same.
Yeah. Maybe the moment they began spouting that ridiculous nonsense, Estelle knew she wouldn’t stay quiet.
She couldn’t focus on the book, and her whole body had felt uncomfortable like sitting on needles.
“How can someone be so loud?”
“W-what did you just say?”
Maybe that’s why.
Even though she planned to ignore it, her body moved first.
She was no longer the same person as back then—the girl who didn’t realize her actions would affect Reina’s reputation.
“And I mean you. You’re loud.”
And unlike back then, there was no Claude here to stop her.
* * *
“What did you just say…? No, before that—who are you anyway? Who do you think you are to stand in my way?”
When Estelle blocked Marinef’s path, Marinef went still for a moment. Then she lifted her chin and demanded an answer.
“Well. Does any of that really matter?”
“Of course it matters! I am the daughter of a Count! There are very few people who can speak to me like this!”
“Is that so? Only a few people can challenge you… interesting.”
Estelle let out a small laugh through her nose.
Marinef glared.
“Something funny?”
“Yes. Ah, don’t worry about it. Just reminded me of something. But anyway, I’ve heard titles don’t matter inside the academy. Yet you’re very proudly flaunting yours.”
Estelle tilted her head slightly, one corner of her mouth raised.
“You just said you’re the daughter of a Count?”
“Wait—does that mean you don’t know who I am…?”
“As you know, inside the academy, outside rules don’t apply.”
“When someone is speaking, you should—!”
“Am I wrong?”
“Hiik!”
Estelle deliberately cut her off every time she opened her mouth.
On purpose, of course.
