Episode 14
Serena’s goal wasn’t just to escape the role of Louise’s one-sided love interest; she ultimately wanted to avoid the tragic ending of the original story and live a free, peaceful life.
But right now, Serena was still a student and not old enough to live independently. So even though her family was a mess, she still needed the safety of home.
“Well, Louise is helping her adjust in the study club,” she said.
For now, it was a good idea to make herself useful to them. At least until she could break free from this rotten situation and walk away.
“Oh, really?” Harold said, looking pleased when Serena agreed. She smiled naturally and nodded. She felt a little guilty, though, as if Louise was glaring at her from somewhere. But what did it matter? Louise wasn’t here, and it wasn’t a big deal to tell a little lie.
“Hey! Serena, how did you get into White Bell?” Charles suddenly asked sarcastically while stuffing his mouth with food. Serena glared at him, frowning. That little guy never called her “sister” and always cut off his sentences like that.
“What?” she asked.
“White Bell is for elite students, but your grades are at the bottom,” he said.
“Charles, you shouldn’t talk to your sister like that,” Diana said, glancing at Harold, trying to stop him. But her words didn’t seem very convincing.
“Charles, you don’t understand. I didn’t study before, not because I couldn’t,” Serena replied.
“What’s the difference?” Charles asked with a sneer. Serena scoffed at her half-brother, not even knowing he was probably behind her in rank.
“Well, let me explain it to you simply,” Serena said, resting her chin on her hand.
“You study hard, right? I’ve seen you studying late after dinner,” she continued.
“Of course, I’m not like you,” Charles answered proudly.
“I happened to overhear your tutor complaining. No matter how much they teach you, you keep getting the application questions wrong, didn’t they say that?” Serena teased, her smile growing as Charles’ ears turned bright red. He looked exactly like Diana when his pride was hurt, his face heating up.
“That’s…!” Charles was about to defend himself, but Serena cut him off with a laugh.
“That’s exactly what we call not being able to study. But I never studied like you. I didn’t even have the environment to study properly.”
“What’s the difference?” Charles replied, sounding confused.
“That’s called not doing it. Do you get it now? If that’s hard to understand, maybe Charles needs more language lessons,” Serena teased.
“You…!” Charles was about to shout, but Diana slammed her hand on the table, raising her voice.
“Serena!” Diana snapped.
Serena sighed. Charles had started the argument, and now he was crying to his mom like the victim. Kids really were kids.
“How dare you talk to your little brother like that?” Diana shouted.
“Charles doesn’t even treat me like a sister, so why should I be nice to him?” Serena shot back, her tone innocent, as if she hadn’t said anything wrong. Diana glared at her, eyes flashing with fury.
“You lowly…!”
“Enough,” Harold intervened, glaring at Diana.
“Why are you defending Charles now? You should teach him how to talk to his older sister!” he said sternly.
“Diana! How can you say that to Charles?” Harold added, raising his voice.
Serena rolled her eyes. Now the couple was ignoring her and fighting amongst themselves. She drained her tea in one gulp.
“Serena’s right. It’s true that even though you hired a famous tutor, Charles still can’t improve,” Harold added, looking at Diana with frustration.
Diana turned pale and quickly tried to cover Charles’ ears. Serena looked at Charles with an indifferent expression and a slight smirk, but deep down, she couldn’t help but think, “Well, Charles’ behavior is all because of his parents.”
An indulgent father and a mother who spent money on luxuries. It was no wonder he turned out the way he did.
“I’m done. I’ll go now,” Serena said, standing up.
“Serena, are you leaving already?” Harold asked, rushing to stop her.
“Well, I have to go to the academy,” she said quickly, excusing herself from the awkward situation.
“But it’s the weekend,” he said, sounding confused.
“I… have to study with Louise in the White Bell exclusive classroom today. I’ll be late if I don’t go,” Serena lied with a smile.
She quickly left the room, imagining Harold’s shocked face.
“Well, Louise is being helpful after all,” she thought with a chuckle.
She went up to her room and quickly changed into her academy uniform. She was already planning to study at the academy, and she didn’t want to waste too much time lying.
Carlyle had mentioned that only study club members could use the White Bell classroom on weekends, and she couldn’t resist the temptation to see it for herself.
“Everyone really wants to get in here for a reason,” she thought as she marveled at the White Bell classroom’s prestige.
As she entered the main building, she noticed how empty and quiet the halls were. It was the weekend, after all. She glanced around, excited by the stillness, then hurried to the White Bell classroom.
“Oh, wait! The key!” Serena suddenly remembered.
She had forgotten to pick up the key from the office. She muttered to herself, “There’s no one else here this early, so I’ll just grab it later.”
But when she got to the classroom, she noticed the door slightly ajar.
“Wait… didn’t I lock it when I left yesterday?” she wondered.
“Could someone have come to study this early?” she thought, raising an eyebrow and cautiously pushing the door open. But the room was silent, and no one was there.
However, as she turned to check the room, she finally spotted a familiar face.
A handsome boy with silver hair. Serena couldn’t help but sigh.
“Serena?” he asked.
She had vowed not to get involved with him anymore, but now she found herself staring at Louise in surprise. He was sitting at the head of the table, wearing silver glasses, reading a book.
“What are you doing here?” Serena asked, a little confused.
“Is that really the proper question to ask your class president?” Louise responded coolly.
“Right, sorry,” Serena said quickly, realizing she had no reason to be upset. Louise was just another study club member, so it wasn’t strange that he was studying on the weekend. Still, it was awkward.
“Why are you here this weekend?” she asked, trying to ignore the tension.
“Isn’t it obvious? I came to study,” Louise replied, his tone casual.
Serena didn’t answer right away but sat down at her own desk. A part of her had hoped she’d be alone, but since their goals aligned, she figured it wouldn’t matter if they were both studying in the same room.
“Well, then, let’s just focus on our work,” she thought.
She thought about going to the library, but it might be too crowded with other students on the weekend. Plus, it felt a bit like running away from Louise. She didn’t want to feel like that.
“Are you here to see me?” Louise asked suddenly, breaking her thoughts.
“What?” Serena asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.
“By the look on your face, it seems like you came here for me,” he said, a small smile on his face.
Serena was taken aback for a second, but then she remembered her goal. “He’s such a show-off,” she thought, rolling her eyes.
“You’re so full of yourself. You should fix that attitude,” Serena said sarcastically.
“It’s not overconfidence. I’m really this good,” Louise replied confidently.
Serena laughed a little. “Well, I can’t deny that.”
She didn’t say anything else and just turned her attention back to her work.
Louise stopped talking too, returning to his studies.
After about an hour, Serena stretched and looked at her notebook, feeling a little proud of herself. But then she remembered Louise was still in the room, and for a moment, she felt a little self-conscious.
She glanced at him, expecting him to be staring at her awkwardly. But to her surprise, Louise was still reading his book with perfect focus.
“Wow, he really knows how to concentrate,” she thought.
She glanced down at her notebook again and realized she had been staring at Louise too much.
“Okay, time to focus. I need to beat him,” she thought.
She grabbed a different book titled Basic Magic Theory and set it down on her desk. To get first place, she needed to master this subject first.
But as she opened the book and started reading, she sighed. The basic concepts weren’t difficult, but the advanced theories started to give her a headache.
“This is supposed to be basic,” she thought, rubbing her temples.
But then an idea crossed her mind. She could always ask Louise for help. After all, he was a top student in magic theory.
But no, she hesitated. Asking Louise for help felt too embarrassing.
“I’ll just do it myself,” she decided. She tied her hair back and got back to studying.
But after about 10 minutes, a shadow suddenly loomed next to her desk.
