When I first met Senior Aike, he looked at me with such cold eyes.
At that time, we didn’t even know each other, so why was he staring at me like that?
To be honest, I thought maybe it was some kind of warning because I was a commoner special admission student.
But even so, I didn’t find that gaze particularly unpleasant.
Despite its coldness, there was no sense of him looking down on me.
Instead, he had an expression filled with complicated emotions, which made me curious about why this stranger was looking at me this way.
“Miss Michelle. I look forward to working with you in the future.”
And just before we parted, he had this inexplicably sad expression.
“Yes, I also look forward to working with you, Senior Aike!”
For some reason, I had a gut feeling that I would get to know this senior for a long time.
—
The next day.
Before the first class started, three classmates who had already settled in the lecture hall approached me.
“Are you the special admission student, Miss Michelle?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
“Miss Michelle, do you know what kind of situation you’re in because of what you did?”
I couldn’t help but tilt my head at her question.
It sounded like I had committed some kind of wrongdoing.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Hah.”
The classmate with red hair standing in the center sighed loudly enough for everyone to hear.
“Do you remember the senior who came to find you yesterday?”
“Oh, Senior Aike? He came to talk to me after the entrance ceremony.”
“You don’t know what kind of person he is?”
To me at that time, Senior Aike was just a mysterious senior with a curious first impression.
After all, as a commoner, there was no way for me to know the incidents involving nobles.
“Hah.”
When I nodded along, she sighed again and glared at me.
“That senior is known for having the worst reputation in society. Just talking with him could cause problems. But since you wouldn’t know that, we came to teach you directly.”
“The worst reputation?”
Even I, as a commoner, knew the position of the Akses House in the Astria Empire.
How could the second son of such a family have the worst reputation among nobles?
Honestly, I couldn’t understand it.
“Yes. So it would be best to treat any conversation you had with that senior as if it never happened. If he approaches you again later, I’d recommend ignoring him.”
Thinking back, she had come to help me avoid getting mixed up in something bad.
I could have simply smiled and let it slide.
But I didn’t do that at the time.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can do that.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean it literally. I come from a merchant family. Of course, I don’t have any talent as a merchant, but I understand that merchants need to read the flow and follow it.”
“…I just briefly explained the flow of society to you, didn’t I?”
“Yes, and I appreciate it. But do you know what the Basil family motto is?”
The red-haired classmate shook her head.
I looked at her and smiled lightly as I answered.
“No matter how much one goes against the flow, one must not let go of those they truly need. That’s the motto of the Basil family.”
“Are you saying that the senior you just met for a short while is more important than us, who will be together for the next three years?”
“Well, you could say that.”
The reason I boldly rebutted them was simple.
“Because at least Senior Aike didn’t look down on me.”
It wasn’t just a matter of the height of our gazes.
While I could sense a complicated mix of feelings and inexplicable sadness from Senior Aike, I didn’t feel like he was looking down on me.
But there was no mistaking that they were openly looking down at me.
In other words, they were acting as if they were granting me a favor.
No matter how good their intentions were, I wasn’t the kind of fool who would be swayed by someone’s obvious attitude.
“…I think you’ll regret that statement soon enough, but fine. Since you’ve chosen a difficult path for yourself, I won’t stop you.”
With those final words, they left.
From that moment on, I became someone who didn’t exist among the first-year students.
—
I never expected to be so openly isolated.
Honestly, it almost made me laugh.
But at least I wasn’t being bullied by getting hit or having my books torn up.
They treated me simply as if I didn’t exist.
For someone like me who enjoyed being around people, that was already torturous enough.
What should I do?
After much deliberation, the conclusion was simple.
I decided to directly ask the person who caused this for help.
There was no need to hesitate.
They were already treating me like I didn’t exist among my classmates, so what did it matter?
I didn’t feel any desire to be friends with them.
Keeping that thought in mind, I approached Senior Aike and said,
“Please take responsibility for making me lonely just because I talked to you.”
He thought for a long while and eventually nodded.
—
I ended up only associating with seniors in the Arcana.
I was part of what’s colloquially known as “Crown Prince Leon’s faction.”
To first-year students, it was a target of malice, while to the second and third years, it was an object of indifference.
But what I felt while hanging out with the seniors was that their relationships were far from the factions as described by nobles.
The atmosphere among them, starting with the Crown Prince Leon and including commoner special admission students like Senior Sophia, was honestly not much different from the vibes I had with my neighborhood friends before admission.
They treated me kindly without any scorn for suddenly joining them.
“If there’s anything uncomfortable, please tell me honestly.”
Especially Senior Sophia, who was also a commoner special admission student, seemed so kind and friendly that I thought she might just be the saintess if there was one.
As the days went by, I increasingly thought that these seniors couldn’t be the worst, and before I knew it, I was cherishing the time spent with them and the connections I was forming.
—
“Is that really true, Miss Michelle?”
“…Yes, Senior Reina.”
We were both taken aback by the realization that the reason I was isolated wasn’t merely because I had talked to Aike, but because I had rejected the invitation of my classmates.
“Why would you do that? At the time, you had only spoken to Aike once. To ruin your relationship with classmates you will be with for three years just over that…”
“Miss Michelle, did your family tell you to do this? Perhaps you were ordered to make connections with the royal family or the two Duke houses?”
“Come on, that can’t be true. As you know, I don’t have any talent as a merchant, so there’s no way my family would assign such an important task to me.”
That was indeed true.
Michelle was the daughter of a merchant family but struggled with one of the essential skills of a merchant: profit calculation.
She often asked for help with economics because there were so many parts she didn’t understand.
But the reason they asked her this was because there was a suspicion that Michelle might be passing information to Avatarara without realizing it.
“Um, then, did you perhaps fall in love with Aike at first sight?”
Suddenly, Reina made a shocking remark in a voice so small it was almost inaudible, but very serious and cold.
However, both Senior Andrew and Michelle seemed to have heard her clearly.
Senior Andrew began to laugh so hard he was doubled over, while Michelle opened her mouth with an awkward smile.
And I strangely felt pressure that I shouldn’t say anything.
“Um, I’m sorry, but Senior Reina?”
“Yes?!”
“Actually, I’m really sorry to say this, but Senior Aike isn’t my type at all…”
“…Is that so?”
“Yes. I think Senior Aike is a good person, but his personality is too quiet and gruff, which is completely the opposite of me, so I don’t see him in a romantic way.”
“I see…”
For some reason, there was a distinct atmosphere that formed as they continued to talk without consulting me.
Meanwhile, Senior Andrew was struggling to breathe from laughing too hard.
I couldn’t understand how the conversation had turned to this.
“Anyway, the reason I rejected those classmates’ stories is that I just wanted to.”
Fortunately, thanks to Michelle quickly steering the conversation back to the original topic, the awkward atmosphere quickly dissipated.
“I didn’t want to judge others based on what I heard from others. I didn’t like the idea of gossiping about someone I just met.”
“Miss Michelle…”
Reina looked at Michelle in awe, touched by her words, while Michelle blushed and looked down, feeling shy.
“That’s exactly why I thought highly of you, Miss Michelle.”
Once the conversation paused, Senior Andrew, who had finally stopped laughing, spoke up again.
“It’s not easy to refuse to go along with a flow that has already been created. I think it’s admirable that you can oppose something you believe to be wrong, no matter the social pressure.”
“Uh, uh-huh?”
Michelle’s mouth twitched at the transparent praise that felt sincere.
“So please take care of me, Miss Michelle.”
“I, I feel like I’m being set up a little bit, but? I look forward to working with you too.”
And then, looking at those two, Reina suddenly turned to me and said.
“Oh, Aike. I find your quiet nature attractive.”
For some reason, she said that with a gentle smile.
…I’ll ask her what she meant by that later.
