My Stepmom is Too Pretty, and It’s Troubling Me – Chapter 103

“…Rize, I’m sad.”

“Young Lady, being sad won’t change anything, will it?”

“No. This isn’t right. They talk about equality inside the Academy, yet they divide the dormitories by grades?”

“They’re not separating us by status. It’s a kind of equality, right?”

“No… But still…”

Lying on my bed.

Sure, there was nothing to do, so I was lying down, but today… it wasn’t just that. I definitely wasn’t just lying down for no reason.

I usually never felt sad, gloomy, or annoyed… but today was truly different. Really. Completely. Super. Very much!

“How can I not get what I paid for, no, even offering to pay four times more?”

“How could I change the rules?”

“Rules can be bent with money. That’s just the way of the world!”

“…Is it right for someone in business to say such things?”

“That’s exactly why I’m saying it! Every time I did business, those noblefolk loosened the family rules way too much!”

“……..”

“Ughh!”

I was so mad I couldn’t help but kick the mattress repeatedly.

Seriously, how can they prevent me from upgrading with my own money, which I’ve worked hard for since I was little? What could possibly be the reason to stop me!?

“This room is too shabby!”

“…Young Lady, that’s embarrassing.”

“What can I do if it’s shabby!? The room is small, and the kitchen is so basic… no, it’s practically nonexistent!”

“…That’s true.”

“Then why is the bathroom so tiny!? If that’s the case, why give a noble a single room!?”

Hearing all this nonsense about equality and status made it incredibly absurd.

I was on the verge of just losing it right there!

Seriously, the dormitory room I just entered was way too bad.

It was really that bad!

They call it a single room, but it was just a one-room size fit for two… but no matter how I looked at it, it was too insufficient for one noble and one servant.

No, it felt wasteful!

It was the room, not me!

“It’s smaller than my room…”

“If it’s your room, isn’t it big enough…?”

“I don’t care!”

Honestly, it wasn’t a room I couldn’t use at all, but what could I do about it when I just didn’t like it?

When I used to hear Rosalyn talk about her room, I thought it would be huge… like a single room in a four or five-star hotel.

So seeing this one’s room level, it was only natural that I felt bad, and everything just didn’t sit right.

“Rize.”

“Yes, Young Lady.”

“…I’m bored.”

“They say you can get a better room through grades. How about studying?”

“…Is that so?”

Hmm. It wasn’t wrong.

As Rize said, studying was important right now.

“But that’s boring.”

“…….”

“It’s not fun, and anyway, I’m confident I can do well on most tests.”

“Is that so…?”

Rize looked at me with a skeptical gaze, but I truly was confident, and it actually proved to be the case.

Since childhood, I had studied more than most, and even Ashley, a talented wizard from the Magic Tower, recognized my immense talent!

Especially when it came to magic, I was such a remarkable student who could use advanced spells, probably way better than most upperclassmen in the Academy.

Since even Ashley acknowledged it, it was clear.

“…But Rize, how do they assign rooms?”

“Isn’t it through grades as well?”

“Is that so?”

“I think that would be the case.”

“How annoying.”

Isn’t it just easier to resolve things with money?

No, just the room itself… hmm.

No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t help thinking that I was clearly from Leonhardt. It felt undeniable.

“…Rize. You’ve got nothing to do.”

“Yes, I don’t.”

I had already unpacked my things yesterday and had been arguing about the dormitory since this morning.

Neither Rize nor I had anything to do. We were in a situation where we didn’t have to do anything.

“Hmm… what should I do?”

There’s really nothing to do.

It was such an empty situation that I felt bored and a little angry… hmm.

What should I do?

“Rize.”

“Yes, Young Lady.”

“Come up on the bed.”

“…Young Lady.”

“But the pillow is too hard. Didn’t I say that while sleeping last night?”

“…….”

Silence.

Looks like even Rize agrees. The pillow, aside from the mattress, was definitely not great, and I even used Rize as a pillow while resting my arm on her.

“Hurry up~”

I never thought of doing this since I had nothing to do, but… today for various reasons… no, there were just some things I really didn’t like.

I felt the need to release my feelings about this awful dorm room somehow with Rize.

Lying on a soft bed while hugging soft and squishy Rize would make things so much better. I really wanted that.

“Hehe…”

“…Only for 30 minutes, okay?”

“Can’t you give me 10 more minutes?”

“…As long as you don’t hug too tightly.”

“Then until 20 minutes?”

“Young Lady.”

“Hehe. Just kidding. Just a joke.”

What a pity.

But since it went from 30 to 40 minutes, wouldn’t that be enough?

*

“Seriously…”

“Wasn’t it awful?”

“Yes!”

Before dinner, I met Ella. Of course, we brought our maids along and crossed the bridge together.

The Academy campus felt… very spacious for sure.

The campus was divided into areas for studies and sleeping and many other shops, so it was like a mini city.

In fact, it was spacious enough to be considered a small town, so it really felt big.

“Honestly, I don’t like it either. I would have preferred if they had made it a double or triple room instead.”

“Exactly. They say they don’t separate by status, yet… commoner students are said to start off in a four-person dorm, right?”

“It’s quite paradoxical, isn’t it?”

Now that some time has passed, I somewhat understood the Academy’s intention.

Just… well… since many nobles and royal families plus a really diverse group of students came to the Academy.

In a place filled with various classes and types of people, establishing a class system would create factions among themselves.

It was obvious that numerous problems would arise from that.

For all those reasons, they had set it up this way, but…

“…If that’s the case, shouldn’t nobles also take entrance exams?”

“Well, I’m just glad they didn’t!”

“True.”

Anyway, we were walking around the campus, complaining to each other.

It certainly felt much better than the inn I stayed at a few days ago or the area around it.

“So why did you suddenly want to go outside? I don’t want to walk because it’s cold!”

“Oh, there’s nothing in particular, I just wanted to buy a pillow.”

“Huh?”

I just came out for that.

There was really no other reason. I genuinely wanted to buy a pillow, and I just called Ella along.

“…A pillow?”

“Yep.”

“Really?”

“Yup.”

“…Why?”

“Because it’s uncomfortable?”

No, for real, I was just here to buy a new one because the old one was uncomfortable, yet Ella was looking at me strangely.

Didn’t Ella also use the same dormitory room and have a similar setup?

“…What’s up?”

“Well, uh… You’re very proactive…?”

“Is that so?”

Hmm… is it?

I just thought it was normal to voice discomfort and change what I could.

Of course, just because Ella looked at me awkwardly didn’t mean I was going to change my mind about going to buy one.

“Do you want to join, Ella? A soft, cushy pillow is way better than a hard and uncomfortable one, right?”

“Really!?”

“Yeah, let’s do that. I wasn’t planning to buy just one anyway; I was thinking of getting several. Let’s go see together.”

“Sounds good! Honestly, I was also… the pillow was uncomfortable for me too. And to be honest, the blanket felt a bit less soft as well, so I didn’t like that!”

“Hehe, great!”

At first, Ella looked at me awkwardly, but since we shared the same discomfort, of course, she would join.

I had actually expected her to join me.

Anyway, we started walking toward the shopping area focusing on furniture that sold pillows.

“Wow… whoa…”

And so we arrived at a furniture store with Ella.

It looked pretty big…?

“Wow!”

“…Ella.”

“This is super soft!”

“Do you like it?”

“Of course! This is nothing compared to what was in the Academy dorm!”

“That’s true.”

“Do you know how much I tossed and turned while trying to sleep last night!? I literally had to take the pillow off because it was so uncomfortable and just slept on the mattress!”

“…Was it that bad?”

“Yes!”

…Hmm.

It seems I’m not the only one facing this issue.

In just a few days, I wouldn’t be surprised if various new students aside from Ella and I came here in droves.

I was lucky to come early in many ways.

“Anyway, let’s take a look one by one.”

“Let’s do that.”

“Rize?”

“Yes, Young Lady.”

I thought about looking around together with Ella, but in the end, I would be sharing the room with Rize.

Besides… it was almost too many times today and usually that I used Rize as a pillow, so…?

I thought it would be nice to cater to Rize as much as possible.

“Let’s go find a pillow and blanket we can share.”

“…Yes, Young Lady.”

“Well then… first the pillow? Since that’s the one bothering me the most.”

“You can do as you wish, Young Lady.”

“Got it.”

Since she said it’s okay, I decided to go with that.

Of course, a soft and fluffy pillow was nice, but hugging Rize would always be the best.