My Stepmom is Too Pretty, and It’s Troubling Me – Chapter 118

“Uh…”

“Huh…?”

In a small classroom, it was more like an ordinary room than a typical classroom with desks and a blackboard.

But it was still one of the academy’s classrooms. To be more precise, it was one of the club rooms.

We were all gathered in that tiny club room.

The business planning club… It was the first meeting of the club I created, if that makes sense. Of course, I hadn’t done much, right?

“Well, I guess we all know each other, but how about we introduce ourselves and say hi?”

I decided to lead the way for the club members, who seemed awkward, flustered, and surprised in various ways.

It’s not usually my role to do this… But everyone felt like they were still not fully with it…

“I’m Camelia Leonhardt, the leader of this club. Um… Would you like to go next, sis?”

“Y-yes…! I’m Karen Roseaki…!”

“Yes~”

I clapped in response to Karen’s short, simple, and bashful self-introduction.

For shy Karen, that must have been quite an effort.

“I’m Ella Nieszysta. It’s a club that happened by chance because of this person… I hope we all get along!”

Ella introduced herself casually and simply.

“I’m Grace Roseaki. I’m Karen’s younger sister.”

Grace made it clear she wasn’t in a good mood.

“I’m Ivana Nordal. Nice to meet you all for this semester.”

Ivana Nordal had a plain yet sharp self-introduction.

Of course, she was way too expressionless while doing it, wasn’t she?

Anyway, this was our first club meeting and the first self-introduction. Most of us already knew each other, and the majority were fairly well-known in the academy.

It was awkward, but we had to do this to kick things off.

“Honestly, despite the fancy-sounding name, this club is really nothing special. We just hang out after academy and enjoy ourselves, and then write a report or something when we feel like it, okay?”

I dove right into the main topic.

“You can do whatever… You can eat desserts at the Dessert Cafe, study good magic, or practice cool swordsmanship. You can submit almost anything under the name of business planning.”

It was a club that was basically as free-form as you could get.

If you played around a bit with swordsmanship, you could plan a business related to a swordsmanship tournament and submit that.

If you sat around on a comfortable bed, you could organize a business plan about the pros and cons of such beds.

You could really do whatever you wanted.

“Basically, after academy, we’ll meet up and do activities together. But participation is absolutely not mandatory. To be honest, some of you I asked to join, so…”

I looked towards Grace and Ivana.

Whatever the case may be, I’d like the both of them to participate, but I also had no intention of forcing anyone who wasn’t interested.

“So, what do you think?”

“Hmph… Who said I wouldn’t participate?”

“I’ve signed up too, so I plan to be actively involved.”

“Ohhh…”

Why so nice?

Hmm.

I thought the process of inviting them would lead to them being upset and saying ‘no’, but they were surprisingly straightforward about their intentions, which caught me off guard.

Are they all just pretty and cute?

Well… for both Grace and Ivana, they did seem a bit quirky.

“So, shall we… suddenly get into our first activity?”

“What are we doing? You.”

“Um… I’ve been thinking about it. Don’t you feel like this club room is really dull, boring, and empty?”

I said this while looking around at everyone.

The only things in the club room were some chairs and one long table, unlike the ones we used for academy classes.

There was no blackboard or clock yet… It really left a lot to be desired.

“Shall we fancy up the room, or go shopping? I’ll cover the expenses for decorating the club room.”

I said with a smile.

I’m the leader of the club; making decisions like this should be fine, right?

And anyway, everyone… didn’t seem like they were about to come up with suggestions on the first day.

With only pretty and cute girls around, I thought the club would proceed in a lively and cheerful atmosphere, but… it seemed like it still needed more time.

*

It felt like the first time in ages visiting a place like this since I spent money to decorate my dorm room.

In fact, back then, decorating the dorm room was a bit limited due to the small space, but I managed to buy a few things along the way.

“What are you thinking of getting, sis?”

“The club room is too dull… I was thinking of getting some dolls or something…!”

“That could be cute. How about we also buy a sofa or a bed?”

“Would that really be okay…?”

“Yeah.”

Decorating the club room is entirely up to us.

I’ve heard rumors that the magic club made their club room completely dark like some children of darkness, and the swordsmanship club supposedly keeps dozens of swords in their room.

I figured it wouldn’t be a problem to decorate it cutely. I frankly didn’t want just stiff tables and chairs around.

“And anyway, the club room is about half, no, almost… just a place to hang out and relax, right?”

“Oh.”

“So I think it’s perfectly fine to decorate it however we like. That’s why I was really looking for beds, blankets, pillows, and all that while browsing the store.”

“That sounds great…!”

“Really?”

“Yeah, the chairs in the academy classrooms are pretty stiff, so sitting for a long time can be tough!”

“Hehe, that’s true. Plus, your cute dolls would look great as decorations too, wouldn’t they?”

“I think they absolutely would…!”

After chatting with Karen for a bit, I turned my attention to Grace, who was hiding a bit away and watching us.

I had initially planned to go rest with Ella for a bit, but the idea of teasing Grace sounded much more fun.

“Huh…?”

“…What. Why. What are you looking at?”

“Huh… Hehe…”

“Why are you laughing…?!”

“I just find Grace so amusing?”

The sight of Grace hissing like an annoyed cat as I approached her was quite entertaining.

I hadn’t really done anything, so why was she acting like this?

Earlier, all I did was chat with Karen; it felt like I really hadn’t done anything at all.

“Grace seems to really like sis, huh?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Um…”

“Hmph.”

Did my reaction please her?

Grace had a slight smile on her face.

“Hmm… Do you know what sis is planning to buy?”

“…What?”

“I talked to her earlier. I thought I’d ask if you knew.”

“What… Well, whatever.”

“My, you really don’t know? Is it true?”

I approached Grace, leaning slightly to peek at her face in a teasing manner.

“Don’t tell me… The little sister of Karen, Grace, doesn’t know at all what sis wants to buy? Huh, surely not?”

I continued to tease her with a smiling expression.

It wasn’t that I disliked Grace; rather, I just loved seeing her delicious reactions to these kinds of comments.

It really couldn’t be helped.

Honestly… If you don’t like it, just give me a boring reaction.

“Hmph… Should I tell you?”

“…What?”

“Should I?”

“……..”

I felt slightly guilty for just teasing her, and I also wanted us to be friends who enjoyed the club together.

For whatever reason, Grace really didn’t seem to like me that much, but I thought it’d be nice to get to know her a little better.

Even if we bicker, I secretly wanted to have a bit more of a friendly relationship.

“…What is it?”

“She just said she wanted to buy some dolls. Cute ones.”

“R-really…?”

“Yep.”

“Oh, I see… Then I…”

This girl, surprisingly, was showing a much easier reaction than I expected, which was a bit amusing.

She had been hissing just moments ago, but the moment I mentioned Karen, she seemed to change drastically.

As soon as Karen’s name came up, she lifted her mouth slightly and tried to put on a silly smile. It was quite… in this aspect, she seemed a bit like Karen.

“Hehe…”

“…What?”

“I thought I shared something that Grace would enjoy, but your reaction seems a bit cold, don’t you think? It’s a little sad…”

“What do you want?”

It seems Grace had known that her sister liked cute things all along.

“Really? Was it clear from the start? Well, I guess from today too… it seems it might be simpler than I thought to deal with Grace.”

Getting to know her seemed like it’d be much easier, too.

“Anyway, are you choosing carefully?”

“I’ll choose well, even if you don’t say that?!”

“Yes~”

After that, I moved on to look for the next person.

The sofa or bed… We could ultimately all choose together at the end, plus I was especially curious about what Nordal might be doing right now.

Looking for Nordal, I wandered through the store and eventually found myself in a very quiet corner with little to no customers.

There weren’t any other options left; this was the only place I could go.

Surely, there wouldn’t be anyone here…

“…Excuse me, Lady Nordal?”

“Yes.”

“Uh… Um… the…”

I felt a bit flustered.

I might have been more flustered now than when Nordal suddenly challenged Grace to a duel a little while ago.

I really hadn’t anticipated running into her here…

“Are you planning to use that bear skin carpet and deer head decoration for the club room?”

“Yes.”

“What else do you plan to buy? I saw you looking around the area for a while now.”

“First, I was thinking of buying the wolf teeth hanging up there.”

“…Ah, I see.”

Hmm.

Is this the taste of people from the north?

When I asked Nordal if northern folks were all fast and strong, she said yes.

But I couldn’t quite understand this peculiar taste, as it seemed quite different from the preferences of girls…