My Stepmom is Too Pretty, and It’s Troubling Me – Chapter 124

I’ve been feeling really good lately, I can confidently say that.

The truth is, it was just a silly little thing about having grown taller and being a bit more developed than before… but it just felt nice.

Honestly, it was something trivial, yet I found myself smiling and raising the corners of my mouth without even realizing it.

“Hehe…”

“…You look foolish.”

“Is that so?”

Ella, who was reading a novel in the club room, made that observation.

Maybe it wasn’t just Ella; most people in the club room might have been thinking the same thing, but that didn’t bring my mood down.

“Hehe… today I’ll let you point that out, Ella.”

“…Have I finally gone weird?”

“Hehe.”

Usually, I would have given a bit of a rebuttal to Ella’s comments and tossed back a few replies, but today was different.

After all, I was a more grown version of myself now, having developed more than before.

To put it simply… it was Camelia version 1.5!

Of course, there was still room for growth, and I was still shorter than everyone else in the club room… right?

“Stop smiling so strangely.”

“Oh, was I smiling oddly?”

“…Tch.”

Grace showed her blatant disdain, but today I wasn’t nudging her or teasing her about that.

If I were my usual self, I would have shot back a joke in response to Ella’s earlier comment for sure.

What remarkable progress, or rather, growth, right?

“By the way, it seems like everyone here reads a lot of books?”

It really felt like everyone in the club room was reading more books than I expected.

Currently, I was lying on the bed, while most others… surprisingly, were sitting quietly at their desks reading books?

There was Ella reading a novel, Ivana quietly going over her notes by herself, and Karen studying with her textbook while Grace watched her.

Somehow, it felt like a reading club rather than a club disguised as a business planning group.

Why on earth? Why was everyone so engrossed in their reading…?

“Hmm. I feel like the only delinquent student here.”

No, I genuinely felt that way.

I was the only one lying on a bed full of dolls, while all the other members were at the tables… I mean, I was definitely being a delinquent.

But feeling this starkly wasn’t exactly a pleasant feeling, was it?

“Well, I am a delinquent after all, right?”

“Of course, hearing it from Ella doesn’t hit me too hard.”

“…Do you understand how foolish that sounds?”

“Well, you’ve often told me I’m strange, so I’m not that bothered by it.”

“…Sigh.”

I was quite used to hearing harsh words from Ella and Rize, so I wasn’t overly sensitive to them.

In fact, I knew my academy life was somewhat delinquento as Ella pointed out.

“Hmm… Grace, what are you doing?”

“…What.”

“I was just curious? It seems like Karen is studying really hard, but you’re just sitting quietly next to her. I was wondering about that.”

Talking to Grace when I was bored and had nothing to do seemed the most fun.

In reality, a significant portion of my dopamine rush lately came from Grace after all.

“If you’re bored, why don’t you study for the midterm with me?”

“What?”

“I mean, there’s still a little over a month left, but wouldn’t it be a good idea to study for the midterms together?”

While teasing was the most fun, there were also many ways to observe Grace’s reactions and moods.

Plus, the academy’s midterms were slowly approaching.

Of course, I didn’t attend class, and I just spent my time sleeping, so I wasn’t sure of the exact exam topics, but they were things I already knew.

Honestly, they weren’t hard, and since I wanted to help out Karen’s little sister, who was often teased as the delinquent member…

“What do you think?”

“If you sleep through every class, what can we study together? Won’t I be the one losing out?”

“Ah.”

Is that so?

“Really, just sleeping through class… who’s supposed to teach who here?”

“Ah, that’s true…”

It was kind of true, wasn’t it?

Other than Ella and Rize, I really didn’t know much.

I might have known a bit about practical subjects, but there was no way to know about my written test skills or performance.

After all, I was the one sleeping in class, and the teacher had never asked me questions during the lessons.

I could definitely understand Ella’s reaction quite well.

“Well, for now, shall we try studying together? Anyway, I don’t have anything to do, and Karen’s studying is all 3rd-year material, isn’t it?”

To be frank, even if I looked it over, I wouldn’t understand it, right?

I get it, but Grace was really just a first-year newbie at the academy.

“…I know.”

“Hmm… really?”

“…….”

“I think the textbook that Karen is currently looking at… is Advanced Mana Studies, Part Two. I definitely remember one of the topics being the Emithihar Count’s theorem, Stefano’s law…”

“Wh-what’s the point of saying that!?”

“Hmm… I’m just surprised you know that.”

It was quite a challenging topic, and realistically, it was indeed high-level content among the textbook materials.

Most of it was utilized in advanced magic or in combinations and fusions of various magics.

“Then, Grace, you can teach me, right?”

“What?”

“I mean, I’m just sleeping in class every time. If the incredibly smart and studious Grace taught me… I think it would be beneficial.”

Of course, Grace wasn’t the absolute best at studying.

That didn’t mean she was bad either, but it didn’t mean her grades were top-class or that she was in the running for top student or anything.

But considering the situation of Grace looking down on me and her personality…

“Are you saying… you can’t do it?”

“Huh!?”

The outcome was obvious.

*

“What’s the answer to this problem? For question 2 and 3, the contents don’t match. Isn’t one of them the answer?”

“Um… that…”

“The Solkemia Empire’s fourth emperor won all three wars and expanded the territory southward, and he died after a great defeat in the south. Which one is true?”

“This part… is actually on this… midterm exam…”

It was pretty impressive watching her press the pen hard into her notebook while deep in thought.

It was entertaining too.

I was just sitting next to Grace, asking her questions, but it definitely was fun.

Watching her desperately trying to pretend she knew answers to unknown questions was amusing, cute, and made me want to tease her even more.

“I’m pretty sure we learned this last time…!”

She whispered to herself quietly.

“I think the answer is 3, Grace. Am I right?”

“Th-that’s…! W-wait a second. Let me just check if it really is the correct answer…?”

“Yes, please do.”

In fact, there was one more opportunity to tease Grace here.

I could just ask her if she didn’t know the midterm review and if she hadn’t reviewed what we learned last time—surely that would make it more enjoyable.

But I felt like it would be somewhat hard for Grace if I kept pressing and already got some enjoyment from this.

“…3, it’s correct.”

“Really? Thank goodness.”

“…Well, you can’t say that the one you guessed isn’t your actual skill…! Don’t brag just because you solved one question!”

“Sure, your point is valid, Grace. I also picked that one because I was confused, but I shouldn’t think I’m magically going to improve my grades just because of one situation.”

“Exactly. Y-you’re surprisingly clever…”

“Hehe, thank you.”

While I secretly teased Grace and continued asking questions, I realized something.

That Grace and Karen were definitely sisters!

“Um, for this problem… you write the three laws of basic mana science…”

Grace was markedly different from Karen, who was introverted, passive about socializing, and quiet.

After all, being from the Rosaki family, Grace was kind of well-known for various reasons.

However… right now, in a situation where she was very seriously struggling, she strangely enough resembled Karen.

“Substituting the numbers into the formula…”

“Yes.”

“Um… this… ugh…!”

Did I tease her too much?

I simply picked the one that looked like the hardest from the problem sets, but I didn’t expect her to put in this much effort.

If she didn’t know, she could just admit it.

“This problem’s easier if you solve the equation first and then substitute the mana injection volumes one by one. You only need to do the math correctly within the mana formulas, and after that, switch the input volumes…”

I began to explain step by step.

Honestly, I knew the answer from the start and explaining it wasn’t hard at all.

“Y-you…!”

“Yes, Grace.”

“You knew it all along…?”

“Yes.”

I told the truth. I knew it from the beginning; I had just been quietly observing.

Besides, Grace had jumped to her conclusion without thinking, right?

“Hehe.”

“……..”

“What’s wrong? Are you surprised?”

I asked her while smiling again as I looked at Grace.

Of course, my comment made Grace a bit angry.

“…Sigh.”

Ella, who had been reading on the opposite side, sighed and looked at me with a sense of disbelief, but since teasing Grace was so much fun, I didn’t care much.