My Stepmom is Too Pretty, and It’s Troubling Me – Chapter 126

“Rize, can you come to the club room after the academy tomorrow?”

“…What?”

“Do you have no time in the afternoon?”

“No, that’s not it, but… it’s a bit sudden…”

“Ah.”

It really was a sudden request, especially since I just mentioned it while Rize was helping me wash up, and she had already declined my invitation to the club room once before.

Since then, I hadn’t said a word about her coming to the club room or doing something for me.

But starting today, I wanted to spend time in the club a bit differently than I had been recently, and I thought it would be nice to have Rize there, so I intentionally brought it up.

“So. You can come, right? You know where the club room is.”

“Yes, that’s fine. Should I go right after the academy?”

“Yep, do that. And can you bring some teacups or tea leaves with you?”

“Understood. What kind of tea leaves should I get?”

“Just get whatever you like. I’ve never been picky about tea, right?”

“Yes, understood.”

Anyway, Rize responded to me and continued washing me up.

Considering the bathroom wasn’t as big as the mansion, there wasn’t a gigantic tub and no small tub for washing, either… so I was just sitting on a bathroom chair while being washed.

In the past, I used to lounge comfortably in a tub, but… this wasn’t too uncomfortable either.

Since Rize was so good at taking care of my bath, I couldn’t help but feel comfortable.

“By the way, Rize, there’s something I want to ask.”

“What is it?”

“I heard I’m doing a study group with my friends?”

“Yes, you mentioned that, Young Lady.”

As Rize gently washed my arms with soap, I began to speak.

I would be gathering with the members to study, but… I honestly didn’t know much about this.

While I was good at studying and knowledgeable, the atmosphere had turned into one where I was practically teaching them…

“I’ll be the one teaching my friends, so how should I proceed? I’ve tried it once, but frankly, I don’t really know what to do.”

“Um…”

“Plus, everyone’s got quite the pride, so that’s a concern.”

Ella was fine, but Grace and Nordal were the issues.

Both came from highly respected families and were people I shouldn’t be too casual with, right?

Though I was already pretty relaxed with Grace.

“In my opinion… you can just do as you normally do, in your own style.”

“Really?”

“Yes. You’re already far superior in skill compared to the other students, so I think whatever you do will be more than enough.”

“Hmm…”

It felt like she was overpraising me, but it wasn’t entirely incorrect.

The last time I easily solved a difficult problem, everyone seemed fine with it, and I actually knew much more than the other members, after all.

“Well, since it’s you saying it, it must be roughly correct.”

That’s what I thought.

One thing I’ve learned so far is that Rize’s advice is usually spot on in most situations.

She was surprisingly helpful even in matters like business.

*

“…What is all this?”

“Ah, Ella, you came?”

As I was preparing in the club room, Ella was the first to walk in.

I had clearly told everyone that I would arrive first to prepare something, so why was she surprised?

I didn’t get it.

“…Is this what you were doing in class?”

“Yes.”

“…Why are you so serious about this?”

“Well… since it’s a rare occasion, I thought it’d be a shame to do it half-heartedly, and besides, we don’t do much in class anyway?”

Seriously, there was nothing to do during the academy classes, and I had been preparing intentionally out of boredom. Isn’t it weirder that she’s only realizing it now?

I had been diligently writing something on a blank notebook.

“This is something Ella will use.”

“…Are they all different?”

“Yes.”

“…Why are you putting so much effort into this? You’re not sick, are you? Not dying, right?”

“…What?”

“The you I know isn’t like this…?”

Suddenly, Ella was treating me like I was a totally strange person. I didn’t quite understand why I was being regarded this way.

I had just been working hard for everyone’s sake…

I felt a bit sad.

“Oh, Rize, it’s been a while.”

“Yes, Ella.”

Rize was helping me with my preparations for the lesson beside me.

In truth, she was preparing separately for my friends studying together rather than assisting with my lesson.

“What type of tea would you like, Ella?”

“Hmm… what have you prepared?”

“I’ve got a variety of types ready. Personally, I recommend the rose tea from the Rose Family that I just got recently.”

“Oh… that sounds quite interesting.”

As they chatted, Ella took a seat.

I continued to prepare on the blackboard while listening to Rize and Ella’s conversation, and then…

“U-um, hello…!”

“…What’s this?”

“Oh, sis. You’re here? Grace, come in.”

The Roseaki Sisters entered the club room.

Grace had left right after the academy’s closing, so I assumed she had gone to pick up Karen?

“Hey, what’s this?”

“The notebooks? Or the blackboard?”

“Both. What is all this?”

“Um… these are things we plan to cover in today’s study group? First, Grace, you should take this.”

“…What’s this?”

“It’s what I prepared to teach you, Grace.”

I handed the notebook to Grace. They all had different content inside but it wasn’t a huge difference level-wise.

It was somewhat customized, though?

“…Camelia? But what are you doing right now…?”

“Oh, sis, you didn’t come last time, so you wouldn’t know. Actually, we started studying together since yesterday.”

“…What?”

Karen looked surprised, clearly not knowing because she hadn’t been there yesterday.

I thought Grace would have mentioned it, but it seemed she hadn’t said a word.

“Um…?”

“In a few weeks, we’ll have midterms, right? So we’re just prepping together.”

“Oh… I see…”

“Now that I think about it, you were always getting great grades, right?”

“That’s right…?”

Karen had often mentioned it before, and she’s always been the type to read books in her room.

Of course, she would do well in the academy.

“Um… so I don’t think I’d be much help…”

“Well… yeah…?”

“Actually, I could prepare for the third-year subjects too, but I think you would ace them without much effort.”

“…That’s true…”

“But Grace…”

“What!”

Unlike Karen, Grace wasn’t quite doing as well.

She wasn’t failing or anything, but there was a considerable gap compared to top-performing Karen.

“…Oh, if you want tea too, just ask Rize. We prepared quite a bit.”

“Oh… okay… got it…”

“Grace, just take a seat for now. We’ll start as soon as Lady Nordal arrives.”

“We were going to, you know?”

For some reason, Karen looked a bit down as she sat down, but perhaps she was just a little sad from being alone during PE class?

Usually, on those days, Karen had a slightly gloomy expression.

That seemed likely.

Well, aside from the times when she quietly and independently excluded herself from PE due to feeling unwell, she had quite a bit going on in her life too.

-Click…

“Lady Nordal, have you arrived?”

Finally, Ivana Nordal arrived at the club room.

Fact was, it hadn’t even been thirty minutes since the academy let out, so if I had known this would happen… maybe I should have suggested we all just go together?

“…?”

“How is it?”

“What is this…?”

“I’d say this is what I prepared for the lesson? Um… roughly something like that?”

“…Did Lady Camelia prepare this?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“All the notebooks?”

“Yes.”

Everyone looked at me in shock, which was just… so ridiculous in so many ways.

Why was everyone so surprised and amazed?

All I did was prepare diligently and put in the effort for everyone’s studies, wasn’t it…? I couldn’t comprehend why they shared the same reaction.

It felt so unjust.

“Anyway, Lady Nordal, please take a seat. Now that everyone is here, I’ve also prepared everything on the blackboard.”

“…Okay.”

“If you need any tea or snacks, just ask Rize.”

With that, I decided to start the lesson right away.

I wasn’t particularly invested in the exams, but everyone else seemed quite serious about the academy tests.

“Yesterday, we focused on basic mana studies, but today we will cover imperial literature and arts. The problems in the notebooks are things I created separately, and what’s written on the blackboard are the topics.”

While pointing to the blackboard with a long rod, I explained. Literature has many passages, but most of what would come up in the midterms are somewhat similar topics.

As long as I explained the concepts and important points well, I was sure everyone could easily handle the problems I prepared.

“…I want to study together too…”

Karen mumbled softly from a distance, but her voice was so quiet that I couldn’t quite hear her.

Maybe she was memorizing words or formulas?

After all, the third-year exams were soon, and Karen was particularly focused on them.

That was certain.