Chapter 26: Just a Little Bit, It Should Be Fine

In the afternoon, Yuriko left the Academy surrounded by a crowd of people.

After her eye-catching performance today, her popularity in class had clearly soared.

Even when it was time to head home, some students were still reluctant to leave her side.

“I’m at the school gate now, so I’ll head out first. See you tomorrow~”

Yuriko waved and said goodbye to her classmates.

Although the students were a bit reluctant, they still bid Yuriko farewell.

“Carmilla, see you tomorrow.”

“Mm, see you tomorrow.”

After saying goodbye to Carmilla individually, Yuriko finally departed.

Once Yuriko was gone, the center of the crowd instantly shifted from Yuriko to Carmilla.

After all, since Yuriko had enrolled, the person who stayed closest to her had always been Carmilla.

“I’m so jealous! I want to be Ruri’s seatmate too. She’s so gentle and beautiful, yet she stands up for others when it matters. She doesn’t have an ego at all. If I could become her friend, I’d feel like my whole life was worth it!”

“I totally get you!”

Listening to the students discuss Yuriko, Carmilla couldn’t help but recall the scene in the Infirmary when she spoke with Yun Jianlan.

At that time, she had said she was Yuriko’s friend, and Yuriko hadn’t objected. Did that mean Yuriko also acknowledged her?

‘If I think about it that way, I’m kind of happy.’

After being pestered with questions about Yuriko for a good while, Carmilla finally managed to escape.

While Carmilla felt that Yuriko was indeed very charming — she had a sweet appearance, a gentle voice, a good figure, a nice personality, and strong abilities…

Alright, it seemed like she was nothing but strengths.

For now, Yuriko was practically a perfect woman.

Carmilla being able to become her friend was likely thanks to her position as Class Monitor, which allowed her to spend a long time in contact with her.

But if this trend continued, Yuriko’s popularity would surely keep rising.

It was possible these students would become her fangirls, which would make things even more troublesome than they were today.

Furthermore, Yuriko herself wasn’t like Olesia, who carried a naturally noble aura that made her difficult to approach.

Yuriko’s attitude toward her classmates was one of total acceptance; no matter who the person was, she was willing to converse with them in a friendly manner.

‘If Yuriko ends up with a fan club, it’ll definitely be a hassle, right?’

She was so kind that she surely wouldn’t want to let down her fans’ expectations.

When that time came, should Carmilla step in to help and manage her fans for her?

Lost in her stray thoughts, Carmilla arrived back at her home.

Her younger brother was playing with toys in the living room.

Seeing his sister return, he immediately ran over, wanting her to play with him.

Her stepmother was already busy in the kitchen.

She actually hadn’t arrived home much earlier than Carmilla, as she had a part-time job to handle in addition to taking care of the household.

Her own tuition fees and her brother’s various expenses placed a significant amount of pressure on an ordinary, lower-class family.

To help relieve the pressure on the family, Carmilla had taken on household duties very early on — cleaning, cooking, and looking after her brother…

The coursework at Shengxiu Academy was also difficult.

Carmilla needed to squeeze out time to study, leaving her with almost no rest.

After finishing her chores, Carmilla was finally able to take a bath and relax.

She returned to her room and flipped through her notes to review what she had learned that day.

She always did this in the past, but today, Carmilla couldn’t quite settle her mind.

Was it because she was excited about making a new friend?

In any case, Carmilla could not focus her attention on her studies.

Her thoughts kept drifting back to Yuriko, back to this dazzling new classmate.

Yuriko possessed a unique charm that made people irresistibly want to get closer to her.

She then thought about what happened this morning.

Yuriko had told her that it was possible for girls to fall in love with each other.

‘Does Yuriko like girls?’

‘If that’s the case, would Yuriko fall in love with me?’

Carmilla shook her head, feeling that she was being a bit too narcissistic.

She was just an ordinary girl who had been lucky enough to pass the Shengxiu Academy entrance exam, and it was only through hard work that she hadn’t been eliminated in the annual assessments.

Not only was Yuriko outstanding, but she also had a sister like Yun Jianlan.

That was Yun Jianlan — someone that even the Academy’s high-ranking officials had to speak with respectfully.

Her thoughts became somewhat agitated.

Clearly, she shouldn’t be feeling this way, but the moment she thought about her own circumstances, a massive sense of disparity filled her heart.

“Why am I so anxious? I should be satisfied just being able to be friends with Ruri…”

Carmilla remained unable to calm down, so she decided to relax for a bit.

‘Maybe I’ll listen to some music.’

When she opened her phone, Carmilla remembered the manga that Yuri had recommended to her this morning.

They were all manga about girls falling in love with each other.

Carmilla felt that they might be too stimulating for her and that she shouldn’t look at them.

If she read them, some strange changes might happen to her.

However, the more she tried not to think about it, the more Carmilla found herself unable to control her curiosity.

By the time she snapped out of it, she had already downloaded the manga app.

“What am I even doing? I really shouldn’t be doing this…”

Carmilla glanced toward the door.

Feeling a bit guilty, she walked over and locked it.

‘I’ll just take a quick peek. Just a little bit. Once I have an understanding of it, I’ll be better able to find topics to talk about with Yuriko.’

Her breathing grew slightly heavy at some point. Carmilla opened a manga titled *Citrus Story*.

—

The next day.

“President! President! Big news!”

Inside the News Club of Shengxiu Academy, a member came running in frantically, shouting at the Club President who was currently brainstorming a draft for an article.

The News Club President was a fourth-year student.

She had just found a tiny spark of inspiration when it was shattered by the member’s shouting.

Consequently, she snatched up a stack of scrap paper from the desk and shoved it directly into the member’s face.

“What’s with all the fuss? Can’t you see I’m thinking!”

The member, whose face was covered in scrap paper, wiped the sheets away and approached the News Club President, saying:

“It really is big news! Yesterday, I heard some rumors around campus saying they saw a beautiful upperclassman they’ve never seen before!”

“That’s it?”

The News Club President felt a bit speechless.

Since when was seeing a pretty upperclassman something worth such a discussion?

“Oh, President, you don’t understand. I didn’t think much of it when I heard the news yesterday either, but since there haven’t been any fresh topics lately, I went to scout out the fifth-year classrooms. Sure enough, I found the upperclassman they were talking about!”

“Hey, President, why are you looking at me like I’m some kind of pervert? This is my professional quality as a member of the News Club. I wasn’t just curious about how pretty she actually was!”

The News Club President sighed, tapped her finger on the desk, and advised the member with a serious tone:

“We are a News Club. Although we publish photos of beautiful girls to catch people’s eyes, we aren’t paparazzi. It’s best not to do things that easily cause misunderstandings.”