“Wait, Kipling, don’t actually take it off! Yuri is just messing with you!”
Yuriko called out hurriedly.
“Eh?”
Nomily looked up and scanned the room.
Yuriko looked relieved, while Carmilla was covering her face, too embarrassed to keep watching.
As for Yuri, she looked like a cat that had swallowed a canary; her smile couldn’t have been brighter.
Looking up again, she saw Olesia shift her gaze away and let out a helpless sigh.
‘Was I played?’
In an instant, a wave of immense shame washed over her.
Nomily’s face turned red at a visible rate, and tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes.
“You just wait!”
The white-haired girl cried out as she ran out of the classroom.
Having been a spectator the whole time and even trying to warn her at the end, Yuriko felt completely wronged.
She hadn’t done anything; Yuri was the one behind it all.
Why was she being held responsible too?
Olesia watched Nomily run out and shook her head helplessly.
She turned to Yuriko and said, “As you can see, Nomily is a very simple child. I hope you won’t take it personally.”
“Haha, I can see that.”
Yuriko could only offer an awkward laugh.
Even without Olesia saying anything, she wouldn’t do anything to Nomily.
After all, picking on a dummy would only leave her with a sense of guilt.
‘Are all the senior students at Shengxiu Academy this silly?’
Phantom scratched its chin with a small paw and said to Yuriko, ‘It’s perfectly normal, meow. Even near-perfect beings like the Saint have flaws, let alone mere students.’
‘Oh, there’s gossip about the Saint? Quick, tell me, what are her flaws?’
Yuriko gently squeezed Phantom’s tail, causing the creature’s fur to stand on end.
It swiped her hand away with a paw, then jumped off the desk and ran away.
‘You touched my tail without permission again! I’m not telling you anything!’
“Well, she was angry now.”
Seeing Phantom suddenly run off, Olesia asked, “Your cat ran away. Aren’t you going to chase her?”
“It’s fine, she’ll be back in a bit. On the other hand, Wyndham, shouldn’t you go after Kipling? She seemed to run out crying.”
Olesia shook her head.
“Don’t worry, Nomily isn’t that fragile. She’ll be back once she’s let out some steam.”
Just as she finished speaking, Nomily poked her head through the classroom door.
Seeing that Olesia was still with Yuriko, she stomped back in furiously.
She hid behind Olesia and glared at Yuri and Yuriko.
It seemed she let out her steam quite quickly.
“Hmph, I can’t let a person like you stay with Elder Sister. Who knows if you’ll trick her into doing something strange!”
Nomily said, staring at Yuriko.
“I’ve been framed! The one who bullied you was Yuri; I didn’t do a thing!”
Yuriko felt truly wronged.
Did she look like someone who would lure girls away?
At most, she would scare innocent girls into working at her shops.
“Yuriko, your words hurt my heart. I only did that for your sake~”
Yuri immediately put on a tearful act.
‘You’re the culprit! Why are you the one acting sad? The only people hurt here are Nomily and me!’
“I don’t care! You two are in cahoots! You might even team up to defile Elder Sister!”
‘Who would defile your sister?!’
Yuriko was speechless.
She really hadn’t done anything!
“Alright, Nomily. I believe they aren’t that kind of people. Don’t be so rude to your classmates,” Olesia intervened.
Olesia’s words were very effective.
At the very least, Nomily shut her mouth immediately, though she continued to glare at Yuriko with hateful eyes.
Yuri did the crime, but the hatred was all focused on Yuriko.
Where was the justice?
“I’m sorry for the scene. I originally intended to bring Nomily to apologize to you, but it seems things didn’t go as planned.”
At the very least, Olesia hadn’t expected that her attempt to have Nomily apologize for the classroom incident would turn out like this.
“I appreciate the sentiment. I’m not actually mad at Kipling. In fact, seeing how hard she tries to protect you makes me quite envious. You two have a great relationship,” Yuriko said, stretching the truth.
She wasn’t actually mad at Nomily—the girl’s “attack power” was too low to even breach her defenses—but the second half of her statement was pure fabrication.
She wasn’t actually envious of such a relationship.
“Wow, Yuriko, you’re so broad-minded~”
Yuri chimed in from behind with what sounded like a compliment.
Yuriko’s eye twitched imperceptibly.
Only Yuri knew how much sincerity was in that “compliment.”
Yuriko felt there wasn’t a shred of it.
“Hehe… then I’ll thank you for your generosity on Nomily’s behalf.”
Olesia smiled, and her expression was as bright as a shining star.
The apology was settled, and Olesia prepared to leave with Nomily.
Thankfully, Olesia was only here to apologize.
If the top-ranked student in the school had come to pick a fight, Yuriko wouldn’t have known how to handle it.
Yuri poked Yuriko again from the seat behind her.
Yuriko turned around helplessly, wanting to see what her classmate was up to now.
“Hey, Yuriko, weren’t you just asking about the Star of the Academy earlier? The person with the best chance of winning that title is standing right in front of you. Why don’t you ask her?”
The voice wasn’t loud, but at this distance, Olesia and Nomily certainly heard it.
They stopped in their tracks and looked back at Yuriko.
‘Little ancestor, please shut up!’
If not for her image, Yuriko would have gagged Yuri right then and there to stop her from causing more trouble.
“Ruri, are you also interested in the Star of the Academy?”
Olesia walked back, seemingly intrigued by the topic.
At this point, Yuriko couldn’t exactly say she had no interest.
She held up two fingers, leaving a tiny gap between them.
“Just a little bit.”
“Hehe, is it really just a little? You were just asking Carmilla about the requirements to become the Star of the Academy. You’re actually planning to compete, aren’t you~”
‘YU—RI!’
Yuriko screamed internally.
Why did this girl keep saying exactly what she didn’t want said?
“Haha, Wyndham, don’t listen to Yuri’s nonsense. I only asked out of curiosity.”
Since she had just enrolled, it wasn’t wise to be too aggressive.
If she offended Olesia, the girl might find ways to hinder her popularity growth in the academy.
“Eh, but you have the same surname as the previous Star of the Academy—Ruri. That’s a rare name. Don’t tell me you’re that Ruri’s younger sister and you’ve come to compete too?”