“Shall we go now? To the classroom.”
Reysir gently pushed my back with his palm, urging me on.
The next lecture was ‘Botany’ taught by Dyuf, and the assigned classroom was quite a distance from here. We had wasted a considerable amount of time after the warning bell, so we needed to hurry.
Still, the time wasn’t so tight that we had to run.
By walking quickly with long strides, we were able to enter the classroom without being late.
“Oh, you’re here? You were taking so long, I was worried you might be late.”
The first to greet us was Liolikin.
In an environment where declaring a self-imposed class suspension in front of the professor and storming out of the classroom is trending, I’m not sure why he’d worry about something as trivial as being late.
‘He probably wants to know why we were late…
But explaining it wouldn’t suit Karbaldr’s character, and…
I could hardly say we were late because we were arguing over who pays for and when to pay for the information we bought from Pret.’
So, I gave Liolikin a glance with an expression that said, “So what do you want me to do about it?” and sat down in my seat without a reply.
“Did you have a good conversation?”
It seemed Liolikin wasn’t the only one curious about what we had talked about, as Vigdis asked a question this time.
Though, not to me, but to the Original Protagonist.
“Good… not really, but we talked anyway.”
“Huh? What does that mean?”
“It means exactly what it sounds like.”
“Huh?”
“More importantly, Vigdis. Why are you alone?”
It wasn’t just Liolikin and Vigdis who had arrived at the classroom before us.
Fjodra, Risi, and Svein were also seated.
Yet, Reysir said that…
‘It must be a question of why Hale is not here.’
Reysir had asked Vigdis to stick with Hale as much as possible.
Because of that villainous guy.
If their schedules didn’t overlap and they had to attend lectures in different places, there was nothing to be done.
But this Botany lecture is attended by all members of the Awakened Special Class, so there’s no reason for Vigdis and Hale to be apart.
Even at this very moment.
– Ding dong dang dong~.
The chime signaling the start of the lecture rang out.
So, Hale not being here was even more strange.
That’s why, the moment Reysir’s face hardened and became serious.
“Hale will come with Professor Dyuf. We ran into them by chance when leaving the Dining Hall after finishing our meal. The professor said he wanted to have a private conversation with just Hale…”
These words flowed from Vigdis’s mouth.
Reysir’s face softened a little upon hearing that Hale wasn’t alone, but he didn’t seem completely reassured.
That villain had looked down on Hale’s family.
‘He wouldn’t watch his words just because Dyuf is there, would he…?
Perhaps realizing the problem only after seeing Reysir’s still-serious face?
Vigdis showed a perplexed expression on her face and looked at Reysir’s reaction.
“Did I… do something wrong…?”
“…No. If she’s with Lord Dyuf, it should be fine.”
“Right? Hale said the same thing.”
Reysir spoke, trying hard to shake off his worry, and Vigdis took his words at face value and sighed in relief.
But I couldn’t do that.
The world of this novel I’ve possessed may have restarted, but it was still rolling according to the Original Author’s intent.
‘According to the novel’s development, a problem is bound to erupt.’
Hale’s true personality, without pretense, is tomboyish, but not everyone who puts on a pretense can become the top of the class.
She’s not only smart, but her diligence also supports it.
And that diligent aspect was inherited from her father, Dyuf.
Just seeing that this diligent father and daughter hadn’t shown up in the classroom yet, I had to believe my prediction couldn’t be wrong.
And Reysir, who also knew well about their diligence, seemed the same.
Judging by the anxiety I sensed from him looking at the clock, it seemed his attempt to shake off his worry had ultimately failed.
“Is Miss Hale being threatened by someone?”
The one who just spoke was Fjodra.
Seeing Reysir worrying about Hale’s safety and saying it should be fine if she’s with Dyuf.
It’s only natural for such a question to arise.
“…Yes, a threat. A clear one.”
Reysir hesitated for a moment with an expression wondering if he should say this, but then nodded and affirmed.
Seeing that, Fjodra furrowed her brow and opened her mouth.
“Who on earth dares to threaten a student belonging to my class—”
The classroom door swung open, cutting off her words.
The one who cut off the Imperial Princess’s words and captured everyone’s attention as she appeared was none other than Hale.
But none of those present, including Reysir who had anxiously waited for her, could show welcome or relief.
Because the following words flowed from Hale’s mouth.
“My dad collapsed…”
With the professor who was supposed to conduct the lecture having collapsed, canceling the class was a foregone conclusion.
But no one left the classroom.
The only one who got up from their seat was Reysir, and even that wasn’t to leave this place.
It was to support Hale, who was standing unsteadily with reddened eyes, and bring her inside.
“Threatening a student’s safety and attacking a professor within the Royal Direct Academy! Whose doing is this?”
Fjodra, who seemed to have seriously misunderstood something, angrily asked Hale for the culprit’s identity.
No matter how much Dyuf is a scholar and a comrade from the early part of the original work with virtually no power inflation, making his combat power weak.
He wouldn’t collapse from being attacked by a mere student.
Besides, the villain who’s courting Hale has no reason to attack her father, Dyuf.
If he did, all the rumors he spread and the schemes using them would come to nothing.
Dyuf likely collapsed not from a physical attack, but from a mental shock.
“He wasn’t attacked. But… that trashy bastard…!”
I had guessed she might use her original speech pattern when revealing her father collapsed.
Hale couldn’t hold back her resentment even while answering the Imperial Princess’s question.
She somehow managed to use honorifics, but suddenly clenched her fist and slammed it down on the desk with a ‘Bang!’.
This wasn’t a matter of having manners or not.
Yet, instead of pointing out her rudeness and making an issue of it, Fjodra quietly closed her mouth and cast her gaze toward Reysir.
Hale didn’t seem to be in a state to have a calm conversation.
She must be asking Reysir, who seemed to know about the person threatening her, to explain the situation.
“Two days ago during lunch break, I witnessed a male student confessing to Hale. But that male student’s attitude was…”
Even though she must be very curious about how her guardian ended up collapsing.
Perhaps thinking she couldn’t let herself be swept away by emotions either, Reysir somehow held onto her composure and calmly explained what she saw and heard that day.
Perhaps judging that mentioning the villain named ‘Drembi’ picking a fight with me would muddy the point.
She omitted that fact.
But she thoroughly explained how that guy treated Hale as if she were an object, ignored her feelings, and insulted her family.
“What a lowly scoundrel who knows no honor…!”
Even before mentioning the rumors, Fjodra was already indignant and raised her voice.
Seeing that, did hope arise?
With her trembling hands still clenched, Hale, who had been gritting her teeth and swallowing her anger, carefully parted her lips.
“Can you… help me…?”
“That’s simple.”
“Really?!”
I guarantee this problem can’t be solved even with the power Fjodra possesses.
Because in the novel, solving problems that arise for the heroine is the protagonist’s role.
The exception would be if the heroine in trouble grows and overcomes it herself, but the one in trouble now is Hale, not Fjodra.
“If we create a regulation prohibiting dating under the pretext that Special Class students must focus on training, he’ll have no choice but to give up.”
Sure enough, the solution Fjodra brought up in her clear tone was completely useless.
It was a moment that made her setting of having a brilliant mind seem worthless.
“Um… Your Imperial Highness…? If such a regulation is made, what happens to my engagement with Kar…?”
“If we say those who are already engaged are exempt, then making such a regulation would be pointless. That guy’s ultimate goal seems to be marrying Hale.”
Vigdis couldn’t hide her troubled expression and spoke up.
And I, hiding my absurd feelings, added.
“Then that won’t work.”
Of course it won’t.
If such a regulation is made, ‘Let’s date first!’ will just change to ‘Let’s get engaged first!’, only leading to an even bigger problem.
“If that guy had directly harmed you or your father, we could have issued a restraining order or something. But you said he wasn’t attacked? What exactly happened that caused Professor Dyuf to collapse?”
“My dad and I were talking, and then that guy came… He told my dad to go to his parents, kneel down, and beg. To grant permission for him and me to date with the premise of engagement… He said that if a baron family with nothing good about it wants to become in-laws with a distinguished family like his, they should at least do that much… Neither I nor my dad want any of that, but if he wants it, then…”
In effect, Fjodra had said she couldn’t help unless the villain had physically attacked the Bitnir father and daughter.
But Hale wasn’t in a state to grasp the meaning of those words.
Trembling with humiliation, she poured out her grievances as if tattling.
“He even said… the reason my dad didn’t remarry was probably because our family isn’t much to look at. My dad just loved my mother very much… He said no one wants to marry into our family, and if my dad doesn’t want to see his daughter end up alone forever, he should do as he said… He said my face is decent, but how long will that last… He even…”
“He even…?”
“Ah, no. This is too… I don’t even want to say it, it’s such a disgusting, filthy story I don’t even want to recall…”
Hale hastily finished her sentence and tightly closed her eyes.
Seeing her grinding her teeth like that, it didn’t seem like she was holding back due to pretense.
No.
Even if she dropped the pretense, she must have heard something so humiliating she couldn’t bring herself to say it.