CH 32

I realized something after the tiring meeting with Bella. The first is that Liel is more popular than I expected, and the second is…….

‘Those who like Liel might keep a close eye on me.’

I cradled my thick book tightly in my arms with my eyes wide open.

Fortunately, I became close enough to Bella enough to exchange room numbers with her, but this is probably a very rare case.

If there was a next time, it was highly likely that it would not end well.

I never thought the karma of having a handsome friend would come back like this!

‘I won’t be dragged twice.’

As a result of this, I looked around with fierce eyes all the way to the classroom with Melissa.

I caught Melissa’s eye every now and then as she looked at me like I was a strange person.

Was the way to the lecture room this far? I was diligently scanning left and right with a serious expression at the time.

“Lucy!”

Someone called me from behind.

Feeling a strange sense of oddity, I looked back in surprise.

“Why?”

I made a mistake. I should have looked behind my back if I had to look everywhere.

When I blamed myself and stared at the person who called me, a classmate with cute pigtails took a step back from me with a puzzled expression.

“Huh? No, it’s…… You were late for class 3 of economics a few days ago. At that time, the professor gave us an assignment…… Oh, just to let you know…….”

“Oh, really?”

“There’s nothing else that overlaps with your class, so I called you to tell you now…… Did the other members tell you already?”

“Oh, no. I just found out because you told me. Thank you. Look, so your name is…….”

“It’s Karen Poltina. I know your names. Lucy and Melissa. Since we know each other now, let’s greet each other in the future. See you in the classroom later!”

Karen disappeared, showing remarkable sociability, as if she really had nothing else to do.

As I waved my hand in the direction where Karen disappeared with a puzzled expression, I quickly came to my senses and hurriedly covered my mouth.

‘I have one more friend……!’

I was so happy that I couldn’t even speak properly.

It was Melissa who opened her mouth first, beating me first.

“……I didn’t know there would be anyone else besides you who knew my name…”

Melissa, who pouted her lips and dyed her cheeks red, murmured in a blurry voice.

Seeing Melissa happy, I felt double the joy.

‘There are a lot of good kids at the academy.’

If we keep on like this, won’t we have more than 10 friends in the future?

“Lucy.”

When I was imagining it alone, someone else called me this time.

Is there anyone else who wants to be friends with me?

“What?”

When I smiled brightly and turned my head to the other side, I noticed a classmate with a clear look of nervousness. It was obviously a different atmosphere than Karen.

“Is it true that you’re dating Liel?”

Like Karen, she went straight to the point.

I can’t believe there’s already a kid in our school year who fell in love with Liel.

When Liel’s name came out of my classmate’s mouth, I immediately made a face.

Finally, my chance to bring up my prepared statement has come.

“……Why don’t you introduce yourself first?”

Melissa spoke to our classmate before I could open my mouth. Unlike Karen, it was a tone full of hostility.

Perhaps she noticed Melissa’s hostility, our classmate hurriedly revealed her name with a panicked look.

“Ce, Cecil Roas……. I’m sorry. I’m too rude, right?”

“You should not apologize to me.”

Melissa narrowed her eyes and turned her head backwards coyly. It seemed that she was angry for me.

Melissa is loyal……!

I was so touched that my facial muscles almost loosened again.

“Cecil, Liel and I are just friends.”

I said with a determined expression as much as I could.

Thanks to my practice in advance, my prepared statement came out smoothly.

“Huh? But…….”

Cecil, whom I thought would be relieved, blinked several times as if she could not believe it. And so did Melissa.

Why are you…?

“It’s true. We’ve been close since we were young, so we just look close, but we are not going out.”

“But you and Liel…… You two go around holding hands.”

Oh, you saw that too.

It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch, since I used to hang out with Liel. It has been my habit since I was young.

It’s already been over a week since I entered the academy, so there is more than one witness.

But I pretend not to know.

“What’s the big deal about holding hands?”

I didn’t lie.

I can hold hands, fold arms and hug not only with Liel but also with people I think I’m close to.

Since I only have Liel as a friend, I haven’t been able to do it up until now…….

“But it’s too much for a friend…….”

No matter how much I explain, they don’t believe it, and Cecil’s third “but” has already come out of her mouth.

As a last resort, I had no choice but to pull the last straw.

“Melissa!”

I reached out to Melissa, with the intention of holding her quickly. But to be honest, my intention was not pure as it was based on self-interest1.

Melissa, who had no idea what I was thinking, was alternately looking at me and my hands.

After a brief hesitation, Melissa finally reached out. Soon she blushed and said, her eyes closed tightly.

“Oh, I’m not ready yet…”

Her reply was rejection.

I, I got dumped.

“Ha, anyway! Friends can hold hands……!”

I almost cried because of the shock of being rejected, but I endured it somehow.

“Oh, yeah. That’s right. I’m sorry…….”

On the contrary, Cecil apologized to me.

I felt sorry for myself and at her seemingly forced sympathy.

Cecil returned almost immediately when the conversation was almost over, but I floundered in shock for a while after being rejected by Melissa.

Melissa is shy, so she’s reserved. Not because she doesn’t like me, but because she’s shy.

“Why did you lie?”

As soon as we arrived in the classroom, Melissa, who sat in the front seat, asked in a small voice.

“Huh? What?”

I never lied.

As I was still in shock, I moved my neck and gazed directly at Melissa.

Melissa, who met my eyes, trembled.

“You and Liel are not just friends. Even if she shows interest in Liel, why do you have to keep it a secret that you’re dating him?”

Melissa soon asked the question again, controlling her embarrassed face.

Thanks to Melissa, I had to flounder under another shock following her rejection.

“……? No, we are not. We’re really not dating

“What?”

“What?”

“……You’re really not going out?”

“We’re really not dating.”

“It’s ridiculous. I don’t know if you’re engaged or……. I thought it was something like that.”

“What?”

Me and Liel?

She even misunderstood that we were engaged beyond dating.

That was absolute nonsense.

“You and Senior were showing affection even in the temporary dormitory where we stayed for a while before entering school.”

“D, did you remember that?!”

“How can I forget that?”

She hasn’t said anything about it so far, so I thought Melissa didn’t remember.

She remembered and pretended she didn’t?

“It’s not what you think, we were just in a process of fighting and reconciling…… It’s not a love affair anyway!”

“…….”

Melissa shut up for a moment. She seemed to be thinking hard about something.

“Yes, if you say it isn’t, it’s not.”

Immediately, Melissa nodded her head, as if she would believe me.

“Because you’re not going to lie to me, your friend.”

Melissa muttered with her chin clutched in her hand. It was a very Melissa-like look as I tried to hide my embarrassment.

꧁꧂

After the lecture, I glued myself to the door of the classroom and checked the hallway to see if anyone was there.

The kids who took the same lecture as me had already disappeared.

It was not until I confirmed that the hallway was empty that I let go of my hand holding the door with a sigh of relief.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Melissa, who waited for me silently, eventually couldn’t hold back and asked.

“You saw it, too. I have to take care of myself as much as I can from now on. I’m sure people who likes Liel are keeping a close eye on me.”

“……You mean, like Cecil, other people misunderstand between you and him, and you’re worried that you’ll have a misunderstanding for no reason, right?”

“Right, I was called by a senior in the third grade a few days ago…”

“What? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Huh? Nothing happened, and we got along better after that.”

“…….”

What is this?

Melissa’s expression was exactly like that. I didn’t say it because I was embarrassed…….

“Anyway, I’ve already been called once, but there’s no guarantee that I won’t be called again! So I try to blur my presence as much as possible and protect myself.”

“…… Lucy.”

Melissa called me in a solemn voice.

“You’re Lucy Seywint.”

“Right…?”

“You said you were the next heir to the Marquis of Seywint.”

So what’s wrong with that?

“……do you think the Marquis is a pushover?”

Melissa’s expression was like saying ‘What’s wrong with you?’ Only then did I understand what Melissa was trying to say.

She meant that as long as I was an heir of Marquis Seywint, no one would touch me.

Of course, Melissa is right, but I know very well that the world doesn’t run on common sense alone.

‘There are crazy people in the world who get blinded with love and commit things they shouldn’t, Melissa…’

One is close to me too.

Liel was a man who went crazy beyond imagination and even imprisoned his sister for liking her.

He’s fine now, but in the original, he was literally mad in love.

So I couldn’t guarantee that there wouldn’t be another person like that.

‘…but no one would do anything crazier than Liel.….’

Whatever it is, I didn’t want to be a victim of such love.

t/n: Lucy wants to hold hands with Melissa anyway so she took this opportunity to do so