Anna remained leaning on the wall, with one eye open and one eye closed. She appeared rather strange to stand all alone there, but with the hallway being crowded by roaming students, she appeared less conspicuous than she normally would.
As she silently blended in with the crowd and spied on the group of five with furrowed brows, she suddenly saw a hand appear in her normal eye’s view and snap with a loud thap sound, disrupting her magic and cutting off her connection with the spirits’ views.
“Hello!” a cheery voice greeted from the side as Anna turned to look at the source of the voice.
A young man stood there, wearing the uniform for boys at the academy, consisting of a white shirt, black pants, a necktie, and a black robe. He appeared rather unremarkable at first glance, but there seemed to be a special aura mixed in with his ordinary appearance that gave him a unique vibe.
“You… you’re the guy I bumped into?” Anna asked as a flashback of today’s morning replayed in her mind. Embarrassment flushed her face red as she strained a smile. “Sorry about that again.”
“You don’t have to worry about that!” the boy waved his hand and raised his other hand to his hip. “It was just an accident!”
Ugh, what a fucking hypocrite. You’re always going on and on about being a righteous bitch and that I’m a bad guy, but here you are, spying on me without any qualms because “it’s all for the greater good” or whatever fucking excuse you have. Winston took a swift glance at Anna’s eyes and a bubble of murderous intent flashed in his brown eyes.
Anna froze for a moment as a chilling sensation ran down her back, but that feeling instantaneously disappeared like it was merely a fleeting illusion. Her vision split and connected with the various spirits around her to try and look for the source, but nothing but students filled her fragmented view, which caused her confusion and apprehension to grow.
Winston realized his mistake pretty quickly as he coughed and extended out his hand for a handshake. “I forgot to formally introduce myself this morning! The name’s Winston Champ, but you can just call me Winston.”
“Oh, huh?” Anna blinked her eyes and refocused her gaze before glancing down at his hand and she smiled. “Right. My name is Annabeth Auburn from the Auburn Household. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Oh, a noble, eh?” Winston shook hands with Anna and laughed lightly. “It must be nice, huh? As for me, I’m just a boy from the boonies who’s decent talent at space magic got himself a scholarship at this super cool academy.”
“Decently talented?” A voice interjected their conversation as the two stared at Noel’s figure. “If you’re just talented, then Miss Auburn here would be nothing but an ordinary, no, a below-average mage.”
Huh? Anna thought with a baffled look.
“Oh, Noel, it seems you’re finally awake!” Winston walked forward and poked at Noel’s chest with a grin. “That’s why mages should learn to move around more. Look at me, I’m fine and dandy only after three hours, and I was practically on the verge of death at that point!”
“Hmm, it seems I have been negligent of my physical body and had spent too much time on studying,” Noel murmured as his gaze flickered with understanding. “You’re right, mages should learn to move around more just like you said.”
“Right? Like, imagine if I have no mana! I’m basically a worthless piece of trash in battle when that happens!” Winston laughed heartfully.
Anna, who remained on the sidelines, soon found an opportunity to butt herself into the conversation and warily asked, “Uh, Noel… Is he your classmate?”
There’s no fucking way he and Noel are the “two students from Class 1-A who almost died,” right? First, it was Rob, then now this random guy I bumped into is a super genius?! Don’t tell me that everyone that I bump into in the morning on the way to school will be a super genius like Rob?!
As she slowly freaked out, Noel softly answered, “Yes.”
“Oh, really?” Anna nodded her head calmly on the outside, but inwardly, her mnid was beginning to bubble and burst. Who the fuck are you people?! Why do you guys just keep popping out of nowhere?! I should know you! I should know everyone from Class 1-A, but you were never there in the game!
Don’t tell me I missed such a huge variable like you since the very start?! Anna shrieked as her heart thumped wildly.
“Haha, it’s not that big of a surprise for Noel here to not know me. I’ve been keeping a lowkey attitude since the start of school. Who knows, maybe my mysterious and lowkey aura would finally get me the one,” Winston said longingly with heart-shaped eyes.
“Perhaps a bit too lowkey…,” Anna mumbled dejectedly.
“Probably. Even Noel here didn’t remember my name…” Winston’s smile squirmed as he spoke softly, “Which is just sad.”
“Anyways!” Winston exclaimed. “You guys wanna have lunch?”
…
Sitting around a gorgeous white table, a group of five definite beauties shared a large meal with each other as a warm and serene atmosphere can be felt from the harmonious friends.
“So…” Alice swirled the cup of tea in her hands as she leaned back on her chair with a foxy grin. “Rob, have you ever been in a relationship before? A romantic one?”
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Holly’s movements came to a freezing halt for a split moment before she resumed as usual, but if one looked closely, her pupils dilated for a bit with a slight tremble to her fingers.
“Him?” Elaine almost spat out her drink upon hearing her question. “Don’t make me laugh! He’s a big loner, it’s impossible for him to have been in a relationship!”
“Shut up, you little runt,” Rob said with a mildly annoyed tone and took a sip from his cup of tea. “But yes, I’ve never been in a relationship before.”
“Really?” Kain squinted his eyes doubtfully as he leaned forward and inspected Rob’s face. “With looks like yours?”
“Looks aren’t everything about love, you know. You also have to account for the other person’s personality, behavior, and other various factors that you may find acceptable, compatible with your own personality, or even both.” Rob calmly took a bit off his sandwich packed with meat as he calmly explained the reason for his maidenless past.
“And also, I used to be extremely ugly.”
“Ah… I had heard rumors about your past appearance and your sudden appearance change. Even I find myself doubtful that you’re the same person as before, but a proper physique, skin care, diet, hair, and clothes do significantly alter a person’s image,” Kain agreed with a nod and wore a playful smile.
“If that’s the case, then what’s your type?” Alice asked with a mischievous chuckle as her eyes interlocked with Holly.
Holly silently glared at her, but with her meek appearance and innately kind nature, it was like a cute mouse trying to scare off a cat with its deadly adorable looks.
Rob, the receiver of the question at hand, paused for a moment before resuming as usual. “My type…?”
“Hmm, I never really considered this question, huh?” Rob scratched his chin, furrowed his brows, and hummed thoughtfully. “But if I were to describe a general description, I’d say I’d love a person who’s hardworking, takes proper care of themselves, hopefully physically fit, has some cool hobbies like baking… what else…”
“I guess that’s all I can think on the top of my head.” Rob shrugged his shoulders as he calmly took another sip from his tea.
“An honest answer… respect!” Alice nodded her head and then crossed her arms. “What about you, Holly? What’s your type?”
“M-My type?” Holly’s previously curious face turned to one of shock as the blood flowed straight out of her head and down to her heart. “Uh, uh…”
“Well…”
“Go on,” said Kain teasingly.
“Uhm, my type is…” Holly took a deep breath as she tried to calm her rapidly beating heart. “My type is someone who’s caring, diligent, uh… fit? They should also be smart… intelligent… friendly…. I don’t know! I’ve never cared about this stuff before, okay!”
“Aw, what are you so embarrassed for?” Alice asked with a sneer. “It’s just your type.”
“Urgh…!” Holly silently looked away and just wanted to bury her face deep beneath the ground.
“Hahaha…” Kain laughed at her reaction and wiped away the tears in his eyes. “We’re really sorry about this. We’re usually not this pushy with other people.”
“I don’t mind it that much.” Rob slowly placed his cup of tea on the table and plucked out a fresh purple grape to munch on. “Although I am surprised at how… hmm, what’s the word.”
“Normal we are?” Kain smiled.
“That’s right; normal. I expected you two to be more princely and princessy,” said Rob.
“Oh, that’s all just a facade we use when dealing with publicity and things like that. It’s like a constant struggle between being your true self and keeping up the image the empire needs you to have,” Kain lamented.
“That must be hard,” said Rob.
“Hard? Yes, indeed,” Kain smiled.
“Eh, enough about that! This is a rare time with all five of us right here, I need to milk it all for its worth!” Alice waved her hand and metaphorically clamped Kain’s lips shut.
“Next question, are you open to getting into a relationship?” Alice asked Rob directly without any stepping around the question or asking subtly. No, she asked it straight to the point with a piercing gaze.
“Oh, wow. What a pretty direct question” Rob smacked his lips and tilted his head to the side. “Hmm… Am I open to a relationship?”
Unknowingly, Holly’s ears were already perked up as she stopped breathing completely. She felt as if her heart had stopped beating altogether while her blood turned frozen.
All color was drained away from her face as her mind focused entirely on Rob’s answer.
“Yeah, I’m open for a relationship,” answered Rob casually. “It’s not that strange, right?”
“No, no…” Alice’s gaze swiftly landed on Holly’s quivering figure and she smirked. “What about you, Holly? Are you open to a relationship?”
“Me?” Holly shot straight up from her curled-up position. “I’m… open.”
“Wow!” Elaine, who silently ate and had her fill from the extravagant lunch all this while, took the time to gasp exaggeratedly as she placed her palms on her cheeks and wore a shocked look. “What a coincidence!”
“Right?” Alice snickered. “Maybe one day, you two would find yourselves dating!”
“A-Alice!” Holly stammered hard as her face flushed red.
“A date?” Rob hummed. “Didn’t we already go on a date, Holly?”
“…”
Silence.
Everyone went silent from his sudden question. Even Elaine, who was busily stuffing her face full of food, stopped eating.
“Huh?” Alice was the first one to break the silence as her face morphed into one of sheer shock.
“Rob?” Holly asked next.
“Oh, my bad, I guess we looked at it a little differently.” Rob shook his head and proceeded to take another bite from his meaty sandwich.
“Wait, wait… what do you mean by that?” Kain hurriedly asked.
“Yeah! Since when did you two get on a date?” Elaine added with a glimmer in her eyes.
“Well, back then, around a week ago, we did like a study date at some random cafe since Holly was struggling with history, but it was more like us hanging out so I guess I was wrong to consider it a date.” Rob shrugged his shoulders and continued. “Anyways, I have to go to the bathroom real quick. My bladder is about to explode at this point!”
“You guys eat on without me, and you can eat as much bread as you want. We still have plenty at home, so you guys don’t have to be too conscious about it.” Rob slowly stood up, patted his belly, and walked away to the nearest bathroom stall to pee.
With the four left alone, they had a short moment of silence before they exploded into a full-blown clamor.
“Girl, you have zero game!” Kain shouted in dismay.
“WHAT THE FUCK?! WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR LITTLE STUDY DATE?! IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN OBVIOUS YOU- ARGH!” Alice pulled at her hair.
“ARGH! I’m so angry that my belly hurts so much!” Elaine groaned and grabbed her belly filled to the brim with food.
“Huh? Huh????” Holly mumbled with a dumbfounded look.
“Look, Holly.” Kain grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her awake. “You know what this means, right?”
“W-What do you mean?” Holly asked with a blank stare.
“You’re so stupid, Holly! You don’t even understand what this means!” Alice shrieked and slammed her hand on the table. “It means he knows you have a fucking crush on him! He fucking knew!”
“That’s right! That’s right- Ouch, fuck!” Elaine leaned back on her chair and sweated profusely from the pain coming from her stomach.
“HUHHHHH??!?!?!?! HE KNOWS?!?!?!?” Holly gawked and almost lost consciousness upon hearing Alice’s words.
Amidst the pandemonium of unbridled chaos, Anna, who was eating a hearty lunch with Noel and Winston, nearly fell down to the ground as she felt like she was zapped with a bolt of lightning from the heavens.
Oh, heavenly father… She inwardly prayed. What did I do to deserve this cruel punishment?
CURSE YOU, ROB FORTUNE!