“…I didn’t think it would be this bad.” These words seemed to slip out of Beret’s mouth unintentionally in the classroom. As soon as he entered the classroom, he noticed several things.
First, his classmates, who were chatting happily, fell silent. Second, no one was making eye contact with him. Third, when he took a seat, an invisible wall that prevented anyone from getting close to him seemed to have formed. No one wanted to get involved with him. It was clear that they were trying not to be noticed by him.
Sigh… This is really getting to me. How could Beret-kun, the cause of all this, be okay with it… I don’t understand. Beret’s goal was to live quietly, avoid causing trouble, and let the bad rumors die down by themselves, but given the current situation, it seemed like he didn’t even have to give it much consideration.
…
While Beret was alone and overwhelmed by loneliness…
“Hey, hey. No way… Over there, over there! Elena-sama is there!”
“Come on, don’t make jokes like that and get our hopes up.”
“No, I’m serious. Look, over there!”
“…Wow.”
“Hey, don’t get charmed the moment you see her…”
A girl was attracting a lot of attention as they passed through the main gate of the school.
“Hmm… I’m late today,” the girl muttered as she looked at the large wall clock embedded in the school building. She was Elena Leclerc, a 3rd year high school student like Beret. She had bright red hair that reached down to her waist, sharp purple eyes, a well-defined nose, and thin pink lips. She wore a black choker around her slender neck. She was the daughter of an earl, belonging to the upper class of nobles, but she was not arrogant because of her status, so she was loved and trusted by many people.
With her beautiful appearance and good personality, she once again drew envious glances as she entered the school building and walked toward her classroom.
That was when Elena’s purple eyes widened as she saw her friend and called out to her. “Oh, good morning, Shia. What a coincidence.”
“Ah! Good morning, Elena-sama.” Yes, that friend was Beret’s maid, Shia. Elena greeted her with a smile, and Shia, wiping her washed hands with a handkerchief, ran over to her.
Although they seemed to have no connection at first glance as Shia was a maid of a duke’s family and Elena was the daughter of an earl, they often met at noble events outside school, such as during banquets. Shia was pure and Elena didn’t care about status, so they got along well and trusted each other.
“You seem to have come to school a little later than usual today.”
“Yes. Actually, I was helping my younger brother with his problems. That’s why I got here late.”
“Oh, I see. I hope I can be relied on like you someday… Oh, nothing…”
“What are you talking about? You’re being relied on every day.”
“T- t- t- that’s not true. I’m not that great.” Shia vigorously denied, waving her hands. Seeing Shia trying so hard, Elena put her hand over her mouth elegantly, narrowing her eyes in amusement.
“Fufu, talking to you really cheers me up. I have to be grateful that you went to pick flowers at just the right time.”
“Eh? Huh? Why would you say that…”
“But the bathroom is in this direction, and you’re wiping your hands with a handkerchief.”
“Ah…” Shia, who was usually teased, had paper-thin defense when it came to embarrassing topics. Her face turned bright red, and she hurriedly put the handkerchief in her pocket, trying to hide the evidence. “Geez… Don’t say such things in the hallway… What if a guy hears you?”
“Fufu, I’m sorry. It was so unusual that I couldn’t help it. You’re a reliable person, but you were walking while wiping your hands. Did something happen?”
“Y- Yes. Actually, something really good happened this morning, and I got distracted…”
“Huh? You’re so happy about what happened to you that you got distracted enough to forget to wipe your hands?”
“T- that’s right,” Shia replied immediately, her blue eyes sparkling.
“You look like you want to let me listen to you. Go ahead.”
“Thank you!”
Elena bent down a little as if she was taking care of a younger sister, and Shea started speaking. “W- well, you see, this morning, Beret-sama praised me! He said ‘You’re doing a great job’ and ‘Thank you as always’ and things like that.”
“Huh?”
“I’m glad that I’ve worked hard until now. I feel really happy thinking about it… ehehe.” Shia put her hands on her cheeks and relaxed her face. She had a blissful expression. She had never been praised or appreciated for her hard work before, so it was no wonder that she was so excited and elated.
“Wait a minute, Shia. Let me check again. Beret… praised you? That Beret?”
“Yes! As a reward for my hard work, he said that I could do whatever I want during my lunch break.
“Hmm?” Elena had also heard of the bad rumors about Beret, but Shia, his maid, was refuting all of them with a smile on her face.
“Ah, that’s not all. It’s embarrassing, but… I accidentally broke a cup that Beret-sama treasured…”
“S- so what happened?”
“Beret-sama picked up the broken pieces for me so I wouldn’t cut my finger. He said, ‘I’ll take the blame for breaking it’ to protect me.”
“…”
“I feel nervous thinking back on it…”
“…” Hearing Shia’s passionate voice, Elena felt overwhelmed. Beret’s weird behavior and all the information she was getting was too much for her to handle. Wh- What the hell is happening…? What the hell is Beret thinking? Shia’s story had caused her to feel extremely doubtful.