With his stationery and arithmetic materials, Beret moved to his first-period classroom.
“Hey, sit over here. You’re looking for a seat, right?”
“Eh? Ah… yeah.”
Beret was looking for an empty seat when Elena, sitting all alone at the back, suddenly gestured for him to join her.
“What a lackluster response. Are you unhappy with sitting next to me during class?”
“No, it’s not that, just… it’s strange, that’s all.”
Beret was dumbfounded as he didn’t have any memories of Elena speaking like this to him.
“You know, I don’t want to hear that from you, who suddenly changed his attitude towards Shia.”
“Haha, that’s true.” With his mind preoccupied with where to sit, being invited like this made Beret really happy. As he accepted her invitation and sat next to her, the scent of jasmine perfume that Elena was wearing reached his nose.
“Hey, Elena. I know it’s a bit late to ask now, but…”
“What?”
“Don’t you have any friends?”
“!” At that instant, she tensed up and widened her purple eyes.
“Come to think of it… well, I didn’t really pay attention, but you’re always attending classes and moving classes alone.”
“Nnn.” Perhaps because Beret had hit the mark, but Elena let out an almost voiceless sound and blushed, embarrassed.
“In the end, what are you trying to say?”
“It’s a genuine question. You’re always approached by various people every day, and it’s not like you’re hated like I am.”
“That’s… not sarcastic, is it…”
“Of course not.”
Beret knew Elena was popular. She was even nicknamed “Princess Benihana” due to her beautiful red hair and appearance.
“I mean, I’m not in a position to be sarcastic about it.”
“Oh! Haha, that’s true.”
“You’re laughing too much.”
“S- sorry. Maybe because I’ve never heard it, but it’s amusing to hear that from you. Your self-deprecation is quite funny.”
“Well, thanks.” It wasn’t really a pleasant compliment. Beret rolled his eyes and prompted her to continue, saying, “So?”
Elena exhaled softly, her expression turning serious again. “… Well, to be honest, there aren’t many people I would call friends. Many are afraid of the Earl’s name, so I can count the number of friends I have at this academy on one hand. That being said, those friends aren’t privileged.”
“I see.”
Not being privileged meant that they weren’t from noble families.
“It’s unusual for a noble, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, that’s right. On the other hand, it means that you didn’t want to make friends with nobles. Or rather, you never tried to.”
“You’re really smart, aren’t you?” Elena smiled, as if to say that he was correct. “Yes, you’re right. I don’t want to make any friends here because they all go against the academy’s motto. I didn’t want to say it because you’re from that side too.”
“Is that so? What’s the motto again?”
“You’ll be surprised. It’s ‘All students are equal.’”
“I see.”
“…Wait, it means that even if I’m from an Earl family and you’re from a Marquis family, we’re both just regular students now.”
“Well, that’s how it is.”
“…”
“…”
Elena didn’t expect that reaction and fell silent.
After a few seconds…
“W-Wait. Is that all? Don’t you have any problems? Rebel against it like everyone else.”
“No, why should I?”
“Wh- what… To put it bluntly, it’s like you’ve been stripped of your status. That means that ordinary students can call you Beret, you know?”
“At school, right? Then there’s no problem.”
“I- I see…”
“After all, it’s our parents who are important, not us. Those who resist within the school are probably people who don’t want to admit that.”
“Wh- why?… Why do you agree with me!?” Elena usually had a confident and assertive voice, but because she was confused, her voice was cute and squishy.
Oh, I see… I’m Beret. It’s no wonder she was surprised when I said something like that, considering the bad reputation I have. I forgot because I was expressing my opinion.
“Ah, you… you… you’re lying when you said that because you want to be friends with me. I won’t fall for such an obvious lie.”
“No, really. I just think that there shouldn’t be any hierarchy between us in the academy. It just gets in the way of learning.”
“W- well… that’s true,” Elena muttered softly, her pupils trembling. She seemed lost for words. “No, your words are still a lie. Because they contradict.”
“Contradict?”
“Yeah. You’ve been using Shia at the Academy. You make her get lunch for you every day.”
“Oh, well…” That’s true. At first, Beret had just been thinking casually, but he was now desperately trying to think of a non-contradictory excuse, and he quickly found one.
“Well, there are a lot of nobles enrolled in this academy, right? And there are many students like Shia, who are both servants and students. Many disagree with the motto of ‘All students are equal’. If I let Shia do as she pleased, how would they view her?”
“Ah…”
Yes, Shia would be seen as lucky. Especially since they were also servants, just like Shia, there was a possibility that the jealousy could turn into resentment.
“Well, I decided to let Shia be free starting today because everyone knows how tough I’ve been on her. Naturally, it will just be seen as ‘good for you’, and with this foundation and my personality, it’s hard to imagine she would get any enemies.” I can’t believe I can speak so naturally about something I just came up with… Beret was surprised to hear himself say it. I appreciate Beret’s intelligence.
“Ah, you’ve thought that far… I mean, if you know that, there’s no way bad rumors would have spread.”
“Rumors spread even when things that don’t even exist are exaggerated, no? That’s probably it.” Actually, it’s not true. Beret did a lot of things I didn’t like. Such frustrating feelings were contained in his heart.
“Indeed… There’s some truth to that.”
“But I created the seeds of the rumors and attacked them for things I didn’t like, so it couldn’t be helped.” Beret couldn’t really summarize the story in a way that made it look good. He could only get away with it because he was having a one-on-one conversation with Elena.
“So, did you believe that I wasn’t lying here?”
“Eh, yeah… I guess so. I can’t believe it though.”
“That’s a confusing answer.” For now, Beret was relieved that there wouldn’t be any complications with Elena talking to him as a classmate. “Well, how can I put it, it’s so Elena-like. You don’t care about your position. No wonder you have few noble friends and Shia is so attached to you.”
“I’m just surprised. I didn’t know you were on our side. I thought you’d be angry…” Elena said, nervously touching the choker around her neck.
Ding dong ding dong.
The school bell rang just at the right time, and the classroom door opened. And then, the teacher, who might have been waiting in the hallway, came in and said, “Good morning, everyone. Please turn to page 129.”
The lesson was starting.
“Oh, thanks. Beret… I feel a little better now.”
“Hmm? What?”
“…It’s about what you told me earlier.”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
The two of them whispered for a little while.