“…Prepare an apology gift for Irene right away.”

“No, before anything else, why don’t you just apologize to His Highness?”

After the alteration between Bruno and the others in the cafeteria, Silver escorted me to the classroom.

In front of the bulletin board, where the results of the regular exams were posted, Irene—who made that fuss in the cafeteria earlier—raised a finger.

“Look, my stepbrother is number two!”

…Apparently, Irene had many friends. Around her were several female students who seemed to be from the same grade. Seemingly fascinated by Bruno, they were all equally happy.

—Even though it’s only been a week since she was enrolled.

By the way, during the altercation, she was the first to run away crying. “Stepbrother, you idiot—!” Afterwards, she could be seen being comforted by the other female students who were waiting for her.

A transfer student who enrolled in the middle of the school year. Moreover, she was formerly a commoner. Her being shunned or gossiped about wouldn’t have been strange, but in reality, she had friends who wholeheartedly supported her… Honestly, I was envois of her social skills.

“…Milady, you don’t have any decent friends, do you?”

“…Who are you to speak?”

“Well, that’s because I got rid of everyone with ulterior motives.”

“Eh?”

…Before I could ask him to clarify, lunch break ended.

During afternoon classes… Of course, Silver had to attend the servant’s classes, so I was all alone. That afternoon was a special class for all grades. The girls would be making sweets, while the boys had equestrian lessons. The class itself advocated learning about the world and interacting with each other instead of studying.

Then, as I did my best to cook with other students—

“—Whoops!”

A whip cream cake flew at my face.

…It doesn’t hurt, at least.

Still, my face must’ve been caked with cream.

I instinctively licked my lips, savoring the richness of the fresh cream.

…Should I get mad or just laugh it off?

After all, the one who hurled the cake in my face was none other than Irene—the bubbly, pink-haired, transfer student.

I showed a faint smile.

“It’s alright.”

“Huuuh? Shouldn’t you be saying, ‘Hawawa~’?”

“…”

—Is she picking a fight?

Apparently, rumors were circulating about me being a Burikko exclusive to the prince. While a lot of students chuckled at her remarks, the majority were puzzled.

Since even if I was like this, I was still a candidate for crown princess. Not to mention, she was a commoner.

Even if I lacked friends, it simply meant that I hadn’t opened up to anyone else before, so it wasn’t a problem. Moreover, even if we were both the daughters of dukes, there was still a huge difference in credibility.

…Does she even realize that?

To me, who was silent, Irene whispered:

“Hey, as a villainess, you should act like one and bully me.”

“What…?”

However, I never got an answer to that.

She quickly left, but not before clasping her hands and apologizing. By the way, she stuck out her tongue, too…

“What the hell is a ‘villainess’?”

“…Who told you that?”

In a deserted hallway, right after the afternoon class… When I told Silver, who had rejoined me before my after-school appointment, “It’s Irene…” He unusually frowned.

“…Milady, might I join you and Lord Bruno?”

For some reason, I was off to meet with Bruno so he could help me study.

…Even though I don’t have any trouble studying.

Nevertheless, after he insisted that I was bad at accounting, I ended up asking him to teach me after school.

Either way, I had been wanting to put an end to his Yandere transformation.  In fact, I firmly promised I would.

…That’s why, if I were to say to Silver, “I can’t do it without you,” he’d die laughing.

In fact, even though my reply only came slightly late, he still grinned.

“Will you worry if I’m not there?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“It’s fine, you know? It’s fine even if you were to say, ‘I can’t be without you.’”

“Who’d say that?”

“Well then, how lonely.”

“Eh?”

When I pondered what he meant, he gently caressed my ear.

My shoulders tensed at the ticklish sensation, eliciting a laugh from Silver.

“If you had called for me, I’d have helped you clean.”

—Was there some whip cream left?!

Even though I had wiped my face with a damp towel and changed into a spare uniform…

Silver licked his finger and muttered, “How sweet.” before casually shrugging and speaking in a dead serious expression.

“I’ll deal with her.”

---

***T/N: A reincarnator?! Classic!

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