Liliana looked at Sarah, wanting to cry but having no tears. For the first time, she felt that this overly calm, glasses-wearing girl was actually a devil.
About a few minutes later.
More and more people filed into the classroom. The sound of chairs scraping, books being flipped open, and classmates greeting each other blended together, forming the buzzing background noise unique to mornings.
Liliana slumped onto her desk, covering her head with a notebook, trying to empty her mind in the last few minutes before the teacher arrived.
However—
The classroom door was pushed open.
Sunlight poured in from outside, illuminating the figure standing at the doorway.
Pale golden spiral twin-tails, emerald-green eyes, and delicate doll-like features, wearing a pristine, neatly pressed white Magic Department uniform.
Loris von Aldheim.
She stood at the doorway, her expression exactly the same as usual.
Arrogant, cold, and utterly dismissive.
It was as if nothing had happened yesterday.
The classroom instantly fell silent.
The air seemed to freeze, and even the sound of flipping pages vanished.
Dozens of eyes lingered on Loris for a split second before snapping away in unison. Some lowered their heads to read, some pretended to chat with their desk partners, and others stared at their fingers as if a flower had suddenly bloomed on them.
But without exception, every single one of them was watching Loris out of the corners of their eyes.
Loris walked into the classroom at a leisurely pace. The crisp clicking of her leather shoes against the stone floor echoed step by step, as if treading directly on everyone's heartbeats.
Her gaze swept across the classroom.
That look of hers was no different from usual—as if she were looking at a bunch of irrelevant objects.
A few girls steeled themselves, stood up, walked over to her, and bowed slightly.
“Good day, Miss Loris.”
“Good day.”
“You look beautiful today as well.”
Loris's gaze fell on the first girl who spoke, lingering for less than half a second before shifting away.
“Mm,” she replied coldly, as if merely completing an unavoidable step in some noble social etiquette.
The girls were clearly accustomed to this treatment. Having paid their respects, they tactfully retreated.
Everything was as usual.
Loris walked down the aisle between the rows of desks. The stealthy glances snapped back the moment she drew near, only to follow her once more after she passed.
She walked to her seat, pulled out her chair, and sat down.
Her movements were fluid and natural, without a single unnecessary pause.
Then, she pulled out a book, flipped to where they had left off yesterday, placed her quill on the desk, and lightly twirled it between her fingers.
And that was it.
She simply sat there quietly, waiting for class to start.
It was as if the event that had sent the entire academy into an uproar yesterday was nothing more than stepping on a fallen leaf to her—not worth a second glance, not worth a moment of thought, and certainly not worth keeping on her mind.
The atmosphere in the classroom shifted subtly.
Some exchanged glances that seemed to say, “See? I told you so.”
Others sighed silently, their sighs conveying, “As expected of the villainous daughter, something like this is nothing to her.”
There were also those—mostly the girls who usually hovered around Loris—who wore expressions of “just as I thought.” It seemed Loris's attitude had confirmed some speculation in their minds, though they themselves couldn't quite articulate what that speculation was.
Fiona watched this scene from a distance, her lips pressed into a thin line.
Leaning in close to Sarah's ear, she whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, “Look at her. It's like nothing even happened.”
Sarah pushed up her glasses. “To her, nothing did happen.”
“But she toyed with Liliana like that!”
“To her, it might really be nothing.” Sarah's voice was calmly detached.
Fiona was left somewhat speechless.
“...I guess so,” she muttered at last.
Liliana sat in her seat, separated from Loris's by less than half a meter.
She sat up straight with her hands on her lap, her eyes fixed on the open textbook in front of her. From a distance, she looked as if she were diligently preparing for today's lesson.
But Fiona noticed that Liliana's textbook wasn't even open to the page they were supposed to cover next.
Moreover, her ears were flushed with an unnatural shade of pink.
...
Liliana's heart had been far from peaceful from the moment Loris stepped into the classroom.
She didn't dare look up.
Not because she was afraid—well, maybe a little afraid—but because she didn't know what kind of expression she should use to face Loris.
Anger? Resentment? Confusion? Or...
She didn't want to think about it anymore.
She kept her eyes glued to the textbook, pretending the words on the page were the most fascinating thing in the world. But though she recognized every single word, she couldn't make any sense of them when they were put together.
When Loris sat down, a faint fragrance wafted over, like the sweet scent of flower petals damp with morning dew.
That scent.
And Loris didn't look at her (because she was very nervous as well), never turning her head once from the moment she entered the classroom to when she sat down, which made Liliana feel a bit complicated.
On one hand, she was relieved—she wouldn't have to face Loris's sarcasm right away, wouldn't be put on the spot under everyone's gaze, and wouldn't have to swallow her grievance or anger to squeeze out the words “it's fine.”
On the other hand, she felt an indescribable awkwardness.
She found herself completely unable to decipher the logic behind Loris's actions.
Loris sat beside her, looking exactly as she did on any other day.
She had walked to her desk, taken off the canvas bag slung over her shoulder, pulled out her chair, and sat down.
Her movements were fluid and natural, as if it were just another ordinary day.
Then, she took her textbook, notebook, quill, and inkwell out of her bag, arranging them neatly on the desk one by one.
Exactly the same as usual.
Not a single thing was different.
“...”
The air in the classroom was incredibly tense.
In short, Liliana's mind was a chaotic mess.
She wanted to say something.
Good morning.
Or, about yesterday—
No, yesterday's matter absolutely could not be brought up.
Then what should she say?
Wouldn't it be weird to say nothing at all?
But if she did say something, wouldn't that be even weirder?
Miss Loris looked so calm, which meant she probably didn't care about yesterday at all, right?
She was just bullying me.
Yes, that was it.
She was just trying to humiliate me in the most embarrassing way possible.
I can't let it show. I can't let her think I care, and I can't let her think she succeeded...
But—
Just then, Loris suddenly turned her head.
Her emerald-green eyes looked at her.
Liliana's heart leaped into her throat.
“...”
She wanted to look away, but her body refused to cooperate.
Those emerald-green eyes stared at her, as calm as a still lake, showing no trace of emotional fluctuation.
Then, Loris's gaze drifted downward.
It landed on her hand.
Liliana followed her gaze—
Her right hand was resting on the cap of her inkwell, her fingers unconsciously twisting it. But the cap had already been loosened; the inkwell was tilting, and the deep blue ink had risen to the very brim. If it tilted even a fraction more, it would spill all over the desk.
“Ah—”
She hurriedly reached out to steady it.
But someone was faster.
Loris's hand reached over, her slender fingers grasping the inkwell and steadily setting it upright, placing it back securely on the desk.
Her movement was clean and swift.
The deep blue ink sloshed slightly at the brim, but not a single drop spilled.
“...” Liliana was speechless.
“You can't even hold an inkwell steady?”
Loris's voice drifted down from above, carrying a hint of laziness as if she had been rehearsing this for a long time. “Or perhaps—”
She paused.
Liliana stiffly raised her head.
Loris's face was less than an arm's length away.
A slightly different look emerged in those emerald-green eyes, a faint, subtle smile that Liliana couldn't quite decipher. “—you are thinking about something you shouldn't, preparing to take revenge for yesterday?”
“...!”
Liliana's face instantly burned hot.
“N-No, I'm not!”
Revenge? How would she even do that? Could she play an even worse prank?
In the first place, she had never even considered such a thing. Why did Loris suddenly strike up a conversation? Could it be...
Could she still... be planning to tease her?
But there were no outsiders here this time, and Waldenburg wasn't around either. The events of yesterday were just too chaotic in her head.
“I wasn't thinking about anything... nothing at all. I was just looking at my textbook... Yes, my textbook...”
Liliana lowered her head, staring intently at the open textbook, though it was open to yesterday's page and not today's lesson—she was simply too distracted to notice.
Loris did not withdraw her hand.
Her fingers were still resting on the inkwell, her fingertips less than two centimeters away from the back of Liliana's hand.
This proximity made it completely impossible for Liliana to concentrate.
“Your textbook?”
Loris's voice rang out again, closer this time. Though there was a barely perceptible trace of tension in her tone, as if she herself was struggling to maintain her composure, she had already decided to throw caution to the wind.
Liliana didn't notice, for she, too, was already in a state of utter panic.
At that moment, Liliana's peripheral vision caught Loris's profile—she turned her head, her golden hair cascading down and brushing against the desk.
“Are you sure you're looking at today's lesson?”
“...”
Liliana glanced down.
Page thirty-seven.
But today they were supposed to cover Chapter Three.
Her mind went completely blank, her embarrassment reaching its absolute peak.
“I-I opened to the wrong page... Thank you for reminding me...”
She frantically flipped through the pages, the paper rustling loudly. She flipped too far, turned back, and then went too far again.
In her sheer panic, she couldn't find the beginning of Chapter Three no matter how she flipped, having no idea which page it was on.
“Heh.”
A very soft chuckle came from above.
Liliana's fingers froze on the page.
She didn't dare look up.
Because she knew that if she looked up now, she would definitely see that expression on Loris's face—the one that made her heart race, her brain short-circuit, and rendered her completely unable to think straight.
“Chapter Three,” Loris's voice suddenly regained its usual arrogant, commanding tone. “Page forty-seven.”
“...Eh?”
“Turn your textbook to page forty-seven.”
Liliana blanked for a moment, then quickly flipped to page forty-seven.
Chapter Three.
The title was clearly visible.
“T-Thank you...”
Her voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz.
Loris didn't reply. She withdrew her hand, turned back, picked up her quill, and wrote a few words in her notebook. Her movements were calm, as if nothing had just happened. But in reality, the tips of Loris's ears were slightly red.
Just a tiny bit.
It was impossible to notice unless one looked very closely.
Perhaps she had misseen. Yes, she must have. After this exchange, Liliana realized that Loris really did seem to enjoy teasing her.
And yet, she would still... help her like this.
Could it be that Waldenburg was just like Alden?
Approaching her with some hidden motive, or perhaps using some scheme to deliberately get close to her? After all, the incident at the cafe was still fresh in her mind.
That boy named Alden had deliberately put on a generous front, and Loris, seemingly knowing his bottom line, had staged a brilliant performance right before her eyes.
The incident yesterday afternoon was also very sudden... With this line of thought, Liliana suddenly felt that maybe Waldenburg really did have some hidden agenda. Otherwise, why would he behave that way?
Wild thoughts swirled in her mind.
Steam practically billowed from her head because the more she thought about it, the clearer it became.
Well, she could only take a deep breath and pull her attention back to her textbook. If that was truly the case, everything would eventually come to light. Liliana felt that it was best to leave things at that for now... There was a very high probability, she thought, a very high probability that Miss Loris was not a bad person.
She was willing to believe—at least, for now.
Five minutes later.
The class bell rang.
The chatter in the classroom gradually subsided as the students returned to their seats and opened their textbooks.
Liliana did her best to keep her expression looking normal.
She sat with her back perfectly straight, her hands placed neatly on the desk, her eyes fixed on the very first line of the textbook.
But her peripheral vision betrayed her, drifting to the side.
Loris was also sitting perfectly upright.
Exactly as she always did, she was someone Liliana secretly emulated, given how impeccably proper her etiquette was.
The classroom's front door was pushed open.
Elena walked in as the instructor. She glanced at the two individuals involved. Although this matter had spread like wildfire among the students, primarily among the freshmen, Elena had only heard about the rumors in the office this morning.
Looking at the two of them in her class, she sighed and decided to leave it alone.
After all, judging by the atmosphere right now, there didn't seem to be any conflict between them.
Loris was holding her pen and looking down at her book, but in reality, her face was slightly flushed and her leg was fidgeting. Liliana was not doing any better, her hands clutching her skirt under the desk. However, neither of them noticed the other's state.
Elena kept a mental note to see if Liliana would come find her this afternoon. In truth, this whole situation was just a massive misunderstanding.
“Let's begin class.”
...
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