It was just when Violette and Yulan had started studying for their exams.
He and Violette were studying side by side, chatting and laughing, and it was nothing short of bliss for him.
The way she stroked the paper, the way she answered without hesitation. The way she put the head of the pen to her lips. Her eyebrows furrowed, her cheeks puffed out a little, and then she smiled, her mystery solved.
Resolute beauty. The innocence of a child tackling a riddle. The smile of a child who has had her questions answered. Studying with Violette, looking at her expression from side to side, was as calm as working in the background music.
If it was such a fun study session, he would like to do it every day, even if it was not the test period.
He was sure he would get a perfect score.
But that was just Yulan’s side of the story.
“Hm…? Do you have something you don’t understand?”
“…yes, could you please teach me how to do this?”
“That’s a trick question. If you read it carefully, you will find the answer.”
Yulan pointed to the appropriate question and Violette turned her attention to it. Of course, he didn’t want to ignore her explanation. He memorised every word, but kept what he really wanted to ask to himself.
——Vio-chan, is there anyone willing to teach you?
He knew the answer without hearing one. He knew that Violette didn’t know many third graders, and it was easy to imagine …… who she could borrow test questions from.
He felt angry just thinking about someone other than himself sitting next to Violette and studying with her.
Yulan was being helped by Violette and he was helpless to help her in return.
He has never regretted being younger so much in his life. He was sure that tomorrow he would want to be in the same class as her, and sometimes he was glad that he was younger than her. In the end, he wanted to be in a position where he could help Violette.
And now, it seemed to be the time of envy. As a first year student, Violette could teach him, but he couldn’t teach her.
It was true that he felt a twinge of regret, but regret wouldn’t get him anywhere.”
He couldn’t just sit back and watch while knowing that he was doing something good for Violette.
“What are you worried about?”
“You’re scaring me with your lack of expression.”
Gia was sure the reason for the unsympathetic tone of voice and the dumbfounded look in Yulan’s eyes. There was only one reason why Yulan couldn’t fix his face.
“Vio-san would be surprised if she sees you with that kind of expression.”
“I’d never make that kind of mistake.”
It was break time now, and there was a good number of people left in the classroom. Do you think those eyes don’t matter, or do you think it doesn’t matter if they see you as not impressive …… Probably the latter.
Those who knew the usual Yulan may be surprised to see him, but even that will be supplemented by a gap or something. That’s how popular Yulan was.
“So, what’s troubling you after all? Did something happen to the princess?”
“I thought you stopped calling her that.”
“You get annoyed whenever I call her Vio-san…I’ll just address her in this manner when she’s not present.”
Although Yulan was not aware of it, it seems that when he called Violette by her nickname, her eyes became stern.
It was completely unconscious, more of a reflex, but if he improved it, there was no need for him to stop. He didn’t condone others calling the princess by her name either. He didn’t want to lose the specialness of a nickname that only he called her. He was annoyed enough to think so. It was narrow-minded, but Yulan’s kindness had always been focused on Violette, and Gia didn’t want to pursue it now. Or rather, there was no point in trying.
“Gia, do you happen to know anyone in the Third Yea… never mind.”
“Hey, at least wait for my answer…I don’t though.”
“As if you’d be acquainted with someone when even I’m not.”
He had a lot of opportunities to interact with his classmates and peers, so it was easy to get used to him, but fundamentally, Gia’s appearance made him stand out from the rest of the school.
Yulan was also conspicuous, but not to the extent of Gia.
“I mean, Yulan knows a couple of people. The one up you deceive on the outside with.”
“I didn’t deceive them. They just misunderstood things by themselves.”
“It’s all about how you phrase it.”
“Isn’t it natural to use social graces to make a good first impression?”
“It’s a bit of a mess…….”
He thought the problem was that there was nothing wrong with what he was saying. It was a waste of energy to tell someone who had no intention of changing their ways.
It was more important to return the topic that had been sidetracked so many times before.
“What’s happening to the third years?”
“They have a test coming up, so…”
“Where’s the context dammit?”
Of course Gia knew that the test was coming up soon. He may have a loose demeanour and a lively appearance, but as a prince, there were certain scores that he needed to get, at least. Whether or not Gia was conscious of it, he was not sure.
The question was, what did this test have to do with the fact that Yulan was looking for someone he knew in the third grade?
Gia looked at him like he didn’t understand, and Yulan looked at him like he was an idiot.
With a sigh, he opened his heavy mouth and began to explain, as if he had no choice.
“I’m looking for someone to lend Vio some test questions, but I can’t find anyone who’s worthy.”
He only interacted with upperclassmen that had a connection to Violette. Basically, unlike those in his class, he didn’t go out of his way to interact with people in other grades unless they were associates of Violette.
Violette was famous in a different way from Gia and Yulan, and was often kept at a distance. Violette had always been able to see what was good and what was bad for her, and had always been able to get rid of them.
In other words, all of Yulan’s acquaintances and predecessors were people who had some kind of feelings for Violette. There was no way that Yulan would choose to let such an insecurity factor get in the way of his precious treasure.
But that also meant he had no one to rely on in this predicament.
The expression on Yulan’s face was beyond grumpy. Gia’s brows wrinkled, but knowing Yulan, once he dismissed the matter, he wouldn’t say anything about it even if Gia were to question him persistently.
It was not until the day after Violette’s study session that Gia found out what Yulan had been thinking.