âIs that it? Anything else you would like to add?â
ââŚâŚâ
âIf thereâs none then okay sure.â
This is awkwardâŚ
Iâm not used to this silence since Iâm with my extroverted friends all the time.
However, fortunately, this awkward silence ended quickly.
âIâm sorry Iâm late, Sio.â
Now thatâs what I call perfect timing!
Youâre such a life savior, professor!
âCould you please take off your shirt?â
Sio then gave me a menacing look, implicitly conveying this sentenceâŚ
Go away creep!
âŚAinât he so cold-hearted?
Iâll leave now, okay? Bye~
âProfessor, Iâll take my leave now.â
Well, didnât I promise him that I would leave once the professor comes back?
And promises should be kept.
I then bid my farewell to Sio and left the infirmary.
I went back to the haunted house as per my original goal, which is to find Sibel, but I still couldnât find him anywhere.
I think something must be going on with both of them, Sio and Sibel. What a coincidence, truly⌠How come these two were in the same place at the same time?
Did Sibel intentionally went to find Sio?
Ugh⌠I think I shouldnât think too much about this incident.
I donât think itâs gonna be a good thing.
âThere she is!â
âMarilyn!â
Walking through the crowded campus, I lifted my head when I heard familiar voices from a distance.
âGuys!â
Ahh, my dear friends! Iâm so glad to see all of you today!
âWeâre having a matchmaking party!â
Babump!
What did you say?
âA matchmaking party~? With whom, where, when?!â
âJust us! Me, Emily, and Violet!â
âWhy is Lara not included?â
âLariensa isnât interested in these kinds of things.â
Come to think of it, Lariensa said she isnât interested in men. I donât really plan on dating a guy here either. But stillâŚ
âWhat about me?â
Why exclude me out naturally?
âDonât you already have a lover who gives you soooo many gifts?â
âI donât really have a lover!â
âTraitor. You didnât even tell us.â
âThere really isnât anything going on!â
âAnyway, you still canât go.â
âThis is not fair!â
âLariensa isnât also included, so itâs not like youâre the only one whoâs being left out here.â
âHmph, you guys are so meanâŚâ
I canât believe you left me out of this matchmaking party so naturally! Whether Iâll be able to date a man or not, itâs still so upsetting!
âMarini ish sho upshet! (Iâm so upset!)â
âAre you trying to court death?â
ââŚNo.â
Donât you know Mr. Gatekeeper liked it so much that he went as red as a tomato?
However, judging by the fierce looks of my friends, I better stop at this point.
âWhatâs wrong with it, guys? She was so cute.â
Lara took my side in tears. Oh, my baby. As expected, youâre the only one who understands me.
âAwww, Marin. Are yu upshet? (Are you upset?)â
âYeang, leaving Marin out fhor da paty⌠you guysh arr sho mean! (Yeah, leaving me out for the party⌠you guys are so mean!)â
Violet lifted a thick book entitled <Only the Faithful becomes Rich> in an aggressive manner.
I can still ignore Violet but seeing Emily clench her fists, I think I should really stop for real now.
âI want to see more of Marinâs cutesy skits, thoughâŚâ
âWhen we go back to the dorm, Iâll do it for you. If I continue to do this, these guys would really kill me.â
Lariensa laughed at my words. But it wasnât the usual carefree laugh.
Should I say⌠it was suspicious?
âSorry, Marin.â
âAbout what?â
âYou wonât be able to relax when we go back to the dorm.â
âHuh?â
Lariensa lowered her head and released her hand that was holding me.
Suddenly, I felt a huge shadow cast behind me.
When I looked back, my friends were glaring at me straight in the eyes.
In that moment of silence, Violet forcefully commanded the others.
âTake her in.â
Hey, guys? Why are you tying my wrists? Where did that rope even come from?
âYou have the right to remain silent, but if you exercise your right to remain silent, you are obliged to give all the meat you will eat to Emily.â
âWhat?â
âAnything you say can and will be used against you in the dormitory, and you have no right to an attorney."
âIs that even written in the law?â
âItâs right here.â
âLara! Lara! Please! Help me out!â
Restrained by Emily, I reached out to Lara for help.
ButâŚ
âMarin, you shouldnât have done that.â
âLaraâŚâ
âHow could you do this to meâŚ!â
Whatâs this feeling? Why does it feel like Iâm an unfaithful man whoâs been having a secret love affair with someone?!
âItâs not like that, Lara! Lara!â
Despite my excuses, my friends dragged me to the dormitory.
ďź ďź ďź
âNow, tell us! What were all those gifts? Since when did you make a lover?â
Violet hit the table hard.
After suffering terrible mental torture, my head was hung low.
âIs it from Sibel? Is that it? Am I right?â
ââŚNo.â
Next to me, Lariensa then asked me with hopeful eyes.
âSo are those gifts from my brother?â
âEyy, even though the subsidies Lycan receives are enormous, isnât it unreasonable for him to buy that many gifts just for her?â
Natalieâs rebuttal left Lariensa sullen again.
Violet clicked her tongue.
âLet me ask you again. Who was it that sent you all those presents this morning?â
âT-thatâsâŚ!â
âI donât think youâve come to your senses yet. Emily, do the thing again.â
It was a time of torture again. Natalie hugged me from behind so I couldnât move, all the while Emily was getting ready to put her hand between my armpits.
And⌠with her unrelenting handsâŚ
âEUHEHEHHAHAAHAHA!â
She tickled me!
âI canât watch thisâŚ!â
Lariensa turned her head away from the scene with tears in her eyes.
Except for Lara, these devilish friends of mine seemed to enjoy torturing me.
Eventually, I decided to confess.
âOkay, okay! Iâll confess! EUHAHHA! Just stop, please!â
Only by saying that Iâd confess was I freed from this torture.
âNow, tell us! Who gave you all those presents?â
In the end, I had no choice but to tell them the truth.
The fact that I ran into Sibel in the clock tower on that day, and got a little closer to him.
âItâs Laraâs birthday, and she received so many presents from Lycan that I said I was jealous since I donât get to receive that many presents.â
I canât tell the complete truth, so I added a little bit of a lie.
Although, it was true that I envied Lara.
âMarin! Donât you know that the presents I received are also yours?â
Lara hugged me tight.
Everything was fine up to here butâŚ
âSo youâre not having a love affair with that guy, right?â
Since when did Sibel become âthat guyâ to you?
âLariensa, you still donât understand? Marilyn denies it, but in truth, theyâre in love.â
âNo, that canât be! That is not possible!â
Lara? Why are you looking at me with such eyes�
âHow could Marin leave meâŚâ
ââŚâŚâ
âand abandon my brother!â
Why is Lycan mentioned here again?!
âNo! Marin is going to marry my brother!â
ââŚHuh?â
This is the first time I heard that though?
Since when was our marriage finalized?
âMarilyn and Sibel are in a love affair? If this is revealed, youâll surely suffer from the Sisamo.â
âIncidentally, I heard that a few people from Sisamo make fanfics about Sibel and Lariensa together.â
What? Sibel and Lara together?
âWho dares make fanfics about Sibel and Lara together?!â
Did they know how hard Iâve been trying to get Lara off of Sibelâs radar!
How dare these people make fanfics about them!!!
âIf anyone ties Lara and Sibel together, Iâll destroy them all!â
âOh, so now youâre concerned for your man, huh?â
âHuh? Itâs not like that, what I meantâŚâ
âSo now Lara has to be on the lookout for your boyfriend?â
Here me out, will you!
Lara staggered in shock.
Emily, Natalie, and Violet. You three are the main culprits for this worsening situationâŚ
âYouâre going to eat something delicious tomorrow, right?â
âEmily, does that matter now? Whatâs more important is what would be our attire for the party.â
âIâm sure theyâll have their resumes ready, right? About their past relationships, career, and familyâŚâ
âViolet, no one brings out a resume at a matchmaking party.â
Now, theyâre so into talking about the party between themselves.
Those devilsâŚ
ďź ďź ďź
âJust hear me out, Lara! Thereâs nothing going between us!â
âI need time to think about it for the time being.â
Now my insides were boiling up.
Emily, Natalie, Violet! Whenever it be, I must avenge what happened yesterdayâŚ
âPlease, Marilyn!â
Oh? But I think the opportunity has already comeâŚ
âYou see⌠they said we have to bring another one somehow.â
The reason Natalie came to me early in the morning was simple.
It wasnât a 3-on-3 party, but a 4-on-4, and Natalie misheard the number of people coming.
Hoho. What an unexpected opportunity for revenge. You donât really know whatâs going to happen in life, ainât it?
âSo then why didnât you ask Lara?â
âLariensaâs heartbroken right now because of what happened yesterdayâŚâ
âOh no, and whose fault do you think that is? Hmm?â
âMarilyn, this humble servant begs your forgivenessâ
I sat cheekily with my legs crossed. Hoho, Natalie.
âWhat should I do then? Thanks to you guys, Iâm currently dating someone.â
âBut you said it wasnât true.â
âWho was it that ignored me again when I was explaining myself?â
âM-Marilyn! What should I do to make you feel better?"
ââŚCan you guys handle it?â
I had an evil smile on my mouth.
ďź ďź ďź
âClear-white skin, Marilyn! We love you, Marilyn!"
In the middle of the campus, someone held a sign âMarilyn, the supreme goddess of Cloud Academy!â and it was none other than Natalie.
Emily and Violet were also reluctantly holding one each.
Violet said to me,
âAre you not ashamed? Isnât it embarrassing when people become disappointed every time they see you when they visit our classroom?â
Me? Ashamed? No, Violet.
Iâll just laugh at those people and enjoy seeing their disappointed expressions on their faces!
âHey~ Emily!â
Esco can be seen waving his hand from a distance, and he couldnât keep his laughter when he saw his sister.
ââMarilyn, the supreme goddess of Cloud Academy!â?â
âAnd that goddess⌠thatâs me.â
ââŚâŚâ
âWhat does that silence mean?â
âOh, nothing! Youâre the goddess, thatâs right!â
Emily, now I understand why you wanted to hit your brother whenever you have time.
âBut why are you dressed up like that?â
âIs it too obvious? Am I overdoing it?"
âNo, not really. Itâs just⌠itâs more glamorous than usual."
âThatâsâŚâ
âAh, wait a minute.â
After cutting off Escoâs words for a moment, I shouted at Natalie and the others in an impertinent manner.
âGuys, I think my ears have gone haywire! Your voices are so quiet! Ohh? Emily! I think you just cursed at me. Itâs just my imagination, right?â
âClear-white skin, Marilyn! We love you, Marilyn! Goddess of the Universe, Marilyn! Youâre the only one in our hearts, Marilyn!â
It was not until their voices praising me grew louder that I concentrated again on Esco.
ââŚAt first, I felt sorry for you guys when you got close to my sister. But I guess similar people do hang out with each other.â
âYouâre not badmouthing me, right?â
âOf course not.â
Esco immediately refuted it.
âAnyway, today is a special day for me.â
âA special day?â
âIf I do well todayâŚâ
Escoâs face turned red and acted shyly.
âI might have a girlfriend.â
âWho are you going to confess to?â
âWell, it's not somehow like thatâŚâ
Esco didnât seem to want to go any further. I understand, though because if ever I make this slip to Emily, sheâll tease him for sure.
âIâm sure youâll do well, Good luck!
âThanks!â
After Esco went away, I decided to stop punishing Natalie, Emily, and Violet.
âIâm very impressed by your deep sincerity and hard work in proclaiming my beauty throughout the campus, and by that, I now forgive you guys.â
âThis ***ââ
âOh? Emily, did you just swear at me?"
âNo, not at all.â
âRight?â
There is not much time left for the party because I took time punishing my friends.
We then headed to Natalieâs room instead of our room because Lariensa is currently in a heartbroken state.