âGuys! The students who have been accepted to Professor Bentleyâs mentoring class have been announced!â
Even though he was a professor, he was so popular among students that he was included in the B4. Therefore, it was natural for all students to pay attention to who would have been selected for the mentoring class he conducted for the first time.
I nervously searched for the notice posted on the wall.
âOh, there it is!â
Emily shouted as she found the notice, which was posted almost as high as the ceiling.
They really put it in a place thatâs hard to stick on⌠and hard to see.
âAs expected, Lariensa got in. Oh, and Marilyn, too?â
âHow lucky for you guys.â
Natalie, this is not something to be envious about. Rather, I feel like Iâm going inside a cave filled with beasts hiding amidst it.
âOh, Sibel is also in there.â
âHe didnât even take the test, right?â
âBut I heard he still submitted his paper even if itâs late. Well, Sibel would have passed the test anyway.â
âRight, if itâs Sibel thenâŚâ
Must be great to be famous. You donât get cursed for joining in late.
I pouted my lips.
If I couldnât take Lara away from that pervert, then I can just stick with her.
I tried to find comfort in myself by shifting my perspective in a positive manner.
âUhm, Lariensa.â
Some students from the other class whom we didnât know approached and spoke to us. To Lariensa, to be exact.
âYou know, I have a question.â
Lariensa is innately kind when it comes to strangers because she is a child sheltered from lifeâs cruel realities, she opened her eyes wide and listened to the girl she barely even knew.
âI heard you didnât pass the mentoring test.â
ââŚAh, thatâs⌠â
âI also heard that this mentoring class was originally made by Professor Bentley only for you, is that true?â
What are these guys doing now?
Hey! Lara has more than the capacity to pass the test if she decides to, you know?
âThat test, Lara didnât see the need to do well. She doesnât want to take Professor Bentleyâs mentoring class.â
When I stepped in, those girls instantly gave me an ugly look.
âBut in the end, she still got the chance to be mentored by Professor.â
âHow can she refuse when the Professor keeps asking her to do it?â
âWhy canât she say no? Professor Bentley isnât the one who forces students who donât want to do something.â
âHmph! How can you say so?â
Eventually, my voice grew louder.
âYouâre just complaining to someone who you think is easy to bully. If youâre really that dissatisfied, go tell the professor who wants to mentor her. Also, Sibel didnât even take the test, he just wrote his paper and passed the mentoring even though itâs late, so why didnât you also tell him something?â
âSibel is smart, soâŚâ
âAnd you think Lariensa would have done worse than you?â
Perhaps because they were now out of excuses to say, those girls chose to retreat rather than continue arguing with us.
However, our arguments have begun to stir up some gossip about Lariensa among the students surrounding us.
âWhy is she the only one favored by the professor?â
âProfessor originally doesnât show favoritismâŚâ
âShe can just refuse if she really doesnât want to be mentored though.â
You guys donât even know anything, sighâŚ
I was really agitated by these guys. However, I could feel Lariensaâs warmth in my hands and as I looked to the side, she shook her head. She was asking me to just bear with it.
I then realized, wouldnât I make it more difficult for Lara if I get angry here?
So since I couldnât get angry here, I can only grit my teeth in silence.
âLife is unfair by nature, you bastards!â
Thankfully, there was someone out there who spoke [out] for me.
âMy brother also experienced the unfairness of life!â
âIâm the same age as Lariensa, and my brother and hers are also the same age. So, why is my brotherâŚ!â
Suddenly, a guy stood beside Emily.
It was Emilyâs brother, Esco.
Esco was taller than Lycan, but he was so thin that at first glance he looked like a tall scarecrow.
However, he has a naive look on his face when he smiles.
âHey, hey. I envy you, too. Lycan and I are of the same age, and my sister is also the same age as his sister, so why, heukâŚ!â
Emily kicked Esco in the shin. Because his sister was stronger than him, Esco couldnât even make a sound in front of his sisterâs strength.
âLariensa, are you alright?â
Esco, who was relieved of pain after a long time, looked at Lariensa and asked.
âIâm fine. I know this is just a misunderstanding.â
Seeing her talk like that while holding my hand and not letting it go, it seems that what happened earlier really made her very flustered.
âYou know, you can just swear and curse them for all they care. Itâs a bad habit for these people to deliberately and intentionally misunderstand you, euk!â
When Esco stroked Lariensaâs head, he was immediately kicked by Emily in the shin again.
âYou donât even wash your hands properly. Donât stroke my friendâs head!â
âDo you think I donât wash up all the time? I washed my hands today.â
âReally? Your hands couldnât even be compared to any human being. Itâs dirty. Itâs filthy. Itâs contemptible.â
Watching Emily and Esco bicker, Lariensa began to laugh little by little.
What a relief. If it werenât for those siblings, I would have been in a bad mood all day
âBut Lariensa and Marilyn⌠do you guys really wanna be mentored by Professor Bentley?â
We explained the whole story to Esco. Lariensa was just forced by Professor Bentley to enter the mentoring class, and that I also joined because I was worried for her.
Emily, Natalie, and Violet, who had not thought much about Professor Bentleyâs behavior also became serious after hearing our story.
âYou seem to attract the weird and toxic ones, Lariensa.â
âBut Lariensa never really wanted to do so.â
âDoes it really need to be seen in a serious manner? Maybe professor just really wants to help her.â
Sigh, I canât even bring up what happened in the original storylineâŚ
If they were to know about it, theyâll immediately know that itâs not something that they can disregard so easily.
In this case, I realize that I might be possessed by a book. I canât tell them the truth and that there are secrets that I have to hide.
âHmmm⌠come to think of it, there was something a little disturbing that happened before you guys entered the school.â
Esco, who was listening to us quietly, began to speak in an unusually cautious tone.
âThere was a girl in my grade who was particularly fond of Professor Bentley. I used to be a little close to her, but one day, she suddenly dropped out of school.â
âWhat do you mean by that? Could you tell us more about it?â
âI donât know for sure, but Iâm afraid it would only give you some strange thoughts if I bring it up.â
At my urging, Esco scratched the back of his head and recalled what happened at that time.
And when we heard his story, our faces hardened.
ďź ďź ďź
âAt first, it was Professor Bentley who was fond of her. But later on, she was the one who chased after him more. So there were some people who didnât like it.â
There was silence between us, but in my head, what Esco said lingered for a long time.
âHowever, one day, as she bumped into Professor Bentley she suddenly turned pale and immediately avoided him. She told her friends that she found some of her clothing and other things inside his roomâŚâ
In the original storyline, they really wrapped it up as if Lariensa would become his last love.
You pervert, youâve been a regular, havenât you?
âWithin the academy, itâs known that Professor Bentley has taken good care of her even though she was the one who keeps on stalking him. In addition, it is said that the portraits and objects she saw in his room were all just her delusions, or that maybe she sneaked into his room and planted those things while stalking him, but we didnât know the truth.â
âSo, what are we going to do?â
âWhy canât you just like â not go there at all?â
âWe canât.â
Lariensa will then become known as a student who ignores a professorâs sincerity and interest, especially since heâs been really trying to mentor herâŚ
It was a situation that she couldnât refuse from the beginning.
âBut that was just a rumor, so Iâm not really sure if itâs true.â
âStill itâs a little uncomfortable for it to become a rumor. And our situation now is somewhat similar to what happened back thenâŚâ
Emily, who was listening to Violet and Natalieâs conversation, suddenly broke into a fit of rage.
âSo the gist is, we just need to find out if Professor Bentley is truly a pervert or not?â
Yes, thatâs true. However, the question is how do we find it out.
âThen, we just simply have to go inside his room.â
What?!
Emily expressed her idea, but I couldnât agree with it.
Itâs not like we can collect the evidence right away if we just enter his room, and moreover, itâs too dangerous.
âHey, guysâŚâ
I tried to talk them out but they didnât even listen to me.
âOkay. So while Marilyn and Lariensa are being mentored, Violet and I will go inside the Professorâs room and then leave.â
âI want to go too!â
âBut Natalie, youâre a coward.â
Guys, this isnât like a test of courage!
âC-calm down, First weâŚâ
I tried to calm them down, but Emily, Violet, and Natalie were already playing rock-paper-scissors among themselves to decide on who should be the one to enter Professor Bentleyâs room.
It was then that Lariensa made a sound.
ââŚNo.â
However, the tone of her voice right now was more serious and had a higher pitch, and that was a new sight for me as well.
The three who were ignoring me suddenly turned their heads as they heard Lariensaâs stern voice.
âI donât⌠I donât want you guys to do that.â
Ah⌠we were only thinking about Professor Bentley that we forget Lariensa, who is also an important stakeholder in this issue.
Emily, who has a bad temper, Natalie, who just says everything she wants to say, and Violet, who couldnât read other peopleâs minds, focused on Lariensaâs words at this moment.
âWhat if you get caught inside the professorâs room and find out that heâs actually not a bad guy?â
âBut thereâs a possibility that the professor is really a bad guy.â
âThen, all the more I hate it!â
La⌠ra?
There might have been times where Lara became upset but it was the first time that she spoke so seriously and firmly.
âI donât want to endanger other peopleâŚâ
ââŚâŚâ
ââŚbecause of me anymore.â
What does she mean by that?
I have never once thought that I was endangered by Lariensa in any way. And without saying it, it would also be the same for Emily, Natalie, and Violet.
âI, IâŚâ
Please, donât cry!
She was about to burst into tears, and at this sight, I was very flustered because this was the first time that she was so dejected.
However, Violet suddenly came forward, andâŚ
Flick!
hit Lariensaâs forehead.
Natalie and I suppressed our shock as we clasped each otherâs hands, too surprised. In midst of this, Emily hurriedly took the cookies out of her bag.
âIt smells like a fight.â
You ainât watching a movie, you know?
âFor others, you might be like a little princess, but do you think youâre someone that great to us?â
I canât believe you said that when you saw Laraâs tears in this pitiful state.
Violet! This is not the time to blow up some facts!