Chapter 13

Chapter 13

I was scolded for not listening properly during class.

And when it was time to leave the classroom, I got yelled at for not paying attention to where I was walking.

But all I did was sigh fretfully, letting a bitter smile pull at my lips.

Because none of this is actually my fault.

“What’s wrong, Miss Alldington? I know you are an exemplary student. So why are you acting so listlessly today?”

Seeing me so out of sorts, my homeroom teacher had actually pulled me aside out of concern. But what can I say? This situation is out of my control. I really can’t help but act this way…

When the bell for lunch finally rang, I sighed in relief and darted out of my classroom, heading purposefully into the throng of students milling about in the hallway.

“What do you want?” asks a slightly irritated Gray-Senpai, spying me approaching him.

“Hide me for a bit…..” I say, grabbing his arm and pulling him into our empty classroom, taking refuge. Since Ashley always picks me up from my class and we go to the dining hall together, if I had stayed in there I would have surely been caught. I definitely can’t let that happen.

To be honest, he’s been making me feel uncomfortable. Whether it was when we went home together yesterday, or when he walked me to school this morning, I can’t help but act strangely around him but somehow Ashley has been acting completely normal! Every time I think about that, it just makes me feel pathetic.

“But I want to grab a bite at the dining hall….”

“No need. I packed us a lunch.”

With how our walk home together was, there was no way I was going to spend a whole lunch period alone with Ashley! So I made sure to pack a lunch in advance. Or rather two lunches, since I had already been planning to get Senpai involved.

“Did you poison it? No wait, I know, your cooking is murderously disgusting, otherwise you wouldn’t be offering to feed me.”

“I’ll have you know, I got a 5 in home economics.”

“Out of 5?”

“Out of 10… My middle school and high school both graded on a 10-point scale.”

“So it’s just average then!”

Maybe. But that doesn’t mean it’s inedible! In fact, since this academy has a student populace consisting mostly of the upper echelons of society, they do not offer a home economics course, so if you compare me to the other young ladies currently in attendance, you could probably say I’m a pretty skilled cook.

“It’s not bad, but not really good either,” admits Senpai, tentatively trying a few bites. I also try a forkful, intending to object to such a lackluster critique but… It really is just passable. By no means delicious, but it’s not something I can’t eat.

As an objective person, I can admit to this no problem but it still makes me angry being told that by someone else.

“So? What exactly am I helping hide you from?”

“Ashley….”

“Huh. So he did end up being dangerous after all?”

“He’s not…! Dangerous…. I think….?”

Seeing me start off so convictedly only to trail off quite unsure at the end, Senpai laughs outright at me. I know, I know! Just because you saw it coming doesn’t mean you need to rub it in! Besides…

“It’s not like he’s going to kill me…. I am sure of that much at least…. It’s just that I can’t tell what he’s thinking anymore. I can’t even imagine what possessed him to…”

It’s not like I ever had some superpower that would allow me to read his thoughts. He also has never been a very expressive person so I usually can’t tell just by looking at his face. But at the very least his actions had always had some sort of reason behind them, and I used to be able to decipher that!

But yesterday, I felt like there was no rhyme nor reason for how he was acting. I mean, why would he….?

“Kiss….m-….”

Chokes— cough cough

“Hey! Spitting your food out like that is terrible table manners, you know!”

I say, though I still pat him on the back, trying to calm him down so he doesn’t choke for real.

“What? A kiss….? With who??”

“None of your business, Senpai.”

“If Ashley’s route disappears, then the heroine will be that much more likely to enter Alec’s route you know! As a matter of my life and death, it friggin’ is my business!”

“Don’t derail the conversation, Senpai. Rather than your impending doom, we were talking about my current emotional distress.”

Can’t we just forget about death flags for a little bit? We don’t have to talk about that every single time, right? It’s been so peaceful as of late I see no reason why we can’t devote a little time to my mental health first.

“This is the first time I am experiencing anything related to love in both of my lives! In my past life I wasn’t able to interact with any boys since I went to an all girls school so I haven’t even had the chance to experience my first love. I may have had the experience of waking up super early in excitement, but that wasn’t for anything so romantic as preparing for a date, I was just getting up early so I can get in line and buy games on the day they come out. The closest I have ever come to writing something like a love letter was writing a fan letter to one of my favorite actors! And whenever I tried putting on makeup, my friends just laughed at me and told me that it made me look that much more average and unremarkable. That was my pitiful past life! And now, with my second chance, I can’t even enjoy all the eye-candy at this school because I have to remain on my guard against a bazillion death flags!”

I have had absolutely no time to think about things like love.

“So now I have no idea what to do! I can’t even understand why Ashley would have k-k-kissed me! If he did it on the off chance, the one in a billion possibility, that he actually sees me as a romantic interest, how should I even interact with him from now on??”

“What makes you think I would know??”

Oh, that’s right. This guy has had just as many romantic experiences as I have…. I.e. none. I guess there’s not much point in asking him these sorts of questions then.

“…..ome on….. so long…. last time!”

“…. I said…..ot interested,” we hear coming from the hallway just outside the classroom. It sounded like a woman’s voice first, and then a man’s voice, though because the door muffled the sound it was a bit hard to make out what they were saying.

“There’s someone out there,” I say, stating the obvious.

“Seems to be a pair of lovers.”

“What?”

” ‘Come on~ It’s been so long since last time!’ — ‘Like I said, thanks, but not interested,’ ” imitates Gray-Senpai, first in a high falsetto voice for the woman and then dropping his tone a pitch lower than usual for the man.

Uwah.

“Eww, what are you saying?”

“What!? I’m just repeating what those guys said outside!”

“The fact that you knew the exact words being said in that lover’s tryst without being able to really hear it… And that you are practically hyperventilating thinking about what’s happening out there is frankly disturbing.”

Plus, you even had the gall to say all of that in front of me. Shudders. No shame even in acting out that girl’s flirtatious lines.

If it were Ashley I’m sure he wouldn’t be caught dead saying something as cajoling as that.

Disregarding my discomfort though, somehow I feel like I’ve heard that boy’s voice somewhere before…

“Shall we take a peek?”

“Ugh, you are the worst. What a sleazebag!”

His eyes are glittering in excitement, making him look just like a dog in heat. No matter what happens, I never want to end up in a relationship with this pervert.

“You say that, but you’re still sneaking a peek yourself, ain’t ya?”

Senpai had walked over to the door and opened it up just wide enough to be able to look out a bit and I had gone over with him to also take a glance at what was going on out there. Isn’t it just human nature to become curious when secrets are playing out right in front of your face like this? What’s a girl to do?

“What’s the problem? It’s just a little kiss. Come on~” says a sexy girl, provocatively leaning into the boy for a kiss. As I thought, I have definitely seen the boy somewhere before… Wait a second… I know him!

“Ahh!”

Without thinking I accidentally pushed on the door trying to get a closer look and it ended up swinging wide open.

” “Oswell Arkwright!” ” Senpai and I cry out together.

Oswell, startled at hearing his name called out so suddenly turned back to stare at the two of us. The girl also whipped her head towards us, looking rather astonished at the interruption.

Seeing Senpai, her face paled, looking a bit worried. Senpai is the student council president after all… To have been caught in such a lascivious act while on school premises by him, it’s no wonder she would be scared thinking he might administer some sort of punishment. I wouldn’t bother worrying too much though. This “esteemed” student council president isn’t so pure in that department either, so I doubt he would try to chastise her behavior.

“Cecile!? What are you doing in this sort of place…. with the student council president…?”

‘This sort of place’….. Yeah…. A vacant classroom in an unfrequented corner of the school would seem rather suspicious. Especially when this corner of the corridor is obviously sufficient for a bit of flirting, no need to go the extra mile and steal into a classroom…

“I’m having a discussion with the president about some matters dealing with the student council…. But what are you doing here?”

I say, instantly coming up with some sort of plausible lie.

“I was called out by this girl and she brought me over here… Ah, no, wait, don’t misunderstand. I’ve already given up my days of playing around! I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about me! …..Would you let go of me already?”

This last part he said while turning to the girl. She had been standing with her arms wrapped around his neck, pressing her body against his in the typical passionate kissing stance. But as Oswell said this he forcibly removed her arms from around his neck and lightly pushed her a bit away from him.

I don’t know why he bothered trying to deny anything though. His womanizing ways have long since become common knowledge throughout the school, and being caught red-handed as he was, who would believe that he’s turned over a new leaf?

“One kiss is just on the level of a greeting anyway,” mutters the girl, earning herself a sharp glare from Oswell.

“A kiss is a form of a greeting….?”

That’s basically what she said, right?

Let’s think about this carefully for a second. Ever since remembering parts of my past life, I’ve been mixing up the common sense of this world and my previous to the point that I can’t really tell what’s normal here anymore. Ever since I fought with Ashley that one time and ended up cutting my hair, hasn’t he constantly been on my case about fixing my lack of common sense?

And though I am sure that in this world it would not be proper to kiss a mere acquaintance in passing… What about someone whom you are extremely close to? In this British-esque world, I believe kisses between family members should be commonplace. So what about someone who is as close to you as your own family? For instance, what about a servant who you slept in the same bed with as children or who you practically shared every meal with?

“Oh!! It was just a greeting!” I cried out in sudden realization.

Ashley probably only kissed me out of a deep affection for someone who is as close to him as family.

“Seriously? How could you even…. “

Gray-Senpai scoffs at me with an incredulous look.

“Why would he just suddenly decide to greet you with a kiss? Not like he’s ever done that before, right? And were you even in a situation that called for a greeting in the first place?”

“Well…. I’m sure he was just being a bit spontaneous, that’s all.”

“That makes no sense. Desparately grasping at some random explanation just cause you can actually accept it won’t solve anything,” Senpai continues, but I had already stopped listening.

Duh! A greeting!

It was a simple greeting! Just a greeting.

Ever since I was little, it’s been a normal occurrence to exchange a kiss on the cheek, or the forehead, or on the back of the hand with people in my family. And now that custom has just been re-enacted on the lips. I guess, technically, that was still my first kiss…. But I’d much rather have experienced it as a greeting with Ashley than to have it be stolen by some other random boy.

A greeting.

It. Was. A. Greeting.

Ahhhhh….! Even though it was just a greeting, I have been acting weird around him ever since it happened! How embarrassing…. And Ashley’s probably feeling wronged by how I’ve been acting towards him after that….

“I’m….! Going to go find Ashley!”

“No, I definitely think you should think through that ridiculous interpretation of yours one more time before doing anything rash…”

“Senpai, can you wash the lunch box and return it to me later? Thanks! See you later!”

“Listen to me! Hey! Cecile Alldington!”

＊＊＊

As I run through the corridor searching for Ashley’s whereabouts, I happen to see him when I glance out the window. He is standing in the courtyard outside, and I lose no time in dashing to the door and over to him.

“Ashley!”

“Ojousama….? What are you doing here?”

Ashley, who had been lightly caressing the petals of a flower, slowly turns his head to look up at me. Although he is expressionless as usual, he has his head inclined to the side a bit, indicating his light surprise at seeing me here.

This chapter is scrapped from readlightnovel.org

“Um… That is… Ashley…. I think I ended up being a bit cruel to you again, so I came to apologize.”

I walk over to where Ashley is currently kneeling on one knee and drop down next to him, avoiding his eyes by turning my face towards the flowers in front of us.

“When gave me that kiss yesterday, I didn’t realize you were just using it as a form of greeting. I completely misunderstood your intentions and overreacted. I’m sorry, Ashley.”

“Umm….”

“That kiss was meant only as a greeting, right?”

When I hazard a glance towards Ashley’s face, I see him holding his head in his hand as he heaves a huge sigh.

“Are you being serious….?” he asks, darting his eyes towards me.

“What?”

“You’re…. such a flirt.”

“Wha–!?”

“Just…. never mind,” he says, averting his face from me and letting his head drop back into his hands. “And just who told you that? That a kiss can be used as a greeting?” he asked, sounding defeated.

“Oswell’s… um… friend? Or, maybe she was a girlfriend….”

“So what you’re saying is that of all the girl’s in that guy’s acquaintance, there is not even one who is respectable.”

There he goes again, heaving another huge sigh.

“Ashley? Cheer up, okay?”

“I would rather not hear that from you right now. Sigh. Have you had lunch yet?”

“Oh, I packed a lunch this morning and ate with Gray-Senpai already….”

Ah! Shoot…..

I forgot just how much Ashley seems to hate Senpai….

“Um, there was this one thing I wasn’t quite understanding from class, so I was just asking him to help me on it….”

“While you were eating? What sort of manners are these? And it was only the two of you? To have dared serve Duke Randolph’s son such paltry dishes as those Ojousama is capable of making, your behavior has been rather appalling today!”

How rude! To claim my cooking abilities are paltry… ah, dang it, that’s actually a pretty accurate assessment….

“If there is something that you don’t understand in class, then I’ll teach you.”

“But you’re an underclassman….”

“If the other option is only the student council president, then I am confident that my knowledge will not pale in comparison.”

So you’re trying to say, even as an underclassman, your abilities still far surpass my own….

“And I am your servant. There is no one more suitable for poison testing than me within your vicinity, so on the occasions that you do decide to cook as well, you should bring that food to me, so that I can taste it first.”

“But I can’t let you eat such low quality food!”

“I promise you, I don’t mind.”

But if it tastes bad, you’re definitely going to brutally reject it.

“Fine. I’ll be careful from now on.”

“Please do so.”

As Ashley says this, I suddenly feel this overwhelming pressure coming off of him. Have I done something to anger him again? He doesn’t seem like he’s willing to continue this conversation at all…

“…. Even though she had finally started being conscious of me!”

“What did you say?”

“Absolutely nothing. You’re just hearing things,” he says, averting his eyes from mine all but admitting that he really had said something… but I let it go. If I’m too persistent I know he really will get mad.

“It seems that if you’re not told in the most direct and clearest of terms, you simply won’t get it, Ojousama.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m just lamenting my timing and thinking about future plans.”

As we kneel there in silence, I hear the footsteps of someone approaching from behind us before a male voice calls out,

“Ashley.”

“Ah, Rona. What can I do for you?”

….. Rona? A friend of Ashley’s perhaps? Taking a good look at him, I see that he has curly gray hair, and somehow looks quite similar to Gray-Senpai, though he’s a bit shorter in stature. His huge, round eyes also make his face look adorable. Ashley seems to have made quite the charming friend. Seeing as his uniform looks brand new, he is probably also a first year as well. It’s only been a few days since school started and yet Ashley has already made a friend. That’s undeniable proof of how absolutely amazing he is.

“Van-Sensei was calling for you! He probably wants to recommend you for the committee chairman position.”

Wow, he seems like quite the energetic guy. He’s practically bouncing up and down in his excitement right now.

“I understand. Ojousama, may I take my leave?”

“Not a problem. I’ll see you later. I wouldn’t have expected any less from you, Ashley.”

“Please stop that. We still don’t know if that is what he is calling me for.”

But, back to the matter at hand…. Rona.

Even while I wave goodbye to Ashley, I can’t stop thinking about him.

I feel like I’ve heard that name before somewhere…. Rona….. Rona…..

“Excuse me, Alldington-Senpai….”

How does he know my name? Oh, maybe he heard it from Ashley….?

Ashley gives me a small bow and Rona glances his way as he says his own goodbye. Once Ashley had gotten far enough away though, Rona’s gaze shifts over to me again with a sharp glare.

“Rona…..”

I definitely feel like his name has popped up in conversation at some point before….

But with who? It’s not like I really have that many people that I talk to….

Was it Sarah…? No… Maybe Oswell? No, I don’t think so….

Thinking about this logically, since he appears to be Ashley’s friend, I would think that Ashley would have been the one to have brought him up… but I hadn’t even known that Ashley had made a friend until just now, so I don’t think it was him either, since Ashley typically never talks about himself anyway….

Who else could it be…? The only other person I can think of is Gray-Senpai….

Gray Randolph-Senpai….. what have we been talking about recently? Wait, Randolph….?

Rona Randolph……!!!

“Oh!”

Duh!

We literally just talked about him the other day! I had asked Senpai what his younger brother-in-law’s name was. I hadn’t thought of visiting him, since that would just be asking for more death flags, but I had wanted to know his name just in case.

At that time, I’m sure he said his name was Rona Randolph!