Anoseka Volume 1 Chapter 6

This is MTL. So, I cannot guarantee that the translation 100% contextually accurate or appropriate.

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Chapter 06 "Retaliation of the Noble"

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Part 1

Since that day, Marie has been avoiding me.

While walking down the hallway of the school building with Luxion, I spot Marie outside the window.

"What is she doing in that place?"

Luxion's camera eye caught a glimpse of Marie outside the window and reported the details.

[It appears that Marie's belongings were thrown in a puddle.]

"——It rained last night."

Marie's textbooks and notebooks were thrown away in puddles.

Ignoring my advice —— no, even without ignoring it, this kind of bullying would have happened in the not-too-distant future to Marie, who was approaching His Highness Julius and the others.

Marie picks up her textbooks and notebooks and checks their condition.

I would like to call out to her, but now even if I approach Marie, she doesn't want me to, and she runs away.

While I was pondering what to do, Luxion made a radical suggestion.

[Let's identify the culprit. Master, please give me permission.]

"What's the point of identifying them? It won't stop the bullying."

Even if we find the culprit, Marie is now in a position where she has the majority of the girls against her.

Even if you stop one or two bullies, others will try it instead.

[Retaliate by making an example of them. If they feel they are in danger, they will refrain from doing anything foolish against Marie.]

I immediately reject my partner who says something terrific with no hesitation.

"It's obviously no good."

[I think it's very effective?]

"You're not solving the root of the problem."

Once finished picking up her personal belongings outside the window, I watched Marie as she headed off somewhere.

——I wonder if Marie will be okay with the very insidious bullying she's been subjected to?

"I'd like to do something about it."

If I approach, Marie would run away.

And I am prepared to help Marie now.

Helping the hated ones is a beautiful thing to do, but if I actually do it, I'll be a target too.

We are the same reincarnated people, but we don't have a relationship that I would do that much for Marie.

Even if I help out from behind the scenes, interfering casually in the girls' problems will get me into trouble.

——I have my life.

It is Marie's responsibility to break the unspoken rules of the school with her selfish behavior and become a hated person.

There is no need for me to go out of my way to help her.

"That idiot, you should just give up and get ordinary happiness."

[As for me, I would love to see Master and Marie get together.]

"Ha?"

I look at Luxion and he turns his camera eye toward me.

[If Master and Marie get married, there is a possibility that a being closer to the old humans will be born. For me, this is a matter of priority.]

"Why should me and Marie get together?"

I make a disgusted face and Luxion reads my expression and looks disappointed.

[After all, the only way to do that is to harvest the genes of both of you. For me, it would have been best if you were united in marriage.]

"Stop it. Really stop!"

I definitely don't want to have a child without knowing it.

Luxion asks me.

[The reason why Master doesn't want to get together with Marie is because she is not your preference?]

Dumbfounded by Luxion, who tries to get me to marry her somehow, I tell him why I don't feel like marrying Marie.

"That's part of it, though. That girl reminds me of my little sister from a previous life."

[——You're telling me that Marie is your little sister from a previous life?]

While I can assure you that is not the case, the similarities are beyond dispute.

"It's impossible. But it's a matter of feelings, so it's no good."

I forcefully finish the conversation and walk away from Luxion as if to run away from him.

As Luxion followed me, he turned invisible when he came to the vicinity of my right shoulder.

A girl comes from the front with her entourage in tow.

The person, whose elegance could be seen from a distance, had glossy blonde hair braided and pulled back behind her head.

Her skin is without a single blemish, smooth and seems to glow in the light.

Her eyes, with imposing red pupils, were somewhat stern and raised.

I move to the corner of the hallway to make way, and the girl [Angelica Rafa Redgrave] walks by without looking at me.

Angelica walked past with her followers, then stopped and turned around.

Luxion makes his appearance.

[She's the villainess that Master was talking about, isn't she?]

"She's more powerful than she looks in the game. It must be tough for Olivia-san to have to fight with someone like that."

When I mutter nonchalantly as if it is someone else's problem, Luxion questions me.

[——The number of the cronies is different from Stephanie of the Offley family. Plus, she doesn't have any demi-human slaves with her.]

"When you say it, it's true. But there are a lot of girls who don't walk around with slaves. And if they're Countesses or above, it's rare to see them."

[Stephanie's parents' house is also a Count family, isn't it?]

"She's an exception."

Do they keep them at home instead of walking around with them?

Well, Angelica-san is the fiancée of His Highness Julius —— the next queen-to-be, and it would be outwardly inappropriate for such a person to carry around a number of exclusive servants of the sub-race.

"If there were no Olivia-san, she would have been the future queen. She can't walk around with her own personal servant, right."

[——What a distorted concept of female supremacy. As for me, I can't help but think that there is something behind it.]

"It's the world of otome games with that fluffy setting. It's no use just thinking about it."

Yes, it is no use to think about it.

And yet, why is there such a fuss about bullying and unspoken rules?

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Part 2

Passing Leon, Angelica stops, turns around, and calls out to one of her followers.

"The boy I just saw is the rumored Bartfalt, right."

When she said so, the female crony nodded her head slightly.

"Yes."

The girls who are following her around are also first-year girls, just like Angelica.

Their parents' family has strong ties to Duke Redgrave's family. Therefore, they are following Angelica like a vassal at the behest of her parents' family.

It was not an uncommon sight at the academy.

Angelica gives her impressions of seeing Leon up close.

The contents were not favorable.

"I heard that he had acquired a huge fortune after his great adventures, but he was not as high-spirited as I had thought he would be. He did not have the face of a man who had achieved great things."

From what is known, he is an adventurer who has accomplished quite a feat.

In the kingdom of Horfalt, he is a man who deserves to be admired.

However, he is not well received by the girls around, including Angelica.

"He looked like a fool, didn't he?"

"I doubt if the rumors are true."

"I guess he was lucky. That's one of the traits of an adventurer, but having only that is not very appealing."

Angelica lets out a small sigh at her followers, who say whatever they want to say.

"Whether it's luck or not, the fact is that he achieved a result. The tea party organized by the boys will start in May. I would like to invite His Highness Julius when he holds his tea party."

When Angelica says so, the surrounding girls bow their heads and agree.

"As soon as the date is set, we will arrange for invitations to be sent out."

"I'm leaving it up to you"

When Angelica said that, she started to walk away, and her cronies followed.

From the direction they are going, a girl approaches.

Angelica's eyebrows twitch, and the girls around her wrinkle their brows.

The girl with a thick book in each hand hurriedly gave way when she noticed Angelica's group.

She shrinks back, trying not to make eye contact.

Her behavior was not well received by the surrounding girls.

"Angelica-sama, it is the scholarship student."

"I know."

Angelica, who responded in a flat tone of voice, stopped when she came near the book-hugging girl —— Olivia.

As it was, she turned her gaze only to Olivia.

"It seems that you are close to His Highness."

"Y-Yes?"

When Olivia raised her head and looked at Angelica, her expression was tense and stiff. She seems to be wondering how she should respond to the sudden mention of Julius.

But it doesn't matter to Angelica.

"I will give you one piece of advice. You and His Highness are on different statuses."

"I didn't mean to——"

"I've given you an advice."

Olivia tried to make an excuse, but she just shut her mouth as if the words didn't come out.

Angelica looks away from Olivia.

As she says that and starts to walk away, her cronies far away from Olivia criticize Angelica's attitude in a roundabout way.

"Angelica-sama, are you sure? That woman has been so shamelessly approaching His Highness."

Angelica resists the urge to let out a sigh.

"I warned her there would be no next time."

"It is not only His Highness Julius, but she is also close to other people. Shouldn't we teach her a lesson?"

The crony girls bite back.

Angelica, sensing their dissatisfaction, controls them with a strong tone.

"The next time I see her, I'll treat her the way she deserves to be treated."

(There's a lot more dissatisfaction with the scholarship student than I imagined. Even those on my side don't like the idea of a commoner coming to the academy, huh?)

Angelica, considering the students' complaints about the scholarship student, is troubled by Julius' thoughtless behavior.

(I am troubled by His Highness' whims. If I were to invite him to a tea party with this, he would eventually explode in dissatisfaction.)

Angelica had expected the frustration of the school's students, especially the girls, would explode.

When Julius and the others, who are highly popular among the girls, give preferential treatment to Olivia, who is from a commoner background and is a scholarship student, they become dissatisfied.

Angelica believed that the frustration would eventually explode, but that the heat would be directed at Olivia, not Julius and the others.

(I don't want any further trouble.)

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Part 3

After Angelica and the others left.

Olivia hugs the books she borrowed from the library and begins to walk around with a downcast look on her face.

"——Even if I've been told those words, I'm in trouble too."

At the sudden outburst of her native tongue, Olivia hurriedly covered her mouth with her hand.

Before coming to the academy, she worked hard to correct her dialect, but it sometimes slips out.

She is embarrassed and careful, but since she has few people to talk to, it comes out often these days.

Olivia sees the girls talking happily in the distance.

(I wish I had a good friend like that.)

Although she did not regret coming to the academy, she still felt uncomfortable being the only commoner among the nobles.

It's nice to learn something she didn't know before.

However, there is an unspoken rule among students from noble backgrounds.

Even though she knows it exists, there is nothing Olivia can do about it now.

(There are people who talk to me, but I feel nervous because we're from different backgrounds.)

The boys she had met when she had just entered the school were all top-ranked in the entire school.

Julius is the crown prince, and the other four are also nobles —— They are the heirs of high ranking families.

Although she understands that it is normally better to stay away from them, but they are the only people who casually talk to her in the academy.

Besides——.

(——Even if you told me to stay away, but I can't refuse)

——Olivia can't refuse their offer.

As she walked along thinking, she saw Julius ahead of her.

When he sees Olivia, he approaches her.

"What a coincidence. Are you going back to the dormitory now?"

He seemed to have guessed where Olivia was headed from the direction she was walking.

Olivia responds by trying to smile as much as possible.

"Yes. I thought I'd come home early today and read the book I borrowed."

"You're very studious"

Julius seems to like Olivia's dedication to her studies.

When the two are having a conversation, a teacher comes over.

The teacher, dressed in a suit with monocle-single glasses, was slender, tall, and wore his hair all back.

Even though it is after school, his appearance is as seamless as it was in the morning.

As a teacher who teaches manners to boys, he must be very careful about his appearance.

"Oya? You two look like you're having a lot of fun together."

Julius speaks respectfully to the teacher who approaches him with a smile.

Although he is the crown prince, Julius is now only a student at the school.

He seems to be aware of it.

"We meet a lot, so we have more opportunities to talk."

When Julius says so, Olivia can't say that it is wrong.

"T-That's right. I've been taught various things."

She laughs as if she's in trouble and covers it up.

(The teachers don't like it when I approach His Highness Julius, do they? I would prefer to keep my distance if possible.)

The teacher smiles at Olivia, who was inwardly troubled.

"It is part of the significance of the school that you make acquaintances. Please cherish those encounters."

Julius responds to the teacher's words with a smile.

"Yes, I think it's a wonderful encounter. I just can't seem to find anyone like her around me."

Julius' words showed his dissatisfaction with his current situation.

The teacher looks at Julius' face and tries to say something —— but he gives up and now turns to Olivia.

"By the way, Miss Olivia."

"Y-Yes!"

The teacher smiles and asks Olivia, who hurriedly replies when her name is called.

"I'm sure you are going through a lot as a scholarship student, aren't you? If you need anything, please contact me. I may not be reliable, but I think I can be of some help."

Olivia replies when her teacher tells her so.

"When the time comes, please take care of me."

(His Highness Julius is here, maybe I should discuss it next time?)

As the teacher walks away with a smile, Julius speaks to Olivia.

He somewhat makes fun of the teacher earlier.

"I don't think the etiquette instructor has any power, though."

"Your Highness Julius, I think it's rude. Ah! I-I just thought it was rude, and——"

Quickly blaming Julius' attitude, Olivia rushes to apologize for doing it again.

But Julius seemed to find it amusing.

"Olivia scolded me again."

Seeing Julius laughing, Olivia realizes she has been teased.

"Are you teasing me?"

"Because your reaction is funny. Anyway, I'll walk you halfway there."

"——Thank you very much."

Olivia did not refuse Julius' offer. She could not refuse.

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Part 4

Night.

Stephanie's room in the girls' dormitory was designed to be larger than the others because it was used by a daughter of the count family.

The furnishings are expensive, but Stephanie does not like them and replaces them with furniture purchased in the royal capital.

Stephanie's choice of furniture, with her flamboyant taste, was all decorated with gold and silver.

Gathered in the room were the members of the group, led by Stephanie.

However, they are all daughters with direct connections to the Offley family.

Foster children —— They were the daughters of the Knight families that the Offley were taking care of, the girls didn't join the group because they adored Stephanie.

That speaks well of Stephanie's position at the academy.

"How is Marie doing?"

She asks while cleaning her fingernails, and Kara answers.

"Those three are pushing her hard. B-But the person in question was so thick-skinned that they didn't seem to be able to stand it."

She cornered three girls who made fun of her parents' house and used them as pawns to make them do the bullying.

But rather than admitting defeat, Marie apparently is putting on a brazen and unconcerned face.

For Stephanie, it is not interesting.

"No wonder she's going after someone's fiancée."

One of the cronies brings up the other matter, apart from Marie – it's about Olivia.

"Ojou-sama, I know you're concerned about Marie, but what about the scholarship student? I heard rumors that she's close to Brad-sama?"

Stephanie clicks her tongue and stops manicuring her nails.

"She's got a lot of nerve for a commoner. If it were true, I'd crush her, but——"

Stephanie, who looks annoyed, suddenly smiles with the corners of her mouth turned up.

"——But, you know, she got a firm warning from Angelica, didn't she?"

Word had spread among the girls that Angelica had given a firm warning to Olivia.

It even reaches Stephanie's ears.

" If so, Angelica will crush her. I'm curious to see what kind of moves she'll make, and I'll leave it alone because it looks interesting."

It is decided that the Olivia matter will be left to Angelica.

Stephanie then orders Kara.

"And about Marie——I don't like her, so I'll let the sky pirates handle it."

For a moment, the cronies were stunned when she casually told them how she was going to deal with Marie.

Kara, who was ordered to do so, reconfirms it to Stephanie.

"You are going to use sky pirates? It's too dangerous. If someone finds out——"

Stephanie is annoyed with Kara, who looks anxious.

"Who's going to help her when she's out on her own? Besides, it's those three who are going to guide her. If anyone suspects anything, we'll turn those three in and that'll be the end of it."

As for Marie, she is the youngest daughter of a poor Viscount family. Moreover, she even found out that she is not on good terms with her family.

In the worst case scenario, if the family makes a fuss about Marie's case, she can just let them grab the money and shut them up.

In the first place, it is the three girls who are the main culprits.

Kara mentions her concerns.

"There's no guarantee that those three won't betray."

"You're right."

Reconsidering that Kara's opinion is also valid, Stephanie issues another order.

While putting her hands together and looking around at the faces of the cronies with a smile on her face.

"Then, when it's over, I'll make the three of them disappear. Now, as long as no one in this room betrays, it won't be exposed, will it? This way, we can all rest easy?"

——That would mean that if this talk leaked out, the traitor was from among her cronies.

"So there won't be any traitors, right? If there are any traitors —— We're going to be responsible for this together, right?"

All of the cronies went pale and were shaking their heads.