Helena frowned as she looked at Pamela in front of her.

Even when she was in a good mood, their relationship wasn’t great, so now it went without saying.

But because it was too bothersome to even deal with her, Helena tried to ignore her and pass by.

That is until Pamela spoke to her.

“Is it okay to leave Felix like that?”

“…”

If there was one thing that shouldn’t be discussed for Helena, it would undoubtedly be Felix.

It was like that before, and it’s still the same now.

Helena, who had frowned deeply at Pamela’s words, only then realized it was intentional when she let out a snicker and let out a deep sigh.

“Since when have we been on such familiar terms?”

“Is that so important?”

“…What do you want to say?”

Instinctively realizing that pointing out the informal speech or her tone would be useless, Helena asked resignedly.

Naturally slipping into informal speech herself, Pamela leaned against the wall with a crooked smile.

“I don’t know what happened between you and him, but is it okay for that bitch Sylvia to hang out with him while you’re not around?”

“What’s that got to do with me.”

Helena still responded curtly to Pamela’s question.

She thought it had nothing to do with her. But contrary to what her head was thinking, Helena’s heart sank.

“…I get that you fought with him.”

Pamela looked at Helena intently, exhaling as if she had expected this.

“Is that so important?”

“What do you know…!!”

Helena shouted angrily at Pamela’s sneer.

Really, you who know nothing… You who can’t understand my feelings even if you knew, who are you to talk like that?!

Anger surged. She didn’t like how Pamela spoke so nonchalantly, without knowing what she was thinking or worrying about.

But Pamela was still looking at Helena with cynical eyes.

“If you’re going to give up on that child and hand him over to someone else, it doesn’t matter.”

“You really…!”

***

“Wow…!”

Sylvia and I arrived at the Evergreen Night’s Feast.

She was looking at the restaurant with sparkling eyes, letting out an exclamation of admiration.

I couldn’t help but smile at her innocent and naive appearance. I quickly wiped the smile off my face in case it might offend her, but fortunately, Sylvia didn’t seem to notice.

“Let’s go in.”

The Evergreen Night’s Feast is a popular restaurant. It is so popular that if you hesitate even a little, the waiting line will be full.

We, who came around dinner time, were inevitably in a position to wait, so I hurried Sylvia and stepped into the restaurant.

“There are so many people…”

“That just means it’s a good restaurant, right?”

We had somewhat anticipated it when we saw it from outside the restaurant, but as we entered, we could see many people dining. I smiled and answered Sylvia, who was mumbling as if overwhelmed. Then, I added my name to the waiting list and returned to her.

She was sitting on the sofa for waiting customers, waiting for me. Still, even in that short time when I wasn’t by her side, she was attracting all the people’s attention.

“How long do we have to wait?”

“They said a table should be available within 30 minutes?”

The Evergreen Night’s Feast isn’t a restaurant with a particularly good turnover rate. Not only are table manners important in upscale restaurants, but they also prioritize quality over quick service.

However, even though it mimics upscale restaurants, it was ultimately a restaurant mainly used by students, so the turnover rate couldn’t be said to be bad either. This is evident from the fact that even with two to three groups waiting ahead of us, a table will be available in 30 minutes.

Sylvia sat on the sofa, swinging her feet and gently swaying her body.

“Are you that excited?”

“Yes, I’ve wanted to come here for a while!”

Sylvia answered my question with an excited voice.

Every time Sylvia swayed her body excitedly, her short dress skirt fluttered. Glancing at that sight, I sighed deeply and removed my outer garment to cover her knees.

“Thank you.”

Sylvia smiled brightly and expressed her gratitude as she saw my coat being placed over her knees. I just shrugged my shoulders as if it were nothing and continued the conversation normally.

“But why didn’t you come with your friends?”

“Well… All the other girls have either already come with their boyfriends or are planning to, so there was no one to come with.”

“…Really?”

I questioned, somewhat surprised by Sylvia’s words. Even though some time had passed since entering the academy, the fact that there were already so many couples around was a bit surprising.

“Are you surprised?”

“A little?”

Although it’s a time when youthful vigor is at its peak, isn’t this too fast? Or am I just being too old-fashioned?

“I heard everyone’s dating these days?”

“…Really?”

“They say only weirdos like Felix don’t date?”

Seeing Sylvia’s playful smile, I shrugged my shoulders. No matter what, it was unavoidable that I still didn’t feel like dating.

After all, it would be ridiculous for me, who couldn’t clearly answer who I was, to date.

“You don’t have a boyfriend either, you know?”

“For me, it’s not that I can’t. It’s that I choose not to. As for Felix…”

“Hey now, attacking with facts like this is not allowed.”

Maybe I’m just choosing not to as well? If it were my previous body, who knows, but isn’t Felix quite handsome in his own way?

Anyway, as we were chatting about this and that, our turn came. Following the polite guidance of the staff, we arrived at our table and started choosing food.

“Shall we order this, this, and this to share?”

“…Okay.”

Sylvia chose with a bright smile.

For some reason, her appearance overlapped with Helena’s, and I couldn’t help but hold my breath for a very brief moment.

Both Sylvia and Helena seemed to be big eaters, contrary to their appearances.

‘…Or maybe everything they eat goes to one place.’

Thinking about it, the amount of food made sense.

***

Pamela looked at the bristling Helena as if mocking her.

“If you’re planning to give up, I’ll take him. That’s fine, right?”

In truth, Pamela wasn’t interested in Felix. To be precise, she just didn’t like following Marquis Degrosis’ words.

Nevertheless, the reason she said such things was merely to irritate Helena.

At Pamela’s words, Helena glared at her, grinding her teeth. But Pamela didn’t even blink at her reaction.

“…I asked you what you want to say.”

Helena’s temper rose to the top of her head as Pamela continued to ignore her question and focus only on getting on her nerves.

…Though the reason her anger rose to the top of her head wasn’t solely because of that.

“I can tell that the reason you fought with Felix, or rather, the reason you’re unilaterally angry, is something you can’t tell others.”

Seeing Helena’s expression, Pamela finally sighed and calmly explained why she had come to find her.

“And I can also tell that it’s something Felix did wrong, terribly wrong.”

To Pamela, Helena was what you’d call a pushover.

She’s not the type of person who would ever get this angry at Felix. Not unless he committed a mortal sin.

The fact that such a Helena was this angry at Felix meant that he must have done something terribly wrong.

“But is it something so bad that you’d give up on him?”

“It is that bad.”

Because he’s become a different person.

Helena swallowed the words that rose to her throat and muttered as if spitting them out. Pamela exhaled again at Helena’s resolute attitude and nodded.

“What did he do so wrong that you’re this angry?”

No matter how much she thought about it, Pamela couldn’t imagine what Felix could have done to make the pushover Helena this angry.

Seeing Pamela’s genuinely curious expression, Helena smiled crookedly this time. As Pamela’s brow furrowed, realizing that Helena’s smile wasn’t mockery but self-deprecation, Helena opened her mouth.

“What if,”

“…”

“What if the person you know isn’t actually that person? How would you feel if someone else entered that person’s body?”

Helena had no obligation whatsoever to keep Felix’s secret. That’s why, at her straightforward question, Pamela could only furrow her brow again.

Because she could roughly guess what Helena meant. At the same time, because she couldn’t believe what she was saying.