As Silvia moved toward a place where others couldn’t overhear, she glanced subtly at the girl with innocent blue hair who was following her meekly, lost in thought.

Marin Eloise, the class president of first-year Class B, and the daughter of a famous hero couple.

Up until now, Silvia had believed she was a good person.

‘How can someone who looks like that be so audacious?’

Marin should have known, since she had been right beside her.

That Yoon Si-woo had feelings for Scarlet.

In this world, there exist laws, and among them is a clear rule: one should not covet someone who already has a partner.

Stealing someone away from an already committed person would only happen in the distant past, in the realm of beastmen or the land of orcs following the law of the jungle.

Even though Yoon Si-woo wasn’t officially dating Scarlet, it was evident that taking someone who was already in a relationship was socially condemned.

‘But how can this person act like this and speak so shamelessly?’

What? She wants to befriend her from now on?

Silvia knew the truth.

Marin had even provoked Scarlet by saying she was going on a date with Yoon Si-woo.

That punk who teased her saying, ‘Hey, your guy is awesome,’ now clinging to her saying they should be close friends.

She couldn’t even imagine how humiliated Scarlet must feel.

In many ways, Marin was even worse than Yoon Si-woo, who had cheated on Scarlet.

So how could she look at her with kind eyes?

“Um, can I now hear why you called me?”

Once they arrived in a sparsely populated stair landing, Marin asked with a curious expression.

Silvia shot her a sidelong glare and opened her mouth.

“Miss Marin? You went on a date with Yoon Si-woo not long ago, right?”

“……How did you know that?”

“Well, I just happened to find out.”

“……I didn’t know the heir of Astra was so interested in other people’s private lives. So?”

Marin answered, seemingly defensive, perhaps aware she had done something wrong.

Silvia wanted to shoot back at her right away but…

‘I should calm down. It’s best if this finishes with a warning, if possible.’

Silvia reassured herself, thinking along those lines.

After all, as she said, she was the heir of Astra.

Demonstrating such unrefined behavior in front of others was best avoided.

“Miss Marin, I’d like you to keep your distance from Yoon Si-woo.”

“……What?”

“I’m asking you to keep distance from Yoon Si-woo. If possible, it would be even better if you cleaned up your relationship with him neatly.”

She spoke as gently as possible, hoping Marin would comply obediently.

After all, she’d inflicted an unhealable wound on Scarlet.

But seeing Marin’s face frown at her words, Silvia instinctively felt that things wouldn’t unravel as easily as she had hoped.

“……You’re a bit rude, aren’t you? I don’t think we’re close enough for you to meddle in such matters.”

Seeing Marin respond with a sharp voice as if offended by her words, Silvia sighed internally.

‘This is getting troublesome. If she were someone who would listen, she wouldn’t have done such a trashy thing in the first place.’

Silvia wasn’t typically one to say unpleasant things to others.

But she definitely didn’t want to hold back and stay silent in front of someone like Marin, so she gave a strong warning.

“It’s more of a warning than meddling. I’ll say it one more time: cut ties with Yoon Si-woo. It’s better if you do this while I’m still speaking kindly. You wouldn’t want unnecessary disadvantages, would you?”

“……Ah, is that what it was? Ridiculous. To think the heir of Astra would even threaten others just because her family is somewhat well-off. I must have completely misjudged. But what to do, if you threaten me like this, that guy is already head over heels for someone else?”

Marin sneered, discarding her formal tone as if revealing her true colors after hearing Silvia’s warning.

Seeing her mock Scarlet by saying Yoon Si-woo was deeply in love with another, Silvia’s anger flared beyond control, and she couldn’t hold back anymore.

She finally resorted to her last option.

“……Since it seems words won’t cut it, I have no choice but to show you what the Astra family is capable of.”

Utilizing her family’s power.

If it were merely for her own benefit, she wouldn’t have even considered it, but for Scarlet’s sake, it was a different story.

Though she was largely a figurehead who could only act according to the wishes of the elder council, with even the smallest residual power from that name, there were countless things she could do.

Determined to sweep away such an audacious woman for Scarlet’s happiness, Silvia murmured to herself.

However, Marin, perhaps relying on her parents’ prestige, looked at her with contempt and said.

“Go ahead, do as you please. Do you think I’ll flinch at that? To threaten others for such reasons, you truly are the worst.”

How can she be so brazen? Doesn’t she feel a shred of shame for what she has done?

Seeing Marin glaring at her with an air of unflappability, Silvia genuinely expressed her disgust.

“The worst is definitely you. Knowing that Miss Scarlet and Yoon Si-woo are involved and still shamelessly trying to take Yoon Si-woo away… Even if Miss Scarlet forgives you, such a thing I cannot allow. You watch, your true face will soon be revealed to the world.”

And upon hearing this, Marin displayed a strange expression and said.

“……Wait a second, what did you just say?”

“Hah, what’s the matter? Are you scared all of a sudden? It’s too late now. I won’t forgive you. Someone like you who tries to ruin Miss Scarlet’s happiness.”

“No, no, didn’t you say that because you actually like Yoon Si-woo?”

Suddenly, at Marin’s ridiculous words, Silvia’s face twisted in disbelief.

Like him? Me? That guy?

In shock from this absurd declaration, Silvia shouted in anger.

“No way! That fool who goes around cheating on Scarlet! I already hate him to death!”

Hearing this, Marin displayed a peculiar reaction.

She looked dazed for a second and then burst into laughter.

As if thinking she had lost her mind, Silvia stared at her, and she sighed, muttering.

“Hey, I think you’re misunderstanding something. Yoon Si-woo and I are just friends.”

Was she now trying to backtrack? She should be better at lying.

Thinking such, Silvia answered.

“Do you think such a lie would work? I know perfectly well that you had a date with Yoon Si-woo.”

Then Marin chuckled and responded.

“I told you, I was rejected. Yoon Si-woo said he likes someone else, so we decided to stay just friends. I’m not lying.”

At that response, Silvia felt a momentary paralysis of her brain before she asked again.

“……Rejected, and decided to stay friends?”

“Yeah, you might not believe it, but it’s true. The date was set up by my parents in the first place…”

“…….Then why did you get mad at my question earlier…”

“No, I just thought you liked Yoon Si-woo. I thought you were throwing a fit because you were jealous of my closeness with him. How could I know you were taking your friend’s love life so seriously?”

As Silvia’s intuition stirred, whispering the pain of past wounds she had suffered, she thought.

‘…Huh? Why does it seem so true?’

If what she said was true,

Then Yoon Si-woo wasn’t cheating,

And Marin had only gotten close to Yoon Si-woo because her parents had forced her into an arranged date.

In other words, it meant everything had been her misunderstanding.

‘Uh… huh? Wait a minute… what have I done… Ah… huh?’

Caught in this suddenly hard-to-accept reality, Silvia felt as if the world was spinning around her.

“Well, mistakes can happen.”

Marin’s gentle words pierced through Silvia’s despair.

‘Ah… Aaaah !!!! What on earth have I done !!! I’m a total idiot! A fool! A stupid sea cucumber!!!’

As she recalled the words she’d said to Marin, Silvia felt overwhelmed with shame.

The audacity and unforgivable accusations — she couldn’t hate her past self more than in that moment.

With her face burning red from embarrassment, she wanted to hide in a hole and buried her head between her knees, covering her face with both hands.

But she knew.

No matter how she felt, the things she had done wouldn’t disappear.

So, mustering the strength to raise her body again, she repeatedly bowed her head and spat out apologies towards Marin.

“Ugh… I’m sorry! I… I didn’t know anything and… Ugh… I’m really sorry……”

“Ahaha… It’s okay, it’s okay. I mean, if it was just a misunderstanding, it’s understandable. Though it was a bit surprising.”

As she heard Marin comforting her, Silvia felt she might start crying.

‘Ah… Ah… To think I considered such a kind person trash makes me a way bigger piece of trash…’

After berating herself for a while, Marin smiled and asked.

“By the way, did you really think I had taken Yoon Si-woo from Miss Scarlet?”

“Yeah……”

“Hmm, so you also support those two. Oh, is it fine if I drop the honorifics? It feels weird to go formal now.”

Silvia nodded in response to Marin’s question about using informal speech.

No matter what it was, she had no choice but to act as Marin wished now.

While she was thinking that way, Silvia cautiously asked Marin again.

“Um, meaning supporting those two means……”

“Oh, I’m talking about Scarlet and Yoon Si-woo. Don’t you think you can’t help but cheer for them when you see them together? It’s fun to watch. Though it can be a bit frustrating, too.”

“……Frustrating?”

“Well, it feels like their progress is way too slow.”

Marin’s words left Silvia in shock.

They were already at the stage of going to motels together, and it was seen as slow progress?

Could there be anything faster than that?

While she was still processing this shock, it dawned on her what kind of parents Marin had, and she thought that it might indeed make sense.

After all, for a girl whose parents were famous for having a premarital child during their school days, everything else would feel frustrating.

While pondering this thought, she heard Marin mumbling.

“Well, it seems that watching isn’t just fun for those two. It’s fascinating. Birds of a feather flock together.”

Tilting her head in confusion, Marin waved her hand dismissively.

“Ahaha, don’t mind it. It’s not important.”

After saying that, Marin gently extended the hand she had waved forward.

As Silvia blankly stared at the hand extended towards her, Marin chuckled and said.

“Well, since it seems we’re both supporting those two, let’s try to get along.”

*

After Silvia, emanating a chilly aura, took Marin outside, I felt a slight anxiety creeping in.

Without Marin around, there would be no one to rein in the unpredictable Florene, and I worried she might clash again with Jessie, with whom she had previously quarreled.

But the world of girls proved to be far deeper than I anticipated.

“Ugh! How can a girl look like that! Wait a minute; I’ll make you cute!”

“Oh… I’m fine… Huh? Isn’t that a rare limited edition cosmetic? I tried to buy it but couldn’t get it in the end…”

“Huh? I made it, and I have a few. Do you want one?”

“R…Really? Thank you so much!”

After chatting about cosmetics for a brief moment, I observed Jessie and Florene, who had previously fought, getting along like old friends.

The world of girls truly is incomprehensible…

While I was mulling this over, the two who had gone out returned.

Based on the previous atmosphere, it was easy to guess that a catfight for the leading man among the heroines had taken place.

To be honest, I worried that the two might have had a huge fight, deepening their emotional divide, or that someone might have gotten hurt.

After all, romantic rivalries aren’t usually pretty.

I figured I would witness the typical catfight where they’d be pulling each other’s hair and shouting, “You thieving cat!” or hurling terrifying insults like, “You have a talent for being a whore.”

But the outcome was vastly different from what I had envisioned.

“……What did you two talk about?”

“Oh, nothing much. Just that we’ll try to get along from now on.”

Marin said with a smile, placing a hand on Silvia’s shoulder.

With Silvia’s personality, someone would surely face the consequences if they did something so forward, but she simply blushed and avoided my gaze.

What on earth had transpired?

“Ahhh! Marin! That’s unfair! I want to get along with Silvia too!”

Hearing Florene’s voice, I silently pondered.

Indeed, the world of girls is something I can never comprehend.