When the sunlight shines, the shimmering waves reflect off her silver hair.

And sometimes, depending on her feelings, her slightly pointed ears twitch, different from an ordinary person’s.

As I sat in my seat listening to the class, I would unknowingly be drawn to the back view of Sylvia sitting in front of me on my left, staring blankly at her.

After we became a little closer, it became part of my daily routine for her to occasionally turn around and flash me a smile whenever she felt my gaze.

But today, for some reason.

“…Ugh.”

Maybe it was just my feeling, but every time I threw a glance at Sylvia, she hunched her body as if she was profoundly shaken.

Now that I thought about it, today we hadn’t even greeted each other in the morning.

It was a completely different reaction than before.

Why on earth was Sylvia acting like this? I couldn’t help but let out a wry smile as I pondered what might be going on.

I recalled the day I moved from Sylvia’s mansion to Yoon Si-woo’s house.

I remembered how distraught Sylvia looked, tearfully opposing the move, as if she didn’t want me to leave.

From my perspective, I thought it was the best choice for both of us, but from her standpoint, I might have seemed unkind for leaving without giving a proper explanation.

However, I also couldn’t honestly tell her about my situation.

If it was Sylvia, she would certainly want to help, and I didn’t want to see that side of her.

As I pondered how to apologize to her for the hurt I might have caused, I bit my lip in thought.

If I were to apologize, the soft-hearted Sylvia would definitely accept, but I also thought that if I stayed quiet, it might create a little distance between us, which had become too close.

Even when I faced bad situations and when I decided to leave the mansion, recalling the emotional turmoil she had shown pained me, but in this situation, I felt it would be wiser to maintain some distance from her.

Considering the impact I could have on her in the future, I reasoned.

So when class ended and lunchtime arrived, I hardened my resolve and stood up from my seat.

I left Sylvia behind, who would usually accompany me to lunch.

However, my plan to eat lunch alone without Sylvia got thwarted.

“…Um, Scarlett?”

Sylvia called out hurriedly while grabbing the hem of my clothes as she stood up.

I was flooded with a sudden desire to apologize, but I turned to her with as expressionless a face as possible and responded.

“…What is it?”

“I have something to tell you; could you step outside for a moment…?”

I didn’t know what she wanted to say, but seeing her expression filled with urgency, I couldn’t refuse and nodded.

Could it be that she was going to ask me to return to the mansion?

Thoughts like these crossed my mind, but as I followed Sylvia to a secluded area behind the courtyard, she did something entirely unexpected.

“I’m sorry… I’m truly sorry, Scarlett…”

Sylvia, who had drawn me out, wore a sad expression as if she were about to cry and bowed her head as she apologized.

…But why was Sylvia apologizing when it was my fault?

I hesitated for a moment, wanting to stop her, but she couldn’t hold back her apologies anymore than I could speak.

“…You know, it’s true that I orchestrated everything about you getting kicked out of the house you were living in. I asked the guardians for help, thinking you’d be better off living at the mansion… I’m really sorry…”

Her words left me momentarily confused until I was hit with a shock.

“…What? So that order to vacate was…”

“Yes, it was me. I did it to ensure you lived at the mansion…”

The unexpected confession made my head feel dizzy.

Now that I thought about it, Sylvia had come for a visit the day before I moved into the mansion.

I recalled how shocked she was, asking if I had really been living in such a place until now.

If I had lived in such a grand mansion, the house I used to reside in must have looked like a dog house, so it was understandable she’d worry…

However, it was strange how meticulously everything had been prepared for such a sudden move.

I had no idea that there were such circumstances.

But was that really a reason for her to bow her head and apologize so deeply?

She had only done me a favor.

Yet Sylvia bowed her head as if she were a sinner who had committed a grave sin, continuously spouting her apologies.

“I… I had no idea what I was doing… I realized how terrible my actions were only after you left the mansion. I’m truly sorry. I sincerely apologize…”

“No, it doesn’t have to be that serious…”

“No, it does… I know now how much pain I must have caused you because of me…”

I tried to stop Sylvia, who kept apologizing, but she was so weighed down by her guilt that she wouldn’t relent.

At this point, it felt more like I was the one who was confused.

I was the one who should be apologizing, yet she kept insisting on it…

Still, Sylvia spoke to me with a face full of guilt.

“…I won’t hope for your forgiveness. I won’t say anything foolish like ‘let’s be friends.’ I don’t want to remind you of bad memories… So you don’t need to be nice to me anymore. I’m truly sorry…”

With that, Sylvia turned and ran off into the distance.

…What in the world just happened?

It seemed like my plan to create a bit of distance was successful, but I had a lingering, discomforting feeling.

—

After finishing my conversation with Sylvia, I headed to the cafeteria, where Jessie and Mei were waving at me from their seats. I sat down in the empty space between them.

I put food in my mouth, but the image of Sylvia apologizing just kept circling in my mind, ruining my appetite.

No matter how I thought about it, she didn’t really do anything wrong.

…Maybe I should take some macarons later and tell her it’s okay.

Despite my intention to keep my distance, I was reminded how difficult it can be to drift away from someone I had gotten close to when a loud noise suddenly echoed from afar.

“AAAAHH! There it is!”

I looked toward the source of the high-pitched voice, reminiscent of a little girl’s, and saw Florene Dolos running toward me with her pink twin tails flying behind her.

Though she appeared small, she was a child of the Dolos lineage, known for their extraordinary physical capabilities, and could easily outpace any typical hero.

Getting hit by her would be more dangerous than being run over by a dump truck.

As I contemplated whether to jump out of the way, Florene skid to a halt in front of me.

Then she bent down at a 180-degree angle and shouted at me in a loud voice.

“MIAMIAN!!!”

It was the most thunderous apology I had ever heard, leaving the listener completely bewildered.

Another apology, huh?

Could it be that there’s a trend of people apologizing to me without me realizing it? In the midst of these thoughts, I saw Marin running toward us, quickly slapping Florene on the head.

“Florene! Didn’t I tell you not to shout so loudly when there are so many people around?!”

“Oops! Hehe, I forgot because I was in a hurry.”

“Sorry, Scarlett. Did that surprise you? Florene wanted to apologize to you and has been running around during lunch searching for you.”

I nodded at Marin’s explanation and asked Florene.

“…Is this about the interrogation?”

“Yep! I was supposed to apologize last week, but I didn’t show up then!”

As Florene said that, she once again bowed her head in front of me and apologized.

“I’m sorry! My papa is a bit strict, so if something doesn’t please him, he won’t let it go! If I hadn’t insisted on going to the front lines, none of this would have happened. So I’m really sorry! ”

I caught a glimpse of Marin giving Florene a strange look.

Perhaps she noticed something odd about Florene’s overly cheerful demeanor even as she apologized, having known her for a long time.

Of course, if it were someone else, they might have felt angry at Florene for that behavior, but since I knew from reading the original story that she was just like that, I could only shrug it off.

…In any case, one person was too apologetic over nothing, and the other didn’t seem apologetic at all, which was quite troubling.

If only Sylvia and Florene could balance each other out a little…

With those thoughts in mind, I raised Florene’s chin.

“…It’s fine; you don’t need to apologize anymore.”

“Really?! Yay! Thank you! Here, I brought some cosmetics as a gift for you! Girls should always look pretty!”

“…No thanks. I’m not into makeup.”

“Ahaha, no refusals! Take it! It’s something special I prepared just for you!”

Despite my continuous rejections, Florene’s enthusiasm was overwhelming, and I had no choice but to accept the shopping bag she extended toward me.

“Now that I’ve given it to you, I’ll take my leave! I’m sorry!”

Once I accepted the cosmetics, Florene finally looked satisfied and dashed off somewhere, disappearing from sight.

“Hah, what’s up with her today? Well, Scarlett, I guess I’ll go.”

Watching Marin exhale a sigh as she trailed after Florene, I felt drained and breathed out heavily.

This was really chaotic…

But on the other hand, I found myself envious of Florene’s carefree nature.

I wished I could live without any worries like that.

As I was sighing, Jessie next to me brightened her eyes and muttered.

“…Scarlett, those are incredibly hard to come by.”

“…Do you want some?”

“Ah… No? I couldn’t possibly accept a gift given to you, Scarlett…”

Seeing Jessie show considerable interest in the cosmetics, I thought about simply giving them to her. However, since she refused, I reluctantly decided to keep them.

There’s no way I’d ever use them, so I might as well sell them later for some pocket money.