Chapter 96: The Morning Sun of March 5th
March 5th, 1258, Imperial Calendar. Today was the day the story of Beyond the Tiny Droplet began.
Sue stood before the mirror, dressed in her pristine white Full Bloom uniform, just like she had a year ago. Nothing had changed. Well, her bangs were a little longer.
‘I’ll have to ask Nine to trim them when I get home.’
She smoothed out a wrinkle in her uniform and left the townhouse.
The carriage wasn’t heading towards the familiar oval-shaped building, but towards a pointed Gothic castle, painted entirely in gray.
Sue would be spending the next two years at this Gothic castle, called the ‘Graduation Building’, preparing to enter true noble society.
‘I have to play the role of a noble until my curse is broken.’
Sue looked up at the Graduation Building, the spring breeze still chilly, her heart filled with determination.
She didn’t enter the academy immediately and changed direction. There was a dormitory for students from outside the capital near the Graduation Building.
She had never been inside, but even the dormitories at Full Bloom looked luxurious. According to the novel, the dormitory rooms were all single rooms, much more comfortable than where she had lived before.
Of course, that was based on the opinion of Soran Halo, who had lived in the Wastelands, so it wasn’t very reliable.
There was no particular reason why Sue had arrived at the academy early and secretly visited the dormitory. She just wanted to calm her nerves.
She was certain that she would be inside this grand dormitory. The protagonist who would open the door to that tiresome story she had replayed in her mind dozens of times.
“Excuse me, who are you?”
Sue flinched at the sound of a sweet voice, like a bird chirping. She turned around and saw a girl standing in front of the small grove that separated the boys’ and girls’ dormitories. She had her hands clasped together, her face bathed in the morning sunlight, looking at Sue with a puzzled expression. She looked like a fairy who had descended to earth.
“I don’t think I’ve seen you before in the girls’ dormitory…”
Her light purple hair, softly curled, swayed in the gentle breeze.
“I must have taken the wrong path.”
But unfortunately, and fortunately, she wasn’t Soran Halo. Sue quickly left the dormitory, leaving the puzzled girl behind.
***
The Graduation Building was only for seventh and eighth year students, but the hallways were just as crowded as they had been in the sixth-year building. That was because a dozen or so transfer students from outside the capital would be joining them in their seventh year.
As the empire’s territory expanded, the number of noble families who wanted to enroll their children in Full Bloom had increased rapidly. The transfer students, who were only accepted in their final two years, were children who had been chosen after paying double the usual donation.
And since those ‘dozen or so’ students included ‘specially recruited students’, the existing students referred to them as ‘winners’. Of course, the well-mannered young ladies and gentlemen treated them with respect.
Sue, who wasn’t exactly well-mannered, flung open the door to her newly assigned classroom.
There was no longer a black eagle painted on the door. The golden lion emblem was emblazoned on the wall.
“Oh my! Master Fritz! What a coincidence! You’re in the Golden Lion Class too?!”
Sue exaggerated her surprise, knowing beforehand. Shina Fritz, who was already seated at his desk, paused his reading and greeted her with a somewhat friendly voice.
“Sue Byron Chiqmefriar. You’ve been assigned to the Golden Lion Class too, I see.”
“Yes! I’ll be in your care!”
Right, blessings upon the empire.
Fritz nodded, observed her for a moment, then went back to his book.
Sue didn’t try to prolong the conversation. She didn’t want to give the new faces any more reason to judge her.
There were already quite a few students in the classroom, chatting and anticipating the new semester. Some of the existing students frowned at the sight of her, while some of the transfer students, still oblivious, were smiling cheerfully.
Sue scanned the classroom, her smile confident.
‘Found her.’
The girl who looked most like the description in the novel.
She easily spotted her in the unfamiliar space, filled with a chilly air.
‘Soran Halo.’
A slightly oversized uniform, shoulder-length pink hair tied in a half-updo, droopy eyes, large violet eyes, and dark circles underneath.
There was no doubt that she was Soran Halo.
Halo was sitting right in the middle of the classroom. Sue naturally chose a seat diagonally behind her. To observe, no, to monitor Soran Halo.
Halo, oblivious to the red-haired girl’s gaze, was biting her lip, her head buried in a worn-out notebook. She might have looked like a student diligently studying, but she was actually trying to figure out how to act in this unfamiliar, overwhelming environment.
And Sue Byron, who was smiling leisurely, was in a similar state. Her insides were churning with anxiety at the predictable turn of events.
Sue Byron Chiqmefriar, a seventh-year student, was in the same class as Soran Halo and Shina Fritz.
Who cared what class a one-dimensional villain was assigned to? But Sue couldn’t help but know.
Back when Soran Halo was a seventh year, she had been mocked and bullied every day by an annoying girl in her class.
Based on the flow of the story, that girl was either Melaine or Sue, and Sue remembered that the girl’s hair had been red.
And from there, she was able to perfectly recall that the red-haired girl’s name was ‘Sue’.
‘I must have been her first obstacle, the one who taught her about the harsh realities of noble society.’
Sue grimaced.
‘Sue’ would have found Halo annoying from the start, especially since she was a ‘specially recruited student’.
And then, that specially recruited girl had started interacting with Fritz, and neither Enzhe nor Sue could stand it.
Sue’s already miserable life had been accelerated by meeting Halo.
‘Keep your mouth shut and stay quiet. And if Halo starts getting close to Fritz, stop it somehow.’
She had made that resolution before school started, but she doubted it would work. Sue and Halo might be quiet, but there was no guarantee that Enzhe wouldn’t suddenly go on a rampage.
But she had to do what she could.
To please everyone and stay invisible, quietly.
It might even be an opportunity, being in the same class as the two protagonists.
If she didn’t see Soran Halo as a thorn in her side, most of the incidents that occurred in their seventh year might not happen.
‘If that happens… Um… If that happens…’
“…Ugh…”
She groaned involuntarily.
Her head was already pounding. It seemed like this was the limit of her small brain capacity.
***
The first day went exactly as it had in the novel. Julia Ains, who was also in the Golden Lion Class, played the role of Halo’s friend and approached her first. Ains, as a transfer student, told her about life in the capital and the academy. Her experience as the Golden Lion Class representative for six years couldn’t be underestimated.
Halo’s stiff posture gradually relaxed as she talked to Ains. Even after class, Ains would seek her out, asking her questions and offering advice.
Sue listened to their first encounter, their first conversation, pretending to yawn and look away.
“It’s best to avoid Shina Fritz, Woo Acrea, and Enzhe Lopetrefer. You’ll only end up exhausted, Miss Soran.”
Ains, remembering her unpleasant experiences, massaged her forehead as she said those words. As the daughter of a duke family, though not as powerful as the three grand dukes, she had been caught between them.
“I’ve met Lady Enzhe Lopetrefer before. She was a wonderful person…”
“…Ah, Miss Soran, you’re receiving support from the Lopetrefer family, right?”
Ains sighed, her face contorting in regret, as she answered Halo’s puzzled question.