Chapter 62: Everyone’s Reactions Got Weird After I Got a Girlfriend

The situation involves facing Sharin directly.
In Isabel’s eyes, as she looked at us, there was an inexplicable hostility.

As I observed this, I wondered what I should do.
“…I didn’t do anything.”
I denied it.

Currently, my right eye holds remnants of an elder dragon.
I had no one else to turn to for help immediately, so I had asked Sharin. But the fewer people who knew about the remnants of the dragon, the better.

When I denied it, Isabel’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.
“I’ve been noticing this for a while now…”
Isabel looked at the two of us with a curious gaze.
“What exactly is going on between you two?”

Since the group match where Sharin and I teamed up, Isabel had always harbored questions about the nature of our relationship.

Isabel is Sharin’s close friend.
And I am in a rival relationship with Isabel.
So it was natural for Isabel to be curious about why Sharin and I were close.

Hearing Isabel’s question, Sharin and I glanced at each other.
If I had to describe my relationship with Sharin—

“We’re a couple who’ve promised a future together.”
Before I could even answer, Sharin took the lead.

We had indeed made a promise regarding the future after resolving the academy matters.
But phrasing it like that—

“W-what!?”
See? Isabel was utterly flustered.

She stared blankly at the two of us, visibly startled.
Meanwhile, Sharin looked quite smug, as if she had just given an excellent explanation.

Why is she acting so proud about this?
It’s enough to make me want to flick her forehead.

“But you said you were dating Hania…”
So Isabel had heard the rumors.

Here I was, supposedly dating Hania, and yet Sharin claimed we were promised to each other.
Even among playboys, this would be on another level.

For some reason, Isabel’s face seemed dispirited.
Sharin, too, observed her with a peculiar expression.

Then Sharin glanced sideways at me.
“Hanon, are you really dating Hania?”

Hearing the next question, Isabel’s shoulders flinched.
“Really dating?!”

“Yeah. Doesn’t it seem like Hanon wouldn’t seriously date anyone?”
Why is she acting like I’m incapable of love?

Of course, I suspect that, due to the Veil Bandages, I might have lost those kinds of emotions.
It’s just a vague assumption, but considering I feel nothing even when surrounded by beautiful women, it seems likely.

‘So I’m emotionally numb, huh.’
It’s bitter, but I’ll fix it later.
I wasn’t too bothered by it.

It also seemed like Sharin wasn’t entirely unaware of this side of me.
It’s said that women are more perceptive than one might think when it comes to how men look at them.
She must have noticed that there was no romantic intent in my gaze.

“I am dating her.”
Isabel’s shoulders flinched again.
Her pupils trembled intensely.

The reaction was stronger than expected.
Sharin’s eyebrows furrowed slightly, and then she tilted her head a little.
It seemed like a response even she wasn’t aware of.

“…Then, what does it mean that you promised a future with Sharin?”
At that moment, Isabel pointedly brought up what had been said earlier.
For some reason, she looked at me with a cold expression.

“Isabel, it seems there’s been a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding? What? Where is the misunderstanding?”
Isabel shouted, her eyes filled with deep disappointment.

It was the kind of look that said, I thought you were someone who at least had basic decency.
I stroked my chin for a moment.
Now that I thought about it, I had been neglecting Isabel lately because I was so focused on the issue with Nikita.

The matter with Nikita was mostly resolved now.
She had exited the scenario safely, so I wouldn’t have to worry about her for a while.
‘At least until Act 4 begins.’

It was time to pay more attention to Isabel.
“Fine.”
I decided to use this opportunity to stoke her competitive spirit as my rival.
“Think whatever you want.”

If it were about Hania, Isabel might let it go, but this involved her friend, Sharin.
Isabel stormed up to me and sharply grabbed Sharin by the wrist.

Her gaze was filled with contempt.
“Don’t go around filling my friend’s head with nonsense.”
“She’s the one who said it. How can you call it nonsense?”
“Sharin’s innocent!”

Innocent? Sharin?
I turned to look at Sharin, who had been dragged along by Isabel.
She let out a lazy yawn, as if she were getting sleepy again.

I couldn’t possibly agree with the notion that Sharin was ‘innocent’.

“You’re really disappointing.”
“I’m surprised there was still room left to be disappointed in me.”
“…You’re just like Card.”

What the—seriously?
That was the one thing I wanted to deny, but Isabel dragged Sharin away before I could say anything.
Sharin waved her hand casually as if to say, See you later.

Her carefree attitude was just like her.
‘…I’m just like Card?’
I couldn’t shake off the shock of her words.

Sure, having two women around me might look no different from a playboy’s antics.
But being called Card—that sent my mind spinning.

“The maids were saying something weird, so I came to see what’s going on. What are you doing?”
Just then, Hania walked in.

It seemed she’d overheard the maids chatting while getting ready for school.
Typical of maids, their gossip spread like wildfire.

Walking up to me, she glanced behind her.
“Isabel and Sharin Sazaris were running off somewhere. Did you confess to them and get rejected or something?”
“…If anything, I’d be the one getting scolded.”

Suddenly, I felt irritated.
I needed to go find Card and take it out on him today.

“Anyway, Lady Iris will be coming out soon, so go wait at the front.”
“Wait? What for?”
She looked at me as if to ask, What are you even questioning?

“Couples should go to school together in the morning like a proper couple.”
If we were acting, we might as well be thorough about it.
That was just like Hania.

* * *

On the way to school in the morning.
I walked forward, enduring more whispers than usual.

Ahead of me were two people.
On the far left, Iris, who was weak in the mornings, was slumped over as always.
In the middle, Hania was holding onto Iris’s arm.
And on the far right, I was holding hands with Hania.

Had I ever walked while holding hands with a girl in my life?
No, I hadn’t.
It felt… strange.

Although Hania was holding my hand, she didn’t glance in my direction even once.
All her attention was focused on the arm she had wrapped around Iris.
Her right hand felt lifeless, as though it were gripping a tree root instead.
Even a tree root would probably feel more lively than this.

But this was something the other students didn’t know.
To them, we looked unmistakably like a couple.

“…Do you think he’s blackmailing her or something?”
“Why would Hania date that guy?”
“Hania is way too good for a guy like Lightning Punk.”

Most of the students pitied Hania and regarded me with contempt.
It seemed they were especially resistant to the idea of the popular Hania dating someone like me.

After what felt like an endless walk, we finally reached the classroom.
As soon as we entered the Martial Arts class, the eyes of the students who had arrived earlier immediately fixated on us.

The Martial Arts students all looked at us with shocked expressions.
What they had half-doubted was now confirmed reality, so their reaction was only natural.

Among them, one person stood out with the most dramatic response.
It was Seron, sitting in her usual seat, staring at me with a face frozen in disbelief.

Her mouth hung open, and her wide eyes screamed that she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
For some reason, her gaze irritated me.

Huff—
As I moved toward Seron out of habit, Hania tugged at my hand.

“Where are you going?”
“I was going to my seat.”
“What are you talking about? Have you ever seen a couple sit separately?”

“Well…”
Not having been in a relationship before, I didn’t know.
But Hania’s gaze was serious.

“From now on, sit beside me.”
Hania didn’t seem like she was going to back down.
It looked like she was fully intent on using this opportunity to ruin Assistant Professor Barkov for good.

In the end, I had no choice but to follow Hania.

Iris, who seemed to have shaken off her morning drowsiness during the walk, now looked refreshed.
She exuded her usual noble and graceful aura in front of the students, as expected of her.

We took our seats, with Iris sitting on the inside and Hania and me on either side of her.

Meanwhile, Seron was still staring at us with a shocked expression.

But her gaze wavered.

In Martial Arts class, Seron didn’t belong to any particular group.
And now, her only connection—me—had suddenly become Hania’s ‘lover’.

This essentially meant Seron would have to face being completely alone from now on.

“U-uh…”

Like a lost puppy.
Seron didn’t know what to do with herself.

Watching her for a moment, I whispered to Hania.
“Hania, is it okay if I call Seron over?”
“Seron?”

Hania glanced at Seron.
Understanding the situation, she let out a sigh.

“Go ahead. I can’t ruin someone’s personal relationships while helping you with this, anyway.”

Thankfully, Hania was broad-minded.

“But, make sure not to act like you’re too fond of each other while we’re pretending to date.”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
“Aren’t you two practically dating already? You’re always hanging around together.”

Not at all.
I wished she wouldn’t say things that could flip my insides upside down.

“Seron.”
I called out to her, feeling a faint headache brewing.

Seron, who had been sitting alone, widened her eyes and ran over with a bright smile.
It felt like calling a puppy you’d raised, and it came bounding over.

“Don’t sit all the way over there by yourself. Sit next to me.”
“R-really?”
“Yes.”

Seron’s face lit up.
Excited, she sat beside me and pulled a book out of her bag.
She even hummed to herself, looking like she was in a great mood.

“…Even like that?”
Hania whispered, but I ignored her.

Shortly after, the Martial Arts professor, Beganon, entered the classroom, his face once again marred by a hangover.

Scanning the room lazily, he spoke.
“You’re all aware of the incident at the Summer Demonic Palace Tournament.”

The Summer Demonic Palace Tournament incident.
It was when Vice President Nikita Cynthia directly attacked the Third Princess.

The incident had thrown the empire into complete turmoil.
The Third Princess faction was pressing the Cynthia Marquis family to take full responsibility.

However, the First Prince faction wasn’t about to let the Cynthia family collapse so easily.
Using the event as a pretext, they were accusing the Third Princess faction of orchestrating an assassination attempt on Nia Cynthia.

They claimed this was what provoked Nikita into targeting the Third Princess directly.
As a result, the First Prince faction and the Third Princess faction were now viciously tearing into each other.

‘Thanks to that, the academy will probably be out of the spotlight for a while.’

Iris’s side must have had plenty to deal with too.
But it seemed she was using the aftermath of the Summer Demonic Palace Tournament as an excuse to ignore it all.

Taking any stance here would mean going to war with the First Prince faction.
Knowing this, Iris had deliberately chosen to stay quiet.

“The third-year, Nikita Cynthia, has been removed from her position as Vice President. The role is now vacant.”

And just like that, the story began unfolding as I had expected.

“After the summer break, we’ll elect a new Vice President for the vacant seat.
Second-years and up are eligible to apply, so anyone interested should submit their application.”

The vacant Vice President position.
At these words, the eyes of several students gleamed with interest.

In Zeryon Academy, a gathering place for prodigies, the roles of Student Council President and Vice President held significant prestige.

For nobles who valued honor, it was practically a chance to elevate their family’s name.
So, naturally, they couldn’t hide their excitement.

“Vice President, huh? It wouldn’t be a bad idea for Lady Iris, who’ll eventually become President, to take the role now.”

Hania suggested.

Iris didn’t seem opposed to the idea.
She had likely already been told the same thing by the Duke of Robliaju.
That she should seize the vacant Vice President position.

‘As expected, everything is progressing according to the main plot.’

Iris would shake up the entire Student Council on the Duke’s orders.
She would remove the existing members and replace them with her own people.

‘Now, it’s Act Four.’

After the side story of the summer vacation, Act Four would officially begin.
This was the point where the conflict between the First Prince faction and the Third Princess faction would start affecting the academy as well.

‘And then…’

The Frenzied Sorceress, Vinesha.
It was also the scenario where she would launch a massive terror attack on Zeryon Academy.

“Vice President, huh?”
Seron muttered as she stroked her chin thoughtfully.

Watching her, I calmly warned her.
“It’s better to give up on impossible things early.”
“…Who said I was thinking about it?”

Seron looked a little disappointed, as if she’d been hoping for something.

Come on.
The Vice President position required both a student vote and professor recommendations.
Anything less than exceptional wouldn’t even get you considered.

“By the way, Hanon.”

Hania called out to me suddenly.

“You know you’re supposed to spend the summer break with us, right?”

Wait, what?
I had no idea.