chapter_0082

When he called her “Airhead
Lady,” I couldn’t help but laugh.

Sigh.
Really.

I was getting sentimental for
once, but he totally ruined the mood. I knew Grandpa was joking to
comfort me, so I didn’t whine to him. Instead, I took a deep breath.

Yeah. It’ll be okay.

“Miss.”

As I was passing the time,
Karl, who had taken Joy to the infirmary, returned.

‘Karl. How’s Joy?’

“Sloppy, how’s Airhead
Lady?”

“She is fine. Thanks to the
calming spell she received, her anxiety symptoms have disappeared.
The healer at the infirmary said she would be okay after some rest.”

The person working at the Soul
Academy’s infirmary is very skilled.

If someone like that said she
would be okay, then I can relax.

What a relief. Truly.

“And Miss, Lady Partan
wishes to see you again.”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

Is it really okay to go see
her again now?

Joy flinched when I reached
out to her.

What if I scare her again by
showing up now?

As I hesitated to get up,
Grandpa sighed and spoke.

You told me not to be overly
considerate. Yes. I just heard it a moment ago, but I had forgotten.

I responded to Grandpa, saying
I understood, and stood up.

On the way to the infirmary, I
sensed that more eyes than usual were on me today.

It seemed the news about Joy
fainting had spread among the students.

Some even whispered behind
their hands, as if wanting me to hear, saying I had bullied Joy.

A rebuttal automatically came
to mind: Would I, even as reckless as I might be, bully the Lady of
the Partan Family? But thinking about it, it wasn’t all that
strange.

After all, hadn’t I been the
one to cruelly nickname the Third Prince the Pitiful Prince?

Anything absurd could become
plausible if the name Lucy Allen was attached to it.

Ah. I should just give up on
redeeming my reputation.

No matter how desperately I
tried, the foundation was already the worst it could be. What could I
do?

Besides, there’s no need to be
loved by everyone, right?

It’s enough if the people I
like, like me back.

Isn’t having the courage to be
disliked something like that?

As I walked ahead, pretending
to be nonchalant, a group of female students blocked my way.

Their faces were familiar.

It wasn’t because they were
major NPCs in the game, but because they were always clinging to Joy
as her followers, making them naturally recognizable to me.

Facing several Ladies with
sharp looks was a bit intimidating. Facing these girls feels entirely
different than confronting a strong monster.

Is this the kind of bullying
usually found in stories about villainous ladies?

Wow, this is tough.

If I were the kind of naive
protagonist who didn’t understand the ways of the world, I’d be
overwhelmed by now.

“Lady Allen.”

Someone who seemed to be their
leader called out to me.

Even though she simply said my
name, it was clear what she thought of me. Anyone could understand it
from her voice, thick with animosity.

“Where are you headed?”

‘To the infirmary.’

“Do you really want to
know? Frankly, I don’t feel like telling you. I have no intention of
answering a trash like you.”

My [Mesugaki] Skill made me
chuckle as I replied, causing murmurs to rise from the Ladies
surrounding me.

Their predictable comments
ranged from calling me rude to arrogant.

However, the murmuring ceased
the moment their leader frowned.

Impressive control. She seems
more like a villainous lady than Joy.

“Don’t be so rude.”

‘Oh… Pardon?’

“What’s this? Are you
angry? Can’t control your emotions, you sloppy Lady. Telling others
not to be rude while being rude yourself, what a fool.”

For some reason, my [Mesugaki]
Skill couldn’t stop making me laugh.

The more I laughed, the redder
the face of the Lady standing in front of me became.

“You haven’t changed at
all from your time in high society.”

Her voice was filled with a
hatred that seemed to be chewed up and spit out into her words.

Hearing it, I understood that
the bad blood between her and Lucy was not light at all.

She was another victim of
Lucy’s misdeeds.

“Lady Allen, you’re
heading to the infirmary now, right?”

‘Yes. So what?’

“What, you knew? Then why
did you ask? Are you senile? Forgetful? Is your brain full of holes
even though you’re young?”

“Get lost. With what face
are you trying to visit Lady Partan, after causing her so much
trouble?”

What? Does she actually
believe that rumour?

So, she’s trying to stop me
from going to see Joy?

Since my reputation is as bad
as they say, she must really care about Joy to pick a fight with me
and block my way.

Perfect timing. Joy must be
having a tough time right now, and she could use a friend like this.

But…

‘I’m going because Joy called
me.’

“Trash Lady. Sorry, but
Airhead Lady is the one who called me. So, the person who needs to
buzz off isn’t me, got it? You lowlife.”

Joy asked me to come, so it
would be nice if you could step aside.

If you have any complaints,
I’ll listen to them later until you’re sick of hearing your own
voice.

“You’re nothing but a liar,
aren’t you?”

But this girl didn’t believe a
single word I said.

Well, if she believed those
rumours, she wouldn’t believe that Joy called me.

But it’s true that Joy did
ask me to come.

How should I convince her?

“Um, excuse me. Lady
Partan is heading over to see Lady Allen.”

Did Karl think I couldn’t
handle convincing these ladies myself?

Karl spoke up from beside me,
but the sharpness in the girl’s eyes didn’t diminish in the
slightest.

“Professor, please don’t
interfere in a conversation between students.”

At that moment, I realised I
had made a mistake.

If this person really cared
about Joy, would she have cut off Karl’s words like that?

Karl was clearly identifiable
as a professor.

Would she ignore Karl, who had
just carried Joy to the infirmary?

She would at least pretend to
listen.

But this Lady didn’t even
attempt to hear Karl out.

That’s right.

Whether the rumours were true
or not didn’t really matter to this Lady.

It wasn’t even important
whether Joy was telling the truth.

What bothered her was simply
the fact that I had come to see Joy.

Hmm. So you’re not really a
friend of Joy’s, are you?

You’re not someone who
genuinely cares for her, right?

In that case, I have no reason
to consider your feelings either.

I pushed the troubled-looking
Karl aside and stepped forward.

The unknown Lady’s gaze
pierced right through me.

“What is it? Lady Allen?
Do you have something to say?”

I didn’t answer.

There was no reason to
respond.

What answer could I give to
someone pretending to care for Joy just to vent their own
frustrations? Instead, I pushed the Lady aside.

“Kyaa?!”

Even though I didn’t use much
force, the Lady ended up sprawled disgracefully on the floor.

Why is she acting like that?

I just gave her a light push.

That Hollywood-style reaction
is way over the top.

Even a soccer referee would
give you, not me, a yellow card for that.

Though I felt wronged, it
seemed the other Ladies didn’t see it that way.

The woman standing next to the
Lady who had just fallen raised her voice.

“What are you doing?!”

“Pfftt♡ Sorry♡ I didn’t
realise this trashy Lady was so weak♡ and sloppy♡ and such a
hopeless fool♡”

As I spoke with a smile, the
other Ladies scowled.

What? Are you going to attack
me?

Go ahead. You trash.

Even if all of you ganged up,
you wouldn’t be able to take down someone like Frey, but if you
want to try, I’m ready.

As I stared them down without
losing an ounce of my composure, the Ladies hesitated and backed
away.

“Well then, I’ll be on my
way♡ Trash?♡ Next time, you should know your place♡ Oh♡ If
you had that kind of brain, you wouldn’t have picked a fight in the
first place, huh?♡”

I exaggeratedly laughed as I
walked through them, watching as their faces turned beet red.

Please support the series on
NovelUpdates

Read Here
for premium chapters