episode_0042

There is a weirdo at the academy.

It’s been over a month since rumors started circulating.

And for academy students, especially first-year students, it was hard to deny that the rumors were false.

Ria.

Her presence was too overwhelming.

It was a truth, not a prejudice, that fallen nobles usually had bad personalities, but Ria was different.

She smiled at everyone, no matter who they were.

Even if she heard offensive words, she just smiled it off.

She was so naive to the point of being foolish, and in reality, she was indeed a fool.

They say she can’t read or write.

A fallen noble who was assigned to the first-ever concentrated management department in the history of the academy.

There were many reasons to mock her, and even more reasons to be wary of her.

And what about the clothes she wore？

They changed every day, but in the end, it was always pajamas, and they were quite thin and short.

If she was careful in her actions as she was in her attire, who knows.

But her actions were far from cautious.

A weirdo, a fool, a fallen noble.

There were plenty of reasons to dislike her, but finding reasons to like her was difficult.

Yet, for those who had spoken to Ria directly, it was hard to find a reason to dislike her.

＂Hey, this is a new flavor, want to try it?”

A male student naturally offered Ria the candy he had.

It was strange for a noble, a fallen noble, and a fool like Ria to accept it without hesitation, but no one found it odd.

Ria brightly accepted the offer, saying, “Yes!” and with a smile, she leaned in close, flipping her hair, and took the candy from the boy’s hand.

After a few bites, she grinned!

“This is delicious!”

She held her cheeks with both hands, smiling beautifully with a slightly messy expression that looked like it could melt away at any moment.

The male student seemed pleased with Ria’s reaction and smiled back.

“Um… Ria?”

A girl with short hair approached the two.

She then offered a sandwich to Ria.

“I woke up early this morning to make this, would you like to try it…?”

“Oh my, what is this!”

With a strange remark, Ria bowed her head excessively and took a big bite of the sandwich, then gave a thumbs up to the girl.

Her mouth was small compared to the size of the sandwich, and it got messy around her mouth, but it didn’t look bad, perhaps because Ria was special.

It wasn’t accurate, but if we were to guess, it would be because of Ria’s unique charm.

Nobles are sensitive to the actions, thoughts, tones, and moods of others.

The position of a noble is not just a place to eat and drink.

As much as they receive various privileges.

As much as they take on various responsibilities.

Nobles receive an excessive education from a young age, scrutinizing the actions, thoughts, tones, and moods of others.

But Ria didn’t need to do that.

She was fundamentally a fool, so whatever she was thinking usually ended with ‘I want to eat lemon candy,’ so there was no need to worry about what she might be thinking inside, and she didn’t hide her emotions to the point of fighting with a prince.

Her actions were extremely simple.

If she wanted to sleep, she slept, if she wanted to eat, she ate, and if she was praised, she liked it.

There was no pretense, no decoration, but she was harmless.

Even if nobles approached her without thinking, there was no problem.

It even turned into the strange advantage of being a fallen noble, so they could treat her comfortably.

It might not be so strange that most students liked Ria.

“Thank you all! I really like you all… hehe…”

Behind the female student, Lía, who received all sorts of snacks as gifts, expressed her gratitude to those who gave her gifts.

With a bright smile, Lía greeted everyone with a belly-button greeting, and people around her reached out to touch her head or cheeks.

And then, a strange sound, like a cat purring in contentment, could be heard.

Among the first-year students, Lía had suddenly established herself in a strange position as a communal pet.

Of course, there were those who disliked her simply because she often stayed by the prince’s side, but as a corporation, one cannot please everyone.

That’s such a natural story that I won’t elaborate on it here.

What I will focus on today is why Lía, a fallen noble and a fool, even a nerd, managed to capture people’s hearts.

Normally, even if there are many reasons to like someone, if there is one reason to dislike them, that person becomes unlikeable.

That’s not a special thing at all.

However, in Lía’s case, it was the opposite.

There were certainly reasons to like her, but there were even more reasons to dislike her.

Lía was receiving a lot of people’s favor.

That was indeed something special.

In fact, there was a bit of fitting in with the advantages I mentioned earlier.

Let’s talk about a genuine advantage, perhaps kindness.

There was no way she could ignore those facing difficulties.

Even if there were those who disliked Lía, there was no avoiding it.

She would lend materials, lend stationery, eat picky foods on behalf of others, or help find something lost.

There was a time when someone asked why she helped others so much.

The answer that came back was quite shocking.

＂There’s no need for a reason to help,” she said.

Of course, she smiled harmlessly, saying it was good for her image with the nobles, but everyone knew it wasn’t sincere.

Lía was too clumsy at lying.

When she lied, she kept avoiding eye contact.

There was no one at the academy who couldn’t even grasp such a basic lying pattern.

Let’s summarize again.

A fallen noble, a fool, even a nerd, but kind.

Adding one more attribute to Lía’s qualities…

Perhaps, too much familiarity.

Especially when dealing with men, she had no sense of distance.

When dealing with women, there was a subtle distance, but strangely, when dealing with men, there was no such thing.

Whispering, hugging, acting cute, she didn’t hesitate to praise anything that seemed even slightly good.

In fact, who wouldn’t like her？

Even though she paid a lot of attention to her appearance, even those who disliked Lía would naturally come to like her once they experienced that strange lack of distance.

A person who used to curse Lía the most harshly suddenly approached her one day, whispering and handing her a cream bread from a famous bakery, and the shock was indescribable.

Even now, among the guys gathered around Lía, there are some mixed in.

If the opportunity arises, I would like to investigate later.

Anyway, back to the point.

The rumor that there is a nerd at the academy is true.

With that attire, carelessly sometimes with one leg on the chair, staring blankly, and especially with a lack of distance towards the boys, there was no shortage of calling her a nerd.

However, if you were to ask if she was a bad kid, that wasn’t the case.

If you were to ask if the students disliked Ria, except for a few, they actually liked her.

She may be a troublemaker, but she’s not a problem child – that’s how you could sum it up.

＂…And with that, we conclude the first-year edition of ‘Let’s find out the hottest rumors by grade.’”

I put down my pen.

It was nice to have access to all sorts of information at the newspaper department of the academy.

But being pressured by the head of the department to bring in information every day, no matter how trivial, I ended up selling out Ria.

But it should be fine.

After all, everyone already knows the story.

I was just adding my own perspective to a story that everyone already knows.

“Later, I’ll just buy her a lemon cream bun.”

Thinking quietly that I should give something to Ria, who had become the protagonist of this club assignment.

Since she eats lemon-flavored candies every day, she must like lemons.

So, I reached the conclusion that giving her a lemon cream bun would be fine.

“…Actually, she seems to be happy no matter what I give her.”

Giving her something she likes doesn’t seem to have any meaning.

But still, if you observe quietly, all the tastes Ria personally enjoys are lemon-flavored.

So, if you have even a little interest in Ria, giving something related to lemons is common.

Look over there.

Lemon bread, lemonade, lemon cookies…

They’re all full of lemons.

“Hmm…”

Since everyone gives regular lemons.

Should I buy black lemons to give her？

Thinking that a high-end lemon with a relatively less sour taste and a more pronounced sweetness would stand out among all the lemon-themed gifts, I considered buying black lemons.

It may be more expensive than regular lemons, but hey, I wrote a piece focusing on Ria.

I can afford to give her that kind of gift.

Muttering to myself as if hypnotized, I nodded my head.