Chapter 6: Friends

Just as Ophelia had said, that white-bearded old man never appeared at the academy again.

Word was that he refused to swallow his pride and apologize for the boast he made in front of everyone, so under some unknown pressure, he stormed off in anger, resigning without a trace.

Whenever Anna thought about this, she would steal a glance at Ophelia’s face.

She had kept her promise, and that moved Anna somewhat.

Even though she could have easily ignored it.

Even for her, toppling an old professor with just a few words of boasting and banter would have cost her dearly.

And yet she went through all that trouble—perhaps out of noble justice, but maybe more so to get a bit of revenge for herself.

Anna pondered, growing increasingly puzzled by this villainous mistress who had seemingly fallen from the sky.

What exactly did she want to do? If it was just to command her, she could have simply relied on the slave mark’s coercive power and the constraints of debt.

But she didn’t do that.

After making all kinds of unreasonable demands, she would give Anna hugs and kisses, rare tenderness.

What she did didn’t feel like enslavement; it felt more like discipline.

Truly a young lady who loved to do unnecessary things.

Anna dropped her pen, stretched lazily, and loosened the stiffness in her shoulders and neck from sitting too long.

It had been nearly half a month since the old man left, and it was about time for the first Magic Test.

For that reason, Anna managed to get Ophelia’s approval to study in the Library on evenings when she had nothing else to do.

The wrinkles in the books were obscure and difficult to understand.

For Anna, a latecomer with no magical talent, they were as profound as angels.

She had been grinding over the books all afternoon and barely solved a few problems.

Perhaps the difficulty of A Class was indeed a bit beyond her reach.

She was just a magical struggler who could barely pass the special hero class a few levels below the regular classes.

“Ah, isn’t this Anna?”

A somewhat familiar voice came from behind.

Anna thought carefully and recalled it was Beatrice, whom she had met at the school gate on her first day.

“Good evening, Beatrice.”

“Good evening~”

She held in her arms a fat ginger cat that she called “Gold Bar.” She pulled out the chair next to Anna but didn’t seem like she intended to read or study.

She rested her chin on her hands, eyes fixed on Anna’s open homework, wearing a look of pity and an “I knew it” expression.

“Eh… Anna’s homework is really…”

She hesitated before picking up a pen.

The ginger cat rubbed against the back of her hand and quietly lay down to the side.

Surely Beatrice hadn’t brought the cat just because it wanted to sleep in the Library?

Wait, why was the cat allowed in the Library?

“Beatrice, I think the rules don’t allow pets in the Library, right?”

“Seems like that’s a rule. But whatever.” Beatrice deliberately showed Anna the student council armband she wore.

She was the enforcer of the rules, but no one supervised her, so she could do as she pleased.

“Is that really okay?”

“What’s wrong with it? Everyone loves Gold Bar anyway.”

She circled and dotted on Anna’s homework, but soon she grew confused.

It wasn’t that the questions were hard—Beatrice and Ophelia were the academy’s twin stars, and these were mere appetizers for her.

She was just baffled why someone could have half a book of homework half-finished yet barely answer even the most basic memorized-definition questions correctly.

She even began to wonder if this girl in front of her could really graduate smoothly.

But thinking of the several clumsy and donkey-like useless hero students from previous years, Beatrice wasn’t so worried about Anna.

Even if she really couldn’t graduate, Ophelia would find a way.

That Northern Heiress seemed to have a particular fondness for her far relative and Maid.

Beatrice had heard some rumors around the academy.

The thin, petite Anna and the proud Little Sun didn’t seem to have a purely innocent relationship.

There were whispers that Anna had been seen kneeling and kissing Ophelia’s hand, and rumors that late at night, moans not from Ophelia herself were heard from her private chambers.

Beatrice didn’t fully believe those rumors, but the quarrel she had witnessed between Ophelia and Anna at the gate lingered in her mind.

The Ophelia she knew would never lose her composure and bicker so openly in public.

Seeing her like that, she must have mistakenly thought Beatrice was bullying the newcomer Anna and hurried to defend her.

Though her words were cold, her actions were honest.

Like she had just uncovered a secret between rivals, Beatrice felt especially pleased.

Maybe she should tease them a little.

“This question.”

Beatrice deliberately chose a question on the right side of the page.

Taking the opportunity, she leaned half her body over, casting Anna into her shadow.

To write more easily, her face was very close to Anna’s.

Between her strokes, she glanced at Anna’s eyes. Anna listened attentively, seemingly trying hard to understand every word.

Her lashes fluttered with each blink, like a butterfly lingering among flowers, gently beating its wings.

Beatrice couldn’t help but get a little dazed.

Even after explaining this short spell, she hadn’t come back to herself.

“Beatrice?”

Anna turned her face.

Beatrice suddenly thought this face was really adorable.

Her features were full, though her cheeks looked a bit sunken from poor nutrition; her face was a size smaller than most girls’, somewhat like a finely crafted doll; especially those red eyes, evoking molten lava still flowing after a volcanic eruption—dark and shadowed, but with an indestructible glow visible upon closer look…

Maybe it wasn’t Ophelia’s fault.

Anyone would have other ideas if they spent every day with such a cute girl.

Beatrice even felt for a moment she had fallen in love at first sight—or at least been attracted by appearance.

Anna also seemed quite short for her age.

Sitting next to her, Beatrice was nearly a head taller.

Her petite stature coupled with that doll-like face made it hard not to feel protective.

“Beatrice? Hey, Beatrice—”

Only when Anna dropped the honorific did Beatrice snap out of her daze.

“What did you just call me?”

“Beatrice. What’s wrong?”

“No, I meant the part after.”

“Beatrice… Sorry, I didn’t mean to be disrespectful. It’s just that, well, I kept calling you and you didn’t respond…”

Anna’s flustered explanation was cute too.

Beatrice felt at this moment Anna was even more lovable than Gold Bar.

“Just call me Beatrice. Anna… can I call you that?”

“Sure. It sounds like we’re friends… Ah, sorry, I got carried away.”

Friends? Beatrice’s lips curved. This kind of relationship wasn’t bad.

If Ophelia knew, she’d probably be hopping mad.

“I’m really glad to be friends with you, Anna.”

“Eh—”

Anna seemed surprised. Did she have no friends?

Beatrice recalled everything Anna had done since enrolling, and indeed she hadn’t seen her interact with anyone other than Ophelia.

She understood—after all, Ophelia was that overly possessive, dark type.

“This question, and this one too, are the same magical framework with different elements inserted. This magical framework is… can you understand it, Anna?”

“Eh—if you put it like that, it’s much simpler. Thank you, Beatrice, I didn’t expect you to be quite good at teaching.”

Hearing Anna’s compliment, Beatrice felt great.

Maybe she’d tease her a little more.

“Doesn’t Ophelia usually teach you? Her grades are better than mine, you know?”

“Um… Miss Ophelia has taught me, but I’m too dumb.”

Anna suddenly fell silent. She had once brought the problem book to Ophelia, but the latter just glanced at it and threw her an answer, making her reverse-engineer it herself.

That method was indeed the way, but… it seemed Ophelia hadn’t considered Anna’s academic ability.

She had already seen the answer, but she couldn’t understand the process, or how the process even unfolded.

“I don’t see how you’re dumb, Anna. I understand it the moment you explain.”

“Thank you, Beatrice.”

“No need to thank me for little things among friends.”

Friends. Anna silently savored the word in her heart.

She instinctively looked out the window. Beyond the floor-to-ceiling glass was deep darkness; moonlight just didn’t reach this side.

If Ophelia found out what she and Beatrice were doing in the Library… what would she do?

A fear as black as the night outside enveloped Anna’s heart. The mark on her lower abdomen burned intensely for a fleeting moment, but left a deep impression.

Ophelia… would she know? If she did…

Mixed in with the fear was a faint, almost imperceptible emotion. Anna seemed to understand it.

Guilt.

But why would making friends cause guilt? Could it be… she was really starting to get used to her unhealthy relationship with Ophelia?

Anna thought and moved her pen, but the words she wrote were distorted and unrecognizable.