It wasn’t a complete lie. With the complicated state of mind about Gibben and the stress about exams approaching, her sensitivity was heightened to the extreme.

She tried to immerse herself in studies to shake off thoughts about Gibben, but in reality, she couldn’t concentrate at all. The more she tried, the more stressed she became.

With nothing resolved, and the feeling of frustration piling up, her appetite diminished, and recently she began skipping meals.

“Still, take it easy. The exams for the first year shouldn’t be too difficult. It’s when you go up in grades that the difficulty increases significantly, and you might face difficulties in graduating.”

“Yeah.”

“Check yourself in the mirror. You really look like you might collapse at any moment.”

“Thanks for worrying.”

“By any chance, is someone bothering you again or something?”
Hila was in a state of anxiety, wondering if the Prestige members were bothering Riley again. In response, Riley nodded.

“Very quiet. It’s definitely different from before. If they used to look disgusted and run away when they saw me… now, they look at me with curiosity. The number of people with hostility has significantly decreased.”

“What about Josephine Lucan?”

“I don’t know; that person keeps avoiding me.”

“Really? I saw Josephine Lucan not long ago, and she was with your younger sister.”

“…Claire?”

“Yeah, they seemed quite friendly. It looked like your younger sister joined Josephine Lucan’s group. They were going out to eat together.”

Josephine Lucan wasn’t a separate point of interest for Riley.

Thinking about the annoying incident with her, it irritated her, but that was it. She handled the situation somehow, and since then, she had been quietly avoiding trouble, so negative emotions had almost dissipated.

However, it was different when it came to Claire.

“…Certainly, Claire must have approached first.”

Thinking about Claire’s behavior at the party, the answer quickly came to mind.

She considered managing connections as the top priority from the time she lived in Ruprae.

If she wanted to be close to someone, she would create a connection somehow, thoroughly investigate the other person, and then approach to win their favor.

So, there were always many people around her.

After coming up to the Blessige, she would have been the first to secure connections here and establish a foundation.

For her, Gibben’s birthday party would have been a good opportunity. It was a place where she could stamp her mark by claiming to be a member of the house that would form an alliance with the Mastodon and the Eboncrown.

When approaching Josephine Lucan, she would have said or done something to win her favor. What could that be?

“Honestly, it was a bit unexpected. Josephine Lucan is a royal among royals. She’s famous for rejecting anyone who isn’t from the Prestige, and she won’t even keep someone by her side if their status doesn’t match. Seeing her taking your younger sister around… isn’t she trying to win your favor by using your younger sister?”

“…I don’t know.”

‘If Claire approached me to win my favor, it might not be beneficial for me.’

With so many things to worry about, Riley wrapped her head and eventually buried her face on the desk.

“Wake me up when the professor comes, Hila.”

“Yeah, sure. Get some rest, even if it’s just a little.”

The feeling that nothing had been resolved and that a heavy pressure was crushing her chest made her feel frustrated.

She felt like something would be better if she could just let out what was inside her, but there was no one to confide in.

She couldn’t even confide in Hila, her only friend, about anything related to Gibben. Revealing that all of this was a marriage made without love, purely a contract, was a breach of the contract itself.
Riley forced herself to close her eyes. Even if only for a moment, she wished to escape from this complicated reality.

What should I do? At this rate, everything will truly fall apart.

Riley sat on a park bench, slumping down like melting ice cream in the heat. The stress seemed to be reaching its peak. She couldn’t concentrate in class, and even when she opened a book, the content didn’t register in her mind.

The suffocating feeling, as if her head were about to burst, had now turned into a throbbing headache, tormenting her. As her physical condition worsened, a sense of lethargy set in.

She didn’t want to do anything anymore. She felt like becoming a pebble by the roadside.

Although Riley knew that going to Gibben would likely resolve this craziness, she felt scared when it came time to actually seek him out.

What did I say to him?

She had escaped like she was running away… turning her back on him with a wounded face.

He must have been furious.

“Ha.”

A sigh escaped her without pause.

During this, Ban, a senior, said, “Why are you sighing as if you’re dying?”

“…Senior Ban?”

“Why are you doing such an exaggerated act here like a possessed ghost?”

Ban plopped down next to Riley. She straightened her back.