Riley was genuinely bewildered.

When on earth did I?

It was Rivne who insulted her, not herself. Besides, it wasn’t even an insult. She just corrected a wrong behavior.

Come to think of it, wasn’t it she herself who tarnished the honor of the Blestidge nobility, as Rivne said?

“That kid humiliated me in front of everyone!”

Wasn’t it Rivne, not me?

Riley was at a loss for words, opening and closing her mouth like a carp, but soon gathered her wits and refuted.

“When did I insult you?”

“Look at this, glaring at me with those fierce eyes!”

I didn’t glare. Rather, it was the other side who was glaring. The woman was crying her eyes out, seemingly feeling deeply wronged for some reason.

“…It was the first time in my life I’ve been so insulted!”

“I never insulted you.”

“Liar! If you had just moved out of the way tactfully, things wouldn’t have come to this!”

“I was trying to move away.”

“You should have moved before I said anything!”

“Anyway, I didn’t say anything to you. It was Rivne Lianster who said something to you, not me, so why are you coming at me like this?”

As Riley protested in bewilderment, the woman’s expression suddenly hardened and she approached Riley. Then she whispered in a low voice into Riley’s ear.

“We can’t blame Rivne, can we?”

Ah.

So she just wanted to vent her anger after all.

She never intended to reason about right and wrong from the start. Well, if she had been able to calmly consider who was at fault, she wouldn’t have picked such an unreasonable fight in the first place.

“Who are you to have Rivne defend you? Who are you anyway?”

“…”

“You’re clearly an outsider. And just by looking at you, one can tell. A low-ranking noble. How did someone like you get involved with Rivne? What kind of relationship do you have that makes Rivne defend you?”

The affectionate, whining “elder sister” from before was nowhere to be seen.

Seeing her boldly call Rivne’s name, Riley doubted if this was the same person she had seen in the morning.

“If you’re curious, ask her yourself.”

Riley had no intention of revealing her relationship with Rivne to this woman. She couldn’t just tell her that she was going to be her sister-in-law, could she?

To begin with, the marriage itself was being conducted in utmost secrecy, and she had no plans to tell others until Givnen officially announced the marriage.

Rumors tend to get exaggerated, and if they were to be distorted somehow, it could put Givnen in an awkward position one way or another.

The woman’s expression twisted, and she suddenly began to sob, swallowing her tears.

“You’re so shameless, insulting and humiliating me, and now trying to put all the blame on me.”

The group the woman had brought with her became agitated and approached Riley.

They poked and pushed Riley, and even untied her hair. If it were only women in the group, she might have endured it, but there were men too, which made her a bit scared.

“Why does the country even bother with outsiders? How long do we have to watch these outsiders crawl in without knowing their place and muddy the waters?”

Why are you asking me that?

“Insulting a noble is a serious crime. You know that?”

One of the men in the group snickered as he spoke. His appearance looked so low-class that it reminded one of a street thug rather than a noble.

“We should kick out all the outsiders.”

“No, we should set an example as nobles and reform them. So how should we set an example? I wonder if they’ll learn in one go, given how stupid they are.”

“How about stripping them naked and chasing them out to humiliate them?”

“Or maybe leaving a scar on their face?”

“How about breaking one of their legs?”

“Let’s see how many rice cakes can fit in that mouth.”

And they were actually that low-class. Surprisingly childish. Riley had thought the central nobles of the capital would be different somehow, but what they were doing was no different from what the servants at Claire and Eadalin’s mansion used to do.

Is it because they’re still young? Although they were said to be barely adults, they were proper adults, yet they were truly immature.

“I’ve got a good idea, how about tying her up and hanging her from the top of a tree for about a day?”

“Wouldn’t we need to use magic for that?”

“I’ll take the penalty points, whatever. It’s just a simple spell, so I doubt if penalty points will even be imposed. If not, we can always make up an excuse.”

One of the men lightly waved his finger, and Riley’s body began to float in the air.

“Or we could drop her and wreck her body, what do you think?”

“What if she dies?”

“We’ll just lift her high enough not to kill her. Is this height enough?”

Riley floated up to the height of a two-story building.

Looking down made her dizzy. It wasn’t that high, but if she fell, it was clear that at least one of her legs would be shattered. She didn’t even dare to struggle for fear of falling.

“No, we’d safely land her with magic even if we drop her anyway.”

“Right, it’s better to just hang her up.”

“What if she undoes the rope with magic?”

“That’s why we use a special rope. Search the storehouse, I’m sure there’s some. If her magic is nullified, she won’t be able to use magic. If she screams hard enough, maybe someone passing by will save her? Of course, hardly anyone passes by here.”

They were as excited as children receiving a new toy. Is tormenting someone such a fun pastime for them?

To be honest, Riley didn’t expect it to go this far. She was genuinely frightened.

Some of the group entered the magic tool storehouse. They were probably looking for the special rope.

What should I do? How do I get out of this? At this rate, she would inevitably be tied up at the top of a tree. When night falls, it will get chilly. She didn’t want to sleep dangling from a tree, exposed to the cold wind.

Not knowing how to use magic, her mind went blank on how to escape this situation. Should she cry for help? But even looking down from midair, the forest was so dense with trees that no passersby were visible.

As she was at a loss, her eyes met with the instigator of all this.

“Why are you doing this? Don’t you think it’s unreasonable even to yourself?”

At Riley’s question, she smirked, folded her arms, and replied.

“Why is it unreasonable? I was upset, you made me feel bad.”

“Is that… a reason to do this?”

“A reason? Do I need a reason to educate a lowly outsider?”

Riley sighed briefly.

It was foolish to even attempt a dialogue. They weren’t really angry. It was nothing more than an action done for fun, like stepping on a passing ant. There was no reason that could be rationally understood in this.

Her mind went blank. How should I put it, this baseless bullying was a bit different from the bullying she had experienced so far, which made it confusing.

Not to justify the actions of Claire or the servants of the Eadalin mansion, but their bullying had reasons that Riley could somewhat guess.

Claire must have disliked the sudden intruder. It must have been terrible to have to share parents with someone who wasn’t even a real sister. This was something Claire had often expressed.

And the servants of the Eadalin mansion had to be wary of Claire, and later came to see bullying as a way to relieve work-related stress. Since Claire directly ordered the bullying, it started as semi-forced.

As it accumulated, they stopped feeling guilty, and as it happened so often, it became seen as just a natural part of daily life.

But now?

It was Rivne who had the argument with her. The object of her anger should be Rivne.

But since she couldn’t vent her anger on Rivne, she chose an outsider ‘weakling’. The reason for venting her anger was because she happened to be nearby, because she was an outsider who could be carelessly messed with. Is this a reason that can be understood?

Of course, bullying cannot be tolerated or rationalized for any reason, but this…

‘I’m scared.’

She was terrified by the dizzying height.

Just as she tightly closed her eyes, that’s when it happened.

“!”

Something quickly flew in, embraced Riley who was floating in the air, and moved somewhere.

The speed was so fast that Riley only realized someone was carrying her away after being snatched. The group that had been tormenting Riley had long since disappeared from view. Even the magic tool storehouse that had been left behind was no longer visible.

Only then did Riley open her eyes wide and look at the person who had snatched her and was moving her somewhere.

“…You’re from that time.”

It was the handsome man who had helped her when there was a seating dispute at the store. The one who ate heartily after telling her to buy him a meal.

After running for a while, the man put Riley down. Then he clicked his tongue as if finding her pathetic.

“I don’t know how you manage to be in such a state every time I see you.”

“…Well, thank you for helping me.”

The man looked at Riley as if he couldn’t understand.

“Why do you just let yourself get bullied like an idiot? You could have used magic to knock those guys out, or just left the place.”

Riley was about to answer that she didn’t know how to use magic, but she hesitated.

If she said she couldn’t use a single spell after having entered the academy, she might be suspected of being a parachute admission. Although she probably was an actual parachute admission… Anyway, wouldn’t it be strange for an academy student to say they can’t use magic?

As Riley was thinking of an excuse, she looked around cautiously and answered.

“Using magic without permission results in penalty points, right?”

“It’s fine if you don’t get caught. Besides, they used magic first. It’s self-defense.”

“Still, you never know…”

“You endured all that because you were afraid of some measly penalty points? Were you planning to hang from a tree all day?”

“You heard everything?”

“How could I not hear?”

“Anyway… thank you for helping me. How can I repay you?”

The man looked at Riley with his arms folded, then answered.

“Buy me a meal.”

“Is that enough?”

“Yeah. What else can you do for me?”

“…Well, should I compensate you with money?”

“You have a lot of money? You don’t look like it at all.”

Riley rummaged through her sleeve to pull out a money pouch and showed it to him.

“I’m not sure if this is a lot or a little.”

The man opened the pouch, looked inside with surprise, and then let out a deep sigh.

“You don’t know if this is a lot or a little?”

“It’s my saved allowance, but I rarely have a chance to use it… It seems it’s not a small amount since there’s no problem buying meals, but the prices here are different from where I used to live.”

“…Allowance. Ah, right. Allowance.”

The man looked Riley up and down suspiciously and asked.

“You didn’t steal this, did you?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Don’t show this to anyone else. Unless you want to be completely stripped of everything.”

“Will you take it all?”

“I mean other guys, not me.”

The man sighed, wondering where such a person had rolled in from, handed the pouch back to Riley, and took the lead. When Riley stood there blankly, he turned back and glared at her.

“What are you doing, not following? You’re not trying to dine and dash with all that money, are you?”

Ah, he wants me to buy him a meal.

Riley, belatedly realizing the man’s meaning, scurried after him.

·

·

·

“By the way, what’s your name?”

The man who had been eating stopped abruptly.

“Why do you want to know my name?”

“Well, you’ve saved me twice now, so I’d like to know at least your name. It feels odd to keep calling you ‘you’.”

“I don’t care if you call me ‘you’ or ‘that person’. Besides, we’re not likely to meet again, so is there really a need for introductions?”

“Still, I’ve received help twice…”

“It’s more like you’ve annoyed me twice.”

“If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. I’m Riley Eadalin.”

The man looked at her as if he was baffled by her giving a name he wasn’t even curious about, then continued eating as if he didn’t even want to respond.

And Riley, staring intently at him as he ate, asked.

“Are you always so angry?”

“?”

“You’re always frowning, so you look angry.”

“You must have seen me when I was in a bad mood each time.”

“I see.”

“If you’re going to get bullied, do it somewhere out of my sight. Why do you have to catch my eye and bother me?”

“This time I was dragged to a place with few people, but how did you happen to be there?”

“That’s my favorite spot. It’s the best for napping. It’s not noisy and unlikely to be noticed by people.”

So you don’t like being noticed by people. He seems to dislike bustling atmospheres in general.

“Then what about the restaurant last time? I thought you might have disliked it there because of all the people.”

“I was just passing by.”

“Wow, so you could have just passed by, but you saw me and helped?”

“…”

“That’s kind of you.”

“Sure, think whatever you want.”

The man started eating again. As he seemed to want to enjoy his meal as quietly as possible, Riley didn’t add any more words.

After finishing his meal, the man stood up.

“I’m leaving.”

Then, just like before, he left the restaurant without looking back.

Riley, who had been staring at his retreating figure, hurriedly headed towards the Horizon Magic Tower.

[This is the timeline separator]

“You ate alone with a man?”

“Yes. And he’s a very handsome man. I’ve heard he’s quite a celebrity within the academy, probably due to his outstanding appearance.”

“Let me see it.”

Sack handed over the document containing personal information about the man Riley had dined with.

“Van Clafra.”

“He’s an outsider, and was the top student at the time of admission.”

“There’s no family relationship at all.”

“Yes, I suspect he might be an orphan. His place of origin is listed as Helios, but even that’s not certain.”

“For a top student, his grades are rock bottom.”

“His class participation is very low, and he’s not diligent in his studies.”

“All failures due to poor attendance, I see.”

“He has such a prickly and delinquent image that everyone tends to avoid him. I hear he’s even nicknamed ‘mad dog’ within the academy.”

Whether the man was a mad dog or an orphan was of no importance to Givnen.

What mattered was that he was handsome and that he had eaten with Riley.

The corner of Givnen’s mouth curved up crookedly.

“I warned those pretty boys to be careful. And he’s such a delinquent student at that.”

“There’s no need to worry too much. How could she look at another man when she has you, Master?”

“I don’t think elder sister would look elsewhere.”

Sack, who was about to continue flattering, closed their mouth at his confident demeanor.

Regardless, Givnen put on a serious expression and fell into contemplation.

“Why are there so many men buzzing around her?”

“Many? It’s just Van Clafra, isn’t it?”

“There’s another one locked up underground, isn’t there?”

“…You mean Sir Arpeggio?”

When Givnen nodded, Sack blinked as if dumbfounded.

“It doesn’t seem like Sir Arpeggio would ever have ulterior motives towards young lady Riley, though?”

“That’s because you don’t know elder sister.”

“…?”

“Elder sister is cute, isn’t she? Arpeggio has a weakness for cute things. The fact that he keeps five cats is proof of that.”

“…”

“This is troublesome. Perhaps sending her to the academy was a mistake. We can’t exactly replace all the men in the academy, and they do have eyes to see with.”

He had turned all the men in the academy into his enemies.

All because of one woman.

“It’s almost time for the meeting, Master.”

Givnen sighed and stood up. Then he gave orders to Sack in a low voice.

“Tell some of the shadows in the academy. Tell them to guard elder sister. To keep unnecessary things from swarming around her.”

Then he strode out.

Sack couldn’t believe their ears.

‘Even mobilizing the shadows… just because she had a meal with an academy student?’

Sack was incredulous. To think that he, who they thought would have the most liberal views on romance, would be so serious about this mere play-acting as husband and wife.

‘Come to think of it, these days… he’s been quiet.’

He who used to be embroiled in scandalous rumors quite often was now keeping women at arm’s length, as if taking care of them.

Of course, he hadn’t acted like someone obsessed with romance before either, but at least he hadn’t turned away women who approached him and hadn’t refused private meetings.

But now, for him to become so conservative!

Having discovered this unexpected side, Sack recorded the newly collected information in their notebook.

– Extremely jealous.