Chapter 75: CH 74

Chapter 74

Translator: Yonnee

RP: Haebaragi_syk

—

“Come on guys, I’m fine, so stop it. Reina… did that probably only because she’s anxious.”

“Ha, what? You’re being so frustrating like this again. How can you be so smart and capable at everything else, but whenever it comes to that girl Reina, you always get so withdrawn?”

Lehman laughed in vain. This was the expression on his face that worked the best.

“The members of the nine households have always been close generation after generation… but with Reina…”

Lehman trailed off, letting them fill in the blanks by themselves. Then, when it looked like everyone had already come to their own conclusions, they shook their heads again.

“No, I might have acted presumptuously. I went to Cressen even though I’m not part of the nine households.”

“You were invited though…! But then why the hell—”

“Stop it.”

“Lehman!”

“Let’s call it a day. I feel uncomfortable because it’s like I keep putting Reina in a bad light…”

One of Lehman’s classmates—the one who followed him the most, really—muttered impatiently.

“You’re not just putting her in a bad light. She is a bad person.”

“Razene, please stop.”

Everyone looked so angry that they could explode any minute. But eventually, they stopped talking about Reina.

“…Ah. Fine. I’ll stop.”

‘Fascinating.’

To be honest, Lehman couldn’t quite understand why all these people were standing up for him and were remaining by his side. It’s not like he had been particularly nice to them, nor had he helped them in any way.

But he was clever. And he also had a strong desire to climb the ranks to success.

So, he took advantage of others.

“Don’t be so mean to Reina, okay?’

Never once did Lehman say that Reina was not at fault. And he knew that his blind followers would catch on to this.

“You’re so nice. So frustratingly nice. That’s why we hate Reina even more.”

* * *

“Huu… So what you’re saying is this—that I’m the most likely suspect based on a shaky testimony that I was among the many people who visited the equipment warehouse. Which, might I add, is used by all 28 classes across four grade levels. Correct?”

Exasperated, Reina asked Douglas as she swept her bangs up.

Now that everything’s laid out in the open like that, a look of shame flashed across Douglas’ expression. He answered, his voice forced.

“…Yes.”

“The nonsense you’re spouting is going to do nothing but make your ancestors turn in their graves…”

“What?”

Reina burst out laughing. And, ignoring his retort, she shrugged.

“I didn’t go there. By all means, go check the records if you suspect me. Naturally, I was inside the classroom for the duration of my class, and after that, I ran into Paul at the library. We went to the cafeteria and ate lunch at the dining hall reserved for the nine households. Confirm it all you want with the professor to verify my presence in the classroom. Go ahead and check the visitor records of the exclusive dining hall.”

At that time, Lehman—who was supposed to be shaking—cut off Reina’s explanation with a cold, stiff expression.

“That’s enough.”

“What?”

“I get that you don’t want to apologize, so stop making up excuses.”

Here he was again, spouting such lines out of nowhere. Reina’s expression immediately crumpled.

“Apologize, me? Do you not understand a single word of what I’m saying? I. Never. Went. To. The. Warehouse.”

Reina looked at Lehman with a gaze full of incredulity. But at that moment, Lehman touched his forehead and staggered as if he was overwhelmed.

“Lehman…! Are you okay?!”

“What do we do. Are you dizzy? Do you want to sit down? Do you want me to bring you a glass of water?”

Eventually, the impatient followers of Lehman began to crowd around him.

“Reina… You never change.”

What?

Third in the race of who had the worst case of Lehman-mania, after Jeremy and Douglas, was this guy here, who was looking at Reina with such disgust in his eyes. He pushed Reina right then.

“There’s no need for any more of your excuses. Just leave.”

“Yeah, Lehman. Just as Thomas said earlier, she really won’t admit it. So let’s just go in so you can rest.”

“Your temperature is so low right now.”

Reina smirked scathingly as she watched how things had turned upside down.

“…Wow, look at you. You’d all believe the guy even if he told you all that pork grows from trees.”

She only muttered, but that single sentence rang throughout like thunder.

“…What?”

Reina shook her head and raised her hands in surrender. She’d love to step down from this farce of a play, thank you very much.

“What do you want me to say then? I lost, I lost. I surrender, Lehman.”

Saying that she surrendered and attaching Lehman’s name at the end, she saw one of Lehman’s eyes twitching. But either way, he turned around.

“You won’t believe me no matter what I say anyway, so just go and comfort your dear Lehman.”

Ending with that, Reina walked away as well, and all the people who were watching parted to avoid her—as if every step she took brought out poison.

“Hah, seriously. I can’t believe this.”

What did she do so wrong that she’s being avoided like the plague? From beginning to end, everything that took place here was just absurd.

“Jeremy or whoever, it’s all ruined anyway.”

So, since it’s already ruined, she decided to just have a little fun before she’d leave for her internship.

There’s something she had to do first though.

“What time will Father come back?”

She needed to get a permit for her internship from her father, who was the current Minister of Education.

“I’m getting nervous because he’s so uptight, but…”

There’s nothing she could do if he’d say no, but Noah and her other siblings didn’t work as interns at the Ministry of Education. This meant that they didn’t get permission from their father either…

“Ah, whatever. Even if Father rejects me a hundred, no, a thousand times, I’ll persevere because anything is better than bumping into Lehman or Jeremy!”

So there’s no stopping me now! If he says no, I’ll lie down on the ground and go on a tantrum.

“I’ll definitely get that internship!”

But at this time, she should have remembered.

The fact that nothing in her life ever goes as planned…