Chapter 218 – New character trait

The day when the couple visited the academy Ari and Anna attended had finally come. It started just as rocky as one would expect, as well. Sophia had to get up way too early and was more or less unconscious the entire morning time because she was unable to function in those early hours. This then resulted in many misunderstandings around her person.

Many, mostly girls, had approached the group because they were curious about the blonde. Unfortunately, because she was fast asleep, Sophia gave off a rather taciturn feeling while radiating the aura of a calm and collected girl. Rumors of her being something akin to an ice-queen had already started circulating through the academy before she managed to finally wake up during their lunch break.

“Haaa~.” Yawning while stretching herself, Sophia looked around and noticed that she was sitting at a table together with Maya, Anna, and Ari in a place that looked like a cafeteria. “What did I miss?”

“…” Everyone just stared at her.

“I sure was extra tired today…” She let out another yawn while saying so. “Thanks for the shoulder to sleep on, Maya~.”

“It was an honor, my dear ice-queen.” There was no way the cat-girl wouldn’t use this chance.

“Ehehe- Wait, wait?” The blonde needed a second. “Who’s an ice-queen?”

“You.” Ari and Anna pointed at her.

“Eh?” Sophia tilted her head in confusion. “Me? An ice-queen? I’m the absolute exact opposite of that…”

“We know.” All three girls heartily agreed.

“So, uhh… What’s going on…?”

“You’ve created yet another misunderstanding.” The jaguar shook her head while looking straight at Sophia. “You sure have a talent for that.”

“I do, but… What? I just woke up! How could I possibly have created a misunderstanding without even being conscious?!” She didn’t like this absolutely unreasonable accusation.

“Except for the part where everyone was so excited to see you, the mysterious blonde tiger up close for the first time, but failed to notice that you were sleepy.” Ari didn’t let her out of it. “Everyone misunderstood your behavior and now thinks that you’re a quiet, taciturn, calm, collected, and well-mannered lady that lets nothing get to her.”

“Uhh…” She needed to let that sink in for a moment. “I’m a loud idiot, though?!”

“We know!” The girls also raised their voices.

“Well, I guess I’m a taciturn lady now~.”

“I’ll give it two minutes before your image crumbles, now that you’re actually awake.” Ari didn’t believe the blonde could keep up such an act.

“Wow, you really don’t know her that well yet, huh?” Maya glanced at the jaguar.

“What do you mean?” She tilted her head.

“There’s just no way that she’d be able to act like that for two minutes.”

“Hey!” The calm lady got loud.

“Two seconds, huh?” Anna sounded impressed. “Well, Ari was right with the two part of her claim.”

“…” Sophia stopped talking for a moment. “A-Anyway, again, did I miss something?” She then decided to drop the topic for the time being. “Aside from me having gained yet another personality trait?”

“Alleged personality trait.” Ari corrected her.

“Same difference. Wait!” The blonde focused her attention on the jaguar. “Why didn’t you do anything to prevent this misunderstanding?!”

“Why would I?” She only tilted her head. “I doubt anything could’ve woken you up, not to mention that it was quite nice for you getting all the attention. More and more people are noticing my increased magic power lately and trying to find out what’s going on with me… Not fun at all… That’s why it’s great that everyone’s curious about you right now.”

“I see… Fair enough.” Sophia couldn’t blame her for that.

“Aside from that, you haven’t missed that much.” The black-haired girl continued. “Maya introduced you to the class, and you slept for a couple of hours… Now, it’s lunch break.”

“Thanks for taking over my introduction~.” She was glad that her cat took care of that.

“Sure!” Maya had a really smug expression for some reason.

“I’m not sure if you should thank her…” Ari scratched her cheek. “She had a lot of fun with everyone misunderstanding your personality…”

“What did you do?!” Sophia stared at her girlfriend.

“Nothing~.”

“Hey!” The taciturn lady got even louder.

Hehe.” The cat-girl let out a chuckle. “I just gave them more fuel to think that you’re an ice queen.”

“Why? How? And also, why?!”

“Because it’ll be fun~.”

“Why did I even ask…?” Sophia hung her head with a sigh. “Well, I probably would’ve done the same, though…” It was hard for her to blame Maya. “So, what did you do?”

“I just confirmed every theory they had~.” She tried her best to keep herself from laughing out loud. “In their eyes, you’re now a confirmed taciturn but well-mannered young lady that rarely speaks, let alone ever raises her voice. You also get excited about nothing and are generally calm and collected.”

“Urgh…”

“None of these words can be used to describe you, though.” Anna, too, tried her best to hold in her laughter.

“Yep.” Maya nodded in agreement. “That’s why it’s going to be sooo much fun once everyone gets to see the real Sophia.”

“True.” Ari had to agree with her.

“Hey!” The calm girl that had never raised her voice before got louder than ever. “I still don’t know how to feel about the two of you starting to bond…”

“Yeah!” The princess agreed with a few big nods.

“I know that feeling.” The cat and the jaguar replied with the same sentence to the other duo.

“A-Ah…” There was nothing the tigers could counter with here.

“Anyway~,” Maya decided to drop the topic for the time being. “I’m actually quite surprised that no one has approached us yet during lunch break.”

“True.” The blonde nodded while looking around in the cafeteria. “I’ve noticed a ton of gazes our way, but no one actually started a conversation yet.”

“That’s because of me.” Anna answered the two.

“What does that mean?”

“Quite a while ago, people kept bothering us during lunch, so I eventually announced that no one shall approach Ari and me during that time because it’s for us alone!”

“Aww.” The couple was touched.

“Y-Yes… Lunch has become a lot more peaceful ever since.” The jaguar sounded quite happy. “It’s great.”

“I can imagine~.” Sophia tried to hold back the grin that was forming on her lips.

“S-Shush!” Ari’s face turned red.

“Good going, princess.” Maya had the same expression as her girlfriend.

“S-Shush!” So was Anna’s when compared to her jaguar.

“Hmm…?” The couple then looked at each other with a raised eyebrow.

“A-Anyway, I’m hungry!” The orange tiger tried to get the attention away from her.

“Oh?” The blonde’s ears perked up. “I like the sound of that!” It was very effective.

“Judging by how you just woke up, that’s breakfast for you, huh?”

“Nope.” Maya shook her head while looking at Ari. “She had some this morning.”

“Eh? I did?” The girl in question was the most surprised one.

“Yep. Just some slices of toast, though. You have problems eating something more elaborate when still being asleep, after all.”

“I have?” Sophia tilted her head. “Wait… How often do I sleep eat for you to know what I can and can’t eat?”

“Do you actually want to know?” Maya stared right at her.

“Err… Princess… What does the academy offer in terms of food?” She didn’t want to know.

“Today’s pasta day, so there will be many variations of that.”

“I like the sound of that!”

“Would your answer be any different with other dishes?”

“Shut up!” The blonde ignored Ari’s remark and how she was getting to know her quirks more and more. “Let’s go!”

“Sure~.” Everyone showed the serious, well-spoken, and taciturn girl a warm smile.

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A few moments later, the girls left their table in the cafeteria and went to get something to eat together. Once everyone got something that fitted their tastes, the group returned to their table and ate lunch together while enjoying the rest of the break.

“By the way,” While the four were eating, Sophia addressed Anna and Ari at the opposite side of their table. “What’s the agenda for after lunch?”

“Two hours of math.” The jaguar answered her.

“Urgh…” Both tigers had the same reaction.

“Don’t complain here, Anna. You’re good at it.”

“It doesn’t mean I like it, though!” The princess apparently wasn’t a fan.

“Seriously? Math right after waking up?! This academy is cruel!”

“Sophia…” The black-haired girl stared at her while letting out a sigh. “Lessons started four hours ago, so everyone here is awake for at least five hours already.”

“Not everyone~.” She almost sounded proud saying it.

“Not helping your case.” Ari was not amused.

“Don’t argue with this reason thingy now. Well, one thing’s for sure, I won’t be doing any math. It would end up in a catastrophe for everyone. I guess it’s another 2-hour nap for me. School’s more fun than I had thought.”

“Unfair!” The princess raised her voice.

“Shut up, Anna.”

“Unfair!” She complained even louder to her jaguar.

“What’s the plan for after nap-time? Err, math, I mean.” The blonde slightly corrected herself.

“An introduction to advanced magic with the famous court instructor Eluna.”

“Sounds fancy~. The best’s saved for last, huh?”

“Hmm…” Maya suddenly tilted her head while scratching her cheek. “Thinking about it…  Why are Sophia and I here again?”

“To help out Eluna when teaching the new ways of using magic?” Anna also tilted her head.

“Yeah.” The cat-girl nodded. “Okay, let me rephrase my question… Why are Sophia and I here right now? Or like, the entire day already?”

“Ah.” Everyone had the same reaction.

The rest of the lunch break was a little awkward afterward. The couple still attended the math classes with the duo, though. Mainly because the two didn’t want to go home now, or rather, Sophia felt like having another nap.