CH 96

“After informing Gerald-sama about the matter of your escort, it’s been decided that I will be the one responsible for escorting Sophie-sama until the day you meet with my elder brother… Is that alright?”

Of course it is! Was something that Sophie wanted to shout out loud, but she managed to suppress it and revealed a graceful smile instead.

“I’m happy that Luca is my escort.”

“T-thank you very much! The schedule after that is undecided, but Gerald-sama said he would be carrying out a task given out by His Highness until then.”

“I see, so he is busy. I hope he doesn’t hurry his task and does his best at it.”

Sophie had no idea what kind of task Ferio had given to Gerald, but that man who didn’t seem like he would get upset at anything was likely to complete it soon. It was important for humans to have leisure, so Sophie wished for Gerald to carry out his task slowly. Indeed, mainly for the sake of Sophie’s peace of mind.

“But Luca, will you be okay not attending your classes? I am a little worried about that.”

“I can do my training in the morning and night instead, so please rest assured.”

Although Luca said it like it was nothing, actually accomplishing that required a lot of physical strength. As Sophie was impressed and thought, As expected of the bearer of two copper stars, and proceeded outside, they saw a student waiting for them with a tense expression.

“Oh my…”

The one who stood there was Lars.

His expression looked worse compared to yesterday; perhaps it was because of the big, dark circles under his eyes?

The fabric of his clothing looks nice. I wonder what materials were used?

Although Sophie was quite curious about his expression, the next thing that caught her eyes was his clothing.

Lars’ outfit she saw yesterday looked ridiculously flashy, but today, he wore a black top and bottom with a little bit of green embroidery. They looked plain at a first glance, but Sophie’s discerning eyes could easily recognize they were made with high-quality fabric.

The gloss meant it was probably silk-woven, the soft-looking fabric was processed so that it wouldn’t wrinkle easily, and the fact Sophie couldn’t find any wrinkle in said clothing impressed her.

As Sophie got distracted by his clothes, Lars approached Sophie.

Luca quickly stood in front of Sophie and put his hand on the sword on his belt, perhaps for intimidation purposes. However, Lars moved before the sword was grabbed.

“I’m terribly sorry. I was wrong!”

Lars’ sudden bow not only surprised Sophie but Luca as well.

“I was careless and stupid yesterday! I’m finally enlightened by the books I borrowed from Sophie-sama! Love isn’t about a calculation, it is about how one opens their heart, yet I kept trying to hide my immaturity and made people hurt and despised me instead. I will change my ways, so please forgive me for yesterday’s disrespect!” 

It was an apology that would reverb far and wide. Perhaps he wasn’t used to talking with a loud voice, as his voice turned faint by the end of his sentence.

“Err…”

Sophie was taken aback by Lars, who was still bowing.

U~hn, I don’t think mere books would make him change his ways so easily, so I guess it was because of Alan-sama’s influence?

Considering how quickly he acted differently, Sophie could only think it was because of the pressure that Alan gave off in front of Lars.

Originally, Lars wasn’t an unscrupulous person who dared to slander the bearer of the purple star right in front of her. So his action was considered natural. However, Lars’ eyes looked too serious for that.1

“That’s why Sophie-sama! Please lend me the continuation of this!”

“Continuation?”

The book “The Essential Condition to be a Popular Man!” had no continuation. Sophie wrote it with the intention for it to be complete with just a single book, but perhaps Lars didn’t find it to be complete yet?

As Sophie tilted her head in wonder, Sophie then noticed that Lars had passed back not just a single book.

“Ah…”

There were two books in Lars’ hand.

The other, though considered thin for a book, was “It’s a Flower, Whether It Blooms or Buds” that Sophie copied.

This thin book, which was unlike the original book, was a treasure to soothe her poor heart in the male-only environment, so she only copied a quarter of its contents to make it easier to carry.

Apparently, because it was so thin, it was sandwiched within the other book and ended up being passed to Lars that way.

Ah~ This isn’t good…

Sophie involuntarily looked to the sky.