Chapter 68: Jeff

Chapter 68: Jeff

The rest of the night was uncomfortable, as it always was with Jess's unreasonable requests. At this point, I decided to think of it as practice for meditating. In a way, I could be considered incredibly diligent if you took away the fact this was against my will. As for the book guy, it didn't interfere with my dream this time which was honestly a little bit surprising to me.

Before I knew it, I had already begun climbing up the steps for a new school day.

Honestly, it felt kind of strange that the better you placed, the further you would have to walk in order to get to your damned class. It wasn't something I had really thought of since I didn't have to do the walking myself, but now that I was, I just felt like it was an incredible pain.

Once I had reached the fourth floor, I let out a sigh.

"You are Bryson Arden, correct?" nOve)lb-1n

I turned to look and noticed that it was a guy that was part way climbing up to the fifth floor. Upon looking at him, I immediately figured out who it was.

Jeff.

He was a buff guy just like a jock in Class S and also one year above me. But more importantly, he was the guy trying to court my sister and the guy Nathan hated, albeit not the most out of all the characters.

"Yes, I am."

As you could probably tell, the only reason he wanted to talk to me was that I was related to Jess.

"So... what is the relationship between you and your sister?"

Though, before I could even open my mouth.

"Do not. Talk to my brother. Jeff."

Jess, who wasn't too far behind me, had told him off. I mean we literally came in the same carriage, so I felt Jeff should've seen this coming. In a sense, their names were quite similar, so one might be able to argue they were meant for each other.

"S-Sorry, Jess! I just thought it would be better if I got to know your family members, then built good relations with them, I could get them to convince you to date me!!"

However, while Jess treated everyone rather bluntly, she was particularly blunt towards Jeff. Apparently, he had tried to court her before but was turned down. Nonetheless, the man was persistent and kept trying, which pissed her off.

"How many times do I have to tell you to drop it, Jeff? I have no time for you, and even if I did, I wouldn't bother with you. This has only involved me, but if you involve my brother and waste his time too, I promise you this will get very ugly."

And as you could probably tell, they were both very honest with one another, which should've made everything rather clear-cut, but...

"Jess! I... I wasn't really involving him. It was just a separate matter... that would just so happen to be related. It's all a coincidence, I swear!"

...It's not a coincidence if you show you were clearly aware that it wasn't.

But all things considered, Jeff wasn't actually that bad. He would never go too far, but it seemed his brain was still rather hormone-filled as he desperately tried to profess his love to Jess. He was akin to one of those teenage boys that were desperate to get their crush to like them.

It wasn't that unfitting of a relationship, as he was a Marquis, which was one rank below Duke. But I guess it was actually that reason that kept him going, as he thought the reason he was rejected was because of his status.

Unfortunately, while Jess was still a noble through and through, she didn't care that much for status. After all, she would willingly go out with the protagonist if certain conditions were met.

By the way, one of the prerequisite events for such a thing was to encounter Jess while walking up the stairs.

However, Nathan never ended up doing that. I would know because Jess and I basically went up this staircase together most of the time. Sometimes one of us would enter first and the other a little later, but neither of us cared too much about that.

With a bitter smile, I looked at Jeff.

"If you really wish to court her, I believe the first thing you have to work on is your attitude."

Jess seemed against me having a conversation with Jeff, but since I was the one starting it, she only watched on with a glare. As for Jeff himself, he looked back at me with shock.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

I let out a long sigh.

"Do you really think she's going to like someone that pisses her off all the time? Even if you continue to profess your love, it will only backfire after you've done it too much. The first thing you have to learn is to moderate yourself, and secondly think with more than just your lust. She may not even be the right person for you."

Well, I actually knew that she wasn't.

Jeff furrowed his brows, looking rather depressed.

"What? So all this time I've... Ah, shit!"

Without another word, he hurried on upwards, almost like the faster he got out of our sights, the more it would make up for him bothering her.

Regardless of how the story would go, Jess would never end up dating Jeff. In fact, after quite some time, Jeff would actually learn to give up himself. Not because he thought it was hopeless, but because he realized that he himself didn't really like Jess that much.

Jeff thought he loved her, but it was just lust driving him.

He got quite depressed over it, but he still did find someone else. Not that it would last long, because they would die in almost every ending, but still.

Once he was gone, Jess let out a sigh.

"You didn't have to say anything. I would've dealt with it."

I waved my hand casually.

"Hey, I was honestly saying it more for his sake. Someone with that kind of look easily confuses their true emotions. It would be better if he moved on sooner."

Jess blinked several times rather cluelessly.

"...Yes, I understand."

If you don't get it, don't say you understand. Ah, whatever, it doesn't really matter anyway. I left without saying farewell as that was how we usually did things and found myself at class once more.

Things were the usual. Learning more features about spells in Magic Class, and some spells as well. There was no practical practice today. Then, there was math, where the teacher handed back the results, making some cringe and others sigh in relief. Obviously, Nathan and I easily got full marks.

We had the same people sitting next to each other, and there was a notable increase in friendly conversation, though it was difficult to hold onto a topic.

After having lunch, we went directly to English Class, where there was a test. Naturally, there was only elementary stuff. I noticed this wasn't difficult in the slightest for any nobles judging by their expressions, but commoners other than Nathan struggled rather badly. All of them seemed to panic at one point or another.

At gym, Rae was rather strict in her lessons, teaching us how to work with our teammates and how to be better aware. There was some information there that was actually pretty insightful, making me pay attention just a little bit more.

Something that surprised me was that Sam hadn't kicked up a fuss the entire time, only occasionally glaring at Nathan. Not that it would actually accomplish anything. It appeared he was bottling all his emotions up, and planned on letting it all out in the magic duel he set up with Nathan.

Upon exiting the school, I found Raisa was calling towards me once more.

"Um, perhaps you could come over to my manor today? I-If it isn't too inconvenient."

A small smile formed on my face.

"Ah, well I guess-"

"It's too inconvenient."

Jess decided to finish my sentence with me, glaring at Raisa. It appeared as though Jess was really intent on not letting me get closer to any other nobles. She really didn't have any good impressions of nobles trying to form relations, and it was for good reason.

Jess explained the story of how the Darcy family directly absorbed other noble families, leaving the members either dead or penniless. That was reason enough.

...But at the same time, she was being a little overprotective.

With a forced smile, I turned to look at Jess and waved dismissively.

"I won't disclose anything nor will I follow her into any forests. They wouldn't be so bold as to harm me right in their manor."

Raisa looked quite sad, and weakly stomped against the floor.

"I would never try to harm you! Manor or not!"

I narrowed my eyes slightly. The reason why I wished to come over was to try and meet her father.

"Of course, that may not be the same for your father."

Raisa opened her mouth to protest but closed it soon after. She faltered but hadn't given up.

"I... I won't let father do anything to you. He... He will at least respect my own requests."

Jess narrowed her eyes, taking a good look at Raisa. It wasn't that easy to tell, but I knew Jess was clenching her teeth really hard despite her mouth being closed. Yet, while it seemed like she would lash out, instead she sighed.

"...Fine."

I had a feeling she was still fairly intimidated by Raisa's superior status, so she decided not to be so incredibly uptight. As for Raisa, she had an innocent shocked expression, not expecting her to actually concede.

From there, she immediately grabbed onto my wrist and led me to her carriage.

"Come on, Bryson!

Once we got in the carriage, I noticed that she was acting a little giddy, fidgeting around a lot. Naturally, despite how awkward she was making this, I was basically immune to it.

Because I was meditating, pretending that the outside world didn't exist.

...Damn, if only I did this back on Earth. Well, then again there wouldn't be any good excuse to meditate for hours on end when there wasn't mana.

Though, it seemed Raisa's energy was simply uncontainable as she ended up speaking anyway.

"I thought really hard about how to be a friend this time! I definitely did it correctly, just wait to be impressed!"

...If you were thinking about it really hard, that means you already messed up.

Well. I guess I'd see what she had in store this time.