CH 60

“How vile it is!”

“……”

“I can’t see how it’s possible for an aristocrat to wind up being so dishonest. I’m not even  comfortable breathing the same air!”

“…………”

[Current location, the large dining hall]

It was now lunchtime.

…And in front of me was Gabriella Eustance Verandel, the heroine of a certain game.

……and also a group of girls who seemed to be her cronies. (***T/N: Enter the thot squad)

It happened the moment the three of us—Laurier-sama, Leticia-sama, and I— had promised a study session and entered the large dining room with hungry stomachs.

I don’t know what it was, but I was being harassed by a blonde with drill curls.

“Ugh, oh, ah, Alice-sama…”

Leticia-sama was pushed by the momentum, cringing and teary-eyed.

“…?!?!……”

Surprised by the suddenness of the situation, Laurier-sama shuddered for a moment as she stifled her emotions.

Even for me, I was surprised by the cursing that flew in as soon as I opened the door.

But I already knew that this child had this kind of personality. After all, the mentality of an adult woman was not even a little shaken by the harassment of an elementary school student.

Although I was suddenly declared guilty of cheating in front of a large number of people, including upperclassmen, I wasn’t particularly upset because I did nothing wrong.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. What dishonesty are you referring to?”

When I said that unapologetically, the group of five blondes, including Gabriella, looked unamused.

Then, Gabriella stepped forward to represent them.

“It’s decided. I heard you cheated on the entrance exam just now!”

“Cheated…?”

When I made a face, Gabriella’s face turned red and she came at me.

“Don’t try to hide it! I heard you were silently answering the high school test questions all by yourself! That’s just crazy!”

“Huh…”

Apparently, there was a child in the Aurum Ward class who was in touch with the Edmund faction. While I was impressed at how quickly she was able to get  that information, I was also surprised at her willingness to open up about the existence of that ‘spy.’

If they were in this large cafeteria, they were probably turning pale right about now.

“So, what was the dishonesty?”

When I asked, Gabriella’s face turned bright red.

“What, what are you—! The fact that only one person solved the problems in the upper grade levels is evidence of cheating. I can only assume that you were either looking at the question paper beforehand or cheating!”

Huh…Was this a statement due to a mysterious sense of justice that came from this child’s ‘villain-like protagonist’ trait? Or was it something else…

I didn’t know, but I would respond anyway.

“I just wrote what I’ve already learned. Is there something wrong with that?”

“Hah—?! No that’s…So I haven’t learned it yet…”

“If you are a daughter of a marquis, you should understand. That much, of course, has been prepped at home, hasn’t it?”

When I said that first, Gabriella, who looked somewhat disconcerted, staggered and pointed her finger at me.

“Oh, it’s only natural! In our noble Verandel household, prepping years ahead of time is the norm! But I’m not going to show it off for nothing! Hmmph, I won’t show-off and do nasty things!”

After she said that, she ran…no, she left with her tail between her legs along with the blonde army in tow.

Huh, what was that about…? I’m sure she thinks she switched the argument at the end, but she didn’t do anything at all.

And she was definitely the number one person who wanted to show off.

As I was thinking like that, Yulena, Matilda and Johann, who came in through the entrance in an alternating manner, rushed over.

After giving Laurier-sama and Leticia-sama a simple curtesy and thank you, they hurriedly began to speak.

“Alice-sama, I heard Gabriella-sama’s angry voice just now! What’s going on?”

“They were in terrible shape when I walked by. Were they harassing you again?”

I smiled to reassure them.

“I was troubled by the unfamiliar accusations she made, but…there’s was no particular problem.”

When I said that, the three of them exhaled with a huff.

“I thought I said that someone would always accompany you during lunch break and after school, Alice-sama. I was surprised that you weren’t in the classroom.”

I apologize honestly to Matilda, who gave me a look of concern and a muffled expression. There were so many things going on that I had completely forgotten about it.

I thought that if I was in the academy, it wasn’t completely necessary…but the three of them, who were very conscious of being aides, wouldn’t give it up.

By the way, Brother Will commuted to Advenzia from his home, though that wasn’t every day. There was a discrepancy between his living area and the time of day.

So my aides’ job was to escort me when I went out of school and to carry out my requests.

Johann wrinkled his brow and growled.

“Verandel…Damn it. Being so rude to Alice-sama again…!”

‘Oh,’ I thought, and spoke with Johann to calm him down.

“Johann, I’ll be fine. You don’t need to furrow your brow so much, you’ll get wrinkles on your beautiful face.”

Johann has a very promising face. It would be a shame if that happened.

With that in mind, I lightly poked at his brow with my index finger, Johann paused for a second, then put his hands on his forehead and moved away from me. His face was bright red.

“I, I-I, I’m so sorry!”

Oops, I didn’t mean to scare him.

While speaking to Johann, I took a look at the reaction of the people around me.

In the large dining hall with its many long wooden tables, the little ones were gathered around, chatting and eating.

Most of the children didn’t seem to have heard the commotion that had just occurred.

However, those who were around the entrance had seen it perfectly.

Well, this time I said everything firmly, so I don’t think it would be badly received…Was it okay to just leave this alone? Rather, I think it was more likely that Gabriella would gain a bad reputation for being upset by the counterattack.

“Let’s have a meal first. Johann, can you secure enough seats for the number of people?”

When I said that, Johann nodded with a surprised face and headed towards the tables.

What can I say……He looks like a loyal puppy, Johann.

I sat down at the seat that was secured for me and had Yulena and Matilda go get my meal.

By the way, the meals at this school were different for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The time for morning and evening meals was fixed, and we sat divided by dormitory. The servants of the school served the food and cleaned up afterwards. However, although there was a set time for lunch, we were free to eat it on our own time.

After choosing a meal prepared like a buffet, we could eat it in the main cafeteria or take it out. Therefore, most of the food was easily carried and eaten, such as sandwiches.

Laurier-sama and Leticia-sama hadn’t decided on aides yet, so I asked them bring everything all together.

I thanked them and began to eat. Because there was  still a hierarchical relationship, the aides table and our tables were separate.

I’d really like for all of us to eat together, though.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

T/N: Okay, but seriously, how old was the villainess when she transferred into Gabriella’s body??? She acts like a 5 year old with no common sense. Maybe truck-kun hit her too hard on the head…