Professor Brigitte rose from her sofa and walked towards me. As my view was blocked by her, I could only stare right above her head. I didn't respond and remained silent. When she was close enough, she stopped and crossed her arms just below her heavenly mounds. Her height was roughly around 170 cm, judging by her head level with my neck.
'You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?' I thought.
Still looking above her head, I answered, "Of course I would look at the speaker, it's just that…"
Professor Brigitte remained silent.
"It's just that I'm worried about something." I continued, glancing slightly at the professor.
"Worried about what?" the professor asked, tilting her head.
I didn't answer immediately.
"Do you really not know or…?" I asked.
Professor Brigitte seemed to be pondering something.
"I don't know. Just tell me!" the professor replied bluntly.
This is what happens if you focus only on research and rarely pay attention to human relationships. I sighed.
"Are you sure? Do you not think I'm weird or anything?" I confirmed again with the professor.
"You know me, I won't be offended or think it's weird." She answered.
'I don't know,' I thought,
"Unlike yesterday, today I am very tired. I'm worried I can't control… my body's natural reaction when you wear… clothes like that." I answered hesitantly.
When I looked at Professor Brigitte's face, there was an expression that seemed like 'Oh.' She then looked at her entire body and squinted at me with a slight smile.
"Ahahaha! Forgive me. You are very honest!"
She laughed and patted my shoulder a few times. My eye twitched.
'You're laughing?'
...
After chatting and clearing up about me being taken to the police station in Professor Brigitte's office, and with her shirt now buttoned up, I planned to return to the dormitory and sell my room decorations to cover the garden damages. I was walking down the corridor.
'Or maybe I should move out of that dorm and buy a small house on the city outskirts? No. That would be too troublesome. I'm still a first-year student and mostly at the academy. Heroic practices will be conducted in the third year, maybe I'll buy a house on the city outskirts then.'
I walked leisurely until I reached the academy gate.
Then something bothered me right in front of my eyes. Five people approached me. They wore academy uniforms. All of them were male.
"You're Edward, right?" one of the five asked roughly.
"Come on, he's already famous for his rotten behavior, no need to ask," another chimed in.
"Isn't he the one who ignored Miss Giselle earlier?" Another person asked.
I remained silent and looked at the five of them.
'Tch, troublesome!'
"Move!" I said with a flat gaze and a casual tone.
Since they mentioned Giselle, they must be associated with her. Giselle, in general, is a beautiful and cute girl. She's also quite strong. So she has many admirers. Unfortunately, there are some foolish fans like the five before me.
They were deliberately provoking me to act so that I would get scolded and maybe even beaten by Giselle after rumors spread.
Rumors like, a high-ranking noble bullying a low-ranking noble and such. Childish drama. The stupidity was, the old Edward still got involved in this scheme and ended up as the punching bag of the campus justice, Giselle. Yes, that's how it was for an unimportant, foolish side villain.
I still stared at the five NPCs standing in front of me, refusing to back down. They wore strange grins that would make anyone uncomfortable. Their faces seemed to say 'hit me, hit me.'
"Sigh... This is really annoying." I murmured softly.
Ignoring them, I jumped over them and landed right behind them. I wanted to make them faint, but that would cause unnecessary trouble. Ignoring them, I quickly ran away from them.
The five NPCs just stood there watching me run very fast. They looked at each other.
"This is different from what we planned, right?"
...
'I'm sure unpleasant rumors will spread tomorrow morning. After the police incident, now what? Edward is a coward? Not that I care but… Whatever.'
I was sitting on the sofa relaxing while drinking Lemon Tea made by Mia in the common room of my dorm. As usual, it tasted good and to my liking.
Additionally, I had also bought brownies that I once bought for Yolina. With the box container, I placed it on the coffee table without serving it on a plate. Actually, Mia was about to put it on a plate and arrange it. But I told her not to bother as it was too much trouble. At the moment, she stood slightly away from me, bowing silently.
I looked at Mia and said, "Mia, you can sit and make a drink if you want."
After a few seconds of silence, Mia answered with her head bowed, "N-No, Young Master."
My head still looked at Mia without diverting. Then I picked up and sipped the Lemon Tea on the table.
"Have you eaten?" I asked.
Mia, as usual, remained silent for a few seconds and then answered in a soft voice. Yes, consider it a habit now. Or, if my suspicion is correct, maybe it's fear.
"Not yet, Young Master." Mia answered with her head bowed.
And as before, with a little persuasion, I invited her to eat together even if it was just brownies. Mia had not cooked as it was not yet dinner time. It was still afternoon.
A while later after eating brownies, I told Mia to remove some of the excessive decorations I chose to sell. Meanwhile, I left the apartment to borrow a cart from the nearby store. Since my dorm building was in an elite area, the shops nearby were also elite. Fortunately, the borrowing process was quick because I was from a high-ranking noble family.
I loaded the decorations Mia had taken down into the cart. I carried the heavy ones and Mia the small ones. After all the decorations to be sold were in the cart, I pulled it.
"Young Master. Let me do it." Mia said as I was about to pull the cart. Her expression looked a bit worried.
Turning to Mia, I replied with a flat face, "No need. You can help by pushing from behind."
Mia didn't move for a moment. Her mouth opened and closed. It seemed she wanted to say something. But she remained silent and decided to follow my orders. Mia went to the back of the cart.
'Good girl,' I thought.
We finally walked, moving the cart along the sidewalk. A noble pulling a cart and his servant helping. Because my face was quite recognizable in the elite area, this scene attracted attention. The trait of Edward, the Arrogant Aristocrat, surged, as if rejecting being viewed like this. Even so, I could still suppress it by exerting a little Arkium to press this trait. I ignored the stares of others and kept walking.
We then arrived at a store that specifically sold valuable items. Since most of my items had high artistic value, it was quite easy to sell them. Actually, I wanted to auction them to get more money, but quick cash was more needed now. Especially to pay for the garden damage and to prepare for monthly needs that Yolina said wouldn't be available for me this month.
...
The next day, as usual at the academy, all classes ended at 3 PM today. Sitting in my usual place, I stretched my body. Yeah, even though it wasn't as painful as wild training with Anetta, sitting too long and listening to boring lectures was also tiring.
My gaze wandered everywhere, seeing the lively classroom atmosphere. The main character Zephyr and the elf Rosaire were no longer in class. It seemed they left immediately after the professor left. I then looked at a small group of students.
"I heard the Graceful Swan artist group is in town today. Want to see them? Drama?"
"Sorry my friend, I've found other pleasures in reading fiction novels. Maybe another time."
I shifted to another group of students, this time a group of girls.
"What will you do after this?"
"Want to go to the Delight Marble dessert restaurant? They have a new menu."
Light conversations considering they were future strong fighters. It was normal since they were still young and hadn't experienced the harsh reality of society. Not that I underestimated them, but life in Sciendufer city and some major cities could be considered quite safe and peaceful, fostering innocent young people.
Although there might be students here who had experienced the harshness of life, I believed only a handful had. Of course, not excluding myself, Edward, who came from a strong and wealthy noble family. The turning point in his life was the reduced support from his family due to past mistakes.
While I was observing the entire class, a feminine voice sounded from beside me.
"Did you hear the rumor today?" Miss Bahraeel asked, glancing at me. Her tone was flat and her gaze didn't show much emotion.
I glanced at her and turned slightly towards her. Unlike the girls in the class, her aura appeared more mature with prominent beauty and a good figure. I could say, Miss Bahraeel was already categorized as a 'woman.' I leaned back and observed the whole class again, seeing if anyone might be gossiping about me. Some students occasionally glanced at me.
"I guess I'm used to it. Did you hear about my cowardly act, Miss Bahraeel?" I glanced at Miss Bahraeel.
"You know about it. So you really ran away?" This time Miss Bahraeel answered, turning her head towards me although there was no change in her expression.