So It's You?
……
Resting my chin on my hand, I surveyed the classroom. It was a little noisy since the professor had yet to arrive. From my seat in the back row, the entire room was in clear view. With no assigned seats, the usual clusters of chattering friends had formed just as they always did.
Helena, probably exhausted from yesterday’s training, was sprawled across the desk beside mine, stealing a nap. ……If she was this worn out, I might need to add some stamina drills to her regimen. While idly considering that, I continued watching the students—until my eyes met Silvia’s.
She offered an awkward smile and greeted me with her eyes. I raised my hand slightly in return.
……So it’s true.
Watching Silvia quickly avert her gaze and strike up a conversation with her friends, I frowned. Cain still hadn’t returned. That wasn’t strange; in the original story, he’d been absent for quite some time at the start of the semester. What bothered me was something else.
The original plot really has gone off the rails.
The atmosphere in the class itself felt off. I hadn’t noticed it sooner because the strangeness wasn’t directed at me, but now that I was calmly observing the room, it was becoming clear. No—more than that……
The entire academy’s attitude toward Silvia was wrong.
At first, students had begun to avoid her. The girl once worshipped like a goddess, showered with confessions from classmates and upperclassmen alike, was now being slowly shunned. Petty jealousy and envy had turned toward her, and ostracism was the inevitable next step. But……
It’s happening far too soon.
Only three weeks had passed since the semester began. The bullying that should have started after Cain’s return was already taking shape. And Leonhardt wasn’t even hovering around her.
Lips pursed, I stared at Silvia as she chatted with her friends. She was trying not to show it, but she’d clearly sensed the odd atmosphere and was forcing a normal expression. Even the friends who usually stayed by her side were subtly ignoring and avoiding her—enough that even an outsider like me could see it.
It’s because of me.
Because I’d interfered with the original story…… No, because I’d completely twisted it, the harassment aimed at Silvia had accelerated. The part I couldn’t understand was……
I can’t replace Leonhardt.
Leonhardt might be a scumbag, but he was still the Third Prince of the Empire. My family’s status wasn’t low, yet it couldn’t compare to royalty.
This feels off.
Tapping my index finger against my cheek, I sank into thought. Neither Cain nor Leonhardt was here. That meant Silvia had no one to rely on. She wasn’t completely isolated yet, but if things continued like this, something was bound to happen before Cain returned.
With my gaze fixed steadily on Silvia, I thought and thought again. Of course…… there was only one conclusion.
@
Today was the only day we had classes in our homeroom all morning. Thanks to that, aside from a quick trip to the restroom, I’d stayed seated the whole time. It was the perfect situation for uninterrupted thinking.
Bullying. Ostracism. What people called being an outcast. Even in an academy filled with noble children, they were still just kids. If anything, the fact that they were nobles made the harassment and exclusion even worse—usually targeting children from weaker houses or commoners.
In that sense, Silvia was the perfect target. A commoner with beauty far beyond her station, she’d received confessions from male students the moment the semester started. That alone had triggered jealousy among the girls her age. The boys she’d rejected felt the same. And children this age never let such things slide. A convenient target and a common enemy—the ideal conditions for bullying had been met. The fact that she was a commoner who wouldn’t cause trouble if provoked only made it worse.
While Silvia was away at the restroom, I watched the students bustling about for no apparent reason and raised an eyebrow.
They’re completely ignoring me and Helena.
They seemed to have forgotten that Helena and I had been spending time with Silvia lately, too busy preparing to torment her. Of course, not everyone in class was participating—only a small minority was actually acting on it.
What should I do?
Helena was napping through every break and hadn’t noticed a thing. I didn’t really need her help anyway. Tapping the desk soundlessly with my index finger, I observed their movements closely.
Were they planning to hide her textbooks? How childish. They really were just kids—incapable of thinking beyond petty pranks even when trying to bully someone. Maybe it was because this was a romance fantasy. Still, if I let this continue, they’d only escalate. The reason I hesitated to step in was……
……It’s too extreme.
In the original novel, they wouldn’t have started bullying her so openly from the beginning. But these students weren’t just teasing her with words or minor pranks—they were preparing to harass her outright, as if confident nothing would happen to them even if they did.
Maybe I should watch a little longer and find out who’s behind it. Logically, that might be the right move. In other stories, the dramatic rescue at the most critical moment was a classic trope. But……
Scrape.
I pushed my chair back and stood, discarding those thoughts. Helping from the shadows? Finding the mastermind and delivering justice at the end? It all sounded fine—on paper.
But that’s just a story.
This was reality. Silvia would be hurt during whatever short or long time this went on. And as I’d said before, she’d done nothing wrong. She hadn’t flaunted her looks, forced anyone to confess, or been cruel when rejecting them.
……Though there’s only so much “kindness” in a rejection.
She hadn’t looked down on anyone or kept her distance. If anything, she’d tried to get along with her classmates. There was no reason for her to be hurt.
I walked slowly toward her seat. The students gathered around it—three girls and two boys—were giggling about something. Both boys had confessed to Silvia before. The girls…… I didn’t know them well, but two of the three had originally been her friends.
My expression darkened without me realizing it as I approached.
“Should we hide this too?”
“Yeah, she really treasures it……”
“Isn’t that going too far?”
My cold voice rang out. I hadn’t meant to let my emotions show so clearly, but the low, icy tone slipped out anyway. What did it matter? I was genuinely annoyed, and I wasn’t soft enough to hold back for their sake.
The students turned to look at me, their faces stiffening. I didn’t remember their names, but I could roughly place their families—three from baron houses, two from viscount houses. A quiet scoff escaped me at the sight of such mediocre nobles banding together. At the same time, I realized they were nothing more than puppets.
That didn’t mean I planned to let it slide.
“……W-what?”
One of the viscount boys stammered, trying to sound brave. His stuttering told me he’d only stepped forward out of some pathetic sense of pride.
“Stop what you’re doing.”
I gestured with my chin at Silvia’s belongings in their hands. The Astria Count family might not have been on par with the imperial family, but it wasn’t a house other nobles could ignore. They fell silent, averting their eyes—except for one.
“……Who do you think you are?”
The boy who’d spoken first glared at me, refusing to back down. I smiled and met his gaze.
“So it’s you.”
The one who knew who was pulling the puppets’ strings. As his face went deathly pale, my smile deepened.