Chapter 21: Seeking Connection, Finding Frustration

‘What should I do?’

Time passed quickly. Several weeks had gone by.

Her current concern, as always, was relationships. She had become quite close to Euru since their outing… she thought. Looking back, perhaps they had already become friends after the sparring match and the infirmary incident. Thinking about it that way, she hadn’t made any progress in the past month, despite her resolve. No, she hadn’t made any progress.

Four targets remained: Emelly, Nell, Sowol, and Leia. Their relationships hadn’t changed, despite her efforts.

She approached Emelly, the girl with the long, golden twintails. Greeted her. Received a cold glare in return. Backhanded insults and criticisms followed. Ugh, even when she did nothing, her relationship with Emelly seemed to worsen. Of course, she knew Emelly was like this… this kind of person. Warm and affectionate towards those she liked, cold and distant towards those she disliked. And Emelly disliked her the most.

If Euru was EASY mode, Emelly was HELL mode. Approaching her would only decrease heraffection level.

Sayo had no idea what to do. She could only avoid Emelly until something changed their dynamic.

She approached Nell, the blue-haired girl with low self-esteem. Nell averted her gaze, her body shrinking back. Any attempt at conversation would be perceived as harassment, making Nell uncomfortable. Still, when Sayo greeted her, Nell met her eyes and responded. That was all. Sayo hadn’t bullied Nell since becoming ‘her,’ and they even exchanged greetings, but Nell still seemed wary and afraid. It was Sayo’s own fault, and she had to be careful around Nell. She could only hope that her efforts would eventually soften Nell’s feelings towards her…

Sowol, the girl with the black ponytail. A descendant of Easterners stranded in the West after the magical beasts severed the connection between the two worlds. Sayo couldn’t approach her. She was always with Emelly. They seemed inseparable, like they’d been close forever.

Sayo, having never paid attention to her surroundings in her original timeline, couldn’t recall when they had become so close. Normally, before the second semester, her relationships with the heroines should have been purely platonic, just classmates.

But this wasn’t a game; it was reality.

She didn’t know how deep their bond was, but they seemed quite close.

While Sayo hadn’t interacted much with Sowol, even brief conversations had been enough to lower her affection level in the past.

Moreover, perhaps due to Emelly’s intense dislike of her, Sowol seemed to dislike her even more. She needed to improve her relationship with Emelly first before approaching Sowol.

Leia, the girl with the purple braid. The only female heroine not in Class A. ‘Sayoreinne’ had a habit of snapping at anyone who crossed her path, and Sayo remembered being rude to Leia as well. However, Leia was incredibly laid-back. She hadn’t reacted to Sayo’s words, just smiled vaguely, muttered something irrelevant, and walked away. Annoyed by her indifference, Sayo had tried insulting her, but eventually gave up. Leia, with her own unique worldview, might be easier to befriend than the others who actively disliked her. However, since they were in different classes and Leia wasn’t a mage, they had no opportunities to interact, except perhaps during the ‘practical combat training’ that started in their second year.

‘This is hopeless.’

Sayo couldn’t find a solution, no matter how hard she thought about it. Despite her repeated attempts, she couldn’t improve her relationships with the heroines. Hadn’t she had similar concerns before? A tightness constricted her chest.

Feeling anxious and frustrated, Sayo brought her hand to her mouth. And then—

Nibble

She started biting her thumbnail.

“Miss, your hands!”

“Ah…“

Sayo quickly pulled her hand away at Ahrin’s reprimand. Biting her nails wasn’t something a refined noble lady would do. She had started doing it recently. ‘Sayoreinne’ had never had this habit.

In other words, it was ‘her’—‘Juseong’s’—habit.

“Miss, are you feeling stressed lately? You’ve developed a strange habit…” Ahrin sat beside her, taking Sayo’s hand in hers.

“No, I told you before, I’m fine.” Ahrin seemed to think there was an underlying reason, but it was simply an old habit resurfacing. She had also been feeling… not discomfort, but a sense of awkwardness about her female body and clothes. Something had been shifting within her since that day.

“Miss.”

Ahrin placed Sayo’s hand on her own head, then wrapped her arms around Sayo’s waist, burying her face in her chest.

“You said touching me makes you feel better, right? Please, do whatever you want…”

“…”

While ‘she’ was now female… she wasn’t used to women. Ahrin’s boldness made her blush and her heart race. The soft touch of Ahrin’s hands, her scent, her warm breath against her chest…!

“Thank you for comforting me, Ahrin.” Sayo lay down on the sofa, pulling Ahrin with her. Touching Ahrin’s soft hair and body was definitely pleasant. She didn’t understand why the other ‘her’ felt so embarrassed. Wasn’t this a situation most men would welcome?

Well, she knew Ahrin secretly enjoyed it, despite pretending to be shy.

More time passed.

“Um… I’m sorry, Sayoreinne. I don’t think I can help you,” said Miner, the platinum-blonde girl from Viscount Melpin’s family, one of Sayo’s two followers.

“M-me neither. The only people I’m close to are Miner and you, Sayoreinne,” added Soine, the brown-haired girl from Baron Marti’s family, the other follower.

“It’s okay. It’s my problem.”

These were the girls Sayo referred to as Sayoreinne’s followers. Until recently, she hadn’t understood why they followed her, but after a calm conversation, she learned they were simply following orders, as their families served under the Meirel Marquisate.

This was a ‘reality’—a setting—she would never have known in the game. Even ‘Sayoreinne’ hadn’t cared enough to notice.

She hadn’t had any particular feelings towards them and had avoided them, but they were good people. They had only harassed Nell under duress from the former Sayo and were glad she had stopped. They were just kind, ordinary girls.

‘But why didn’t the Marquisate tell them about me?’

Sayo pondered. If the Marquisate had told their families about her true nature, these girls wouldn’t have given her a second thought. Sayoreinne would have been truly alone.

Sayo came up with two possible reasons.

First, the Marquisate still maintained a facade of supporting her, sending her a small allowance and allowing Ahrin, a commoner orphan, to accompany her to the academy. They couldn’t simply cast her aside without reason, not the daughter of the former first wife. The Marquisate was too concerned with appearances. They had to maintain the pretense of treating her well, at least until they had a reason to discard her. In certain routes of the game, they had abandoned Sayoreinne without hesitation after she caused trouble.

Considering her original personality, it wouldn’t have been difficult for them to predict that she would cause trouble. Especially with two royals attending the academy this year.

Second, they simply didn’t care. The Meirel Marquisate probably wasn’t interested in the social lives of lower-ranking nobles’ children.

‘Is that all?’

Sayo looked at the two girls, chatting happily with her, despite her being lost in thought. They had become closer after she started treating them genuinely. They no longer acted overly deferential or nervously watched her every move.

Had she become friends with Miner and Soine? Did they consider her a friend?

She assumed so. There was no need for negativity. They were her people now. She wanted to make them happy.

Their presence brought a small realization.

“Alright, enough chatting. Let’s study. We don’t have much time left.”

The second semester evaluations were approaching. The end of the second semester was drawing near.

It was time to focus on her studies.

The usually oppressive summer heat felt pleasant today.