Chapter 413 Curse at me again [1]

"I think you should let her socialise in the class. Everyone seems...quite curious about her."

Diana spoke as she moved her gaze across the class.

And well... she was indeed correct.

Sophie had tagged along with us to the class, yet neither the instructor nor anyone else had given any introduction about her.

It was as if the headmaster had specifically asked them to not acknowledge her existence... a decision that I couldn’t understand.

If he had allowed her to be admitted to the academy, then why was he behaving in such a childish manner?

Though the question had struck me, it wasn’t like the answer was something complex.

The only possibility that I could think about was that the headmaster was trying to play it safe.

It was almost comical that a Sovereign had to play safe in order to maintain his honourable image.

"You do know that you are free to go, right?"

Looking at Sophie, who sat in her seat that was just beside Diana’s... I uttered the words in a calm voice.

But the girl...

Haa...

She simply ignored my words as if she hadn’t even heard them.

"How did the two of you meet?"

Turning to look at my left, Alicia curiously stared into my eyes, while alternating her gaze between me and Sophie.

The girl had now decided to sit with me, and that meant her two lackeys... Noah and Kevin were sitting at my extreme left, their gazes trying to pierce through my head.

Though I largely ignored the two idiots—

Well, Kevin had always been an idiot, but it was Noah that I had to re-evaluate again.

For some reason... his overall presence felt a lot more different than before.

It was as if the guy had... matured?

"She’s a friend of mine... that’s all that you need to know."

I kept my words brief, as telling a lie could have backfired in the future, so it was better to keep everything hidden.

At my words, Alicia simply nodded her head, before lowering it.

Sigh.

A caring brother would have patted his sister’s head at the moment, and uttered some good reason for keeping a secret from his little sister, but—

I wasn’t her brother and nor was I some caring human.

"Sophie, meet Alicia... she is my younger sister."

Though I had no interest in consoling Alicia, it wasn’t like I was unable to do damage control.

Surprisingly, this time Sophie didn’t ignore my words, as she turned to look at Alicia, before giving her a... warm smile.

"I have heard about you."

Alicia, who was just about to reciprocate the smile, stopped mid-motion as she looked at me—

"My father had mentioned about you."

Ah.

Surely Arthur would have given a detailed description of Kael’s family to his lovely daughter.

That old man—

"Kael and I had met some two years ago."

Hm?

What was Sophie even—

"He had proposed to me... asked me to be his girlfriend."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Silence.

"Well... I rejected him."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

A greater silence.

"Still, as the determined man that he is... your brother didn’t let go of me, and which is why I am here... admitted to this academy."

The students in the class were speaking amongst themselves, and there was chaos everywhere, but not around my desk.

Be it Alicia, Diana, Kevin or Noah... each of them had gone quiet as they stared at Sophie with wide eyes.

Then their gazes shifted in perfect synchronisation towards none other than me.

Sigh.

I didn’t know why Sophie had uttered such a lie, and honestly, I felt like reversing the time if I could.

I should have given some explanation regarding my relation with the Dimitri, but now... I had already lost the initiative.

I could have refused the absurd claim about being rejected, but... I simply couldn’t.

Not unless I was ready to let them know that Sophie was the daughter of the man who now served me.

Still... there were a few statements that I could utter at the moment to make Sophie’s words be proven wrong, but—

Looking into her eyes, I could tell that she had already prepared some contingencies of her own.

Sigh.

Well... being practical, and honestly thinking about it... maybe it wasn’t that bad of an explanation for our relation... leaving aside the fact that I was the one who was at the losing end of the bargain.

"So you are here for my brother?"

After an extended silence, Alicia asked the question while slightly raising her eyes in surprise or shock... whatever it was.

"Not exactly."

"..."

"My father works for a business which is owned by Kael, and seeing that I wanted to enjoy the world beyond my hometown, he sent me with Master Kael."

Master Kael, my foot—

"He sincerely hopes that I date Kael."

Sophie added at the end, making me let out a subconscious sigh.

A wise man had once said to be decisive in one’s actions or else the consequences may come back to bite you, and well... I was firsthand experiencing the regrets of my indecisiveness.

"I never knew my brother liked s-someone."

Stuttering with her words at the end, Alicia awkwardly smiled at Sophie, before turning her focus towards me—

"Well, that’s something that he would only share with his family, and... we were never part of it."

Hm?

It was none other than Kevin who mockingly uttered the words, with his face twisted into an ugly expression.

The moment the words landed on Alicia’s ears, her earlier smile vanished before turning into something that was close to... regret?

"It’s good to know that some of your brain cells are still working, and yes... it would be a humiliation for me to include a goblin like you in my family."

"Gob...? What the hell was that—"

"Nothing... just a member of your race."

"..."

I said the words before turning my attention to Alicia, who still had her head lowered.

"When are you going to visit your parents?"

The question made the girl look into my eyes with a complex emotion in her gaze.

"The academy doesn’t permit us to return unless there is some good reason—"

"Visit them this weekend, and yes... I will be coming with you."