At that moment, Nefthis suddenly leapt onto the bed.
"Up you go! C'mon, get up!"
"Ow! That hurts!" said Lorain.
"Simon."
Nefthis tugged Lorain's arm and turned back to him.
"I'll send you back to the study group, so take this kid with you too! Lazybones!"
"Mom!"
Lorain shouted in alarm.
"Why should I go there?!" she said, quickly moving to hide behind Knox.
"Hmph! If I don't do this, you'll just stay locked in your room!"
"You said it's a study session! I'd just feel out of place, and I'd be a burden to Simon's friends!"
Lorain shouted as she forcefully shook off Nefthis's arm. Nefthis immediately plopped down onto the bed.
Sniffle.
Tears suddenly welled up in her eyes.
"Sniff… sob! Waaaah! My daughter only ever makes me miserable! Stupid! Stupid! Lorain, you're stupid!"
She flailed her arms and legs, looking exactly like a child throwing a tantrum.
Simon stood there awkwardly, completely unsure what to do.
Meanwhile, Lorain pressed her forehead and let out a heavy sigh, looking slightly guilty.
And Knox—
somehow had already pulled out a crystal recorder.
He was clearly recording the whole thing.
"…Haaah, fine. I'll go," Lorain said.
"Yay! Don't worry, Lorain, because Knox is also supposed to study together with Simon and his friends as well!" said Nefthis.
Nefthis instantly stopped crying and hopped off the bed.
The sudden change left Simon stunned, but Knox and Lorain didn't react much at all, as if they were already used to it.
Hearing that, Lorain blinked in surprise and looked at Knox.
"Knox, is that true?"
Knox nodded.
"Yup."
Lorain immediately turned to Nefthis.
"Mom! Why didn't you say that earlier?! If you told me Knox was joining too, I would've agreed right away!"
As if Nefthis didn't hear anything, she simply brushed it off and said,
"Once you guys are ready, come outside!"
Nefthis hummed cheerfully as she left the room.
Lorain walked over to her closet, pulled out her uniform, and began getting ready, clearly in a much better mood now.
Then, Lorain suddenly paused and stared at Simon.
"…What?" said simon.
"Were you planning to watch Lorain change?" Knox asked, teasing.
Simon's face turned bright red, and he bolted out of the room again.
A second later—
he felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
Because once again, he had been kicked out…
while Knox was still inside.
…and Lorain didn't seem to mind at all.
"…."
Simon had no words.
A short while later.
Lorain joined Group 7 and Group 8's study session.
"..."
"..."
Meilyn, Camibarez, and Rick immediately recognized the famous Lorain and turned pale.
Even though the three of them had spoken with her briefly before, it didn't mean they could interact with her comfortably.
Meanwhile, Cindy, Claudia, and Merida also looked a bit stiff, but at least they still managed to greet her.
An awkward tension filled the lecture hall as they all sat together. Only their eyes moved, glancing around restlessly.
Meilyn stared at Simon, silently demanding an explanation, while Rick mentally wished he had ten hearts just to survive the pressure.
They had just seen Nefthis—
and now Lorain?!
"Alright, everyone, eyes on me! Although you guys already know each other, for the sake of—fun—bah, I mean, for the sake of formality, let me introduce her again. This is Lorain from Class L."
Meanwhile, Knox smiled casually as he introduced her.
"Lorain here felt lonely, so I took pity and brought this shut-in along. You guys don't mind, right~?"
Everyone nodded immediately. Even if they did mind, they couldn't say it.
Lorain, with her usual emotionless expression, calmly scanned the room before speaking in a composed voice.
"Hi. Just pretend I'm not here and continue as usual. Although what Knox said was exaggerated, it's true that I came here because of him."
Her face remained indifferent, but somehow, everyone could hear a faint trace of pride—and even smugness—in her tone.
Especially Cindy, Claudia, Merida, and Meilyn.
Their eyebrows twitched almost at the same time.
For some reason, their instincts were telling them the same thing—
This girl is showing off her relationship with Knox!
After finishing her brief "introduction," Lorain sat down and opened her textbook.
But before that—she casually pulled Knox along to sit beside her.
How are we supposed to pretend she's not here?!
She was none other than Nefthis's daughter. This was absolutely not an atmosphere where anyone could relax.
The room felt suffocating.
…But still.
Meilyn shifted her gaze.
Knox and Lorain…
She paused for a moment, then quickly accepted it.
She's beautiful…
Camibarez was genuinely admiring her.
Hair like the night sky, ruby-red eyes, and an aura so untouchable it was overwhelming.
Even among Kizen's students, Lorain had a uniquely commanding presence.
Rick, who valued connections more than anyone, really wanted to strike up a conversation with her. But he held himself back, thinking he was more likely to say something weird and end up on her bad side.
Cindy, who usually looked lazy, now appeared like a model student. Under Lorain's presence, she studied diligently.
Claudia glanced at Lorain and thought, …She's dangerous.
Meanwhile, Merida only stared quietly at Lorain and Knox, who were sitting very close to each other.
Let's just study, everyone thought.
Scratch, scratch.
Only the sound of quills filled the quiet classroom. The noisy mood had faded, replaced by a tense silence that oddly made it easier to focus.
Everyone buried themselves in their studies, partly as an excuse to ignore Lorain.
But they couldn't.
Because right in front of them—
Lorain was leaning her shoulder against Knox.
Even though her face remained aloof, the faint curve of her lips gave everything away.
"..."
They already knew Knox and Lorain were close.
But not this close.
Meanwhile, Simon, who was already used to this kind of scene, sighed internally.
Now you see this? This is how they casually torture me.
At that moment, Lorain slightly bit her lip and furrowed her brow, as if she had run into a problem.
Knox, sitting very close beside her, noticed immediately.
"Having trouble?" he asked.
"…Yeah."
"Where?"
"Here. Number 7."
Knox smiled mischievously, then spoke a little louder—almost on purpose.
"Oh, really? Meilyn's good at Katarology."
Meilyn, who had been studying quietly, immediately turned red and looked up.
She mouthed, Hey! Quiet down!
But the moment Lorain looked at her, she froze and shut her mouth.
Knox chuckled. "Meilyn, can you explain this one to Lorain, please~?"
"…Uh, okay."
Meilyn awkwardly walked over and stood beside Lorain, then began explaining problem 7.
It made sense why Lorain struggled. She simply didn't know the formula.
After listening, Lorain nodded. "Then if I plug in that formula, it becomes this."
Just from that explanation alone, she began solving the problem smoothly.
"Yeah, that's right! You're really good at this!"
Meilyn wasn't flattering her. She was genuinely impressed.
So this is what it means to learn one and understand ten?
Her grasp was incredible.
Meanwhile, Knox crossed his arms with a smug look, as if saying, Look at her.
"But why did you simplify all the values in this part?" Meilyn asked.
"It's the only method I know. Is it wrong?" Lorain replied nonchalantly.
"Uh, no! Not at all. This approach is actually really interesting. Wait—"
At some point, Meilyn, who was supposed to be teaching, became more invested in the problem instead.
There was no doubt about Lorain's skill.
In the original story, she was said to be weak at note-taking. But now, it felt more like she simply lacked motivation back then, not ability.
With Knox's presence, the usual lazy Lorain had turned into a genius—still lazy, but undeniably sharp.
You could say this was Lorain Mark-V.
Then, when they moved on to another Katarology problem, Knox called Merida. When it involved poison, he called Claudia. And when it came to necromancy, he called Cindy.
Little by little, Group 8 began interacting more naturally with Lorain.
After Knox broke the ice, Rick and Camibarez also started exchanging words with her.
Everyone had expected Lorain to be cold and difficult to approach.
But surprisingly—she wasn't.
Then suddenly, everyone's attention shifted to Knox.
He picked up a snack from the table.
At first, they thought he was going to eat it himself.
But instead—
he started making a strange motion.
Like he was playing with it.
Then—
his hand curved through the air like a flying object and shot forward.
Everyone thought the snack would crash straight into Lorain's face.
But at the last moment, as if she had some kind of instinct—
Lorain opened her mouth.
Nom.
Under everyone's stunned gaze, Knox casually picked up another snack and fed her again.
Lorain's expression remained aloof, but her mouth obediently opened each time, chewing whatever Knox gave her.
At that moment, a single thought crossed everyone's mind—
Wait… why does she look so used to this?!
She seemed a little hungry and tasted one of the snacks Rick had brought—the one Knox fed her.
She nodded slightly, apparently liking it.
Especially because Knox was the one feeding her.
"What is this?" Lorain asked.
"A grain cookie from Rochester. It's something Rick bought himself~" Knox replied.
Hearing that, Lorain gave a small sound of admiration.
"I didn't know something like this existed."
"Want me to tell you where to get it?" Rick offered.
The atmosphere gradually softened under Knox's control.
Lorain had originally said she'd only stay for an hour or two, but with how smoothly everything went—and with Knox beside her the entire time—she ended up staying longer.
Slowly, everyone began to relax and treat her more comfortably.
Time passed.
Night fell.
Eventually, a staff member came to inform them that it was time to leave the classroom.