"That damn bastard ruined all my clothes. Some random guy dares to bully me like that? Do they really not know who I am?"
Aurelia muttered under her breath, hatred simmering as her eyes burned with fury. The more she replayed the scene in the cafeteria, the worse her mood became.
'Tch… it's already time for class, and I didn't even get to eat.'
After changing her clothes and fixing her hair, Aurelia checked the time and grimaced.
'Just when I was about to enjoy my favorite meat.'
For a moment, she genuinely felt like crying. She was never this unlucky. After finally slipping free from her mother's constant control, she thought she could enjoy life on her own terms.
And this happened on the very first day.
'I remember his face. If he shows up in front of me again, I'll kill him.'
Grinding her teeth, Aurelia washed her hands and turned to leave the now-empty restroom.
Then she suddenly froze as she saw that the same face was standing right outside, within her reach.
In an instant, her eyes narrowed dangerously.
'Found you. Let's see if you can run now.'
Just as her anger flared and she was about to attack him without a second thought, a girl's voice rang out, stopping her in her tracks.
"Soren… I saw you make that girl stumble on purpose. Why…did you do that?"
She was the same girl who had been with that guy earlier. But Aurelia didn't stop because of her. It was the meaning behind her own question that made her pause.
'So she knew I was set up? Tch…'
Aurelia felt a surge of annoyance, but she restrained herself. She wanted to hear what he would say next.
Then, as a thought crossed her mind, a mischievous smile tugged at her lips. She quietly took out her smartphone and began recording their conversation.
'Hehe… dare to bully me? Let's see if I can get you expelled from the Academy on your first day.'
She thought with malice.
"What? What do you mean?"
Soren's heart skipped a beat. He never expected anyone to see him make Aurelia stumble.
'She didn't see me looking at her underwear too, did she?'
The thought made him uneasy, but he figured she probably hadn't. Otherwise, he wouldn't have completed his quest.
Still, that didn't mean he wasn't in trouble.
"Soren… I saw it with my own eyes. Are you…trying to lie to me?"
Sylvia asked again, her blue eyes heavy with disappointment.
Even she couldn't understand why he had done it. They were friends from the same town, and she knew his nature.
He wasn't a bully, but he wasn't a pushover either. Soren would never humiliate someone, especially a girl.
She wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, hoping he could redeem himself in her eyes.
'But maybe I was thinking too much.'
Seeing him flustered and unable to speak only deepened her disappointment. For a moment, she wondered if she had been fooled by him before.
"Forget it… let's go to class first."
Her voice was cold as she turned, but Soren stopped her with a hand.
"Hmm?"
"Sylvia, it's not what you think."
Soren, of course, felt her disappointment. In fact, he saw it manifest before his eyes,
—
[Warning!]
[You are about to lose the trust of the Main Heroine: Sylvia Miller!]
[Losing her trust may weaken your bond with the protagonist group, reducing your influence and presence as a side character.]
[Be careful: if your Side Character status drops to zero, you may lose your system entirely and be returned to an ordinary life.]
—
With such a warning right in front, how could Soren let Sylvia be disappointed in him.
"Sylvia, you know me. Do you think I will knowingly make someone stumble out of nowhere?"
Soren rapidly thought how to get out of this situation.
"But…I saw you with my own eyes."
If someone told her, she would definitely not believe it. But she saw him make that girl stumble with her own eyes.
Soren also saw her distrust, gritted his teeth, and nodded.
"Sigh… okay, I admit I did it. I made that girl stumble."
'Jackpot… you finally confessed. You bastard, you are done for.'
However, Soren didn't know that someone behind the restroom door had already recorded his confession. Aurelia was grinning from ear to ear.
But she still listened quietly as she wanted to gather more evidence before taking it to the administration.
Unaware of the calamity behind, Soren looked at Sylvia with an honest look and continued,
"But it is absolutely wrong that I did it knowingly. In fact, I was extremely flustered at that time and my leg stretched on its own when she was near."
"Flustered?"
Sylvia raised her eyebrow, not getting his point. After all, what was there to be flustered about at that time?
"Yeah… flustered. Sylvia, do you know what a crush is?"
Soren found that he had no good reason to get out of the mess, so he used the classic cheesy accident that was quite popular in a dating sim.
This was such a world after all. He thought maybe that would work.
"Crush? Wait a minute… you mean?"
Sure enough, Sylvia immediately understood what he meant and quickly put her hand on her mouth, her eyes wide in surprise.
"Soren…do you have a crush on that girl?"
She asked, to which Soren awkwardly nodded with a shy smile, just like a teenage boy seeing his love for the first time.
Seeing such a look, Sylvia had to believe him even if she didn't want to.
In an instant, her expression changed from distrust to gossipy as a faint smile appeared on her lips out of nowhere, surprising even Soren.
"Well, well…no wonder you did such a thing to that poor girl. Tch… Soren, I didn't know you were so romantic."
Sylvia said with a teasing smirk, making Soren dumbfounded.
"Romantic?"
For a moment, he paused as if confused.
Just now, he wanted to explain to her that he was nervous because his crush was near and accidentally made her stumble, but Sylvia didn't seem to need an explanation at all.
Rather, she even found it romantic.
Why didn't he understand?
"Hehehe… no need to act shy and naive, Soren. I didn't know you were like this."