I Favor the Villainess Chapter 132

Although we had a rough start right after transferring into the Imperial Academy, things started to calm down and we were able to enjoy a normal school life.
As usual, our lectures were quite tough and fast-paced, but because Claire-sama was naturally intelligent and I had prior knowledge of the world, we weren't exactly having a hard time with the material.
However, the same could not be said for the other students, who were practically breaking their necks just trying to keep up.

The Imperial Academy wasn't a boarding school.
The students here lived in various different areas and would commute directly from their homes.
It seemed that some students from the more rural regions had the option of off-campus housing for an easier commute, and the Empire would provide financial aid to help them out with living expenses and rent.

Since we had to be in the classroom by 9 AM, we had more time to get ready in the morning than back at the Royal Academy.
Although, that only applied to the average student.

“Look, Mei, Alea, you need to hurry up and get changed. It is almost time for kindergarten.”
“Claire-sama, it looks like we have music classes today, so don't forget to bring this.”
“I'm still eating!”
“I want to go back to sleep.”

Like always, our mornings were as chaotic as a battlefield.
That was because we also had to get everything ready for Mei and Alea and then drop them off at kindergarten.
We had to make breakfast, brush their teeth, help them get changed and then drop them off at kindergarten, and by the time that was all finished, it was already time for class.
We barely had any time to eat our own meals.

Well, after going through our hectic mornings, we usually managed to arrive sometime between 8:30 to 9 AM.
By the time Claire-sama and I entered the classroom, most of our classmates were already there.

“Rei-sensei, you're slooow. Good morning, Claire-sensei.”
“Good morning, Lana.”
“Good morning to you as well, Lana. However, you do not need to call us “sensei” here. While we are here, we are not your teachers. We are students, just like you.”
“That's true. All of us are about the same age anyway.”
“Ehhh.”

When she heard my words, Lana looked dissatisfied.

"I mean, I look up to both of you a lot. Even if you say that, you both are still "sensei" to me."
"…… Well, you are free to do as you like."

I didn't quite understand Lana's reasoning, but for the time being, we left it at that.

"Good morning to you too, Eve."
"…… Good morning."

When I greeted Eve, she responded to me, but turned her face immediately after.
Guess she still didn't like me.

"Hold on, Eve, what is with that attitude? I won't tell you that you must respect us, but at the very least, you should still uphold a minimum level of courtesy."
"…… Sorry."

Claire-sama, who was still very particular about maintaining etiquette, reprimanded Eve, but Eve only apologized for her actions without showing any signs of wanting to change her attitude.

"Now, now, Claire-sama. It seems that there's a misunderstanding between me and Eve."
"A misunderstanding?"
"Eve, could we have a talk sometime? I think we could clear up a lot of things between us."

When we were both back in Bauer, I was never able to find the time to have a proper talk with Eve.
Now that we had the time to, I thought it was a good opportunity to clear the air between us, but,

"…… There is no misunderstanding."

Eve answered coldly, and turned away.
There was not much else I could do about it.

(This is problematic….)

There was nothing I could do about her hating me, but it was a little sad to be misunderstood.
Hopefully, we'll get a chance to talk things out.

"……. Good morning."
"Oh, Joel. Good morning."

Joel murmured as he came over to greet us.
Even though he looked like an aggressive guy, both Claire-sama and I knew he wasn't actually that scary.
He had already changed his tone and spoke to us like we were all on equal footing as students, but I felt like that made things easier.

"Mornings must be tough. I bet you are really busy with the kids around."
"Well, at least it's fun. Although, everyday is a bit stressful."
"…… I guess I can't really understand it."

Well, everybody was different, after all.

Lectures began at 9:30 AM, and would be an hour and a half long.
As I mentioned before, lectures were compact and quick.
It felt like we were being taught upper level material during our lectures.
Because of that, I could really tell that we were in a meritocracy.

Although, the thing that surprised me the most was Otto.

"Now then, as for this problem…… Otto, please solve this."
"Haah? That's too much trouble, get some other kid to answer it."
"I see you want your evaluation to drop."
"Tch……"

After being called on by the teacher, Otto clicked his tongue as he got up from his seat and walked over to the blackboard.
He took a quick glance at the math problem that was on the board, and wrote out the solution.

"This is enough, isn't it?"
"That is fine. Otto, you've got a good head on your shoulders. All you need to do is fix that attitude of yours."
"Mind your own business."

Otto stuck his hands in his pockets as he returned to his seat.
Right, Otto was a bit of a problem child, but he was by no means a poor student.
Based on my observations over the past few days, Otto's grades were quite good.
Even though his manners were terrible during class, I could tell he was still paying attention, and every time he got called on, his answers would always be correct.
He left a strange first impression on me on our first day, but it seemed that he was actually an honor student.

In RevoLily, there was never a character named "Otto".
So he was probably just an unnamed background character, but that being said, he seemed to have a lot of character to him anyway.

By the time morning classes came to an end, it was already noon.
The Imperial Academy had its own cafeteria, but since it wasn't popular among the students, most people opted to bring their own lunch boxes instead.
That is something I will get back to later.
Anyway, Claire-sama and I brought our own lunches.
We had to prepare Mei and Alea's meals as well anyway, so in our case, it was hardly any extra effort, but having to think of different menus every day was somewhat difficult.
I missed my smartphone and recipe websites.

"Philine-sama, would you like to eat lunch with us today?"
"Ah…… Um……"

Claire-sama called out to Philine.
Philine appeared to be somewhat of a loner, and usually ate her lunch by herself.
Claire-sama and I had been looking for as many chances to interact with Philine as possible, so we thought this was a good opportunity. However,

"I-I…… Please excuse me!"

Philine looked scared as she ran away.
She ended up abandoning her lunch box on her desk.

"…… Rei, you mentioned that she was shy, but was it really to this degree?"
"Hmm…… somehow, it feels like it's actually getting worse."

In RevoLily, there was a scene where she would eat lunch together with a potential love interest, though.
There was probably a reason behind her dramatic reaction.

"Do you think it's because of the incident that happened on the first day?"
"Which incident?"
"I mean, didn't you and Otto get into a fight?"
"Ahh…… If anything, that was because I wanted to help Philine though?"

Claire-sama looked dissatisfied.

"Yes, I'm sure she knows that too, but you were really dazzling―― I mean, you were acting kind of scary."
"Did you just misspeak?"

Oops, not good.
I almost let my inner feelings leak out.

"In that case, this makes things a bit more troublesome. Our first objective is to get close to her, correct?"
"That's right. Well, we can't really rush these kinds of things. Let's just take our time in capturing her."
"As I mentioned before, please don't say that we're "capturing" her."

Lunch break ended at around 1 PM.
After that, we had two more lectures that spanned about an hour and a half each.
Classes were over at around 4 PM.
Afterwards, Claire-sama and I went to the kindergarten section to pick Mei and Alea up. On the way back, we shopped for groceries before heading back to the dorm assigned to Bauer, and I started preparing for dinner.
Everything we did afterwards was no different than how our routine was back in Bauer.
We played with the twins, took a bath and all that was left was to go to bed.

"Looks like we're gradually getting used to living in the Empire."
"Yes. However, it seems that we are having trouble trying to interact with Philine."
"Well, it'll work out eventually as well. By the way, Claire-sama?"
"What is it?"

Even with the lights turned off in our room, I could tell that Claire-sama was already facing me.

"It's been a while, so…… what do you think?"
"Geez…… there really is no helping you, is there? Come here."

And that was how the rest of the night went down.

Chapter end