Chapter 10: Chapter 10

"Why didn't you tell me you were Lady Ashford?"

The dark-haired young man's unexpected question baffled me at first.

"I thought we'd never meet again, and it didn't really matter..."

In fact, I never imagined that we would meet again under such circumstances. I'd considered meeting this guy an isolated incident, and I wasn't even going to introduce myself to him.

In fact, neither did I, since I still didn't know his name.

"I see. It looks like you're an even more unusual girl than I thought."

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"You come from a very powerful family," the young man said, "But even so, you were not afraid to stand up for someone, and even risk your life to save me on the lake... No other noble would do that."

I knew exactly what he meant, because my actions from the outside really looked a little strange and even reckless.

Before doing anything, all members of the nobility first assessed how it would affect their place in society, and their future reputation. And even more so, none of them would just rush into a lake or any other dangerous place to help an outsider.

Within the established rules of high society, this was simply absurd.

Therefore, I could easily be called a "strange" noble.

"So I'm an exception to the rule," I laughed awkwardly.

"Well," he said, looking at me thoughtfully and smiling, "Lady Ashford, you're not what people say you are."

"Hmm... What do they say about me?"

"In fact, before I came here, I heard rumors that the Duke of Ashford's daughter is very well-mannered and sets an example for the perfect socialite."

Hearing this, I coughed in embarrassment.

Obviously, my last actions did not fit in with this description in any way.

Perhaps the real Leriana was indeed a truly noble lady, but my current self could hardly live up to that image.

The only thing that saved me from complete failure was that all the skills and knowledge acquired by the previous owner of the body in the last seventeen years of her life, fortunately, did not disappear anywhere, and penetrated my head as well as some memories from her past.

However, knowing the theory well didn't necessarily mean putting it into practice perfectly, so I still had trouble integrating it into the local community.

"Well, sometimes the rumors aren't quite true," I said, "so you're disappointed?"

"Not at all," the young man smiled enigmatically, "In fact, I didn't want to meet you at all until we actually met, because I thought that you would turn out to be boring and uninteresting, like most women in high society. However, the reality pleasantly surprised me."

I didn't know how to react to that. He said it in such a way that I wasn't even sure if it was a compliment or not.

However, even after our short acquaintance, I managed to understand that he was not a bad person. He was even nice, although he sometimes said things that weren't quite clear.

"Well," I said, changing the subject, "now that you know who I am, why don't you introduce yourself?"

"My name is Blake," the young man said with a smile.

For some reason, he didn't mention his family's last name, but I decided not to attach much importance to it. Most likely, he had his own reasons. Moreover, I didn't give a damn about such things when it came to friendship or communication with anyone.

"So we'll get to know each other," I said, smiling.

It was only now that I noticed that when Blake smiled, his face looked very much like a rabbit's. I was well aware of this, since in my previous life I had a black rabbit that my mother gave me for my eighth birthday.

He stayed with me for several years, and died of an illness shortly before I was admitted to the hospital myself. I've missed him ever since, so I was glad that I now had a friend who looked like this small mammal.

"I definitely have to thank you this time," Blake reminded him, "or else, just like you said, you'll always have to keep me out of trouble."

I laughed, remembering what I'd said last time.

But what could I ask of him...?

Suddenly, I had a wonderful idea.

"Blake, do you know the Atlas well?" I asked.

"I've been there quite often," he said thoughtfully, "so it's probably good."

"Then why don't you join me there this weekend?" I suggested.

Blake's face lit up with joy. He wouldn't be this happy if he knew what awaited him. 

"Of course!"

So, my companion in this city was a fluffy black rabbit who would carry my shopping bags.

---

That afternoon, after class ended, I decided to visit Rachel at the library.

To get a little closer to her, I went there every day and sat next to her while she read books.

After an incident that proved my intentions serious, Rachel finally stopped "sending" me, and didn't even get angry when I sometimes distracted her with conversations. I thought that was a good sign.

Step by step, but I believed that one day there would come a time when she would stop despising me and consider me her friend.

What was happening now was already a good change.

All that remained was to move on in the same direction, and try not to ruin everything...

This time, I was not going to come empty-handed, having previously taken a handful of nut cakes from the dining room, which I simply adored here.

Rachel never ate lunch in the communal dining room, because she hated the hateful stares directed at her almost constantly. In principle, she tried to avoid public places as much as possible.

Because of this, the cooks had to deliver her food separately, but what remained could only be called leftovers. For that reason, it wasn't surprising that Rachel was malnourished and looked paler and thinner than everyone else.

Deciding to take care of her in this way, and at the same time get an opportunity to get even closer, I decided to bring her some food, secretly taking it out of the dining room.

At least the brownies looked delicious, and I hoped she wouldn't get mad at me.

Since Rachel was almost always in the library during off-hours, other people preferred to avoid this place, and so it was just the two of us who stayed there.

This was very convenient, because there was no need to "hold my face" and I could behave as I wanted. In addition, it prevented the spread of various rumors about our relationship.

When I reached the library in my usual way, I went inside.

As usual, when I reached the end of the reading room, I saw Rachel. Her dark wavy bangs fell over her eyes, making her look even more somber.

Today, she looked paler than usual, and I even noticed dark circles under her eyes.

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She probably didn't eat much this time.

"Hi, Rachel, I'm here!"

"..."

After greeting her as usual, the girl again ignored me.

However, I was already used to the fact that she rarely answered me, so I just pulled up a chair next to her and sat down.

As usual, Rachel was busy reading another book, and I had time to realize that this was her favorite activity. When Rachel wasn't in class, she was always reading.

However, I still haven't found out what exactly, because the girl never let go of all these volumes from her hands.

After sitting in silence for a while, with only the sound of pages being turned, I finally decided to speak to her.

"I... um... I'm going into town tomorrow. You heard there's a banquet coming up, right? I want to buy a new dress."

Rachel snorted.

"Why are you letting me in on your plans?" I'm not interested.

"Well, I just thought I'd warn you that I probably won't be able to come tomorrow..."

"..."

Rachel made that annoying noise again, and it was clear that she didn't give a damn.

I pursed my lips. In fact, I didn't have any hopes about it. I said that just in case...

"And one more thing... I brought you something today."

After saying that, I took out the cakes wrapped in a piece of cloth from my bag for better preservation.

I spread them out in front of her, and Rachel gave me her usual grimace.

"And what is it?"

"Nut cakes. They're very good, "I said enthusiastically, "I brought them especially for you to try."

The girl's expression twisted even more.

"I'm not going to eat this," she said scornfully, regarding the harmless dessert as poison.

"W-why? You don't even know what they taste like...!" I was offended, "I like these cakes the most!"

"So eat them yourself," Rachel snapped, her red irises boring into me, "who do you think I am if you think I'm going to eat the stuff you carry?"

"B-but... I just thought you might be hungry..."

 

"I'm all right. Stop pretending that you care about me. This is annoying."

When I flatly refused to eat the food I had so carefully saved for her all day, I was seriously angry with her.

After all, was it really that hard to try even a small piece...?! I was trying to take care of her!

I picked up one of the brownies and tried to put it in her mouth with that thought in mind.

I hoped I could do it without being noticed while she went back to reading, but as expected, her reaction to my actions was lightning fast.

Realizing what I was trying to do, Rachel got angry and pushed me roughly away, causing both me and my supplies to fall to the floor.

"What are you doing...?!" she raged, getting up from her seat and looking down at me. "Have you completely forgotten who you're with...?!"

My sudden fall from the chair was painful enough to bring tears to my eyes. Although at that moment I was not sad at all, but on the contrary, I really wanted to kill her for it.

"What's wrong with you?" I cried out in an anguished tone. "Why are you being so cruel to me...?!"

Rachel stared at me in exasperation.

"Why should I be lenient with a nonentity like you? Just because I've allowed you to be near me doesn't mean you can do whatever you want."

"I... I just wanted to do something nice for you!" Tears welled up in my voice, "I never tried to hurt you."

"I don't care. Whether I'm feeling good or bad, it doesn't have to worry you."

I clenched my fists because I was trying so hard not to really cry. A flood of emotions suddenly overwhelmed me, and after such hurtful words, I couldn't stay cool anymore.

"Even... Even if I annoy you so much... You could have accepted my help just once..." I choked out with resentment in my voice.

"..."

"And I told you I didn't think you were a monster... My opinion still hasn't changed. I'll keep coming to you as long as you let me."

I fought back the tears that came to my eyes and sniffed as I picked up the fallen cakes, intending to throw them away as soon as I left.

As expected, my plan failed miserably.

Even though I was terribly angry with Rachel, I wasn't going to hold a grudge for long. After all, it was foolish of me to hope for any other outcome.

I shouldn't have acted so rashly, especially since I knew what her reaction might be.

I needed to think about what else I could do, and I needed to be more careful this time.

That was what I thought as I picked up the cakes from the floor, and then I was going to say my usual goodbyes to her before heading back to the dorm.

Rachel watched me in silence for a while after I finished my angry tirade, and then suddenly picked up one of the cakes I hadn't collected yet.

I was surprised by her sudden action.

"What are you..."

Rachel turned it over in her hands and finally bit into it.

"W-wait...! They were lying on the floor! You don't have to..."

"Doggie, it looks like you didn't lie," the girl said suddenly. "How impressive."

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