The Demon Prince goes to the Academy - Chapter 276

After finishing all of Monday’s exams.

Instead of going back to their dorms, the girls in Class A gathered at a cafe near the classroom building.

You’d think they’d go back to their dorms and study, but they’re all horned up.

“I think she’s a real bitch.”

To my surprise, it wasn’t anyone else who said it, but Adelia.

Riana and Harriet, as well as Ellen, stared at Adelia with their mouths open in disbelief, because they hadn’t expected the always slightly frightened girl to say something like that.

“Ah, him. That……. was harsh……?”

Adelia blushed and scratched her cheeks, wondering if she’d used too strong a word.

Riana sipped her lemonade through a straw and shook her head.

“You’re not wrong, you’re right, Adelia. No, if you’re going for Miss Temple, you’re out. Why the fuck would you come to a first-grade classroom and ask me to do something, and what? There’s no competition? It’s ridiculous, really.”

Riana’s expression became more strident. Herriot crossed his arms and made a face.

“I really don’t like …….”

Herriot grunted, shoveling a mocha sandwich into his mouth.

He’s been giving Ellen a hard time lately, and today was no different.

This was a situation where the usually calm Ellen could honestly say she didn’t like someone.

The sight of him overpowering Ellen in strength was enough to make everyone panic.

To her classmates, Ellen had suddenly become something of a grade-level phenomenon.

There are only two guys in the first year of Royal Class who get that kind of treatment.

Ellen and Reinhardt.

Ellen is Ellen.

Reinhardt is Reinhardt.

They both have something unique about them, and they’re both treated as such implicitly. Of course, Reinhardt never meant it in a good way.

Even if he’s a fifth grader. Ellen is Ellen, and that asshole fifth grader has her beat in terms of strength.

We were all shocked by this.

Riana shook her head.

“By the way, is she really into Reinhardt?”

An open question.

The words made Harriet and Ellen glare at Riana.

“You like……. shouldn’t it be……? Otherwise, what’s the point?”

Adelia somehow managed to catch Harriet’s eye and voice her opinion.

“No, at this point, I’m wondering if he’s just harassing me for fun. I mean, honestly, what’s in it for him?”

Yes, it is.

It can be cute, depending on how you look at it, but today it was more of an argument than anything else.

It won’t look good for Reinhardt, and it won’t look good for you.

“Harassment?”

It was Ellen who responded.

“I thought she actually liked Reinhardt, but now that I look at it, I can see that she really hates him. If she really likes Reinhardt, shouldn’t she have stopped after she said no once or twice?”

If you think about it, yes.

Why does someone you like keep doing things you don’t like? It’s true that Reinhardt has been telling Olivia Lanchester to stop doing that every time he sees her do it.

Ellen was nervous, too, but after listening to Riana, I think she’s right.

Olivia Ranze continues to do what Reinhardt hates.

And Ellen knows things that others don’t.

Olivia purified the cursed Tiamata. As such, she is a lifesaver for Reinhardt.

So we know that Reinhardt can’t be mean to Olivia any more than that.

He continues to harass Reinhardt about it.

Either you like it or you don’t.

It’s true that Olivia is bullying Reinhardt.

“…….”

No matter how you slice it.

I don’t think we should leave Olivia Lance alone.

You’ve already been pushed once, but you’re about to be pushed hard.

Ellen didn’t hesitate.

* * *

Ellen didn’t head to her fifth grade dorm with such serious thoughts.

What I wanted to say was simple, and it wasn’t hard.

I didn’t feel like fighting. Not because he was weak, but because he was embarrassed that his actions in the classroom had been reckless, regardless of the consequences.

I’m not looking for a fight.

There’s only one thing to say.

Please stop harassing Reinhardt.

I’m stumped, why do you keep doing this?

That’s what she was going to say. After returning to her dorm, Ellen headed to the fifth year dormitory alone.

That was fine until he called Olivia Ranze, and the senior came out to see him, smiling a bit sheepishly, as always.

Even when I asked him to tell me something with a look on his face like he was trying to figure out how to do it, the mood wasn’t too bad.

Ellen’s need was simple.

Don’t bother Reinhardt.

It’s rude to keep acting like that after I’ve told you no several times.

Refrain.

Ellen said. Hearing that, Olivia Ranze shook her head.

“Haha……. I heard what you said to Reinhardt…….”

Olivia Ranze was smiling broadly.

Reinhardt had already said something, and it sounded like he was leaving the classroom a little early.

“Did Reinhardt ask you to say that?”

“……No.”

“Really? Then why are you the one defending Reinhardt’s position?”

Olivia’s smiling face turned cold.

He looked like he’d just heard the final word in a bad enough situation.

“What are you Reinhardt?”

“Is that ……?”

Olivia rushes over to Ellen.

Ellen doesn’t back down, but she stares at Olivia with a determined expression.

“As if you were Reinhardt’s. As if Reinhardt belongs to you. I’m asking you to stop harassing my Reinhardt.”

“…….”

“It’s disgusting to hear that from a third party.”

Olivia glares at Ellen with a cold stare.

Third parties.

The words struck a nerve with Ellen.

Plus, Olivia said more of that.

“Take care of my Reinhardt!

“You can’t be too friendly with Reinhardt, you know why?

“I hear you’re a good fighter, but don’t bully our Reinhardt too much.

Reinhardt has been talking about it like it’s his own. Ellen glared at Olivia, too.

“So did you.”

“Yeah, I definitely did.”

Olivia smiles.

“I did it because I wanted Reinhardt to be my own. Is that what you want?”

“…….”

Ellen was speechless.

Do I want Reinhardt to be my own?

I hadn’t given it much thought. If I came to a conclusion I didn’t like, it would set off a chain of irreversible events. Olivia still stares coldly at Ellen, who has no answer.

“Why can’t you say anything? Why can’t you tell me how you feel?”

“…….”

“Reinhardt’s asking you what?”

“…… is a friend…….”

“That’s it?”

“…….”

Ellen had no answer.

The moment I answered anything. It felt like it was all going to end.

She was terrified that this weird senior in front of her would go off and say weird things and destroy all her relationships.

In the end, Ellen had no answer.

“If we’re nothing more than friends, at least you don’t have the right to tell me what to do.”

“…….”

“You’re just a friend, you have no intention of being more than friends with Reinhard, and you’re telling me to stay away from Reinhard.”

Olivia sounded like she was questioning me.

Like you’re trying to force open a heart that no one has ever opened, that no one wanted to open.

“That’s, like, weird, right?”

It was similar to what Herriot had said to himself one day.

“I don’t want to lose anything, but I hate to have it taken away. Do you want to hold on to everything in a clumsy way?”

Olivia laughs, placing a gentle hand on Ellen’s shoulder.

It wasn’t his usual inoffensive, good-natured laugh, but a clear sarcasm.

“You’re so selfish.”

Not choosing is also a choice.

Deferring all answers to the future and doing nothing is still a choice, and it will bring about some future.

This will break everything.

Am I selfish.

Ellen felt like a sledgehammer had hit her in the head with Olivia’s words.

This guy, why does he hate me so much?

What the hell does he want to do by shaking me.

The so-called Saint of Eredian is just someone Ellen doesn’t like.

Why does this person hate me.

I couldn’t figure it out until now, but now I do.

You know you’re being selfish, you know it’s wrong, you know it’s wrong, but there’s something stronger than that.

I don’t want to take anything away from this guy.

It’s like grabbing a Reinhardt and never giving it back.

Suddenly, Ellen understood why Olivia didn’t like her.

It’s the same reason you don’t like this person.

Fear of being taken away.

So, no.

Scared to realize her own feelings, Ellen realizes the emotions behind Olivia’s cold eyes.

Something in those eyes…….

Fear.

“Are you afraid of me?”

“……what?”

Just as you’re afraid that the person in front of you is going to take your Reinhardt, they’re afraid of you.

That’s why you’re poking, prodding, and scratching.

Olivia’s expression twisted at Ellen’s abruptness.

“Why would I want you?”

The look on his face as he loses his composure at the sudden provocation already speaks volumes.

Ellen realizes she’s hit the nail on the head. Now that she realizes that the other person doesn’t hate her, she’s afraid of her.

Realize you’ve been overreacting.

“You’re graduating next year.”

Time is already not on Olivia’s side. Olivia pursed her lips in embarrassment at Ellen’s words.

“I’m going to …… for grad school.”

“I’ll have to get out of the dorm, though.”

“…….”

You won’t have to see that ugly face until next year.

He and Reinhardt, on the other hand, will remain in the dormitory.

They don’t like that.

I didn’t have to get angry. I didn’t have to react seriously to their waving.

Reinhard is bound to stay with me longer, not you.

No need to fight. Why fight when you’ve already won?

It’s the other person who wants to make you ugly, you don’t have to go along with it.

They’ll hate you, and they’ll envy you.

I’m not sure what you’re trying to get yourself to admit, but you don’t have to.

“Because a year is a long time, right?”

Olivia grits her teeth as if searching for words, and finally speaks in a shaky voice.

“Yes. Do your best.”

Ellen looks at Olivia, one corner of her mouth raised.

I feel like I’m doing something very bad.

But it was exhilarating.

It’s that feeling you get when you’ve been getting beaten at every turn, and now you’ve finally gotten your ass kicked. No, not a punch in the gut, but the realization that you were fighting a grossly unfavorable battle in the first place.

Olivia finally lost her cool and her eyes were reddening.

You bite your lip and glare at yourself.

He seemed frustrated.

You realize that there’s a gap that you can’t close, no matter how much you scratch at it.

What if Olivia Lanze had been a classmate?

I don’t know anything else, but I don’t think I’ve ever looked at Olivia with such a superior sneer before.

Assumptions are meaningless.

In the end, Reinhard is always closer to himself, even when he’s spending time with Olivia.

That doesn’t change.

“You, you……. You think you’re in the same class as Reinhardt?”

“Yes, by the way.”

A place you can never get into.

Your most enviable position.

There’s no point in being angry with this person if you already have it.

It’s just envy, it’s just jealousy.

Olivia bit her lip and glared at Ellen at Ellen’s brazen admission.

“I wish you’d been born later.”

Ellen left the comment with a smirk, then glanced over at Olivia Ranze.

“You, you……. You! You’re real! You’re real……. Real……. You bad…….”

Olivia’s mouth dropped open, and she stared at Ellen’s receding figure.

When Ellen was gone, Olivia’s eyes turned bright red, and she bit her lip and muttered.

“C’mon……. I didn’t even find the main hall because I didn’t want to touch it…….”

Olivia was so frustrated that she ended up in tears.

* * *

She wondered what the point of this was, but she was feeling a kind of exhilaration she’d never felt before in her life. She couldn’t have felt this way if she’d punched him in the face.

I wish you’d been born later.

The look on Olivia’s face when she heard that was something to behold. Not only did she feel like she’d gotten her comeuppance, but she also felt like it wouldn’t matter what he said to her from now on.

Once I realized why I’d been telling myself that for no reason, it didn’t matter.

He was so envious of himself that he could never have what he had, and he was so angry and frustrated that he was arguing for nothing.

Back in her dorm, Ellen’s steps are lighter and she’s walking down the hallway when she bumps into someone.

“Ellen. Anything good?”

“Oh, yeah……. No, just.”

Ellen’s good mood sank again when she saw Herriot.

Selfish.

Olivia had, apparently, said something like that.

I don’t want to let go of Herriot, and I don’t want to let go of Reinhardt. So I clumsily try to hold on to both.

So you are selfish.

Olivia Ranze’s words come to life.

I wanted to ignore it, but I wasn’t stupid enough not to understand what it was saying.

Herriot loves Reinhardt.

I don’t want to think about it, but I know it could happen. Reinhard is always thinking about Harriet.

If Reinhardt grows to like Herriot.

What should I do.

I don’t want Olivia to be taken away from me.

Similarly.

What Herriot takes away.

I was so scared.

“What’s wrong, Ellen?”

Herriot asks gently. You shake your head, as if you’re sick.

“……Nothing. Nothing. I’m just tired.”

“I’m going to study with Reinhardt, are you going to take a break?”

Apparently, Harriet had a bunch of textbooks in her arms.

I think I’m going to study for a test. Or, more accurately, he’s trying to watch Reinhardt.

“What about the others?”

“If you don’t come because you’re studying your major, it’ll probably be just me and Reinhardt.”

Then, it’s just the two of you.

“I’ll be there.”

“Yeah, grab your books. Sure.”

“Yes.”

Herriot walks toward the gun room, and Ellen looks behind him.

He didn’t think Olivia’s words could affect him.

When I think of Reinhardt alone with his friend, I feel an unpleasant feeling stirring in my chest.

‘I am…….’

Ellen bites her lip and watches Harriet walk away.

‘What should I do…….’

Already, Ellen found herself preparing to hate her friend.

Ellen’s steps were heavy as she walked back to her room to get her textbooks.