...

Watching Stellar Rosa step out, a shadow pooled in my gut, like storm clouds stacking.

“Lady Yumigawa! Can we bother you for a sec?”

“Yeah! What’s the Central Continent like? If it floats in the sky, it’s gotta be stunning, right?”

“And why does Sir Xino call you Servant?”

“Yeah, and Sir Hill—why does he call you boss?!”

Sure enough, the moment Stellar Rosa left, the whole class surged like a tide and hemmed me in, questions fluttering like sparrows.

“Mm? So noisy. Class over already?”

Hill must’ve been jolted awake. He rubbed his eyes, voice soft as a yawn drifting through mist.

“Wow! Sir Hill is adorable!”

“Mhm, pure cuteness overload!”

“Too cute!”

Hill’s just-woke look lit sparks. The girls buzzed brighter, like a hive in spring.

Right, reality’s not a novel. In books, the male lead gets surrounded by girls and basks in it, like a cat in a sunbeam.

In reality...

All I wanted to say was—so annoying! Perfume hung thick like a blooming garden, and my head swam.

“Uwah! Scary!”

Hill blinked clear, saw the wall of girls, and in a kitten’s panic leapt from my arms into Xinuo’s embrace.

“Servant, I’ll pray for you.”

Sir Xino smiled as he stroked Hill’s silky, moon-silver hair. His smile was winter sunlight over ice.

“...”

That one smile left the girls stunned, mouths parted, words lost like petals on wind.

Yeah, expected. The first time I saw Xinuo, I froze too, like deer before a waterfall.

He carried a pressure by birth, a mountain’s hush. The girls could only admire from a distance, too awed to step closer.

There’s a line for it: beautiful to behold, not for touching. Like viewing lilies across a pond.

Time stretched thin.

“Sir Xino is gorgeous!”

One student couldn’t help it, her whisper breaking the still pool.

“Right! One smile could topple a city. No exaggeration.”

“Agreed.”

Different now—every voice hushed, careful not to disturb the stillness around him.

“Don’t crowd here. Back to your seats and get ready. Class starts in a few minutes.”

Eastern Moon Aixue rose with calm rain-light and waved them back.

“President Aixue, we got it! But before that, we’ve still got more questions for Lady Yumigawa!”

“Yeah, we didn’t get her answers yet!”

“Also, Lady Yumigawa is a total beauty! Your skin—how do you keep it that good?”

“Right, Lady Yumigawa, why did you leave the Central Continent?”

The chatter flared again, like sparklers catching.

“Stop!”

I slapped the desk. My voice cut through like a blade through reeds.

“Lady Yumigawa, is something wrong?”

The room went quiet in a single breath. Faces lifted, puzzled, a field of lilies turned toward me.

“Nothing major. Just don’t call me ‘Lady Yumigawa.’ It feels weird.”

I had zero interest in being ‘Lady’ to a gaggle of girls. Hearing ‘Lady’ on loop gets old fast.

“My name’s Yumigawa Sumeragi. Not ‘Lady Yumigawa.’ Please keep that in mind.”

“Oh, I see! Born of the world’s top clan, the Mizumi Clan, yet you refuse the title. You’re too modest.”

“Yeah! Then how about we call you Huang-jie?”

“Huang-jie? That sounds close and friendly. Can we call you Huang-jie?”

“Hey, Huang-jie, is that okay?”

Huang-jie, huh? I wanted to refuse, but I’m playing the young-lady role. And honestly, Huang-jie sounds way better than ‘Lady Yumigawa.’

I sighed and gave in. “Suit yourselves.”

“Yay! Huang-jie!”

“We’ve got tons of questions, but we’d just trouble you. We’ll let it go.”

“Class is about to start. We’ll head back. Huang-jie, see you.”

“See you!”

Finally, they dispersed like a receding tide. Not easy. I almost cried with relief.

“Mm, good. See you.”

I kept the basics of courtesy. I wore a graceful smile and gave them a small nod, like a swan tipping its head.

“Yumigawa, they’ll calm down in a while,” Faya said, voice gentle as warm tea. “The Mizumi Clan is legend to most, so seeing you today was bound to stir them up. When Aixue and I learned you were Mizumi, we were shocked too.”

“Right. Give it a few days and they’ll settle. So don’t look so put-upon,” Eastern Moon Aixue added, patting my shoulder like a summer breeze.

“Fine.”

I turned to Xinuo and Hill. “Xinuo, Hill, I’m stepping out for air. I’ll be back soon.”

“Sure. Go ahead, Servant.”

“I wanna go too, but I’ll sit this one out. Boss, come back soon!”

“No problem. I’ll wander a bit. I’ll skip the next class.”

I stood and walked out, leaving the classroom hush behind.

“Yumigawa, take care. I’ll tell the teacher.”

In a garden in the academy district.

I lay beneath a lush tree, looking up at a sky blue as polished jade.

“Man, today really wore me out.”

Thinking of the classroom chaos, I could only give a wry smile and shake my head, like shaking off raindrops.

“You look exhausted. What happened? And lying here during class—are you skipping?”

A girl’s scent drifted over like spring jasmine. Then a face as lovely as carved porcelain filled my view. Her black hair poured down, strands feathering my nose and making it itch.

“Ah!”

I tried to sit up on reflex.

“Hey!”

Unlucky. Her head was right above mine, so we bumped foreheads with a dull thud.

“What are you doing! That hurt!”

She held her forehead, eyes narrowed, a little storm cloud brewing.

“Ah, sorry! I didn’t mean it.”

I apologized, cheeks warm, and finally got a clear look at her.

“...”

What a coincidence. I knew her. She was the academy’s songstress who sang at the opening ceremony this morning—Paluna Calentia.

“Why’d you go quiet?”

Paluna rubbed her brow, then sat beside me, skirt settling like calm water.

“Not in class at this hour. Are you skipping?”

“What about you? Skipping too?”

I tossed the question back like a pebble into her pond.

“Oh! Right, I’m skipping!”

Paluna laughed, sweet as bells under sunlight.

“Why?”

“Because it’s Home Ec. I’m terrible at cooking, so I skipped!”

“Uh...”

Hearing that, I was speechless, words scattering like leaves.