Chapter 41.2

“I am here to escort you, young lady.”

“……”

When I opened the door, Gloria sunbae , smartly dressed, was on one knee on the floor. I felt like I had been struck by disaster early in the morning. To add to that, she even had a frighteningly large bouquet of roses in hand.

No, that at least was fine by me. Gloria sunbae’s eccentricity was nothing new.

The problem was that she was doing this in the hallway of the dormitory, where there were plenty of people. Thanks to her actions, all eyes were focused on us.

……heavens.

“Wow, that is amazing!” Dora praised, paying no mind to the situation we were in.

“Really?” Gloria sunbae replied, smiling. She shook her head and her bound golden hair fluttered in the wind. The blue of her coat matched the colour of her eyes so well, and her white shirt looked fresh.

Kill me, please.

In contrast, I, who was still standing by the door, had only wiped my face. Perhaps by the day after tomorrow, the dreadful newspaper department would have written about it in the school paper. Probably with a title like, ‘Hot Proposal at Dormitory.’ I would never be able to raise my head on campus again.

I would rather die by drowning in last night’s cold soup than appear in the school newspaper.

I hated being on the receiving end of unwanted attention more than anything else in the world. Add to that something that was this embarrassing!

“It’s lovely.”

“I will arrange it.”

While I stared at the bouquet with a reluctant smile on my face, Dora winked at me and took the bouquet.

“Alright, let’s head out,” Gloria sunbae said, entwining her arm with mine and pulling me away.

As we walked out of the school gates, her skin, smooth like that of a porcelain doll, glowed in the sunlight.

“ Sunbae…… aren’t you embarrassed?” I asked after hesitating

“Huh? About what?” she replied, smiling nonchalantly.

Yeah, why did I ask such a useless question?

I laughed awkwardly and scratched my head.

“Uh, aren’t we going?”

“Of course. Get on.”

I stared blankly at the waiting carriage in front of the school gate. It was leagues away from my family’s carriage.

“……what is this?”

Sunbae , who had opened the door, poked my cheek and replied.

“What do you mean? It’s obviously a carriage?.”

But that was not what I meant by asking.

Dispirited, I hesitated to ask her.

Did you rent a carriage to go on a date with me, Sunbae?

“I don’t know what to say…… this is too much.”

How expensive must it have been to rent such a big carriage?

I jumped into the carriage, mind-boggled by her largesse.

“I will pay for lunch.”

“No way. I was the one who asked you out on the date.”

“But you also rented a carriage……”

“No, don’t worry about that. I will pay for lunch.”

No matter how much I thought of it, it was only fair for me to pay for our food. But I saw no end to it if we continued going back and forth this way, so I let it be.

Let’s eat first and then discuss it again.

Oh, and by the way, wow, the carriage ride was so smooth, probably because of how expensive the carriage was. It was so comfortable.

I straightened my posture while admiring the soft seats of the carriage

* * *

Why was this so luxurious?

The restaurant Gloria sunbae took me to exude luxury and wealth, starting with its interior: from the exquisite chandelier hanging from the ceiling to the candlesticks that I suspected were made of real gold.

Worried that I would not be able to pay the wild prices on the menu, I counted the money in my wallet. With no inkling that I was worried, Gloria sunbae rang the bell to call the waiter, then raised her hand over the menu and gestured.

“From here to here.”

I lowered my eyes and looked at the menu.

We wouldn’t even be able to finish it all. This was a waste of money. All that food was only going to end up in the waste bin.

“Please don’t do that, sunbae .”

“Tsk.”

I breathed a sigh of relief when Gloria sunbae finally ordered like a normal person, all the while complaining that it would have been romantic. The look on the waiter, whose face had darkened initially, finally lightened.

“It’s quite good,” I smiled and said, after taking a sip of the drink that came out not too long after.

“Right? It’s really good.”

Gloria sunbae had been looking outside the window with her chin in her hand. Now she turned to look at me.

“You know, I am really glad that you and I are here.”

“Huh?”

“I wasn’t able to leave the house often when I was young. I feel like my life became more free after I came to the Academy, which is honestly great.”

“Ah……” I said solemnly. Indeed, living in great noble homes like the Lupinus marquisate must have been very closed off experience.

……she had said it was her wish. Should I have just let her order whatever she wanted?

Feeling guilty, I gulped down my water. Then Gloria sunbae said with a mischievous smile.

“I lied. I hung out with Flora all the time, hanging over the wall.”

“……”

With a now cold look, I continued drinking my iced water.

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