Why would she?

The next lectures were more of a circus show with the pair of the royal siblings being on display for the all the connection-starved nobles.

But not all could be put into that category.

Melinda had no need or yearned to have more attention on herself, and that included the attention of Bjorki and Magnus.

However, for some reason, Melinda couldn't shake off the feeling that the first man in line to inherit the throne of the Empire seemed almost eerily similar to her very own older brother, Lazurii.

Even though Lazurii's eyes were nowhere as sharp as Magnus's, the blue hair and robust build certainly didn't make the distinction any easier.

As for Bjorki…

"!"

As if feeling the gaze of the sharp golden eyes on her back, the short blue-haired girl turned right around with the innocent expression of a puppy hoping for playtime.

In contrast to her indifferent brother, who merely sat behind a desk that was too small for him, the short girl seemed almost painfully eager to have a conversation with Melinda…

"..."

…but for whatever reason, she would not be the one to start it and merely made a sad expression before turning back around to face the teacher when her hopes ended up unfulfilled.

On that note, the gold-haired girl had the puppy-like princess directly in front of her and the first prince to her right.

Whether that was a good or a bad placement was up to debate and depended on who would be asked.

If that someone would be Melinda, she would say that she would gladly switch places with any of her eager classmates…

…the problem with that, though, was that it would look outrageously rude and would not show her in a good light…

Hence, Melinda just stayed in place, paying attention just enough to be bored with the subject she already reviewed multiple times.

The teachers' usual sudden questioning didn't change. It seemed as if none of them noticed that each time they tried to catch Melinda off guard with a question too advanced for the current lesson, Magnus would lean forward ever so slightly, only to relax after the gold-haired girl gave the correct answer anyway.

Bjorki's reaction was far more amusing. Each time she knew the answer herself, she would bounce up on her seat with her hand in the air, eager as a puppy expecting a treat.

Maybe that was also the reason as to why she would cower with an upset expression each time she had no idea what the answer should be, hurriedly taking notes when said answer was revealed.

As for the reason what other activity Melinda was using her remaining attention…

She cautiously and carefully checked on the Kobold's egg, which she kept wrapped in a blanket in her school bag.

The gold-haired girl was quite good with keeping it inconspicuous, but during the last lecture of the day, she made a mistake… she didn't account for the angle Magnus had on her and her bag while she moved the towel to check whether some cracks marking the beginning of the hatching appeared…

"..."

"...!"

Once she realized that the blue-haired man could not only notice the inside of her bag but actually see the egg, it was already too late.

Cursing at herself in her head, Melinda leaned back in her seat without covering the egg properly and gave Magnus a challenging glare.

It was quite the sight, two sharp-eyed individuals glaring at each other.

It was also obvious that neither of them had ever looked away first in a similar situation, so more and more of their classmates actually noticed what was going on, although they had no idea about the reason.

The staredown did not stop even when the teacher asked Melinda a surprise question that was only loosely connected with the subject he taught to catch her off guard.

She merely answered it without as much as turning her head his way.

Interestingly enough, Magnus wrote something in his notebook, probably for the first time that day, and raised it, covering most of his face except his eyes.

It was a kind of a low-blow and a cheap tactic to make Melinda break eye contact first… and it would work for someone with worse peripheral vision.

Because the gold-haired girl could properly read the words written by the blue-haired man.

-Please, do not eat that egg. I know that in some places, Kobold's eggs are considered a delicacy, but Kobolds aren't actually monsters.-

"...?!"

The note certainly took Melinda by surprise because it was honestly the last thing she expected to read.

"...?"

She even stopped glaring - well, as much as her naturally sharp eyes allowed her to, at least - and tilted her head before motioning at Magnus's notebook, signaling him to go into detail.

-My ability has a side effect of me not being able to eat anything that ISN'T from a monster. When I was a child, they tried to force me to eat a Kobold and their egg, but it ended up heavily upsetting my stomach. Exactly the same way eating another member of an intelligent species would. So, please, don't eat that little one. In exchange, I will cover the expenses connected with it.-

No longer feeling challenged to a staredown contest, Magnus erased the earlier sentences and wrote new ones that seemed to be too casual for the disturbing connotations hidden between the lines.

"Oh. I like you~!"

Feeling amused, Melinda leaned back and smiled widely at Magnus, humming happily at the way the blue-haired man reacted to noticing the Kobold's egg.

"?!?!"

Unfortunately, she wasn't very silent, and her humming was more of an exclamation heard by the entire classroom.

"...ah…"

The gold-haired girl let out an awkward gasp, watching the outrage she caused as basically everyone besides her friend Catherine and the blue-haired siblings was only a step away from cursing her out or challenging her to a duel for her supposedly outrageous statement.

"Young Lady Fenrioette! Young Lady Fenrioette! Do you like me too?!"

As if not caring about the others, Bjorki turned right around and asked, bouncing on her seat like an overly excited puppy, while pointing at her face.

"You haven't given me a reason to start liking you as of yet, young Lady Em'raldio."

"...eeeehhhh…?"

Melinda turned to her and tilted her head before pointing out, which caused Bjorki to let out a pitiful sound as she slouched, making it seem as if she deflated from the bubble of her excitement bursting,

Despite her words being the safest of options that formed in her head, Melinda's remark added fuel to the outrage…