"What a pain," I mumbled as I arrived at the central building of the academy, moving through the corridor towards a specific part of the building.
True to her words, Sophia made sure that I would go towards the management committee as soon as lunch arrived, and here I am.
"There will be quite a few heroines," I mumbled as I crossed another section.
In the game, the management committee was the place where Aron would join as a member after the mid-term exam.
Given that the hero would be there, it was bound to have heroines as well, and that's what's true, as most of the sub-heroines from the second year were present there as well as some from the first year.
As I arrived at the entrance of the management committee room, I straightened up my blazer, tucked in my shirt, and opened the door.
*Click*
With a soft click sound, the door opened, and my gaze soon landed on the round table and three second-year female students sitting around it.
What stood out in the scene was that they all had their legs casually placed on the table, crossing one leg over the other, displaying a fine part of their beautiful legs.
They leaned back on their chairs, and there were some tea, cakes, and pudding placed around them.
Their laughter stopped abruptly as they looked at me awkwardly.
"I will be back later," I said as I started to close the door.
"Wait, wait, wait!"
The one sitting at the head of the round table exclaimed as she placed her legs down, and the others followed suit, albeit flushed with embarrassment.
"Knock before you enter, Eden!" she exclaimed as soon as she recognized me.
"It's not your room, Evelyn. Why should I knock, then?" I rebuked, entering the room.
"Still, you could have knocked," she replied as she came closer to me, her hands placed on either side of her waist.
Evelyn, the daughter of Duke Nightshade ,a sub-heroine of the first game and the president of management committee, is like a positivity-oozing machine.
She wasn't as pretty as the women whom I know, but she was beautiful in her own way.
She had scarlet-red hair that touched her waist and a cute face that would make any man want to protect her.
And like every other child of the Dukes, she is also one of my childhood friends, with whom I spent my time in my early days.
"Yeah, sorry, I should have knocked," I replied as I raised my hand in defeat.
"Good, better do that next time," she replied, smiling as she moved back towards her chair.
"Please sit down, Eden," she said as soon as she sat down. "Madam Sophia has already informed me about your volunteering—"
"Punishment," I interrupted her as I sat down. "I got punished to be here."
"Why?" The lady on the left side of Evelyn asked curiously, coming out of her embarrassment.
"I disfigured someone's face," I replied with a smile, which immediately left her in a daze.
"You ok?" I asked, tilting my head.
"Y-yes, I-i a-am," she replied, stammering as she averted my gaze.
'Sometimes I forget that I have reached the mortal limit of charm.'
As most of the girls or women I met have known me since I was a kid, they in a sense have certain immunity towards me.
Because of this, I tend to ignore the fact that the majority of the girls would immediately have a crush on me just because of my handsome face.
"You got a really light punishment for that, didn't you, Eden? The last time I remembered, the punishment for attacking a fellow classmate was suspension from the academy."
At Evelyn's comment, I just shrugged my shoulders, not replying to her.
I know Sophia has been very light about giving me punishment, like the very first day I broke someone's wrist. That alone was enough to get me suspended for a while.
But she didn't do that but gave me some light punishment.
"Ahm, aren't you guys a little casual with him?" The third girl, the one who looked the most timid, said, glancing at me. "You do know the rumors surrounding him."
"They are false," Evelyn said almost immediately, defending me. "I've known him since he was a toddler, and even if he loses his way a little, he won't go so low as to do something like that."
Like I said, she is a positivity-oozing machine. Even if she is skeptical about those rumors, she wouldn't let that stop her from being her usual self in front of me.
And I don't know how I should react to her way of handling things; her behavior is the reason that got her killed in the game; she placed her trust in someone she shouldn't have.
She placed her trust in me.
I shook my head, scraping away those useless thoughts.
Even though I have a strong dislike for people like her, I can't deny that she is a good girl.
"Anyway, what do I have to do?" I asked, getting to the point.
"For now, wait for a while and have some pudding," she replied as she passed a plate towards me.
"Why?" I asked, taking the pudding.
"There is one more first-year student coming to join us," she replied as she resumed drinking her tea.
"Who?" I asked.
"You will know in a while."
"Anyway, are you always this free?" I asked, looking at them. All three of them were stuffing their mouths with food and tea.
"It's lunchtime, Eden, and we have to maintain activity clubs after this, so we have to fill ourselves," Evelyn replied as she elegantly ate her pudding with some tea.
"Where are the rest of the members?"
"Most of them are in class, while some of them are roaming around," she replied.
"The crown prince is coming back, Eden." Out of nowhere, Evelyn gave me this information.
"That bastard?" I replied, frowning.
"Shhhh... don't call him that; what if someone heard it?" she said, panicking and placing her fingers on her lips.
"That doesn't change the fact that he is," I replied as I continued to eat. "When is he coming back?"
"Maybe after the first-year students' trip around the king's monumental," she replied thoughtfully.
"Yeah, the brainwashing event," I muttered as I remembered the next event.
"Shhh... Idiot, don't say those things," she replied again, panicking.
"Isn't that what that is?" I replied as I looked at her panicked-filled eyes.
"They take the first-year students towards the previous king's monuments, make sure they know all the deeds the previous king has done for them, forcing them into an overwhelming sense of closeness towards the kingdom, and boom! no more revolt, plus free and loyal pawns."
"Come on, Eden, enough," she said, sighing tiredly.
"You shouldn't say something like that towards the kingdom you live in," the timid girl rebuked as she looked at me.
"See, it's working perfectly fine," I replied, smiling and pointing at the girl.
*Knock*
With a slight knock on the door, it swung open, and I looked back at the door.
The first thing that was revealed was her beautiful face with her blonde hair tied in a high ponytail; her mesmerizing red eyes looked at me in surprise.
"Eden?" Grace asked as she looked at me.
"Hiiii." I waved my hand, looking at her as she frowned, shifting her focus towards Evelyn.
"What's he doing here?" She asked.
"Madam Sophia asked me to take him in," Evelyn replied.
"Throw him out," Grace said, her voice emotionless.
"I can't do that; it's the teacher's order."
"Then I will leave," she replied, closing the door.
"You can't; you have already taken your leave from the student council and transferred here."
Grace stopped as she thought about her choices, and with a defeated expression, she entered the room, taking a seat as far away from me as she could.
"Wasn't she in the student council?" I asked, looking towards Evelyn.
"She transferred from there."
"You could do that?" I asked in confusion.
"Normally, no, but one seat for the place of assistant was vacant, so she was appointed."
"I smell nepotism here," I replied, looking towards Grace, who averted her face and didn't even look towards me.
'So Sophia helped her to be here.' I thought, but that made me even more confused.
Shouldn't Sophia have told her that I would also be here?
"Anyway, since it's the first time for both of you, I will give you some easy tasks," Evelyn said as she looked at both of us.
"Go and evaluate and observe the selection process of the activity clubs. You don't have to give a deep analysis; just make an overview and submit it to me."
"And Grace and Eden, form one group and give me the report at the end of the day," Evelyn said in an authoritative tone.
"I would like to do that alone."
"Fine by me."
Both Grace and I replied at the same time.
"It's an order, not a request, Grace; no questions asked."