“So, why are you here again?” Chloe asked the pink-haired beauty who was eating dinner at the Dud Manor’s exclusive table in the dining Hall.
“This question coming from you is very funny,” Nicole replied. “What are you doing here at the Dud Manor table?”
“I asked first!”
“My answer is the same as yours.”
Chloe vehemently shook her head. “Impossible! The reason why I am here is because he…”
The young lady with light-brown hair forcefully covered her lips with her hand, preventing her from saying the rest of her explanation.
How could she possibly say that the reason why she was eating with the members of the Dud Manor was because Ethan was there!
Nicole giggled as she watched Chloe’s face turn beet red due to embarrassment.
“Although you might think otherwise, my reason is the same as yours, Chloe.” Nicole winked. “Also, now is not a good time to eat at the Eques Manor’s table. I don’t want to rain on everyone’s parade.”
The pink-haired beauty smirked because the First Years in Eques Manor was celebrating her defeat in Alice’s hands. All of them had been irked on how arrogant Nicole had been acting, so they were quite happy that she had been taught a lesson by one of their own members.
“You’re an interesting lady, Miss Asta,” Henry stated.
“Thank you, Sir Henry,” Nicole replied. “Is it possible if I stay in the Dud Manor for a few days?”
“You need to ask the Headmaster’s permission for that,” Henry smiled. “If he agrees, you’ll probably be the first Non-Dud that was allowed to stay in our Manor.”
Nicole giggled before shaking her head. “The Headmaster will definitely not allow such a thing to happen. I’m sure that he won’t break tradition just for my sake. But, it’s okay for me to stay here to dine with everyone, right?”
“Of course,” Henry replied. “As long as you don’t cause trouble for us, you are welcome to join us every time. That goes the same for you, Chloe.”
“Thank you, Sir Henry,” Chloe said in a respectful tone. “I am always grateful for Dud Manor’s goodwill. I will do my best to not break your trust in me.”
“Well said,” Henry nodded his head before shifting his gaze to wink at Ethan. “It must be hard being popular.”
The blue-haired boy smiled bitterly at the Head Prefect’s comment.
Currently, Chloe was seated on his right side, while Nicole was seated on his left. Luna sat directly opposite him, and the shy young lady had an amused smile on his face, as she looked at the two girls beside Ethan. 𝑂𝒱𝗅xt.𝒸𝑶𝓂
Clearly, she found the blue-haired boy’s current predicament quite funny.
“By the way, Ethan, I know this is quite sudden but you are required to participate in a field mission three days from now,” Henry stated. “Although I said field mission, it is just the annual camping trip of the Dud Manor. Don’t worry, we will stay in the area controlled by the Academy in Great Eagle Forest. It is a generally safe place to camp, and the other Manors use it occasionally also.”
“A camping trip?” Ethan’s interest was piqued. “It has been years since we last went on a camping trip, right, Chloe?”
“Indeed,” Chloe replied. “It has been three or four years since Grandpa and Grandma took us camping.”
The young lady with light-brown hair had very fond memories of their camping trip because she and Ethan would often go catch fish for a barbecue.
Although they didn’t always catch a lot, they would still get at least two to three fishes every time they went to the river, making their trip worth it.
Part of her wished that she could go with Ethan, but since this was an annual tradition of the Dud Manor, she didn’t go out of her way to ask if she could tag along.
Fortunately, Henry was good at reading the moods of people, so he decided to extend an invitation to Ethan’s cousin to make the camping trip more lively.
“Do you want to come with us, Chloe?” Henry asked. “I’ll make an exception just for you.”
“Can I really go?” Chloe didn’t expect that she would get a chance to go on a camping trip with Ethan, so she would definitely go if it was possible
She hadn’t had the chance to visit Ethan on the farm last summer because she was busy preparing for her enrollment in Brynhildr Academy.
A Witch, who was part of the Gremory Family who had tested her ability to use magic, took her back to their Ancestral Lands to train her how to use her magic power.
“Of course, you can come,” Henry nodded. “You don’t have to worry about getting permission from your Head Prefect. I’ll convince her to let you come with us.”
“Thank you very much, Sir Henry!” Chloe was very happy to be able to join Ethan on a camping trip just like old times.
Nicole, who felt a bit left out, was about to ask Henry if she could come as well, but before she could even ask, the Head Prefect of Dud Manor looked at her apologetically.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t let others join our Camping Trip,” Henry stated. “Chloe is Ethan’s relative, so she is an exception. As much as I want to take you with us, I have already extended my authority when it comes to letting an outsider join our trip.”
Nicole sighed, but still nodded her head in understanding.
“Perhaps next time, we can go on a camping trip with just the two of us Ethan,” Nicole said in a teasing tone. “Let’s ditch the others and have fun. I’ll teach you about self defense, and ways to counter Wizards and Witches. How about it?”
“Oh, no you don’t!” Chloe was quick to reject Nicole’s proposal because there was simply no way that she would allow the blue-haired boy to spend some time alone with the dangerous vixen whose true motives were unknown.
She knew that Nicole didn’t like Ethan like a lover did, which made her feel that the pink-haired beauty had some kind of hidden agenda when it came to trying to get close to her cousin.
Because of this, Chloe was very wary about letting Nicole get some time alone with Ethan because she didn’t know if the pink-haired beauty would make him drink some suspicious potion that might make him her slave for life.
‘This mother hen is being overprotective of her egg,’ Nicole mused. ‘Well, I guess I’ll back off for now. I need to stay away from the limelight in order to do what I want to do in the Academy.’
The pink-haired beauty knew that she had attracted the attention of many people after soloing the Initiation Ceremony.
Because of this, she had been finding ways to change people’s impression of her. It just so happened that Alice decided to challenge her, which Nicole thought was the perfect opportunity to execute her plan.
Now that she was no longer that “Strongest” First Year, she would be able to shift all the unwanted attention onto others, while she performed the special mission that her family had asked her to do.
