Chapter 1495: Expanding My Villain Circle?
I kept my back straight and my chin up while I moved through the school grounds to reach the cafeteria.
This time, I was a little bit later than normal since I got held up by those two idiots so my girls were already there waiting for me with the table set up and everything.
They even got the food ready but all of them were just waiting for me to arrive before they started eating.
Katsuki immediately got on her feet and pulled out the chair for me to sit while Tiara went to her own chair at the table.
Only when I was seated and I took the first bite did everyone else start eating as well.
"She really made them wait for her before they could start eating huh..."
"She definitely has them all wrapped up with some kind of blackmail or something..."
"I don’t understand why they won’t just go to the school guards or the professors..."
I ignored the murmurs coming from the other students around us and ate my own food while letting Katsuki and Delmare feed me from time to time, the both of them clearly enjoying the position they occupied beside me.
Naturally, there were more comments about that sight, specifically people whispering that I was forcing them to feed me as well which I of course ignored.
They can say whatever they want~
Instead, I focused on my girls as we started talking about our day.
"Sister Aster! We should go and dive into the Dungeons again! When should we go?" Odeta suggested, leaning over towards me.
"My schedule is packed though. If we want to do that, we would have to wait for the weekend. But if you want to go on your own, don’t let me stop you."
Odeta pouted, "Boo... It’s no fun if you’re not there, Sister Aster..."
"Then I suppose we will have to wait until the day off to do that."
Minnera turned to me, "Mmm... I was hoping to get a few paintings done of you inside the school though."
Delmare also turned to me with sparkling eyes, "I also want to sing for you, Aster~ I found a nice spot for me to sing to you~"
More whispers came from the other students.
"You hear that? She’s even making them paint and sing for her..."
"She’s really some kind of noble who brought her nobility to school here, huh?"
"I wonder which family she’s from for her to think she can even do what she’s doing to the princess..."
Well... One good thing here is that they really see me as the arrogant noble stereotype so that means my acting is on point at the very least.
As though reading my mind, Lisa leaned closer towards me and whispered, "Psst~ Aster~ I think you should act even more arrogant and noble for them to see~"
I tilted my head at her, feeling genuinely curious, "What do you have in mind?"
"Mmm... It would be perfect if you were to just pin me on the table and start ploughing into me from behind like you own me~"
Why did I even bother to ask...
We continued our lunch and I made a promise to both Minnera and Delmare that I would be giving them time to enjoy those activities with me.
Of course, Lilith also requested to join in on the drawing activity as well which I also accepted.
The other girls also made arrangements with me to meet up during their free time and I promised them that I would slot them into my schedule as best as I could.
I have my responsibility to maintain this harem after all, so I have to make sure all my girls were satisfied.
I was just about to feel good about myself for being able to balance my school schedule with my girls when a commotion came from the front doors of the cafeteria.
All of us turned to look and a female Nyarel with blue scales stepped into the cafeteria while being flanked by a group that was made of a mix of different races.
Though from how they were gathered around the Nyarel, I’m assuming that the entire group knew each other and was centered around that Nyarel.
I was still wondering why there was even a commotion to begin with until the Nyarel girl snaked out her serpentine tongue as though tasting the air before turning to lay her eyes on me.
It felt like she was a predator staring at her prey for a moment before she started making her way towards me.
Judging by the sky blue coloured robes the group was wearing, these people were second year students.
They walked over to our table and my girls eyed them warily as the Nyarel stopped beside me, her tongue snaking out a moment again while her gaze was locked on me the entire time.
Her lips curled up to expose her rows of teeth as she showed what might have been a smile at me.
"So... You are the one they call Aster? The supposed noble that is going around showing off?" She asked, her gaze dropping down to the egg I was carrying.
I tilted my head at her while hugging my egg closer to my chest, "Do you need something?"
One of the male Mahuns following her pointed a finger at me, "You! Do you know who you’re speaking to?! This is Patris Grainsire! The heir of the Grainsire family!"
I have never heard of any Grainsire family while I was in Crown Capital city before... Actually, I don’t really know of any other noble families besides my own anyway so the name didn’t really mean anything to me.
Instead, I turned to Katsuki and she did not disappoint as she leaned over to whisper, "They are a rich family that thrives on the slavery business and hold quite a bit of influence within the governing circles in Shendhala Oligarchy, Mistress."
Ah, so she’s from that country and not Lehcarouc. I should have guessed that considering she was a Nyarel after all.
I turned back to her, "I don’t really care what family you’re from though? What do you want from me?"
The boy who called me out seemed quite offended on that Patris girl’s behalf and opened his mouth to speak again, only for the Nyarel herself to raise a hand to stop him as she looked at me with what might have been amusement on her face.
"You are either really clueles... Or you are really audacious, Aster. That is certainly interesting."
She then took a step closer to me but I guess her proximity triggered my girls’ sense of protectiveness as they stood up to match her, all of them watching her carefully and prepared to intervene if she proved to be trying to hurt me.
Patris did not even look surprised and simply continued, "I wonder... Just where does your arrogance come from, Miss Aster? Which noble family do you hail from?"
I tilted my head at her, "I don’t see how this is any of your business?"
"Oh? But for you to be walking around like you own the place makes it my business. How can someone else aside from me behave like that?"
I pretended to be uninterested and turned away from her, "That has nothing to do with you right? I have never met you before this, after all. And why are you here trying to decide how other people should behave?"
She smiled to show me her teeth again, "I make it a point for me to know any important people around the school. After all, all of you might be potential customers or business partners. Or maybe... Just maybe... You might even be one of our merchandise~"
The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
My girls were basically glaring at her while Patris’s followers were also glaring at me as well.
All around us, I could sense that the other students were holding their breath, fully expecting our two groups to come to blows or something.
I didn’t react to the bait of course and simply shrugged, "I suppose if we are ever looking for slaves, I shall find you. As for whether I am from a noble family or not, I’m not interested in disclosing that information."
She stared at me for a long moment and it looked like she might just demand that I tell her anyway but her lips curled up in a smirk again while her tail flicked lazily behind her.
"I see... I suppose there’s no use for me to ask more then. In that case, I hope to talk to you again in the future, Miss Aster. Perhaps we might even be good friends, seeing that we seemed to have the same hobbies~"
She didn’t wait for a response before she turned and walked away without another word, her followers following behind her.
So... Did I actually just meet someone who’s an actual villainess?