The Circumstances of Being Chosen as the Villainess’s Favorite - Chapter 219

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Special Sidestory 32
Sunlight poured through the window in a brilliant wash.
Chloe sat with her chin propped on her hand, gazing out with a drowsy expression.
Her face was expressionless, as though she had no interest in anything whatsoever.
Her cheeks, luminous with captured sunlight, gleamed pale and luminous.
Beneath her navy eyelashes, fanned like a folded fan, lay the faintest shadow.
Her crimson eyes fixed unwaveringly on the garden topiary alone.
She remained still as a painting, utterly motionless—
until the moment instruction began, when Chloe underwent a startling transformation.
“When did General Toddy first begin his Northern Campaign?”
“May of 1524, sir.”
Chloe displayed remarkable fervor in class.
She raised her hand at every question the instructor offered, no matter how casually.
Her answers came crisp and precise.
And they were invariably correct.
‘Impressive.’
Lucas watched her as though entranced.
‘That’s the kind of passion you need to score a Perfect Score on the Entrance Exam.’
But the other students seemed less than delighted by Chloe’s confident demeanor.
“Isn’t she annoying?”
“What’s a commoner doing showing off like that?”
“She should just sit quietly and keep her head down.”
Open complaints were merely the beginning.
Some of them wouldn’t even call her by name.
“Hey! Commoner!”
That shrill shout made Lucas, who had just begun gathering his things to move to the next classroom, flinch.
Turning around, he saw several students baring their teeth savagely at Chloe.
“Don’t get so full of yourself just because you came first on the Entrance Exam.”
“What do you think you are?”
This year’s exam was indeed counted among the most difficult in recent memory,
and fewer than twenty Perfect Scores had ever been recorded in the entire history of Imperial Lester Academy.
Yet these students spoke with complete disregard for such objective fact.
Worse still—
“Even so, the young master only missed two questions himself.”
“So stop swaggering around like you’re so special.”
……Now they were dragging Lucas into it too, heaping scorn on Chloe.
He was almost glad.
Since his own name had been mentioned, Lucas resolved to end this matter once and for all.
“What did you just say?”
“Ah, this girl keeps walking around acting like she’s at the top of the class, so we were just teaching her some manners.”
The boy who had been baiting Chloe answered with utter confidence.
His tone suggested he was boasting—’See? I did well, didn’t I?’
‘What is this attitude?’
Lucas made no effort to hide his astonishment.
It was absurd enough that they were bullying a classmate, but now they were bragging about it?
And Chloe was the ward of Lord Claudius, whose family sponsored this very academy—
It was only then that another student, belatedly noticing Lucas’s expression harden,
hastily grabbed the boy’s arm.
“Hey, hey. Stop.”
“Why?”
“She’s sponsored by House of Claudius.”
At those words, Chloe’s eyes—which had remained expressionless until now—turned cold.
But Lucas, too focused on glaring daggers at the boy, failed to notice the shift in her gaze.
Lucas opened his mouth in a sharp tone.
“What exactly do you think you’re doing?”
“Sir?”
The boy’s earlier bold fury vanished without a trace.
He could only blink blankly at Lucas.
Lucas stepped forward.
Positioning himself to shield Chloe from the boys’ vicious stares, he let out a low growl.
“A commoner? Don’t you know that within these school walls, we’re all the same students?”
“B-but—”
“And showing off? Chloe actually excels.”
As the children fell silent, Lucas pressed his point home once more.
“Do you think topping the Entrance Exam is easy?”
……
……
When Lucas openly took Chloe’s side, the other children found themselves at a complete loss.
Yet Lucas despised their cowardly display even more.
“You try to tear down anyone superior to you? You should be ashamed.”
Lucas delivered his final blow with a sharp, contemptuous laugh.
“If any of you call Chloe a commoner or anything like that again, you’re done. Understand?!”
“Y-yes, we understand.”
The boy muttered the words with barely concealed resentment.
The students scattered in all directions.
Only then did Lucas turn back to Chloe with a smile.
“Are you all right, Chloe?”
……
Chloe’s expression, meanwhile, was deeply conflicted.
He assumed those children had merely startled her with their pointless provocation.
Making that assumption, Lucas took Chloe by the arm and led her away.
“Come on, Chloe.”
Chloe followed silently in his wake.
And so, on the path to the next classroom.
Lucas opened his mouth, his voice grown soft and grave.
“How long have those children been like this to you?”
……
After a brief silence, Chloe answered curtly.
“Since the day I enrolled.”
Lucas’s pink irises trembled violently.
He hesitated for a moment, then clenched his teeth and asked her.
“Why… why aren’t you angry?”
“Young Master.”
“You’re not angry? Those children are treating you badly.”
At those words, Chloe smiled faintly.
But it was not a gentle smile.
It resembled something closer to a bitter sneer.
“Since you asked if I’m angry—well, I won’t say I’m entirely untroubled. But I simply don’t have the luxury of wasting time on those children.”
“Chloe.”
“Even if I were angry, it wouldn’t change anything.”
Her answer was steeped in resignation.
For reasons he couldn’t quite name, Lucas’s heart sank.
Meanwhile, Chloe’s sneer only deepened.
“Simply put, a commoner girl like me doesn’t belong in a school like this.”
“What do you—!”
Lucas’s voice rose sharply, indignation flashing across his face.
In contrast, Chloe’s expression grew ever quieter.
Like a lake frozen solid after long winters of northern wind.
So cold that not even the warmth of spring could thaw it anymore.
“To return to the original matter—if I cause any trouble, word will reach the Orphanage. Everyone will worry. And Father Pedro, who wrote my recommendation letter, will be put in an awkward position.”
Chloe pressed her lower lip between her teeth.
“And if word reaches the Claudius Estate…”
Her tone, cold at first, gradually began to color with emotion.
She tried to compose herself, but her voice trembled thinly at the edges.
Chloe drew a deep breath and met Lucas’s eyes with a defiant gaze.
“You can attend Imperial Lester Academy without any hindrance, but I cannot. I must prove my worth by every means and earn a full Scholarship.”
“C-Chloe.”
“If I cause even the slightest trouble, I’ll lose any chance of a Scholarship from the Estate. I…”
Chloe, who had been pouring out words without pause, squeezed her eyes shut.
It grieved her deeply that she had to speak such things aloud.
“…without the Claudius Estate’s support, I’d be expelled from this academy immediately.”
Silence settled between them.
Watching Lucas struggle for words, Chloe bit down hard on her lower lip.
Her face twisted in anguish.
‘I made a mistake.’
She hadn’t wanted to lay bare her desperation like this.
Her companion was none other than the young lord of House Claudius.
Someone far too important to show weakness to….
Drowning in bitter shame, Chloe bowed her head low.
“I’m sorry. My emotions got the better of me—I was terribly rude.”
“Chloe. I….”
“I should go.”
With that.
Chloe turned and fled, as though the very ground had caught fire beneath her feet.
Lucas watched her retreating figure in a daze, unable to move.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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