Chapter 62

The second semester is busy.

There are the sports festival and the school festival one after another.

As usual, I only participate in events at the sports festival where I won’t drag the class down.

The girls in the gal group are enthusiastically entering events like the relay race.

Come to think of it, last year, Wada made a mistake at the sports festival and ended up being bullied.

I don’t think I would be bullied even if I made a mistake, but I need to be careful.

Enjo seems to have no intention of participating in the horseback battle, even though he is in the relay race. I thought he would be as enthusiastic as the emperor, but...

But I’ve never seen Enjo participate in the horseback battle before. I think it would be even more exciting if Enjo joined.

Then Enjo laughed and said, "I don’t have the same passion for the horseback battle as Yaza. Watching his enthusiasm next to me, I don’t really want to participate."

Now, they are deciding who will participate in the horseback battle... The boys who are potential sacrifices began to exude a gloomy atmosphere.

When they heard the unhelpful information from Enjo that "last year, the student council president was given a hard time by the emperor and read books on military strategy because he was so frustrated," the boys became even more gloomy. Good thing I’m a girl.

Even during the practice for the sports festival, the girls are enthusiastically cheering for Enjo, so I tried to encourage the other boys to cheer a little for the class. It’s unfair to treat them so poorly when they are working hard for the class.

I’ve never been in the same class as those two before, so I was a bit surprised by this enthusiasm. It’s tough. I miss the peaceful classes from before last year.

Still, my class seems to be better off. The class president in the same class as Daitokuji was already exhausted before the sports festival even started. The boys who were chosen as the emperor’s horseback riders were practicing desperately, determined not to lose even if it meant death, while the girls were pressuring the boys who were running in the relay race with Daitokuji to win the emperor. She was suffering being caught in the middle.

I’m glad Enjo isn’t that passionate...

In the end, the horseback battle was won by the student council members from the external students, but they were no match for the emperor, who had studied military strategy.

Will he work even harder next year? Well, do your best, silver-haired boy.

After the sports festival and the midterm exams, it’s the school festival. It’s busy.

Participation is voluntary, but my class is participating. There were candidates like a haunted house or a food stand, but since most of the students have never had takoyaki or hot dogs, we couldn’t come up with a good idea.

A café was also suggested, but it was vetoed because the girls in other classes would take "our Enjo" away.

In the end, we settled on selling handmade candles.

We all worked on making scented candles, gel candles, mosaic candles, and flower candles.

We weren’t thinking about making a profit, so we used high-quality materials, and I think the quality is quite good for something made by middle school students.

There was already a rush of people making reservations for the candles made by Enjo.

I made small flower-shaped candles by melting wax on a hot plate. I added pink pigment, so they’re quite cute. I also added blended essential oils. I think it turned out pretty well for me.

Eventually, some students started using perfumes instead of essential oils, and the classroom became a mix of various scents, causing several students to complain of headaches, so ventilation became necessary.

Finally, everyone met their candle-making quota, and we successfully welcomed the day of the school festival.

The candles were selling well.

The buyers were mostly students, their parents, and alumni. Suiran is strict about security, so most of the guests are family.

Enjo’s handmade candles were eventually auctioned off, and the price kept rising, but it was stopped because it was too much for a candle, and a lottery was held instead.

I was nervous about whether my candles would sell, but I was relieved when several people bought them. I was surprised to see Rina with her followers among the buyers.

A few of us were selling the candles, while the rest of the students went to see the other classes’ and clubs’ booths and exhibits.

I decided to go around with my friends.

To decide where to start, we had tea and cookies at a café using high-quality French tea leaves while looking at the pamphlet.

There are quite a few things. Some are a bit dull. Like the ikebana display by the Flower Arrangement Club, which only older ladies would visit.

We decided to go to the popular exhibits when they were less crowded.

When we passed by the Literature Club’s classroom, I remembered that the class president was in the Literature Club and went inside.

The Literature Club’s display included book reviews, original short stories, haiku, and poems by the members.

My eyes were casually scanning the display when they suddenly stopped at a shocking piece.

A thin blue postcard with a picture of the sea

"My gray world has been vividly colored. So, have I fallen in love?"

Wow, what the—!!!!!

President, what are you doing?! What happened?!

There, indeed, was a love poem written by the class president.

I stumbled from the shock.

Is this it? That incurable disease that famous middle schoolers get?

President, you don’t have the courage to confess to the person you like, yet you’re doing something so bold.

You say you’re afraid of being rejected, but why are you coming out to an unspecified number of people?

Are you tired? Being in the same class as the emperor and organizing the sports festival and the school festival must be tough. It must be.

"This is that class president, right? Who did he fall in love with?!"

"Can you believe it? That serious class president..."

"Surprised... Do you have any idea who the class president likes?"

My friends were also buzzing. My heart was buzzing too.

President, I admire your courage. But direct that courage at the person you like.

This way, Miharu probably won’t realize it’s about her...

Or did you never intend for her to realize? Did you just write down the voice of your heart as a poet?

Ah, President... I’m really surprised.

After the school festival, the class president’s love poem became a topic of discussion, and everyone was speculating about who the person was. But the emperor, surprisingly, silenced them.

"Leave people’s love lives alone," he said. He seemed to empathize with the class president as a fellow lover.

Good for you, President. It looks like you’ve gained a powerful ally.

And as expected, Miharu doesn’t seem to have noticed the class president’s feelings at all...

Hang in there, President. Don’t give up, President. I’m cheering for you, the romantic president.

I sincerely hope this doesn’t become a black mark on your future.