Chapter 18

After that, the ten days she spent in bed with a fever were the greatest blemish on Mary Albert's life.

After all, when asked about the cause of her fever, she had easily replied, "I was just thinking a lot."

If it had been another young lady, people might have understood it as a "delicate girl" or "a girl of that age has many worries," which would have led to a favorable image. It was a touching and delicate story, as she had fallen ill due to deep worries during a sensitive period.

If ordinary servants had heard this, they might have thought, "If we had been more considerate," or "It was our responsibility not to notice the change in the young lady." Their job was to serve their master with sincerity, ensuring they were comfortable and free from any trouble. If an important young lady fell ill, it would be seen as a failure of those who usually took care of her.

However, the moment Mary mentioned the cause of her fever,

"Brain fever!"

Adi gave her this unreasonable diagnosis. By the time Mary, after resting, woke up with a dazed mind, the diagnosis had spread throughout the mansion.

Still, she managed to recover—according to the doctor's diagnosis, it was just a common cold. Of course, it was clear that it wasn't brain fever—and she returned to Karalia Academy after ten days.

However, for some reason, all the students on her way to school held their breath when they saw her, and some even hurriedly looked away. She had always received glances due to the Albert family name and her eccentric nature, but this time, the gazes felt malicious, making Mary tilt her head in confusion.

"…What's this? I feel really bad."

"…Hmm, things have gotten bad."

"I don't understand the situation at all. Hey, Adi, you came to school even when I was sick, right? What's going on?"

Mary looked up at Adi, asking for an explanation, but before he could speak, a voice calling Mary's name was heard.

Looking up, she saw a student running towards her from a distance. Wearing Karalia Academy's uniform, with golden hair, the student was running with all her might, which in this school for noble young ladies might have been considered "indecent."

"Oh, good morning. You're still running around so disgracefully, how indecent."

"Miss Mary! I'm glad to see you're feeling better!"

"Well, don't get so excited. I just got over my fever, and I might faint from the commoner's heat."

Despite her usual venomous remarks, they seemed to have no effect on Alicia, who perhaps took them as a minor reprimand and hurriedly caught her breath, saying, "I'm sorry," with an embarrassed smile. Then, she straightened her back and bowed like a proper Karalia Academy student, saying, "Good morning, Miss Mary." Her demeanor was quite refined. Just by looking at her, who would have guessed she was a commoner's daughter?

However, Mary seemed dissatisfied with Alicia, snorted, and pressed a handkerchief to her mouth, as if to say she felt sick from seeing something so vulgar.

"Commoners are so annoying. If I were in a hurry, I wouldn't show such an unseemly sight. As a noble young lady, one should always maintain grace and delegate urgent matters to servants."

"Yes! I understand! Thank you!"

"Ugh… I'll take it as advice… Anyway, why did you run over here?"

"Of course, I was happy to see Miss Mary… and…"

"And?"

What's wrong? Mary tilted her head, and Alicia lowered her face, avoiding her gaze. Mary, who had been feeling strange glances all along, furrowed her brow even more as she looked around. At a certain distance, there were onlookers watching her, and a group of handsome students was approaching. Leading them was a familiar face, Patrick.

However, for some reason, he looked unhappy and glared at her with a stern expression.

What's going on…?

But she couldn't show her confusion on her face, so Mary smoothed out her frown, smiled gracefully, and bowed elegantly.

"Good morning, everyone from the Student Council. What brings you here this morning?"

However, Patrick's response was a cold and icy voice.

"Mary Albert. I would like to hear about your past misdeeds."

In the game 'DraSchool,' the young lady Mary thoroughly bullied the protagonist Alicia. From interfering with her love life to subtle bullying through her followers, it was overwhelming enough to make one wonder how she managed to do so much with a normal mind.

Of course, after the bullying, the protagonist was comforted by the game's characters, and in the end, Mary's misdeeds were punished, along with the characters she had raised her affection with.

Mary sighed, recalling the event known as 'Judgment' among players. This event marked the beginning of the villainous young lady Mary's downfall, which could be seen as good news for the current Mary, who aimed to decline… but it was too much for her to handle right after recovering from an illness.

So, she let out a small, displeased sigh, and the Student Council President, Patrick, stared at her intently.

"So, do you remember the things I just mentioned?"

His tone was unusually cold.

Moreover, the Vice President and Secretary stood on either side of Patrick, and even the Treasurer and Student Council Advisor were looking at Mary.

Needless to say, these Student Council members were the game's characters. All from prestigious noble families, with excellent grades and good looks, they were the school's popular students. Being looked at by all of them was every girl's dream… if it weren't for the cold gazes.

Incidentally, according to the game, Alicia should have been standing next to Patrick, being protected by the Student Council members as she tearfully accused Mary of her crimes.

However, the current Alicia…

"What are you talking about! Miss Mary would never bully me! No matter how much you are the Student Council members, I cannot allow this insult to Miss Mary!"

She stood next to Mary, defending her more passionately than anyone else.

"An unexpected ally… Truly, this is too unexpected, especially from this side."

"Normally, I should be the one to protect the young lady, but I don't know when to intervene. I'd rather calm down Alicia."

Perhaps due to Alicia's enthusiasm, or because they remembered this event, or because they had no recollection of the misdeeds mentioned, Mary and Adi quietly whispered to each other, feeling more than just cold.