IDWF 1

chapter 1

To get straight to the point—I slept with Carsion.

But I knew his status, and I was far too realistic to imagine a future where I’d marry him and become a duchess.

Just once.

What we did was simply…

Yes, just something like, when else would I ever get the chance with someone this handsome?

And I wanted to keep at least one more memory of Carsion.

We were already adults, and the academy was only a few days away from graduation.

There would be no reason for us to meet again.

Even if we did run into each other, it wouldn’t be like now—it would be a relationship clearly divided by status.

So just once more.

For the last time, I wanted to engrave a deep memory of him.

If someone found out, they might call me selfish.

After all, I couldn’t accept his feelings.

But still—what’s wrong with a small selfish desire?

I knew Carsion liked me.

And I liked him too.

But I couldn’t gamble my entire life on something like love.

The gap in our social status wasn’t something effort alone could easily bridge.

Especially between a duke’s family at the very top of the nobility and a commoner who had nothing.

Once he graduated from the academy, returned to his ducal house, and stepped into high society, the interest he had in me would surely fade.

…At least, that’s what I thought.

But Carsion, who liked me, had been clinging to me even more after that day—as if something terrible would happen if we were apart.

With graduation just around the corner, this is a problem.

I entered the academy at the relatively late age of fifteen.

Most students enroll around ten.

That said, I didn’t have to start from the junior level.

Fortunately, I passed the transfer exam for my age group and entered Senior Year 1.

Since the senior division goes up to Year 4, as long as I pass the graduation exam, I should be able to graduate the year I come of age.

…That is, if I don’t get held back.

But the real problem wasn’t graduation in the future—it was the situation right in front of me.

Arena Academy.

Even though it’s a private institution, it receives massive support from the Lagras Empire.

Since it produces talented individuals in various fields, you could say it’s one of the empire’s prides.

And such a prestigious academy places great importance on club activities.

A significant portion of grades is based on them.

Thankfully, while club activities heavily affect grades, there’s also a lot of freedom in choosing them.

You can tell just by the existence of clubs like the “Breathing Club” or the “Stone Collector Club.”

For reference, the Breathing Club—shortened to “Breath Club”—literally just involved breathing, and the Stone Collector Club collected rocks.

There was even a “Mosquito Torture Club.”

But I couldn’t join even a normal club—let alone a weird one like those.

Because…

I missed the club application deadline…!

You idiot, you absolute fool.

Thanks to that, my situation became utterly miserable.

So what happens if you miss the club deadline?

You get randomly assigned to an unpopular club. Of course, only among clubs that are still accepting members.

And since there are so many unique clubs, the unpopular ones tend to be especially bizarre.

Surprisingly, the Mosquito Torture Club was actually popular. Professors tended to give high scores to that one.

The truly unpopular clubs were the ones that did things like eating monster corpses or going on weekend mountain trips led by professors.

Just thinking about it is horrifying.

If I had to make a pathetic excuse—it’s that I didn’t have any friends to remind me that yesterday was the last day to apply.

Well, I had just enrolled, so it was natural I had no friends. Everyone else had been attending since Junior Year 1 and already built relationships.

So in conclusion, I was now destined to be forcibly assigned to an unpopular club.

Feeling gloomy from this harsh reality, I walked along the academy’s inner trail to clear my head.

Missing the deadline wasn’t something I could fix by crying to the administration office. At times like this, it’s better to accept reality and give up quickly.

As I walked for a while, enjoying the cool breeze—

“Hey! You’re Rien, right?!”

Suddenly, someone grabbed my shoulder and shouted.

Startled, my legs gave out and I sank to the ground.

As I tried to calm my racing heart, the brown-haired boy who grabbed me urgently asked,

“Right? You’re Rien? Please say you are!”

…He startled someone into collapsing, and that’s the first thing he says?

What an ill-mannered—

Frowning deeply, I denied it.

“Nope.”

“What? You’re not?”

His confident expression instantly turned flustered.

“S-sorry. I thought you were someone with black hair and black eyes.”

“Why are you looking for this Rien person?”

“…I-it’s something important!”

After brushing it off vaguely, he ran back the way he came.

I silently raised my middle finger at his retreating back.

My name tag clearly says Rien. Idiot.

I brushed off my dirtied skirt and stood up.

Hmm.

I paused for a moment, wondering if I had done something wrong.

No matter how much I thought about it, all I’d done since enrolling was quietly attend classes.

I didn’t know a single person in the academy.

The only thing I could think of that might get me scolded by a professor…

…was sleeping openly during a certain class.

Ah. Was it because I fell asleep right at the start?

Well, curling up and sleeping in the corner of a training ground during a physical class probably didn’t look great.

But what if I got hurt swinging a wooden sword?

Getting scolded would be a hundred—no, a thousand times better than getting injured.

I know I’m being overly cautious. Still, I hate getting hurt.

Anyway, if that’s why a professor was looking for me, I’d just get scolded next class.

Sigh.

Letting out a small sigh, I resumed walking slowly along the path.

After some time, the cool breeze helped clear my head, and I felt a bit better.

But my gloom about the club situation didn’t improve.

“Ugh, seriously… even if I could somehow endure a hiking club, there’s no way I could ever eat monster meat.”

“Then join our club.”

I turned toward the voice.

Strange. So many people were talking to me today. No one had spoken to me once in the entire week since I enrolled.

Turning my head, I saw a boy with soft, curly, cherry-blossom-colored hair.

…Wow. Is he even human?

Setting aside his fluffy pink cotton-candy-like hair that looked like it might melt away at any moment, his face was unreal.

Under his clear blue eyes was a faint reddish tint, and his pale skin contrasted with vivid red lips—perfectly designed to captivate people.

There was something subtly seductive about him… or maybe decadent.

But that’s all.

It’s not like I could date him anyway, so I shouldn’t raise my standards for no reason.

Hypnotizing myself into indifference, I spoke flatly,

“Don’t you know the club application period is over?”

“…What?”

The pink-haired boy stared blankly before responding.

“Oh. Just write your name here, and the club starts meeting tomorrow.”

Ignoring my question, he naturally handed me a paper labeled Club Establishment Application.

So it wasn’t even an application to join—it was to create a new club.

“Pink hair. The application deadline was yesterday.”

“Today was the deadline, and I’m glad you’re joining.”

“…?”

“If filling it out is annoying, I’ll take care of it. Just sign once. Your name is Rien, right?”

…Is he not hearing me?

Tsk. Such a shame for someone so young.

Clicking my tongue, I turned away without hesitation.

But he quickly grabbed my hand.

“…Where do you think you’re going without signing?”

I turned back, trying to pull my hand free, and he looked at me with widened eyes.

Maybe because of that, his previously decadent aura vanished, and he suddenly looked innocent and cute—just his age.

Honestly, I wanted to kick his shin, but I held back because of his face.

Letting out a small sigh, I said,

“This is the third time I’m saying it—the club application deadline was yesterday.”

He tilted his head.

“Maybe you don’t know, but the deadline for creating a club is today.”

“What?”

“In other words, if you write your name here, you can join our club.”

I had assumed the deadline for creating clubs would be earlier.

After all, if the club didn’t get approved, wouldn’t those applicants end up randomly assigned?

But thinking about all the bizarre clubs here… maybe they all get approved.

“…No, I’m not joining.”

I shook my head and refused.

Just from looking at him, I could tell—if I joined his club, my academy life wouldn’t be peaceful.

I had a feeling there were even clubs dedicated to fangirling over someone like him.

He bit his red lip, clearly shocked by my refusal.

“The minimum is three members, but we only have two including me. Please help.”

Oh dear.

There probably wasn’t another idiot like me who missed the deadline.

It was unfortunate, but I didn’t feel like sacrificing myself to help.

Besides, I didn’t even know what kind of club he was creating.

I opened my mouth to refuse again, but as if he predicted it, he cut me off first.

“Wow, really? You’ll join our club?”

For a moment, I thought I had actually said yes.

“That’s not what I—”

“Hmm? Do you have more questions?”

He smiled sweetly, his eyes curving into crescents.

The first thought that crossed my mind was, He’s ridiculously handsome.

The second was—if I could keep seeing that face, would it really matter if my academy life wasn’t smooth?

No matter how much I tried to hypnotize myself, I still had functioning eyes and a brain.

Smiling like that with a face like his—

That’s just cheating.