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Chapter 31
“Emma, Lucas.”
Aiden uncrossed his arms and looked at the two of them, wearing the most harmless smile he could muster.
I did the same.
“Oh, you and Lucas were investigating here too?”
“Yeah. Why were you two standing around like that?”
It seemed they had been watching us from quite a distance.
Apparently, they had caught us talking without actually collecting any wildflowers.
Luckily, judging by their expressions, they hadn’t overheard our conversation.
They weren’t suspicious of us.
“Do you have to pick wildflowers while looking at the ground? Our team decided to discuss first, then collect.”
At Aiden’s brazen answer, my sister narrowed her eyes.
“Senior, are you perhaps teaching Olivia a way to skip work instead of actually studying the wildflowers?”
It was a reasonable assumption.
Aiden didn’t bother denying it and just smiled wryly.
“Ah, Emma, junior, you wound me with such words. I’m merely hoping for a bright future for my junior.”
“My goodness, senior…”
My sister shook her head at Aiden’s shameless attitude.
Lucas couldn’t hide his exasperation either, probably thinking, Why did you even drag me here?
“Don’t scold Senior Aiden, sister. He just gave some advice that might help in life.”
Feeling bad for letting Aiden take all the blame, I jumped in to defend him.
Aiden, for some reason, looked surprised at me.
“I’m glad I came with Senior Aiden. I consider it lucky to meet such a thoughtful senior.”
Aiden, giving advice about Lucas, was like a savior to me.
Plus, he even brought Lucas into the club, something I couldn’t manage myself.
He truly deserved my praise.
“Olivia, you think so highly of Senior Aiden…?”
My sister looked confused, alternating her gaze between Aiden and me.
How could one compliment about Aiden make her react like this?
But now, changing my stance was out of the question.
“He’s a senior with a lot to learn from. I want to team up with him again next time.”
I subtly grabbed Aiden’s sleeve as I spoke.
Still surprised by my words, Aiden just stared at the sleeve I held.
“You really have a lot to learn from Senior Aiden?”
My sister still seemed suspicious of my words.
I worried how much more I’d have to explain to prevent her from suspecting anything between Aiden and me, when suddenly Aiden draped his arm over my shoulder.
“I am, after all, a respected student council president by many students.”
I hadn’t mentioned “respected” exactly…
I almost let my ambiguous expression slip, but instead, I boldly smiled along with Aiden.
“Olivia, as I expected… you really can get along with anyone.”
“Emma, I think you just said ‘anyone’ as if it meant something else.”
“You heard me right, senior.”
It seemed my sister didn’t have a very good impression of Aiden.
Probably because he slacks off from student council duties and wanders outside all the time.
Still, showing up out of nowhere and handling everything meant she couldn’t completely hate him.
Lucas, too, wasn’t fully trusting of Aiden, giving me a cautionary word.
“Don’t trust Aiden too much.”
“Oh, how hurtful. Lucas, do you dare speak to me like that?”
Aiden released me and approached Lucas, draping his arm over him in a teasingly close manner.
Like my sister, Aiden also seemed surprisingly friendly with Lucas despite having met not long ago.
That must be thanks to Aiden’s charm.
“What Lucas said is true. No matter how nice he seems, don’t trust him completely. You never know when he’ll stab you in the back.”
“Aiden, really?”
“He’s the kind of senior who does nothing if he finds it boring. If he gets tired of picking wildflowers with you, he might just leave.”
“Would he really do that?”
“With him, that’s entirely possible.”
As a prospective brother-in-law, and as a person in general, Aiden’s points were already quite low in my sister’s eyes.
But since Lucas and my sister were already deeply intrigued by the situation, it seemed unlikely he’d leave me alone anytime soon.
“But sister, isn’t he going to kill Lucas like that?”
Even as a joke, Aiden was putting too much pressure on Lucas.
Lucas’s face looked like it was about to burst from the blood rushing to it.
“Stop it right now, Senior Aiden!”
Only then did my sister realize what was happening and stepped between Aiden and Lucas.
“Why are you bullying him? Are you okay, Lucas?”
“Yes, y-yes.”
Lucas, his face still red either from the blood rush or shyness, tidied his bangs and quietly responded to my sister.
“Haha, it was a gesture of affection.”
“Senior, why don’t you go back and catch up on your student council work?”
“How cruel, Emma.”
“You made me like this, senior.”
Finally, shoulders slumped, Aiden left the forest.
Following him, we also exited the forest, where Liam and Noah had arrived at the meeting point first.
“Why is he acting like that?”
Liam raised a question, seeming puzzled by the sight of someone behaving almost like a walking bundle of baggage.
“He just realized reality.”
“Wow, it’s rare to see Aiden face reality. Amazing, Emma.”
Noah clapped enthusiastically, genuinely impressed.
“How did you make senior act like this?”
“Who else could handle Aiden besides Emma?”
I guessed as much.
Even if he acts like a delinquent in the student council, he’s still under my sister’s control.
Still, it was a relief that someone could manage such a slippery person.
“Then let’s disband.”
No one had brought new wildflowers anyway, so there was no reason to examine anything in the clubroom.
Changing out of the rustic farmer outfits into their neat school uniforms, we went our separate ways.
As usual, Liam, my sister, and I headed home together.
“So, how was your first experience collecting wildflowers with Aiden?”
Liam asked, suddenly curious about me.
I couldn’t confess that I hadn’t actually collected much because I was too busy discussing how to connect Aiden and my sister.
“I learned a lot of good lessons.”
“Didn’t you mostly just learn how to slack off?”
Judging by his reaction, it seemed even Liam had this impression of Aiden.
“Even if he seems that way, Senior Aiden is… is a good person!”
I wasn’t sure if this would help, but I chose to defend Aiden first.
My sister’s expression immediately turned suspicious.
“You don’t mean…”
“I’ve only met him a few times and definitely haven’t fallen for him. So don’t worry.”
Luckily, my sister seemed convinced and gave up lecturing me.
“You’re sure Aiden is a good person even though you’ve only met him a few times?”
Liam didn’t seem satisfied with my words.
His eyebrows arched sharply.
“Do you really need to meet someone multiple times to be sure?”
“You need to look carefully at people. Even if you’ve spent a long time with someone, you shouldn’t trust them easily.”
I understood why Liam said that. Probably he hasn’t had many trustworthy people around him.
So he takes his time, carefully choosing who to trust.
Of course, I understood that.
But I am me.
I’m different from Liam.
“No, I trust my own judgment. Senior Aiden will definitely be a good person.”
After all, a person who was even a candidate for the male lead in the original story had no reason to be a bad person.
Besides, Aiden was actively helping me right now.
Of course, I don’t know what he’d do if he got bored, but for now, he’s exactly what I need.
Liam still didn’t seem satisfied and asked again without relaxing his expression.
“…And me?”
“Huh?”
“If you’re so sure about Aiden, what do you think of me?”
Why is he suddenly asking that?
