I Swear I Won’t Bother You Again!

For students without anything special to do, what will they do after class?

Some will return straight home, some will take a detour with friends, and some will wrap up their business in the school.
It’s normal to go home when there’s nothing left to do and stay there if it’s the other way around.

Within those kinds of students, there are some students who just don’t want to go home.
Right now, Violette is alone, not having any friends who can accompany her.
If she told Yulan that she's staying in the school, he will most likely stay with her.
Even so, she feels bad for using Yulan’s time just because she doesn’t want to go home.

In the end, she leaves the classroom alone, picks a place with as few people as possible, and waits for the time to pass.
She’s thinking of killing time in the library or cafeteria, but most people seem to have the same idea as her.
Basically, there are always so many people in both of those places.

“…Let’s stay for around an hour here.”

Violette can hear the sound of people spending their time as they please, but there’s no one in sight.
The trimmed plants are beautiful, but looking at them makes Violette feels a little lonely.
Probably, it’s because there’s no other color than green.

This academy basically lets the students do as they wish, but it doesn’t mean that students with no particular errands can play here all the time.
Students who don’t participate in the student council or other activities are encouraged to go home if they have no adequate reason to stay here.
Since there’s no use to defy it, most people have no choice but to obey.

The time limit is one hour later.
It’s not too late for the sun to set, around the time when the color of the sky begins to change.

Violette opens the book she brought from home.
She has spent over the last few days to finish this one.
She should be able to finish reading this today.

What should I do after this… Going outside the academy sounds nice, but once he finds out, it will become troublesome.

Her will to be free doing whatever she wants to do is still fresh in her mind.
But when she has time to think about it, she has fewer wishes that she can actualize than she has expected.

At first, she wants to go out, but she realizes that it’s going to be a hassle once her carriage tells her father where they pick her up.
Especially since she refused Maryjun’s invitation before, he seems to think that Violette owes Maryjun something even if there’s no basis in that thought.
Once he has prioritized the others, he’s going to put ridiculous interest on them.
It’s already bad enough that she’s going home late every day.
If Maryjun wants something, her father will definitely trample Violette’s heart without hesitation.

To be honest, it’s too much of a pain.
She also can’t say that it won’t hurt her.

So far, she has been trying all of the facilities in the school as much as possible, but she has been attending this academy for four years, combined with her middle school days.
Even if the building changes, the inside doesn’t change.
There are new classrooms, but all of them are used for class purposes.

“…I guess I'm more empty than I've expected.”

Feeling empty, huh? It’s something new… or not really.
Originally, Violette has ill-developed self-consciousness.
She continues to get swept, following what others tell her to do.
And in her previous life, she finally blew up after everything is just getting a little bit too much, and lost control of everything.

Now that all of that has been taken away, what’s left is her empty self.

Ahh… Maybe this life is a bit hopeless.

She doesn’t expect her train of thought to reach that conclusion.
Getting reminded of the bitterness of life is probably something like this.

Violette wishes to go wherever she wants, fly away once she escaped that house.

But that’s not the case.
Freedom is her responsibility and all of her choices are her will.
Until now, she never realizes that being free of everything is something very, very difficult.

“…Violette?”

“…!”

The moment she heard someone calling her, Violette immediately regains her thoughts, coming back to reality.
It’s Claudia, who is holding a bunch of paper in one hand.

Seeing that, Violette recalls that her current location is close to the student council room.
That must be the reason why there’s no one around her.
Nobody will want to make a noise nearby people who are working, especially if it’s the student council president who is also a prince.

Claudia’s eyes are widened, probably since he doesn’t expect to see her in this kind of place.
Apparently, he unconsciously called her name, not calling her.
You can say that he’s confirming that he’s not seeing the wrong person.

Since both of them have noticed each other and Claudia has called her, Violette can’t just leave without saying any word to him.

“You haven’t returned home yet?”

“Yes, well…”

Violette can’t say that she doesn’t want to go home.
But she also can’t tell the prince a lie, leaving her not able to make herself quite clear.
Perhaps Claudia notices how awkward she’s feeling with how she’s averting her gaze from him.
He doesn’t try to ask anything else.

“Claudia-sama.
Are you doing student council errands?”

“You can say that… Anyway, it’s about time for most students to go home.”

“Right…”

It won’t be long until the sun sets and the sky turns dark.

It’s only natural that Violette has to go home, but she can’t get used to this time even if she experiences it almost every day.
It may be a good thing to look forward to going to school.
Even so, there’s always a sense of despair boiling in her chest right after she’s reminded of her dislike towards her own home.
She wonders if it’s just her feeling or not.

Claudia doesn’t continue his next words.
Perhaps, he notices how Violette’s expression turns cloudy once he mentions ‘go home’.

It’s completely silent for a while.
Violette wracks her brain, looking for a reason to leave this place.
Even so, her feet are so heavy that she can’t move.

Her hesitation must’ve reached him.
It’s Claudia who opens his mouth first.

“Violette, you’re going straight home after this, right?”

“Yes, that’s the plan…”

“If you have time… can you help me a little?”