I Swear I Won’t Bother You Again!

Thanks to her conversation with Maryjun, Violette felt like her anxiety had cleared up for the time being. It’s not like Maryjun had completely changed her mindset, but she had understood the importance of keeping up appearances.

That being said, having her realizing that wouldn’t change Violette’s life.

Violette was still ignored in the family. No one tried to pull her into the group, and she didn’t try to approach them as well. Rather, she didn’t want to get closer to Maryjun any more than this and have her emotion shaken.

Although Violette had decided on what she would do after graduation, she didn’t need to do anything to achieve it.

Rather, clumsily putting effort to become a nun might make someone notice her intention. Once that happened, her road to the monastery would be blocked. How could the daughter of the Duke become a nun… It’s not like no one had done that before, but the public would surely get curious about the reason.

And when it reached her father’s ears, she would get questioned. No, her father would scold her without listening to her and marry her to a man beneficial to the family. To be honest, that seemed more likely than becoming a nun.

(And… Staying silent may be the answer to live in peace.)

The number of people who ostentatiously spread rumors about them would most likely decrease once Maryjun changed her attitude. Faultfinders might change her good deeds to bad deeds, but the surroundings would clearly see the truth. Stretching the fact was just obvious.

That’s why, Violette could avoid what she feared the most at the academy. It didn’t matter if anyone hated Maryjun. Violette’s only concern was Maryjun’s reaction to those guys.

“——chan....Vio-chan, are you listening?”

“Oh… I’m sorry. What is it?”

“Did I get this right?”

“Um… Yeah, you’re doing well.”

The large library of the large academy wouldn’t feel cramped even if all the students gathered here. There were lots of seats. Not to say, many rooms in the academy functioned as a library. Well, most of them were salons. This place was the only one with the largest collection of books, causing it to be worthy of being called ‘library.’ It’s similar to a headquarters and branches.

And today there were a lot of people gathering to study. Be it in the salon or the library.

The reason why students bothered opening their textbooks and notebooks in the library after school was only one.

“Yulan, I’m sure you can manage easily without asking me to check.”

“Yeah. But Vio-chan might praise me if I answer correctly.”

Seeing how Yulan was extremely cheerful, Violette almost forgot that they were studying. It might be normal if he liked doing it, but that was not the case. Yulan was smart, but he wasn’t particularly fond of studying.

The truth was Yulan was in such a good mood since Violette was right next to him. It wasn’t like he pretended to study seriously to stay with Violette. He had to study, so this was killing two birds with one stone.

“My… Then how about this? If you can answer all the questions correctly, I’ll give you a reward.”

“Really!? Yay!”

They weren’t having a study session together, and Violette wasn’t here to teach him. Even so, treating him somewhere wouldn’t be a problem at all as long as Yulan wanted to. And with his academy ability, he definitely could easily answer all the questions correctly.

“Come on, you have to finish it before the closing time.”

“Okay!”

After Yulan replied so, his relaxed expression instantly turned into a serious one. Yulan didn’t lose his gentle atmosphere even when he wasn’t smiling, but it’s hard to see his appearance of looking down at the notebook as friendly. Still, he still didn’t look as harsh as Violette. His drooping eyes made him seem unconditionally soft.

Presently, Violette and Yulan were studying for the test.

One year was divided into three semesters. Two tests were held in one semester, a total of six tests in a year. Testing all subjects in three days in order to understand the student’s academic ability wasn’t a system that students liked very much. It was still bearable since this was the first test for the first semester, but the test would gradually grow harder as they approached the end semester. After all, the scope of the test was everything the students had learned.

You wouldn’t have any problem as long as you could understand everything that had been taught. But to be honest, studying for the test would take you nowhere.

That’s why the students found a small loophole. Of course they wouldn’t dare to cheat. It’s a very simple test strategy.

“I’m glad Vio-chan kept last year's tests for me.”

“Since I know Yulan will need it, how can I throw it away?”

It’s very easy. Ask the senior to tell you past test questions.

Teachers weren’t that free either. There’s no way they could recreate the test every year, considering how it was held six times a year. Above all, the lessons didn’t change. Changing the test questions means the teachers had to do everything all over again, which was troublesome.

Perhaps because of that, the test questions basically didn’t change that much every year. It wasn’t exactly the same, but around sixty to seventy percent of it had similar questions. Since the teachers only changed the wordings and numbers, solving it would be simple.

However, this strategy couldn’t be used in the exam at the end of the semester, so they still had to study properly. This just made it easier for the students to take a breather, not a winning strategy.

“No, I knew Vio-chan would have kept it for me, but… you know…”

Before it overflows

***

That’s how it helped her every time she had a test in middle school. But this time, she thought that there was someone else to whom she should give that benefit.

She thought she would help her sister, Maryjun, who doesn’t know the left and right, rather than Yulan, who knew the test situation at the school. Whether it was Violette’s intention or not.

Violet nodded briefly, wondering if what she was trying to say was conveyed with her anxious eyes, but she looked down at the textbook without seeming to care about anything.

“I’m not going to force anything on her that she hasn’t asked for. Besides, I don’t think she’ll need it.”

Violette knows Maryjun’s brains better than she knows herself. In the past, when she was completely harassed and refused to cooperate at all, or even sabotaged, Maryjun easily won first place in her grade.

Maryjun was the type of person who didn’t know the hardships. She could understand the lessons just by listening to them. In other words, she was an unmistakable genius.

This time, Viottette was prepared to help if she was asked, but …… it looks like she won’t get that chance.

“I don’t care what you do, you have to take care of yourself. If you don’t get good results, you won’t be able to help us, will you?”

“………. Yeah, I’ll do my best.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

In the meantime, Yulan will be able to achieve satisfactory results with his abilities alone. If he’s nervous or impatient, or if something happens that prevents him from performing to his full potential, he doesn’t have to worry about it.

Rather, it is Violette who has to work hard.

“…I wonder if it’s tough.”

She whispers in a low voice, so that Yulan would not hear her as she faced the problem again.

This is Violette’s second time doing the test, but that doesn’t make it any less difficult. She did very well last time, but was still outperformed by Maryjun, and her father complained about her performance.

There is nothing wrong with Violette’s brains. In fact, it’s better than average. And yet, she is not as good as a genius, but that’s okay because she has already given up on that.

The question is, to what extent can she mitigate that complaint? The last time when she was above average, Violette talked back, and it turned into an exchange of verbal abuse. This time, she will have to listen unilaterally, and she wants to shift her father’s interest to praise Maryjun as soon as possible.

In that case, she has to get a reasonably good score. She never thought that she would be able to take the test again, even though she had taken it once, and more importantly, it was a year ago. If she was imprisoned and could remember a test she took a year ago, she can memorize the entire lesson with that memory.

And the biggest obstacle of all is that Violette has no one to whom she can borrow past tests. This means that she cannot use the strategies that many students use in their tests.

It’s not that she doesn’t know anyone in the senior class, but it’s only a category of acquaintances. There is no one she can ask to help her with test questions. And Violette is not someone who can ask for help lightly. In other words, she has to cram everything into her head from one to ten without knowing what the questions will be.

It was the same last time, and to be honest, it was quite painful. Even the first test was like that. She cursed the test so many times that she wanted to burn the school down. In her brain, she burned it down several times.

Even though she had pushed herself to that point and finally achieved excellent grades, instead of being praised, she was scolded and compared to her sister who had achieved the pinnacle. Looking back, she’s fed up with the hurdles she had to overcome.

The fact that both sisters were the same that they didn’t use the test strategies may have added fuel to their father’s comparison.

Her sister was still in first place, but what was she doing? 

She told him that she did her best, and the results were a great proof for her father, but he didn’t accept it. He said that she was inferior to Maryjun, and that she had it easier than her, and that she had been lazy.

If people are all born with different abilities, then they should be able to acquire them through hard work. It is a talent that is unique to each individual, and there is no right or wrong.

Violette’s efforts were no match for the genius Maryjun. The fact that it became a source of scorn for her father was just that.

(I remember being scolded for making excuses.)

‘Don’t use your talent as an excuse.’ Her father praised Maryjun as a genius, and chastised Violette for her lack of effort.

It was the first time she witnessed how biased his mind was. Then, she realized it many times since, and eventually she got used to it, but at that time she felt she was tormented by a sense of despair. It was a year ago, so her memory is a bit hazy.

She knows Maryjun is a genius, and she already knows that her own efforts are no match for her. So she doesn’t want to be too pessimistic about her lack of talent now.

“The test results speak for itself……”

Not for Violette, but for her father. It’s all about the result, not the hardship of the process. No matter how hard she tries, she can’t change the fact that she’s no better than MaryJun.

In the end, she has no choice but to do her best in the same inefficient way she did last time.

‘Hmm…’ She thought no one would notice the sigh that overflowed unconsciously. It’s not surprising that Violette herself was out of  unconsciousness.

Normally, that would be true. Don’t forget that next to Violette is a person who cares for her more than anything else in the world.

Even while he’s studying seriously, Yulan cannot overlook Violette’s worries.