NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 20
Have you ever heard of the law of conservation of mass?
It’s the law that states no matter what kind of change occurs, the mass remains unchanged.
But surprisingly, there’s something in this world that, just like mass, remains constant despite changing circumstances.
“Professor Daniel? I’m busy, can you move this document to my classroom?”
“Huh? I have a lecture to get to too, you know.”
“But your classroom is on the way to mine! Just do me a solid and move it together.”
“…Fine.”
“That’s more like it! I’ll go have a smoke while you take care of that!”
And that’s absolute garbage.
No matter how much you reduce it, trash inevitably reappears somewhere.
Here goes Professor Carter Garfield, the one responsible for Class S, casually heading off for a smoke while claiming he’s busy.
He was brought in as a replacement after the previous Class S professor met an untimely end in the Witch’s Forest.
The former professor was a vain piece of garbage, and it seems the new one is just as bad.
Being part of the nobility, Carter looked down on me, a fallen noble, as if I were dirt.
Is it just me, or does he seem to be offloading all his annoying tasks onto me?
“That’s lowering Professor Kia del’s stature.”
“I’m sorry…”
“Has your identification ability withered away? I was talking about Professor Carter.”
“Oh, I see. I thought you were talking to me, so I misunderstood.”
“Well, you are lowering the professor’s stature as well. It’s disgraceful for someone to sit there and just bow down to unfair treatment and still call themselves a professor.”
At first, I thought Professor Pernelson was cursing on my behalf, but he turned it back on me.
But I couldn’t argue with that—it was true.
Because I hadn’t firmly expressed my dislike, Carter saw me as an easy target.
But the reason I was enduring his bullying was that he happens to be the brother of Kitty Garfield, the Crown Prince’s official fiancée.
In this world, the antagonists from the story don’t solely appear in Class S.
The young ladies from Class S often develop in twisted ways to become the so-called ‘antithesis’ of the protagonist.
While there are villains with such compelling charm, there are also cliche villains who only annoy the readers and serve them bitterness.
Kitty Garfield is a prime example, persistently tormenting Nina, who has captured the Crown Prince’s attention all to herself.
She started bothering Nina right after she appeared in the Witch’s Forest, and with her brother becoming a professor, she got even more insufferable.
The two Garfield siblings have endless ways to torment Nina.
“But if I step in, I’ll miss the sight of both siblings getting schooled at the same time, and that would really be a loss.”
In the end, Kitty is going to be dumped by the Crown Prince due to karma.
And knowing that future, I’m just tolerating Carter’s harassment for now.
If that weren’t the case, I would have taken him to some secluded place and twisted his neck a hundred times by now.
As they say, patience is a virtue for enjoying the refreshing soda to come later.
“What’s going on? Are you still here? You’re so slow, this is problematic!”
“Oh, I have more materials to gather.”
“Is that right? Then I’ll go have one more smoke, so don’t keep me waiting this time!”
“Sure.”
“I can’t stand seeing this any longer.”
Professor Pernelson shook his head and turned to leave.
Even though he was just saying harsh things, it strangely sounded like he was worried.
But the worst villain wouldn’t worry about someone else.
“I must be interpreting this weirdly.”
I finished my errand quickly to get to class before it got too late and stepped into the hallway.
Carter mentioned he had a classroom along the way, but that was nonsense.
Kia del Academy is shaped like a ‘D,’ divided into the West Building, Central Building, and East Building.
I was on the second floor of the Central Building, while Carter’s classroom is on the first floor of the East Building, and mine’s on the third floor of the East Building.
Not to mention that the classrooms are situated at opposite ends, so I’d have to go all the way down and back up again.
His positioning was clearly intended to torment me.
“Let’s just hold out for two weeks with my eyes closed.”
As the annoyance from the Garfields reached its peak, a duel event, the highlight of any romance fantasy, took place.
The trigger was when Nina, sobbing alone on the rooftop, received comfort from Daniel, gaining the courage to face her tormentors.
Determined to fight back against injustice, she challenges Kitty Garfield to a duel.
In other words, I was taking on a crucial role in this episode, so I didn’t want to create any variables.
After the duel event, comments saying “The main consort is Daniel, not Kyle” flooded in, so this time it was especially important for me.
“Please let there not be a butterfly effect this time…!”
Desperately hoping, I walked away, leaving the materials in Carter’s classroom.
I still had some time before class started, so I decided to take the long way around through the West stairs instead of the central stairs.
The West stairs of the East Building were secluded, and since there was no entrance, hardly anyone came around.
Maybe that’s why students often came here to whisper secrets.
“Do you know your place, commoner?!”
The problem was that such unpleasant disputes could arise, as they were right now.
Five female students cornering one petite girl against the wall.
Judging by their extravagant jewelry, the group of five were clearly daughters of the upper class.
Meanwhile, the girl they threatened was plain, dressed without any adornments, and had a frail figure.
Most strikingly, she had hardly seen white hair before.
“That’s Nina, isn’t it?”
With her white hair and being a commoner being bullied at this time, it could only be Nina.
It was clear that the noble group centered around Kitty Garfield had dragged Nina all the way to the west stairs.
“Do you really think you’re worthy of being with Kyle, commoner?”
“W-What do you mean? I’ve never thought that once!”
“Hah! I saw you trying to get his attention—are you denying that?”
“Oh my! How vulgar.”
“I can’t believe this. This person really saved Crown Prince Kyle?”
“Of course, that’s just a made-up story. Oh, poor Crown Prince Kyle, how could he have caught the eye of such a villain…”
“Exactly! The skills to seduce men are not unlike those of a harlot’s.”
“Who knows? Maybe she really is a harlot’s daughter?”
Crossing a line, aren’t we?
No matter how annoying the opponent is, there’s a line you must not cross during insults.
And one of those taboos is insulting someone’s parents.
No matter what happens, insults directed at the ones who gave you life and raised you cannot be tolerated.
Nina’s hands started to tremble in anger, so I couldn’t just stand by and watch.
The moment I decided to give them a personal lesson in humanity.
Pffft!
From above came the sound of mocking laughter.
“If that’s your logic, then your parents who bully the weak in groups are nothing but lowlifes, aren’t they?”
“What did you say?!”
With a single, sharp remark, the group of girls whipped their heads in surprise toward the stairs above.
There stood Yuer Isipin Arungard, a rare blonde with white hair, the princess, smiling condescendingly.
“Did I say something wrong?”
“Princess Yuer…?”
“Why’s that? If you want to insult my parents, feel free! You might just be dragged away for blasphemy though.”
“Princess Yuer, I’m engaged to Crown Prince Kyle! How dare you say such things to someone who is to be my sister-in-law?”
“You’re drinking milk when you haven’t even had a piece of bread yet. My brother seems to have no desire to bind himself to you, so are you really planning on taking on sisterhood just yet?”
In her calm tone, Princess Yuer dismantled Kitty Garfield’s mental state.
Since she was a princess, they couldn’t afford to treat her casually, resulting in a one-sided battle.
“I was talking to this commoner. But if you jump in like that, it might spread rumors that you lack decorum, Princess.”
“I’m quite curious as to when you started worrying about me. And instead of worrying about me, you should be concerned about your own situation.”
Princess Yuer gave an enigmatic smile and nodded her head toward me.
Come to think of it, from her position, I must be plainly visible.
As Princess Yuer’s actions drew the noble girls’ gazes toward me, I seized the unexpected baton handed to me and contorted my facial muscles.
“I’ve been watching from the start, so don’t think you can feign ignorance now.”
I quickly wrapped around Nina, previously surrounded by the noble girls, glaring at them.
The noble girls, suddenly intimidated by my presence, turned pale and scattered.
Having accomplished a significant feat, Yuer had also vanished, likely heading toward her secret space on the rooftop.
“I’m indebted to her now.”
In the end, there was indeed a butterfly effect.
In the original story, no one intervened in Kitty Garfield’s bullying.
It was a tale where Nina, suffering from harassment, received comfort from Daniel, finding strength and overcoming it herself.
But an unusual circumstance emerged with Princess Yuer getting involved.
“Well, this time it wasn’t too bad. I can protect Nina, but only Yuer could humiliate Kitty.”
Honestly, every word out of Yuer felt like a breath of fresh air; it was a relief.
The only worry I had was that some big change would undoubtedly occur afterward.
For some reason, I had that feeling.