I'm not in love with the villainess!

It had been a month since I enrolled at the academy.

The lessons so far had all been theoretical, the basics of magic and all that. But that didn't stop me from attending and faithfully paying attention to it all. I hadn't skipped out on any lessons nor had I slacked off in my studies.

I was the perfect student one might say!

Aha! Haha! Ha!

I need to stop patting myself on the back! But how can I not! With all the hard work I’ve put in I could rest assured I was in for success!

...Or so I thought.

But reality was a cruel mistress, all my hard work and effort the grades I produced were just barely above average. And it wasn't like magic theory was the only thing we had to learn, there was reading, writing and arithmetic to consider as well.

I thought I could do anything if I worked hard, but I guess I was wrong.

So, there I was tears welled up in my eyes. My body trembled. And I felt as if I were on the verge of breaking down, I had just learnt an important truth of life.

Why had it taken me so long to realize, hard work wasn't enough?

It’s a lesson everyone must learn at some point.

Listen closely, sometimes hard work just isn’t enough

Sometimes, you just have to work really, really REALLY hard in order to succeed and get what you want! Extra effort is the key to success!

“Ms Everlyne, are you alright, you are trembling? Could it be that girl again! I find it unbelievable that you have to go through such nonsense on a daily basis. Some nobles can be rather unruly. I do hope that you are, okay?”

“Hmmm... Who are you...?”

“Eh!? M-Ms Everlyne! We have been attending the same classes for weeks now!”

“Hmmm?”

“I sit right next to you in class!”

Hmmm...!

My confusion only deepened. This girl. The girl sitting right next to me. She was incredibly cuute! A slender build, a small oval face, a modest bust, fair white skin and fluffy pink hair coupled with lovely emerald eyes.

The girl sitting next to me was really really pretty, not as pretty as my sister, but still! I doubt I could forget a face like hers.

“My name...it is, Fleta Walmsleye, the Duchess of Trylyl.”

“Is that so?” I tilted my head to the side. Sorry doesn't ring a bell...

She was probably telling the truth. 

But how could I have forgotten her; my memory was impeccable...Hmmm. Ah well, no use worrying about it, you couldn't expect me to remember the faces of every single person on the flat earth.

“Let’s save the small talk for later. Right now, we need to discuss that noble who has been harassing you, her behavior is rather villainous,” Fleta said, drawing close to me.

“There's a noble harassing me?” Wow really, I hadn't noticed.

“The one with the blonde hair who comes by day in and day out. Nobles like her disgust me, they target promising commoners like yourself so brazenly.”

Hmmm...

“Ooh.”

I realized who she meant. Ah, my sister, Charlotte. Come to think of it, she did come to see me every day, awww, what an adorable little sister she was...  And wait was she calling Charlotte a villainess!?

I could see how her love for me might be mistaken for harassment, but...

That wasn't the case, Charlotte was just very bad at expressing herself.

That aside, commoner, me!?

A fellow noble had mistaken me for a commoner, that's pretty depressing. Well, I couldn't say I conducted myself like the average noble, but I was still a princess, had I really been giving off a commoner vibe? The thought made me depressed.

At any rate, what was her name... Ummm, Fluffy Pink hair, no it's F-Fleta Walmsleye right? She was way off base about a lot of things!

I started off by explaining I was the first princess of Ukeiveil and that the blonde noble harassing me was my younger sister.

“I apologize! My assumption that you were a commoner had little to nothing to do with your appearance.”

So, my appearance still played a part!

Fleta had an apologetic look on her face. It's all good girl I'm not mad.

“It’s alright, I'm not mad or anything,” I said.

“You see most students in class 6F are commoners,” she explained.

In other words, very few nobles had low grade magic huh, which was why you assumed I wasn't one... Aaaand, despite being a princess heh heh heh, I wasn't actually publicly known as a princess, crazy right?

I couldn't blame her for not knowing who I was, that was more of a personal problem.

In fact, I had a vague feeling I wasn't supposed to tell anyone... Oh no!

Well, no big deal.

On to more important business!

“I'll be taking that!” I extended a hand to her desk and snatched the open notebook she had been writing in.

She flinched back in shock. “M-Ms Everlyne, why did you—”

“Ah, well, since I was busy talking to you, I haven't had a chance to take down any notes from this lesson.”

“I see... In that case go right ahead, I shall retrieve my notebook after class.”

“Gotcha” I said.