Raiden Mei was a second-year student in the high school division of Senba Academy. A year ago, when she first entered Senba Academy, she had immediately become the center of her classmates' affection.
Having been raised as a Young Mistress under strict household rules for a long time, Mei, who previously hadn't had many friends, was overjoyed. She interacted with everyone who approached her without a second thought.
She didn't particularly enjoy the feeling of being treated like a star, but she was genuinely happy to have so many good friends.
At least, that was what Raiden Mei believed before her father, Raiden Ryoma, became mired in an economic fraud case and was eventually thrown into prison.
But in just a few short months, once her father was imprisoned, ME Corp's reputation was ruined, and a change in leadership occurred, the intelligent Mei quickly noticed the changes around her.
Practically overnight, the people she thought were her best friends no longer looked for excuses to study or eat with her. The classmates who used to swarm around her as soon as class ended to chat about various girl topics now kept their distance.
It turned out that the identity Mei thought she had hidden so well had been exposed from the moment she first stepped into the school. Even if she had deliberately suppressed her noble aura a mix of elegance and refinement her surname alone was enough for her classmates to recognize her as the Young Mistress of ME Corp.
It wasn't, as Mei had assumed, that she had won their friendship through her polite demeanor and consideration for others. Her classmates' goal had been clear from the start: to establish a friendly relationship with the Young Mistress of ME Corp for their own benefit.
Once Mei lost that status, they naturally had no intention of doing any more pointless work. In fact, to avoid causing any dissatisfaction with the still-colossal ME Corp, they had gone out of their way to isolate Mei.
On that day, Mei realized that the world was not as beautiful as she had imagined. Her father had always been busy with work, and she, lacking paternal love, thought she had gained friendship instead. In the end, she discovered that not only was the friendship fake, but even the little fatherly love she did have had been completely lost with his imprisonment.
However, Mei did not undergo a drastic change in personality because of this. Other than becoming more sensitive to her surroundings and the hearts of others, she grew stronger.
The gentleness and tolerance Mei continued to show even after the upheaval made her classmates feel too guilty to go too far. Aside from avoiding communication with her, there were no incidents of campus bullying.
Mei was simply a bit lonely.
On this day, as was her habit when night fell and the moon hung high, she did not return to the dormitory immediately. After all, she was the only one in her room, and enclosed spaces only made the loneliness more obvious.
If she stayed in a corner of the school, sitting on a bench and watching the moon scatter its gentle radiance indiscriminately across the sky while listening to the chirping of unknown insects, Mei could find a measure of solace.
"Who's there?"
Mei, who had been sitting alone, suddenly turned her head and looked toward a large tree near the school wall.
There was no response, but Mei just stared fixedly. Her expression was not particularly wary or severe; it was merely serious. In fact, she was even a little hopeful hoping that it might be a former friend watching her in secret, hoping that among those classmates who had befriended her for her status, one or two sincere hearts truly existed.
Her seriousness and anticipation quickly turned into surprise, because the person who appeared was a boy of her age whom she didn't recognize.
"I thought I was hidden quite well."
A male hiding in a secluded area to spy on a female was undoubtedly a malicious act, even in an era where men were scarce. However, Mei simply studied him quietly for a moment before offering a smile.
"Because I practiced swordsmanship for a significant amount of time when I was little, I'm a bit more sensitive than the average person. Besides, it's been a long time, and I sit here alone every night. This time there's one more person I can sense that anomaly."
Straight black hair, deep black eyes, and a mature beauty that surpassed her years despite being just a high school student this was the beautiful girl standing before Hua Yi. Like a flower on a high peak, her smile carried a faint sense of distance.
"My name is Hua Yi, a student from Tachikawa Academy."
"Tachikawa Academy? That's not too far from Senba Academy. But without a purpose, you wouldn't sneak into our girls' school on purpose, would you?"
Mei continued to speak with him normally, showing no intention of finding campus security to have Hua Yi arrested. It wasn't because her swordsmanship was enough to protect her Mei wasn't even carrying a wooden sword, and in a bare-handed fight,
most girls were weaker than boys. Her current composure was simply because she didn't feel any malice from Hua Yi. After experiencing her family's crisis, Mei had become very sensitive to the emotions of others.
Of course, it was also partly because Hua Yi was indeed quite handsome and wasn't the type to give someone a bad first impression.
Actually, from the moment he was discovered by Mei, Hua Yi had been thinking about how to provide a legitimate explanation for sneaking into a girls' school. A reason like "for world peace" didn't seem very convincing.
Unable to think of a perfect excuse, Hua Yi could only speak a half-truth as he faced Mei's beautiful eyes.
"I previously received a qualification from my school to intern at ME Corp. I went to work there for a while today and saw documents stating that 'Raiden Mei is the daughter of the former CEO of ME Corp and is currently studying at Senba Academy.' Out of curiosity,
I used my decent physical fitness to sneak in. Actually I was also curious about a girls' school like Senba Academy. In the eyes of boys, a girls' school has always been a sacred land."
Undoubtedly, the first half of Hua Yi's sentence was true, while the second half was a lie. Being curious about girls' schools had absolutely nothing to do with Hua Yi's actions!
"A sacred land? Tachikawa Academy might not be a girls' school, but I've heard that almost no boys enroll there. It should be quite similar to a girls' school."
Mei countered Hua Yi's statement with a beaming smile, but then her tone shifted, and her eyes dimmed.
"I am indeed the daughter of ME Corp's former CEO, Raiden Ryoma. However, if you are looking to gain some benefit from me, I can only say I'm sorry. Perhaps the people inside ME Corp deliberately hid some facts from an intern like you, but my father is in prison for economic fraud. There is no residual influence left in ME Corp."
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