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“WELL, if I’m gonna have to do something, might as well make it something useful.”
And that was how Nina got started cleaning the next day.
Seeing as the academy was full of nobles, she couldn’t keep up with their conversation, which meant cleaning was about the only thing she could do. The academy grounds were already manicured, but there was nothing wrong with giving them a little extra beauty oomph.
She didn’t want to be a weirdo wandering around cleaning, so she at least got permission from her teacher. He was incredibly surprised when she said she wanted to clean, but that was likely because no one had ever asked such a thing before, seeing as all the students were from noble families.
When her teacher asked her why she wanted to do something like that, she just stated it was part of a contract, which he immediately accepted. He seemed to misinterpret that and assume she had a contract with the academy for cleaning, which she just left it at that since it wasn’t too far from the truth anyway.
Perhaps it was the heroine buff that kept him from poking his nose in any further.
“Alrighty. Guess I’ll start by polishing the banister on these stairs.”
Nina stood in front of the grand staircase in the center of the academy building, pumped herself up, and rolled up her sleeves.
A general rule of cleaning was that you worked top down, but the ceiling was as high as an average house’s roof. She decided cleaning that wasn’t happening since there was no way she’d be able to reach it.
She set her bucket of water down, took out the rag, gave it a good wring, and dove into cleaning. After wiping away some grime, she switched to a dry cloth.
It was simple work but required a surprising amount of force. Even with that, there was something enjoyable about watching the banister get more and more shiny. She didn’t hate it, even if it was just the same thing over and over, rubbing and rubbing.
“Excuse me, Nina?”
“Yes?”
Nina got so engrossed in her work that she lost track of time until a voice called her from behind. She turned around and saw a male student she didn’t recognize. She assumed he was a classmate since he knew her name, which made her feel bad because she didn’t know his name.
“That looks difficult. Would you like my help?” he asked.
“Nope. I’m okay. It’s actually kind of fun,” she replied.
“Oh, right…” he said weakly, then walked away with his head hanging.
What was that all about? Maybe that noble’s son is interested in cleaning?
She didn’t worry about it too much and just went back to cleaning, but people kept calling out to her. They were all, “Oh, you’ll dirty your uniform,” or, “Someone like you shouldn’t be cleaning.” Basically, just constantly nagging her.
And they were all boys for some reason.
“Wait… Is this because of the heroine buff?” she asked herself.
Typically, a heroine would enchant the boys by watering flowers, singing in her beautiful voice, making sweets, or being kind to small animals—you know, the sort of thing that would make a good picture book. She felt sorry because a picture of her on her knees with a rag in hand as she polished the banister would make one questionable illustration.
“…And I’m gonna start being wary of boys if they still think that’s good.”
Ed said that whatever she could do would become charming, but she was still surprised at how many more boys were approaching her today compared to yesterday’s seemingly normal number of them.
So, essentially, she was becoming more charming just by polishing the banister.
Nina wasn’t entirely convinced there was a strong connection between cause and effect there, but at least this seemed to prove that the heroine enhancement did exist.
And knowing that made Nina want to test how far it went. The noble girls had pulled back in disgust when she mentioned burying her face in a cat’s belly and sniffing it, but maybe with the enhancement, even that would send hearts racing.
After that, she couldn’t help noticing Clarissa peering at her from the shadows. She was also a little concerned about Clarissa’s huge grin but more curious about how she was “hiding” in plain sight.
She was most likely watching Nina as she successfully acted her part.
“What do heroines even do once they’ve captivated everyone with their charms…?” wondered Nina.
Assuming she was going to develop a romantic relationship with only one boy, in this case, Prince Dino, what was the correct way of dealing with all the other boys? It seemed a heroine wouldn’t just give them the cold shoulder, but Nina also questioned one who was super friendly with everyone.
Regardless, it didn’t matter what Nina thought. All she had to do was play the perfect part to give Clarissa the perfect gloat.
Nina set down her rag and beat the dust from her skirt before moving toward Clarissa lurking behind a pillar.
“Hello, Lady Clarissa.”
“D-Do you have business with me?” Clarissa looked so panicked that Nina almost felt bad. She must not have thought Nina would come over to talk to her. She was still pleasant to look at, beautiful even when panicking.
While saying it now wouldn’t accomplish anything, Nina really did think it would’ve been better if Clarissa had just made herself the heroine so she could go through a standard otome game setup. All the same, this setup meant Nina had the opportunity to relieve Aida’s pains. That was something to be grateful for, at least.
“Um, I wanted to ask you a question about etiquette, just for, you know, general situations,” continued Nina. “If a girl is liked by many boys, what should she do?”
“What?”
“Should she give any guy who isn’t her love interest the cold shoulder? Or should she be nice to everyone equally?”
Clarissa looked confused at the sudden question. Her mouth worked up and down as she struggled to get any words out.
“This is just in general, you know, not any specific person,” continued Nina. “I don’t know how to deal with anything, being a commoner and all.” She cast her eyes down and acted bewildered.
Clarissa eventually regained her composure, cleared her throat, and crossed her arms. “I-I see. As a general rule, you don’t have to act friendly toward anyone but Di—um, the person you have feelings for. But you also don’t want to be unfriendly to them. Just keep them hangi— I mean, keep interacting with them like you always do.”
Maybe it was because she was put on the spot, but Clarissa accidentally almost said Dino’s name and let slip that she would prefer Nina to lead the other boys on so that they stayed.
It was a bit careless of her, but it would be rude of Nina to point it out. She needed to act like a heroine, and embarrassing the raffle winner was not part of that.
“That makes sense,” Nina pondered. “Thank you so much!” She smiled, acted like she hadn’t noticed the slip-ups, and returned to cleaning.
More boys kept coming up to her while she did, but she had confirmation from Clarissa on what to do, making her feel much more at ease dealing with them.