“Who could’ve guessed the Saint’s necklace was possessed by someone’s deep-seated grudge? Not me, that’s for sure. But she’ll pay for trying to steal my adorable body. I can promise you that!” Marie munched on a cookie as she said all this. Her flippant attitude suggested that she wasn’t giving the necklace much thought. She was too focused on the sweets in front of her.
“I can’t believe how carefree you are even though you were almost possessed,” I said. Then I instantly felt guilty. “Sorry. It’s my fault this happened in the first place.”
If Luxion hadn’t stepped in and protected her… Actually, according to him, she’d managed to fend off the astral spirit on her own. Regardless, I felt awful about the close call.
Marie stared at me. “Did you eat something funny? It’s not like you to apologize so sincerely.”
What a jerk, I thought. Especially after I’d gone out of my way to say sorry. “I really envy your inability to grasp the seriousness of a situation like this. Must be nice,” I said, sipping my tea.
Marie brushed cookie crumbs from her mouth and shot back, “It’s not like my life is all sunshine and roses!”
“No?” I laughed. “What bothers you, then?”
Her gaze darted away from me. “Oh, uh, well… Like, what’ll be on the next test, or how I’ll budget enough money for all my daily expenses. That kind of thing.”
“In terms of the nature of this academy, not much importance is seemingly placed on students’ academic performance,” said Luxion. “Moreover, Master covers your daily expenses, does he not?”
Marie’s face flushed. “Okay, fine. Then my height and breast size.”
I burst into laughter. “Seriously? That’s what you worry about?”
Her face turned even brighter red. “Oh, shut up! Even I’ve got insecurities. What’s wrong with that? It’s not fair that my efforts to improve landed me with a body like this. I was so confident about my appearance before I reincarnated here.”
Here she goes again, bragging about how stunning she was in her previous life. Marie seemed deeply affected by how different her body in this life was.
“You can’t do anything to fix it, so just let it go,” I said. “Or would you prefer Luxion do something to fix your looks?” Knowing the AI, he could probably perform plastic surgery without much effort.
Marie’s face lifted, her eyes sparkling with newfound hope. “Luxion, help fix my height and boobs!” She really wasn’t sheepish at all in her demands.
Despite her earnest pleading, Luxion simply answered, “I refuse.”
“Wha…?” Marie’s smile became strained, her lips pulled tight.
“To begin with, I see no reason to alter your physical appearance,” Luxion explained. “I acknowledge that you lack the physical maturity of other females your age, but you are perfectly healthy that way.”
Marie’s eyes shimmered with tears. “Who cares whether I’m healthy or not?! You could at least make some minor adjustments for me!”
“No.”
“Stingy jerk!”
Such childish banter, I thought. “Why do you want to be taller and bustier anyway? Last time we talked about this, you said you were beautiful enough and happy as you were.”
Marie puffed her cheeks and averted her gaze. “It’s your fault for always ogling Olivia.”
“What? When have I ogled her?!”
When I attempted to deny Marie’s accusation, Luxion projected an image of us in the cafeteria in which my gaze was obviously glued to Olivia’s ample breasts.
“You have ‘ogled’ her chest numerous times. I fail to see how it could be mere coincidence,” he said.
“You guys are misunderstanding things. That’s just male instinct, you know? Not something I can control. A guy’s eyes are just naturally programmed to lock onto a woman’s chest.” It was in all men’s DNA. Inescapable, really.
Marie flung her handkerchief at me. “I knew it! You were ogling her! Are breasts really all that matter to you? You big jerk!”
“I can’t help it if I like big boobs! What? Would you prefer I live the rest of my life lying that I hate them? Hate to break it to you, but that’s not something I can pull off!”
“Why’re you trying so hard to excuse your sexual preferences? Are you an idiot? Don’t you feel at all embarrassed, announcing that kind of private stuff in front of others?”
“Yeah, I’m embarrassed!” I shouted back. “But however embarrassed I feel, I don’t want to lie about who I am, or I’ll regret it for the rest of my life! That’s why I’m trying to be open with you!”
“You want to make yourself sound brave and heroic, but this whole argument’s about your obsession with big breasts,” Marie scoffed at me, shaking her head. “God, are all men complete idiots?”
“Call me an idiot all you like. I’m not gonna change who I am.”
She rolled her eyes. “Go play in traffic.”
Why did I have to put up with this kind of vitriol from her? What was so wrong with liking them?
Marie and glowered at one another.
Exasperated with both of us, Luxion cut in. “Please feel free to continue your lovers’ quarrel if you so desire, but I will excuse myself to focus on the preparations necessary for what is to come.”
His framing of the situation floored us both.
“It ain’t a lover’s quarrel!”
“This isn’t a lover’s quarrel!”
Our voices overlapping, we vehemently denied it.