I stare at the floating screen in front of me with a restless feeling. This second quest will automatically be completed tomorrow. I have no idea what problems we might face to finish this quest.

"Young master, we've arrived," Thomas's voice pulls me back to reality.

"Oh, right, thank you," I quickly exit the car and walk towards the school gate. As usual, I enter the school after scanning my student ID card.

Suddenly, someone catches my eye. A guy my age with black hair and yellow eyes.

"Michael!" I pat his shoulder.

"Hey, Dillon!" He greets me cheerfully.

"We didn't get to talk much yesterday. How's your class? Is everything okay?" I ask him. As one of my friends, I at least want to know if he's blending in well with his class. Though it seems like I'm the one who should be worried...

I haven't had much chance to chat with my classmates because I've been too focused on Rosemary. I should at least greet them from now on. Even though I'm not the type to socialize much, it wouldn't hurt to have a good relationship with my classmates.

"Yep, everything's fine. There are a few troublesome kids, but overall, everything's good," he says with a smile. But for some reason, I feel something's off.

"Is that so? That's a relief. But... Are you really okay, bro?" Instead of dwelling on it, I decide to ask him directly.

"Ah... I can't hide anything from you, it seems. Well, Waylon is in the same class as me," Michael's face looks worried.

Waylon Blake?

Michael nods. Waylon Blake is Michael's cousin and also the last love interest candidate.

Oh no, I forgot they're in the same class. Waylon won't show up for quite a while, so my mind sidelined information about him.

Of all classes, why were they placed in the same one? They don't have a good relationship. Their personalities are completely opposite—Michael is friendly and outgoing, while Waylon is temperamental.

"Don't worry. I don't know why, but so far, I haven't seen him at all. This might sound mean, but I hope he never shows up at school. At least not while he's in the same class as me..." he says softly. His head hangs down.

"...You can count on me if you need help. We're friends, right? I'm really grateful to have a friend like you."

Michael looks up and gazes at me. A faint smile appears on his face.

"Yeah..."

After continuing our conversation for a bit, we part ways to our respective classes.

"Right... Waylon Blake, the troublemaker. How could I forget about him?" I mutter quietly. Before I know it, I'm standing in front of my classroom.

I take a deep breath.

I hope my classmates don't see me as a stuck-up young master for not greeting them so far.

"Good morning," I say loudly. I try to give my best smile.

"Morning..." a few kids respond. I look at their faces closely. As I expected, most of them seem awkward. Well, I can try to get closer to them starting today...

Casually, I walk to my seat. Rosemary's bag is already on her desk, but I don't see her anywhere today.

"Um... Dillon, do you already have a group for the art project?" a male student approaches me. His hair is gray and his eyes are black. Three other students stand behind him, two girls and one boy. Their faces look worried.

He's one of the students who responded to my greeting earlier. I glance at his name tag. It reads Ronald Willow.

"Oh, not yet," I reply briefly.

"I-if that's the case, would you like to join our group?"

"Sure thing."

His face lights up, and the expressions of the students behind him also seem relieved.

"By the way, we need 6 people, right? Is our group complete?" I ask them.

"N-not yet... We still need one more person..." this time, one of the girls behind him answers. She has shoulder-length brown hair and brown eyes. Her name tag says Rebbeca Willow.

Hmm, are they family? They reminds me of Michael and Waylon again.

Shortly after she says that, Rosemary enters the classroom. Our eyes meet.

"Hey, Rosemary, do you have a group for the art project yet?"

"Oh, no..."

"Got it..."

I look back at Ronald.

"It's okay if she joins our group, right?" I gesture towards Rosemary with my thumb.

"Oh, of course. If she wants to..." Ronald replies. He looks at Rosemary shyly.

I turn to Rosemary.

"How about it? Do you want to join our group?"

Rosemary looks at me for a moment, as if she wants to say something to me.

"I'd like to..."

Ronald and his friends' faces light up more than before.

"Alright then, I'll submit our names for the art teacher," Rebecca says.

We proceed to introduce ourselves one by one, with Rosemary joining shyly.

The other two kids are named Gilbert Smith and Bertha Adelard. Gilbert has blonde hair and an athletic build. Bertha has orange hair and hazel eyes. They seem friendly with each other.

I look at my groupmates.

They seem nice. We should be able to get along well, right?

We chat for a few moments.

Soon, class starts. We return to our respective seats and participate in the lesson as usual.

***

A while ago, our class teacher announced that class would end early because the teachers had a meeting. Although we were advised to study independently until dismissal, it wasn't mandatory, so most students decided to relax and play.

Just after our teacher left the classroom, Rosemary stood up from her seat and looked at me.

"Hey, come with me. I want to talk to you," she said to me.

We decided to go somewhere else to avoid being disturbed by the noises in the classroom.

"So, tell me about Asher," Rosemary said with a serious expression. We are now in the school garden beside the classroom building, sitting on a bench under a shady tree.

"Asher Solace, a second-year student and a member of the reading club. He seems harmless, but can be very dangerous if he feels close to someone," I pause for a moment and look at Rosemary, her face looking hesitant.

I take a deep breath, recalling the details from the manga.

"In short, Asher is very clingy. Don't let him think that you have a special bond with him," I continue. Rosemary seems to be pondering about something.

"Hmm, clingy? Then what about you? You always follow me around. What makes you any less dangerous than him?" Her voice sounds sarcastic.

I fall silent.

I feel stung by her words, but I realize I can't deny what Rosemary just said.

"The difference is, I would never hurt you."

Rosemary tilts her head, looking confused.

"If I can't have you for myself, then no one else can," I say seriously.

Rosemary's eyes flicker.

"Yes, Asher is exactly like that," I continue my statement.

Like many fictional series where the main character has multiple love interests, it's not uncommon for one of them to be a yandere. Asher is a yandere.

Memories of what happened in the manga come back to me. In the manga, Asher kidnapped Rosemary and tried to commit suicide with her. Fortunately, Rosemary, armed with self-defense skills, managed to defeat Asher. However, she was temporarily weakened due to being drugged, so the fight was quite intense, especially with Asher being so persistent. The scenario ended with Rosemary stabbing Asher to stop him. Despite knowing she acted in self-defense, Rosemary still feels deeply guilty. At that time, her mental condition was already fragile.

I look at Rosemary's face again, she looks worried.

"...Don't worry, I'll always be by your side," those words just come out of my mouth naturally. Before I realize it, I've pulled her into a hug.

When I realize what I've done, I quickly release the hug. Our eyes meet, and I immediately turn my face away. My face feels hot.

"Sorry... I don't know why I felt that was the right thing to do..." I say awkwardly.

"I don't mind..." Rosemary replied.

We fall silent for a moment.

"I'm not forbidding you from meeting Asher, I just want you not to get too close to him," I say.

Still feeling awkward, and I look away towards the classroom building while Rosemary is looking down.

"!!!"

My eyes caught the figure of someone.

Him...

A student is walking towards us. No, more precisely, he's walking towards Rosemary. His gaze is fixed on her.

Our eyes briefly meet, he gives me a slight smile and then ignores me.

Damn it! We shouldn't have chosen such an easily visible spot like this.

"Hi, Rosemary," he greets her. He has a wide smile on his face.

"Quinn?"

Rosemary, who was looking down, looks up. She stares at him in surprise.

"Sorry to startle you. I also wanted to apologize for replying late to your message yesterday," he says.

Rosemary shakes her head.

"Oh, it's okay. Why are you apologizing again? You already apologized through chat yesterday."

"I just felt uncomfortable for not apologizing directly. And... Are you free now? How about we study together like you suggested yesterday?"

Rosemary glances at me briefly.

I have to stop him—

"Okay, let's study together," Rosemary says.

Huh?

What?

"I'm glad you accepted my invitation," he acts as if he's eagerly anticipating it.

After saying that, Quinn looks at me.

"Sorry for interrupting your time together," he says with the same smile. However, I can feel his eyes mocking me. I feel irritated.

Why does this jerk always try to pick a fight with me?

"Yeah, our business is already done anyway. Have fun," I force a smile.

Without waiting long, Quinn leads Rosemary away. Before they go too far, Rosemary looks back at me. I just nod and gesture to contact her.

"I hope everything will be okay..." I mumble softly.

Bonus 

What if this series is a manga!

Art by Namunamnam (fiverr)