This Villainess Shall Vow to Live Humbly and Frugally this Time Around

Fourteen: A Spring Date With the Other Seasons

My first baking class, scheduled the next day, had gone quite smoothly, I think?

Nothing bad happened really. It was just a bit weird. When I entered the classroom, the atmosphere immediately changed. The other students were stealing glances at me and they were trying to be subtle about it. When I met their eyes, they would quickly avert theirs. They were whispering to each other a lot too and I think I heard my name at some point. Being gossiped about wasn't really new to me but something about it made me feel odd.

The baking class was very popular with girls. I think there were three sections for beginners class and it was just my luck to be stuck in the section where all the students were girls. More than half of the girls were in my grade too, surprisingly. Not that it was anything new to me. I was in an all-girls class too when I chose the ikebana class elective in my first life.

But not one student approached me or talked to me. They looked quite scared and uneasy when I tried to approach them so I stopped trying too. At least I had Karin-onee-sama in my cooking class. In here, I had no one. Even fate wasn't on my side. Three students were absent from the first class. The workstations were meant for two. All the others paired up leaving me in my lonesome. I was completely isolated.

I wonder what they find scary about me? Was it my looks? Was it my status as a Regalia? Was it my last name? Do I look that much of a villainess?

I could change my appearance a little but I couldn't do anything about the rest. I don't plan on losing my Regalia status anytime soon and I certainly don't want to trade my family for anything.

I guessed I would just have to endure it. Maybe they'll warm up to me in time? My absent teammate might appear next class anyway.

Our teacher, Akanegakubo Momo, was a very shor- *ahem* cute person. Apparently, she owned a high-class patisserie too and she only accepted the teaching job to fulfill an acquaintance's favor.

As the class, commenced I soon found out that my new teacher was rather obsessed with cute things. In fact, a lot of the girls failed in the first lesson because the cookies they made weren't cute enough for her standards. And apparently, it wasn't enough to be aesthetically cute but it had to be tastefully cute. So appearances aside, if the cookies tasted bad, then it would fail as well.

I failed on my first batch. Sensei complimented the taste and told I did a good job despite doing the baking alone but my cookies weren't aesthetically cute enough. I ended up changing the shape, design, and toppings. I had to be careful about the toppings since it could affect the taste. My second batch, decorated star sugar cookies, thankfully made the cut and I was given a passing grade. My classmates, meanwhile, weren't fortunate enough. Sensei was a harsh critic despite the class being meant for beginners. She doesn't do compromise so a lot of my classmates failed. A lot complained, of course, but sensei brushed them off and told them to quit if they don't like it. Sensei was quite fearless. Even promises of tattling to rich family members didn't faze her.

There was a lot of resentment in the class for that and I think some of them resented me too for passing. Some actually glared at me and called me a 'teacher's pet' under their breaths. If I was the old Akina, I would have let my temper go and retaliated. But I already went through two lives to get angry about something as small and petty as that. I don't know about other insults but being called a 'teacher's pet' was the least bad insult I've received as Akina and even as Rukako. I was more surprised than angry, really. I didn't think they would dare do something that rude with me so close by. My family was powerful after all. Offending me would usually mean a lot of bad consequences but somehow... Did the resentment give these girls some backbone to be rude? I feel like there was something else I should know but what?