I tamed the female lead

Chapter 7

A few days passed. I concentrated on class and Astéria on the other hand was not listening openly or was staring at me. She wasn't glaring at me the way she was at other people at least that's what I thought but I was sure I was just imagining things. I even felt like she was smiling at me which was more terrifying. I liked having a daily routine and slowly found it. Astéria was the cold celebrity of the school and you could feel the air grow cold wherever she went. She was imposing and I couldn't relax because she was in every single one of my classes. What could I tell her? It was normal for her to follow me. Just as did other students. Speaking of them, I started talking to the people in my class. I was good at making friends and soon I knew everyone's name. Of course there were some annoying people in my class but most of them were nice for now. When I wasn't hanging out with my class I was looking for Orange. She didn't make any friends in her class unfortunately but she wasn't being bullied so everything was fine. When Orange wasn't around I quickly started disappearing to the library I loved being surrounded by books. That was when I finally felt at ease. Orange knew that very well and came to the library if she wanted to find me. I needed to have my time alone but Orange was the only one who didn't bother me. I needed breaks from others. Some people understood that I didn't like company but the majority of them loved to levitate around me to stay in my good graces. Those were the annoying ones. Astéria wasn't stuck to me at least but she was always close and I didn't know how to feel about this.

Contrary to what I thought, I kind of liked school. The subjects in my last life were very different from the ones taught here and in the first weeks I listened very intently during each class. On the other hand, Astéria couldn't snore more loudly. She didn't really sleep, her back always straight as a pole but she never listened either. Why did she still come to class? She frustrated our teachers incredibly. She was constantly punished but still managed to have perfect grades therefore no one could say anything. As for myself, I always had the best marks in the class and everyone complimented me which felt nice despite me wanting it to. Most of them were nice but as I said some of them were just being hypocrites and I hated how they used only to get closer to me. I loved honesty and hated it when people pretended to be nice. I almost wanted to have bad grades just because of this and started getting bored of classes.

"You are really amazing, princess.

-You always have the best grades."

Why couldn' they leave me alone? It made me want to run away even from the nice people so I could be alone. I glared at them but didn't have time to speak because everyone went suddenly silent. Astéria passed us and everyone froze. When there were too many people around me, Astéria sometimes came to my desk just like now and stared at people for a few seconds or just walked past immediately. We never really interacted except for these moments. I always disappeared in the library or to eat with Orange so these were the only interactions we had. She never did anything anyway so why be so tense? She was really imposing and I knew what she was capable of but she didn't do anything wrong.

Being a true female lead, Astéria really stood out doing anything. She was smart, gorgeous and so unbothered by everyone. She didn't have to listen to have good grades and she was really charismatic. But she was the coolest during sparring class. She had huge talent and people started to admire her for it. At the beginning no one dared to approach her because of her aura but now more and more dared to talk to her during breaks. She never answered to anyone and they soon gave up. I was really good at sparring too and was actually the one teaching Orange in my free time. I loved being the one who taught and I loved knowing how good I was but I just realized how attractive a strong woman was. I started staring at Astéria more and more and I didn't even realize when our eyes suddenly met. I jumped and looked away hearing her laugh. Did I just imagine things? Did she just laugh?

After the entrance ceremony, Alastair couldn't stop looking for me but I became a pro at avoiding him. Every time, I escaped quickly to the library waiting for him to leave. He didn't do anything bad but I couldn't stand him and didn't want to talk to him. I really didn't like it when he kissed my hand and I couldn't help being uncomfortable thinking about it. I really liked the book's smell. I loved reading but I didn't read or look around and just closed my eyes to take in this scent. I liked the smell of books a lot, feeling reassured by it. The library was always empty and peaceful and it was what this scent reminded me of. Peace. Why were people in this High School so repulsed by the idea of going to the library?

However it wasn't peaceful today. I heard someone moving a chair and followed the sound without thinking. I was irritated knowing well that the library wasn't mine and had no reason to be. That's when I saw her: Orange. She was standing on one leg on a broken chair that she laid down sideways. I frowned seeing this. Was she trying to die? How could she be such a crackhead? Suddenly I remembered something. This was one of the scenes from the book. It was so cliché that I completely forgot about it but now it was obvious. The female lead would fall from a chair trying to reach a book and the male lead would save her at the last minute thus falling in love at first sight. The male lead would soon come to catch her so I just had to hide and watch. Not that she really needed his help but she could be really hurt if she fell. But instead of Astéria it as Orange here. I didn't know how this was possible but I didn't have time to think. I needed to quickly get her off that chair so she wouldn't get hurt.

What was left of the chair started making weird sounds. I still had time to sigh before jumping under Orange and catching her barely. We fell painfully and I could hear all my bones cracking under her slim body. I repressed my cry and opened my eyes only to find myself face to face with purple eyes.

"Are you okay?"

Seeing me this close, Orange panicked and quickly got up but managed to punch my stomach at the same time inadvertently.

"Ouch.

-Oh! Sorry!"

She extended me her hand and I wanted to take it when suddenly someone grabbed me by the shoulders. Surprise surprise, our little prince was late and I was very pissed. This wouldn't have happened had he showed up on time. My body ached because of him being late.

"Poehina! Are you okay?

-I would be if you didn't shake me like that."

He grabbed my hand and examined it thoroughly.

"You're bleeding."

He turned his gaze to Orange and his gaze turned ice cold.

"Did you do this?"

What gave him the right to be angry?

"I'm so sorry... I wanted the book on the top shelf and..."

Alastair looked at the decomposed chair and his frown deepened.

"This was way too dangerous. Only an i***t wouldn't see it."

Orange disappeared behind her hair and I felt so bad that I forgot all about the original plot:

"Hey, why are you blaming the victim here? She didn't do anything wrong. I was the one who decided to help her. She didn't force me. I am old enough to make my own decisions so chill. Orange didn't do anything wrong."

I signed and got up before helping Orange get up too. I grabbed her hand and pulled her outside. I was really pissed. How dare he talk to Orange that way? If I could set this country on fire and watch it burn I would gladly do so. Why didn't I do it? I didn't want to die. I hated living here. I hated the fact that women only wore skirts. I hated the fact that if you weren't married you were considered a loser. I hated the fact that nobles were hypocrites and that women couldn't inherit titles. I wanted to kill everyone but I was scared to die even earlier if I did so. I hated everyone but I hated myself even more because I wasn't doing anything. I was a coward and the prince reminded me of that again and again leaving a bitter taste in my mouth.

When we were far enough I turned to Orange:

"Are you okay? Show me your arm."

I wanted to examine her but Orange didn't give me a second to do so. She grabbed my arm and started examining it.

"What are you doing?"

Orange didn't answer and I winced when she touched some place. How did she know exactly where I was hurt when even I didn't know? Orange seemed very angry seeing the little blood. She would always react that way when I would get hurt. She would never be mad at me or pout but whenever I got hurt, she would stop talking for days. I needed to calm her:

"I'm fine. Really."

I tried pulling my hand away but who would have thought Orange was this strong? I couldn't move my hand an inch and now it was Orange's turn to drag me to the infirmary. She didn't stop or listen to me and only calmed down once my arm was treated. She still seemed very gloomy and I didn't know what to say:

"I am sorry.

-It's not your fault, don't worry.

-I hurt you."

I never heard Orange be this desperate and I panicked:

"You didn't! I'm fine really. I promise."

She didn't look at me so I forced her:

"Look. I am completely fine. My ego would crumble if this was enough to hurt me."

Orange was really stubborn about these things. She always did everything I said but when I was hurt she was a wall. She didn't even listen to any word I said while she was dragging me here.

"Do you remember what I said to Alastair? It is not your fault you were the victim. Don't feel bad."

She still didn't talk.

"If you continue pouting I am going to stop talking to you too."

It immediately worked. Orange suddenly straightened up and shook her head.

"Please don't."

I laughed before hugging her:

"Okay. So don't feel bad. I am fine."

I was never really happy in this world. Between this constant fear and being surrounded by disgusting people, I could never relax. When I couldn't take it anymore I invested all my energy into sports. But being with Orange, all my stress immediately dropped and I felt good again.