During the class period, Lana Colette kept glancing sideways at Monica who has been feeling down lately.
The reason must have been Casey's sudden withdrawal from school. Lana only heard about it from others, but she heard it was because of family reasons.
Those who drop out of school due to family reasons were not uncommon in this academy.
But for Monica, who has few friends, Casey's withdrawal must have come as a terrible shock. For the past few days, she has always been sad and downcast, even when talking to Lana, she has been strangely awkward.
Even at lunch, while Lana was lashing out at Claudia, Monica was kind of in a daze.
Looking back, it was Casey's presence at the lunch table that kept the place alive. Whenever Lana and Claudia got into an argument, Casey would moderately admonish them, and when Monica was silent, Casey would casually bring up the topic.
Even Lana felt a little sad at Casey's withdrawal. Though the iron-faced Claudia probably didn't feel the same way.
Eventually, when class was over, Lana approached Monica's desk.
Monica was the type of person whose ups and downs were directly reflected in the way she dressed and styled her hair. As expected, she forgot to button her sleeves, and some strands were sticking out of her braided hair in a silly manner.
Lana approached Monica from behind and pressed on her sticking-out hair with her fingers.
"You forgot to button your sleeves."
"Huh? Ah, you're right…"
Monica hadn't realized this until she was approached by Lana.
While Monica was fumbling to re-button her sleeves, Lana held her hair that was sticking out and pinned it up in place. This should make her look a little better.
"We're going to have an elective class now. Hey, what class did you end up choosing, Monica?"
"Um… my first choice is chess, and my second choice is law class."
"The chess class will start at today first period. Since we are going in the same direction, let's walk there together."
"Y-Yeah."
Nodding her head, Monica packed away her writing materials and stood up.
Lana secretly pondered as she walked side by side with Monica.
She had no idea what kind of topic to bring up at a time like this. She tried to come up with a variety of topics, but all that came to mind was the latest fad. And Lana could tell that Monica was not interested in such things.
"S-Speaking of which, Monica, have you decided on the dress to wear for the ball after the school festival?"
"…………….."
Monica stood blankly with her mouth agape and eyes rounded before turning her eyes toward Lana.
Lana was expecting a response like "I haven't prepared anything yet," but judging from Monica's expression, perhaps…
"Monica? You are aware that we will be having a ball on the night of the school festival, right?"
"Yeah, I had read that on the schedule…but I assumed we were going to participate in uniform…"
Lana remembered now that Monica was a transfer student.
In Serendia Academy, students basically wore uniforms during ceremonies, but for the balls held afterward, students naturally wore their own formal wear. Especially the ball held after the school festival and graduation ceremony was a grand affair. All the students dressed up to the nines.
"…can't I attend in uniform?"
"That's not a good idea, even for a student council member…"
"Ugh…"
Student council members were in charge of the venue of the ball. There was no way they could be absent, and if they attended the ball in their uniforms, it would only embarrass them.
"…Monica, do you have a dress?"
Monica shook her head mutely.
As expected, thought Lana as she put her hand to her forehead.
The school festival was just two weeks away. She didn't think that Monica could prepare the dress by herself.
"I'll lend you my old one if you like. It's already out of fashion in color and design, though."
"Eh, but…"
Monica mumbled as she kneaded her fingers and cast her head down.
Lana pursed her lips into a pout.
"What, you don't like my secondhand stuff?"
"I-I don't mean it like that… I just…"
Monica's voice was kind of shaky like she was about to cry. Her unreliable eyebrows furrowed, and a film of tears slowly formed in her round eyes.
"I've always received so much help from you…and I haven't been able to give anything back…"
Monica's head was turning lower and lower.
Eventually, all Lana could see was Monica's crown… so she pushed it with her fingers.
"I'm not expecting anything in return."
"…even so…"
"I-I mean, you don't need a reason to be nice to your friends, right?"
Pulling her fingers back from the crown of her head, she saw Monica's head slowly lifts.
Monica still looked bewildered.
"…thank you, Lana."
Monica thanked her in a faint voice. The tears that should have receded a little, for some reason, filled up again along with a strong sense of guilt on her face.
Can she honestly rely on Lana without any remorse?
Lana folded her arms pouted and glared lightly at Monica.
"The dress needs to be adjusted a bit, so come to my room at another time. Anyway, Monica, do you wear a corset?"
"I've never worn any…"
"What!?"
Lana always wore a light corset under her uniform, even now. For a girl in her late teens, this should be a matter of course…but when Lana took a closer look at Monica's figure, she was convinced.
Her small figure, which could easily be said to be in her early teens, was too thin rather than slender.
"…W-Well, you certainly don't have any fat to tie up…"
"…………"
Still, if she tightened her waist more and stuffed her breasts, she would look a little more feminine.
So Lana secretly vowed to herself to wear the corset she had used in her early teens.
