Reincarnated with an SSS-rank Tamer System: My Harem of Villainesses-Chapter 37 - A Misunderstanding?

Adam and Piers walked in silence through the academy hallways in search of Evelyne now that classes had ended.

It was already early evening, around seven or eight at night, a perfect hour to train without the heat of the day or too many students wandering around.

Both of them were wearing more comfortable clothes for training. Though first they would have to wait for Evelyne to accept the proposal before starting anything.

Adam had his hands in his pockets as he walked with his usual neutral expression.

That was when they saw her.

Evelyne was standing near the main courtyard alongside two other girls whom Adam immediately recognized: Valeria Ashcroft and Sophia Stormcrown. The three of them appeared to be in the middle of a serious conversation, as their expressions said it all.

’What are those two doing with Evelyne?’ Adam thought as he approached.

Piers was the first to speak when they arrived; he greeted her in a friendly tone, though clearly directed only at Evelyne. "Hi, Evelyne."

He didn’t greet the other two because he simply didn’t have enough confidence, even though they shared the same class.

Evelyne turned her head toward them and her expression shifted slightly, something Adam noticed but couldn’t fully interpret.

At that moment Adam could feel the gazes of the three girls fixed on him in a strange way. It wasn’t curiosity or interest. There was something else behind those looks that made him slightly uncomfortable.

’Is it because of the rumors?’ he immediately thought. ’It must be because of the rumors about Alice.’

But he decided to ignore it and got straight to the point.

"Evelyne, we wanted to talk to you about next week’s tournament. Piers and I thought we could train together to—"

He didn’t manage to finish the sentence when he noticed Valeria Ashcroft stepping toward him with quick, firm strides and, before he could even fully react to what was happening, she raised her hand and slapped him hard across the face.

The sound echoed throughout the area.

Adam felt the sting on his cheek immediately as his head turned slightly to the side from the impact. He remained completely still, trying to understand what had just happened.

Piers tensed at once, looking between Adam and Valeria without understanding in the slightest what was going on.

Adam took several seconds to react. He slowly turned his head back toward Valeria, glancing at her from the corner of his eye with his hand still in his pocket while a single thought crossed his mind.

’Huh?’

Before he could formulate any question, he noticed Valeria’s gaze, which was filled with pure hatred...

Without saying a single word, she turned around and began walking away quickly.

Sophia followed her immediately, though not without first casting him a look mixed with disappointment and something else Adam couldn’t identify.

’But what the hell...?’ Adam thought as he watched both of them leave.

Some students who had been nearby remained in complete silence, observing the entire scene without daring to make a sound. The murmurs would begin at any moment.

"Adam?" Piers asked nervously, clearly not knowing what to do or say.

Adam only looked at him briefly before turning his attention back to Evelyne, who was still standing there watching him with an expression that was hard to read.

That was when she spoke.

"And you’re pretending to be confused?" she said in a dry tone.

Adam frowned at that. "What do you mean?"

Evelyne stepped closer until she was barely a meter away, looking him directly in the eyes. "I didn’t think the rumors were true."

’All because of that?’

"When we saw her that night at the restaurant." Evelyne said as her voice grew firmer. "You reacted as if you didn’t know her. As if you had never seen her before."

’Who?’ Adam still didn’t understand.

"And now you do this at the academy." she added as she shook her head slightly. "With her here too. Seriously?"

Adam tried to process those words for several seconds as he attempted to connect the dots. The restaurant... the girl he had seen...

’Alice?’ he thought in confusion. ’Is she talking about Alice?’

But he didn’t remember seeing Alice at any restaurant before meeting her at the training grounds.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about." he finally said in a genuinely confused tone.

Evelyne looked at him for another moment before sighing, frustration and clear disappointment evident in her expression. "Whatever you say, Adam..."

She turned to leave, but before getting too far, she murmured something under her breath that Adam barely managed to hear. "I don’t want to train with you."

And she left.

Adam stood there with the same confused expression as he watched Evelyne disappear down one of the hallways. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

’What the hell just happened?’ was the only thing he could think as he tried to understand the situation.

Slowly he began to notice the gazes of other students who were still watching him from different angles of the courtyard. Some with curiosity and others ranging from surprise to disappointment.

Adam turned his head toward them and several immediately looked away, pretending they hadn’t been watching the whole scene.

Finally he looked at Piers, who was still standing beside him with a nervous and uncomfortable expression as he shifted slightly from side to side.

The silence between them stretched for several seconds that felt much longer than they really were.

Adam finally broke the silence with a direct question while maintaining his neutral tone despite the confusion he felt. "Do you know what she was referring to?"

Piers opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again and finally shook his head. "I have no idea. But... maybe it has something to do with those rumors?"

That topic of rumors again. What was so wrong about sleeping with a girl? It’s not like he was engaged to someone for them to act like that...

The sting on his cheek was still present, reminding him that he had just been slapped publicly by one of the most important nobles in the academy without having the slightest idea why.

’Perfect.’ He thought sarcastically as he felt the situation growing more complicated by the second. ’Just what I needed.’