The end of class had come much sooner than the brunette thought, and she should have gone and confronted the letter writer.
Haru wasn't afraid of them, she had been brought up enough to handle both physical and verbal combat.
You could say she went purely out of curiosity, well, and to let them know that she wasn't interested in their idol in the way they thought.
As soon as she rounded the corner she was approached from both sides by girls, at first glance they looked like they were playing sports, you could tell not only by their clothes but also by the aura emanating from them, apparently they had been sent to make sure she didn't run away or offer resistance.
"Please follow us and don't think about anything but walking calmly," the girl in blue said.
"Sure," the brunette agreed.
She followed, and the others stared at them, for if one didn't know what was going on in their school, one would think they were guarding Haru. Such thoughts barely held back the smiles that broke out.
Already at the door they hesitated noticeably, each of them asking each other who was going to knock. The brunette knocked, "Head of something there, I've come as your note said."
"Come in," a commanding female voice said.
Haru opened the door, she thought the two girls would come with her as well, but after making sure she was at the appointed place, they ran away.
Having had fun, she closed the door, not caring if she could hear well.
"I'm here, what did you want to talk about?" - The brunette asked, turning to a girl with about the same hair color but a different length and facial features.
"There's a rumor going around school that you got too close to Humbert, and I wanted to know if it was true?" - She said, tapping her fingernail on the table, wanting to add authority and power.
"Random encounter," Haru shrugged
"Explain it normally," little by little, but she was already starting to lose patience.
"It's a long time to explain."
"But I'm willing to listen to whatever you tell me."
"It's hard to talk about, and it will only take up our time."
"It's very important to me as Humbert's bride-to-be," a slight blissful smile spread across her face.
Haru only cringed at such bigotry, but tried to be patient to clear up misunderstandings while they were still in the early stages - "Alright, alright, I'll tell you," she pretended to give up.
"You could have told me right away instead of taking the time yourself," she propped her chin up with her hands.
"It was simple and trivial, I visited the temple for the new year to wish health to my loved ones and there I met a strange man who wanted to meet me, I told him I was a schoolgirl but he still wouldn't let go. And the moment he grabbed my hand, Humbert appeared and saved me, and when he saw me at school he pulled me back to make sure I was safe."
"How romantic," sighed the girl, absorbing the story, but her eyes were full of envy and jealousy, "that's not the point. You do realize that if he's bailed you out once, it's not your destiny."
"Of course, I'm not claiming him. I also want you to understand that if we happen to cross paths in the hallway and exchange a few phrases, it's just a simple conversation between friends, I can't ignore a man just because of the feelings of a girl who isn't his soulmate or wife, and also be calm there's nothing else between us now, and I'm sure in the future too, so you shouldn't be worried and jealous of him of me."
"Would anyone be?"
"Great conceit," Haru realized, "since we've talked, I'll leave first."
"Go ahead," the woman said, letting Haru go.
After saying goodbye to her on the way back, everyone was surprised that she remained unharmed.
"Yoshioko-san," someone said to her, and it was a friend of the baron's.
"What's the matter?"
"I was wondering how it went, I know about the pushiness of those girls, after all, though the Baron isn't worried about you."
"It went much better," she gave him a friendly smile, but quickly wiped the smile away.
"Glad to hear that, I'll go tell him so," and ran off.
Haru was in a great mood until she stepped outside the gate and met the very subordinate father.
"Lady Haru, you're late today," he said worriedly.
The girl wanted to get away from him quickly, for the same wince-inducing stare was still fixed on her, "Chatting with a friend, but aren't you supposed to be by my father's side?"
"Normally, maybe I would be, but these are troubled times and you need some protection."
"I'm strong enough to take care of myself," Haru tried to pull away from him.
"A few tricks won't make you invulnerable."
"Enough, just take me to an alley and hide," she wasn't going to hide her displeasure.
"I can't, you know I can't, and know that this time you can't escape my gaze," he warned her.
"You've really overlooked me, I don't know why my father keeps you around," she cast a leering glance at him.
She wanted to use the cross-dressing trick again like she did on New Year's Eve, but today she decided to play along with this I don't know what to call man and walk him to her street.
The next day the school was quiet, apparently they knew about her relationship with the Baron, or it was an order from the head of the school, but everything was quiet, no one was even surprised when she exchanged greetings with the members of their fan club.