Some time passed. The class went on to learn a bit more about magic, which Lillian had already been through, and eventually, lunch came around.
Currently, in the residential district of the Marketplace of Wonder—most commonly known as the Bazaar—was a quaint little cafe.
Lillian stood at the counter and waited, watching as the male barista prepared her coffee.
"Here’s your large Cappuccino," he said, gently placing a large white mug with two separate handles on each end on a small porcelain plate that was on top of a long, dark wooden tray.
The coffee’s layer of white form was decorated with a generous amount of chocolate dust.
"And here is your slice of strawberry and vanilla cake."
Beside the large Cappuccino, was a delectable white frosted cake with half-sliced strawberries placed on top of it like a crown.
Lillian then watched as the man turned around the card reader. The price for the overall items was—
"3 Semis, please."
She nodded and held her phone over the scanner.
Ding...!
Lillian held the tray and thanked the Barista, who nodded back and got to work servicing another customer.
She then turned her eyes back to the interior of the cafe. It had a jungle-like aesthetic to it with its vine-like decorations crawling along the walls.
She squinted her eyes, looking around before spotting a pair of beautiful girls at a round table.
Millis stared down at her notebook with an annoyed expression and glanced at her phone beside her.
On her screen was a set of questions related to what she had learned from Magic Theory class.
It was homework.
She fidgeted with her pen, clicking it repeatedly and shooting brief stares at Marionette, who was calmly making her way through the questions with ease—occasionally pausing to sip her coffee.
"Hey, what questions are ya on...?"
"... 19."
"Huh!?"
Millis groaned, "How the hell are ya getting through these so easily?" she asked, leaning her elbows on the table and placing her cheeks in her hands.
Marionette glanced up at her, stopping, and thought about how to answer. And in her usual nonchalant tone, she said:
"Just focus in class."
"But I did focus! I was jotting done notes like mad!"
"Then do it better. Everything you have written down should’ve—"
"Oh, hey, Lil!"
Millis interrupted Marionette as she waved at the approaching white-haired girl, who stared at them softly. After placing the tray on the table and pulling out a chair, she asked her:
"Hey. How’s the homework going?"
Millis groaned.
"Terrible. I’m still stuck on Number 7. What kind of person gives homework on the first day of school!" she growled.
Lillian shrugged.
"The ones that want us to do well in our studies, I guess..." she said, holding her fork and slicing through a small part of the cake.
In the game, the Sorceress would always give out quizzes and homework—a sort of thing every person dreads. But she felt like it was an understandable decision since the exams for it were actually quite hard.
Mainly because there aren’t any multiple-choice questions. It was all written and took hours to finish.
After chewing and swallowing the cut-off piece, she sighed—already anxious about the exams even though it wasn’t even near them.
She then asked, standing up and wandering behind Lillian and peering over her shoulder.
"What question was that again? The one about whether or not eating the Mana Core of a human would allow them to absorb their Mana?"
"Eh... something like that." Millis glanced at Lillian’s face. The two then began to go through the questions at a much greater speed compared to before when it was only Millis.
Marionette stared at them—her elbows resting against the table and her fingers interlocked together—hiding the lower half of her face behind her hands.
Her eyes narrowed slightly at how close in proximity they were and the edges of her lips curled downwards into a small frown.
After a while, Lillian leaned back and returned to her seat. Millis breathed a sigh of relief as she leaned back in her chair.
"Finally done..." she then stared at Lillian, "Aren’t you going to do yours as well? Or do you want me to send my notes to you so you can copy them?"
Lillian shrugged, "I can just do them when I get back to the dorm."
"Lillian..."
"Hm?"
She turned to Marionette, who called out to her.
"Yes?" she tilted her head.
Marionette tapped her notebook with the tip of her pen with a raised brow. Lillian tilted her head.
"Is there something wrong? Did you run out of ink? Wow... you write a lot huh—" Lillian’s assumption seemed to be incorrect since Marionette tapped at her book again.
Lillian’s eye twitched. Was Marionette back to being unable to express herself properly again? Wait... if she was...
Lillian held her chin with a thoughtful expression before lighting up like a bulb. "Wait...! Do you want me to help you?" That is what she wanted to say but it didn’t sound right.
However, these words of hers seemed to have been able to make themselves known in her eyes as Marionette stared and nodded at them.
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"Yes."
Lillian was shocked—confused even. Marionette actually needed help?
"Eh? You need help?"
"Yes. Am I not allowed to ask for help?" she asked, her voice lowering a bit.
Lillian nervously chuckled as she got out of her seat.
"N-no! I’ll be happy to. Hehe..."
She wandered around the table and reached Marionette’s side. She placed her hands against the table and leaned against it, looking over and staring down at Marionette’s elegant notes before...
"Heh?"
... Lillian found herself in Marionette’s lap.
Marionette rested her chin on Lillian’s right shoulder and wrapped her left arm around her waist.
"W-what are you d-doing, Marion—!?"
"I hope you don’t mind us working like this. I feel like it would be much more efficient." Marionette stated, squeezing Lillian tighter.
Lillian’s body couldn’t help but tense up. Why was Marionette so suddenly intimate with her?
She fidgeted in her lap like a shivering rabbit that wasn’t prepared to be held so closely and...
... Tightly...
She was indeed no stranger to Marionette’s sudden acts of intimacy but she can’t help but feel taken aback each time it happens.
"W-what is with you today..." Lillian whispered.
"I have no idea what you could possibly mean, Lillian," Marionette responded before tapping at a question with the back of her pen.
She then slightly moved her lips closer to Lillian’s ear and whispered:
"Now... can we begin? I am particularly stuck on this one?"
Lillian shivered a bit before nodding, "R-right..."
’I’ll get her back for this when we get back to the dorm!’
As they went through the answers, Millis couldn’t help but stare at them in a dumbfounded manner. She then muttered under her breath:
"These two really aren’t dating, right?"
They couldn’t possibly, right? Especially when they have only known each other for a week. Wasn’t this going a bit too fast?
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Marionette glanced up at her before giving a small smirk. She then returned her focus back on the questions, putting back on her usual stoic face once Lillian turned to look at her.
Millis’s eye twitched. Was she taunting her now?
She just sighed and shook her head. She then took a look at her phone and checked the time. They had about an hour of lunch.
[11:45]
Some time has passed. Millis casually scrolled through her phone, giggling like a child from the countless short-form videos.
Time from time, she would occasionally glance up from her attractive screen and gaze at the "couple".
Lillian continued to shuffle around in Marionette’s lap, feeling her chest press against her back and her elegant and unintentionally seductive voice whispering into her ear.
Her red hot face stayed the same as she still noted how Marionette’s arm was still wrapped around her waist, preventing her from leaving... well... until she finished "helping" her.
She was still unsure whether or not Marionette actually needed her help or not. She seemed to be doing well without her help and understood her hints with superb understanding.
"D-do you really need my help? I feel like you could’ve gotten this done minutes ago..." Lillian asked, turning her head slightly to the side and staring into Marionette’s eyes.
Marionette continued to rest her chin on Lillian’s shoulder.
"Yes. Do you perhaps not want to? Or do you prefer if we..." her words slowed down—her arm tightened her hold around Lillian’s waist. "Not want to help me?"
"Wha—I didn’t say that. I just feel like you already have a good enough understanding of this particular topi—"
Marionette interrupted her by dropping her pen and grabbing her chin. They stared into one another eyes.
She then asked in a low voice, her eyes narrowing.
"Consider this a bonding experience, Lillian. Nothing wrong with that, right? Just two friends getting along with each other and helping each other. That’s definitely what they do, right?"
Lillian gulped and thought, ’I am so getting her back for this when we get back to the dorm!’