Sending children off for adoption to someone who hasn't even been properly vetted...
Clicking my tongue at what a truly awful orphanage director this was, I headed toward my seat.
As I walked, I noticed children sneaking glances at me from every direction.
Every single face was unfamiliar.
And not one of them looked at me with anything resembling affection.
Guys, I'd really appreciate it if you'd stop staring.
It wasn't like I felt intimidated by children much younger than me, but it was still embarrassing.
Their gazes were way too intense.
Looking at them, I was once again reminded that I had truly transmigrated into another world.
Until I find a way back, this is where I'll have to live.
Together with these children who seemed oddly fascinated by me.
...Honestly, it's only making me want to return to my original world even more.
Besides, who knew what had happened to the real Lopez?
Maybe she was wandering around somewhere after losing her body.
Or perhaps we'd switched places.
If that was the case, then I should return her body as soon as possible.
And if I wanted to hand it back in good condition, I needed to deal with whatever threats were waiting for Lopez in the future.
Having decided on my goals, I sat down.
The green-haired child beside me immediately started crying again because she hated sitting next to me.
Anna, however, refused to change her seat.
While that was happening, Klein seized the opportunity while Medina and Chester were talking and approached me.
Looking down at me coldly, he whispered,
“So you pretended to lose your memory just to get my attention?”
“...”
“I don't believe you.”
“Okay.”
If he didn't believe me, what exactly was I supposed to do about it?
I thought I'd answered reasonably enough, but apparently he took it as mockery.
His face instantly turned icy.
“You...!”
“Klein, stop!”
Medina quickly grabbed him and pulled him away, glancing nervously at me.
Then she whispered to him,
“But Lopez said she lost her memory.”
“Even so, shouldn't she at least apologize?”
The other original male lead, Chester, spoke from behind Medina with a seriousness far beyond his age.
At that, I stood up.
Medina visibly flinched.
Given how the original Lopez had apparently treated her, I couldn't exactly blame her.
Facing the terrified girl, I bowed at a perfect ninety-degree angle.
“I'm sorry. I don't remember anything, but I sincerely apologize for whatever cruel things I did to you.”
Clearly, she hadn't expected that response.
Medina stumbled backward before awkwardly forcing a smile.
“...I-It's okay, Lopez.”
After hearing her answer, I quietly thanked her and straightened up before returning to my seat.
If this had been the original Lopez, she probably would've screamed and denied everything.
So my calm apology seemed to have completely thrown them off.
The bewildered expressions I caught on Chester's and Klein's faces were honestly pretty funny.
Shrugging my shoulders, I turned to comfort my despondent green-haired seatmate.
“Can you stop crying now?”
“WAAAAAHHH!”
Apparently not.
On the surface, Sunflower Orphanage looked perfectly respectable.
In reality, however, it was a vile institution that illegally sold children under the director's supervision.
The child-selling operations were limited to Class Three.
The reason the orphanage had never been caught during inspections was because Classes One and Two provided an excellent cover.
Apparently, the classes weren't divided by academic grades.
The children were evaluated based on health, intelligence, refinement, charm, personality, and various other traits.
Class One contained the top-tier children.
Class Two housed the above-average ones.
Class Three gathered everyone deemed inferior.
In other words, Class Three was the discard pile.
Parents who adopted children from Classes One and Two were overwhelmingly satisfied.
Their glowing praise helped conceal the darkness lurking behind Class Three.
The forgotten children in Class Three were quietly sold off to people who legally shouldn't have been allowed to adopt.
The profits lined the pockets of the orphanage staff.
It's just a novel setting, but this is incredibly cruel to the children.
Shaking my head, I looked around the classroom.
Despite being so young, the children were all paying close attention to the lesson.
Maybe that's because they're in Class One.
Even Lopez belonged to Class One.
She had excellent grades despite her fear of adults, and the orphanage probably believed that fear could eventually be corrected.
Much like Klein, whose horrible personality was overlooked because his other abilities were exceptionally high.
And because of a future incident, I'll eventually be demoted to Class Three.
Originally, that would lead to me being sold to prospective adoptive parents who happened to visit the orphanage at the time.
But I had no intention of letting that happen.
I planned to run away first.
If I wanted to find a way back to my original world, I couldn't remain in an orphanage where I might be sold off at any moment.
Besides, staying in Class One and getting adopted by a nice family would be a problem too.
That would only restrict my freedom.
Most importantly, I needed to avoid being used by the future male leads.
Honestly, being demoted to Class Three didn't bother me at all.
If anything, Class Three—largely ignored by the teachers—was the perfect environment for preparing an escape.
So the plan is simple. Get transferred to Class Three, make my preparations, and leave as quickly as possible.
First, I needed to learn the geography of this world.
I also needed money.
At the moment, I was basically a clueless child.
While I was busy making plans, something suddenly smacked into my head.
An eraser.
Klein glared at me.
“What are you looking at?”
“You threw an eraser at me. Naturally my eyes would look in your direction.”
My perfectly logical response only made his expression darken further.
“Look somewhere else.”
I obediently shifted my gaze.
This wasn't fear.
I simply knew all too well that these male leads were destined to die young, which naturally made me more forgiving.
“So, Lopez,” the teacher suddenly called, “what is the most important thing in life?”
Snapped out of my thoughts, I stood confidently.
“Love.”
The real answer was obviously money, but this was a children's lesson.
Surely they wanted something sentimental.
The teacher stared at me in utter disbelief.
“Go stand outside.”
...Maybe that was too sentimental.
Something was wrong with Lopez.
Not only had she been spacing out during class, but she'd given a completely absurd answer to the teacher's question.
“Love.”
Love?
Did she seriously say love?
The one person who should know the least about that?
Klein was dumbfounded.
The teacher had repeatedly taught them that the most important thing in life was money.
It was such a basic question that even children who weren't paying attention could answer it.
Maybe she really did lose her memory.
Even Lopez couldn't possibly get something that simple wrong.
Meanwhile, Lopez stood outside receiving punishment.
“Teacher! Lopez is falling asleep while standing!”
“...”
She's seriously weird!
Klein should've known from the moment she'd calmly talked back to him instead of throwing a tantrum.
With a look of disgust, he turned away.
The dormitory was surprisingly cozy.
My bed was tucked away in a corner.
The moment I climbed onto it, two children approached me.
Standing with crossed arms and hostile expressions, they issued a warning.
“You'd better behave yourself.”
“And stop bullying Medina!”
“Just because you lost your memory doesn't erase all the awful things you've done!”
The atmosphere around them wasn't exactly friendly.
Or rather, they clearly held a lot of resentment toward Lopez.
When I didn't immediately respond, they seemed to think I was ignoring them and became even more aggressive.
“Or maybe this whole thing is just an act.”
“Just like when you framed Medina.”
“Even though it failed and got you sent to the discipline room.”
They openly sneered at me.
When I simply stared at them in silence, the two exchanged uncertain glances and instinctively took half a step backward.
In situations like this, an apology works best.
I stood up and spoke with complete sincerity.
“I will. I'll be careful. Extremely careful. I'll keep my eyes lowered so we don't even make eye contact. If our shoulders accidentally brush, I'll kneel down and apologize. So please don't worry. And I'm truly sorry to both of you as well. From now on, I'll apologize instead of greeting people.”
The sheer sincerity of my response left one of them completely flustered.
“What? N-No... I wasn't asking for all that...”
Just then, Medina arrived at the dorm.
Hurrying over, she quickly stepped between us.
“Lopez, sorry. You're upset because of me, aren't you? Guys, let's go.”
As they left, I overheard them whispering among themselves.
“Why would she answer like that?”
“Lopez is weird! Maybe she really did lose her memory.”
“Still, we're classmates. Let's not be mean.”
Medina awkwardly smiled as she calmed them down.
Don't kids usually exaggerate things like this?
Puzzled, I lay down on my bed.
After class, the children were busy playing in the water outside.
Medina's cheerful voice echoed from a distance.
“Eek! Klein! Stop splashing only me!”
“Hmph! That's what you get for not taking my side!”
“Come here, Medina! Stand behind me!”
Chester shielded Medina and took the full force of the water attack.
Klein looked annoyed.
Medina giggled shyly.
The three of them stood out immediately.
They're having so much fun... and yet their ending is tragedy.
I couldn't help feeling sorry for them.
Wait... why did the male leads die again?
I knew they died trying to save the heroine.
But strangely enough, I couldn't remember the details.
Tilting my head, I looked away.
The green-haired child beside me was puffing out her cheeks while desperately holding back tears.
Her green eyes—matching her hair—were already glistening.
She was actually a very cute child.
Though for some reason, every time I saw her, she seemed on the verge of crying.
“Do you want to go play in the water?”
“I-I don't want to play with you!”
“Me neither. Since we're in agreement, should I go sit over there?”
“W-WAAAH! Why are you bullying me?!”
Sorry.
I'll be the one to leave.
