I Became the Bully that gets Avenged by The Academy

Chapter 6

Lucia's POV

When I entered the restaurant building, I was shocked.

Although I had been to Western restaurants before, I had never been to one this large—or rather, something so massive that I wondered if it could even be called a restaurant.

I had expected it to be a Western-style restaurant, but the place Isabella had brought me to didn't exclusively serve Western cuisine.

One section was filled with familiar Western dishes, while another was packed with Eastern cuisine.

Even though I had thought I'd eaten a variety of foods before, I'd never seen such a wide selection of dishes from so many different countries.

"Please eat whatever you want, as much as you'd like."

Isabella said this to the shocked Lucia.

Eat whatever and however much I wanted? With more unfamiliar dishes than familiar ones, I, who admittedly had some difficulty making choices, found myself struggling to decide what to order.

***

Isabella's POV

Actually, despite being called a restaurant, the place I chose was, more accurately, a buffet.

Knowing that buffet-style dining—where people could take various types of food in large quantities—hadn't really developed in this world due to aristocratic culture, I submitted a proposal during the vacation to start operating one as a trial.

Wealthy people who enjoyed eating a lot or found menu selection troublesome and wanted to try many things rated this place very highly, and many customers continued to visit afterward.

Though the main clientele consisted of people with considerable means, once the buffet proved successful enough, Father started entrusting me with most of the authority over this business.

Well, I was already familiar with management from my heir training.

Initially, I managed the restaurant alone, but later let trusted executives handle the operations.

Anyway, leaving Lucia, who was experiencing this buffet-style restaurant for the first time, I started selecting my own food.

I was craving spicy food after a long time, so I went to the Asian section and gathered familiar dishes from my previous life before sitting down.

As I sat there slowly savoring my food, Lucia had already taken a seat beside me.

She came with her plate piled high with steak, pasta, fried foods, and various other dishes, her mouth corners turned up in obvious delight.

Well, given her circumstances, she probably hadn't had the chance to eat such a variety of expensive foods before, so her reaction was natural.

Seeing Lucia's joy made me happy as I resumed eating my food.

As I started eating again, Lucia began cutting into her steak beside me.

After that, Lucia quietly cut and ate her steak, and I watched her while eating my spicy food.

Of course, since Isabella's body couldn't handle spicy food well, I had to drink lots of milk and beverages that could neutralize the spiciness, which meant I couldn't eat too much of the actual food.

"Is it delicious?"

"*chew chew*... *gulp*... Yes."

When I asked her, Lucia swallowed her food before answering.

"I'm glad you like it. This is my first time coming to this restaurant with someone else."

"Your first time? May I ask why? It's such a nice restaurant."

"Ah, there's no particular reason. Really, just because."

I can eat with Father at home, and I don't want to come to places like this with those socializing folks.

And as for the people I usually spend time with—like subsidiary company employees or the maid—they would prefer normal restaurants to this buffet-style one, so there was no reason to come here with others.

"It's nice eating together at a good place like this. How do you find it, Lucia?"

"I think it's a really wonderful restaurant."

"Haha. I'm glad you say that. It's my restaurant, after all. Please let me know if there's anything uncomfortable or you don't like, and I'll try to incorporate your feedback."

"Not at all. I truly think it's an excellent restaurant."

That's a relief.

The only feedback I could get about this restaurant was from the managing director and internet reviews, so I wasn't sure.

It's not like I'm particularly knowledgeable about fine dining, either.

But if Lucia says it's good, it must not be bad.

Afterward, I spent time handling work while occasionally glancing at her as she quietly ate her pasta and tried other menu items.

When she finished her meal, I organized my papers and asked her:

"Well, shall we head back now?"

She agreed to return, and after I dropped her off at her home, I came back to the mansion.

On the way to her house, since she wasn't too tired and hadn't fallen asleep, I asked her several questions.

Questions that were casual yet personal—what foods she liked, her hobbies, and what she usually did.

Fortunately, Lucia answered my questions well, and I got to know her better.

I realized she wasn't simply a female version of the protagonist but a living, breathing main character of this world and a unique individual.

Even though I had known this all along, there were times when I associated Lucia with the protagonist, but now I can say for certain.

***

Lucia's POV

I entered my home, excited after having eaten such a variety of delicious foods after such a long time.

Though small and cold, it was a home I had grown attached to after living there for so long.

I took a quick shower and lay in bed, lost in thought.

Isabella.

I recalled what Isabella, who was popular and well-regarded both inside and outside the academy, had said today.

I was honestly surprised to learn that this was her first time eating at that restaurant with someone else, especially since she had seen her talking with many people at the academy and assumed she went to various places with her many friends.

It couldn't be helped—Isabella was one of the country's most popular and kind-hearted wealthy people.

Although she had definitely bullied me, why wouldn't someone like Isabella go to such nice places with others?

Why did she choose to go there for the first time with me?

Perhaps because I was the only one who knew her hidden nasty side from being bullied, Isabella was either trying to keep that side hidden from others or buying my silence? I wasn't sure.

I couldn't predict Isabella's intentions at all.

I couldn't understand why Isabella, who had made me run errands and do strange things until just before school started, had suddenly changed.

"Sigh.... What am I supposed to do...?"

Though Isabella had bought me clothes and treated me to food, I still felt awkward—no, uncomfortable around her.

How could I laugh and enjoy myself with someone who had bullied me just two months ago?

Well, I did giggle to myself at the restaurant today, but still, how could it be that easy?

But one thing was clear.

I could tell that Isabella didn't intend to bully me like before anymore.

Otherwise, why would she spend money on me and buy her a ring... though I didn't understand why she bought the ring, there would be no reason for all this.

While she couldn't predict Isabella's intentions, Lucia thought that at least this situation wasn't bad.

The next day, I was working her part-time jobs as usual. Just regular service industry work.

My part-time jobs changed by the hour.

Starting with convenience store work, I also did kitchen work at restaurants and even magic tutoring.

Of course, from a monetary perspective, magic tutoring paid the best, but with magic becoming more commonplace, it was more convenient to learn magic in-depth at the academy or its affiliated institutions, so there wasn't much demand for tutoring.

However, sometimes children who couldn't leave their homes for various reasons needed such tutoring, so I mainly taught magic to such children.

Although magic tutoring wasn't exclusively about magic, the basic content was magical instruction.

Anyway, all the money I earned from my part-time jobs went to her rent and food expenses.

Sometimes, I had a tiny bit left over, but it was too small for luxuries, so I just saved it without spending it.

While working, I fell into thought.

I felt uncomfortable about Isabella constantly buying things for me lately.

Even though she had a lot of money, it felt awkward to keep receiving things.

At first, I didn't mind much since it was clearly compensation for running errands, but it became too uncomfortable as Isabella kept buying things!

Would the situation improve if she could do something for Isabella?

However, I wasn't confident that Isabella—the heir to a global corporation—would be satisfied with anything I could give.

While pondering this as I went between my part-time jobs, I spotted a necklace displayed in a small shop window.

A simple yet pretty necklace, though not particularly flashy.

The moment she saw that necklace, I went into the store and bought it.

Fortunately, it wasn't too expensive, but she had bought it suddenly.

It was truly impulsive and instinctive.

And the reason for this impulsive and instinctive action was that she thought the necklace would suit Isabella perfectly.