At that moment, Ren was a little shocked.
Even Hayasaka, standing beside him, was a little caught off guard by the sudden confession.
"Fujiwara-san, are you being serious?"
"Of course I'm serious."
Chika smiled sweetly. She wasn't the type to go with the flow, nor someone who would like a person simply because of power or status.
"I like people who work hard and keep pushing toward their goals, even if they're not particularly good at expressing themselves."
"Well~ I know that sounds like a simple requirement, but in reality, it's not."
"At the very least, I have to actually meet someone like that."
Her words were grounded in realism.
She knew full well that, no matter her own preferences, her final choice would have to be someone more suitable, just like Kaguya's.
Her father wouldn't allow anyone unqualified to get close to her. Just like with her sister.
And within the scope of what her father permitted, she saw very few people who truly worked hard.
"Well~ President Shirogane is one of them."
"But compared to Ren, President Shirogane still gets some support from his father. Ren, on the other hand, has no one backing him. He relied entirely on himself to succeed."
"Kaguya isn't the only one who's looked into that—I've done some digging too. And my father's investigation was even more thorough than I expected."
As someone from an elite government family, it was actually easier for her to dig up that kind of information than it would be for a conglomerate heiress.
So she knew exactly how hard Ren had worked before he revealed any of his current special qualities.
That was true, grueling effort just to survive.
She admired people like that.
Raised in a wealthy household, she hadn't experienced any real hardships. She'd heard about families who struggled, sure but Ren's situation had genuinely shocked her.
Even Shirogane's family wasn't poor from the start. It was only later, when his family's company went bankrupt, that they truly fell into poverty.
But Ren? He had started at rock bottom.
No parents. No family. Just sheer will to support himself through school.
Given that, she found his lack of social skills completely understandable.
Who has time to socialize when you're that busy just trying to survive?
So when she looked at a guy like Ren, who worked so hard, she realized she genuinely liked him. He fit her criteria for a partner completely.
"Then why not choose Shirogane?"
Hayasaka asked bluntly.
Fujiwara rested her chin on her hand, thinking for a while, before answering.
"It's because of his face."
"President Shirogane's eyes look like my dog, Pes. I love Pes, but I can't like President Shirogane the same way I like Pes."
"And the other reason is probably just… a feeling."
It was vague, but that was the kind of answer girls often gave.
Even Chika herself didn't really know how to describe it properly.
"After being in the student council together for a whole year... I still never got the urge to date President Shirogane."
"But I think I could with Amamiya."
"I think it's probably because of his face and mysterious vibe."
That answer was surprisingly honest.
Even Ren had to admit it was likely due to his looks and his aura of mystery that he earned extra points.
So appearance and mystery really did hold a lot of weight.
Even Ren found it hard to believe.
But he wasn't about to complain. After all, this was his second life and it made sense that his genetic luck was better this time around.
Aside from that and the diary that appeared when he was fifteen, he didn't have much going for him.
"Turns out it's pretty normal for both guys and girls to care about looks."
At this point, shouldn't Ren be thanking the parents he never met for giving him these good genes and this face?
"Obviously."
Chika nodded without hesitation.
"These days, people judge each other based on appearance first. Who would even bother to get to know someone without first seeing their face?"
"But there are exceptions. Sometimes you get interested after learning about someone's character, and if the meeting goes well, then the looks just become a bonus."
"…True."
That was pretty accurate.
In this day and age, you at least needed to pass the face-check before anyone would try to understand your inner self. If you didn't meet the visual standard, people wouldn't even want to try.
Even Ren had to admit, when it came to beautiful faces, he wanted to understand those girls better.
Well, his standard for a "cute" girl was about a six, but the girls around him?
They were all nines or above. Top-tier.
"Hey! Fujiwara-san, why don't you go watch the big drama over there instead?"
Ren made a desperate attempt to shift the topic from love interests back to gossip.
"That was a very awkward transition."
Chika smiled as she pointed it out, but she still followed along with the shift in topic.
"That scene was pretty intense, but things like that aren't all that rare in this country."
"Among the people I know, a lot of families connected to Shuchiin's students have bankrupted others in business deals. President Shirogane's family is just one example."
"When people go bankrupt, some can't handle the pressure and end up hanging themselves or jumping off buildings."
"And usually, behind those families, there's at least one person who harbors thoughts of revenge. But it's rare for anyone to actually go through with it."
"Because revenge that drags on for too long rarely holds up."
She hadn't seen anything like that happen at Shuchiin or among the social circles she knew.
"That's true. Hatred that lasts more than ten or twenty years is pretty rare."
Ren agreed with her.
But right now, something like that had happened—twice—in a very short period of time.
"Well, I'm going to record it later."
(To be continued.)