"Sloane, did you need something?"
Claire frowned, completely baffled by the unexpected visit.
Meiko shot Sloane an encouraging look.
Sloane managed a strained smile. "Claire, I wanted to apologize to you."
So much time had passed since the incident that Claire honestly couldn't fathom why she was suddenly apologizing.
"Did you do something recently to offend me?"
Sloane choked on her words.
"No, you're overthinking it."
"It's like this," Meiko chimed in, playing the role of the considerate peacemaker.
"Sloane wanted to apologize for the rumors Levi spread."
Claire acted as if she had only just noticed her presence.
"And you are?"
Claire turned her gaze toward the other girl.
This time, it was Meiko's turn to choke.
She had been an exchange student here for over ten days now.
She should have been at least somewhat famous around campus by now, right?
Who didn't know about Meiko, the beautiful and kind-hearted exchange student from Sundara who absolutely adored Solenian culture?
She truly believed she had already made a name for herself.
Yet this girl had no idea who she was.
Looking at Claire's genuinely confused expression, it didn't even seem like she was faking it.
That realization only made Meiko feel more frustrated.
"My name is Meiko. I'm an exchange student from Sundara."
She quickly introduced herself.
Claire finally looked like she understood. "Oh, isn't the exchange student that Taro guy, and... wait, did they swap someone out?"
"I know a couple of the exchange students, but I don't think there's a Meiko among them."
Claire's face was the picture of honesty, looking as though she was merely curious.
Sloane finally gathered her wits and stepped in to defend her new friend.
"You might not know this, Cend.
Meiko arrived recently." .net
"She was delayed because she fell ill earlier."
buts
"Because she's had poor health since childhood, she practically worships our traditional medicine."
Sloane assumed Claire was harboring some sort of prejudice because Meiko was from Sundara.
Most Solenians, like her father Lawrence, held deep-seated biases against people from that country.
It was an issue rooted in history, and she wasn't going to judge them for it.
But Sloane always felt it was unfair to paint everyone with the same brush.
Take Meiko, for example-she was genuinely a nice person.
She was even putting in the effort to
study traditional medicine. Why
should a girl like her, who had never invaded Solenia,
shameful acts pay the price for the
She was just here to learn; what did she do wrong?
"No wonder you two managed to become friends."
"Sloane comes from a prestigious medical family with deep roots."
"Even if you only scratch the surface by hanging around her, it should be more than enough for you."
The words sounded like a compliment, but for some reason, they left a weird taste in the air.
Sloane thought to herself: Would she really only scratch the surface if she stayed by my side?
If Sloane seriously taught her, she could easily turn her into a proper doctor.
Then again, Meiko was only in Solenia for a one- or two-year exchange program. How much could she really learn?
In truth, there was no need for her father to be so guarded around the girl.
As for Meiko?
She was fuming internally. I'm making friends with Sloane, not becoming her lackey!
What did she mean by 'hanging around her' and 'only scratching the surface'?
Who was she looking down on?
The only reason she qualified as an exchange student to Solenia was because of her extraordinary learning capabilities.
If she wanted to, she could master every bit of Solenian medical knowledge!
But right now, Meiko was running on blind confidence.
Once she actually discovered how many thousands of medicinal herbs existed, the infinite variety of symptoms, and how identical
illnesses required completely
different prescriptions depending on the patient, her brain would completely short-circuit.