Chapter 69
Chapter 69
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: The Academy's Saintess (4)
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I took a moment to survey the scene unfolding before me.
In the midst of a gaudily dressed group of students stood a small girl, Aisha, pitifully hanging her head.
"........"
Disheveled hair, chapped lips, and clear tear tracks streaking her cheeks.
The sight of the girl's brightly swollen cheek made me feel like something inside my head was about to snap right then and there.
But I somehow regained my composure and tightened my grip on the wrist I was still holding, asking one final question.
"Answer me. Why were you bullying my friend?"
The girl who'd been grabbed flinched for a moment at the question, then twisted her face into a venomous scowl as she yanked her hand free.
"What? Let go of me!"
Startled by her momentum, I took a step back.
The flashy-looking girl brushed off the sleeve I'd grabbed, then let out a scoff of disbelief.
"Ha, seriously. What a joke. Who does she think she is, some cop?"
She started to continue her mockery but stopped short, unable to finish her sentence.
She flinched involuntarily under my steady gaze. Finally, she stammered out an excuse-like response.
"Y-you really don't know? She's a scholarship kid. She's a parasite leeching off the academy while eating up the expensive tuition we pay. They bring in some street rat and let her study, so she should know her place and act accordingly. But no, she keeps trying to compete with us, acting all high and mighty. If you're from the gutter, stay in the gutter quietly. What does she think she is, getting good grades? Thinks she'll become an executive or something? As if."
She spat on the ground near Aisha with a "Ptoo!"
Aisha's shoulders shrank at the display.
"......."
I knew academy students were sensitive about rankings. They factored into personnel evaluations when companies reviewed graduates for hiring. Even those who looked like thugs on the outside were academy students who staked their lives on their class standings.
'But was it really just for something that pathetic?'
Just because she was a scholarship student outperforming them? That flimsy excuse for tormenting such a tiny kid like this?
It was absurd. Something boiled inside me.
Unaware or uncaring of my feelings, the flashy girl narrowed her eyes slyly and continued.
"Come to think of it, you're a new face. Since you seem like a freshman, I'll let it slide this once. Watch yourself."
"......."
I met her gaze steadily without a word, and she flinched again.
Averting her eyes, she tried to bluff it out.
"I-I'm letting you off because you don't know any better! Got it? Watch your step! Do you... even know who my dad is?"
"Haa."
I couldn't hold back a sigh in the end.
I could hardly believe she'd actually said something like that.
So I answered flatly.
"I don't want to know, and I don't need to."
"...I was gonna let you off, but you just had to be a bitch to the end!"
Unable to take my retort anymore, she twisted her face in anger.
It was right then, as she raised her hand to slap me.
Esty stepped forward abruptly and seized the girl's wrist. With a single tight squeeze, a scream of agony erupted.
-Crack
"Aaack!!!"
The groan echoed through the alley.
Seeing her unhesitating force, the surrounding students hesitated.
"What do we do?"
"I-I don't know... shit..."
Soon, they began fleeing the alley one by one, avoiding Esty's menacing glare.
"Guh, hngh..."
Left alone, the girl clutched her broken wrist and struggled to lift her head.
Through her smeared eye makeup, venomous eyes glared at me.
A cracked voice leaked from her twisted lips.
"You... you're dead meat...!"
I met her gaze clearly and replied.
"Dead meat?"
"......"
"That's what we should be saying. If you bully her again, it won't end like this. Got it?"
After delivering the warning, I nodded toward the alley entrance.
She cradled her swollen wrist, staggered to her feet hesitantly, then glanced around and bolted out.
With the situation resolved.
The only one left here now was the girl slumped on the ground in a wretched state.
I pulled out a handkerchief. Carefully, I wiped the dirt and tear stains from her face, tapping gently to avoid her swollen cheek.
"Aisha, are you okay?"
Her large eyes, looking up at me, shook in bewilderment.
"If this kind of bullying happens again after today, tell me right away. I'll take care of it somehow."
Aisha's expression wavered at my words.
The girl who'd endured the torment without so much as a breath finally stammered a snotty response.
"L-Lady... no, milady..."
"Huh? Did you forget my name already?"
I teased lightly to ease the mood, and she frantically shook her head.
"N-No, absolutely not... E-E-E-Eve... ma'am..."
"I'm kidding. No need to be so tense. Now, take a deep breath—"
Aisha followed my lead, steadying her breathing.
After several deep breaths, she seemed a bit calmer. Looking up at me, she asked cautiously.
"Um... if it's not rude, can I ask one thing...?"
"Anything."
"Why... why did you help someone useless like me...?"
Her voice mixed with various emotions. My answer was simple.
"Don't you remember? We're friends."
"Friends...?"
Aisha repeated blankly.
"Yeah. Does helping a friend in trouble need some grand reason?"
"......"
After a long silence, she asked again.
"Really... can someone like me... be friends with you, Eve?"
I shook my head gently at that. Disappointment instantly spread across her face. She must have thought it was a refusal.
To the girl, I told her the truth once more.
"We already are."
"........."
She stared at me blankly.
Then her face crumpled like an ugly crybaby's, and she burst into uncontrollable tears.
I simply patted the small child sobbing pitifully in my arms for a good while.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Roxie sat in the unmanned taxi, fuming.
Her makeup smeared disastrously across her face. Clutching her swollen wrist, she vented her rage.
'That crazy bitch... freaking insane...! How dare she do this to me?! I'll never forgive her!'
After riding the taxi for a while, she finally arrived at her apartment.
Roxie deliberately mussed her hair even more at the door, then kicked it open.
"Dad! Daaaad!!! Waaah!!"
Just then, she spotted the back of the one family member she most wanted to see, standing in the living room.
"At the academy, I... hngh, snff—"
She sobbed dramatically, thrusting out her swollen hand like a trophy of injury.
But oddly, her father showed no reaction.
"......?"
After pitching her fit for a while, Roxie paused, puzzled, and stopped crying.
Only then did her father turn to look at her.
His face was chillingly cold, like ice—an expression she'd never seen before.
"D-Dad...?"
In that instant, stars exploded in Roxie's vision.
Slap—!!!
When she came to, she was sprawled in a corner of the living room.
'Wha... what?'
Her body, wretchedly on the floor, felt alien.
Only belatedly did she realize her father had slapped her—not a light tap, but a full-force blow without holding back. The impact had knocked her out briefly, and her head still rang.
Her cheek swelled hot as if branded by fire.
"D... Dad?"
Roxie looked up in pained confusion. But the gentle father she always knew was gone.
In his place, a brutally cold voice echoed through the living room—not the doting dad who never refused her coquettish requests.
"Roxanna Peregrine. From now on, answer my questions as if your life depends on it."
His gaze on his own daughter was unbelievably ruthless.
Standing there was no longer her father, but Pierce Peregrine, mid-level executive at a Lumina Group subsidiary.
Glaring down at his terrified daughter, the man growled through gritted teeth.
"What the hell did you do at the academy?"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Lumina Academy, Class 1-C.
The classroom was unusually rowdy today.
Blair, a girl just entering the room, frowned at the noise.
'Already pissed off as hell...'
"God, seriously! Shut up already!"
Her outburst silenced the room instantly. The other students all eyed her warily.
She was a member of the class powerhouse, the Railink Crew.
A clique formed by children of employees from Railink Express, Lumina Group's logistics subsidiary.
Adults might scoff at kids banding together as a "faction," but peers had their own hierarchies and order. A crew of subsidiary kids carried real weight in the academy.
In the now-quiet classroom, someone spoke to Blair as she took her seat.
"What's got our princess so pissed off today?"
Sharon, the lively girl sitting next to her.
Not a crew member, but from similar stock, so they got along casually.
Blair answered Sharon offhandedly, recalling yesterday.
"Dunno. Just stuff."
That day had been the usual.
Some cranky crew member taking out frustrations from boyfriend troubles on the class weaklings.
The sparks flying to a scholarship kid with no backing—par for the course.
But yesterday's ending was off.
'Some weirdos butted in...'
We'd ended up fleeing like chased rats. It left a nagging unease.
"......"
Blair shook off the bad feeling by asking idly.
"Roxie still not here?"
"How should I know? You guys know her deal better."
"Tch, whatever. So why's everyone so rowdy today? Been noisy since earlier. Something happen while I was out yesterday for crew stuff?"
"Oh, you haven't heard about that incident?"
Sharon grinned. Like a reporter with a scoop, she lowered her voice to a whisper.
"Yesterday, a transfer student from the special class accidentally ended up in our room for a bit."
"Special class?"
Blair's eyes widened slightly. Unlike regular class kids with company employee or mid-manager parents, special class was for true elites. They were on different floors entirely—no chance of crossing paths.
Sharon whispered conspiratorially again.
"Not just any special class transfer. A 'royal family' one, they say. Rumor has it she's the chairman's relative from another city."
"Chairman's relative...? For real? Whoa, insane... What mix-up made a lady like that come to our class...?"
"No clue. But huge, right?"
Up to then, Blair was just amazed at the distant-world gossip.
In a corporate academy, the chairman's blood was heaven above heaven.
Nothing but a vague, awe-inspiring concept.
It even sparked celebrity-rumor-level interest. So she pressed for more.
"So, what was this royal family lady like? Different from us?"
Sharon replied enviously.
"Well... she's gorgeous, for starters. Sparkling silver hair, clear blue eyes—like a fairy appeared. Unreal. Think about it: that looks, plus chairman's kin? She's got it all. World's so unfair."
"Agreed."
Blair nodded. No wonder the classroom buzzed from morning with such juicy drama.
Impressed inwardly, she eagerly listened to Sharon's tale.
But for some reason, a corner of her mind grew uneasy.
The description of this "lady" Sharon kept gushing about felt oddly familiar.
'Gorgeous silver hair, blue eyes...'
But how could she have met the chairman's relative?
Must be a mix-up, she thought, shaking her head inwardly.
As she lapped up the classroom rumors and speculation...
Suddenly, yesterday's memory flashed in her mind.
A foreboding premonition followed.
'Wait. No way... no, no, no way...!'
The more it resurfaced, the paler her face drained.
Soon, her complexion was corpse-like.
Even oblivious Sharon tilted her head in genuine worry after her endless chatter.
"Hey, your face... it's ghost-white. You sick? Want me to call an ambulance?"
"........."
Blair didn't answer. Couldn't. Her mind was blank.
Her head bleached white. Dizzy enough she could barely breathe.
"Ah......"
Ding-dong-daeng-dong- ♬
The academy bell signaling class start rang distantly in her fading ears, but...
To Blair now, it sounded like a death knell.
"Aaaaaah!!!!!!"
"Whoa, what's with you?! Crazy? Screaming out of nowhere?"