Chapter 56: Thief
"I take care of my bloodworms with all my heart. I even treat them like my own children. More than my grades or failing this class, I care about my bloodworms. After all, they are living creatures too," Nora sobbed.
The male student standing beside her gently patted Nora’s shoulder, giving her an encouraging look.
"Thank you, Orin," Nora replied with a gentle smile despite her tearful eyes.
"Since things have gone this far, I’ll be honest. I never meant to accuse or expose another classmate’s wrongdoing, but..."
"It’s okay, Nora. Tell us the truth," Orin interjected, looking at Nora with heartache. But when he turned toward Shani, his expression became sharp.
Slater had absolutely no interest in the cheap drama unfolding in front of him. He wanted to end this as quickly as possible.
But Shani suddenly asked calmly, "Are you accusing me of doing something to your bloodworms?"
"Nora isn’t accusing you. You took her bloodworms!" Orin cut in aggressively.
Shani raised one eyebrow. Her gaze shifted between the tearful Nora and the empty container sitting on Nora’s desk.
"Do you have any proof?" Shani asked, still completely calm.
Orin was displeased by Shani’s attitude. Nora gently held his arm, looking at him as if telling him she could handle this.
Then she answered Shani’s question with a nod. "I have photos of my bloodworms."
"Before that, I want to tell everyone that for the past few days, because Shani sits directly in front of me, I often pass by her bloodworms. When I saw how small and thin they were, I felt really sorry for them. But I didn’t want to overstep, so all I could do was stay quiet."
Everyone’s eyes instinctively shifted toward the container on Shani’s desk.
Instead of small bloodworms, they saw a large bloodworm with dark red skin. It was obviously very healthy.
Everyone became confused.
Nora nodded. "I was confused too. I didn’t realize it at first, but after taking a closer look, I realized those bloodworms were mine!"
Nora pointed at the container on Shani’s desk.
Everyone was instantly shocked. Their gazes shifted between Nora’s defiant expression and Shani’s seemingly panicked face.
Judging by their expressions, the students were leaning toward believing Nora, but no one had spoken yet.
Deep down, Nora felt triumphant when she saw Shani panic under such little pressure. She couldn’t stop now. She had to strike while the iron was hot.
She fiddled with her smartwatch and displayed a picture of her bloodworms.
"This is a picture of my bloodworms that I took a few days ago. Look. There’s a black marking on top of its head, just like the bloodworm in Shani’s container."
Everyone stepped closer, looking back and forth between the holographic image and the bloodworm inside the container.
The more they looked, the more similar they seemed.
They gasped. Then their sharp gazes turned toward Shani.
"You sneaky bitch! How could you steal a classmate’s bloodworms?!" Orin was the first to realize what was supposedly happening and began cursing.
"Your grades may be important to you, but they’re just as important to other students. Don’t ruin your classmates’ chances because of that," another student commented.
"I thought she had some real skill because she’s the prince’s partner. Turns out an F-Rank is still an F-Rank. Useless."
"Could it be that her successful resonance wasn’t because of her own ability? Maybe she did something dishonest without the prince knowing."
"Wow, she’s even worse than I thought. The prince got insulted because of that resonance, and now it turns out she was the source of the whole problem."
The conversation had gone from bloodworms to resonance. More and more nasty remarks were being thrown at Shani.
"No! That’s not true! These bloodworms are mine!" Shani shouted in panic.
Her aggressive response only made her look like a culprit trying to cover up her mistake. Accusing gazes were openly directed at her.
Nora looked sorrowful, as if she didn’t want things to come to this, but she had no choice.
Yet inside, Nora was laughing with delight. Shani’s mental strength was weaker than expected. And her classmates were much easier to manipulate than she had anticipated.
The photo she had shown them was actually a picture of Shani’s bloodworms taken a few days ago.
She had used the picture to ask on a breeder forum how to cultivate bloodworms until they became that healthy.
She never expected the photo to become useful in a situation like this. Luckily, she had taken the picture from up close, so Shani’s name on the container wasn’t visible.
"Shani, I know you didn’t mean any harm. You only did this because you wanted good grades even though you don’t have the ability."
"So I don’t want to make a big deal out of this. Just return my bloodworms and admit your mistake," Nora said magnanimously.
"Nora has already sacrificed this much for you. Give her bloodworms back!" Orin barked, practically like a loyal dog.
Orin wasn’t the only one who thought Nora was being kind. The other students felt the same way, which made them pressure Shani to return the bloodworms immediately.
Shani lowered her head, her silver hair covering her face. But her shoulders trembled, exactly like someone crying.
The other students didn’t feel sorry for her. Instead, they piled on with even harsher words.
"If you want to take them, take them yourself," Shani choked out, still keeping her head lowered.
Orin took a step forward before realizing that the glass container could only be opened using the owner’s fingerprint.
"It’s locked, idiot!" he cursed.
"If you know it’s locked, then how am I supposed to take Nora’s bloodworms that are supposedly locked inside her container?" Shani asked back.
Orin froze for a moment, caught off guard by Shani’s question.
But he always believed Nora’s words. "I don’t know. You’re a thief, so you must have plenty of ways to do it!"
This time, Shani raised her head. Contrary to everyone’s expectations, there wasn’t a trace of tears on her face. Her crimson eyes were crystal clear and calm.
...