Chapter 48: Fifth-year Struggle
Lara returned to the Lion Building. Her gaze was blank, and her body moved on its own toward the classroom while her mind wandered, trying to process the new information she had just received.
"Lara, where have you been?" one of her female classmates asked as Lara walked past her.
Lara didn’t answer. It was as if her ears weren’t functioning. She sat down in her seat, and the longer she sat there, the more devastated her expression became.
A male classmate who noticed this gently grabbed the female classmate’s arm and shook his head.
"Shelley, don’t bother her," he whispered.
Ever since her sister’s resonance with Prince Jeryon failed, Lara’s emotions had been all over the place. More than a few of their classmates had become targets of her anger.
The two classmates headed toward the front corner of the classroom, where the others were gathered.
Their voices had been echoing throughout the room earlier, but when they saw Lara arrive, they lowered their voices.
"So it’s really confirmed? They’re the first pair to hatch their egg?" Shelley asked.
Another female student sitting among the group, apparently the owner of the desk everyone had gathered around, nodded gloomily.
"Shel, I’m screwed!" She hugged Shelley’s waist, looking like she was about to cry all over her friend’s skirt.
Her gaze shifted to her seatmate, her eyes narrowing. "This is all because you gave that useless speech, Jace!"
The boy receiving the glare leaned back and raised his hands defensively.
"I only gave an opinion based on the facts. Herrman and Rosenbaum are at the top of the first year. Why would we choose another pair?"
"But the first ones to succeed were the Prince and Rowan!" the girl exclaimed, raising her hand as if she wanted to knock Jace on the head.
Jace easily caught his seatmate’s clenched fist.
"Flora, you originally chose the prince..." Shelley suddenly remembered. A second later, she quickly covered her mouth, not wanting to trigger her friend.
Sure enough, Flora burst into tears against Shelley’s skirt. "I’m broke..."
"I’ll pay for our baby beasts’ food," Jace chimed in, not wanting to see his partner become even more dramatic.
Flora merely shot him a sharp glare before continuing to cry.
"Oh, right. What rank is their baby beast?" Shelley asked, remembering that they still had another bet going.
Jace shrugged. "No idea. Maybe C, D, or even E. The prince’s partner is only an F-Rank, after all."
"I think we should still find out," another male classmate suggested.
"Dustin is right. We should find out," Flora agreed, wiping away her tears. "I picked them."
Everyone there stared at Flora in bafflement.
Actually, they were all in the same boat as Flora. They had all chosen Garth Herrman and Noella Rosenbaum, which meant they had all lost the first bet.
Even after losing the first bet, they were still confident they would win the second one: the pair whose baby beast had the highest rank.
Flora’s wholehearted choice of the prince and his partner was unusual. If Jace hadn’t convinced her, she wouldn’t have changed her original choice.
To Flora, the cursed prince and his partner were clearly not an ordinary pair.
No one had ever managed to resonate with Prince Jeryon, yet somehow, a low-ranked student had succeeded.
Flora loved conspiracy stories, so her imagination immediately went into overdrive. She was convinced there had to be something hidden that outsiders didn’t know about.
That unusual way of thinking was precisely why she had been so confident in her choice. And now, she was utterly devastated that she’d changed it.
"Doesn’t anyone know their rank?" Dustin asked.
"Probably only the instructors know," Shelley replied.
The moment the word instructors left Shelley’s mouth, the entire group of students turned toward the female student sitting beside Flora’s desk.
"Rose," Shelley called, standing between Flora’s desk and the female student.
The girl was staring at the writing on the translucent panel projected from her smartwatch, but she seemed lost in thought.
Shelley gently poked her shoulder. "Rose, are you okay?"
Rosaline snapped out of her thoughts. She looked confused for a moment, but quickly fixed her expression.
"Oh, what is it, Shel?"
"It is..." Shelley suddenly felt awkward asking.
Just like Lara, Rosaline’s younger sister had also failed to resonate with the prince. But Rosaline had always appeared calm, even though they were prepared in case Rosaline broke down.
Seeing her condition right now, they assumed the latest news about the prince must have hit hard, even for the perfect Rosaline Larrlyng.
"Can you ask the instructor what Prince Jeryon’s baby beast rank is?" Flora popped her head out from behind Shelley. Apparently, this classmate had lost all sense of tact after going bankrupt.
The others could only remain silent and exchange glances, preparing themselves for Rosaline’s reaction.
Contrary to what they expected, Rosaline responded calmly. "I’ll ask Instructor Mercer later."
The classmates there reflexively breathed a sigh of relief.
Rosaline chatted with her friends for a few more minutes before excusing herself to check on her baby beast.
"As expected of our representative, our fifth-year top student!" Jace applauded himself.
The other classmates rolled their eyes at Jace’s antics, but deep down, they agreed with him.
Meanwhile, Rosaline closed the classroom door behind her.
Her legs suddenly went weak. She almost fell if she hadn’t grabbed the doorframe tightly. Even then, her hand was already trembling badly.
She straightened herself and headed toward the elevator with firm steps, just like the Rosaline everyone knew.
But her lips moved silently, and her eyes were filled with hatred. "How could they succeed?"
...
There was another student in the cafeteria who was struggling to hold herself back. Kiran gripped the spoon in her hand so tightly that it bent slightly.
Noella, sitting across from her, didn’t know what to say.
Behind them, a group of female students surrounded one girl, showering her with praise and encouragement.
"You have to stay strong, Leah. Just tell us if there’s anything you need."
The girl at the center of the group smiled gently at her friends.
"Thank you for your support, everyone. I don’t mind if the person at fault doesn’t show any remorse. Having all of you here is enough."
Her words made the other girls angry on her behalf.
They had no hesitation in naming the people they believed were responsible. And that name was Shani, the only person they could openly blame.
Kiran’s brain was almost freezing from holding herself back. The veins on her forehead bulged.
She muttered without making a sound, I will kill this Leah.
Noella didn’t know how she should react. She was angry too, but Shani had told them in the group chat not to let themselves be provoked.
Not long after, Jeryon and Shani entered the cafeteria. They immediately became the center of attention.
The girls surrounding Leah finally found a target where they could vent their anger.
Jeryon and Shani looked completely calm as they sat down and ate.
Kiran became even more furious, especially when Leah, instead of calming down her cheerleaders, kept adding fuel to the fire with her deliberately suggestive comments.
Kiran’s face turned red as she listened to Leah and her lackeys. She reflexively stood up and slammed her hands on the table.
Before Kiran could explode, another voice cut in from a male student at the table across from hers.
"What?! Leah received a Beast Energy Elixir from the headmaster? Instead of losing rank, her energy actually increased!"
Everyone immediately turned toward the source of the voice.
Instead of feeling awkward, the boy calmly met the gazes of the students staring at him and said innocently, "I read it on the forum."
His gaze then shifted toward Leah. He put on an exaggerated look of surprise. "Leah is here too? So your rank didn’t drop, but why are you..."
The boy didn’t finish his sentence, but everyone there could guess what he was about to say.
"No. That’s not true!" Leah denied.
"Leah, we’re not going to blindly believe a post on the school forum. That’s why we should go to the Instructor and get justice for you," one of Leah’s friends said.
"Don’t!" Leah quickly protested.
"Leah, you don’t have to be afraid. We’re not trying to attack anyone. We just want to clear your name."
Her friend assumed Leah was afraid that Prince Jeryon would get angry, so she quickly explained.
"Shut up! I don’t want to!" Leah snapped, her panic making her lose control.
Leah’s offensive reaction made the friends who had been praising her just minutes ago look at her suspiciously. Some were even looking at her with disgust.
Leah had never been good at handling situations under this much pressure. Lara had always been her shield, helping her get through all the stupid mistakes she made.
Right now, Leah only wanted to see Lara.
But the female students surrounding her didn’t seem willing to let her off so easily without getting an explanation.
Meanwhile, Kiran, who was sitting with her back to Leah and the others, couldn’t hold back her grin.
She opened the Three Beauties with One Heartthrob group chat and sent a message.
Kiran: Sonny, good job!
...