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“No—I’ve sweat for the academy, I’ve bled for St. Maria, you can’t treat me like this, I want to see the dean, I want to see the Pink Bear!”
In the empty training ground, Kolen let out a heart-wrenching roar.
“See the dean? I can take you to see the dean right now, but I’m afraid the Pink Bear might be in trouble too!”
Kaide grinned maliciously, using his formidable strength to press Kolen harshly to the ground, quickly binding him with thick ropes.
He tied a solid tortoise-shell knot.
He even kicked Kolen’s backside a few times for good measure.
Damn it.
Just now, I was there backing you up, and it turns out you’re really a bandit?
You’ve deceived my feelings!
Kaide felt like he had transformed into a heartless machine; the next step was to tie up the Pink Bear and burn both of them!
“Wait—wait a minute, I still have something to say!”
Seeing that Kaide had removed his stinky sock and was about to stuff it in his mouth, Kolen let out a terrified shout:
“Just let me say one last thing!”
“One last thing? Good, let me hear your dying words then.” Kaide sneered, temporarily releasing him.
“I…”
Kolen took a deep breath and looked at Mu’en, who was standing with his hair standing on end, revealing a tragic smile:
“This time I’ve fallen, but it’s okay, beauty, I will definitely come back to marry you…”
Crack.
A chill surged.
Brilliant ice crystals instantly formed, freezing Kolen, who still wore a nauseating smile, into a popsicle.
Celicia glanced at him coldly, “What a filthy thing to say.”
“…”
Standing a little distance away, Mu’en silently stepped back, pulling in his neck.
He felt that Celicia seemed to be in a bad mood.
“Since the truth is out.”
Celicia’s cold gaze swept over the once-vibrant “heroes” who were now silent, “And it seems no one is raising any objections, then… Teacher Kaide, I will leave the rest to you; I won’t disturb your class any longer.”
“No, no, it’s me who is troubled by this.” Kaide forced a wry smile.
He generally disliked others disturbing his class, but in such a situation, what could he say?
Moreover, compared to teaching, he was now more interested in settling scores with the Pink Bear.
“Then I will take my leave first.”
Celicia politely nodded and then shot Mu’en a glance:
“Mu’en Campbell, come with me.”
“Oh, oh.”
Mu’en nodded in a daze.
Just as he was about to follow Celicia out, he was called by Teacher Kaide.
“Um, Mu’en…”
Mu’en turned back to see Kaide, who usually had a stern and fierce demeanor, scratching his head awkwardly:
“I… misunderstood you just now, um… I’m sorry.”
“Hmm?”
Mu’en raised an eyebrow.
Teacher Kaide… is he apologizing to him?
After a moment of confusion, Mu’en regained his senses.
Although Teacher Kaide had a bad temper, he was indeed straightforward.
Otherwise, his reaction wouldn’t have been so intense earlier.
“It’s fine, Teacher Kaide.”
After considering it, Mu’en chose to forgive him.
After all, Kaide was just being impatient, and he hadn’t really taken action against Mu’en, which showed he was indeed fulfilling his responsibility as a teacher.
Compared to him, the others…
Mu’en glanced over at the audience, then followed Celicia away.
……
……
Outside the training ground, Mu’en didn’t know what to say while watching Celicia walk ahead, so he could only awkwardly ask:
“By the way, Celicia, why did you suddenly appear here?”
And it was such a coincidental timing; it didn’t seem like a chance encounter at all.
“Why?”
Celicia stopped, turned her head, her slender brows raised high like a sharp sword.
“Not appear and let you die stupidly?”
“…”
Mu’en felt her words pierced through him like a sword, chilling his heart.
But he had nothing to counter.
Because he had indeed done the stupidest thing at that moment.
Whether for follow-up investigations or reporting to Professor Plon, there were plenty of easy methods to expose Kolen’s bandit identity, but he had chosen the most stupid option of acting publicly, not only putting himself in a precarious position but also potentially ruining the reputation he had worked hard to improve over the previous period.
“However, that punch you threw was quite good.”
Celicia suddenly said, her tone carrying a hint of satisfaction, as if a father discovered his son was actually a normal person:
“If you hadn’t thrown that punch, I’m afraid Duke Campbell might have really considered giving up on you as a son.”
“Can we not bring this up?” Mu’en protested with tears in his eyes.
Suddenly, a bird landed on the ornamental trees by the road, and Celicia coldly eyed it, causing the bird to fly away in fright.
“It was Ariel who called me.” Celicia said suddenly.
“Hmm?”
“She said a homo confessed to you and urged me to hurry and see the commotion.”
“Damn.”
The warmth that had just risen in Mu’en’s heart was quickly extinguished.
He had thought he’d feel touched that Ariel would help someone she visibly disliked.
As it turned out, that guy still had feelings for Celicia and only wanted to drag her over to see his humiliation.
Really, you’re something, protagonist; are you planning to advance on two fronts simultaneously?
But none of those paths seemed very promising.
“Thank you, Celicia, you’ve helped me again.”
Mu’en sincerely expressed his gratitude.
Upon reflecting, he seemed to have been helped by Celicia all along.
Clearly, feeling guilty, he should be the one making some compensation.
“If you feel sorry for me, then try to cause less trouble in the future.”
Seemingly perceiving Mu’en’s thoughts, Celicia coldly stated.
“Uh…”
Mu’en could only respond with a bitter smile.
He didn’t want to cause trouble, but trouble kept finding him.
Including this time…
“You seem very unhappy.”
“Eh?”
“Clearly, the matter has been resolved, the misunderstanding cleared, and that perverted man who might continue to harass you has been caught, but you seem quite unhappy.”
Celicia tilted her head, scrutinizing him, and suddenly said.
“…Is it?”
“Your face is all wrinkled like an old woman’s.”
“Is that so?”
Unknowingly, he had lost control of his own expression?
“Actually, it’s not that I’m unhappy, I just…”
Mu’en looked down at the ground, speaking softly:
“I just feel a bit lost.”
Clearly, he had changed that much.
Clearly, even his seniors were praising his efforts.
Clearly, he thought many things had already changed.
Yet…
At times like this.
There were still those who were unwilling to believe in him.
There were still those who were unwilling to give him a bit more time.
There were still some…
Hiding in the crowd, displaying malice toward him.
This…
Would naturally lead one to wonder, what exactly does one’s actions mean…
“Mu’en Campbell!”
Celicia suddenly raised her voice, interrupting Mu’en’s thoughts.
He looked up to find Celicia’s eyes icy, like she was looking at a pile of combustible trash.
“You seem to… be getting stuck in a rut.”
“Hmm?”
Mu’en was slightly confused.
“What do you mean?”
“You don’t really think that you can make everyone like you, do you?”
“No, I just don’t want others to harbor malice towards me, I just want others to not have bias against me…”
“What you said is nonsense.”
“Eh?”
Mu’en was taken aback.
He never expected such a rude comment would come from Celicia.
“What do you think of me?” Celicia suddenly asked.
“You…”
Mu’en was about to answer when he suddenly became alert.
A girl, unexpectedly asking you such a question in an empty place…
He had to answer carefully.
“Black silk suits you well… um!”
Celicia withdrew her knee from his chest, her expression cold:
“Answer again.”
“Perfect.”
Holding his abdomen and curling up like a shrimp, Mu’en trembled and gave a thumbs up.
“Simply perfect.”
“But even a perfect version of myself, the Imperial Princess, the Student Council President, blessed with countless halos, and considering myself okay in appearance, would still have many people who dislike me, even hate me.”
Celicia said:
“Just like the president of the news club, Mingote, who stabs my scarecrow every day, wishing for me to fall ill and die on the spot just so he can sell his scandalous newspaper.”
“You know about this too?” Mu’en was shocked.
“Ha, the most trusted minion of his has already joined the student council, but he simply doesn’t know.” Celicia scoffed.
“…”
Mu’en shivered.
How terrifying, this woman is so terrifying.
“Wanting to change your outward image, wanting to be liked by others is nothing to be ashamed of, especially for you, Mu’en Campbell, but you shouldn’t prefix it with ‘everyone’.”
Celicia looked at Mu’en, continuing to say:
“Just because a few insignificant bugs bit you, you look as gloomy as a kid who has lost their candy, Mu’en Campbell, you look even more disgusting than you did a few months ago.
At least a few months ago, if someone insulted you, you would certainly point back at them, ‘My father is a duke, who do you think you are?’”
“…”
Mu’en silently opened his mouth like a fish out of water.
“Moreover, not only those who dislike you; your changes themselves might also become a source of malice.”
“Changing itself?”
Celicia’s statement made Mu’en puzzled again.
If a spoiled rich kid who had done nothing but bad things suddenly becomes good, shouldn’t that be a good thing for everyone?
At least in this academy, it would be.
“I really don’t know if you’re having a character change or have simply switched to a different person.”
Seeing Mu’en’s bewildered expression, Celicia sighed discreetly:
“You’ve cut ties with your past too cleanly, Mu’en Campbell.”
“Eh?”
Mu’en was still confused.
But Celicia seemed to lose her patience, turned, and continued walking.
As she walked, she suddenly turned back to look at Mu’en behind her.
“Why are you still following me? Do I need you to escort me?”
“Well then…”
“Go do what you should do; don’t tell me you’re going to slink away like this; that would be the end of you.”
“Oh, oh.”
Mu’en scratched his head in a daze, finally remembering what he needed to do and turned in the opposite direction to leave.
But after just taking a couple of steps, he suddenly turned back to look at the usually cold yet warm-hearted silver-haired girl.
“Celicia.”
“Is there something else?”
“You were really cool just now.”
“So?”
“I feel like I could almost fall in love with you.”
“Almost?”
Celicia raised an eyebrow:
“But didn’t you say you already loved me before?”
“Well, that was…”
Mu’en laughed awkwardly.
“A bit different.”
“But I don’t love you.”
“Ah.”
“Get lost.”
“Oh.”
“Get lost faster.”
“Uh-huh.”
……
……
After Mu’en left.
The secretary of the student council, Wei Er, with her bun hairstyle, suddenly popped up from somewhere, curiously asking:
“Aren’t you going to tell him about that?”
“Why should I tell him?”
“But, the reason we came to find him was to remind him about that, right?”
“Am I his mother? Do I need to remind him of everything?”
Though she said that, Celicia’s gaze remained fixed on the report in her hand.
—“Report on Aemon Biandi’s Abnormal Behavior.”
“I was originally planning to remind him.”
Celicia sighed.
“But looking at his foolish appearance, it’s probably better to let him suffer a bit.”
“Eh? But if he encounters danger…”
“If he dies, he dies; what does it have to do with me?”
Celicia casually ripped the report apart and tossed it into the trash can.
She left without looking back.
But if it doesn’t concern you, why are you angry?
Looking at Celicia’s back, Wei Er stuck out her tongue, swallowing the half-sentence that had nearly slipped out.
She just felt that saying that… would make the president suddenly seem very frightening.
……
