Petition Torn to Shreds

Even the principal was so stunned by Joy’s intensity that he was momentarily speechless.

After a brief silence, Joy added in a small voice.

“And we’re no different. We just found following the rules annoying, so we started harassing Underwood by making an issue out of her attitude. Dormitory 3 is full of the worst kinds of people, from the class president all the way down to every last member!”

“Miss Carter.”

“So it’s hard to say only one side is guilty. If Evey Underwood has to leave school because of this, then every pathetic kid in Dormitory 3 deserves the same punishment. That’s what’s fair! Principal, you haven’t signed that petition yet, have you? Right?”

The principal lifted the petition from his desk and showed it to us. He had advised that signatures should be given careful thought, and it seemed he had followed his own advice.

The petition Joy submitted still bore no signature.

Upon receiving it, Joy tore the document to shreds right there. Just like she had once done with my printed materials.

“Underwood.”

Only then did Joy turn to look at me. I had already risen awkwardly from my seat and couldn’t speak a word.

“I’m sorry.”

I could tell the words carried genuine, precious sincerity.

With the principal’s consideration, I was granted a few moments alone with Owen inside his office.

Because I had decided to stay at the school after all, Owen’s expression was rather stiff.

It was somehow scarier when someone who always treated me with gentle kindness looked like this. The muscles straining against his suit, usually hidden, were impossible to miss today.

“Owen, are you angry?”

“There’s no way I would be. I’m simply worried, Princess.”

He stepped closer and carefully straightened the collar of my disheveled uniform.

“It seems Your Highness is more unaccustomed to communal living than I realized.”

Joy’s earlier accusation must still have been quite a shock to him.

“I’m working on it.”

“Of course you are, my princess.”

Only then did Owen’s lips curve into a small smile.

“But please remember. You may return anytime. No matter what happens, I will protect you. You know that, don’t you?”

Those were the words Owen had repeated to me from the very first day he took charge of my well-being.

That he would protect me no matter what.

It always sounded a little chilling, as if it presupposed some threat against me… but that was probably just Owen’s overly protective nature talking.

“Thank you, Owen.”

After we finished speaking, I left the principal’s office ahead of him and found yet another unexpected person waiting outside.

Cyrus Quinton.

Why is he here?

The question had barely formed when the short conversation I’d had with Joy inside the principal’s office resurfaced.

“What exactly is your relationship with Cyrus Quinton?”

“We’re not close enough for that word. If I had to describe it, I’d say it’s an absolutely horrible one.”

“Hmm. It didn’t look that way to me.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“He came to our room. He asked if you were really going to quit school. He didn’t seem happy about the idea at all.”

Thanks to that, Joy had found my letter and managed to burst into the principal’s office in time.

If he hadn’t come knocking, she might have read it only after I had already chosen expulsion.

In other words, Cyrus had played some part in my being able to remain at school.

Why does he care whether I quit or not?

Owen, of course, had drawn an entirely different conclusion.

“The glasses nerd has decent taste after all.”

“…It’s not like that.”

“There’s no way it isn’t! Boys that age only have one thing on their minds!”

“That’s so narrow-minded!”

“It’s not narrow-minded; it’s an objective fact. Never get close to any boys. Their filthy hormones are contagious.”

He had preached this dangerous ideology that would turn half the population into enemies and added,

“Above all, you must never underestimate Your Highness’s beauty. Understood?”

“Why do you keep flattering me like this? Where exactly is the beauty in this getup?”

I had already promised him lifetime employment, yet he still kept acting like a doting uncle. I couldn’t understand it.

Anyway, I refocused on the problem standing right in front of me.

Cyrus had been leaning against the window with his arms crossed. The moment I stepped out, he took one step forward, almost as if he had been waiting for me.

But that couldn’t be true, so I spoke first.

“The principal isn’t here.”

He must have been waiting for the principal. Since I had come out, he probably wanted to ask if the man was still inside.

“I know. I saw him leave earlier.”

His answer was different from what I expected.

He studied my face with a strange look. That was when I realized I had forgotten to put on my disguise glasses.

I fumbled them out and shoved them onto my face in a panic.

“You’re not about to tell me you waited for me twice in one day, are you?”

“Looks like it.”

He muttered in a self-mocking tone.

“How on earth did I end up waiting for you twice in one day?”

What? He really had been waiting?

Why? Had he heard I was staying at school?

“If you didn’t want to wait, you didn’t have to.”

Cyrus’s brow furrowed slightly. But the expression lasted only a moment before his gaze shifted past my shoulder.

Why is he looking like that?

I turned to follow his line of sight.

And my face instantly drained of all color.

Owen, who wasn’t supposed to come out for a while longer, had already emerged from the principal’s office and was striding confidently toward us.

Has he lost his mind?

I mouthed the words at him. Owen merely gave a light shrug as if it were nothing.

“Cyrus Quinton, correct?”

Owen approached with a courteous yet somehow overbearing demeanor and extended his hand.

“Nice to meet you.”

Though he had his ridiculous overprotective-uncle side, he was socially an elite who served as a close aide to the royal family. Of course he knew how to radiate pressure when he wanted to.

“…Yes.”

Even under Owen’s attitude, Cyrus’s expression barely changed. A brief handshake passed between them.

Except the handshake quickly turned strange. Owen was glaring at Cyrus with both eyes wide open and slowly leaning his face closer and closer.

Why is he doing something so childish?!

I couldn’t intervene; I just stood there opening and closing my mouth in panic.

Cyrus, on the other hand, simply stared at Owen’s bizarre expression without reacting much, then said quietly,

“My hand hurts.”

“You call this level of pain? How pathetic.”

The moment he released the grip, Owen was already massaging his own fingers behind his back.

“In any case, it would be wise not to grow arrogant about holding on to first place. Understood?”

…I had definitely heard that line somewhere before.