The hand clutching the belt tightened gradually, yet the voice was soft and gentle.

"Wayne Lane, do you think I did something wrong too?"

Wayne remained silent.

He was never much of a talker by nature.

Emma’s tears fell, and she appeared fragile and pitiable, "Wayne, I only wanted to do something for the royal family. Hannah is a criminal, a threat to the entirety of the royal house. Why do you all protect her? You do, and so does Sheffield Benedict. What’s so good about her?"

As she spoke more vigorously, spectators from the training ground below started to cast their glances over.

Jay Brown had just stepped down from his mecha, looking down as he fiddled with his gloves.

A classmate patted his shoulder, "Jay, did you see? That’s the First Princess, quite a beauty, huh?"

Perhaps sensing others’ stares, Emma adjusted her expression, raised her hand to wipe the tears from her face, and revealed a faint smile.

Under the light, there was a kind of hazy, delicate beauty.

Jay glanced once and shifted his gaze, disinterestedly remarking, "She’s okay."

"Okay?" his classmate exclaimed in surprise, "You call that ’okay’? She’s a famous beauty in the entire star system, rarely seen in public. It’s hard for ordinary people to even catch a glimpse of her."

Jay still seemed uninterested.

Someone jokingly added, "Our Jay here, other than mechas, have you seen him take an interest in anything else?"

Jay was this year’s top student in the Mechanical Academy with an S psychic level.

The academy’s teachers also gave him extremely high evaluations, saying that with proper training, he might even catch up to Wayne’s past achievements. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

But Jay didn’t react to this.

There was a maturity about him that didn’t belong to someone his age.

He took off his gloves and again looked up at the stands.

Not looking at Emma but at Wayne.

He observed the one referred to by his classmates as a "myth" and "legend."

"Emma," Wayne spoke coldly, his words evidently filled with anger, "Hannah is not a criminal, and both of us are clear on that."

The so-called crimes were nothing but fabrications imposed on her by the royal family.

Emma clenched her lips, which turned pale, and her eyes brimmed with unshed tears, "Wayne, you have never been angry with me before, so now, for Hannah’s sake, are you disregarding all our years of friendship?"

The bond of childhood friends.

Tears slid down, dampening the hem of her dress.

Wayne sighed, softening his voice, "I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that."

He could hardly remember how many times he had conceded.

Over the years, it had become a habit.

When facing Emma’s tears, both Wayne and Sheffield would feel a sense of being bound.

After all, they had grown up together.

Having shown his weakness, Emma quickly wiped her tears and broke into a smile, "Wayne, I just knew you cared about me."

Wayne didn’t respond, simply saying, "You’ve been out for a long time, you should go back."

Emma shook her head, "Wayne, I don’t want to go back so early today, I want to stay with you."

As she spoke, she moved a bit closer, nearly pressing up against Wayne.

Wayne instinctively wanted to retreat, but Emma caught his arm, "Wayne, I haven’t piloted a mecha in such a long time. Can you teach me today?"

She put on a smiling face, approaching Wayne again; her eyes, washed with tears, looked innocent and pure.

In the training ground, a new round of simulated combat began.