"Yes, I want to hide from Estelle. Take me somewhere else!"

’!?’

"Jia!" Estelle, upon hearing Jia’s words, couldn’t believe the reason for Jia to hide from her.

Unaware of her current fear of being reprimanded and hated, making her just want to leave the place.

A smile formed on Zeph’s face as he already knew about Jia’s personality.

He had intentionally asked the question in a way that elicited this response.

In reality, she just wanted to hide somewhere to avoid being hated by Estelle.

"Let’s go, Jia. I will hel—" Before Zeph could say something, he got interrupted in the middle by a voice.

"Stop it, Zeph! You don’t need to do this." Valeriana had already heard every thought from Zeph’s mind all this moment.

Not wanting to see him sacrifice himself, she directly intervened.

’Right timing, Valeriana.’ A smile formed on Zeph’s face as he understood that his methods had completely worked on her.

By utilizing both his present situation and Jia herself, he had gained better marks in the eyes of Valeriana.

....

Valeriana’s POV

’Where is he going?’ I moved through the hallway, keeping an eye on Zeph’s movements as he headed in the opposite direction of the main building where Professor Liamian was.

"’If my calculations are right, then Laila will get attacked by monsters in the test. This could be my chance to protect her.’"

’!?’

’Is he talking about that girl with animal-talking abilities?’ Hearing Zeph’s thoughts, I at least understood he was referring to the girl inside the classroom, mostly seen with Rihane, who had the ability to communicate with animals.

"STOP IT!"

Suddenly, a voice attracted my attention, and I turned towards it, noticing a very familiar figure.

’Isn’t that the third-year girl?’ I observed the woman who had an argument with Bruce moving towards Zeph. However, her thoughts reflected something entirely different from what I anticipated from a third-year student.

"’How dare this filth stain my idol. He needs to know his place. I will just warn him for now, and next time, I’ll break his legs if he goes near Estelle.’"

’Is she insane?’ Seeing her abnormal behavior, I couldn’t help but consider the possibility of adding her to my avoidance list, especially as Thalia and Estelle were already giving me trouble.

Thud.

’Huh!?’ Suddenly, she pushed Zeph against the wall, placing her hand beside him while another swirled on his chest. ’Is she for real?’

I couldn’t see any traits of a normal interaction; she was provoking him outright, making me wonder if this was part of some plan.

I concluded it was part of a plan to incite him into doing something wrong. If my guess was correct, someone else should be keeping an eye on them or even collecting evidence.

It seemed obvious; why else would a girl behave intimately with another boy?

The situation was already overwhelming, but then I saw her blowing on Zeph’s face.

"You finally crossed the line."

Hearing Zeph’s words, my eyes turned towards him as he twisted her and changed their positions by pushing her against the wall while holding her hands above her head. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

But what truly shocked me were his thoughts.

"’So finally, Estelle Collins has fallen this low. I shouldn’t have rejected her marriage proposal, but I will never marry her, even if I have to become disgusting in the eyes of my classmates.’"

’Marriage proposal and what disgust—!?’

"You arrogant—MmmFfffwww."

Zeph directly sealed Jia’s lips, which was the last thing I would have expected from him. ’It’s disgusting—’

’Wait! Was this the thing he was referring to as being seen as disgusting?’ I understood the reason for his thoughts, and it seemed normal. Why would he marry a girl whom he doesn’t love at all? But the question remains: why would a third-year woman go after Zeph?

"Stop there, Zephyr Liander."

A sound caught my attention. It now seemed clear that Zeph’s thoughts were correct. This girl had intentionally orchestrated things, and seeing the image orb in her hand made everything even clearer.

Image Orbs were rare, usually belonging to prestigious families. Although I’d never seen one, reading about them in books helped me understand the reason for this woman’s presence here with that particular item.

"How dare you try to assault an innocent girl."

Her words didn’t matter much to me because my attention was on her inner voice.

"’With this, Zeph, you will be bonded with me.’"

’He was right; this girl is insane.’ I couldn’t help but turn towards Zeph.

I couldn’t understand why women were so obsessed with being with him—first Thalia, and now this woman.

Does he possess something that these women desire?

"’I knew you would reveal yourself. I would rather die than marry you, Estelle Collins, even if I had to marry this girl and destroy my life.’"

"I am also prepared to take responsibility for my mistake."

’No, it can’t be, Zeph, don’t be stupid!’ I understood what he was about to do. It wasn’t a feasible option in this situation to make such a life-altering decision.

After witnessing That Girl’s behavior, I comprehended what his life would be like if he married someone like her.

He’s a brilliant student with an even brighter future ahead.

"Stop it, Zeph, you don’t need to do this." I swiftly moved towards him, trying to prevent him from making a decision that could ruin his life, especially after Aunt’s declaration of him being my potential partner.

"V-Valeriana?!" Zeph exclaimed with surprise, his widened eyes and fear of being misunderstood were evident, especially after hearing his thoughts.

"’No, no, not Valeriana. Will she think of me in the wrong way? It can’t be!’"

"You should think about your life, not my opinion, you stupid," I felt irritated by his assumptions. Instead of prioritizing his future, he seemed concerned about my perception of him.

"What will happen to you if not for me, Zeph?"

Seeing his recklessness, I felt anxious about his future beyond the academy. Our potential marriage, suggested by my Aunt, left me with a choice, but if I rejected him, I didn’t know where his decisions might lead him.

I turned towards Estelle Collins, who stood there with a smile, her thoughts reaching me.

"’Now Valeriana will help us to be together, Zeph. It will be easier if you surrender easily.’"

"She is plain stupid." I couldn’t fathom how she assumed I’d support her over Zeph when he’s my classmate and a friend.

After witnessing everything firsthand, it was impossible for me to side with Estelle Collins.

"I have already seen that this girl initiated this. Zeph is innocent," I told Estelle directly, realizing there might be a chance she’d use a pre-planned video clip against him. I dealt with her calmly.

Turning to Zeph, who looked at me with wide eyes, I could clearly see his innocence. "It’s okay, Zeph. I will protect you once again."

"V-Valeriana, you’re saying that he is innocent."

’Can’t she understand it at once?’ The whole thing was orchestrated by her, yet she was acting like the innocent one.

"Yes, he is. But of course, he shouldn’t have acted like that. So, you can say both are to blame." My opinion leaned towards Zeph’s side, but what he did was slightly over the limit—kissing someone to prevent them from speaking wasn’t the right approach.

....

"I have proof that he tried to assault her," Estelle insisted firmly, her decisions resolute. She no longer needed Valeriana’s support; she was determined to see this through to the end.

"It could be only half-truth," Valeriana argued, fully aware of the situation and aware that the video might only capture part of the incident, particularly Zeph’s response to provocation.

"You are trying to hide the truth, Valeriana."

"No, I am stating the truth. What you saw was only a partial truth."

"No, this..."

Both women continued arguing while a young man stood beside them, feeling a warmth in his heart as he witnessed two women fighting for him.

’Sniff... sometimes this world seems lovelier than before,’ Zeph cleared his non-existent tears, looking at Valeriana, who attempted to prevent him from making rash decisions. On the other side, Estelle wanted him with her, even arranging for another beauty to accompany him, like a ’buy one, get one free’ deal.

Already feeling good and satisfied, he turned towards the girl in his arms, noticing her wide-eyed gaze at the argument. ’Who is this woman?’

Observing Valeriana’s composed argument and Estelle’s slight unease despite having proof, the girl’s eyes turned towards Valeriana, slowly discovering her second idol within her.

Zeph, standing there and looking at Jia, understood what she was thinking. He felt somewhat satisfied seeing things aligning in his favor.

Estelle’s personality didn’t encourage consoling Jia during her distress; she simply advised moving forward and forgetting the past.

However, the phrase held truth only for those experiencing the pain; forgetting the past was far more challenging.

This led Jia to retreat, and due to these circumstances, the weakening of the separation between Celestia’s soul fragments slowly led Seven Beings to identify the location where the key was hidden.

"Valeriana, why are you trying to save Zeph? He means nothing to you," Estelle questioned.

Hearing Estelle’s words, Zeph turned towards Valeriana, waiting for her response. He knew well that to her, he was nothing more than a classmate, understanding her personality and their relationship.

"Zeph is my future partner," Valeriana responded firmly, causing Zeph to feel a slight disappointment, realizing he wasn’t even considered a friend to her.

’Wait!?’

Suddenly, he grasped the meaning behind Valeriana’s words and turned towards her, his eyes widening in disbelief, realizing that he had suddenly become her husband.

Estelle mirrored his confusion, looking at Valeriana with a blank expression until a woman’s voice shattered everyone’s thoughts.

"Are you really trying to protect Zeph or just want to marry him, huh, Valeriana?"

All eyes turned toward the voice, spotting a very familiar figure. Zeph exclaimed in surprise.

"Thalia?!"