"Why do it knowing you are wrong? Didn't you expect to receive a punishment, or were you unconscious?" Serenity's tone turned sarcastic, although she didn't direct her words against someone in particular, but all the people around her knew it was her message to them...
'I will never forget....'
Sylvia felt pissed hearing her words; she found herself questioning serenity.
"Stop, stop, stop...don't talk like you are the victim in here; you are certainly not."
Serenity leaned her head on her left gloved arm; her lips curled a bit as she asked, "And what did I do exactly that resulted in me enduring those hellish three years?...If you care to explain, I will gladly listen."
"Explain?!" Sylvia was annoyed hearing her provocative tone; she exploded then and there, "Explain my ass. If you endured three years of hell, we endured the same...for some of us you don't know what it means to restrict his magic. REGIS is supposedly the stage we shine on, but all of that was ruined by you."
Serenity tilted her head slightly, calmly asking, "Oh!...how exactly did I ruin anything?"
"You!"
Sylvia snapped at her and was about to throw a bunch on her, but Mariana tightly grabbed her hand while Baial tied her hands around her waist to restrain her moves.
"Th…that's enough, Sylvi. We...we can't attack her," Mariana said.
Baial added, "She is right; if you can't take the risk, then stop while you can, okay?"
"But...didn't anyone hear what she said?...I am about to die of anger."
Sylvia's face was so red, her tears were about to come out, and her anger was at its peak. Serenity, who was watching all of this, folding silently, kept staring at them intensely while tugging her disk with her index.
-tug...tug…tug-
Hearing the noise, Sylvia asked, "What the hell are you doing now?"
"You still didn't answer me. What did I do wrong?" Serenity said, "Let me tell you, if your answer doesn't satisfy me, you won't be the only person to bear the consequences. Choose your next words carefully, got it?"
The smile on her face faded away as if it was her way of telling them, 'I won't tolerate jokes from now on.'
'Although the Voldemorts are a strong royal household, we aren't to be trifled with either. I am also a royal, for God's sake.' Serenity's attitude felt so familiar to Sylvia; hearing her speak and the aura she emits, she was reminded of her mother. 'She is like my mother.'
After hesitating for a while, Sylvia finally opened her mouth. "The agreement we signed...it's because we signed that agreement that everyone hates you. For your protection, we had to be sealed for over three years, which affected the overall growth of the entire year. As a result, we are considered the weakest to ever enroll in REGIS, and for me, it's a huge blow."
Serenity calmly confirmed with Sylvia, "So it's the agreement?"
"Yes, if you ask anyone, the answer would be the same; many people were destroyed because of it." Sylvia, confident in her words, felt a thorn in her pride, thinking, 'It's true, I was angry because of the agreement, but to be honest, that wasn't the reason why I hold a huge prejudice against her...'
"I see...let me think for a second."
All people present in the class were eagerly awaiting her answer or at least a compensation from her side, but what she said next left them speechless.
In a cold tone her next words were, "What's that got to do with me?"
"What do—"
"Stop right there."
Serenity stopped Sylvia before she finished her words and delivered them the harsh truth.
"Although I don't know where such rumors came from, I have to disappoint you; I also signed an agreement myself."
Baial stepped in front of them and said confidently,
"That's impossible....absolutely impossible...if it was just a rumor, it's impossible to have such an effect, and in your case, an ugly duckling with no magic or abilities...just imagine it's not true with all the evidence available." When Baial realized what she just said, she was scared stiff. She apologized right away, "I am sorry."
Serenity was amused by the cornered little kitten in front of her. "Keep it to yourself...it doesn't seem that sincere, but the way you spoke just now does."
Baial burst out in a cold sweat. She bowed politely. "I apologize again."
"Whatever..." Serenity didn't pay much attention to any of them; instead, she turned her gaze outside the window, calmly asking, "Sylvia, let me ask you...have you ever seen my grades?"
"Why do you ask?...Am I supposed to know such things?" Sylvia answered in confusion, but what she said next shocked her even more.
"Search them."
"Excuse me, what?!"
Serenity took out her ID card from her pocket and handed it to Sylvia. "Take my student ID and search my grades over the last three years. I allow you to do so."
"O…okay, I guess."
'Is it normal to be asked such things?' Although not understanding what Serenity wanted, she did as she was told anyway. 'If something goes wrong, the other students can testify for me; it was her idea.'
After searching her grades, she stood frozen on the spot, her phone trembling in her hands.
"What's wrong?" Mariana asked.
"Is it really that bad?" Baial asked, with no replies, and she took the phone directly from her hands to see for herself.
"Just how bad can—what the fuck is this?" She was dumbstruck by what her eyes were seeing. She kept moving the screen closer to her eyes till she finally confirmed, "Doesn't seem like a hallucination. Are you telling me those are your grades?"
"No wonder you said it's not your business," Sylvia said.
Serenity didn't say anything and just turned her head at them calmly as if nothing was wrong. The stunned Sylvia couldn't help but think,
'When I first saw her, she was so noble and full of grace I was really filled with jealousy and admiration, but ever since we got to school, she has shown nothing but a weak, pathetic self far from grace. I felt humiliated...to think the person I once admired turned out like that. I thought she would always stay a loser, but today she seemed back on track.' A satisfying smile curled over Sylvia's face; she clearly liked the new version of Serenity.
Mariana's gaze went back and forth between Baial and Sylvia in confusion. "I...still don't understand...what is happening in here? Can someone tell me?"
Baial took a deep breath, saying, "Based on her grades alone, I can confidently say she can't possibly have anything to do with the agreement."
"What?! Why?!"
"See for yourself," then handed the phone over to Mariana. After looking for a while, she couldn't understand anything.
"Her grades aren't that great either. Why did you say she has nothing to do with the agreement?" Mariana asked.
"No wonder Bella said you are an idiot."
"..."
Sylvia mocked Mariana for the first time, making her stunned to speak. 'Sylvia never talked to me in such a superior tone before.'
One of the students suddenly asked, "Mariana isn't the only one who needs an explanation; one second ago you said she is, but the next you become so sure she is not. I believe we are all curious about the answer."
Sylvia didn't care to answer them and grabbed her phone back from Naial, then handed the ID back to Serenity and silently got back to her seat.
Baial Seeing everyone staring at her, right now she is the only one who saw Serenity's grades and knew what was going on; she was their only hope.
Bella found herself in a tight spot; she turned to Serenity, but she ignored her and kept looking outside.
'I will take it as a yes,' Baial tried explaining what she knew in the simplest way possible.
"If you look at her grades, it's true you will find nothing strange, and her grades are considered just good."
"Isn't it still bad?"
"It's not...if you were focused enough, you could see her ranking among the entire class and the entire school. The catch here is the school rankings...from the first exam in our first year till now, all of them are ranked 51."
"You mean..."
"True as you thought, she had been controlling her grades for over three years straight."
Mariana got confused by all of that information. "Still, that doesn't prove anything."
"No, it does," Sylvia suddenly interfered in their conversation once more, saying, "Remember the theoretical exams before enrollment? There was a rumor that someone got full marks and gained direct admission."
"Are you saying it's serenity?"
"Apart from her, I can't think of anyone else," Sylvia said while her mind felt helpless for a second. 'What's truly terrifying is that she had been controlling her grades, just one rank away from the top 50, just right to stay away from the spotlights.'
Mariana's eyes widened hearing her words, "B...but...if that's the case, then she entered through the normal enrollment process."
Baial added, "Which means she can't possibly have anything to do with the agreement; she didn't need anyone's help to get in from beginning to end."
After saying what needed to be said, a wave of guilt washed over everyone in the room, especially Baial and Jin, who were listening outside.
Baial collected her courage and asked Serenity directly, "All these years...why didn't you say anything?"
"Why would I?"
"If you just explained, maybe none of the pain you endured over the past three years—"
"Stop right there." Serenity stopped Baial halfway through saying her piece. "I say, will you listen?"
"Th...that," Baial suddenly felt lost for words, not knowing what to say.
Serenity didn't show any pain or sorrow expressing her thoughts, saying, "Saying doesn't guarantee listening, not to mention the agreement I signed was more detailed than you think. For example, it forbids me from using my magic and identity, so you can say I was forced to get along with your act....I think it was that damn principal afraid I might regain my old ways and cause her trouble; she placed more restrictions on me to the point it coded my cloth."
"Shit, the principal is involved in your agreement personally," Baial said while her body got covered in cold sweat, thinking, 'Just how terrifying is her identity to force the principal to restrict her this much? Even her clothes weren't spared?'
Sylvia asked the question that is now the center of everyone's attention at the moment, "Serenity, by any chance do you happen to know the person protected by the agreement?"
Serenity answered confidently,
"I happened to hear the talk between my mother and the principal, so I naturally know the person."
"Who?" Baial asked. She right now is dying to know who that person is.
Everyone's gaze was instantly directed at Serenity, full of anticipation.
"Don't give me that look; I won't tell you, it's still top secret."
"So do you actually know or not in the end?"
"Not as much as you think; it was just some brief words I heard when passing by. It wasn't even 30 seconds straight, but based on it, I identified the person myself."
"It can actually be done like that?" Baial said, but her mind formed a belief the person they want to know is more terrifying than they expected. 'Sylvia and Mariana seem scared of Serenity's identity, but that person's identity seems more deep-rooted than hers. Just who the hell is that person?'
"..."
After that, Serenity didn't say a single extra word, just blankly staring outside, lost in thoughts.
Time passed, and the teacher came into the class and finished. While no one was focused on a single word he said, everyone was overwhelmed by the information they got from Serenity. Before long, the entire period of classes had already ended, and all the students started heading towards the grand stadium.
Sylvia approached Serenity, asking her, "Are you going to the Cup of Glory?"
Serenity didn't say anything, just nodded her head as if saying yes; she wasn't used to other students taking the initiative to talk to her.
Sylvia stuttered with her words talking with her, "I...I didn't mean anything bad by saying that. I...I just wanted to ask if you want to join us watching the games together and such?"
Serenity turned her head away, firmly refusing,
"No time; instead of hanging out with unimportant people, I have other actually important things to attend to,and ....do i even know you?" After saying so, she left the classroom without giving them a chance to answer, leaving her stunned.
"What was that?" Baial said, marking Serenity's actions, "That was rude. She could have refused us politely. Why the aggressive talk?"
Sylvia smiled brightly saying confidently,
"Isn't this just how royals are?"