After Serenity walked out of the teachers' room, she was heading to her room when she saw two people walking her way, a man and a woman. The woman was Baial, her class president, and the boy with white hair and red eyes with a mole under his left eye is Jin Right.
"What did the teacher say to you?...You didn't go complain to her, did you?" Baial said in a sarcastic tone, but Serenity didn't answer her and kept walking her way, and apparently she didn't like it.
"Hey, I am talking to you. Stop right there?" Baial tried to grab her hands, but Serenity grabbed her fingers in her hand instead. It was getting painful, so Baial tried to free her hand, but her grip wouldn't loosen up.
"What the hell are you doing?...It hurts, you idiot. Let go of my hand." Baial tried to punch her in the stomach to distract her so she could free herself.
"Ugh...take this, you bitch," and tried to punch her, but she easily twitched the path of the blow away from her body and landed a swift slap on her face.
"You seem so familiar with such moves, huh?"
"Don't think for even a second that pushing me into the lake will pass without a punishment just like that? Dream on..." She increased her grip's force gradually and pulled her closer, giving her one slap after another.
"I know I am perfect, but don't fight over me; it's not cool," Jin said, but Serenity didn't hesitate to slap him right away.
"Ew, that's so greasy. Act a bit like a man, can you?" Serenity said in disgust,
"You bitch, why the hell did you hit my face—"
Before he could even continue, she landed a slap on his face. She looked troubled and started cleaning her ears, saying, "That was a close call; my ears can't really take all this pollution...ew, I really don't understand how people live like that."
"Stop you chat, eh?" Suddenly, she said her face was swollen red like a tomato.
Serenity didn't care and wanted to slap him again, but Baial suddenly grabbed her hand; at that moment, she snapped angrily at both of them.
"What the hell?! You think you're in a better situation than him?...Come here, both of you. I've been meaning to do this since I came back. I finally got my chance. You're both done for. No one is leaving till I am satisfied," she said.
Then she launched at both of them with her fists; she kept hitting till their faces were unrecognizable from the beating they suffered. Only then did she leave them be.
"That felt so good; I've been itching to hit them for a while now," Serenity said, and satisfaction was clearly shown on her face.
"I'll leave you two dogs to eat each other; don't involve others in your dog fight, you hear me?" she said.
"You four-eyed devil, if it weren't for the fact that the school rules don't allow using magic inside educational buildings, you'd have died long ago. Wait till I report you to the teacher; you are done for," Baial said.
Serenity's voice shifted to serious; she felt wronged as she said, "Rules, you say?...Why didn't these rules work before when you were constantly bullying me, huh?"
"Th…that's different."
"No! "It's not any different; it's just that the one being hit now is you, not me. We just changed our roles," she said indifferently, which made Baial feel so uneasy.
"Y...you...stay away from me, or I'll call the teacher," Baial said. She seemed to have lost the will to fight and was genuinely scared.
"Call the teacher, you say?" Serenity got angry and grabbed her collar. "Fine by me, you can call the teacher... but then we will see if the teacher will take your side, who's only been hit once, or my side, the victim who's only retaliating against your constant bullying, huh?"
She hit both of them, and Jin couldn't take it anymore; he exploded, saying, "Why are you hitting me too? I didn't even touch you before, and also you were the one following me in the first place...I am now telling you I don't love you, and I already have a fiancé."
"What a coincidence; I also didn't love you from beginning to end. It was all for that mole under your eye." She reached out to touch the mole under his eyes and just kept staring at it, recalling her past memories.
Jin blushed when she did that and shoved her hand away. "What the hell are you doing?...Th...this is..."
'I can't believe she made me blush with only one touch...she has neither looks nor power, yet I am...what the hell is wrong with me?' Jin's thoughts confused him, as he's never been through something like that before.
Serenity looked at her hands that he shoved away. She just sighed and pulled them away, then got up, saying, "I want to end this once and for all. What I am about to say I'll only say it once, so listen carefully: I don't love you. No, to be more specific, I never did... The mole under your eye is exactly the same as the person I truly like but can't find. That's why I kept following you and never really hurt you; it's just so I can see that same mole on your face."
"Wha—"
"But lately I realized something: you are not him, so I decided to let go." She cut him off halfway through saying this and thought to herself,
'I can't really pour my obsession onto him; the me in the past found safety with seeing him, and I can hardly blame her since whether it's the past me or the present me, we both are so in love with him.'
"So what you are saying is...Jin was just a stand-in for another man all along?" Baial asked in shock.
"Exactly."
Baial looked at Serenity in disbelief. She thought in her mind, 'Serenity's simping for Jin is a well-known fact; the whole school can bear witness to it, but who would have thought she was just using him to remember another man ... saying "I love you," but it's not for you but for someone else's shadow ... No normal man can take such a heavy blow.'
"You are really cruel," Baial said.
"Does it matter? Aren't we all the same?...In the past you did bully me because of love. In my eyes love is meant to be selfish."
"Selfish, you say...I really pity the one you like; he's up to one hell of a relationship," Baial helplessly said.
"It's none of your concern." Then she turned to Jin, saying,
"As for the engagement...I guess you still didn't receive the news." She had a sly smile on her face. "hmph…soon enough everyone will go back to his own place."
She suddenly clapped her hands and said, "Now that the love thing is now cleared, let's get back to what we were doing."
"What are you going to do?!" Baial said in a frightened voice as she looked at her creepy smile. She knew she was going to suffer heavily, but before Serenity touched any of them, a sudden voice snapped her back.
"TING, TING"
Her phone received a few messages; she let go of them to take a look, but her face appeared to have received quite the shock from their content. She glanced at them before she started replying quickly, but after she finished, she gave Jin a strange look.
'It seems the news about the broken engagement still hasn't reached that fool. It looks like his situation isn't promising, but then again, it's not my fault, or is it? Should I just tell him? ...What the hell? I feel like I am a bitch a lot recently...' She felt wronged about everything.
The two on the ground saw her face twist and she hardened her fist. They thought they were about to be beaten again, but
"Hey you..." Serenity said in an angry voice.
Baial jolted from the ground, saying, "W...What?"
"Not you...him," she said.
"W…what do you want?" Jin asked.
Serenity looked at him for a few seconds; she seemed not so sure if she should say this or not, but she talked anyway. "Haaah, whatever...if I were you, I would call home right away; the situation doesn't seem promising over there."
"Why, what happened?!" Jin asked.
She dusted off her clothes. "That's all; there is nothing more to say...you are on your own, kiddo."
"W...wait, explain yourself?"
Jin was confused by her words; he didn't know the hidden meaning behind her words, but she left them and walked away.
Serenity used her phone and made a call.
"Assistant Liu, I know they did wrong, but there's no need to go to such lengths."
- It's her majesty's arrangements. She also said he should apologize to you, and if you didn't forgive him, there is a death penalty for those who offend the royals waiting for his whole family. -
"No need!" Serenity freaked out from how easily he said that.
"Let me be clear: cancel the engagement and leave them alone. The trauma they suffered is already big enough," she said.
-If that's the case, then as you wish, but what about the apology?... Her majesty said it's a must-
"I forgive them, okay? Leave the poor people alone, will you?"
-as you wish-
"Wait a second."
-Any orders?! -
"Don't inform them right away; wait till tomorrow to do it, okay?"
-U...huh...o...okay, I guess-
"I still have things to do by then."
Teet-Teet-Teet
"GLADIA"
At the royal palace, Assistant Liu was somewhat dumbfounded by her words; he never expected such requests. He turned around at Queen Luna, who was drinking her tea in the garden, and he greeted her with a simple bow.
"All done, your majesty," he said.
Queen Luna put down her cup and looked at Assistant Liu, then said, "Assistant Liu, tell me honestly, what do you think about Serenity's change recently?"
"According to the investigation we ran recently, the princess was constantly bullied at her school by some of the admirers that she had, and nobody did anything to help her. Apparently, someone spread rumors at school saying that the agreement restraining them was done for her; everyone seemed to believe it, so her highness ended up being an outcast. No one seemed to be willing to help."
Assistant Liu saw the queen's raging expression, but he expected such results; after all, no mother would settle down when seeing her child getting hurt, so he just continued what he was saying: "Until recently, when those same admirers pushed her into the lake, she almost drowned even though she can swim. I don't know why, but the teacher who saved her said she seemed like she was fighting against something even though she said she just had a foot cramp." "
"CRASH!"
The cup her majesty was holding shattered, injuring her hands. Assistant Liu hurried beside her and used a healing potion to treat her wound.
"No need to worry your majesty, no matter the truth what happened when she fell into the lake , it doesn't seem to matter , whatever it is a life or death experience or something else it won't change the fact that her highness changed, and it's actually a good change" he placed the emptu bottle in his dimensional ring "just the fact of her royal lineage is enough to tell that her life will be full of danger , excuse my rudness when saying this but the ptincess is usually so pathetic and weak always act like a frightening cat ,but the her we saw when she came last time was one that stood still with no fear even in the face of your killing intent released , she was clearly diffrent but only then did i have this thought for the first time ....she is truly from the royal BLOODLINE "
The queen seemed surprised by his comments on her daughter: "It's rare hearing such complaints coming out of you. I get from this that you recognized her in a way."
"I just recognized her demeanor, that's all." Assistant Liu smiled, but he just remembered the call from just now that gave him chills.
"It can't be right?" he murmured to himself.
"Let me ask you ... do you think she hates me?" Queen Luna asked with concern clear in her eyes.
"She doesn't; worry not," he replied without hesitation.
The queen was dumbfounded by his speech and asked, "What makes you say so?"
He hesitated for a second but replied anyway, "You may not like my answer, but I think the princess takes after you. She is the revenge type, so since she was willing to take the initiative to call, that means she doesn't hate you as much. Rest assured."
"Forget it, all is okay as long as she is fine," she said, but then gave him the side-eye, saying, "And what do you mean revenge type? I am not that petty."
Assistant Liu settled for a smile, but in his brain he was so furious. 'Not pity my ass. Tell this to that poor cunt family you almost wiped from existence. You're the most pitiful person I've ever seen, and I thought there's no possibility of meeting someone else like her. It turned out she gave birth to that someone.'
'Originally I sent those messages to the princess so she'd take pity on them, but for real, she asked me to wait until yesterday. Doesn't she know what will happen in a day? That poor cont family is in for one hell of a night. You just had to mess with these demons.'
'My deepest condolences; I hope you pass by the night safely,' he seriously prayed for their lives as he was really sympathizing with their situation.
Back to "REGIS"
"Haa~,...what the hell is wrong with that idiot today? She felt like a different person," Baial said as she touched her sour face after Serenity disappeared from her sight.
But Jin, on the other hand, was confused, thinking about what she had just said: "Is it possible something happened at home...?" he murmured.
"What did you say? I didn't hear clearly; say again, "Baial asked."
"Nothing, excuse me," Jin said, and quickly got up and left her alone. He couldn't stop feeling uneasy thinking that something might have happened to his family; he wanted to make sure they are safe as soon as he could.
Baial wanted to follow him, but her sore face and arm were hurting so much she could barely move.
"Poor guy, he just got the shock of his life; anyone in his place would feel lost after hearing a woman say that to his face." She looked in his direction, feeling sad for him. "Naa~, it's not like they were dating; he's actually quite lucky." She then touched her face without realizing, and it hurt like hell.
"Ouch, what does she eat to possess such strength...aww~...my face hurts me so damn much; I need some ice." Instead of following him, she heads for the nurse's office to get treated.
As for Jin, he walked straight to his room to call his parents and make sure everything was ok. He was happy the call connected fast, but that happiness didn't last long.
"Fath-"
-You ungrateful son, what the hell have you done? - His father shouted. It was clear from his voice that he was furious. Even Jin, after hearing him, got flustered. Usually his father never raised his voice at him; it was the first time.
"I didn't do anything. Father, what really happened?"
- Her majesty called off the engagement and banned us from the capital; our family is under investigation for taxes. At this rate we are finished. -
"Are they trying to kill people? This is so unfair. What the hell did we even do?"
-You ask me?...Then why do I ask?...You ungrateful son, think carefully about what you have done recently. According to Assistant Liu, the princess almost died because of you.-
Jin hurriedly said, "That's not true. I never even saw her, so when and how did I try to kill her?"
-I don't care; we are in this mess because of you, so either you find a way to solve it or never even think about setting foot in this house ever again.-
"I...I know...I apologize...I will apologize to her. If she accepts my apology, then it will be over...right?" Jin hopefully said, but reality hit harder.
-Keep dreaming. If this matter can be solved with a simple apology, why would I torment myself?...Assistant Liu said you should apologize to the princess and earn her forgiveness, or you and your whole family will be executed for the crime of attempting to murder a royal. You must earn her forgiveness; it's not a choice. You are on your own. -
He ended the call with his father with news that terrified him. He felt his father's helplessness, and for the first time, he felt despair.
Jin grabbed his head in the middle of all this mess. "What the hell did I get myself into?"
He cried his eyes out, wondering why it had to go to such lengths. Then he thought of serenity, and he fell to the ground with teary eyes.
"She called it...she really did…karma...that's my karma."