Shadow Queen - Chapter 50

“It depends on me in the end, right?”

“It’s up to you to succeed or fail.”

“Let’s run with that. You gave me a plate, but if I can’t eat it with a spoon, I should fold it.”

Khalif confidently left with Randol’s personal details. While feeling a little pressure, he seemed to be fascinated by art brokers.

“Shall I go now?”

After leaving the study room, Elena left the central library and walked down the road. In the meantime, Sian’s words had complicated her head, and she refrained from her activities as Lucia, fearing that Ren would be setting his edge. It was also the exam period. Perhaps that’s why this road, which was sparsely populated and untidy, felt much lower and shabby.

Elena came down to the West Side annex of the Academy without any trouble. As usual, she headed to the basement studio in the annex, where a group of three or four female students stood in front of her and blocked her.

“Stand there.”

Elena picked up her eyes and scattered them. They wore high-quality uniforms that were not suitable for libraries with many commoners. Also, it was easy to guess that they were noblemen because they cared a lot about dressing up. Among them, the day was ripe for a female student who appeared to be the leader of the group.

‘Was her name Mitchell? She was a parasitic woman next to Avella, who used to gossip and slander.’

She didn’t feel good. Whether they were arguing for a purpose, not a coincidence, it was clear that she was caught up in a troublesome affair.

“Me?”

“Yes, you.”

Mitchell fell behind, and the ferocious young women crossed their arms.

“Do you have any business with me?”

“What? Business? Look at her. Aren’t you supposed to say hello first if a senior calls you?”

Elena bowed her head to watch the situation more.

“Hello.”

“Did you see her say hello? I thought she was going to break her neck with that force.”

“I’ve been told that freshmen aren’t cheap, but wow, she’s no joke.”

Elena was convinced as she watched them openly snarling and criticizing despite her normal greeting.

‘You’re picking a fight.’

Elena pondered why they might quarrel. She could infer the answer without difficulty.

‘Avella, you must have been troubled by your eyes.’

Now the picture was roughly drawn. Avella has had a crush on Sian for a long time. At the ceremony, she invited Sian to the point where she did everything she could. Elena, who was attached to Sian in Avella’s eyes, could not have looked nice. Moreover, every time she was with Sian, something that had to draw attention.

She fell down from the first meeting and was held in Sian’s arms, and when she went to the library, he protected her from Ren’s quarrel. For Avella, Elena had no choice but to be as intrusive and unenviable as a thorn in her eye. So she might even have thought of pulling her faction in this way and getting her away from Sian by doing harm.

‘That’s why I didn’t want to get involved.’

Elena sighed. Looking back, it was Elena herself who caused all this.

“Are you sighing now?”

“I really can’t do this. Come with me.”

Two large girls in the group stuck to both sides of Elena, dragged her to the back of the annex building. When they reached a place where people were scarce and sunlight was difficult, they pressed her with more overbearing expression and speech.

“You’re crazy, aren’t you? Your Highness has spoken to you a few times, so you can’t see anything, can you?”

“…”

“Are you going to talk back to me rudely? Huh?”

The big girl patted Elena on the shoulder and threatened her. The girls next to her were also spitting or staring at her, creating a scary atmosphere.

‘I can’t believe this, it’s ridiculous. If you knew I was Veronica, how dare you try to hurt me when you can’t even look me in the eye?’

Elena was overwhelmed by the situation she was experiencing for the first time. Who dare to commit these atrocities to Princess Veronica and hope to survive. Since Lucia was not an imperial nobleman, but the daughter of a merchant from a foreign country, this kind of harm is possible, but she was worried about how to deal with it.

‘It’s obvious that they are habits. The weaker you are, the worse you behave.’

As age climbed to the pinnacle of the social world, there was an eye that could distinguish and grasp the young ladies that should be kept and the young ladies that should be filtered.

“Have you got a gag on your mouth? You’re always quiet when you talk back. Why, are you scared?”

Elena grinned. It was a clear rain of laughter.

“I can’t believe it.”

“What? Did you lose it? Did you just laugh?”

“If it’s not funny, it’s weird, right? You came here to scare me and threatened me. It’s so childish.”

“What?!”

The faces of the female students were red and blue as Elena openly sarcastically criticized them.

The girl who was pushing Elena’s shoulder just a little while ago seemed insulted, and her breathing became harsh.

“Have you lost your fear in four years?”

“You’re not on the road, so leave. Mitchell, can we talk?”

Mitchell’s eyes shook as Elena openly called her name and pointed her out. Either way or not, Elena stared at Mitchell with a glaring glance. Outright as if to be conscious.

“She’s so funny. Who do you think you are? To tell that to your senior and say goodbye. Huh?”

“Wait a minute.”

Mitchell, who had been silent, raised her hand and held her back. Then she walked forward, and she had a snake-like smile.

“What does the arrogant junior have to say to me?”

“Don’t live like that.”

“What?”

Mitchell’s relaxed expression was bizarrely distorted. She thought she’d kill her pride and beg at best, but she got on her nerves.

“Do you think Avella will cherish you? That’s an illusion.”

“What do you know. You’re just blabbering out your mouth.”

Mitchell made an impression and stared at it ferociously. If she got angry a little more, she was ready to slap her cheek. But rather than being daunted, Elena stared at her with a nonchalant look. Mitchell felt daunted by the unfeeling indifferent glance.

“I don’t know anything else, but I know the ending of you. It’s going to be miserable.”

“…!”

What Elena said now was not a lie. After losing out to Elena in a social factional fight, Avella threw all of her bad deeds at Mitchell, who had a lot of flaws, and kicked her out. She was disposed of because she was used up. It was a bad relationship, and Elena hoped that Mitchell, who had a foolish head and acted like Avella’s limbs and destroyed her family, would come to mind.

“Senior, this girl is crazy. How dare she mention Lady Avella?”

“I really need to educate her properly. I don’t think she should talk about it.”

Elena added another word, ignoring the girls who were making a fuss next to her.

“Think about it now and well. Whether she really cares about her seniors.”

“Who the hell…”

Mitchell couldn’t answer anything. It was because Elena’s expression was so serious.

“This bitch! I’ll really have to wake her up.”

“What are you doing? Are you going to keep looking?”

The unbearable girl raised her hand high. It was obviously a preparatory move to hit Elena.

‘What type of strike is that. It’s really low.’

Violent acts within the academy were strictly controlled as they led to family strife. However, it is different if the victim is a commoner. Although they will be disciplined in accordance with the rules of the academy, the level of punishment will inevitably be weak. Elena didn’t want to face her, but she didn’t even want to stand still and let her slap her in the face.

“That’s enough, isn’t it?”

Pause.

Elena, who tried to avoid her body by turning to an unfamiliar voice, and even the girl who tried to slap her, stopped moving. Mitchell also turned to the direction where the voice was heard.

“S-senior R-Ren?”

“Senior why are you here?”

Mitchell and other girls’ facial expressions were distorted. Ren was a human being who did not even associate with Avella. Such Ren suddenly appeared and was interrupting. Ren chinned with his back against the wall.

“She’s mine.”

“What?”

“You don’t understand? I took her.”

“…!”

It sounded like a warning to not touch Elena, although the tone was different.

“Senior, it’ll be over in a minute, so just a little while…”

The schoolgirl, who was about to slap her on the cheek, plucked up her courage and asked Ren for his understanding.

“You think I’m asking for your permission right now? It’s not good if you can’t understand me.”

“T-that.”

“Leave. I’ll give you three seconds.”

The girl bit her lips hard at Ren’s deadly threat. This is because if you step up and get caught by Ren, your academic life will be ruined.

“I’m going to step down now that you say so.”

“There is no time. 3, 2…”

Mitchell greeted him as a representative and led the group out. Mitchell couldn’t take her eyes off Elena, she seemed to have a lot of thoughts. Ren, who kicked out all the uninvited guests, shook his hand and approached Elena.

“You have many enemies?”

“…”

Elena was very embarrassed. It’s better to deal with them, of all things, but because she met Ren on the single road, it made her feel worse.

“Hey, I saved you. You have to say thank you.”

“Why didn’t you just let them stay and leave.”

“What?”

“I can clean them up on my own.”

It was not bluffing. Even if Ren didn’t appear, Elena was confident she could clean them up.

“You’re embarrassing me again.”

“Because I have suffered a lot from my senior. Look at the work.”

It was time for Elena, who had a bad feeling about the last incident, to turn around and be harsh.

“I didn’t tell you to go?”

Ren grinned and stood in front of her. He expected it to come out like this already. Elena wasn’t really surprised. They’d gone so far as to be unable to recover, so she took it without pretense.

“If you have anything to say, just say it. I don’t think it’s a coincidence. I think you’ve been waiting for me.”

“Oh, you’re sharp.”

Ren made eye contact with Elena. He smiled a meaningful smile and said it directly.

“Are you a ghost?”

“What do you mean by that.”

“You’ve never been seen in any undergraduate classes, not even in the dormitory. I go to the academy, but there’s no sign of you.”

“…!”

Elena’s face hardened. She was off her guard. She forgot how much Ren could do. The fact that he brought that up means that he had already completed a background investigation into Lucia.