Chapter 97-Called out (2)

Chapter 97: 97-Called out (2)

Before Kriza could respond to Lumi’s question, a chair scraped against the ground. "How dare you!"

Luan rose from his seat. He stretched lazily, almost as though the entire confrontation had bored him, before casually making his way toward his sister.

But the moment he reached her, the laziness disappeared. He stepped in front of Lumi and fixed Kriza with a fierce and unwavering glare.

"I am the only one allowed to mess with my sister," he said, his voice was quiet. "Utter her name one more time, and I don’t care if you’re a blackblood..." he paused as his eyes hardened. "I’ll spill your blood right here."

Every murmur in the garden died instantly. Kriza’s confidence faltered, and she instinctively took a step backwards because Luan wasn’t alone.

The moment he had stood, Kayden had risen as well. Without saying a word, the powerful vampire walked over and positioned himself directly behind Luan and beside Lumi.

His presence changed the entire atmosphere. Where Luan’s anger was sharp and openly threatening, Kayden’s aura was something colder: quiet, controlled, and far more difficult to read or predict.

It pressed against the garden like an approaching storm ready to unleash at any moment.

Then, another chair moved behind the three vampires on trial. Joam stood up, Fenwick, Brylle, and finally, Zaden also got up. One after another, they gathered behind Luan, waiting.

They didn’t need to speak or threaten anyone. Their posture said enough. They were waiting for one command for Luan, and Kriza would see the worst side of them. The message was unmistakably clear: If Luan moved, they moved.

Jane, already struggling beneath the overwhelming pressure surrounding them, immediately retreated behind Kriza and Sophia.

Being a mixedblood, she could barely withstand the combined presence of so many powerful vampires.

Sophia remained rigid. She looked at Lumi for help, but her former best friend acted like she couldn’t see her.

Kriza, however, couldn’t take her eyes off the group standing before her. Moments ago, she had been surrounded by students who quietly shared her grievances.

Now, none of them dared make a sound because there was a difference between having an opinion and having the courage to repeat it when the people you had just provoked were standing directly in front of you.

Luan’s gaze remained fixed on Kriza. "Keep my sister’s name out of your mouth," he warned. He took one slow step forward. "Got it?"

Silence followed, one that was so tight, it felt like it would crack at any moment.

Kriza’s lips parted, but no words came.

Luan’s expression didn’t change. "Good."

He turned away from her as though the matter had already been settled. When he spotted Kayden standing behind him, he paused for a moment.

’Even now you are acting more super intimidating than me. Why can’t you let me have even this?’ He twisted his lips and walked past him.

But behind him, Kayden remained standing for another moment, his cold gaze lingering on Kriza. It was a silent warning. ’Touch him... not a single person in your entire bloodline will be left standing!’

Luan might have been the one speaking, but she had just discovered that he was far from the only person willing to defend Lumi.

She had no idea that Kayden couldn’t be bothered with Lumi. The one his heart, mind, and body moved to shield was Luan.

Kriza’s eyes glistened not with tears but with years of frustration finally finding a voice. "Maisa is being treated like..." her words got stuck in her throat.

"Like what?" Zolani interrupted, her voice was sharper than usual as she also rose defensively for Maisa.

Kriza turned toward her. "Like she is royalty."

The garden seemed to hold its breath. The students and the professors hadn’t expected her to continue talking after everything that just went down.

Kriza looked around at the students surrounding her, and perhaps for the first time, she realized she wasn’t the only one carrying these thoughts.

That realization gave her courage. "I spent years trying to get close to the Student Council," her voice cracked slightly.

"Years..." she looked toward Varitreya. "I followed every rule. I respected every boundary. I watched what I said, I watched how I behaved, and I tried to prove that I was worthy of being around people who are supposed to shape the future of our nation."

Varitreya blinked, though her emotions didn’t change much on the surface. Deep down, she saw the error of holding the trial. Instead of getting justice for Maisa, the situation might escalate and cause a rebellion.

Kriza’s expression hardened. "And then Maisa arrives," she pointed toward Maisa. "Two weeks... two weeks, and she has something I spent a year and a half trying to earn inside the walls of Veris Academy and many more years before that."

She looked at Maisa, resentment burning openly in her eyes.

"She doesn’t understand what she has or how lucky she has it."

Maisa remained silent. Most of the words entered through one ear and out the other. Her mind was occupied with the scene of all the vampires rallying over to defend Lumi.

In her mind, she could already picture how they’d gang up against her in the future. Against whitebloods, blackbloods, and bluebloods who shared strong bonds, can she hold out and survive?

"She doesn’t understand what it means to walk into a place where everyone knows exactly where they belong, only to suddenly be given privileges that people like me were told we could never have," Kriza continued.

Her breathing grew heavier. "I was told to know my place," her gaze returned to Varitreya. "Everyone was."

She gestured toward the students. "We were taught that blood determined everything. Who we could associate with... who we could serve... who deserved respect... who should stay in their own circle. We were taught that crossing those boundaries had consequences..." her voice lowered, tears flowing down her cheeks. "But now those rules seem to disappear whenever Maisa is involved."

A few students exchanged uneasy glances. She tool the words right out of their mouths. Kriza saw it, and that only made her bolder.

"So forgive me if I don’t understand," she let out, her eyes locked with Varitreya’s. "Forgive me if I don’t understand why a redblood suddenly deserves what the rest of us were told we had to spend years earning."

The garden remained silent. Her words blew the air out of the lungs of all the students and the professors.

"And forgive me," Kriza whispered, "if I can’t help wondering whether you’d be standing here this furious if it had been me who got tricked instead of Maisa."

That struck differently across the garden. Even Zolani went still. Kriza’s voice softened, but somehow, that made the words hurt more.

"If I had been dragged into the Dark Forest... if I had been abandoned there... would you have demanded a trial for me, princess?" She swallowed. "Would the council have come running for me?"

Her eyes flickered toward Lumi. "Would Lumi have spent every waking moment worrying about where I was?"

And then her attention fell toward Zolani. "Would you have brought me things nobody else could afford to give me just to console me?"

Finally, she looked back at Varitreya. "Would the princess herself have broken every boundary she was raised to respect just to bring me home?"

Nobody answered her. Everyone she addressed looked at her. The coldness in their eyes could freeze a person into an ice sculpture.

Kriza gave a small, bitter smile. Hahaha! "Or is it only because she’s Maisa?"