Chapter 65: School

Chapter 65: 65: School

...The Academy...

The car stopped at the academy gate. Alan stepped out and immediately opened the door for Nova, stretching out his hand to support her.

Nova smiled gently and took his hand, stepping out onto the pavement.

"Snow, let me lead you to my department," Alan commented.

Nova lightly shook her head. "You’re in the Computer Science department, aren’t you?" she asked, and Alan nodded in confirmation. "Cassian threw me into the art class, the painting department," she said, smiling apologetically.

Alan’s smile froze, his teeth gritting together in sudden irritation. "I should have arranged it myself," he thought. "But what if Snow doesn’t want to stress herself with hard studying? Art class is still better," he reasoned.

"Then... I’ll lead you to the art class," Alan said, and Nova nodded as he guided her toward her building.

"Brother! You finally resumed, huh! Where have you been all this time?!" a young man shouted, cutting across Alan’s path and throwing his arm around Alan’s neck, clearly accustomed to doing so.

His gaze fell on Nova, and his eyes widened in shock. "Yo! Who’s this beautiful sister?! She’s so pretty—is she coming to our class?" he asked, his voice filled with sudden excitement.

Alan cast a freezing, deadly glare at the young man and shoved his arm roughly off his neck. "She’s my wife, Cinus. Don’t try anything funny," he said, his voice dripping with protective hostility.

Nova smiled softly. "Guess it’ll be public knowledge in no time. Quite protective, huh?" she thought.

Cinus’s mouth hung slightly open. "It’s fine... it’s fine! I guess she’s your fiancée, but there’s no need to claim her as your wife already—no one is going to snatch her away from you!" He laughed nervously, then leaned in close. "Is it an arranged marriage? Do you really like her?" he asked in a whisper.

"Get lost. I have to take her to her department. You should address her as sister-in-law whenever you see her," Alan said, elbowing Cinus lightly in the chest before continuing to lead Nova away.

As soon as Nova and Alan were out of sight, the friendly smile on Cinus’s face slowly vanished into something dark and calculated. He pulled his phone from his pants pocket and dialed a number.

"Michael, Alan is back at school, but he’s with a little doll this time—his fiancée," he reported.

There was a long silence over the phone. "Fiancée? Where did she come from?" The voice was filled with surprise.

"I’m not sure yet, but it seems to be an arranged marriage. One thing is certain, though, Alan is totally head over heels for this little doll. She’s a true beauty, too—even I can’t stop thinking about her now," Cinus replied.

"Be careful and don’t fall into a beauty trap!" the voice warned, an edge of deep irritation in his tone.

"She’s no threat. She couldn’t even make eye contact with me—probably just one of those pampered young ladies from a wealthy family. Her skin is so damn smooth, she must have spent all her time bathing in milk," he replied, a disgusting, perverted smile creeping onto his lips.

"Since Alan is back in school, I will take action personally. I doubt that bastard can escape now. As for his so-called fiancée, keep a very close eye on her. We can use her later."

Cinus licked his lower lip, a predatory glint in his eyes. "No problem. I will surely watch her closely," he replied.

"Don’t touch her yet, Cinus. Keep your stupid dick in place until we are done with everything. Don’t ruin my big plan! If anything goes wrong because of your sinful lust, I will kill you on the spot." The voice threatened.

Cinus sighed. "I heard you. Don’t worry, they won’t suspect anything," he assured him.

"Good," the voice replied, and the call disconnected.

Cinus smirked, slipping his phone back into his pocket. The air around him felt cold, though he was entirely oblivious to the big trouble he was stepping into. "When everything is done, I can play with you as long as I want. There won’t be any escape for you, little doll," he murmured, letting out a creepy laugh as he turned and walked away.

...

[Art Class, Painting Department.]

"Here, this is the painting department. Do you need anything, Snow? I can get it for you," Alan said, holding Nova’s hand tightly.

Nova shook her head, smiling brightly. "I don’t need anything. You should go to your department—don’t be late," she said, patting his head affectionately.

Alan nodded, leaned down to kiss her knuckles softly, and then ran off toward his own building.

The second Alan was out of sight, the warm, gentle smile on Nova’s lips vanished completely, replaced by an abyss of indifference. Stepping into the classroom, she looked around, finding the noisy room messy and thoroughly irritating.

The atmosphere in the room instantly shifted. A heavy, suffocating aura bled from her very presence, causing the chatter in the room to freeze. The air temperature seemed to plunge into sub-zero territory as an unnatural, chilling pressure weighed down on everyone’s chests.

A dark, wicked smile grazed her lips as she walked toward the very back seat. Ignoring the paralyzed, shocked gazes pinned on her, she tossed her bag onto the desk, sat down calmly, rested her head on the table, and... went straight to sleep.

Dead silence hung over the room for several agonizing seconds before quiet, terrified whispers broke out.

"Who is she...?"

"What a chilling aura! I almost froze when she walked past me just now..."

"She’s definitely from some insanely powerful family, but... damn, she’s breathtakingly beautiful!"

"I thought Rika was the only beauty in the whole school, but next to her, Rika might as well be invisible."

"Damn, she’s just too cool!"

The students whispered among themselves, simultaneously mesmerized by her peerless beauty and utterly petrified by the chilling aura surrounding her.

Sitting in the front row first seat was a blonde-haired girl named Rika. Hearing the whispers circulating through the room, she clenched her fists tightly, her knuckles turning white as pure jealousy burned in her eyes.

"Where did this bitch come from? Thinking she can just walk in with her pretty face and steal all the attention I’ve had to myself for years? You don’t have what it takes!" she thought furiously. Grabbing her bucket of yellow paint, she marched aggressively toward the back row.

The room fell dead quiet again as the students watched the oncoming trainwreck, the tension spiking to a breaking point.

"You just entered the class without even introducing yourself. That’s not fair at all. Since you don’t know how to win people over, how about I help you?"

The girl said, raising the heavy bucket of yellow paint high above Nova’s resting head.

She went to splash it, but the moment her arms reached their peak, the air around Nova violently contracted. An invisible, suffocating pressure seized Rika’s muscles, pinning her in place.

Her eyes widened in panic as her arms were forcibly wrenched backward against her will, as if an unseen, monstrous force was twisting her limbs. Before she could even process the horror, her hands snapped down, pouring the entire bucket of thick yellow paint over her own head.

"Ahhhh!" Rika screamed, now drenched from head to toe in sticky, dripping yellow paint.

The classroom erupted into sudden laughter, finding the scene funny.

"Rika, were you so stunned by her beauty that you couldn’t wait to mess yourself up in front of her?!" someone commented, howling with laughter along with the rest of the class.

Amidst the noisy laughter, Nova slowly raised her head from the desk.

The room’s ambient noise seemed to instantly mute into a terrifying silence. Nova stared up at Rika with a deadly, cold glare—her eyes completely devoid of warmth, filled only with the horrifying promise of death.