The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

Evelyn's eyes were wide open as she barely managed to stop herself from attacking the incoming girl upon recognizing who it was at the last moment.

The pink-haired girl couldn't help but take a couple of steps back as the older girl's frame crashed into her. If she had been weaker, she might have directly collapsed on the floor.

And had it been one of those commoners in her place right now, they would have been splattered on the opposite wall.

"Evelyn~!"

Evelyn couldn't help but groan in exasperation as the ash-blonde girl held her tight, almost completely burying her face in Evelyn's fluffy pink hair.

"Hello, Cecilia. I would prefer a gentler greeting next time. You almost killed me, you know?"

Cecilia completely ignored her reprimand, however. "Fufu… did you miss me, Evelyn?"

"We talk every week, don't we?"

Cecilia pretended to look hurt.

"No way~ You're telling me you didn't miss seeing me for two years?! I'm so sad!"

The pink-haired girl rolled her eyes. "C'mon Cecilia, don't think you can fool me now. Your acting is about as good as your cooking."

The girl finally let her go from her overly affectionate embrace.

"Hey! How can you say that? You've never even tasted anything I made yet!"

Evelyn couldn't help but shake her head.

"What about those cookies you sent me? Did you know my mother thought someone sent me stones and almost threw them out? And when I put them on the table after failing to eat any, little Vivi chomped one down before I noticed, and then cried for three hours before we finally managed to make her throw it up!"

Cecilia cringed. Okay, so maybe her first attempt at baking cookies didn't have good results, but so what?

"Anyway, since you couldn't eat any, my point still stands. You've never tasted my cooking."

Evelyn didn't know whether to be amused or exasperated at her friend's shamelessness.

"And what about what happened to Vivi?"

Cecilia snorted. "Psh, don't lie so much, Evelyn! How can my cookies be so easily bitten through by a little— yikes!"

Vivian had taken offense to either her clinging to Evelyn or Cecilia doubting the sharpness of her teeth. Either way, she was now firmly biting on her arm, just like two years ago.

Unlike last time, Cecilia couldn't be indifferent at all, as even with the vast difference in strength, she could feel that Vivian had almost bitten through her skin!

"Ow! I give! Let go, please!"

Vivian reluctantly let go when Evelyn patted her head.

"Geez, Evelyn, your little hamster's teeth have become sharp!"

"Mhm, I almost couldn't believe it when she easily chewed through your indestructible cookie, but it really did a number on her once it went inside. You know, you owe her an apology."

"Oh… sorry, little hamster—hey wait a minute, why am I the one apologizing when she bit me?!"

Evelyn smiled. "Because she had to get her stomach pumped because of you?"

The older girl still looked reluctant. "B-But isn't it your fault for leaving my cookies out in the open?!"

Evelyn could only roll her eyes. "You didn't tell me they were a biohazard, did you?"

As they were arguing, Rufus and his gang took the opportunity to slink away silently. The commoners were too scared to offend either party, and Amara was too focused on making sure Vivian didn't make trouble again.

Unfortunately, however, Cecilia spotted them just as they were almost out of there.

"Stop right there, criminal scum!"

Rufus could only sulk as he dragged his feet back in front of the older girl.

"Good. Stand right here, and if I see you moving again, you don't wanna know what will happen, okay?"

"I understand, prefect."

Evelyn couldn't help but blink in surprise. "He's surprisingly obedient to you?"

Cecilia puffed out her chest with pride. "Fufu, are you surprised? I didn't tell you on purpose. I've become a prefect now, meaning I have the authority to mediate between any disputes between my juniors and judge their punishment accordingly."

The pink-haired girl frowned. "There is such a system in the academy?"

Although it sounds good when Cecilia's the one saying it, the whole thing reeked too much of possible authority abuse.

"It's not as if we can just do anything we want. If we do something truly unreasonable, not only would we lose our prefect position, but also receive very harsh punishment as well. Besides, only exemplary students are ever selected to be prefects to begin with."

"I see… How did you know they did something wrong?"

Cecilia cliked her tongue, as if it was obvious.

"Just polluting my cute little Evelyn's compartment with their foul existence is already a sin!"

"…"

"Ahahaha… look at your face!"

Evelyn felt that ever since Cecilia arrived, she had been rolling her eyes way too much. She almost afraid they would roll to back of her head, and she would become blind.

"Honestly, Cecilia, you've changed a lot in two years."

The ash-blonde smiled. "Fufu… who knows. Maybe I just finally found someone to open up to."

Evelyn could feel some heat rising to her cheeks. Thankfully, Cecilia didn't continue her 'attacks'.

"Anyway, I know you won't needlessly seek trouble. Since they were facing off with you, they were definitely making trouble. So… tell me, what's going on?"

Rufus felt that maybe if he took the initiative to explain, perhaps things could be still be 'swept under the rug'.

"W-We—"

Unfortunately, the 'prefect' wasn't a very reasonable person.

"I'm not asking you, so shut your trap! Ahem, well, Evelyn, you go ahead."

Evelyn sighed. "Honestly, I have no idea what they came here for. This guy here just came in hurling insults left and right. I didn't even want to pay attention, but I also couldn't bear it when all of us are being continuously insulted... By a weakling, no less."

Cecilia hummed, her brown eyes darkening to an almost black shade.

"Well, Evelyn, you go have a seat with your little pets. I'll have a word with these idiots and see what they have to say."

Evelyn nodded as she walked back to her seat, and Amara physically dragged the growling Vivian away from Cecilia.

The ash-blonde rubbed the bite mark on her arm.

"Even though the little hamster is so cute, it's really vicious… I might have to apply some ointment to make sure it doesn't leave a mark."

She turned to the five boys standing still like petrified statues.

"Well, criminal scum, what do you have to say for yourself?"

Rufus couldn't help but grit his teeth. Aside from his initial slip-up, hadn't he made concessions all along? He really couldn't bear it anymore.

"Miss prefect, it's not right of you to accuse us like this. We didn't commit any crime, did we?"

"Oh?"

"That's right. We didn't hit anyone. As for what verbal insults, who knows what was said by whom in a heated argument?"

Although he already realized that this prefect was clearly biased towards the pink-haired girl, he knew she couldn't go too far against the rules for her, or she would lose her position.

"Hoh, I guess I really can't punish you just for a verbal argument…."

The boys collectively breathed a sigh of relief.

Cecilia smirked. "Or can I?"