The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

"I let you live last time despite your insolence, not because the professors came by, but because I took pity on you. Do you not appreciate that?"

However, despite the oppressive aura from the prince, the green haired prefect remained obstinate.

"You're very proud of being able to defeat someone four years younger than you, right?"

Craig laughed, as if he had completely forgotten about his anger. But the more nonchalant he appeared, the worse Evelyn felt the outcome would be for the green haired girl.

"I did not defeat you, Eula. I crushed you without effort. There is a difference, and you best not forget that. Enjoy this trip, by the way, because the next time I see you in the academy… I shall break both your arms and legs."

Prince Craig did not allow her room for retort as he turned around and left.

The green haired girl breathed a sigh of relief as she turned around.

"Alright, my job here is done. You girls… go back to sleep. He may be a douchebag, but he's not the type to go back on his words. So, no need to worry."

Just as she was about to leave, however, Evelyn reached out to hold her wrist. "Wait."

The green haired girl blinked in surprise. Although the girl's grip was gentle, she could tell that it wouldn't be easy to break free if she wanted to do so.

'To be so strong at this age… No wonder that bastard took an interest in her!'

Of course, her attitude towards the girl did not change even after knowing of her strength. 

Since there was a four year gap between them, Eula doubted that this girl would ever be in her direct competition.

"What is it?"

Evelyn let go of the girl's wrist, her reluctant smile conveying both gratitude and regret.

"I'm very grateful for your help, but I feel like you're going to get into a lot of trouble now because of me. So—"

Eula frowned as she stepped forward to grab the pink haired girl's cheeks, squeezing them roughly as she enjoyed the girl's dumbfounded expression. 

"You tiny little brat! How old are you, huh? You dare to look down on me?!"

If Vivian had been awake, she would surely have bitten a big chunk of flesh off of Eula's face.

The green haired prefect only let her go once she saw the younger girl's eyes get slightly misty.

Although Evelyn did rub her red cheeks, her reaction was far from Eula's expectations. She didn't get angry or indignant, instead choosing to simply ignore the entire incident.

"I-I may be young, but I'm not that weak, and I'll get stronger. Since you got into trouble with him because of me, you cannot keep me out of it, okay?"

Of course, in addition to clearing her 'debt', Evelyn also had the intention of keeping up with Craig's actions better. 

Since Eula was in a similar position to Cecilia and was two years her senior, she must surely have better connections in the academy. She did not feel comfortable being completely in the dark. 

Although the system could serve as a warning, there was no guarantee that she would receive an appropriate quest in time. Especially if the method of attack wasn't direct, she didn't even know if the right quest would show up.

For example, she didn't receive a quest to defend the Knox family when those thugs had attacked the mansion during the ceremony. 

There was no way to be sure, but Evelyn felt that perhaps she would only have gotten a quest once either herself or someone very close to her suffered a direct attack.

The prefect looked a little conflicted before patting the younger girl on the head. "What's your name?"

"Evelyn Knox."

"Alright, Evelyn. Aren't you misunderstanding something? It's not like I did this to help you or anything, you little idiot." 

The pink haired girl blinked.

Eula sighed. "I just have a personal grudge against him. So, you don't need to feel so indebted or guilty."

Evelyn nodded. "Okay, that's fine. But you still ended up helping me out. It's all the same to me. I just want to keep in touch, isn't that okay? I can't rest assured without that. I promise not to trouble you too much!"

Eula's attitude eased slightly. Isn't this girl just trying to stick to her because she protected her from Craig? What is this thing called again, puppy love?

"Hmph. You should have just said so earlier if you felt scared and wanted to come to me. Sure, you can visit anytime. Bring along all your friends, too, if you like. The Aquans never reject guests, after all."

Although Eula's interpretation of her request wasn't to Evelyn's taste, she decided to allow it since it suited her purpose anyway. 

Seeing her nod, the green haired girl bid them goodnight and left as swiftly as she had arrived.

Cecilia sighed as she ran a hand through her hair.

"Looks like most of that story was wrong, but turns out the girl who got her legs broken was her, huh… That guy's so despicable. I find myself hating him more and more."

Evelyn nodded. "Although she's very prideful, it's unlikely that she provoked the prince first. We should be more careful, too."

The ash blonde girl bit her lip as she looked at her friend. 

"I'm more worried for you than anyone else, Evey. The way he looked at you was so wrong. Ugh, it's disgusting just to think about it. That guy is like… twice your age. That pervert!"

Compared to her own peaceful first day, Evelyn's was truly full of ups and downs. Cecilia couldn't imagine how bad of an impression the girl must have of the academy by now.

Evelyn just smiled as she motioned for Cecilia to get back to bed, and the ash blonde could only sigh and move on.

Once it was just the two of them, Evelyn patted Amara's shoulder. "Why are you standing here silently? Go back to sleep."

The redhead bit her lip tightly, but she neither responded nor moved.

Evelyn tapped the redhead's cheek lightly with her palm. "What's wrong? If you're worried, don't be. Everything's fine now, so relax."

Amara's eyes darted from side to side as she avoided her friend's gaze. "I-I… I'm sorry, Evelyn, it's just… No, nevermind. I'll… go back to sleep."

The feeling of helplessness she had felt when Craig had been bearing down on Evelyn was the same as that day when her Gilmore family was wiped out.

She had huddled together with her sister and remained hidden as everyone else got slaughtered.

Amara wondered if she would still remain a coward when the day came that her closest friend was really about to lose her life.

She had deluded herself into thinking she had changed. Wasn't she just as weak now as she had been all those years ago? 

What difference did it make if she stopped a powerless little kid from bullying Evelyn? When it came to real threats that mattered, Amara knew she was utterly useless.

'Isn't it better to just… die together? I don't want to bear this burden anymore… I'm done being helpless… but what can I do?'

Even if she rushed ahead and tried to protect her while being too weak to do so, Amara knew that would only make the situation worse.

Evelyn was keenly aware of the dark clouds surrounding Amara's heart. But it was not a problem with an instant solution.

In fact, most of Amara's issues stemmed from a single cause. And that was her lack of confidence in her strength. 

And the solution was not to counsel her into believing herself to be stronger than she is. No, that would only hurt her later down the road. The real solution was… to allow her to gain strength.

The pink haired girl sighed.

'Don't worry, Amara. For taking care of me all these years, the least I can do is not let your future remain bleak.'