"Absolutely Not!"
The lavish Temple which was surrounded by nature shook by the thunderous voice coming from inside. In a room, two young people whose appearances looked the same were sitting opposite from an old lady. With dissatisfied expressions, they raised their voices, "why not?!"
"Don't answer back, you brats. My divinations are never wrong. If you two go on that school trip, disaster will strike you!"
"Haaah" the twins stared at the old lady for a moment before sighing. Melias, who wore a light blue shirt sarcastically mocks the old woman, "this again? Your divinations have never been wrong? Don't kid yourself."
Yulias, who was sitting next to Melias, agreed with his twin sister. "We only informed you as it's only polite to do so. We never asked for your opinion."
The old lady silently stared at the two disrespectful twins, she smirked at them. Did these kids think they had won?
"Heh, heh. This time you don't have a choice."
The twins looked at her confused, what card could this woman have against them?
"Don't tell me that you've forgotten that I'm your guardian right?"
After they heard this sentence, they immediately caught on to what she was trying to say. Their relaxed expressions turn stiff.
"You need a guardian to sign the permission letter, therefore you two won't be able to go."
"?!"
Before Melias and Yulias could utter a word, the old lady's next words slapped them directly in the face.
"Unless you can adopt yourself as a guardian within three days, then I'll have no choice but to yield."
The twins' expressions which were previously filled with indignation replaced itself with dumbfoundedness. They couldn't help but curse her in their hearts.
'What a witch.'
Seeing their expressions of wanting to say something but couldn't, gratified the old woman. Melias soon hardened her expression. Slowly getting up from her seat, she beckons her brother. "Let's go, Yul."
"Ah. Okay." Yulias hurriedly gets up and follows after Melias who reached for the door. The old lady who was still seated silently watched them leave.
"Hey Mel! What are we going to do now? There's no way we can find a temporary guardian within three days!" Yulias chased after Melias in the corridor, he didn't expect that the old witch would act up and retaliate against. Melias glanced at Yulias walking behind her. "Let's talk in my room first." she didn't want there to be anyone to overhear their conversation, otherwise it would be reported to that meddling woman.
Fortunately, Yulias caught on pretty quickly and followed Melias to her room. After closing the door and ensuring that there were no eavesdroppers, Yulias turned to Melias waiting for her to answer.
"Yul, do you still remember our uncles?"
"Eh?" Yulias was a little surprised by Melias's question, "you mean Uncle Cassis and Uncle Luo?"
"Yes. It seems that the old lady has forgotten that we still have blood relatives."
"But.. are they still alive?" Yulias asked with doubt.
"Huh? What kind of question is that?"
"Well, they haven't contacted us in six years. So I thought that they'd shriveled up in some unknown place."
Melias went silent. It was true that they haven't contacted them in six years, however, it was a bit much to assume that they were dead. "In any case, I'll find a way to contact them."
Noticing Yulias's doubting gaze, she could only shake her head helplessly. "Don't think too much about it. You should go to sleep, we need to go to school early tomorrow."
"...Alright then."
****
In the next early morning, Melias and Yulias arrived at their school. A thunderous voice of a boisterous young man disrupted the peace of the next door classroom. "You've got to be kidding me!!" A young teenage boy who had the appearance of a delinquent snickered and Melias and Yulias who explained what happened last night with the old lady. The beautiful girl who stood beside him reproached him. "Why are you laughing? Do you find it very funny?" the boy immediately shut his mouth, "sorry."
Seeing that he quieted down, Melias smiled. "No need to worry about us!"
"I wasn't worried-"
"We're definitely going! Right, Yul?"
"..." the teenage boy went silent when Melias cut him off.
"Hey"
"Yeah?"
"Do you really think that you can really go with the permission of a guardian?"
"Klein!"
Klein shrugged, "Auryn, I know that you care about Melias, but can you please think a bit more realistically?" Auryn said nothing, and only glared at Klein. Seeing this, Klein sighed. "Look, even if Melias is the school council president, it's impossible for the teachers to allow her to go without a permission slip."
Although Auryn wanted to refute, she also knew that it was impossible. Why was Aunty being unreasonable this time, it was just a school trip. In the past Melias and Yulias had gone to even more outrageous places, she couldn't understand what the old lady was thinking.
Realising that Auryn's mood was dropping, Melias quickly changed the subject. It would be troublesome if Klein used this opportunity to pick a fight with her. "Why haven't I seen Enisha yet?"
Klein indifferently answered, "morning sword training."
Yulias frowns. "But it's 8:50 already. She'll be late if she doesn't come before nine."
"Is that so?" Klein replied with disinterest, he couldn't care less whether or not Enisha was late or not.
"How can you be so indifferent to your own cousin?" Auryn frowns at Klein's attitude.
Klein scratches his head, "She's not a child. If she wants to be late, then she can be late. Why are you taking it out on me?"
Ignoring Auryn and Klein's bickering, Melias silently ponders. Two days ago, she remembered Enisha telling her that she was going to participate in the national kendo tournament in City A after the school trip. "She said she was entering the national tournament." Auryn and Klein paused. Klein answered first, "Haaa?" He looks at Melias incredulously, "what does that have to do with being late?"
Melias rolls her eyes at him, "the national tournament is a very important matter. When a student participates and gets into the top three, they bring glory and honour to the school."
"Oh." Klein was about to dismiss it when he suddenly realized something wrong with Melias's words. "You helped her, didn't you?"
"Whatever do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb!"
"Haha"
"Is the school council president supposed to help a student come late to class?"
"Like you ever cared about attendance. It's surprising that you came on time today. Don't you usually drink tea with the disciplinary committee everyday?"
"How is tying my upside down on the roof drinking tea?!"
The sudden swing of the door opening disrupted the pleasant atmosphere. "Everyone, please take your seats." After identifying their homeroom teacher striding in the classroom, the students scramble to their seats. As the teacher began doing the register, he noticed that Enisha wasn't when he called for her name. "Where is Enisha?" some students who heard this began to whisper amongst themselves. Just as the teacher was about to mark her absent, the classroom door swung open. Enisha walked in leisurely causing the small whispers of the students to rise. The students dissatisfied with Enisha blatantly voiced out their complaints.
"Tsk! Late again I see. She thinks she's so special huh?"
"Hey, be quiet. We're in class."
The boy who heard his friend tell him to be quiet frowned, "why should I have to be quiet? She is obviously being arrogant, thinking that just because she's taking part in the national tournament, she can do whatever she wants!"
His friend glares at him with a warning look, "That's enough, if you want to cause a fuss, do it somewhere else."
'Don't get me involved.'
The boy did not take heed to his friend's warning, "what do you mean by that? She's too arrogant! A girl should stay out of things like the national tournament and study at home!"
Perhaps it was because he unintentionally raised his voice, so everyone could hear which caused Melias and the other students to stare at him. The boy's friend could only turn away embarrassedly. "What's wrong?" noticing his friend's weird behaviour, he questioned only to receive a gloomy answer. "Don't talk to me." The boy's friend wanted to cry. All he wanted was to erase his existence right this instance.
A girl and boy sitting not sitting not too far away exploded. They furiously stood up and roasted him.
"Shut up! What do you mean that girls should study at home? Are you looking down on us women?!"
"So you say girls should go home and study, does that apply to the student council president too?"
Pointing to where Melias was, everyone understood and maliciously glared at the offender.
"Is he stupid? Last year and the year before, the student council president participated and won all of the awards, giving the school glory and honour! She is obviously better than the men who participated!"
"Telling My Melias to go home? This guy is definitely looking for a beating!"
"Haha! Are you dreaming? How is Melias yours? You better not let her fan club know what you just said, otherwise, you'll be dead by tomorrow!"
The boy soon realized what he'd just gotten himself into. He desperately looked at Melias, he needed to clarify himself! He absolutely could not let Melias misunderstand him!
"That's not what I meant..!"
Melias only stared at the boy for three seconds before getting up from her seat and smiled at the homeroom teacher who was about to explode at the rowdiness of the students. Her smile inturn made the other students quiet down a bit. "Teacher, I have something to say."
The homeroom teacher curiously asked, "What is it?"
"This year I can't participate in the national tournament because of my council duties, so Enisha will be participating in my stead." the teacher's eyes opened wide, before he could process his thoughts, Melias added, "I can assure you that her grades won't drop because of the tournament." Everyone was shocked by Melias's words, Enisha is participating in their President's stead?!
They couldn't be blamed for being so shocked. The reason being was because Melias is a straight A student, who not only does the heavy work in the student council, but also participates in the academy's activities and has joined 10 after school clubs. Not only that, there are rumours that she is the successor of the current president of this country and is studying under his tutelage. Despite all that, she has never failed to get perfect scores in all of her subjects. Therefore, not just anyone can take her place in participating in the national tournament. No ordinary person could handle this kind of pressure.
They looked up at Enisha with sparkling eyes, Enisha who saw this felt a cold chill go down her spine. The Homeroom thought for a bit, since Melias has said so it must mean that she will personally tutor Enisha. "Alright, since you said so, I'll allow it."
He turns to Enisha, "since you are representing Melias, please do your best to not disgrace her.'' Those words from the homeroom teacher added even more pressure on Enisha's head like a huge boulder was resting on her which could crush her at any second. With a stiff expression, she replied, "Yes sir." hearing her answer, the Homeroom teacher relaxed his tense expression and told her to go to her seat. What Enisha didn't know was that her stiff expression gave the other students the misunderstanding that she was being aloof.
"As expected of someone chosen by our president!"
"Well of course not just anyone can represent the prez."
"Come to think of it… Isn't Enisha Melias's friend?"
Hearing the discussions among the students, Enisha's expression became even gloomier.
As she sat down, she saw Klein's mocking gaze, she gave him a cold look, "take that smug of your face, my stupid cusin."
"What did you say?!" The smugness of Klein soon faded after being ridiculed by his cousin. "How dare you call me stupid?" Melias could only chuckle when she heard him, "isn't it true though? Mr-last-place?"
Klein's sore spot was attacked by Melias, he glared at her menacingly. "That doesn't mean that I'm stupid!" No matter how Klein tried to clarify himself, it was useless against his friends who are in the top ten. Yulias was always in second place and has managed to protect that spot. Auryn remained in 6th place while Enisha was in 10th place. So Klein, who always placed last, had no right to say anything. People around them always wondered how a failure like him managed to become friends with elites like them, only Melias and the others knew. Perhaps, they would never find out.
After the homeroom teacher settled the students down, he finally started his speech. "As you all know, the school trip that we'll be going is to Maenggoldo Island. So, I will remind you that you must hand in your permission slips on the day that we depart." He skims his sharp gaze across the students. "And might I remind you that if you dare to sign the permission slips yourself, you will be severely punished. Your guardian or a member of your family who is an adult must sign the permission slip. Got it?"
The students all replied, "yes teacher". The homeroom teacher could only sigh in his heart. After what happened on last year's school trip,when a student signed the permission slip and handed it in, the parents who didn't know that he went on the trip were furious when they found out and filed a complaint against the school. In order not to let the same mistake happen, the school took measures this year and hired a professional who could differentiate whether it was a student who signed the permission slip or not.
Melias silently listened to the homeroom teacher speak. Three days… They had only three days to get in contact with their uncles. She needed to quickly think of a plan to meet them without alerting the old lady.
***
Once the morning classes were over, lunchtime had begun. In an open area, Melias kept twitching her eyes as she was forced to watch the public display of affection between Auryn and Klein. Why did they invite her to eat lunch if they were going to ignore her and force her to watch them flirt? Ah, no. To be exact, it was Auryn who invited her.
"Say Ah"
Klein opened his for Auryn who was offering the food that she made for him. Melias couldn't take it anymore and broke up the lovey-dovey atmosphere. "For god's sake! Can you two please be considerate of others and not stuff singles with dog food?!"
"Is this jealousy I smell?" Klein smirks, taking the chance to tease Melias. Melias shoots right back at him with a cheeky smile, "Pfft! Me? jealous of your unstable relationship? I think you're dreaming right now, should I help you wake up? Be careful Klein, if you don't keep that arrogance in check, a man better than you will steal Auryn away."
"That'll never happen you punk!" After saying that, he turns to Auryn with teary eyes which resembled a dog pitifally whining. "Auryn, you won't abandon me for another man right? Right?"
Auryn laughed at Klein's 180 degree change of attitude, "Oh my, where did all that confidence from earlier go?"
Melias who also saw speechlessly stared at them. "..."
"I wouldn't do that too, but what about you? Will you stay true to me too?" Auryn glances at Klein softly, "you won't leave me for another woman that's much prettier and smarter than me right?" Klien's expression froze in place and could only utter a single word: "Eh?"
Auryn and Melias noticed his change of expression, Auryn frowned at his reaction. Melias thought to herself, 'shouldn't this question be easy for Klein? Why is his expression frozen like that?'
Klein however, was in his own little world. 'A woman prettier than Auryn?' he never really thought about that. Though, if it was someone with better looks than Auryn, it would be Melias and Yulias, it was no use comparing their otherworldly appearance to mortals. Plus he didn't fall for her because of her looks. Klein, who was in a world of his own, was quickly brought back to reality by Auryn's gloomy expression. In order to salvage this situation, he hurriedly replied, "You don't have to worry about me ever cheating on you! All women's faces look the same to me!"
"..."
Both Melias and Auryn's expressions froze in place. Melias's expression darkened, all women's faces look the same? Is he trying to be funny? This is clearly an insult that would be enough to make him an enemy to all women in the world! Klein, who noticed their expression worsened, couldn't help but start to sweat. He seemed to have said something wrong..?
Auryn finally broke the awkward silence, she spoke in a trembling voice, "so you're saying that I'm not pretty? I'm nothing special?"
"H-Huh?! Of course you're pretty! You are special!"
"But you just said all women are the same. Doesn't that apply to me too considering that I'm a woman too?" Auryn caught Klein off guard with that last sentence, he began sweating profusely. "I-I didn't mean it like that!!" he soon felt the seriousness of the situation, Klein tried to explain himself, however it only made things worse. "All women look the same except you Auryn!"
Melias who heard this sneered, did he forget that she was also here? Could anyone have flawless white skin like her? Could they have beautiful platinum blonde hair like her? Or eyes that resemble the priceless emeralds? DON'T KID YOURSELF!
Melias, who had been greatly offended, decided to make trouble for Klein. "Last week, didn't you praise a celebrity for her beauty?" the two people froze at Melias's words, Auryn had a hurtful expression on her face, "...what?"
"Auryn! I-It's not like that!!" Klein clumsily tried to explain himself, however, all was for naught. Auryn mercilessly slapped him in the face, "Shut up! I don't want to hear your excuses, you cheating bastard!"
Klein reaches his hand out desperately, "W-wait Auryn! Let me explain..!"
Auryn ignores Klein and runs away in tears, "There's nothing to explain! I hate you Klein!!"
The words 'I hate you' repeated dozens of times in his head, the look of his despairing expression made Melias let a laugh escape from her mouth, it was simply hilarious. Unfortunately, Klein heard her laugh at him. His face immediately twisted in anger, "you bastard, how dare you laugh at me."
"Heh. you deserve it." Melias laughs mockingly, "you should've known that you'd be retaliated against after what you said. Honestly, you couldn't even answer a simple question properly. You really don't understand a woman's heart."
Klein glowered, "you bastard..." Melias, who was enjoying Klein's misfortune was caught off guard by his sudden outburst. "This is all your fault!"
"Why is this my fault?" Melias scorned Klein for pushing the blame on her, "doesn't the fault lie with you who could not answer her question and instead froze in place?" Melias, who didn't know that she was nearing closer and closer to her doom continued lecturing him, "all she asked you was whether or not you'd leave her for another woman better than her. It's your fault for not-" she stopped half-way with her words when she saw a very dark aura enveloping Klein. "Crap." sensing the danger, she took a few steps back. It appears that trying to reason with him any further was useless. Making a run for it, Klein noticed and chased after her like a mad dog.
"Melias!! Stop right there!!"
Melias rolled her eyes, "Hahaha, very funny. But no. Only a fool would stop running. Especially when it's a mad dog chasing after them!"
Irked by the name "mad dog", he howled madly, "So I'm a dog now?! Not only did you mess up my relationship with Auryn, you're now calling me a dog?!" His angry expression almost resembled a madman, "do you want to die!"
'Nope! I very much want to live!'
Listening to this idiot's false accusations, Melias argued, "Come on! You set yourself up! I had no part in this!" Klein was indignant, paid no heed to Melias's cry, he was determined to teach her a lesson!
The two did not realize that they caught the attention of two members of the disciplinary committee who were on a break.
"Huh? Who's that over there?"
"Don't they know that students aren't allowed to run on campus?"
One of the member's squinted his eyes, "wait a minute. Isn't that..?" He soon recognized Melias running from afar. He exclaimed in shock, "The student council president?!!" The other guy who had short brown hair also recognised Klein. "Isn't that Klein?"
The two boys ask at the same time, "why is he chasing our president?" one second they had confused expressions, in the next second, they both snapped in anger. "How dare that delinquent bastard chase after our beloved president?!"
"This is an emergency! You call the fanclub, and I'll contact the disciplinary committee!"
"I'm on it!"
In the fanclub room, Sana, the fanclub president, was disrupted by a phone ringing. "Dammit! Why is it ringing? I thought I told everyone not to disturb me. Why am I admiring my president's beauty?!" Despite complaining, Sana still picked up the phone. "What do you want?! Can't you see that I'm busy?!"
The other end of the call felt wronged, how was he supposed to know? However, that feeling soon faded when he thought about his president being chased by that damn delinquent. "There's no time to waste! Listen up! Klein, that bastard is harassing our beloved president!" Sana was about to curse at him for his rude manners right up until she heard that Klein was chasing her idol. "What?!" she slammed the phone on the desk and glared at the fanclub members, "Stop what you're all doing right now!" the members were dissatisfied by Sana's command and refused.
"Prez, you're abusing us!"
"Yeah! You get to admire our idol while we have to work? No way!"
"This is an abuse of authority!!"
Sana couldn't contain her anger at their ignorant words, their so-called idol was about to be chewed inside out by that damn Klein!
"Shut up! That barbarian Klein is harassing our idol!" the members who were silenced by Sana immediately reacted to her last sentence, "WHAT?!"
Seeing that they were finally on the same page, she began to give orders and naturally the members cooperated obediently.
"Team A! Your mission is to hinder Klien's movements!"
"Roger!"
"Team B! You are to guide our guide to an escape route!"
"Yes ma'am!!"
"And last but not least." Sana had an evil expression, her eyes gleaming in a dangerous light, she laughed wickedly.
"Team C! You will Beat the bloody pulp out of that villain!! Hahahahahaha!"
In the disciplinary committee, they moved much more quickly than the fanclub. The president of the disciplinary committee, Tae-Ha, hit her bamboo sword against the ground. Her sharp blue eyes swept across the members standing in eight rows outside. "I want you all to coordinate with the fanclub and let that lawless dog know his place!" the members answered in unison, "As you command!"
Tae-Ha grits her teeth, Her cold blue eyes glaring menacingly. How dare that filthy dog chase after their student council president? When she gets her hands on him, she'll let him know what it means to beg for death!
As the fanclub and the disciplinary committee members began to initiate their plan, they caught the attention of the other students. A male student stopped one of the fanclub members and curiously questioned why they were moving in groups. "Is there an event going on?"
"Of course not! That bastard Klein is chasing after our idol and harassing her! We're gonna save her and teach him a lesson that he'll never forget!" the male student, who heard this, instantly shrieked in anger. "What?! Klein is harassing the student council president?!" the male and female students passing by immediately halted. Klein is harassing Melias?
They all erupted in anger.
"Doesn't he already have Auryn? Why is he bothering Melias?"
"Haha! Don't you know that he always picks a fight with Melias whenever he gets the chance?"
"Shameless! Does he want to have a harem?"
"With that face? Maybe in his next life!"
"Let's crush this fool! Dare to covet my goddess? Over my dead body!"
"Yeah!"
Getting riled up, they joined the fanclub in their mission of punishing Klein and 'saving' Melias. The majority of the male students were admirers of Melias and Auryn, and with this huge misunderstanding their rushed into the battlefield to slaughter(?) Klein. Unfortunately for Klein, he was about to face a world of pain that he would never forget for the rest of his life.
Melias, who did not know the mess that she had just caused, was busily running away from Klein. "I'm gonna ask you nicely... Can you please stop chasing after me?!"
Klein answered in turn, "Can you let me beat up?"
"..." this Bastard..!
Fortunately for Melias, her back up came to help her. Sana and Tae-Ha were running 10 metres away from them with a mob of the entire school running behind them. Klein who looked behind him couldn't help but have a shocked expression with his jaw almost dropping to the ground. "What the fuck?!!"
"Klein you bastard stop chasing after our idol now and I promise that I'll lessen your sentence!"
"Haaah?!" Klein saw Sana's crazed expression and immediately refused. "Do you think I'll stop after seeing your crazed expression?!"
Melias heard Klein and rolled her eyes, wasn't he also making a crazed expression when he was chasing after her? He sure had the nerves. The other mob began cursing Klein announcing all of his 'crimes' which almost made Melias stumble.
"Klein, I won't forgive you for harassing my idol! Just you wait when I get my hands on you!"
"You already have Auryn! How dare you make a move on Melias!"
Melias: 'what..?'
"I didn't know you were so greedy, to the point that you would try to form a harem!"
Melias and Klein: ?!
"What the hell! How did you come up with such a ridiculous conclusion?!!"
Tae-Ha's mouth twitched, "trying to create a harem in school grounds?"
"Wait a minute, you actually believed that?!" Klein felt there was something wrong with these people's heads. Tae-Ha on the other hand readied her bamboo sword closing in on Klein. "The indecency! And you even tried to get your dirty paws on the president?!"
"Wait, listen to me!" Tae-Ha paid no heed to Klein's cry and murderously chased after him. Klein could only speed past Melias forgetting his previous goal, the only thing he thought about right now was how to survive from the demonic disciplinary committee's president! When Melias saw that Klein had run away, she slowed down and eventually stopped running. She watched as the angry mob chased after Klein and Tae-Ha with a confused expression.
'What the hell is going on..?'