"A star seedling like you was almost eliminated? Seems like the selection criteria were indeed strict," Aiden commented.
"The initial selection criteria were only based on rhetoric. Singing and acting were nurtured later," Sophie shook her head, "In the field of intelligence rhetoric, I was only mediocre, basically struggling on the edge of passing."
"She's also a candidate, not an examiner, how could she have helped you?"
"Didn't I say earlier that I underwent confidential training? Sometimes that training is done in pairs, with both individuals keeping a secret while attempting to extract information from the other. The secrets each person holds are somewhat related, and there's a risk of revealing one's own secrets while trying to probe the other person..." Sophie explained, "For a while, I was paired with Susan, and she was a bit better than me in this area."
"Did she purposely let you win?" Aiden understood.
