Alina fell silent while listening to the girls' story about Maximilian's siblings, she was absolutely unconvinced. That person was definitely a woman. Although she had only taken a few glances at her earlier, Alina was certain.
But how could she be so sure?
The answer was simple. There was a curfew after midnight in the dorms, and Alina was on duty to ensure that no one would break it.
She was shocked, however, when she saw Zenith carrying Avian and blatantly leaving in front of her gaze. 'Perhaps they are unaware about the curfew,' she decided to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Despite that, the brunette felt uncomfortable with letting them go without the slightest warning. So, as per her duty, Alina waited for them patiently until they arrived back.
Her eyes widened with a deep blush once she saw their state, the smaller person seemed to be in a daze, and the taller guy's hand was moving tenderly, showing unrestrained affection that the brunette had never expected to see.
Relationships were not forbidden in the academy, even same-sex relationships were accepted, but Alina was somewhat unsatisfied with the two breaking the curfew for that.
With furrowed eyebrows, the young woman kept following their every move, planning to give them a heavy warning to ensure they were not going to do it again.
Then, a realization hit her.
'That person… A woman? Ha! To think a woman would dress up as a man, how disgraceful.'
Alina's gaze, filled with disdain, soon left them as she went to her room annoyed. Instead of giving them any warnings, Alina felt disdain and disgust for that woman who abandoned her feminine charm for men's clothes.
The next day, she did not expect to meet them immediately. From their gestures and what happened yesterday, the brunette assumed Zenith and Avian were in a relationship.
Somehow, the thought of a woman wearing men's clothes to engage in a relationship with a man was repulsive enough. It felt dirty to Alina, as her train of thought hit a wall.
'She must be wearing these clothes to get closer to men without seeming vulgar.'
When women chase men first in their beautiful dresses, they were always called names and their reputation suffered a great deal. However, this woman was trying to seduce men while pretending to be one of them, sparing herself the pain while also gaining everything at the end.
Alina was not amused in the slightest.
In response to that, she smiled.
"Oh you little girls, always excited and inexperienced."
"Huh?"
"What do you mean, Lady Alina?"
"What I meant is simple," she said, patting her own shoulder, "For someone like me, I was easily able to tell the true nature of that Avian. But you all here gushing over that person…"
'That person', Alina made sure to not call Avian a 'she' yet.
There was no fun or benefit in revealing her gender soon. For now, a few rumors about how nasty Avian was were going to do the trick.
"I believe all of you are being a bit blinded because you did not see what I've seen the previous night…"
She trailed off, allowing the girls to exchange uneasy glances. Despite how every place had one or two dramas, the instructors and the students themselves did not appreciate it.
They were here to learn and improve, the dramas, rumors, and useless dog fights were only a hindrance.
For that reason, they were even more worried.
Lady Alina was not someone simple. She was not a naive gossip girl, so what she had to tell must be a big deal.
"Lady, what did you see…?"
Finally, one of them asked with great deal of hesitation.
Alina sighed and her face scrunched up, "Even if they were step siblings, or adoptive siblings, for them to openly break the curfew and kiss in the hallway… I had never expected to see something like that."
She dropped the bomb, causing the girls to stare at her utterly speechless and unable to form a single word. With pale faces, each of them turned to the other before shivering helplessly.
Relationships between siblings?
Now that was something no one would condone. And those girls naturally did not want to get involved in this matter. Alas, Lady Alina seemed to have already decided they must be part of this.
"Of course, you know this should be a secret. But for a terrible act like this to be hidden under their talents' curtains… That is truly unfair, don't you all agree?"
With a sweet, enchanting smile: "Wouldn't you agree that we shouldn't condone such an act?"