BXBX NOVEL Chapter 362 Rumors
"Ugh! I\'m so jealous of her! It should have been me!" It seemed like the rumors were likely true; there were even eyewitnesses—some sort of paparazzi. But there was no certainty if these were all true or propaganda to tarnish the prince or his fiancee. Even if it were true, we really did not know the reasons—if he was trying to get friendly or just to pester Christine. "I also heard that this person is a first-year student like us," Iris continued. "I don\'t think she is someone in our class, so she probably belongs to Class B or so," I said, shrugging my shoulders. "What do you think of this situation, Raphael?"
"Well, this matter would cause conflict not only on campus but also with this nobility. On campus, I think that the response of the student body to this situation, more specifically, with this rumored girl, would probably depend on the court rank of this student herself." "I get what you are trying to imply." Iris nodded several times. "If this student belongs to a lower rank, the students would be disappointed and would treat her badly, as someone like her does not deserve to be by His Imperial Highness\'s side." "You\'re right." I was not personally interested in this matter and did not investigate it, so I did not know who this girl was or what her social status was. But given that she was being close with this empire\'s crown prince, I should start getting the gist of it since this would cause friction between nobles. "On the other side, if it were the opposite, the students would mostly not get in her way. They might see that this girl was somewhat challenging Lady Christine, if only she intended to take him away from her." "I think Lady Christine would not let that happen. She is basically carrying the reputation of her family, so if she fails him, the consequences would definitely reflect on the Archduchy." "Yeah." She then took the last bite of her steak before changing the topic. "But anyway, let\'s not forget to pass by the library." "Oh, right. We still have some materials to get there," I said before I began consuming my meal faster. ◆◇◆◇◆◇
"I think the alchemy books are there." I pointed my index finger at the farthest shelf on the right side of the first-year\'s library before we walked toward it. "The library is unusually vacant," she pointed out. "It is good that we finished our lunch before the others." As we were on our way, we suddenly heard voices inside, like a group of female students bickering somewhere on the opposite side of the library. Iris heard that as well, so we hid ourselves behind one of the shelves, and then we secretly eavesdropped on them. We also erased our presences, just in case.
From what we could perceive, there was a group of three female students, probably from the third year based on their neckties, surrounding a first-year female student, who was not in the same class as us, sitting on the floor. I recognized that the seniors were actually the followers of Christine Grise. From the gist of it, it seemed that bullying also occurred in the academy. "Don\'t get cocky, you bitch!" "How dare you try to get close with His Imperial Highness Edward when you are not on his level?!" "P-please stop—"
"Waterball." Suddenly, one of the seniors cast a basic water magic spell and conjured a one-foot-diameter sphere of water above the head of the freshwoman\'s head. The senior unhesitatingly released the waterball and dropped it on the poor girl. The water splashed all over her body, and drenched her uniform. I also noticed that one of them deployed a barrier on the bookshelf so that the water would not splash on the books. Books were hella expensive, and they probably could not afford to pay for the damaged ones. But to think that they prioritized themselves over the girl. "That\'s what you get when you seduce the prince." One of them grinned as they stared down at the drenched girl. This is just the start, so distance your salacious self from His Imperial Majesty\'s grace." "Get lost, bitch. Let\'s go, girls." After treating her so badly, the dejected girl maintained her gaze on the wet floor as her bullies were laughingly going out of the library. From the look of it, she was apparently the girl of the rumors.