The five-hour carving examination had finally ended.

All across the stadium, exhausted students collapsed into chairs, stretched their sore muscles, or desperately tried to repair whatever dignity had been lost during the last few hours.

The audience was still buzzing with excitement as instructors began evaluating the completed sculptures.

Meanwhile, Principal Varek had managed to find a quiet corner.

For the first time that day, he thought he might finally enjoy a few minutes of peace.

Ring.

He glanced at the screen before answering. "Varek Duran speaking. Who is this?"

A familiar voice immediately came from the other end. "Soren Markhelov. Tell Blanca to come to my room."

The call ended as he stared at his device.

"...How does General Markhelov know Miss Blanca?"

Before he could think about it further, his device rang again.

"Varek Duran speaking. Who is this?"

"Sykelion Vulpes," the man’s professional voice remained calm. "His Grace would like to speak with Miss Blanca. Please send her to the Duke’s chamber."

The call disconnected as he stared at the device again. "Even the Duke knows her?"

Ring.

A vein twitched on his forehead. "Varek Duran speaking. Who is this?"

"Lyndon Tajiri," his voice sounded impatient. "I wish to speak with the red-veiled lady."

The call ended.

Varek slowly lowered his device. He wasn’t sure whether he wanted to throw it or stomp it on the ground.

Ring.

His eye twitched as he answered it. "Varek Duran speaking. Who is this?"

"The King."

Varek immediately sat up straighter. "Yes, Your Majesty."

"The Queen and I would like to speak with the red-veiled lady."

The call ended.

He wasn’t even finished sighing when his device rang again.

Ring.

"..."

Ring.

"..."

Ring.

"Let me guess," Varek said flatly. "You’re also calling to meet the red-veiled lady?"

There was a pause.

"How did you know?"

Varek froze.

That voice.

No.

Absolutely not.

"And more importantly," the caller continued, "I’m still waiting for my energy stone."

The color immediately drained from Varek’s face.

Every survival instinct in his body activated at once.

"You have the wrong number. Goodbye."

He ended the call before the man could say another word then immediately powered off the OmniSync just to be safe.

Varek slowly dragged both hands down his face. "I need to find Miss Frostine to let her decide which chamber will she visit first."

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

I pushed open the door and stepped inside. "So why did you call for me?"

Principal Varek looked up from his desk. "Can you at least knock before entering?"

I walked past him, pulled out a chair, and sat down. "I’ll try not to forget."

"You said that last time."

"Then I’ll try harder."

His eye twitched.

Ignoring him completely, I reached for the tea set on his desk and poured myself a cup.

Varek watched in disbelief.

Then I reached for the plate of pastries.

"Sure," he said dryly. "Go ahead and eat all my snacks too."

"Thank you for your generosity, Principal."

I immediately grabbed one.

Then another.

Then another.

Varek looked physically offended as every bite seemed to age him.

"Also," he said, pointing at my face, "what’s with the veil?"

I took a sip of tea. "I’m starting a fashion trend."

"You look like you’re planning an assassination."

"Fashion is subjective."

"Not that subjective."

Varek looked like he wanted to throw me out the window. Instead, he only pinched the bridge of his nose.

I reached for another pastry. "So? What’s the problem?"

"It’s not my problem."

The way he said it made me pause as I lowered the pastry.

"It’s your problem."

I immediately stopped eating then stared at him. "What did you do?"

Varek blinked. "What?"

"What did you do?"

"Why are you assuming it’s my fault?"

"Because you’re looking stressed."

"You’re the one causing the stress!"

"Exactly. So what did you do?"

For some reason, Varek suddenly looked like the student in the room.

"Wait," he said slowly. "Why does it feel like you’re the adult here?"

"Who asked for me?"

He ignored the question. "Don’t change the subject."

I ignored his attempt to ignore my question. "Who asked for me?"

Varek pointed at me accusingly. "You absolutely changed the subject."

"Did it work?"

"...Yes."

"Then who asked for me?"

Varek dragged a hand down his face. "General Markhelov."

I immediately choked on my tea violently.

I spent several seconds coughing while Varek watched without sympathy.

"Duke Renardon."

I started coughing again, harder this time.

The principal’s eyes narrowed. "Interesting reaction."

"It’s the tea."

"The tea isn’t that bad."

I waved him off while trying to recover. "Continue."

"Marquess Tajiri."

This time I frowned. That one was considerably more troublesome.

Why?

What did he want?

More importantly, did he recognize me?

Varek noticed immediately. "Oh. So that name bothered you."

"No. Next."

"His Majesty and Her Majesty."

I slowly set my teacup down on the table and sighed.

At first, it felt like the end of the world but then I remembered something important.

The Marquess didn’t actually know who I was.

The King and Queen didn’t know either.

A smile slowly spread across my face.

Across from me, Varek immediately narrowed his eyes. "What are you up to now?"

I smiled even wider.

Varek looked alarmed. "Please don’t do that."

I folded my hands together. "I’ll handle the General and the Duke."

His shoulders relaxed slightly.

"And you’ll handle explaining why I couldn’t visit the rest."

His shoulders immediately tensed again. "What?"

"I said—"

"I heard you!"

Varek shot to his feet so quickly his chair nearly fell over.

"Have you gone insane?!"

"Probably."

"They’re the King and Queen of this empire!"

"Correct."

"And you expect me to lie to them?!"

I shrugged. "That’s a strong word."

"What other word is there?!"

"Diplomatically redirecting the conversation."

Varek looked like he wanted to throw the entire couch at me. "That’s still lying!"

I casually opened my OmniSync. "Besides, you don’t really have a choice."

His eyes narrowed. "...What did you do?"

I tapped the screen as a holographic document appeared between us and revealed our contract.

"In case you’ve forgotten," I said pleasantly, "Clause Seventeen, Section Four, Paragraph Two."

Varek walked closer, his face slowly drained of color as he read.

————————————

If Party B decides to reveal Party A’s identity without Party A’s permission, Party B shall be fined 1,000,000,000,000 IC.

Should Party B fail to pay the fine, Party B shall enter employment under Party A until the debt has been repaid.

————————————

He looked up. "This wasn’t in the contract!"

I pointed at the document. "It appears to be."

Varek immediately grabbed his own copy from a drawer and started flipping through the pages.

The more he read, the more horrified he became.

"It... it’s here."

"Correct."

"It was not here before!"

"That’s a very serious accusation, Principal."

"You fox!"

"It’s not my fault you signed a forty-page contract without reading it."

"You trapped me!"

"You trapped yourself."

"You little—"

Varek looked seconds away from suffering a stroke.

Meanwhile, I simply grabbed another pastry.

Ahhh... The benefits of being calm during negotiations.

"You fox!"

"I’m a leopard."

"You cunning little witch!"

"I’ve been called worse."

"I BELIEVE IT!"

His eye twitched so violently I was slightly concerned.

"Relax."

"How am I supposed to relax?!"

I walked over to the large window overlooking the stadium.

The next group of students was already entering the arena grounds while the audience continued cheering.

"Oh look."

Varek looked utterly miserable.

"The next batch is starting."

"Why are you looking at the stadium right now?!"

I ignored him.

Meanwhile, Varek had entered the final stage of panic as he was now clutching his hair with both hands.

"I’m doomed."

"No."

"I’m finished."

"Probably not."

"My career is over."

"Unlikely."

"The King will ask questions."

"Then answer them."

"The Queen will ask questions!"

"Then answer those too."

"The Marquess will ask questions!"

"That’s generally how conversations work."

Varek made a strangled noise before collapsing into his chair. "I am so unbelievably screwed."

His eyes were unfocused, his hair was a mess, and for the first time since I met him, he genuinely looked like a man that aged fifty years because of problems that were thrown his way.

I, meanwhile, was feeling significantly better.

After all, it wasn’t my problem anymore.

Well, most of it wasn’t.

I walked toward the door and grabbed the handle before glancing over my shoulder. "Just look down."

"What?"

I pointed toward the stadium outside the window. "The answer is literally down there."

His brows furrowed. "What answer?"

"The explanation you’re looking for."

Varek looked even more confused.

Instead, I opened the door.

Behind me, I could practically hear his brain trying to process what I meant.

"Miss Frostine."

I paused. "What?"

"What does that even mean?"

I smiled. "I’m sure you could figure it out. After all, you’re the principal."

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

The moment the door clicked shut, Varek stared at it for several seconds. "...The answer is down there?"

He frowned and glanced out the window.

At first, he didn’t understand what he was supposed to be seeing.

The carving examination was continuing as normal when his eyes landed something strange.

"...What?"

He leaned closer to the glass.

The scene below was so absurd that he genuinely wondered if someone had slipped something into his tea.

Almost all the students were wearing red cloth.

Some wore them around their necks.

Others tied them around their arms like military bands.

A few had worn it as headbands.

Several had attempted to copy Blanca’s veil and cover their eyes but the results were disastrous.

One student walked directly into a table.

Another bumped into a marble block.

A third confidently marched straight into a wall.

Nearby, two students wearing makeshift veils collided headfirst and immediately started arguing over whose fault it was.

Another student proudly adjusted his red veil before immediately walking into somebody else’s workstation.

The owner punched him as the audience cheered.

Despite all of this, nobody was taking their veils off.

Varek slowly removed his glasses, cleaned them, and put them back on.

The scene remained exactly the same.

Varek stared in silence. "I thought this was a school..."

A student tripped over a chair.

"...and not a cult."

Two more students appeared wearing matching red cape and one of them was carrying a sign that read:

BLAZING RED STYLE

Varek stared at it as he coughed into his fist. His shoulders finally started shaking as a sound escaped from his mouth.

Soon he was laughing so hard he had to grab the windowsill for support.

The image of hundreds of students suddenly wearing red accessories just because Blanca wore one was simply too ridiculous.

A memory suddenly surfaced.

"Also what’s with the veil?"

"I’m starting a fashion trend."

He laughed again. "She actually did it."

That insane kid had actually done it.

For some reason, the students had seen her wear a red veil and collectively decided that it was the coolest thing they’d ever seen.

He wiped a tear from his eye. "What a genius idea..."

His gaze slowly shifted toward the private chambers then back toward the sea of red below as a horrifying realization slowly dawned on him.

"...No way."

Miss Frostine hadn’t worn a veil because she wanted to start a fashion trend, she wore one to create a distraction.

Had she already predicted this?

Had she known important people would come looking for her?

Had she intentionally worn a veil knowing students would imitate her?

He looked outside again.

Even he couldn’t immediately identify which one had started it all.

If he sent the ones looking for her down there right now, they would have to spend the next hour figuring out which red-veiled student was the correct one.

Varek slowly sank back into his chair. "...That’s either brilliant or deeply concerning."

A few seconds passed before he corrected himself.

"No."

He looked toward the door she had exited through.

"It’s both."

Meanwhile, outside the office, Blanca was probably heading toward the VIP chambers completely unaware that she had accidentally started the academy’s newest fashion trend.

Or perhaps, knowing her...

It probably wasn’t accidental at all.