CHAPTER_11 Act 1

"Do you think all of the Fifteen Families will stay together, Ms. Leyand?" the President asked me.

"Why are you questioning me all of a sudden?" I replied.

I'm in the Principal's office with the President of Student Council to discuss recent events at school.

"I'm just curious what you think, knowing there's a danger nearby."

"Danger you say? Do you mean Hans Seid and his Order Family?"

Due to the discussions earlier, I now know what's with Mr. Hans Seid.

"The Order Family," he whispers.

"Nothing to worry about, Mr. President" I responded cheerfully, "But I'd like to ask you as well."

"Hm?"

"...Are you satisfied with your decision?"

"Ms. Leyand," he stated.

"Yes?" I said, smiling.

"You know that my position carries a lot of responsibility, so my decisions aren't easy to make."

"We all knew that, but I meant what's inside of you; I'm curious how you feel."

"That's rather unnecessary, Lou," he said frigidly, dodging the question.

"You're not being honest, Ethan," I responded.

He just looked at me, saying nothing. I can tell that he is irritated.

"Anyway, I just wanted to confirm that Ms. Lisa Hollows will be expelled, but Ms. Zei Wyte will remain in school, is that correct?" I said with a kind grin.

"You're getting pretty excited about this, Ms. Leyand."

"Fufu~is that so?"

Earlier, there was a commotion here in this room. Because of the ongoing incident, Mr. President wants to clear things up. We don't want to hear this from anyone, so we headed to the Principal's office.

"You know why I called you here, you two?" Mr. President asks the two guests, namely, Ms. Wyte and Ms. Hollows.

"Not sure," Ms. Wyte replied, but Ms. Hollows on the side remained silent the entire time.

All of the remaining Student Council members were present and simply stood on the sidelines. Madam Wyte, the Principal, was not here due to urgent circumstances. She wanted to settle the issues outside of school, therefore we'll resolve the internal matters and serve as the court here.

"I'm sure Ms. Frey made it plain to you both that we need your presence here to straighten things up," he continued.

"Is that so..." Ms. Wyte makes an insipid response.

"If you could, Ms. Wyte, please prove your innocence to us."

Ms. Wyte immediately chuckles, "Pft haha; how naive of you, Mr. President; you're already treating us like criminals."

"Didn't you come here to prove your innocence?"

"Why do I need to prove something that I don't even know?"

"Alright. Now, how about telling me this evidence?" Mr. President looked up at me, indicating that I should show them the pictures of the evidence. Without hesitation, I handed the envelope to them, which contained some photographs. The pictures depict the murder weapon that was used as well as the victim's body.

Eventually, both of them just stared right back at me until Ms. Wyte said, "That's fabricated. I can already tell."

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"What are you saying, Ms. Wyte—?" I said, but Mr. President shoved me away.

"Hm? Tell me, Ms. Wyte, how do you say so?" He said, then added coldly, "Prove it to me."

"It's pointless," she thought, adding, "There's no use in proving myself if this was all planned by someone, right? Besides, right now, I don't have any power."

She had abandoned her family, so she was aware that no one could help her from this.

Gradually, the silence began to visit us. However, Ms. Hollows finally breaks the stillness.

"Do you see the evidence, Mr. President?" She asked.

"Yes, I did see it."

The question brought Mr. President to his senses. After seeing her calmness earlier, I realized Ms. Hollows was examining the entire room, including me.

"Well, what are your thoughts? Do you believe we did it?"

"I'm simply here to be in between, Ms. Hollows; I don't take sides, so please avoid certain queries," he stated.

"Thought so. It looks like I'm right on the spot—"

The conversation abruptly stopped when the door unexpectedly opened with a thud. All of our attention is focused on the two people who arrived.

"Ms. Lock and Mr. Past?" Mr. President uttered these words in confusion.

"...Don't make a fuss here, Ms. Lock," Mr. Crane told them.

"I apologize for the sudden interruption, Mr. President," Mr. Past stated calmly.

"What brings you two here?"

If they come here and disrupt our conversation, it means they have an important business here.

"All we need is for you to release Zei Wyte," Mr. Past said.

As I heard this from them, my mind went blank. Sure enough, we're all wondering the same thing...

"Why?"

"You don't need to know why, Mr. President," Ms. Lock interrupted, "because we're here to prove her innocence."

"For one thing, why are you going to such lengths to save Ms. Wyte?"

"Do I need to repeat myself, Mr. President? Regardless, I can state that Ms. Zei Wyte has nothing to do with this entire situation."

"You only need Ms. Zei Wyte, is that correct?" I said.

According to their remarks, Time Family does not want Ms. Lisa Hollows, but rather Ms. Wyte herself.

They replied honestly and plainly, "Exactly."

Ms. Lisa Hollows didn't say anything, but the expression on her face indicated that she was frustrated. But I'm a lot more perplexed right now. I'm not sure what the advantage is for them.

"Then prove that to me," Mr. President asks.

Ms. Lock remained silent for a minute, contemplating her response.

They couldn't have come here without proof.

"...Order Family."

When she stated this, I caught a glimpse of Ms. Wyte's feint reaction. I've never heard of this Family before, so this might be vital information.

"This is Mr. Hans Seid's newly founded Family," she continues.

"Mr. Seid, huh?" The President wonders, "What's your point?"

"As you may have heard, they actually formed yesterday, but that's not the whole point. Together with Mr. Seid, Ms. Zei Wyte joined them."

"..."

We were all startled to hear this. I, too, had not anticipated that Mr. Seid and Ms. Wyte would form a Family. However, what's surprised me the most is that Mr. Seid tried to start his own Family. I recall him saying that the entire Family thing is ridiculous.

"Fufu~ that's quite interesting, don't you think?" I said.

"Indeed," Mr. President agrees, "But why are you saying this to us, Ms. Lock?" He immediately gathered his composure.

"As I mentioned, they formed this yesterday, and Ms. Wyte was present there."

"..."

Ms. Wyte didn't say anything to that assumption, as if she were keeping her word.

"If you don't want to believe me, here's my conversation with him."

Ms. Lock handed me her phone as though she was certain of her proof. She calmly stared at me in the eyes. I can tell that they did have a talk, but this was insufficient. I stared at Mr. President, wondering what he was going to do with this.

"I'm surprised you managed to contact him, Ms. Lock. I had no idea you were having conversations with him without my knowledge," Ms. Wyte stated.

"Ms. Wyte is correct," I muttered, "Why do you have a conversation in the first place."

"...I'm not here to answer that question," she adamantly replied, "Anyway, if this isn't enough, summon Mr. Seid here; though I doubt he would show."

She is perfectly aware that Mr. Seid was unconcerned about Ms. Zei Wyte. Mr. Seid will undoubtedly not spend his time on this.

To summarize, Ms. Lock wants to state that Ms. Wyte spent the entire day yesterday with Mr. Seid and has nothing to do with the case.

"You know me well, Mr. President. I hate lies," she insistently added.

Ms. Lock was raised for honesty, and I can see that in her.

"Besides," she replied, looking at me intently, "...No, nevermind."

She pulls back her words, but I understand what she means. Her eyes tell me that she is aware of what is going on. I didn't respond to her in that regard.

I didn't inform them about the "idea" since I knew she didn't care about her surroundings. Nevertheless, I overlooked this and was taken off guard. I had no clue she would support Ms. Wyte.

She then diverted her sight to Ms. Hollows and bent slightly in greeting.

That was the end of the discussion earlier. All of the decisions were, of course, made by the President himself, and it will not be questioned further. No one was around right now since the meeting had already been dismissed.

"In any case, Mr. President, do you want me to look into the Order Family?"

"Why are you asking me?"

"Fufu~ Didn't you organize this? You're now my boss, I must follow your orders, right?" I teased.

"Do anything you want, as long as you don't cause a problem."

"Okie!"

"Please wait, Ms. Lou."

"Hm? What is it?"

"Be careful of Independent Families."

"You don't have to be concerned about me, alright Ethan? I'll go on ahead!"

I exit the Principal's office with delight. But I came to a halt on the way since there was someone outside in the hallway.

"Ms. Frey?"

"I heard it," she says, and with the serious look on her face, I can sense trouble.