Chapter 42: “I’ll Protect You”

Zarria violently yanked Julius sideward, his shoulder hitting the blackboard. Still, the ugly smile on his face hadn’t disappeared.

“What the fuck did you do?” she whispered intensely.

Julius raised both hands.

“I told you, I just fed the kids. Is something wrong with that?”

She stared at his eyes. There wasn’t a single trace of seriousness in them and that made her want to punch a hole through his skull.

’No, I need to think clearly. What would Dhein do in this situation?’ she asked in her mind.

Taking a deep breath, the girl released Julius and then turned to the teacher.

“Answer me. What did he give to the children?”

With a trembling voice, she responded.

“I—I don’t know, a student called for my attention during the break and… I left the children.”

Zarria fell silent for a second. She then asked:

“Who’s this student?”

Her eyes widened after hearing the teacher’s next words.

“Her name is Rose Yurner.”

She quickly turned to Julius who wore a devilish expression.

’Is Rose… helping him?’

It would only be possible for Julius to enter the school if someone assisted him from inside. But why her?

“Everyone, what did this man give you?” she asked the terrified kids.

None one was answering.

“Tell me,” she repeated.

They just stared at her, fear was evident in their faces.

Zarria hung her head, letting out a deep sigh.

’What am I doing… they’re just children.’

She needed to change her approach. In a way that wouldn’t scare them, she had to get out the truth.

But before she could think of a way, Julius had spoken.

“Please forgive your big sister Zarria. She’s quite grumpy isn’t she? Even I don’t understand why would someone be so against giving tasty food.”

Their expressions lightened at his words.

Zarria looked at him in shock.

Smiling gently, Julius continued, his engaging eyes scattered among the children.

“I mean, it’s no surprise. Did you know? When she was little, she caused the deaths of many people from the slums and prevented rations from reaching the starving people.”

He looked at her.

“All over a stained dress.”

Zarria’s eyes widened, a frown crossing her face.

“That’s n—not true…” she stammered.

Julius put a hand on his chest, feigning sincerity.

“Oh, it’s not? Sorry, I must have read the wrong report. My apologies. Anyway,” he said, turning back to the children.

“I believe some of you haven’t finished the cake? Can you show it to big sis Zarria so that she stops bothering us?” he added.

Though a bit hesitant, some of them pulled out plates of strawberry cake that were half finished from under their desk.

Zarria rushed to their desks and kneeled down to inspect it.

Using her bare hands, she crumbled the cake. It was smooth and soft, the smell was also that of a normal cake. There was nothing suspicious inside it either.

She looked at the little girl who was showing her the food.

“Is this all he gave you?” she asked.

The girl nodded nervously.

Zarria stared at her for a second, and she didn’t seem to be lying nor was she convinced to do so.

To confirm, Zarria borrowed the power of the gods to scan the food of impurities. Only when the divine had reaffirmed that the food was indeed safe was Zarria convinced.

The dark-haired girl let out a sigh of relief.

’Thank the gods… thank the gods…’

She felt the incredibly undesirable sensation leaving her chest right then.

After a moment of silence, Julius’ voice rang in her ears again.

“What were you even thinking, cousin? You scared the kids!”

Zarria glared at him.

When she didn’t respond, Julius spoke once more.

“You seem to be… imagining things. Are you sure you’re okay?”

She stood up and then firmly stated:

“You don’t have permission to be inside the school premises. Please leave.”

For once, a serious expression crossed Julius’ face.

“Alright, I’ll leave.”

***

< THE NEXT DAY >

After that incident, Zarria scolded the guards and told them to do their jobs properly. They told her that Rose Yurner also distracted them by reporting a commotion that didn’t happen. Julius was able to enter the premises because of this.

So, today, Zarria returned to the school to confront her.

She had arrived on time with their lunch break as well, so she was sure she could meet with them.

Soon, Zarria reached their classroom. She saw Eunice and Rose just got out, holding a piece of paper each.

Upon seeing her, the two ran towards Zarria with wide smiles on their faces.

“Lady Zarria, look!” Eunice exclaimed before showing her the test results.

“I passed… I can’t believe it, I passed!”

Rose raised her test paper as well.

“M—Me too. Thank you for teaching us yesterday, Lady Zarria. We learned a lot from you.”

Genuine happiness was in their eyes. Succeeding in an academic endeavor mustn’t have been in their wildest dreams, yet they had just passed a language and writing test. Zarria couldn’t help but feel happy for them as well.

“If only Walter could experience this too,” Eunice muttered.

Before the mood got gloomy, Zarria said:

“I’m sure your brother is happy for you. Please, keep doing your best on his behalf as well.”

Eunice took a deep breath and then nodded with a bright smile.

“I will.”

Then, albeit nervous, Zarria turned to the timid blonde girl.

“Rose, I know this is your lunch break and you two are about to eat, but can I talk to you for a moment?”

Just from her reaction alone, Zarria already knew something was wrong. The girl’s face paled and she stared at her in silence.

“O—Okay,” she mumbled.

Eunice was a bit confused but eventually waved goodbye to her only friend and then went ahead to the cafeteria.

Zarria and Rose went behind one of the empty buildings where they were sure no one else could hear them. That was when Zarria began to ask questions.

“Rose, please answer me truthfully,” she asked with a calm tone.

“Why are you sabotaging us?”

The girl didn’t bother looking up. With a blank expression, she stared at the grass.

“Is someone threatening you? If so, you don’t have to be afraid because I’ll protect you. You don’t have to let them control you.”

All of a sudden, Zarria realized why the girl was refusing to talk.

It was because she was so desperately trying to keep herself from crying.

“I was one of them.”

Zarria’s eyebrows furrowed.

“W—What?”

Rose’s lips were compressed together, her face showed no emotions. Even her eyes were completely blank. But the silent tears that flowed through her face was unnerving, it rubbed Zarria the wrong way.

Rose looked up, her emotions starting to break out.

“Lady Zarria… I ate it.”

Zarria’s eyes opened wide, her heart raced.

“I ate the cursed food.”

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