The ambiance in the cafeteria turned incredibly awkward as everyone's eyes were fixed on us. By 'us,' I obviously meant Elizabeth and me. News of the engagement between Elizabeth and me had undoubtedly spread throughout all of Sancta Vedelia by now.
Among the gazes, one stood out as particularly murderous, emanating from Cain Redgrave. He was the one who had always been close to Elizabeth and was a Pretender with an evident affection for her.
I couldn't help but feel genuine sadness for him. I hadn't wanted this, and I had even cheered him up inwardly since he seemed too pitiful to endure. But now...
"Then who confessed to whom?" Amelia asked, seemingly oblivious to the tense atmosphere.
Is that really important?
"I-I was the one..." I replied, trying to maintain an air of calm.
John's glare only grew colder with each of my words.
"Wow..." Amelia grinned. "I can't believe someone this calm confessed first. And how did you respond, Elizabeth?"
"Well... I said I loved him too..." Elizabeth showed a strained smile while fidgeting.
This was undoubtedly awkward.
"How did you even fall in love with each other? I can't believe Elizabeth can even fall in love with someone!" Amelia said, impressed.
"That's rude," Elizabeth sulked slightly.
"No, I mean, you always give off this aura of unreachable beauty, just like Alvara, Alicia, and Aerin, so I wondered!" Amelia giggled.
"I... I just fell because Amael was kind and attentive toward me..."
"Pfff!" John coughed out the water he was drinking.
Elizabeth continued with an embarrassed face, weaving a web of lies. "H-He also helped me a lot with studies... he is a gentleman..."
I couldn't watch this anymore.
"Him...? A gentleman?" Amelia looked at me incredulously.
"You just don't know him, Amelia," Elizabeth intervened with a smile. She was very good at acting. "Hmmm. I never saw you two being lovey dovey though?" Amelia was still suspicious.
"I saw you and John being lovey-dovey though?" I retorted, annoyedç by the interrogation.
"W-Wha…!" Amelia's smirk vanished and was replaced by a bright red face. "W-What the hell are you saying!"
"The truth." I shrugged my shoulders.
"My ass!" John stood up and grabbed my shirt angrily. There was a hint of embarrassment on his face.
"Why are you blushing then!" I grasped back his shirt, head-butting him.
"Look at your face, fucker!"
"Huh! You sure know a lot about that, Mr. Madly in love!" John said with a cold smirk.
"Who's madly in love?!"
"You confirmed it with your own mouth!"
That was a freaking lie!
"You're fighting again, stop it!" Amelia intervened, grabbing John's arm to pull him away.
"Amael…" Elizabeth just called out to me from her seat.
"Right..." I reluctantly eased back into my seat, but when I looked up again, I grimaced.
John and Amelia were still standing, caught in an awkward standoff.
Amelia, gripping John's arm, had frozen as he turned around, bringing them just inches apart.
Quickly, I snapped a photo on my phone before discreetly stashing it away.
Elizabeth looked at me, bewildered, and I scratched my cheek, earning a smile from her.
"Ah... um." Amelia, regaining her composure, let go of John's arm and stepped back.
John looked at Amelia, and for the first time, a conflicted expression crossed his face. It was evident that he harbored some feelings for Amelia, but for reasons unknown, he was holding back and maintaining a distance.
"Are you okay, Amelia?" Elizabeth smiled as she patted the blushing Amelia.
"Y-Yes..." Amelia stammered, clearly not okay.
"What are you dreaming about?" I scoffed at John, who clicked his tongue and sat back.
We resumed eating with a somewhat more peaceful atmosphere, but it didn't last long.
I noticed Amelia, Elizabeth, and John looking behind me. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Adrian Dolphis.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"You," Adrian replied.
"I'm not interested in men. Try your luck with an elf; they're all wussies," I retorted.
Adrian burst into laughter, but it was clear he was angry. "You sure hid yourself well until now, cowardly Amael Falkrona."
"Did you hurt your brain after taking my kick?" I chuckled as I stood up.
"Say what?" Adrian's face turned cold as he confronted me, bringing his face closer.
"Are you deaf on top of that?" I lowered my tone. All the students who were eating stopped and stood up, looking at us with trepidation.
"You should take care of your own business, Falkrona," Adrian warned in a cold tone, his body emitting mana.
I didn't even know what the outcome would be if we fought seriously.
"What the fuck are you doing here, then?" I asked with a snort.
"You shouldn't have involved yourself between us, Falkrona. You will regret it," he said to me with a cold smirk.
"Regret what, actually?" I asked, pretending ignorance.
"Who are you to stick your nose between me and my Alicia? A mere Half from a third-rate Kingdom. If you don't want to die, just beg me and scram your face from Sancta Vedelia," he threatened, his mana growing denser.
"The Half can take down all the weaklings from this place you call Sancta Vedelia," I retorted, releasing my own mana.
Gasps of shock echoed at my words.
"Guts are useless without strength to back it up. You are nothing in Sancta Vedelia, Falkrona," Adrian glared at me.
"Sancta Vedelia is nothing in front of me, little dolphin," I replied in a mocking tone.
Now, gazes turned incredulous and angry as I mocked their entire nation, rooted in their obsession with racial superiority.
I would show them that their blessing from the Holy Tree wouldn't hold a candle against overwhelming strength.
Who did they think I was?
I was born Olphean and raised Falkrona.
If they believed I would remain calm due to their fixation on racial hierarchy, they were sorely mistaken.
"Adrian! Stop that!" Amelia intervened, sensing the suffocating tension.
"He started it. Stay out of this, Amelia," Adrian retorted to his sister.
"I heard. It's because you harassed Alicia again!" Amelia glared at Adrian.
"And? What I do with my future wife concerns no one, especially not a Half," he said with a mocking laugh, glancing at Alicia, who observed silently from afar.
"Alicia doesn't belong to you," Amelia said, clearly disgusted by her brother.
"She does belong to me. As my sister and a member of the Dolphis House, you should be on my side to get rid of this nuisance, Amelia," Adrian stated, giving his sister a stern gaze.
"Why should I side with someone like you?" Amelia snorted.
"You should, Amelia," someone else's voice interjected.
Approaching us with a disdainful demeanor, Lykhor Elaryon cast a condescending gaze upon me.