Mina
Looking at Mina's teary face, Desmond felt as if thousands of needles poked his heart. He had the urge to pull her into his embrace and console her. "For this human to have so much effect on me... this isn't normal," he thought to himself and sent a killer glare at Shaolin. "Are you tired of living?" he asked chillingly.
Shaolin's heart jumped, and she stared at Desmond with disbelief. "Do you have to go this far just because of her? Open your eyes Desmond, she is a nobody. She won't be of any help to you," she said.
Desmond looked at Shaolin. He knew that this is how humans are. Just because they want things for themselves, they will go to the extent of hurting their fellow humans. Just because they desire something, they won't mind sacrificing their fellow humans just to get what they desire. Looking at the red-eyed Shaolin, Desmond chose to ignore her and turn to Mina. "No need to sit at the back again, just be my sitting partner. This way, it would be very convenient to teach you something you don't know," he said, even though he was aware of Mina's feelings and saw through her little trick to approach him. He didn't expose her but instead played along.
Mina's heart was in chaos, and she couldn't calm down no matter how much she tried. "Sitting partner?" she asked, not sure if her ears were playing tricks on her.
"You... you... how dare you snatch my man!" Shaolin was so angered that she launched an attack on Mina.
Scared, Mina hid behind Desmond, using his shirt to hide her face. Her speed was so fast that even she herself was shocked. Of course, she was not aware that Desmond got involved again and just used a bit of his force to help her escape embarrassment.
Because Mina dodged quickly, Shaolin fell to the ground. She raised her head and glared deadly at Mina, then she looked at the emotionless Desmond. "Desmond, I know... I know you are just helping her not because of love but pity. I didn't oppose you pitying her but she is overstepping her boundaries."
"And what importance are you to tell me these words?" Desmond replied sharply.
"Desmond..." Shaolin couldn't hold back her tears anymore and cried. "I was being sincere with my confession"
Desmond ignored her tears and turned to Mina, who was still trying to process the situation. "You should sit," he calmly instructed, trying to shift the focus away from the tense atmosphere. Mina, slightly bewildered, complied and sat in Desmond's usual seat on the left, avoiding any further conflict. Desmond sat on the empty seat and retrieved books from under the locker.
Shaolin, overwhelmed by emotion, wiped her tears and rushed out of the class, leaving behind a somber silence.
As the class settled back into their discussion, the topic inevitably shifted to Mina and how she seemed to have captured Desmond's attention.
"How did that lowly girl capture Desmond's attention?" one student queried.
"How would I know? Aren't we all here together?" another responded.
"I knew something wasn't right about that girl. She must have charmed Desmond," speculated a third.
"Perhaps she is just lucky," suggested another voice.
"Lucky, you say? Don't you see how overprotective Desmond was for her? She's too much," a student remarked, clearly expressing envy.
"Are you jealous that you're not as lucky as her?" another chimed in.
"Jealous? Who would be jealous of a commoner?" a disdainful voice scoffed.
The discussion continued, with varying opinions and judgments being cast upon Mina, her actions, and her seemingly sudden influence over Desmond.
Amidst the chatter, a light knock on the entrance door interrupted the discussion. All eyes turned to see a breathtakingly beautiful lady with golden hair and silver eyes leaning against the door pillar. The class fell into a mesmerized silence at her presence.
"I know her. She's the lady who won this year's competition and credited the school," one student whispered in awe.
"Didn't you hear? She declined the prize because it was beneath her. She's of a different league," another informed the group.
"There are even talks of offering her a scholarship as a token of appreciation," a classmate shared with a hint of admiration.
The class was captivated by the lady's beauty, with some openly expressing admiration and others silently mesmerized by her aura. Mina, too, couldn't help but be struck by the lady's presence, feeling a mix of awe and unease.
"Desmond" Sonia calmly called out to Desmond, and the class instantly fell into a state of anticipation and speculation.
Mina is doomed, this beauty is here for Desmond.
I knew she wouldn't succeed, haha.
Sorry, girl, you lost this game.
Desmond will surely go for this beauty.
Plus, she looks wealthy; she is definitely from a wealthy family. Desmond won't even hesitate to choose her.
Haha, Mina, oh Mina, even though you beat Shaolin, it's probably because her beauty is inferior to yours. What will you do now?
The mocking voice of the students echoed loudly, breaking Mina's heart. She lowered her head and bit her lower lip. She knew it was useless to fight against Sonia; she already won from the start.
Sonia almost rolled her eyes at the students' foolishness. She stared at Mina a little longer and said to Desmond, who had not raised his head from the very start, "We have a meeting," Sonia said.
Saying nothing, Desmond stood up and went outside.
Mina's heart completely shattered, and two drops of tears escaped her eyes. She wanted to stop Desmond but dared not to. "Just who is this lady to have such authority over Desmond? Desmond didn't even question her; he just went out." In these thoughts, Mina looked at Sonia, who was also staring at her. She watched as Sonia approached her and lowered her head immediately before she was near her. "Is she here to warn me to stay away from Desmond?" She wondered, and her heart ached even more.
Sonia approached Mina and sensed her heartache. She chuckled and used one finger to raise her chin up.
Mina was now staring at Sonia, and they were very close. Her eyes widened in shock when she realized Sonia resembled Desmond. Perhaps it was because of the distance earlier that her appearance couldn't be predicted. But now, she was very close to Mina, and she saw how much alike they both looked. "Goodness, are they siblings?" She thought.
Sonia, as if reading Mina's mind, smiled beautifully, stopping Mina's heart from beating for a while, and replied, "Indeed." She released her chin and left.
Mina was still in a daze even when Sonia was out of sight.
The whole class wondered what Sonia told Mina, but judging from her dazed expression, they thought Sonia just gave her some warnings, and this possibility made them criticize Mina.
In a small abandoned hut.
Sitting in circle as usual, with a table in the middle of them, the six children had worried expressions on their faces.
"I have a feeling that mother has discovered those two's existence," Dave said with a worried expression.
"Not only you, I have been having this feeling repeatedly," Snow's voice was filled with worry. "The poison in her body will act up once they leave her body, and those two won't bother to hide again since they are already discovered. The worst part is they will want to come out as early as possible," she added. "What should we do now?" Snow asked.
"Same here, but as you know, my blood can suppress the poison in her body for at least three years. By then, Desmond and Dave would have figured out the type of poison inside her body and found a solution," Dimitri said.
"That's right, but the question is, how are we going to feed her your blood?" Sonia asked. "She probably was not aware that we knew about the poison in her body. Are we just going to give her your blood and say, 'Your poison will act up once you give birth, drink Dimitri's blood, it will suppress the poison for a while'? You know that's not possible. She won't even take it and will even likely lecture us," she said.
"You are right, my lovely sister. How about knocking her out first and then feed her when she is unconscious?" Sona asked, her attention fixed on her reflection in the mirror. She waited for a reply, but no one said anything, which made her shift her attention from the mirror and look at them. "What's it?" she asked, blinking innocently.
Sonia sighed. "Continue admiring your beauty," she said.
"Whatever," Sona replied and directed her attention back to the mirror.
"Knocking her out isn't a bad idea. At least that's better than using our power. Using our power will cause her great harm, and we can't use force as well. Dimitri's blood opposes force; it will react negatively to the expectations when we force-feed Mother," Desmond suggested.
"Oh," Sona commented and cast Sonia a sidelong glance.
"Desmond," Sonia called, ignoring Sona.
"Yes?" Desmond replied.
"Has your reasoning been eaten away by that human, Mina?" she asked calmly.
"Eh? What does this have to do with her?" Desmond asked.