CHAPTER 62: CHAPTER 62: I DON’T LIKE HIS FACE

Aiden’s voice rang with sharp conviction as he glared at Carl.

"No, you’re not just calling me stupid — you’re calling all of us stupid. You’re also insulting the entire disciplinary committee by indirectly saying they don’t have any sense of reason. Tell me, Carl, do you even believe your own excuse? You choked me over something I said? That’s your justification?"

He began walking toward Carl, his movements slow but threatening, the air between them charged with tension. His posture radiated intimidation, forcing Carl to stiffen instinctively.

"What could I have possibly said," Aiden pressed, his tone cold yet controlled, "that would make you choke me? And after that, I surrendered the bloodied bandage — the very objective of our training exercise in the forest — to you? Tell me, Carl. Please, enlighten me. Why aren’t you saying anything?"

Carl swallowed hard and began to stammer, taking a nervous step back. "S-stop... stop coming near me..."

But Aiden didn’t stop. His gaze pinned Carl like a predator stalking its prey, and the pressure was too much. Carl snapped and shouted, his voice breaking.

"I don’t remember what you said! I just know you said something nasty enough to make me mad, and I choked you because of it. Then you brought a hammer to class the next day to bash my head in!"

Aiden let out a derisive laugh, the sound echoing harshly in the quiet room.

"I knew you were an idiot," he said, his smile humorless, "but do you honestly take everyone else here to be idiots too? For goodness’ sake, Carl, you’re a wolf. Your brain processes things faster than a human’s. Even I — a human — wouldn’t forget something nasty that was said to me. And you, with your superior memory, just conveniently forgot? How very convenient indeed."

Ryker couldn’t hold back a grin, pride swelling in his chest at the sight of Aiden standing his ground so fiercely. Zane, too, allowed a faint smile to slip across his face, though his reason was different — he found Aiden even more beautiful and captivating at that moment.

When Ryker noticed Zane smiling at Aiden, his expression darkened. He shot Zane a glare sharp enough to cut steel, but Zane merely ignored it, leaning back with an infuriating air of indifference. Ryker’s irritation simmered, leaving him frustrated and grinding his teeth silently.

Mr. Nikolai finally broke the charged silence. His voice was calm but carried authority.

"Carl," he said sternly, "do you want to receive extra punishment for lying? Like Aiden said, do you take us for fools? Do you think we can’t see through your story?"

Carl’s shoulders sagged, the defiance draining out of him. His reasoning sounded pathetic even to himself, and he knew it. Deep down, he did not want to keep pushing Aiden. After what Aiden had done to him, Carl had no doubt that Aiden was as petty as he was clever — a dangerous combination for anyone foolish enough to cross him. But he had felt forced to act.

Seraphina had come to see him the evening before, while he was still recovering from having his head bashed in. He had only just regained consciousness when she approached him, promising him generous rewards if he could get Aiden expelled. The offer had been tempting. But now, standing here, under Mr. Nikolai’s hard gaze and with Aiden calmly tearing his excuse apart, Carl was starting to wonder if this was worth it at all.

Mr. Nikolai had already seen through his lies. If he kept pushing, he risked turning this whole thing against himself. And if Aiden pointed out more flaws in his story — which Carl was sure he could — it could end with Carl’s own expulsion. Seraphina’s promised rewards would mean nothing if he wasn’t even allowed to stay in school to enjoy them.

He hesitated, weighing his options, before finally lowering his head.

"I’m sorry for lying, sir," Carl muttered, his voice small.

Aiden’s eyes narrowed slightly. Carl backing down so easily struck him as strange, but he decided not to dwell on it for now. He kept quiet and let it go.

Mr. Nikolai’s stern gaze moved from Carl to Aiden.

"Now that we’ve established the reason for this fight," he said, his voice calm but heavy, "your classmate was wrong to attack you. But don’t you think you went too far? You bashed his head in repeatedly with a hammer, Aiden. When you were bullied, you should have come to the school for protection, not taken justice into your own hands."

Aiden met Mr. Nikolai’s eyes, his own expression composed but firm.

"Mr. Nikolai," he said evenly, "I did think about asking the school for protection. But I realized that doing so wouldn’t solve the root of the problem. I’m a human, thrown into the middle of supernatural creatures. Even though I’m one of them, my powers haven’t manifested yet, and many of them look down on me because of it. If I don’t act on my own to stop it, the students will think I’m weak — someone who runs to the school for help because he can’t defend himself. I refuse to be seen like that. I refuse to spend my days being bullied endlessly. That’s why I took matters into my own hands. But, Mr. Nikolai, I also asked for permission before I carried out my plan."

Mr. Nikolai’s brow furrowed. "From whom did you get permission?"

"I asked Miss Flecine," Aiden replied calmly, "and she gave it to me."

Mr. Nikolai turned his gaze to Miss Flecine, silently asking for confirmation.

Miss Flecine’s eyes narrowed, and she glared at Aiden. "I don’t remember giving you permission. Why are you saying that I did?"

Aiden pouted, looking almost innocent.

"Miss Flecine, when I refused the school’s protection, I also told you that I was going to defend myself and that I planned to cause mayhem. I asked you if I could do that, and you agreed. Ryker was there — he’s my witness. I’m not lying, Mr. Nikolai."

Ryker, without hesitation, backed Aiden up.

"Miss Flecine did give him permission to cause mayhem," he said matter-of-factly.

Miss Flecine’s face turned red, partly from anger and partly from embarrassment. "When I agreed," she snapped, pointing at Aiden, "I didn’t know you would break someone’s head open! How can you twist that into me giving you permission for this?"

Aiden merely shrugged, looking impossibly cute and annoyingly smug at the same time.

"Well, it’s not my fault Miss Flecine underestimated my ability to cause chaos," he said innocently. "But to be fair — and to what Miss Flecine and Ryker both just confirmed — it’s a fact that I did ask for permission."

Mr. Nikolai rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. This boy was infuriatingly good at twisting arguments to his advantage. He decided not to press further before Aiden could talk circles around him again.

Instead, Mr. Nikolai turned to Ryker and Zane, fixing them both with a stern stare.

"And what about you two?" he demanded. "What is your excuse for fighting and causing chaos? As members of the student union, you should be the ones ensuring that the rules are upheld, not the ones breaking them. What started your fight?"

Ryker met his gaze without flinching, his expression calm and almost bored. Zane, on the other hand, looked like he didn’t even want to be in the room, his eyes half-lidded as if he might fall asleep.

Ryker was the first to answer.

"I made the first move," he admitted bluntly. "And the reason I hit him is simple — I don’t like his face."

Mr. Nikolai was momentarily speechless. He blinked, wondering if he had just heard correctly. Then his temper flared.

"What kind of ridiculous reason is that?" he thundered. "You hit him just because you don’t like his face? And you expect me to believe that?"

Ryker shrugged. "It’s the truth. If you don’t believe it, there’s nothing I can do about that."

Mr. Nikolai’s jaw clenched. He wanted to scold Ryker further, but he reminded himself that as head of the disciplinary committee, he needed to remain calm and composed. If he kept talking to Ryker, he might lose that composure, so he turned his glare to Zane instead.

"And you," he said sharply, "after being hit by Ryker, why did you fight back instead of reporting him? Why did you two turn the school into a battleground?"

Zane finally raised his head slightly, still looking bored.

"Like he said, he hit me first," Zane replied lazily. "And I also find him annoying. So when he hit me, I figured it was the perfect excuse to burn that annoying face of his. Why would I report him?"

Mr. Nikolai’s face turned red with renewed anger. The calm he had fought to regain shattered instantly.

"Are you two trying to make a fool of me?" he shouted. "Is this some kind of joke?!"

But neither Ryker nor Zane bothered to answer. Ryker continued to stare back at him nonchalantly, while Zane’s eyes drifted away from everyone in the room, as if he were already done with the entire discussion.