CHAPTER 228: CHAPTER 227: STRONGEST [2]

She met my gaze with something softer than pity.

"You’ve been through your own kind of hell."

"..."

"I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you."

Her voice dropped, gentler now. "I really wish I could’ve come to see you sooner, Vic. But I promise... we’ll meet again after this. Absolutely. For you."

I stared at her, blankly.

"What are you even talking about?" I muttered. "Really... there’s no need for all this."

And I meant it. Dealing with this senior was exhausting. Like every encounter shaved off a year of my life.

But Aurhea was already off in her own world — untouched by reality, apparently immune to hints.

Her eyes gleamed with that signature, reckless warmth.

"You might not know me that well," she said, "but I already know so much about you, Vic. Adrienne was like a big sister to me back when I was just a lowerclassman. So by extension... that kinda makes you my little brother too."

"I don’t think it works that way—" I started dryly, but—

"Remember, Vic!" she cut in, her voice louder and brighter now, like she was trying to stamp the moment into my memory. "I couldn’t say this when you first enrolled, but if you ever need anything — anything at all — or find yourself in any weird or uncomfortable situation, come to me, okay?!"

"Yeah, no. I’m good— haaa. Are you even listening—?"

"AURHEA FUCKING AUREL!!!"

The air shattered.

A voice — loud, furious, inhumanly sharp — tore through the hallway and froze every student in earshot.

My eyes widened. That voice...

Wait. Wasn’t that—

Aurhea flinched. Like last time .

Then gave a sheepish little laugh, already turning on her heel.

"Oops. Looks like I’ve gotta run."

At the same time — along with every other head in the area — mine snapped toward the source of the voice.

A storm of profanities swirled through the air.

Then, like a cannonball, a black-haired young woman exploded into view, shoving through the sea of cadets in the open-air cafeteria.

She looked absolutely livid.

Medium-length, messy black hair was pulled back into a rough ponytail. Her round-framed glasses clung stubbornly to her face, slightly crooked from whatever chaos she’d just plowed through. A pair of piercing black eyes burned beneath them.

She wore the sharp, slick black uniform of the student council — though at the moment, nothing about her looked particularly composed. In one hand, she clutched what looked like a ruffled coat — twisted tightly in her grip like she was seconds away from using it as a weapon.

Red-faced and huffing, she ground her teeth and let out a roar that cracked through the stillness:

"GET THE FUCK BACK HERE, YOU STUPID PRESIDENT!!"

It was the same voice from earlier — back at the quad, when I first ran into Aurhea.

I hadn’t seen the face then, but now I was sure of it.

She was the one Aurhea had run from.

Suddenly, the puzzle pieces slid into place.

I turned to Aurhea, catching her sheepish — no, stupidly sheepish — smile just as the furious black-haired girl stormed into full view.

It was all painfully obvious now.

She bailed from work, didn’t she?

She ditched her duties just to come see me.

I barely held back a sigh and turned to glance at the black-haired girl — probably Aurhea’s assistant, or more likely, the poor secretary caught in this chaos.

"Hey, isn’t she—"

"Ah, Caitlin! My old friend!" Aurhea suddenly announced, cutting me off and briskly marching toward the fuming girl like they were childhood besties reuniting at a beach resort.

Her face lit up with exaggerated joy, arms flung wide as if this wasn’t a woman seconds away from murder.

Caitlin didn’t even flinch.

"Don’t give me any of that, Rhea!"

Yeah... but Caitlin wasn’t buying the bullshit.

You go girl... I silently rooted in place.

Good. Somebody needed to keep this disaster of a president in check.

"You always do this whenever I take my eyes off you—!"

Caitlin launched into what looked like the start of a well-earned tantrum, but Aurhea cut in smoothly, reaching toward her.

"Ah, alright, alright. Fine. But you found me already, so it’s all good, right~?"

The cadets around us stared in awkward silence, unsure if they were witnessing an actual argument or some bizarre skit.

I wondered if they even realized.

That was their Student Council President.

"Bitch, please."

Aurhea giggled, completely unbothered. "How did you even find me? No—wait, scratch that. You always do. It’s your job."

With a grin, she plucked the ruffled coat from Caitlin’s clenched hand like it was no big deal.

A very visible vein pulsed on Caitlin’s forehead as her eyes gleamed with the kind of pure, restrained violence only a black-haired overworked secretary could possess.

In the reflection of her glasses: Aurhea Aurel.

Still oblivious—or just criminally bold—Aurhea flicked the coat into the air.

It unfurled under the sunlight like a banner on parade.

A double-breasted white greatcoat. Structured shoulder pads. Broad cut. Polished decorative buttons gleaming like medals. Authority and elegance woven into fabric.

...of course it belonged to her.

The white greatcoat fluttered deceptively soft despite its heavy gabardine fabric, settling against her shoulders like it had always belonged there.

"Mhm." Aurhea offered a quiet, knowing smile — a smug little curve of her lips as she swept a golden strand of hair through the air like spun sunlight.

She glanced sidelong.

Her gaze flicked toward me from the corner of her eye, sharp and brief, but it didn’t linger. Still, I knew that smirk was for me.

I just didn’t know why.

Not yet.

"Come, Caitlin." Her voice was breezy. Dismissive. She didn’t wait for a reply.

And under the mesmerized stares of everyone — cadets, waiters, even the wind seemed to pause — Aurhea turned and began to walk away, Caitlin silently falling into step beside her.

As she moved, the coat caught the light, fluttering behind her like a royal standard unfurled.

I froze.

My lips parted, but no sound came out.

I wasn’t sure what to feel exactly.

"Pfft—" of course she’d wear something like that.

Embroidered boldly down the back of the pristine white coat in intricate, expressive lettering—

A single word:

STRONGEST.