CHAPTER 808: CHAPTER 124 - IRENE AND GABRIELLE (4)

"W-Wait a second, please...!" I blurted out, my voice cracking a bit from panic.

Gabrielle shot me this sharp, unwavering stare, her glasses catching a faint shimmer of moonlight as she spoke, "Why are you stopping me? It’s obvious they’re doing something wrong, and that’s already written in the academy’s rule book. There shouldn’t be any illicit relationship going on between cadets."

My throat felt dry as I swallowed. "Y-Yes, I get it. I mean, even though I haven’t actually read the rule book cover to cover, I know for a fact no one’s supposed to have an illicit relationship. B-But you’ve gotta see that just because it’s in the rule book doesn’t mean it’s really that strictly prohibited," I tried to explain, stumbling over my words.

Gabrielle narrowed her eyes, looking almost offended by what I’d said. "Why wouldn’t it be prohibited? It was clearly explained during the assembly the morning on our first day, and it’s printed in the rule book. It says it’s prohibited to do something like this."

"Y-Yes, but think about it... it really only matters if they get caught, right? Sure, I mean, we could go and tell the staff or the professors about what we saw, but if we don’t, technically they’re not caught yet, right?" I said, my voice a shaky mix of pleading and frustration.

She tilted her head a little, eyes still locked onto mine. "I don’t... understand your reasoning. Why wouldn’t they be caught? We’re literally seeing and hearing them with our own eyes and ears," Gabrielle insisted, sounding almost robotic in how certain she was.

Honestly, listening to her talk felt so stiff it was painful.

At first, after I saw her smile that time she fought Rose, I’d actually believed there was something playful or lighthearted buried inside Gabrielle. But right now, staring at her stubborn expression, it felt like that side of her never really existed at all.

No. Maybe it really wasn’t there in the first place. Maybe she was all rules and zero softness.

"You know what, Gabrielle, if you keep thinking the way you do, you’ll end up going bald," I blurted out, not even thinking.

Her eyes widened behind her glasses. "W-Wha...? Bald? How dare you? I’m extremely careful about everything related to my body, especially my hair," she snapped, voice rising a bit.

"That’s not gonna help if your way of thinking is too stiff," I shot back, letting out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding.

"S-Stiff?" she echoed, frowning like she couldn’t quite process it.

"Look, why don’t we just turn a blind eye this time? Let’s call it their first offense. If we catch them doing it again later, then we can report them," I suggested, forcing my voice to sound calm even though my heart was beating like crazy.

"But why not now? It’d be better to report them right now so they couldn’t deny it or do anything about it later," she argued, her voice still weirdly calm but firm like stone.

"Okay, but think about it from another angle: if you were caught doing something that’s clearly against the rule book—something that’d make you feel really guilty—would you immediately run and turn yourself in?" I asked her, leaning in slightly.

"Of course. If I did something I’d feel deeply guilty about, then yes, I’d surrender myself. That’s what a guilty person should do," she replied without even hesitating.

I let out a sigh so deep it almost hurt. "No..." I muttered. "Look, let’s just leave. For now, let’s ignore them, okay...?"

Gabrielle looked at me, confusion clouding her face, and she seemed completely unsatisfied with what I’d said. But after a moment, she still ended up following me as I turned to leave the forest.

It felt strange—like suddenly, she was trailing behind me, quietly, like a chick following its mother hen.

This was supposed to be the top student among all of us first-years.

But watching her now, I kind of understood why she was top of Gold Class.

She was rigid, unbending, and absolutely obsessed with sticking to the rules, no matter what.

"You know," I started, glancing back at her, "you could break a few rules sometimes. Breaking a few isn’t going to kill anyone."

Gabrielle just looked at me blankly, like I was speaking a completely different language.

"Do you know what a necessary sin is?" I asked, slowing my pace a bit.

"What is that?" she asked, her tone almost genuinely curious.

"You know, when someone does something bad, but it’s for the sake of something good—that’s what you call a necessary sin. Like, imagine a mother and her son, alone because the father’s already dead. They’re starving, so the mother steals, say, a loaf of bread. In that case, she’s committing a sin, but it’s necessary so they don’t die. Do you think it’s evil for her to do that?" I asked, my voice softer now.

Gabrielle’s gaze lingered on me for a long second before she slowly shook her head sideways.

Good. At least there was still something human inside this girl if she could see that.

"Now, would you report her if you caught her doing that?" I pressed gently.

She opened her mouth like she was about to say something, then stopped. Her expression wavered, and she just looked really conflicted instead.

Well, at least that showed she wasn’t entirely made of steel inside.

"I’ll take that as a no," I said with a tiny sigh of relief.

"But what they’re doing back there in the forest isn’t really something you’d call necessary," she mumbled.

"You know what? Forget it," I sighed again, shaking my head. "Just... for now, leave them be."

It seemed like I managed to get through to her somehow, because she stayed silent after that.

Of course, just because she didn’t say anything right now didn’t mean she wouldn’t run to the staff later and tell them about the two cadets having sex in the woods. But for the moment, I really wanted to believe she wouldn’t.

Strangely enough, after that night, Gabrielle and I became something close to friends... but not really.