CHAPTER 809: CHAPTER 125 - ODD PAIR TO ODD TRIO (1)

Gabrielle and I had somehow ended up becoming... well, something kinda like friends.

But honestly? Not really.

It was weird. Ever since that night in the woods, she’d started following me everywhere.

I couldn’t even begin to figure out why. She stuck to me like some lost little puppy with her literally trailing a few steps behind almost all the time, and no matter what I tried, I couldn’t get her to stop.

At some point, it even turned into this awkward routine where we’d go to the cafeteria together.

And you know what, I guess looking at her, it wasn’t that surprising.

Just like me, Gabrielle seemed to be pretty much a loner too.

I mean, I’m quiet and barely speak unless I need to, and my thick glasses pretty much complete the whole "please don’t talk to me" vibe. Gabrielle wasn’t that different. She have that stern face with that glasses, and she was serious about everything.

It was kind of strange, but... I guess we made a weirdly fitting pair.

"I think the academy really needs to add stricter curfews or something," Gabrielle said out of nowhere, her voice flat but tinged with frustration as she poked at the food on her plate. "It pisses me off how the current council president runs things. He has no clue what he’s doing, and it’s obvious he only ran because of his high noble family name. People who don’t actually deserve it shouldn’t even be allowed to run."

"You do know you’re kinda talking really loud right now, right?" I told her, glancing around because people, and I mean those who works at the cafeteria, were definitely starting to stare at us. "And besides... I don’t think it’s completely terrible that he’s the president. I mean, sure, all the stuff he promised back when he was campaigning never really showed up, but it’s not like it’s a disaster either. Some presidents push too many rules, trying to force their own vision on the academy, and it ends up sucking all the fun out of being here. Even if the current president feels like he’s just... there, it’s better than someone worse. I just hope next year someone worse doesn’t run, honestly..." I muttered, turning back to my food and stabbing at it without much appetite.

"Hmmm... then I guess I’ll just have to run next year."

The words slipped out of her mouth so casually, but it hit me like a brick to the face.

I literally coughed and almost choked, feeling my face burn from the embarrassment of spitting some food out.

What the fuck was she thinking?

No, actually, scratch that. If she actually ran and won, wouldn’t that be even worse?

What I just described about pushing too many rules? I mean, that would literally be Gabrielle.

"A-Are you being serious right now?" I stammered, my voice cracking a little.

"Well, yes, I guess. I’ve been thinking about it for a while now," she said, her tone so annoyingly calm like she was just saying the sky was blue. "Honestly, this academy has been stuck in the same spot for generations because incompetent leaders keep getting elected. It’s time to fix that."

God, she really had no filter, did she? And honestly, I didn’t think that was a bad thing.

But then again, it wasn’t really helpful either.

And from that day on, my peaceful days were officially over.

For months after, I found myself constantly trying to talk her out of it. Talk gently, or directly, or even sideways—you name it. But it didn’t matter. Gabrielle wouldn’t back down.

She was completely locked in on her goal to become the next council president. She even started doing early campaigning with her talking to cadets and trying to spread her ideas. But the problem was that Gabrielle was about as friendly as a brick wall. She had no clue how to actually connect with people.

And guess who got dragged into helping her?

Yeah, me. Reluctantly, of course.

All it did was pile on nothing but embarrassment. Seriously, standing next to her while she talked about stricter rules and watching everyone’s faces go stiff... I thought I’d melt into the ground from secondhand shame.

And the worst part was that Gabrielle didn’t even seem to notice. She just kept going, completely oblivious to the awkwardness she was leaving in her wake.

"Those two really think they can take over the academy? Against Sir Richard? They’re insane if they think they’ll pull something off," someone muttered loudly behind me, not even bothering to hide it.

"What an odd pair... I mean, look at them," another one chimed in.

"They’ll never win. Who’d vote for that girl when she wants to kill everything that makes life fun for cadets?"

Their voices weren’t hushed at all. I could hear every word crystal clear, and each one felt like a tiny stab to my side.

All I could do was sigh quietly, staring at my food that was getting colder by the second.

And honestly, they weren’t exactly wrong.

Gabrielle was so focused on tightening the academy, making it more rigid than it was ever meant to be. It clashed so hard with why cadets actually liked being here.

Even I could see how dangerous that idea was.

But still... I couldn’t just leave her to figure it out on her own. So I stayed by her side, even though it made my stomach twist into knots every single day.

Then, as if things weren’t chaotic enough, the door slammed open one day, and someone barged in, practically crackling with energy.

"Hey, you, four-eyes! Guess who’s here!" she shouted, grinning so wide it almost looked painful.

It was Rose.

The same Rose that Gabrielle fought during the joint training.

She’d been promoted to Gold Class.

Which could only mean... someone else had been kicked out to make room.

And that someone... I saw them trembling, their shoulders shaking as reality hit them.