h4Chapter 513: The Greatest Motivational Song in Karaoke History!/h4

    That gave her some breathing room.

    Monday morning.

    Carl insisted on driving Nnenna to school, and no one objected. After all, she was about to write exams based on everything he had spent the past 6 months teaching her. If there was anything else he could slip into her mind before they arrived at the academy, it was worth the ride.

    ...Wishful thinking.

    Instead of a seriousst minute revision or lecture, Carl did something way better.

    He hooked up his ylist, grinned, and tapped y.

    A cheerful instrumental started, bright ukulele strumming, a bouncy rhythm, and the unmistakable dramatic re of a karaoke ssic loading up. No vocals, just music.

    Carl immediately sat up straighter. "Get ready. This is it."

    "What is it?" Nnenna asked suspiciously.

    He pointed at her like a game show host. "The greatest motivational song in karaoke history."

    Then, before she could stop him, he started singing.

    ?? "Life is a sandwich—bite it with pride!" ??

    ?? "Put on your crown and ketchup your stride!" ??

    Nnenna choked on air. "Wait, what?!"

    If the others found out what Carl was actually doing, instead of helping her revise like they had all agreed to, they would probably be lining up to smack him one by one.

    They had respectfully given the two of them privacy, thinking he was crammingst minute forms into her brain. If only they knew he was busy ying DJ and singing off key like it was a road trip.

    But Carl was in full performance mode. Eyes closed, voice cracking with passion.

    ?? "You’re the queen of your test, the toast of thend—

    Sharpen your pencil and take a stand!" ??

    "Carl, please stop, this is a crime against music!"

    "Oh no, we’re doing this together."

    Before she could protest, he tossed her an invisible mic.

    She groaned but joined in anyway, grinning as she added

    ?? "If you trip, thennd like a queen—

    Make your mistakes in sparkly green!" ??

    Both of them were off key. Carl hit dramatic high notes like he was on stage. Nnenna tried to harmonize, failed miserably, andughed so hard she snorted.

    They sang through the whole thing, barely holding it together as the chorus hit

    ?? "Ketchup your stride! Mustard your might!

    Ace every paper—shine super bright!" ??

    "Carl, this is the worst song ever."

    "It’s incredible and you know it."

    By the time they reached the Royal Academy gates, Nnenna had tears in her eyes, but fromughter. Her heart felt lighter, her nerves calmer. The weight of everything else? Forgotten.

    Carl parked and turned down the music, his voice suddenly soft.

    "Hey."

    She looked at him.

    "No matter what happens in there today," he said, "you’ve already made us proud. You’ve worked hard, you’re ready... and you’re gonna do amazing."

    Then, with a wink

    "And if things get tough, just remember my beautiful voice singing about sandwich royalty."

    Nnennaughed again. "That’s going to haunt me forever."

    "Good. Now go rule the exam hall, Queen of Sparkly Green."

    "I will," she smiled, opening the door.

    Carl started to unbuckle. "Want me to walk you in?"

    But Nnenna stepped out confidently. "No need. I’ve got this."

    Carl nodded, pride glowing in his eyes. "Go shine."

    As she walked toward the building, he whispered to himself,

    "Crown on, kiddo."

    And behind him, from the speakers, the karaoke track faded out with a dramatic drum roll and confetti sound effect that someone definitely added for no reason.

    -------

    The path to the Year 3 Medicine and Surgery exam hall waspletely unfamiliar.

    Nnenna nced around the vast academic wing, her nerves creeping in again.

    Maybe I should have let Carl walk me here after all...

    She clutched her bag tighter and quickened her pace, heart pounding as she turned down hallway after hallway. After asking for directions twice, and nearly walking into the wrong building, she finally spotted the tall double doors ahead marked:

    "Year 3 – Medicine & Surgery – EXAM HALL A."

    Thank God...

    She hurried toward it, relief washing over her. But just as she reached the entrance, a hard shove from behind nearly knocked her off bnce.

    "Move over!" a sharp voice snapped. "You don’t even know how to make way for your seniors, even when you’re standing on our territory."

    Nnenna blinked.

    Excuse me?

    She turned, her brows furrowed in disbelief. Did someone seriously just say that out loud in an academy?

    Then her gaze met the smug face of the speaker.

    Stephanie.

    Oh. Of course.

    Behind her, looking just as smug, but more silently so, stood Nichs. The two of them together again, as if that entire argument in Carl’s office months ago had never happened. As if they hadn’t practically wed each other’s reputations apart.

    Right...

    Now she remembered. Arthur had mentioned once that Stephanie and Nichs were in Year 3 Medicine and Surgery.

    So this was their "territory."

    She almostughed.

    Instead, Nnenna stepped aside calmly.

    "My bad. I forgot this hallway was registered under your name," she said, tone t and unimpressed.

    Nnenna had no intention of starting a scene, especially not right before an exam.

    She took a quiet breath, sidestepped the first entrance, and moved toward the second row of doors.

    But before she could reach them, another figure stepped into her path.

    Nichs.

    He smirked down at her, arms folded.

    "Where do you think you’re going?" he said coldly.

    "This is a Year 3 exam hall. Not for confused little Year 1s who can’t read signs."

    His voice was loud enough to turn heads.

    All across the hall’s open foyer, Year 3 Medicine and Surgery students paused their revision. Some looked up from their notes. Others adjusted their sses, watching the interaction unfold with vague curiosity.

    No one said a word.

    They didn’t recognize the girl, so most assumed she was lost.

    But while none of them stepped in, not a single person looked like they supported Nichs’s attitude.

    The girl in front of him didn’t seem flustered or confused. She didn’t look like someone who had wandered in by mistake.