45. Winner and Loser (1)

As she stood in front of the podium, Sohee spoke.

First of all, she began uttering a word of thanks and just imitated what the Empress and Kelly said similarly.

“Lastly, I wish for the school’s endless development. Please enjoy the rest of the school’s opening ceremony schedule.”

She showed the audience a toothy smile but in her mind, she was preparing herself for a rough ride.

“Don’t forget the event’s outline, Ariad.” Bianca’s determined reminder caught So-hee’s ankle when she tried going down the podium.

So-hee stood at the center again and smiled because there was nothing else to do.

Outline.

Outline.

She never heard of this event since they prepared it on their own.

Sohee initially planned to enter the palace to eat some macaroons on the table and that was it.

‘These damn fools! How childish.’ So-hee cursed inwardly before muttering them behind Bianca and Kelly’s backs as she went down the podium.

The stage looked particularly huge when she was all alone and it felt like the audience’s gazes on her had increased several times or… was it just an illusion?

She had no idea.

Sohee couldn’t even say something so it was better to just smile.

The corners of her mouth raised a lot as she tried to remember the normal activities on schedule.

In the end, she couldn’t stand the long silence and opened her mouth.

She had no choice but to make up a pretty good story.

But then, a long-haired man in the corner jumped up from his seat and shouted.”Go away, you dirty witch! Ariad Pearson will ruin the McKinley royal family! Go away! You did not deserve the title of the crown princess!”

As if the rough voice roaring in the hall was some kind of signal, something seemed to gush from the platform’s upper railing where Sohee was located.

It covered Ariad in an instant, turning her dark purple dress into red.

Sohee wiped away the fishy liquid that was blocking her vision with both hands.

It turned out that the final highlight was a surprise present in her clear, open field of view.

Something fell in front of Sohee.

It was a horse’s head.

“What’s going on?”

So-hee stood still at the sight.

This was the first time she had experienced something like this in her entire life.

She was a little surprised but she wanted to understand the situation.

Unlike So-hee, who was simply standing there, the rest actually screamed as the captain dragged out the man who cursed Ariad earlier.

The silent hall was quickly filled with noise and So-hee raised her head at the disturbance.

She stared at the decapitated horse head surrounded by a pool of blood and soon, two women entered her peripheral vision.

As Kelly and Bianca watched Ariad, Sohee suddenly realized What the blood and the horse’s head meant.

The ‘horse business’ was the cornerstone of the Pearson family’s power.

If so, could this be regarded as a kind of provocation or warning against the Pearson family?

Sohee lowered her head.

When horse blood dripped at the ends of her hair, she lightly shook it off before lifting her face again.

Was this how they declare war?

“It’s very new that it’s thrilling,” Sohee murmured, chuckling.

The drops of blood that she didn’t brush off permeated her gums, making her appear grotesque.

Kelly narrowed her brows in confusion.

Looking at Ariad made her realize that she was a lunatic.

This might look like a tragedy when viewed closely but a comedy when viewed from a distance.

As a writer who loved creating stories, there was no greater comedy other than this.

As her eyes sparkled from the novelty, someone shouted at So-hee and ran. “Ariad!”

Joshua, who rushed up the podium, hugged So-hee as if he didn’t care about his neat gray suit turning red at all.

Drops of blood from her hair kept forming on her lashes so Sohee raised her hands to wipe them off.

She could now see Joshua’s pale face, his expression crumpling.

“It’s all right, Ariad. It’s nothing. Don’t be afraid.” Joshua said the same thing over and over again.

A guy who couldn’t control his emotions at all was carrying Sohee as they both went down the platform.

He seemed to have misunderstood her rubbing her eyes as crying.

No.

Come to think of it.

Wasn’t this situation a little strange?

So-hee’s eyes glanced down at his forearm.

She couldn’t see it covered in bandages since he was dressed in a suit.

Indeed, something was off.

But first of all, she had to deal with the situation in front of her.

When they descended the platform, she saw dozens of people standing up and gathering around.

“Joshua, will you please drop me off?” She whispered in his ear and he settled her feet on the ground.

When she was out of his arms, So-hee approached the Empress and Kelly without hesitation.

More people gathered around them.

“Oh, my God. Who could have done this?”

There should be one or two people who hated Ariad and she knew that this would happen at least once.

“The event was ruined because of the Crown Princess.” The people who gathered around talked among themselves.

Nevertheless, Sohee didn’t pay much attention and told the empress instead. “I’m sorry. I don’t really look like this, so I’ll have to go in first.”

Then, she looked back at the people around her.

“And say it correctly, will you? It’s not that the event was ruined because of me, it’s because of that crazy person.”

Saying that Sohee stretched out her index finger as if identifying the madman.

She was pointing at the Empress and Kelly.

As people’s eyes drew there, So-hee hurriedly changed the direction of her pointed hand toward the entrance where the crazy man just left as if she had made a mistake.

“Oh, not that! Over there!”

She saw someone smirk in her peripheral vision.

Joshua seemed to be smiling.

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