(A/N Big thanks to everyone for the Power stones and Golden tickets, they mean a lot. As usual, please don't hesitate to comment or drop a review. ENJOY)

---------------------------------

You seem to hate the privileged after all, or maybe it's simply part of the act." Orion said with a sigh.

"And then, unfortunately, you met me. Tough luck. I believe that about covers it. If I missed anything, I'm not above correction, I'm quite humble after all." Orion said with a smile.

Zinia just stared at him, her expression tight.

"Tough crowd," Orion said with a sigh.

"Got anything to add, Caelum?" Orion asked.

"Nothing, young master. You've covered it all." Caelum said with a smile.

Orion just nodded and turned back to her.

"One more thing, want to know one disadvantage of being a bad cop?" Orion asked with a mysterious smile.

Zinia had a bad premonition about what he wanted to say.

"Whether both cops are in collusion for good or for evil, the bad cop always earns the ire of the recipient," Orion said.

Zinia looked at him, confused.

"If your brain is too slow to understand, I'll spell it out for you. I dislike you. Acting or not, your attitude grated on my nerves; therefore, you'll earn my ire." Orion said with a placid expression, his tone final.

He picked up the earlier contracts and handed them to her.

"No, no, no-" Zinia's expression immediately changed, realisation dawning on her.

"I'm not signing that," She said in panic. Signing that would end her in this academy; she had no support from anywhere. Getting into a debt of ten thousand points would finish her, and she'd drop back to Magnum 3 in no time. Only she knew all she'd done to get to this point.

"I wasn't asking, Zinia," Orion said with a sigh.

"No, please, don't do this, please pl-" She sobbed out, tears at the edge of her eyes.

"It just occurred to me that you two never asked for our names. Of course, you already know Caelum, so I'll introduce myself. I'm Orion Chronos, the heir to the Chronos dukedom." Orion said with a simple smile.

"Orion, Orion- you're senior Lyrielle's brother." She said, her face turning even more ashen.

"It seems my dear sister has become even more of a menace," Orion said with a chuckle.

Zinia's tears stopped flowing, her face taking on a resigned look.

They truly were unlucky; they had planned so much for this day, just for them to hit the wrong target.

The boy himself already scared her, add to it the fact that he was the heir and worst still, he was the younger brother of that witch.

Lyrielle was infamous in the academy, a true terror, and although she had graduated, the people she left behind would tear her apart if they ever found out what happened here. She was as good as done.

"So, Zinia, do you mind doing the required?" Orion said, handing her the papers again.

The red-haired meekly accepted the papers and signed before returning them to Orion.

"Thank you very much", Orion said with a smile.

Orion relaxed back on the bench, releasing his breath.

[Are you satisfied]

'Probably, I don't know. I just felt like getting that haughty expression off her face, drama or not, I guess I am satisfied' Orion thought with a smile.

[And the other one?]

'I'll leave her, scam or no scam, I kind of like her bubbly personality, I'm guessing it's the school that made them resort to such tactics, or maybe I'm just being influenced by her acting, ' Orion thought with a chuckle.

"Can I leave?" Zinia asked, her voice practically gone.

"No, we should wait for your partner in crime to arrive," Orion said.

A few minutes passed before they saw Dani running back, out of breath like last time.

She stopped a bit away from them, noticing the weird atmosphere. She could see Zinia kneeling, her eyes red and listless.

The first thought that came to her head was if they fought, but that wasn't possible; any fight would lead to direct expulsion. So they had found a way to make Zinia like that; they had found a way to make the hot-headed Zinia meek.

Zinia turned her gaze to meet Dani's. That's when Dani realised, they'd been caught.

She didn't even try to make any elaborate decision; she applied her mana immediately, trying to activate the Aether step.

"No, you don't." Orion's voice rang out.

The next thing she knew, she was seated directly beside him on the bench. Her eyes widened in shock.

"Hi", Orion said with a smile and a small wave at her.

"Trying to run away isn't exactly nice", Orion said with a shake of his head.

"You figured it out." She said her voice was low.

"I'm special," Orion said with a smirk.

"What do you want?" She asked, her mind still trying to come to terms with the fact that this first here had casually teleported her.

Dani's gaze fell on Zinia again, panic clawing at her heart.

Orion noticed her gaze and chuckled.

"Oh, don't worry, she's already paid for both your sins," Orion said, showing her the contract.

Dani's eyes widened even more, now understanding her friend's dilemma.

"Or would you like to share them?" Orion asked.

Dani immediately shook her head. Friend or not, she wasn't carrying a debt of 5000 on her head, definitely not.

"Good, your job now is to give us what we came for originally," Orion said.

"Information?" Dani asked.

"Yes, information, we'd like to know more about the trial that would determine our starting point, if it's not too much to ask," Orion said.

"Not at all," She quickly shook her head.

"So the thing about transactions was just plain rubbish, wasn't it?" Orion said with a sigh.

Dani hesitated, afraid to offend him.

"Yes, I'm sorry," She said, her voice meek.

"Don't worry, like I said, your sins are forgiven," Orion said with a smile.

[You sound like a villain]

'I do, don't I?' Orion thought, smugly.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.