Chapter 81: Preparation To What Is To Come!
"Yeah," Verena said, tightening the wraps around her wrists. "I’m here to practice. Nothing else."
Raphael took a hesitant step forward. "Can I... at least explain myself?"
She let out a bitter breath, eyes locked on the training dummies instead of him.
"Bold of you to assume I’m in the mood to listen," she said coolly. "You’ve already done enough, Raphael. More than enough."
There was a pause. He really had done a lot of wrong. In the novel, he never faced a single consequence for what he did to her.
Verena was brushed aside, written off as little more than an irritating obstacle. To the readers, she was just the villainess. Loud, dramatic, disposable.
"Just humor me for once," she added, stepping into the arena. "Pick up your sword. We’re here to train. That’s all."
Two days flew by in a blur of repeated routines. Exams dragged on like a bad sequel, but at least Verena had the benefit of knowing everything already. Honestly, the only fun part of school right now was answering questions like a smug time-traveling know-it-all.
"Excuse me—coming through—"
Students were now crowding around the giant announcement board as the exam rankings were posted by year and department.
"Oh my gods, I’m in 72nd place!" someone cried with the energy of a person who thought they failed but somehow didn’t.