"Arin Vale, and Leon Stormheart. Both of you have been expelled from Greenfield Academy."
"Huh?!" Both Arin and Leon said at the same time.
Leon scratched the back of his head as he chuckled wryly. "Err... Ma'am, I think you have the wrong students."
"I mean, expelled? I don't know about him, but I believe I haven't done anything to make me expelled," Leon added, quickly ditching Arin.
'I swear on my life, I have no idea what is going on anymore,' Arin thought.
Panic? He had already panicked enough to the point that he didn't even have the strength to panic anymore.
And it was obvious that something was definitely wrong. Like, what were the chances that he and Leon would be called at the same time by this lady that they had never seen before? And the most shocking fact—why did the King just instantly allow them to follow her?
Arin pretended that he wasn't affected by the word "expelled" and decided to reason with the lady.
"Please, ma, may I know what my offense was?" he asked in a calm manner.
"I was going to tell you anyway," the Assistant Principal said as she leaned forward, her eyes still closed.
"Starting with you," she said, staring at Leon. "A girl made a private report to Principal Orion that a boy named Leon Stormheart was stalking her."
"According to her report, she rejected you, but even after that, you kept following her everywhere and disturbing her. Like she said, you had dangerous intentions and a bad motive."
"Huh?" Leon muttered. "May I know her name?"
"You see, you have done similar things to lots of other girls to the point that you don't even know which of them I'm talking about," she said.
"N... No, no, it's not that," Leon stammered. "I agree, I have spoken to a lot of girls, but I have never had bad intentions."
"How can I believe you?" she asked. "The girl cried while reporting this and even said she was scared of you. We don't want a student who constantly makes other students scared, now, do we?"
At this point, Leon was looking for what to say.
"But let's say I actually did that, which I didn't—does it require such harsh punishment?" Leon asked, his expression turning serious.
"Yes, because you pose a threat to other students in this Academy, and if anything happens, the reputation of the Academy will be ruined," she said.
Before Leon could even say anything, she turned her head, now looking at Arin.
"As for you, your case is somewhat similar, with only slight differences," she said.
Arin didn't say anything. He just simply waited to hear what she would say.
"You attended the ceremony, right?" she asked.
"Yes, I did," Arin replied, staring at her.
"Good. You danced with three girls, right?"
Arin nodded his head in response as he thought, 'How did she know the number of girls I danced with? Is the Academy watching us or something?'
"Now, the first girl you danced with doesn't have anything to do with this issue," she said.
"As for the second girl, she recently came with a report, and she was frightened."
Arin raised a brow, already knowing where this was going.
"She said a student named Arin Vale threatened to kill her while they were dancing. Apparently, she found your name from other students," the Assistant Principal said as she leaned back into her chair.
"And the reason for that death threat?" she continued. "Just because she said that she wanted to dance with someone else."
Arin was about to speak, but she interrupted him.
"She mentioned that your expression and tone were so serious that it was obvious that you would actually do it if you had the chance."
"And because of this, she's now traumatized and still hasn't recovered," she added.
Once again, she interrupted Arin.
"We don't want a murderer in this Academy. From the report, you're clearly capable of killing a student, and that would definitely tarnish the image of this Academy."
Arin knew that he actually did that, but he just did it to make the girl shut her mouth. Not like he was actually going to kill her.
'Seriously? I don't believe this shit,' he thought.
"As for the last girl you danced with, she didn't return to the Academy after the Vampire attack, and the Academy believes that she must either be running away from you or Leon," the Assistant Principal said.
"Maybe Leon has stalked her too much, or you also threatened to kill her," she added.
'She's talking about Kiara... Tch... She disappeared on her own that night after finding out that I was a Vampire. I didn't do anything.'
Finally, Arin had the chance to talk.
"I didn't really threaten to kill that girl," he began. "And moreover, almost all the students in this Academy threaten to kill each other every day. Why haven't they been expelled?"
"Because nobody reported," she answered. "Yours was reported, so we have to take the necessary action."
"Also," she added, "a rule against threatening to kill each other and also about stalking will be enforced, and both of you are, unfortunately, the scapegoats."
Arin didn't know why, but he could still feel that something was off.
It was almost as if... as if this was some sort of distraction.
Leon kept begging for her to spare them, saying it wouldn't happen again, but she was yet to say anything.
"Okay, this is what will happen," she began. "I will speak with the Principal to allow both of you to stay until the end of the tournament that is coming up."
"If you two behave well and there are no reports about either of you, the Academy will consider canceling the punishment."
"But if the girl you stalked and the girl traumatized by your death threat still haven't recovered by then, both of you will be expelled."
Arin couldn't help but sigh.
The author had continued the story, with chances of jeopardizing his plans.
The King was doing some sort of screening, putting him at risk of being discovered as a Vampire.
And now, he also had to worry about not getting expelled from the Academy.