"That lady is the Assistant Principal of this Academy," Riya said.
Her brows instantly furrowed as she leaned forward.
"And trust me, Arin... She's strange."
"Assistant Principal?" Arin muttered with squinted eyes, ignoring the "she's strange" part.
His confusion was valid. After all, an Assistant Principal was never mentioned in the novel, and secondly, an Assistant Principal had never been introduced to the students.
"I'm very sure that no one in this Academy even knows that there's an Assistant Principal, apart from the teachers and Orion," Arin thought.
"For some reason, she has never been introduced to the students," Riya said. "And like I mentioned earlier, she's strange."
Arin decided to put aside the fact that she was not mentioned in the novel and that she had never been introduced to the students. For now, he decided to focus on the strange part.
"True, she's strange," Arin said. "Her eyes were closed the entire time I and Leon were with her."
Riya leaned back into her chair. "Yes, but she would have been even more strange to you if she had opened her eyes."
Arin tilted his head curiously. "Huh? What do you mean?"
"Her eyes," Riya said. "There's something strange about them."
She could still see the slight confusion on Arin's face, but she had already decided to explain further.
"When Orion held a meeting with all the teachers about what happened in the expedition and about the upcoming tournament days ago, she was present," Riya explained. "And she was the one who made the teachers and Orion get off my neck about how I stopped them from entering the forest."
"Her eyes were still closed as usual," Riya said. "But just after that..."
Riya paused as her gaze intensified, signifying that what she was about to say was serious.
Arin listened in anticipation, waiting to hear what she would say.
"Just after that, she opened her eyes and stared at me," Riya said, her expression serious.
"And her eyes were definitely not normal," she added. "To be honest, I don't know if the other teachers noticed and felt it. After all, she was staring at me in particular."
Arin still remained silent, sensing that Riya wasn't done talking.
"Her eyes were pink," Riya said, her brows furrowing. "But the color wasn't the only strange thing about them."
Riya continued. "They seemed to pull me in... It was so strange. I couldn't even look away."
"That means there's something about her eyes that's making her not open them," Arin said. "But the real question is, who really is she?"
"That's the thing," Riya said. "None of the teachers know anything about her background."
"I remember that in the meeting, when she opened her eyes, Orion tapped her and whispered something to her, and she closed her eyes immediately after that."
Arin furrowed his brows. "So you're saying Orion knows something about her, right?"
Riya stared at Arin. "There's a possibility."
"Why did she send for you and Leon, though?" Riya asked.
Arin let out a sigh as he massaged his temples, all his worries pressing down on him like a boulder.
He did that for a few seconds before he began explaining everything to Riya.
He told her about the expulsion and what the Assistant Principal said their "offense" was.
He also told her what happened after begging—about the conditions and that if the victims didn't recover even after the end of the tournament, then they would be expelled.
And he also mentioned that this decision wasn't even official yet. She only said that she would discuss it with the principal.
"Something is definitely off," Riya instantly said the moment Arin finished explaining everything the Assistant Principal had said.
"Ah, you can also sense it, huh?" Arin muttered. "I mean, it's quite obvious."
Riya placed a finger on her chin, a thoughtful expression settling on her face.
"First of all, why was it you and Leon? And secondly, what's with that timing? Why did it have to be when the King was just about to screen Leon?"
Arin knew that Riya didn't know that he was a Vampire and also that Leon was a Shadow, but he was suspecting that the Assistant Principal knew something about that. And Riya wasn't even considering it because she didn't know. Either she knew and was just pretending that she didn't—which Arin felt like she wouldn't do—or the Great One was yet to tell her.
"And apart from that," Riya said, squinting her eyes, "let's say the both of you really committed those offenses. The required punishment isn't expulsion."
"We were even told when we were undergoing training for teachers," she added.
"This just makes everything even more suspicious," Arin muttered.
For now, there was no concrete answer to who exactly the Assistant Principal was and what her motive was.
"Well, just lay low for now, and go about your daily activities," Riya said. "Who knows, she might be watching."
Arin nodded. "I understand."
They both talked for a few more minutes about Alex, the competition, and the tournament.
"So, you plan on winning the competition, huh? Are you doing it just for fun, or..." Riya asked.
"Hmm, I don't really know," Arin replied.
Though, he planned on losing in the tournament. He just felt the need to win in the competition. At least, winning and securing a spot for the tournament wouldn't make him stand out too much, especially if he didn't show off too much physical capability.
"If you'll be one of the four students who'll be representing this Academy in the tournament, then I guess you'll run into my cousin," Riya said.
Arin raised a brow. "You're so confident that your cousin will win the competition in his or her own Academy, huh?"
Riya grinned. "Yes. Trust me, he's strong. He's definitely among the strongest Warriors in his Academy."
"Hmm, a Warrior, huh?" Arin thought.
This made him remember something he was already supposed to start and also tell Tessa.
"Telling Tessa about it can wait for a few days," Arin thought, remembering that he had to lay really low during this period.
Meanwhile, Riya had continued.
"And I'd like to introduce that cousin of mine to you. He's just like me and Tessa... He has gone through the same thing."