Records of Rebirth

Chapter 6 - The Lovers

I wondered if she was being sarcastic or if she was just oblivious.

There was no way everyone in the room wrote something nice. Perhaps only the prince and his best friend did.

Those two who sat protectively on either side of her just smiled and praised her, saying she was a kind person who only saw the good in people.

I shook my head in wonder at their conclusion. Wasn't she just an airhead?

Across the room from them, the villainess's two followers scowled at the loving scene, calling the prince and his best friend blind and foolish for being deceived by the victim's kind act.

The villainess who sat in their middle had puffy red eyes from crying. She stared longingly at the prince who only had eyes for the victim and her gaze fell with resentment and anger.

She was trying to put on a tough front like it did not bother her. Yet I could see her trembling even from where I sat. It was truly pitiful.

The messenger boy who had intervened with me kept staring in anger at the prince, then back at the villainess with a sad gaze. I remember him mentioning he is her childhood friend.

He probably felt an unrequited love for the villainess and hated the guts of the guy who had hurt her. It suddenly made sense why he stayed.

I hoped for his sake the villainess would give up her fixation on the prince and explore better options.

At some point during the evening, it had started to rain. Gazing outside the windows I watched many students scramble for their umbrella's in the downpour and wished I was one of them.

Other students waited leisurely in the shade for their chauffeurs to arrive to drive them home. Soon the school building was empty.

The only people remaining were those attending after school clubs. Or others stuck in awkward detention like me.

Seeing the entire room about to erupt again, our teacher decided to figure out a solution by addressing the root of the problem.

And so, I was chosen to explain everything that transpired between the prince, the villainess, the followers, and the victim, to the best of my ability as the nameless bystander.

The only one who had zero relation to the group, who was definitely not involved and should clearly not even be there.

But even after stressing these things, our biology teacher only gave me his boyish grin.

Why did my body instinctively shiver at the sight?

I was convinced he was messing with me by having me there. I was the least related person and had zero stake in this quarrel. I wished he would just let me go home.

Our teacher's innocent smile reminded me all too well of the creepy laughter I'd witnessed that day in the science lab, he was clearly up to something.

'Don't smile like that when you have an evil agenda!'

Why was I the only one noticing this? I couldn't help but wonder what sinister thing he was plotting?

Our teacher addressed the group, his words resounding like thunder in the pouring rain.

"Solving this is fairly simple. The prince just needs to tell us which girl he likes. It's not good to keep everyone guessing and wondering. Especially your betrothed."

The prince nonchalantly shrugged, and with a lazy smile he got up from his seat and walked towards the centre of the circle, with a confident smile on his face.

Once there, he extended a hand towards the victim who blushed, her pretty doe eyes going wide as he pulled her up from her chair to stand with him.

This was clearly a declaration of love!

The villainess bursts into fresh tears at the sight and her two followers began to screech in anger, throwing insults at the startled victim who cowered behind the prince to hide from their view.

The quiet of the classroom was long gone and complete chaos ensued.

I really wanted to walk away.

Why was this teacher fanning the flames? It was obvious from the start who the prince liked! Must he drag this on.

Aren't you supposed to be fixing this? Instead, you are making it worse.

Our teacher was still grinning. I suppose he found all this funny because I did too.

I never confessed to anyone or had anyone confess to me, so I didn't understand what sort of emotion made people act in a frenzy, abandoning all logic because of the one they like.

The villainess, a girl whose grades always followed closely behind mine had completely fallen from the top 100's in the span of a month ever since her 'boyfriend' started pursuing another girl. Completely becoming a shell of her former confident self.

If love made you transform to something so unlike yourself, that you would stoop to bullying another girl and sending your followers to harass her, was such love still a good thing?

Our teacher finally intervened and asked the group to simmer down, threatening us with more detention if anyone disagreed.

Ugh. He was truly evil. Who would want to come back here?

Then he approached the victim next to the prince who has gone white as a sheet. Was the prince's confession too strong for her?

If someone confessed to you so brazenly in front of all the people that hate you, it definitely wouldn't be romantic, that's for sure. But even if one would feel uncomfortable, such a reaction was still a bit extreme.

Wasn't every girl's dream to be swept away by a prince? Why was the victim acting so strangely? Was she just a tease, or was her shy, maiden heart fluttering too erratically for her to respond?

Our teacher also seemed to notice her odd reaction and looked at her with a warm smile as he asked her to name the guy she liked.

Eh? Shouldn't it be obvious she likes the prince? What a silly question.

But shocking everyone in the room, she let go of the prince's hand, leaving him standing alone in the middle of the room and ran towards the boy who was still seated in his place.

And with a shy and sweet expression, openly declared her love to the prince's best friend.

The room fell to a silence once again.

What just happened? Was this the famous plot twist?

Everyone stared at the new couple in disbelief. The mouth of the follower who tried to hit me twice, kept opening and closing like a dying fish. The villainess stopped her pitiful crying, her sobs ending in hiccups.

Meanwhile, the new couple embraced each other passionately. The victim had tears of joy flowing down her eyes while the best friend who always followed behind the prince enveloped her in his embrace with a loving smile. He looked surprised, in disbelief that she would choose him over the prince.

Our teacher's smile grew wide as he observed the scene as if he already expected such an outcome.

I slowly turned to the prince who still stood frozen at the centre, watching the pair in their loving display of affection.

He looked strangely lonely, as the usual haughty look on his face crumbled away. Then a look of intense hatred was revealed on his face.

This was turning out to be more interesting than I thought. And for the first time, I was looking forward to seeing how things would progress. I wish I brought some popcorn.

Looking forward to seeing the turmoil, I leaned back in my chair as an excited spectator.

How would the prince who always had everything handed to him react to this betrayal?