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Everyone else stared at Shani with the same mixture of shock and utter bewilderment.

Internally, Shani was gloating. Just yesterday, she had received a notification from the System that the restructuring of her energy pool was complete.

She had immediately purchased several energy potions totaling 800 beast energy points, pushing her base store to 1,470, firmly within the C-Rank threshold.

Factoring in the 36 points of beast essence from her previous resonance session, the rank measurement device calculated her total energy at 1,506 points, which registered as a B-Rank.

She hadn’t originally intended to shock them like this, but after seeing Elias look down on her, she couldn’t just sit back.

Shani shrugged nonchalantly. ”I don’t know. Maybe it’s just because I’m an anomaly.”

She emphasized the word ”anomaly” while locking eyes with Elias, causing the man to grit his teeth as he felt this little girl openly defying him.

Beside him, Rowena snapped out of her surprise and broke into a soft laugh.

”Shani, you are truly unique,” Rowena said, her smile gentle. ”Would you like to become my Direct Student candidate?”

Rowena’s sudden offer stunned everyone in the room.

Damon clutched his chest. His heart had been put through the wringer more times in the past hour than in the entire term.

”Don’t joke around, Rowena. Jeryon is coming with me, so naturally Shani is too.”

Despite his distaste for Shani’s cheekiness, Elias had no intention of letting her go now that he knew she might be hiding even greater talents than he had imagined.

Elias leaned back in his chair, folding his arms. He looked thoroughly pleased with the outcome of the evening.

Rowena, sitting next to him, remained completely unbothered by his pushback. She kept her eyes on Shani. ”Dear, who do you choose?”

Elias felt a flash of annoyance that Rowena was even questioning the decision, but a smug look quickly returned to his face. He was dead certain Shani would pick him.

”I choose...

Shani flashed Elias a sweet smile that momentarily reminded the man of his own daughter, so much so that he completely forgot her earlier sarcasm.

He nodded along, already planning all the things he would teach her moving forward.

Just as that thought crossed his mind, Shani turned her head away from him. She took a step toward Rowena, keeping that same sweet smile on her face.

”Naturally, I choose Instructor Laurent,” she said, her voice dripping with innocence.

Rowena smiled warmly. ”Good child. As my Direct Student candidate, I will make sure your path to Nova City is smooth.”

Beside her, Elias clenched his fists, glaring sharply at Shani. He had just been played by a girl a third of his age!

Unwilling to lose his composure any further, Elias shut his mouth tight, trying with all his might to hold back the string of curses threatening to spill out.

His restraint almost shattered completely when Jeryon suddenly piped up, ”Instructor Laurent, I would also like to become your Direct Student candidate.”

Elias was seething. He felt like an absolute idiot for forgetting that the boy was a Lion. Naturally, a Lion would only bring trouble to a Tiger like him.

Rowena, on the other hand, burst out laughing. This trip was turning out to be far more entertaining than she had anticipated.

”Prince Jeryon, you cannot become a candidate under Instructor Laurent,” Damon interjected, seeing both instructors still caught up in their reactions.

Jeryon looked confused. ”Why?”

Damon wavered, unsure of how to answer. He glanced over at Elias, but the man merely turned his head away, pouting like a petulant child.

Rowena finally answered for him. ”The reason is something you can only learn once you officially become a student of Nova City... or...”

She glanced back at Shani. ”...if Shani decides to tell you herself.”

Jeryon immediately turned to Shani with a look that plainly asked, You know why?

Shani merely offered an awkward smile. ’Prince, you already know way too many of my secrets. For now, you don’t need to know that I possess a dual gene.’

Seeing that Shani had no intention of explaining, Jeryon didn’t press the matter. Even if they couldn’t share the same instructor, at least he was still a candidate alongside her.

That very evening, they drafted official contracts solidifying candidate status for both Shani and Jeryon.

Shani was represented by Cedric Rowan, whom Rowena managed to contact via video call.

Meanwhile, Jeryon was represented by the Headmaster of Feline Tower, who had assumed legal guardianship over Jeryon upon his enrollment at the academy.

The Headmaster was quite surprised by the development, but he readily gave his approval, well aware that the King would soon announce Renard as the crown prince.

Rather than leaving Jeryon stranded without a clear status, binding him as a Direct Student candidate was by far the better path.

That way, he would have solid backing whenever factions in the capital deemed his presence a threat to the throne.

After Damon and Elias departed from the Headmaster’s office, Jeryon remained alone with his uncle.

”Jeryon, your father will be proud when he—”

”I don’t care about his opinion, Uncle,” Jeryon cut in coldly.

The Headmaster could only offer a sad sigh.

He understood Jeryon’s feelings, just as he understood his older brother’s burden. He truly hoped that one day, the two might find a middle ground.

”That girl... Shani Rowan has helped you in more ways than one. I feel a scholarship and a guarantee against expulsion aren’t nearly enough.”

”As her friend, what do you think would be an appropriate reward for her?” the Headmaster asked tactfully, steering the subject away from the King.

Jeryon pondered for a long moment before fixing his uncle with a serious look.

”I think the most important thing you, the Feline Tower, and the royal family can do is ensure the Ashbournes never find out about Shani’s beast gene.”

It wasn’t the first time Jeryon had made this request, and the Headmaster had indeed been suppressing information about Shani’s beast gene from leaking.

However, with her rank soaring so drastically out of nowhere, information about Shani was bound to spread.

There were simply too many eyes and mouths for him to monitor every single one.

...

Ever since word broke that she was no longer an F-Rank loser, Shani had remained on high alert, constantly wary that the Ashbournes or others might attempt a move against her.

”Shani, look! There’s a trending post about you on the forum!” Kiran called out, half-shouting as she pointed frantically to her smartwatch.

Shani’s heart thudded in her chest.

Before going to bed last night, she had checked the forum threads about herself, finding nothing beyond wild student conspiracy theories.

She quickly opened the forum and scanned the top post. Her brow furrowed into a tight knot.

”So this was their play?” she muttered under her breath.

”This has to be an edited photo, right?” Kiran said, shaking her head. ”Why would a Grand Academy student have business with the police?”

Noella observed Shani’s expression, immediately realizing Shani wasn’t treating the post as a joke or a harmless prank.

”Are you in trouble, Shan?” she asked softly.

Shani fell silent for a few heavy moments, causing the playful atmosphere at the table to turn dead serious.

Jeryon, who had been watching Shani without blinking, tapped on his smartwatch and sent off a quick message to someone.

”Something happened when I went out a few days ago...” Shani began, recounting the setup at Summit Real Estate that had landed her at the precinct.

”Whoever planned that is downright malicious!” Kiran seethed, her eyes flashing with rage.

”If they’re bold enough to play dirty tricks like this, they’re bound to leave traces behind,” Jeryon murmured quietly.

The three girls turned to him in unison, their looks practically screaming that the Prince was about to take matters into his own hands.

After finishing their meal, the girls parted ways with Jeryon. It was Friday, which meant it was time for their elective courses.

Sonny joined them inside the classroom, immediately seeking confirmation regarding the forum post.

Once Shani filled him in, he drafted a new thread explaining the true sequence of events.

However, by the time their Concoction class wrapped up, Sonny’s clarification post had already been buried under new threads, while the original post displaying the photo of Shani stepping out of the police station remained firmly pinned at the top of the hot topics list.

In the end, Sonny could only join forces with Kiran, aggressively firing back at the vile comments flooding the thread.

Flanked by her friends, Shani hadn’t felt much of a shift in the student body’s attitude toward her.

That changed during her afternoon Feed Cultivation class.

Walking into the classroom alone, the hushed whispers of her classmates suddenly became intentionally loud and clear for her to hear.

”Isn’t it obvious why she got hauled off to the police station? She was caught buying illegal substances. That’s how her rank jumped from F to C out of nowhere.”

”Once a cheat, always a cheat.”

”Where did she even get the money to buy banned drugs anyway? Did she sell her body...?”

”Or maybe she’s exploiting the kids at her orphanage and taking all their money. Poor things.”

”Maybe those orphaned kids know what Shani’s really like, but since they rely on her, they just hand it over.”

Shani’s face flushed hot with anger. She pinned the four gossiping students with a cold, piercing glare.

”You four seem awfully fascinated by the police station. Would you prefer your photos and names plastered on the forum tomorrow instead?”

...