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The next morning, Vivienne waited outside Shani’s room, arms crossed tightly over her chest and foot tapping the floor in impatient stomps.

At ten o’clock, after waiting for a full hour, Vivienne banged heavily on the door. ”Hey, Shani, open up! I need to talk to you!”

Silence answered from within. Vivienne banged on the door again, causing a few students to poke their heads out from behind their own bedroom doors.

Having already endured the agonizing scrutiny of the crowd, Vivienne froze instantly.

Vivienne bit her lip before stepping back to lean against the wall, waiting in silence.

This forced her to wait for another full hour before Shani finally opened the door, dressed to go out and holding a full-coverage beast carrier bag in her hand.

She didn’t look the least bit surprised to see Vivienne standing there.

Vivienne scoffed. ”So you knew I was out here and deliberately—”

Her words cut off as Shani brushed past her without a second glance, acting as if she weren’t even there.

”Hey! I’m not finished talking to you!” Vivienne scrambled after Shani, pursuing her all the way to the elevator.

Inside the elevator, it was just the two of them. Most of the students had already left for home either last night or earlier that morning, including Kiran.

If Kiran knew Vivienne had been banging on Shani’s door, she would have torn Vivienne to shreds with her tongue.

Shani was busy reading a progress report on the development of the Mortis Company factory. She completely forgot that Vivienne was standing beside her, gritting her teeth in the enclosed space.

”Don’t go causing a scene at the mansion later if you don’t want your unrefined behavior eyesoring everyone,” Vivienne declared in a condescending tone.

”Whatever my father, mother, and I tell you to do, you better obey if you want to be accepted into our family. Our family is one of the most prestigious houses, there are countless rules you must follow before you can even...”

Ding!

The elevator doors slid open, and Shani stepped out, completely oblivious to Vivienne’s relentless rambling.

Instantly, Vivienne’s notoriously short temper flared up. She lunged forward and grabbed Shani’s wrist forcefully.

”Who do you think you are, acting so haughty in front of me?!” Vivienne barked.

On the first floor, only the receptionist and security guards were stationed at their posts. They watched the two girls with heightened alertness, ready to intervene if the argument turned physical.

Back in the elevator, Shani had been so deeply engrossed in reading her report that while she knew Vivienne was blabbering, the voice had faded into background noise without a single word registering.

Naturally, she had no intention of tolerating Vivienne’s physical outburst now. She yanked her wrist free from Vivienne’s grip with effortless ease.

”Are we acquainted?” Shani asked coldly. ”Stop causing trouble with me unless you want to end up in a jail cell like that Nora bitch.”

She turned on her heel and walked away.

Vivienne stomped her foot in frustration. She genuinely couldn’t wrap her head around Shani’s attitude. ’Why is she still playing hard to get?! She really has no idea how life works in a noble family.’

Ultimately, Vivienne concluded that Shani was simply ignorant of the power dynamics inside prestigious houses, naively believing that having the Night Panther gene meant she could do whatever she pleased.

Vivienne tailed Shani all the way outside the academy gates, given that student pickup vehicles weren’t permitted past the main gate.

Vivienne’s eyes widened when Shani approached an online ride instead of the luxury car bearing the House Ashbourne crest.

She stepped directly into Shani’s path, cutting her off. ”Outside vehicles aren’t allowed to enter the mansion grounds arbitrarily. Don’t take a taxi. The car is right over there.”

Shani’s brow furrowed tightly. ”Mansion? What on earth are you talking about? Stop harassing me!”

This time, something clicked in Vivienne’s mind, and she demanded in an uncontrollably high-pitched voice, ”Where are you going?!”

”What business is it of yours?” Shani retorted, her tone openly hostile.

For a few agonizing seconds, Vivienne couldn’t make out what was actually happening.

Had she been blabbering about the Ashbournes all this time without Shani understanding a single word? Or had Shani simply not been listening at all?

Vivienne took a deep breath, fuming over the ridiculous situation. A peaceful conversation was out of the question, but she had no choice.

”Listen to me, I’m only going to say this once,” she stated, forcing her arrogant tone back into place.

Shani remained silent, though her scowl deepened.

”You know your beast gene is the Night Panther, right? Then you should already know that the Night Panther is the beast gene of House Ashbourne, and I am an Ashbourne...”

Vivienne searched Shani’s face for a reaction, but Shani’s gaze remained one of icy indifference.

”...The current Head of House Ashbourne is my father. He is summoning you to the mansion today. Come with me!” Vivienne concluded in a bossy, commanding tone.

Vivienne was utterly convinced that Shani would burst into tears of emotion or panic after realizing how rude she had been. Instead, all she got was a mocking laugh from Shani.

”What are you laughing at?!” Vivienne snapped.

”This whole situation is hilarious,” Shani replied, shaking her head.

”What’s so funny?! You already knew about your identity, didn’t you? That’s why you’ve been acting like this!” Vivienne pressed.

”I’m under no obligation to answer your questions,” Shani replied coldly. She sidestepped Vivienne and walked straight to the waiting taxi.

Before Vivienne could shout another question, Shani had already slipped inside the vehicle. Just as Vivienne lunged forward to stop her, the taxi sped away.

”Damn it!” Vivienne shrieked.

Meanwhile, inside the taxi, a cynical smile curved Shani’s lips.

’So they’ve found out about me. Well, even if the Ashbourne name is an empty shell these days, they can still pull strings to dig up information.’

”Meow~” Nyx let out a restless cry from inside the carrier bag, seemingly agitated by being cooped up.

Shani didn’t let Nyx out, but she adjusted the carrier window to make it transparent. The little fur ball immediately meowed in protest as soon as it saw Shani.

”You can’t come out just yet, Nyx. Just be patient for a bit,” Shani murmured with a gentle smile, before realizing that she had completely put the whole House Ashbourne issue out of her mind without a second thought.

...