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To say that Crystal was shocked when Emilia called her in to talk with Michelle would be an understatement.
Emilia had really managed to make the girl talk in just a short few minutes, and she even looked completely calm!
To think she had still been worried about how to console her once she failed…
But although Crystal was extremely curious, perhaps asking Emilia how she managed to do it in front of the patient wouldn't be a bright idea. She could always do that later, after all.
The blonde girl watched curiously as Emilia whispered something in Michelle's ear, and the girl gave her a nod. Of course she would introduce herself to her 'master's' crush. "I'm sorry for my earlier rudeness. My name is Michelle, I'll tell you what happened to me, and you can ask me any questions after that, alright?"
Crystal could only nod, dumbfounded, as the girl started retelling what happened to her that led her to make such drastic decisions.
Michelle's story wasn't that complicated, however, there were some parts that the heroine couldn't make sense of.
When she had first started attending the 'Sullivan's School of Fine Arts', a boy who went by the name of George Porter took a keen interest in her, and started approaching her more and more often.
At first, things didn't seem that bad, and Michelle even considered going out with him. But when she caught wind of rumors that he was involved with drugs and substance abuse, she decided to steer clear of him out of caution.
Her sudden 'snubbing' of his courtship seemed to enrage the boy, however, and after he confronted her, Michelle could only confess about the rumors she had heard and hope that the boy would then stay away from her.
Recalling it in detail again, Michelle couldn't help but sigh as she thought about how easily she could have avoided all her misfortunes. "I was so stupid… I should have just said that I wasn't attracted to him, or that I wanted to focus on my studies…"
Crystal shook her head. "It's not your fault, he was the crazy one."
Michelle groaned. If it had been someone else, she would have already started screaming about how she didn't understand how she felt at all, but considering that this was her master's crush…
Who knew how this naïve little royal vampire would react if her 'good blood girl', equivalent to 'big booby waifu', was offended? It would surely not bode well for her when she had just started to regain some hope in her life.
After all, she already had a royal vampire's promise to solve all her problems. She could lead a normal life after that, right?
Crystal and Emilia listened carefully to the rest of Michelle's story, though the girl didn't go into grotesque detail every time, they could already imagine most of what had happened.
From the point that she offended George, her life had turned from bad to worse day by day, and Michelle found herself rapidly spiraling down into a deep depression as more and more nasty rumors about herself began to spread.
These weren't just empty rumors she could refute or ignore, either. Doctored pictures of her sleeping with old men, some of her close 'friends' suddenly 'revealing' her 'true nature', and even rumors of the very same thing she had accused George of, were now all over her head.
And even while she was barely holding onto herself, the straw that broke the camel's back was when she was called to the admin office because she was 'suspected to have cheated' on her entrance exam.
At that point, her mind went completely blank as negative thoughts overwhelmed her.
"A-At that time, all I was thinking was how if I was expelled, with all the debts I already have, wouldn't all the things that have been spreading about me eventually come true? Was there any point in going on, then?"
It wasn't that she didn't dare to fight back, it was just that she saw no hope of winning.
Crystal furrowed her brows as she patted the girl's hand in consolation, and Michelle shuddered. 'H-Hey princess, I didn't touch your wife, okay? S-She took the initiative!'
Thankfully, a sidelong glance told her that the royal vampire didn't seem to care much about it, perhaps too focused on the smell of her future lover's blood. 'S-She's really too pervy! But I guess that's good for me, or she would never make such a deal just to court her, right?'
Michelle cleared her throat, trying to reduce some 'sympathy' from the blonde girl. It wouldn't bode well for her if they got too close, after all. "Actually, I always had the feeling that George was rich. Maybe that was one of the reasons I didn't reject him at first…"
She chuckled self-deprecatingly. "But to think he was influential enough to make the college throw me away just like that…"
Crystal sighed as she assured the girl that it wasn't her fault, while subtly hinting Emilia that they should take their leave to discuss the matter. After all, she was the one who handled Michelle, and should know how to 'depart' without causing the 'turtle to go back into its shell', so to speak.
Emilia nodded before getting up and patting Michelle's head. "We'll take care of this for you, don't worry. If you need anything, I'm leaving this phone here for you, my number is saved on the first speed dial."
Of course, all the staff and security around Michelle's room was part of the White Deer's forces as well, but there was no need for her to specifically point that out.
Michelle watched the two of them leave, her gaze full of complex emotions.
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Crystal and Emilia remained silent until they reached Emilia's car, and only once they were in a private space did the blonde start speaking. "There is no mention of any such thing in the official documents, right?"
Emilia nodded as she motioned the driver to head to their next destination. "Of course not. They either wiped it clean after the incident, or never went through with it in the first place."
The blonde couldn't help but furrow her brows in thought. "W-What do we do now, then? You wanted me to help out, but I don't think I can do anything at all!"
Emilia grinned as she wrapped one arm around Crystal's neck to pull her close before planting a kiss on her cheek, making the girl's face go red. "What is my champion saying? Didn't you figure out that the girl was pretending to be paralyzed with just a look? Do you think I would have been able to do anything if not for that?"
"R-Really?"
Emilia nodded. "Mhm. Not to mention, if you hadn't spent so much time softening her up with your words earlier, I may not have been able to do anything either. Speaking of contributions for today's matter, mine is only about a third, and the rest is all yours!"
The blonde looked away shyly. "Y-You praise me too much. I only told you what I noticed, nothing special."
Emilia giggled and pulled her closer again, rubbing their cheeks together as the heroine squeaked. "My heroine is really too humble and shy, ah. But you have to be confident if we're going to figure things out from now on, okay? We haven't won the 'fight' yet, after all."
Although Crystal felt like her heart was going to explode right out of her chest, she barely managed to nod. "W-What do we do next, then?"
Emilia grinned. "Since they almost toyed with Michelle to her death, why not toy with them using her 'death'?"
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~ To be continued ~
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DustyDream:
Golden ticket bonus chapter! :>
Thank you for all your support!