"Greg, don't you think it's strange?"
The noble girl leading the group raised her voice, her shrill words echoing through the corridor:
"She's just a commoner, yet she was chosen as such an important representative. That's not normal! She must have made some shady deal with the Academy's higher-ups behind everyone's backs!"
Those words shattered the strange silence between Greg, Victoria, and Sylvia.
Greg silently thanked the noble girl for having no filter.
She's a hero! She's saved me from disaster time and again. I'll never forget this great kindness as long as I live!
Then Greg cleared his throat and went straight on the offensive without hesitation:
"By your logic, I'm a commoner now too, since I was kicked out of my family, but aren't I a representative as well? What, are you saying the Academy's higher-ups made some shady deal with me too? (Definitely.)"
Victoria froze for a moment at his words.
She hadn't expected Greg to bring even that up just to speak in her defense.
He usually acted so flippant and never seemed to take anything seriously, but at a crucial moment like this, he had sided with her without hesitation, even at the cost of reopening his own wounds.
A complicated mix of emotions welled up inside her. She was touched, but there was something else she couldn't quite put into words.
Another noble girl, unwilling to back down, added:
"But she even has a scholarship! Why should a commoner get a scholarship? There's definitely something fishy about that!"
"..."
Greg fell silent for a moment, then slowly turned his head. He looked Victoria up and down appraisingly, rubbed his chin, and asked thoughtfully:
"...So, when did you sneak off to scissor with the Academy Head?"
Victoria: "???"
Although the three noble girls didn't understand