Chapter 178: How could it be?

Diana watched as Kael headed downstairs without looking back.

Though the tears were about to spill from her eyes, she wiped them before they could.

She hadn’t felt so lost in a while.

Though Diana had always known that the situation with Kael and his family would remain complex, what she didn’t know was that things could go out of hand to such an extent.

She had never imagined that Kael would fight his sister—and also defeat her in such a brutal and... barbaric way.

Still... it wasn’t like she could leave Kael because of that.

Diana had made a similar mistake in the past, and she wasn’t interested in repeating it.

Victoria was her friend—and so was Kael... maybe he was even more than that.

Diana wanted to mend things before they took another bad turn, but Kael didn’t seem even remotely interested in any topics relating to his family.

It was a blessing that he didn’t behead Victoria.

Though Diana found it hard to accept that Kael would really do something like that—and in the academy, no less.

Still... remembering Kael’s face when he had his sword on Victoria’s neck, Diana couldn’t really deny the possibility.

Kael...

He had always been changing since childhood, but today—the recent version of him had felt the most distant.

"Mother..."

Diana uttered the word with a cracking voice, as she tried her best to control the raging emotions in her heart.

***

"Thankfully, your arm was cut cleanly, so there isn’t any irreparable damage to it. I have attached it for the time being, but try not to overextend the muscles, as it could cause your hand to become unresponsive."

A woman in her thirties explained patiently to the girl sleeping before her.

Victoria listened to everything, though her mind seemed elsewhere.

"She will be okay, r-right?"

Alicia spoke up from the side, as she had her hands on Victoria’s bed, trying to control the cracking of her voice.

"Yes, dear. Don’t worry too much. And—"

The doctor paused as she looked in Victoria’s direction with a serious gaze.

"Don’t get in fights for at least—a month."

That was the basic precaution needed to ensure that the injury wouldn’t turn into something worse.

As the doctor completed her treatment, she headed to the other students who were still lying on their beds, the nearby staff giving them potions to reduce the pain.

"For a month, they say. Will you really be able to control yourself?"

Ella’s voice made Victoria turn her attention to the front, where her assistant sat on a chair, with her legs crossed, a small notepad in her hand as she scribbled some words in it.

"Control? Do you think I am some beast who looks for fights?"

"Yes, you are."

Ella’s immediate response made Victoria pause, as there was indeed some truth behind her words.

"Big Sister, you will not fight. Is that clear?"

Alicia’s words made Victoria look at her, but before she could reply—

Her little sister’s stern gaze made her swallow all the words she wanted to say.

"The headmaster should have passed the punishment by now, but there’s been no official announcement."

Ella spoke, as her hands moved, scrolling through the academy’s notice board on her device.

Victoria and Alicia didn’t say anything, as both of them had varied reactions to the statement.

"Hm... your brother seems to have some connections with the headmaster."

Ella’s words made the two of them turn their attention to her again, as she hummed slightly, thinking for a moment with her eyes closed.

"The headmaster had indeed mentioned Kael being someone close to him in his speech during the entrance ceremony while revealing the name of the first ranker. But I don’t think it was to such an extent—"

"It is. Kael seems really close to the headmaster—of that I am sure."

Ella interrupted Alicia.

"But why do you think so?"

Alicia asked while glancing at Victoria, who didn’t seem to find anything wrong with Ella’s words.

"Ah, you are still new, so you might not know, but the headmaster is someone who values discipline and the enforcement of rules above everything else. If someone breaks the rules, then his punishment goes on the official notice board. That is the headmaster’s way of making the student repent for his actions. If you don’t believe me, just ask Victoria."

At Ella’s words, Alicia turned her head to look at Victoria, who just nodded in silence.

"Though I don’t think he will get a free ticket, as his crimes are indeed of the highest level."

Ella spoke as her gaze landed on Victoria’s arm that had just been attached to her body.

"Will he be removed from the academy?"

Alicia asked in a low voice.

Ella, finding the question a bit odd, raised her brows in question.

"Do you want him to stay after everything that he has done?"

She asked Alicia, as she found it interesting for the girl to worry about someone who had cut off the arm of her elder sister.

Maybe it might have been because the culprit was her elder brother himself.

Ella didn’t have a negative opinion of Kael when she had first heard about him.

She had even thought of recruiting him into their faction so as to boost Victoria’s chances of becoming the next student council president.

But after the events today, maybe that might have been a far-fetched delusion on her part.

Seeing the current circumstances, there didn’t seem to be any possibility of reconciliation between the two.

"No, I didn’t mean to say that!"

Alicia spoke hurriedly before looking apologetically towards her sister.

"Don’t worry. I understand how you feel."

Victoria assured her little sister with a small smile, as she knew what must have been going through her mind.

Despite everything that had happened in the past, Alicia still hoped for everything to return to normal.

Though she might not have shown it on the outside, Alicia was someone with a very delicate heart, and such conflicts in their family had never been an enjoyable thing for her.

Well... it hadn’t been enjoyable for Victoria either.

And how could it be?