Chapter 179: Options

At the end of the day, a family is a family, and you could never eliminate the bond of blood—even if you had the desire to kill the other person.

"Sister, I really didn’t—"

"See if Kevin’s alright. They should have shifted him to the general room."

Victoria interrupted her sister, trying to divert the topic that might have become awkward for everyone in the room.

"Ah, yes. I... I will go then."

Getting the hint, Alicia bowed her head, making Victoria nod while smiling slightly.

As Victoria’s injury was a serious one, Alicia had decided to stay with her, while Noah was with Kevin.

As for Diana, she said that she would return soon, but hadn’t arrived yet.

Though Victoria had a decent idea of where the girl might have gone.

Victoria wasn’t mad at Diana, as she knew the importance of Kael in her friend’s life.

Still... she hoped that Diana would somehow recover from whatever dream she was trying to achieve.

Even after everything that had happened in the past, Diana seemed to have forgiven Kael already—and was even actively trying to mend their relationship.

Though Victoria knew that the possibility of getting the old Kael back was near to zero.

That might have been an understatement, as it was impossible for Kael to change into the version that Diana so desperately hoped for.

Victoria had always known it, and today...

After her recent fight with Kael, she had felt it clearly.

Kael’s eyes... they held no emotions for her, Alicia, or even Diana, who was trying her best to repair everything on her own.

For Victoria—the person who had defeated her felt like some stranger who just had the body of Kael Frost, her supposed brother.

Well...

It didn’t really matter.

Diana, and to some extent Alicia, might have been stuck in the past, but Victoria... she had already moved on.

She no longer cared for Kael or anything related to him.

For her... the well-being of her current family was the only priority—and that didn’t include Kael.

Click.

The door closed as Alicia left the room.

Seeing her sister leave, Victoria slightly shifted in her bed, trying to sit straight while leaning against the wall behind her.

Ella, seeing her actions, quickly got up from her chair, moving to support Victoria, but—

"I can manage. Stop treating me like I am on my deathbed or something."

Victoria spoke the words with a seriousness that was hard to ignore.

Her statement was followed by a short silence, before—

Both of them broke out in laughter.

"Well... you certainly look like one."

Ella chuckled while settling back in her chair.

"So... what are you going to do now?"

After a short pause, Ella asked while turning her head to look at the window on the right.

Victoria didn’t reply immediately, as she thought for a moment.

"What should I do?"

Ella stared at Victoria, as the vice-president looked at her with a small smile on her delicate face.

"Well... I may not be the best assistant, but I can surely suggest not doing anything at all."

"And why is that?"

Victoria asked, though she knew the answer to her question.

"Your brother—Kael... he isn’t some random rich noble at the academy. His act of donations for the commoners has cemented his image as some sort of saviour in the minds of the majority of the students in the first year—both commoners as well as nobles."

Ella paused for a second, as she looked into Victoria’s eyes, which felt so fragile yet determined at the same time.

"Kael is now seen as someone who is strong—and a lot different from people who stand at the top. So even the nobles among the students now treat him as some kind of ideal that a noble should be—strong, yet kind to his subjects—the commoners, that is. Their ego has been satisfied seeing the reverent gazes in the eyes of commoners, who generally have hate in their eyes towards the nobles."

Ella took another long pause as she sighed in defeat.

"Fighting him has caused a drop in your popularity, as many from the first year as well as the other years are seeing it as an act to bully a student who isn’t in your faction. And Ashlyn—"

Victoria raised her head at the mention of her strongest competitor.

"That girl wouldn’t let go of such a golden opportunity. If we try to do something against Kael, we will be losing even more of the general public’s opinion, which was mostly in favour of us before—all of that drama occurred."

"Drama?"

Victoria smirked slightly.

"Come on, Victoria! You know how serious the situation is, and I have a very bad feeling about it. If things continue this way, then you might even lose in the final competition for the position of the council president. You don’t want that, do you?"

Hearing Ella’s question, Victoria just leaned back in her bed.

"The students aren’t blaming Kael for anything?"

Victoria asked the thing that had been on her mind since the conversation began.

"Your loyal supporters are, but those who were neutral at first are now in support of Kael, as he is obviously younger than you. So the situation now looks like you are misusing your power and position to settle your... family disputes."

Ella paused at the end, as the matter was sensitive to speak before Victoria.

"So, what’s your suggestion?"

Victoria had already thought about everything, but she still wanted to hear the opinion of her assistant, as well as one of her closest friends.

Ella, hearing the question, got up from her chair before moving towards Victoria.

Sitting on the bed, she placed her hand on Victoria’s, who just observed everything in silence.

"I am not a fool, so don’t think of me as one."

Victoria raised her brow slightly but didn’t comment on the words of her assistant.

"If we want to turn things in our favour again, then maybe—either you will have to bring more of the stronger students in the first year on our side, which includes that commoner who had ranked second in the entire year. I think his name was Noah."

"Noah, huh."

Victoria pronounced the name, her tongue getting the feel of it.

"And the other option?"

Ella paused as she thought over the words she wanted to say.

"The other option is for you to apologize—

To Kael... and bring him on our side."

"..."

"At the end of the day, he is your younger brother—

Your blood."