The Court of the Girl

Episode 2

The teacher, with eyes full of pride, saw Jordan return to his seat before continuing with the announcement of grades.

He took the next report card, when he saw the name written there, a subtle glimmer of pleasure flickered in the depths of his eyes, quickly disappearing before anyone could catch him, and he announced, "Juliette, second place."

Juliette, whose name was called, got up from her chair and tidied up her skirt before walking slowly to the front of the class.

The teacher smiled, the twitching around the corner of his eyes getting clearer, as he gave the report card in a serious tone. "Juliette, second place again. Give your best, everyone should always try to feel the sweetness of being first. Ranking is a pride, you can't keep losing."

On the surface, her words seem encouraging, but tucked into a bit of insinuation and oppression, an attempt to tear down Juliette's self-esteem and provoke her doubts.

After teaching for so many years, the teacher was able to see the true figure of Juliette, she looked beautiful, seemingly kind and harmless, exuding an aura of vulnerability that attracted people's protective instincts completely.

However, the real him was extremely cold and indifferent. Compared to Teddy and Delly, who openly show degrading and cruelty, do not care to hide their oppression of the people under them, he said, she hates Juliette more for her ability to hide her true nature.

Horrible, right?

Juliette met the teacher's gaze, her pitch-black eyes shining with clarity. He laughed, resembling the most obedient and humble student in the world. "Yes, it's not fun to always be second. I'll work hard sir."

The teacher nodded with a smile, his eyes filled with affection and encouragement, yet he kept a sense of disgust in his heart.

Truly a child who does not realize his own mistakes!

He has a clear understanding of Juliette's abilities and is very confident in Jordan's abilities.

There is no way he can surpass Jordan! Juliette nodded politely at the teacher, then turned around with her report card.

As he passed the third table on the right, his steps suddenly slowed down and he slightly lowered his eyes. Xeldous, who had a clean and sharp appearance, looked at him with implied concussion in his eyes.

Juliette smiled gently at him, as beautiful as a blooming flower, but Xeldous was in no mood to appreciate it. To her, Juliette is scarier than a man-eating demon, a nightmare she can't escape.

This smile was a demonstration and provocation of victory. When Xeldous looked into Juliette's eyes, he expressed not only frustration but also fear, not fear of Juliette but fear of punishment from his father after losing to her.

Juliette returned to her chair and carefully examined her report cards, all subjects scored perfectly except for math, which was still left behind.

The teacher on top of the podium still announced the result: "Xeldous, third rank."

He uttered it softly but motionlessly, slowly raising his head and turning his gaze to Xeldous: "Xeldous, come here and take your results."

Juliette's gaze also turned to him and saw him sitting in his chair with his head lowered, as if he hadn't heard, but rather looked like he didn't want to face the fact that he was ranked third.

It was only when the teacher urged for the third time, "Xeldous, come on, don't waste another friend's time" that he finally stood up, walked onto the stage, and received his report card with a clenched hand, while trying to resist the urge to rip it off.

The process of announcing exam results is boring and tedious. As the teacher chanted the latter, he increased his speed, "Martius, thirty."

The teacher read out those values, but there was no response from the students at all. Seeing Martius fall asleep, the teacher did not dare to wake him up. He sighed, frowned, and closed the folder. "That's it, the class was dissolved."

Casually, Juliette kept her bag, carefully placing her collection of poems inside so as not to tangle. However, he did not put the report card into his bag. Instead, he folded it neatly and held it in his hand.

In the back row, Martius was still asleep. Xeldous immediately packed his bag and approached Martius' table. He slowly tapped his knuckles on the right corner of the table to wake him up. "Wake up, Martius."

Martius slowly lifted his head from his arms, observing the surroundings of the room. Everyone slowly packed up and left. Lazily, he rubbed his temples and his voice rattled, "Have you gone home from school?"

Xeldous looked at him, his voice barely audible, "What about what you said to me last time? What are you gonna do?"

It took Martius time to process Xeldous's words. After a long pause, he finally remembered what Xeldous meant.

He felt a bit funny and laughed softly, tapping his fingers twice on the table. His gaze turned towards Juliette's back.

He looked away and turned towards Xeldous. "What's wrong? Did you lose to Juliette?"

Xeldous was offended by the comment, looking at Maritus with slight annoyance. "Let's talk outside."

After saying so, Xeldous turned around, carried his bag, and left the classroom.

Martius looked at Juliette's departing figure, laughed lightly, and stretched his body lazily before finally rising to chase after Xeldous.

Juliette followed the two of them, watching them discuss with an exclaimed, thin smile on her lips.

The two dogs were the ones he wanted to keep, it would be nice if they were closer.

Xeldous tightly held the crumpled report card in his hand, "How long does it take to forge the report card? My dad wants me to come home before six."

"It won't be long, what champion do you want?"

"Sound two, like Juliette."

"It's a rare opportunity to forge a report card, why don't you want to be champion one ?"

Xeldous looked sad, "My father won't believe it. He'll find out, he knows my abilities very well."

Martius clicked his tongue twice, underestimating his weak appearance, "You're not afraid of being caught faking rank two? You should know, since we started our first year of High School, you haven't won that bad girl, Juliette."

Hearing Juliette's name, Xeldous's hands grew tighter by her side, clearly showing her deep hatred for her, "He would believe it because he would not have time to verify it.

My dad's been busy lately, as long as there's nothing wrong today, that's enough. I will definitely surpass Juliette in the next ability test."

Martius did not refute it, nodding involuntarily, "Alright, second place. I just don't understand how fucked up your dad is. It's enough if she herself competes with Juliette's father, why would she compare you to win Juliette too?"

Recalling his father, Xeldous began to feel a deep freeze seeping into his bones, a dull ache, and he fell silent, not saying any words.

After school, the school gate was filled with luxurious private cars. Juliette walked slowly, slowly coming out.

The driver saw it from the car when there was still a distance between him and the vehicle. In a hurry, he got out of the car and ran towards her, picked up his backpack and opened the car door.

Juliette straightened her skirt and sat in the car, still holding a neatly folded report card.

The driver sees her tying a seat belt, then turns to the other side of the car and sits in the driver's seat. He turned on the car and smoothly moved away from the school gate.

Juliette pressed against the car window, letting the wind in. He raised his hand to slide his messy hair behind his ear, staring blankly at the report card in his hand.

The words of the teacher echoed in his ears, seemingly full of encouragement yet actually booing and suppressing.

"In life, you have to feel the first place."

"Your rank represents your dignity."

Indeed, the second position was not good enough, but this was already a limitation for him. This was the best he could achieve after dying once and studying endlessly, never daring to relax.

He'll get first place, but not now. He has to wait for the right moment.

--

Carrying his backpack, Jordan walked out of the side gate of the school. Only a luxurious car was parked at the main entrance, and he was only worthy of using the side gate.

He really doesn't fit in here. In addition to his family background and the hidden wealth behind it, his own physical appearance made him look like a poor insider.

High school uniforms are expensive. A complete uniform set for ten million, which he got from the results of his hard work for six months..

He could only afford a set, wore it over and over and washed diligently, his collar had already faded a little.

But the children of the rich still often complain about the fabric of their school uniforms are not quite luxurious, rough and disturb their skin.

The watches they wear on their wrists, the backpacks they carry to school, and the shoes they use are all well-known brands.

In the face of absolute class power and wealth, his self-esteem was plunged to infinity, so he could only show indifference and indifferent appearance.

But does he really not care?

No, on the contrary, he cared so much and hated her so much!

As of now, he hoped the school was built on a road with slopes.

The conglomerate's children have a driver on duty to pick them up and drop them off, comfortably reaching their destination easily in a luxury private car, whereas he can only rely on his own feet, the statement said, walk step by step down the slope.

A black sedan drove slowly past her, and Jordan felt something, he paused for a moment and glanced at her, it was Juliette.

The speed of the car was slow, but it quickly moved away from him, creating a gap he would never be able to pursue in his life.