When she thought about it, the words 'Mainline' and 'Treasure' were incredibly telling.
While she was busy unraveling the system's logic, Caspian had already managed to pacify Aurelia. At fourteen, Aurelia hadn't yet fallen for Preston Everhart, so her toxic romance-addled brain wasn't active yet. She was still easy to coax.
Temporarily persuaded by Caspian's logic of 'protecting our own,' she looked at Vivienne with genuine apology.
"Vivi, I'm so sorry. I said a lot of awful things just now, please don't take them to heart. I just..." She hesitated and swallowed the rest of her sentence.
Bianca scowled and leaned close to Vivienne. "Don't forgive her. Her apologies are completely worthless."
Growing up, Aurelia had said 'I'm sorry' countless times, only to turn around and do the exact same aggravating things the next day.
"Grandpa..." Aurelia looked at Caspian, feeling wronged.
Caspian sighed in defeat. He knew exactly how to whip those arrogant teenage boys into shape, but he was completely out of his depth when it came to his delicate granddaughters. He could only feign sternness to warn Bianca off. "Bianca, don't speak to Lia like that." He then turned his expectant gaze toward Vivienne.
Before Caspian had to ask, Vivienne offered a sweet, understanding smile. "Don't worry, Grandpa. I really didn't take it to heart."
"Good girl." Caspian beamed with relief. His expression instantly shifted to a hard glare as he turned toward the three boys lounging on the sofas. "Starting tomorrow, the three of you will take turns escorting Vivi to and from school."
"Vivi?" Julian visibly cringed. "No way! I'm always hanging out with my buddies. It's totally inconvenient to drag her along."
Alaric also looked annoyed, his expression indifferent. "Grandpa, my club activities are unpredictable. My release time isn't set. It's inconvenient."
Caspian's face darkened, and he turned his sharp gaze to Cyril.
Vivienne forced a dry laugh, internally chanting, *Don't agree, don't agree, don't agree.* She had zero desire to be shackled to these three.
"That's more like it! Now you're acting like proper older brothers." Caspian shot a triumphant wink at Vivienne before addressing Alaric seriously. "It's settled then. Alaric, you're the oldest, so you set the example. You take her tomorrow, then Cyril, then Julian. You'll rotate like that from now on. And let me make this clear—don't think you can just drop her at the gate. You must personally escort her all the way to her classroom."
*All the way to her classroom?* Julian laughed in utter exasperation, but the looming threat of the "trials" forced him to bite his tongue.
"..." Alaric shot Vivienne an unreadable look. "Understood, Grandpa."
Bianca grabbed Vivienne's arm, practically vibrating with excitement. "That is so cool. I used to dream about Alaric dropping me off at school!"
Having a gorgeous, elite upperclassman brother at school was the ultimate flex.
Now, Vivienne had three of them at once. Even Aurelia couldn't hide a flash of envy.
...

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