Cyril shook his head. "No need."
The girl looked a little disappointed but quickly flashed a radiant smile, extending a perfectly manicured hand. "Well, I'm Sienna Markell. I'm a new transfer student. Can we be friends?"
Sienna Markell, the daughter of the newly elected president, Adrian Markell.
Watching the girl's smile, brighter than the morning sun, Vivienne clicked her tongue and shook her head.
She got it now!
The stoic, unwanted illegitimate son and the dazzling, universally adored president's daughter. The romantic tension was practically writing itself.
No wonder Sienna always held the top spot in Cyril's heart, even when countless elite heiresses threw themselves at him later in the story.
In that moment, it felt as if all the light and color in the world converged on Sienna, blurring the background and rendering everyone else irrelevant.
"..."
Vivienne raised her hand, catching the dappled sunlight in her palm. Thankfully, she was also a main character in this world; she wasn't about to be faded into the background.
After a brief silence, she suddenly sped up, darting right in front of Cyril just as he was about to shake Sienna's hand. She spun around to face him.
With a brilliant, starry-eyed smile and the sunlight dancing on her eyelashes, she pointed a dramatic finger at him.
"Ooooh, Cyril! I'm telling Grandpa!" Tossing that out, she turned on her heel and bolted toward the middle school building.
"..." Cyril froze, a brief flash of utter bewilderment in his eyes before he lifted a hand to rub his temples, looking like he had a massive headache.
Sienna had been so hyper-focused on Cyril that she hadn't even noticed anyone else around. Now that the moment broke, she realized the tree-lined path was filling up with students.
She cleared her throat, awkwardly tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Did you know that girl?"
Judging by the uniform, she was a middle schooler. Sienna didn't think much of it; she just wanted an excuse to keep talking.
"How come Cyril didn't walk you all the way to class today?" Bianca asked, her curiosity piqued.
"I told him not to," Vivienne replied.
Bianca nodded in agreement. "Makes sense. Grandpa having Alaric and the others escort you is his way of showing everyone you're cherished in the family. Cyril is just an illegitimate son; it really wouldn't look right for him to drop you off."
Vivienne paused, quietly setting her backpack down. "That's not why."
She just couldn't stand Cyril's manipulative harem-building. Alaric only ever had eyes for Isolde Blackthorne, but Cyril collected women like trophies.
Later in the plot, the number of women obsessed with him was staggering, yet he never truly committed to any of them. He just strung them along like a master puppeteer.
"I know you don't care about that stuff, Vivienne," Bianca continued, "but you can't stop others from caring. Sure, Grandpa acknowledged Cyril, but a bastard is a bastard. It's a dirty stain. In families like ours, everyone has scandals, but the legitimate heirs will always despise the ones brought in from the outside."
Vivienne, "..."

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