Royal Reboot: Level up, Your Majesty!

Queen vs Queen Bee

2

Tiffany crossed her arms, chin held high. "With all due respect, Dean Saito, I had absolutely nothing to do with Eydis's injury. My friends can vouch for me."

Natalia scoffed. “Then explain the bruise on her head, Tiffany.”

“Maybe she tripped? Who knows, with her eyesight, it wouldn’t be shocking.” Tiffany shrugged, smirking.

As the girls bickered, Eydis turned her attention to Dean Saito. His face gave nothing away, but she already had the context—Natalia had been very thorough.

Tiffany Blackwood’s family wielded enough power to make consequences optional, their influence extending all the way to a senator. The academy wouldn’t be able to kick her out without solid proof.

A slow smile tugged at Eydis’s lips. How entertaining. Saito didn’t strike her as the type to openly favor the elite, but navigating their little power plays required finesse. And a queen, after all, knew how to play.

“Hold on,” Eydis interrupted smoothly. “Why don’t we hear from your trusted friends, Tiffany?”

Saito adjusted his glasses. “That’s reasonable.”

Tiffany smirked. “Sure,” she said airily. “It’s not like I have anything to hide.”

“Since you have nothing to hide.” Eydis met her gaze. “Then you won’t mind if I pick two of them. And…” her eyes flitted to Saito, “we question them one by one.”

For a split second, Tiffany’s confidence wavered. She grabbed a notepad, scribbled five names, and shoved it forward. “Whatever,” she snapped. “It won’t change a thing.”

Saito took the list, scanning it before nodding. “Eydis, choose two. Tiffany, until the investigation is over, you are not to contact them.”

Tiffany forced a smile, but her fingers twitched.

Under the intense scrutiny of Dean Saito’s gaze, Amanda shifted uncomfortably. The sunlight caught his glasses, making it hard to hold eye contact without squinting.

Behind him, Eydis stood still. There was no trace of the quiet girl Amanda used to push around. The braid down her back, the intensity in her amber eyes, and that small, knowing smile…

She looked intimidating.

Amanda forced herself to concentrate. Tiffany’s words repeated in her head: Deny everything.

“Amanda,” Saito said, “did you see what happened?”

“Yes,” she responded a little too quickly. “I saw the whole thing.”

Eydis raised an eyebrow. “Did you now? Alright. Where exactly did I fall?”

“The running track. You tripped. Went down just like that.”

Eydis turned to the dean. “Dean Saito, correct me if I’m wrong, but the running track is designed for running, isn’t it? Smooth, flat, nothing to trip over?”

“That is its intended design,” he said.

“You tripped over your own feet!” Amanda argued weakly.

Eydis tapped her lips. “That clumsy, was I? Then as an eyewitness, I’m sure you wouldn’t mind demonstrating.”

Saito’s mouth twitched. “That would certainly clarify things.”

Amanda tsk’ed. Then, with visible reluctance, she awkwardly lowered herself to the floor, attempting a clumsy imitation of a fall.

Silence.

She lifted her chin, only then she realised how stupid she must have looked. Because they looked like they were trying to hold back a laugh.

Eydis chuckled. “Amanda, is that really how it happened? Because this…” 

She turned and swept her braid aside, revealing a fading bruise at the base of her skull, “…says otherwise.”

Amanda flinched. Shit. They hadn’t planned that far ahead. “Let me try again,” she muttered, getting back on her feet.

Taking a deep breath, she dramatically flung herself backward, landing on the floor with a hard thud, but her arms moved without thinking, breaking the fall.

Lying there, she winced. “Do I… need to do that again?”

Eydis tilted her head, barely amused. “There’s no point. You’ll instinctively cushion the fall every time.”

Amanda scoffed. “Exactly, who the hell w—”

She cut herself off.

Eydis’s smile widened. Dean Saito leaned forward slightly at his desk.

Shit. 

SHIT.

“You’re right, Amanda,” Eydis said softly, almost purring. “When we trip, the brain usually tries to protect the skull. It’s instinctive.”

“Y-you’re clumsy, right?” Amanda glanced at the dean, hoping for some kind of agreement, but he simply sipped his tea. “Like… slow to react?”

“Is that a statement or a desperate question?” Eydis asked lightly.

“Everyone knows you’re dead last in PE,” Amanda snapped.

Eydis stepped forward. Reaching out, she tucked a stray strand of Amanda’s hair behind her ear, the unexpected touch causing Amanda to freeze in place.

Was Eydis always this intense? Like… those eyes.

“Let’s assume for a moment I am that clumsy,” Eydis said, her fingers brushing just below Amanda’s temple, then moving slowly down the side of her head. “But this part of the human skull…” Her touch hovered just below Amanda’s ear. “…tends to hit the ground first in a fall, wouldn’t you agree?”

Amanda nodded before she could stop herself. Her skin tingled where Eydis had touched it.

“Oh? Agreement. That’s inconvenient for your version of events.” Eydis’s hand then slid down to the nape of Amanda’s neck and rested there briefly. “…because the injury is right here.”

Blinking, Amanda felt overwhelmed. “Well—I—You…”

“So,” Eydis said, already stepping back as if the last thirty seconds hadn’t happened, “how did I really get hurt?”

The room felt tighter somehow, though nothing had moved. Dean Saito hadn’t said a word, but his eyes now felt colder. 

He knew.

What was going to happen? Getting expelled would be bad, but her dad’s reaction… she didn’t even want to think about it.

Just then, Eydis spoke again, her question seemingly random. “You’re in my economics class, aren’t you?”

“What?” Amanda asked, confused.

“The prisoner’s dilemma,” Eydis clarified. “It’s on the syllabus. Confess now, and you’re just a witness. But if Jillian speaks first…” Her voice dropped. “Then you’re an accomplice.”

Anxiety tightened its grip in Amanda’s gut. She stared first at her shoes, then at her trembling hands. Finally, the admission came out in a rush: “…Tiffany… she hit her.”

The rest followed. Fast. Panicked. Within the hour, Dean Saito had two identical testimonies. Same names. Same weapon.

Tiffany. A baseball bat. A strike.

Once the room quieted, Dean Saito glanced at Eydis. “That was impressive,” he said, with the air of someone not easily impressed. “How’d you know to choose Amanda and Jillian?”

Eydis didn’t meet his gaze immediately. Her attention drifted to the window, where an unusual pink eye seemed to pulse faintly outside the glass.

“A simple calculation, Dean. They’re close enough to Tiffany to be useful to her, but not elite enough…” Her gaze flickered to him. “To avoid consequences.”

Saito didn’t flinch, but his fingers tightened around his teacup.

Eydis turned to him fully, her expression making him shift in his chair. “Which means that when self-interest takes the lead, loyalty becomes an afterthought.”

Saito remained quiet for a long moment before speaking. “With this confession, Tiffany will receive a one-week suspension.”

Eydis let out a quiet, disbelieving laugh. “A week?” She shook her head. “For assault?”

“But the injury was minor—”

“By all means,” Eydis interrupted, “scan it, inspect it, measure it however you like. I’m sure the baseball bat left more than just a scratch.” 

Her voice, initially light, hardened. “You and I both know this isn’t Tiffany’s first time. You knew what she did, but you let silence do the work.”

Saito flinched. “I—there wasn’t much I could do when no one came forward.”

“Then consider this your chance to fix that.” Eydis said. "And let's be frank, a baseball bat? People have died from far less. A week is an insult.”

For a moment, the room was silent.

A thought danced at the edge of her mind. What if the original owner of this body hadn’t survived that hit? The idea sat heavy in her chest.

Later. That was a thought for later. 

Now, there was a point to be made.

Eydis lifted her chin, her stance almost regal. “Dean Saito, grudges bore me. I prefer to leave the past where it belongs. But…” she paused, her tone turning dark and quiet,  “I make an exception.”

Saito swallowed. Shame and reluctant admiration flickered across his face.

Eydis turned away, her footsteps quiet against the floor. But just before she crossed the threshold, she spoke again, without looking back.

"Silence in the face of cruelty is the same as becoming its accomplice.”

A pause.

“Don't you feel that weight, Dean?"

Then she was gone, leaving the words hanging in the air like a sentence passed.