I Wish You Well In Your Next Love, My Love - Chapter 56
Gossiping behind her back was wrong, but it wasnât behavior that violated the trainee rules.
Even if Arvina was an indispensable talent to the temple, there was no law saying that no insulting remarks whatsoever could be made about her, and to call it group bullying was a stretch when none of them could even squeak in front of her.
âAnyone can feel inferiority. But for a bunch of you to gather together and do something like this is disgraceful. House Odriann is already in an uproar over this. How do you intend to take responsibility for this, hm?â
For Arvina, who had received nothing but praise all her life, the blunt criticism from fellow trainee Purifiers must have been hard to bear.
âIf this is allowed to pass without consequence, the Odriann Countdom will not stay quiet. I will be giving every one of you here ten demerit points each, so keep that in mind.â
Ridiculous.
Around me, I heard sharp gasps being sucked in.
It was already unfair to assign demerit points over nothing more than being caught gossiping behind someoneâs back, but ten whole points on top of that?
Once demerit points reached thirty, expulsion was immediate.
Ten points was effectively no different from having all of that yearâs exams counted as zero. And for Purifiers who had already accumulated over twenty demerit points in the last fifteen years, this incident had pushed them to the brink of expulsion even right before graduation.
To avoid offending a first-rankâs feelings, the temple had chosen to cut down the lower-ranked Purifiers in bulk.
No matter how important Arvina was, ten demerit points was too much. It was an outrageously unfair punishment.
I could endure being scolded over something I hadnât done, but no matter what, I had to stop the demerit points.
I immediately raised my hand and stood up.
âUm, Reverendââ
But before I could finish speaking, a commotion broke out by the door.
âM-Madam Monique!â
A stately noblewoman with the same blue hair as Arvina strode straight into the waiting room.
She was Arvinaâs mother, whom I had seen a few times before.
Reverend Edmond instantly went rigid, as if he might faint.
Madam Monique was the true head of the countâs family, the one who practically controlled the entire house in place of her foolish husband. Even among nobles, she was such an authoritarian classist that people clicked their tongues at her, and the servants who had been carried out half-crippled by her hands alone could have filled a wagon.
Reverend Edmond hurried down from the platform.
âWe were just about to come see you ourselves, and yet you came all this wayâŚâ
The way he smiled while sweating profusely was so servile it made me frown.
On Madam Moniqueâs face, dark with fury, there were traces of tears. It looked as though she had held her daughter and cried for quite some time, because the damp marks on her blouse were still there.
âJust how is this temple managing its trainees?!â
Her thunderous shout rang out.
At that, Reverend Edmond jumped like a mouse whose tail had been stepped on.
âW-We were disciplining the trainees already. Please donât be too angry.â
âDisciplining them, at this point? My child will live with this humiliation for the rest of her life, and all this place has to offer is discipline?â
The veins standing out in Madam Moniqueâs neck gradually began to redden.
âSo that something like this never happens againââ
âBe quiet! Which shameless b***h was it that dared humiliate my Arvina!â
The rage that had swelled like a live volcano finally erupted.
Her murderous eyes swept over the trainees as if to swallow them whole.
Unfortunately, the fact that I was standing made me stand out.
âI knew youâd do something like this someday!â
The moment our eyes met, Madam Monique rushed at me without a secondâs hesitation.
SMACK!
The force of the blow made my body reel.
