Chapter 23: Press Conference (1)
''How could the Saintess tell a lie? She and the Crown Prince had no choice but to hide their feelings for each other because of the Beastless Young miss.''
''She's obviously the third party in their relationship.''
''She must have fallen in love with the Crown Prince and wanted to steal him from the Saintess by using her family name.''
''As always, her family will get everything for her.''
Some students were displeased with the indifferent reaction from Amina and deliberately bumped shoulders without a single apology. As always, she remained unresponsive and simply adjusted the strap of her bag on the way.
The impassive sight even annoyed them further.
Arriving at the entrance of the lecture hall, the chatter died down the moment Amina stepped inside.
''Well, well, look who's here, the Beastless side mistress.'' A familiar voice broke the silence, and other students snickered at her supposed joke.
''She must have thought she could snatch the Crown Prince from the Saintess.''
''Always taking what doesn't belong to her.''
''Shouldn't the academy have expelled her by now?''
''Yeah, she's not supposed to be a student here.''
Without a word to Claudia and the other students, Amina walked to the front row and took her seat at the edge.
''I really hate how she acts like she's above us.''
''Yeah, always ignoring our words as if she can't hear them.''
Amid the chatters, she arranged her books for the Beast Anatomy course before activating her Beastcom to surface the BeastNet.
BREAKING NEWS: Crown Prince Confirms Relationship with the New Saintess!
BREAKING NEWS: Empire's Golden Couple? Crown Prince Declares the Saintess His Fated Mate, blessed by Anima!
BREAKING NEWS: The Blackthorne Family Betrayed? The Crown Prince was Two-Timing?!
BREAKING NEWS: Guildmaster Blackthorne has yet to respond to the Crown Prince's new relationship over the engagement with his Daughter!
BREAKING NEWS: Newly Found Young Miss of the Blackthorne Family Attends the Western Beast Academy!
BREAKING NEWS: Newly Found Young Miss of the Blackthorne Family and the Saintess Revealed to Be Classmates!
BREAKING NEWS: Saintess' heartfelt message to Newly Young miss: Thank you...?
Amina scrolled through the countless news articles of her and the main characters on the floating screen.
...It happened earlier in the novel.
She noticed the press conference scene where the main characters announced their love and engagement to the public had a different timing from the novel.
BREAKING NEWS: Newly Found Young miss of the Blackthorne Family was Born without a Beast!
BREAKING NEWS: The Beast Association Center has confirmed the found Young miss of the Blackthorne family has 0% Beastryl level.
BREAKING NEWS: Question Arises over Identity of Blackthorne Heiress - daughter of the Guildmaster Blackthorne or an imposter?
BREAKING NEWS: Allegations Surface that Blackthorne family pressured the Western Beast Academy over Admission!
BREAKING NEWS: Uncertainty looms over the Lumos Guild and the Blackthorne family Amid the Beastless heiress controversy!
....this is new.
As Amina continued to scroll through the BeastNet, she also noticed the surge of headlines about herself rather than the main characters.
The novel had depicted the large amount of attention the main characters would have after the press conference. There were mentions about the villainess since she was widely known to be fiancée of the Crown Prince, but the female lead bore more importance compared to her. And so, the villainess' name quickly faded away from the headlines.
Even her handicap as a Beastless Young miss hadn't made headlines in the novel.
So why was the same villainess gaining attention now, even more compared to the female lead?
Should I watch the press conference? Amina hadn't bothered to watch the press conference since she was already aware of how it went in the novel. But with the sudden emergence of news about her left and right, it seemed she had to watch the press conference to find out what might have caused the attention on her.
Did the Crown Prince say something? Amina thought, turning off her Beastcom as the Instructor stepped inside the lecture hall.
~~~~
''Saintess, were you aware of the Crown Prince's engagement before having a relationship?''
''Saintess, what are your plans as the future Crown Princess of the Empire?''
''Saintess, does that mean the Pope and the temple are in favor of your relationship with the Crown Prince?''
''Your highness, is the Blackthorne family aware of your relationship with the Saintess?''
''Your highness, are the allegations true that you harbor dislike toward the Guildmaster Blackthorne's daughter?''
''Saintess, were you the lady in the video that went viral after the Crown Prince's birthday banquet?''
''Saintess, as a divine missionary of Anima, doesn't engaging in such a relationship contradict your faith?''
From the floating screen of her Beastcom, Amina watched the replay of press conference; reporters firing question after question at the female lead and Crown Prince. Earlier in the day, she had decided to watch the video and figure out why she was getting more attention than the main characters before turning in for the night.
''Urm...Hello everyone, I understand you have many questions and I will do my best to answer all of them.'' In the video, the female lead began to speak once the reporters gave her a chance to answer their questions. ''About my relationship with his highness, we met each other and fell in love like a normal couple...'' She exchanged a loving smile with the Crown Prince and continued. ''...before the Young miss Blackthorne returned to the Empire. I was deeply heartbroken when I learned of my lover's unexpected engagement. It was difficult to remain in a relationship with a taken man and I considered ending our relationship for the sake of my mental health. However, his highness repeatedly assured me that he would find a way to break his engagement and pleaded that I shouldn't end our relationship. To my surprise, his highness actually broke his engagement. The Young miss Blackthorne had accepted to break their engagement. I never expected her to be very kind and understanding. We attend the Western Beast Academy in the same year and it's quite unfortunate that someone so kind as her had to be away from her family for a long time. Young miss Blackthorne, if you are watching this press conference, please don't give up on your journey as a Beastmaster. I believe you can make a powerful impact in the Empire, even without a Beast. His highness and I are sincerely grateful for your support.....''
...That's what happened. Amina paused the video after seeing the direct cause of the massive attention on her.
She had assumed the Crown Prince must have deviated from the novel and said something about her, but she hadn't expected the female lead to be the one.
It's different.
Amina could ignore the press conference happening at a different timeline from the novel, but could she ignore something similar happening again?
Definitely not.
In the press conference, the Crown Prince had been one to address the reporters' questions about his engagement with the villainess, not the female lead.
The speech she just listened to was never written down in the novel.
Normally, whenever Amina encountered something in Animyth that hadn't been explored in the novel, she would have assumed it was because the female lead wasn't directly involved or had simply overlooked it. But now, the press conference was entirely about the female lead and from her point of view. Yet the scene unfolded was nothing like she was read from the novel.
Why?
Amina contemplated on her bed, thinking what might have caused the female lead to act differently from the novel. She hadn't done anything to disrupt the plot of the novel and acted the same way the villainess had done; disappear from the story after breaking her engagement.
So why had the female lead brought her back when her role as a villainess in the novel was done?
Amina couldn't get her answers and eventually dozed off after scrolling through some news articles about herself. No matter how much the plot had deviated, Amina still thought the female lead was the female lead, and the villainess was the villainess.
There was a difference between the main character and side character.
Surely, the attention on her would return to the female lead, who was the Saintess of Beasts soon enough, and her name would be gradually forgotten.
This was Amina's assumption until she came across news articles on protests going on outside the Western Beast Academy two days later.
And the center of the protest was a single demand.
The academy must withdraw or expel her for fraudulent admission.