No matter how everyone wished that time would stand still, or just move slower, the sand in the hourglass remained as slippery as ever, and the first day of the event arrived in the blink of an eye.
The generally deserted Imperial Stadium became the main venue of the event, and was decorated with more care than a bride-to-be.
Looking at it like this, some of the sports club members couldn’t help but feel emotional, as if their own daughters were about to be married off. “Mom, I didn’t even plant a cabbage, but I feel like it’s been arched by some pig!”
Of course, for those who had their events scheduled that day, the arches covered in flowers and ribbons looked more like the gateway of hell than anything else.
”Yikes, look at all those cameras! I-I don’t think I’m ready to go in…”
”D-Don’t worry, even if you mess up, with your face, you can probably pass it off as a failed attempt at comedy!”
”Why does that sound worse?!”
Unfortunately, their conversation was rudely interrupted by someone shoving past them, almost causing them to stumble over each other and fall to the ground.
”Asshole!”
”Watch where you’re going!”
But the tall, dark-haired man didn’t even turn around, leaving them completely infuriated.
”How can there be someone so rude?!”
”I hope that got broadcast to the whole world! No, we should go beat him up!”
”Wait… wouldn’t we also be in trouble if that happened?”
”Ugh…”
Naturally, the dark-haired man cared as much about these two students as he did about his blabbering lapdog.
”Alex, bro, I really don’t think this is a good idea! Since we’re now on bad terms with the Black Tiger’s heir, what are we supposed to do if he sees us and decides to make things difficult?”
This wasn’t the first time Jake was complaining about how ‘poorly’ he had handled the meeting with Amos. He’d been at it constantly since that day. But Alexander couldn’t blame his lapdog too much, since he really didn’t know about his real status, and must be concerned about his well-being, so he was barely willing to look past it.
Jake obviously thought Alex was just ignoring him again, however, and sneered to himself. ‘What are you acting so conceited for? So convinced that Emilia would shield you?’
Only Jake himself knew how envious he was in his heart.
The blonde boy couldn’t help but run a hand through his hair in frustration as he continued to follow his ‘bro’. “What are we here for, anyway? I doubt Emilia really cares if we come to watch or not, or she would definitely have given us her tickets.”
Of course, with how the event was being covered, it was impossible for Jake to not know that each student only received two tickets to give to their family members, and could get two more at a heavy discount.
Alexander frowned as he paused for a moment, but quickly shook his head in denial. “That gray-haired bitch is probably watching her all the time, how can that little girl be able to send us any tickets? To be able to send you a message secretly is enough to show her sincerity.”
No way, how could that infatuated little girl not care? She obviously just had no way to get those tickets to him.
”Anyway, this little cost was barely worth mentioning.”
Jake almost vomited blood. ‘Just because you managed to hook Emilia White and butt heads with Amos Black, do you really believe you’re a trillionaire too?!’
Thinking about how he had been too stingy to attend his favorite singer’s concert two years ago for a ticket that was ten times cheaper than the one for this ‘small event’ made Jake’s teeth itch with even more hatred. ‘Why did you make me pay if you think you’re so rich, anyway?!’
Of course, Alexander never imagined that while his ‘lapdog’ never dared to voice his rebellious thoughts, his determination to make this ‘big bro’ of his regret his life choices became more and more firm.
Neither of them expected, however, that after the ‘little boys’ outside, they would once again bump into someone inadvertently. Unfortunately, the ‘victim’ this time was a bit too tough, and sent Alexander reeling, almost causing him to fall on his face.
”Bastard! Can’t you see where you’re going?!”
The buff blond man turned around in confusion. “Huh? Oh, I felt like something touched my shoulder before… I-I didn’t hit you, d-did I?”
Although his expression was sincere, Alexander felt like the boy must be deliberately mocking him by making it seem like he wasn’t even worth noticing. “How dare you—!”
Before he could explode, however, a couple of girls with ‘volunteer’ badges came rushing over to break them apart. But looking at the opponent’s physique, they wisely decided to stay three feet away. “W-What’s going on here?”
The buff blonde rubbed his hands nervously. “I-I didn’t mean it, but looks like this gentleman crashed into me and got hurt. I-I’ll apologize, I’m not used to being so big and strong!”
Anyone could tell that although he looked scary, the most terrified person around was also this buff blond boy. Naturally, with Johnny’s two greatest ‘weaknesses’ being ‘confrontation’ and ‘girls’, it would be more mysterious if he wasn’t scared.
The girls stared at him in confusion before turning to the dark-haired man. “Um, uncle, are you hurt?”
’Uncle?!’ Alexander was just about to explode when he felt Jake nudge him in a panic.
”B-Big bro, there are cameras around! L-Let’s just go!”
The dark-haired man sneered and stormed off with Jake, leaving the remaining three both confused and perplexed.
Of course, with his current mindset, it was impossible for Jake to remind him like this for no reason. ‘The longer we stay here, the more likely it is that Emilia will happen to run into us when she comes in!’
Since the first event was a theater performance, Jake believed that the sooner they got to their seats, the better. Anyway, he didn’t believe that Emilia would be able to approach Alexander under the eyes of that gray-haired girl unless they ‘happened to run into each other’.
What he didn’t know was that Emilia was already in the broadcast room, and observing their ‘activities’ with an amused smile. “Hey, Dixie, isn’t that boy the same one that ran into us in the mall?”
The nonchalant look on the dark-haired girl’s smoke vanished as she took another look at the corner of the screen Emilia pointed at. “Huh? Isn’t he way more buff? I-I don’t think it’s the same boy.”
Emilia hummed, but didn’t refute her as she turned her head to the team that was filtering the content to be broadcast.
Although it was marketed as a ‘live broadcast’, there was still a thirty-second buffer to avoid any ‘mishaps’ and give the team a chance to react.
Moreover, with so many cameras covering the event, this delay also gave them just enough leeway to select the best shots and moments that should be shown, making the whole experience much better than it would be otherwise.
As she expected, the footage of the conflict wasn’t included, and she didn’t plan to make anyone change that. “Please remember not to show any shots with this dark-haired man, okay?”
”Y-Yes, boss!”
Of course, Emilia had no idea what most of the staff was actually thinking. ‘So the princess thinks this type of man is ugly, huh!’
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