Although Alexander Gray’s life hadn’t always been bright and glorious, especially when his mother had yet to become the official wife of Mr. Gray, it could still be regarded as more or less smooth sailing.
Even at the worst points of his life, the most anyone had ever dared to do was to point fingers at his back when they thought he wasn’t looking. Of course, they ended up regretting that later as well.
And once his identity became public, Alexander was able to openly enjoy abundant wealth and beauty day in, day out. Until he had to participate in this boring ‘test’, that is.
Since his father repeatedly assured him that it was impossible for him to lose to the twins with his ‘talent’, Alexander never expected to suffer too many setbacks on his road to success.
And when he first arrived at Oriana, it really had been so. Even with his capital significantly reduced, Alexander was able to quickly start making progress on his ‘mission’, and even enjoy a few fresh local ‘flowers’ whenever he was in the mood.
The dark-haired man realized that while his life now wasn’t comparable to what he was used to as the Gray Wolfe’s heir, it still wasn’t too bad, especially considering he was able to get to this point with his own effort.
But this year, it was as if being the Gray Wolfe’s heir wasn’t a blessing, but a curse.
When people just thought of him as Alexander Steele, the self-made entrepreneur, no one dared to point fingers at him or get in his way at all.
Even if he ruined a few small actresses regularly, aside from a few clowns he was easily able to suppress, few dared to jump up and down.
In just a short period of time, however, he had suffered not only under the hands of the Black Tiger, but also that bitch from White Deer!
The Black Tiger’s move was still somewhat understandable, since they wanted to provoke his father for whatever stupid reason, but what about that gray-haired bitch? He couldn’t swallow that insult at all.
This was why when Emilia approached him later and started to fall for him, it not only soothed his bruised ego, but also gave him the idea of punishing the gray-haired bitch through her own master’s hands.
With her infatuated behavior before, Alexander thought that his revenge was only a matter of time, and he could enjoy the feeling of crushing another exotic flower as well, however…
”What does she even mean by all of this?!”
If she had just left the country for a while, Alexander naturally wouldn’t be too alarmed. After all, which rich miss didn’t go on a vacation every once in a while?
But whenever he thought about the talent she had shown and the way she spoke so confidently in front of the camera… Alexander couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
”Is that how she really is? Was she pretending in front of me before?”
The thought of why she would need to do that, and what she hoped to achieve kept circling endlessly in his mind.
Moreover, the thing he didn’t understand the most was… why was it the Blue Dawn Republic?
That was the place that his father’s company was using to get revenge on the Black Tiger for assaulting him!
Alexander couldn’t figure it out no matter how hard he wracked his brain, so in the end, he decided to do something he never thought he would have to resort to.
Research it on the internet.
Shortly after posting a few questions on a popular forum, Alexander’s tense brows eased as he read the first few replies.
”A girl who is always cute and innocent in front of you is confident and strong in front of others… isn’t it obvious? Girls like to show weakness in front of those they like! Who wouldn’t enjoy being pampered by their lover?”
”I have something to add to the above reply! Actually, most girls are misled to think that men don’t like strong women, so they fear that their crush won’t be able to accept them being too strong, so they hide it until they trust their boyfriends enough to show it to them. I suggest you just talk to her and figure it out.”
Although there were many more replies later, they were just other people seeking advice for their own love troubles from these ‘experts’.
Of course, Alexander had already closed the browser with a contemplative look on his face.
Recalling Emilia’s behavior around him, the dark-haired man realized that it fit almost perfectly with the example that the ‘experts’ had given him online.
In front of the boy she liked, of course she would first pretend to be weak, cute, and pitiful to attract his attention!
Alexander couldn’t help but shake his head ruefully. “For her to show me her other side now… that stupid little girl must think that I’ve already accepted her, huh?”
Moreover, after he stopped suspecting her, Alexander realized that her other moves were all for him as well.
With the Gray Wolfe’s attacks on the Black Tiger, the Republic of Blue Dawn had really suffered a bit too much, and even the reputation of the two corporations took a major hit all over the world.
Of course, it didn’t really matter to Alexander or his father what people thought of them, but for a girl in love, how could she hear people badmouth her father-in-law and husband like that?
Naturally, the main reason she went to the Republic of Blue Dawn must be to somehow reduce the impact that the incident had on the Gray Wolfe’s name.
Plus, after showing her ‘real self’, the crimson-haired beauty must have been both embarrassed and terrified of his reaction.
The more he thought about it, the more it made sense.
Alexander couldn’t help but smirk with self-satisfaction. “What a thoughtful little girl. What a pity…”
Even if the thought of reconsidering her for the position of his ‘wife’ entered his mind momentarily, Alexander didn’t allow it to overwhelm his reason.
He sighed. “Emilia may be diligent and beautiful, but unfortunately… she’s too stupid.”
If such an impulsive and passionate girl became his wife, she would definitely attract endless trouble for him later in his life, just like she was doing right now for her parents.
Of course, since it was all for him, Alexander didn’t mind indulging her a little longer than he had initially intended.
The dark-haired man grinned. “In fact, since she’s working so hard for my sake… I wonder what kind of expression she’ll make when I decide to give her a surprise later?”
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Naturally, those who could rationalize Emilia’s decisions in such a self-righteous way were rarer than desert monkeys in the open seas.
With the high IQ of the students in the Imperial Academy, they could obviously tell that Emilia’s speech, when combined with her visit to the Blue Dawn, must mean that she wanted to meddle in their ongoing conflict.
It was a crazy, absurdly nonsensical concept for them, but considering it was Emilia… it made sense.
Under such circumstances, her not attending school was actually not a big deal at all.
Of course, her ever-growing fan club seemed to be overwhelmed with a collective wave of depression and only hoped for her to return quickly, but most others couldn’t help but look forward to what she planned to do.
”With her brash and open personality, she wouldn’t just storm up to the president and punch him in the face, would she?”
”What nonsense! Is a president something you can just punch casually?”
”You and I can’t, but that doesn’t mean she can’t either. Otherwise… you wanna bet?”
”… Stupid.”
Although it sounds like a joke, no one dared to bet against it when they thought about it.
With her identity… maybe she really would be able to get out of it alive, as long as her family was willing to pay enough.
Naturally, they only dared to think so because they were talking about the leader of an ‘insignificant’ place like the Republic of Blue Dawn.
Of course, a large part of it was also due to the sheer awe that they felt whenever they recalled her dazzling performance in the solo vaulting show after the polo match.
Being able to dodge arrows and perform gymnastic maneuvers while riding on a horse required not just flexibility and talent, but also an audacious fearlessness that very few had.
If her performance in the first day’s show had won the hearts of many, and her polo match had convinced them of her teamwork ability, then the vaulting show at the end had thoroughly convinced them of her both her talent and daring.
But still, there was a difference between bullets and arrows, and the students of the Imperial Academy naturally wouldn’t believe that Emilia could be invincible with her talent. That kind of delusional thinking was reserved for her hard-core fan girls.
While many couldn’t help but admire her for her courage, most didn’t believe that she could make any significant change in her ‘pursuit of justice’ this time.
The Blue Dawn Republic was not their school, where Emilia could impose her will arbitrarily on the basis of beauty and wealth.
Poor as it was, it was still a country that could tear her to pieces without much effort at all.
Whether they gloat over it or lament, most of the students agreed that Emilia was bound to return disappointed, if not broken.
After all, at the end of the day, Emilia was still a human, just like them.
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