"Is that sneaky bastard the one who did that to you?" said Melissa in a coaxing manner as if afraid that her loud tone might frighten the brown haired girl.
Zavier figured out the whole situation with just that sentence. This was the revenge of the brown haired girl on him. She had either made him out to be a bastard, one who was even worse than he had acted to be previously or she had concocted some other story with him as the main villain and herself as the damsel in distress. Otherwise, such a huge turnover of her supporters was impossible. She wasn't royalty or some politician after all.
The brown haired girl acted as if she had been wronged by the whole world and had no one to turn to despite having called upon the gang of unruly women hell bent on drawing blood of some pitiful bastard that she would direct them towards.
"…"
"What's wrong? Don't be afraid. We are all here. Let's see who has such guts." coaxed Melissa like a real kind elder sister.
"…" the brown haired girl tried to speak but no sound came out of her mouth as if something had gotten stuck in her throat.
The more she remained silent, the angrier the girls became.
In the end, the girl barely managed to look towards Zavier like she was looking at some predator and let out a barely audible "Hmm" that acted as a signal for the maddened bitches to turn on him.
Zavier had to acquiesce that this girl was truly an amazing actress; changing public opinion without a word was something that he had witnessed for the first time in both his lives.
Zavier didn't let out a single sound throughout the drama. He stared straight at them as if he was a bystander who was slightly amused by their antics.
"Want to mess with me? Let's see who ends up under whose thumb." challenged Zavier in his heart. He was determined to teach these girls a lesson without standing out too much.
Melissa walked towards Zavier with heavy steps and the rest of the girls followed after her as if to exert pressure on the bastard in their eyes.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Were you the one who threatened our Lulu?" Melissa seemed more like how Valerie used to be when she used to be his teacher in school; strict and authoritarian.
Zavier was intrigued by her questioning tone. She had been acting as if she hadn't already made up her mind regarding him.
"It is funny hearing you say that." Zavier said with a provocative smile adorning the corner of his lips.
"Why? Why is it funny?" said Melissa calmly with a stony face.
"I don't even know who or what that Lulu is. Is it your pet? It feels like it should be, from the sound of it." Zavier replied unfazed by her stony expression.
Melissa breathed heavily as she tried to rein in her anger despite the raging storm in her heart.
"I am talking about this girl. You dare to tell me that you haven't seen her before." Melissa pointed towards the brown haired girl as she spoke while grinding her teeth this time, her intentions obvious to all.
"I can't understand why you ask me that, when you have no intention of listening to my answer. Isn't that just a waste of time? You probably won't even let me say anything before you try to uphold justice for that damsel behind you who only appears pitiful but has the heart of a wolf. Why would I wash my neck just to let you chop it off as you wish? Do I look that easy to you?" Zavier continued to laugh as he replied to her question.
"I was only trying to be civil since even criminals deserve a chance to speak for themselves. But it looks like you are past that point already." Melissa couldn't keep her anger in check any longer.
She was about to lead the charge when she witnessed Zavier's expression twist for the first time since their confrontation.
"Who do you think you are?" Zavier spoke with enough iciness to freeze the surroundings altogether. Coupled with his expression, Melissa felt fear. She felt as if she was standing naked without any weapon in front of a terrifying monster that had broken past his chains.
The girls beside Melissa didn't feel a single thing because Zavier had focused all his bloodlust on Melissa due to her unjust actions just then.
"What?" Melissa finally managed to squeeze out a word with a barely audible voice.
"Are you some kind of heroine? Are you responsible for the law and order in these parts? Or do you want to justify your pitiful existence by acting as a savior who protects the weak?" Zavier sneered with disgust as his piercing gaze settled onto Melissa.
"If there are sick bastards like you who harass weak and innocent girls, then at least someone has to stand up in their place." Melissa found some courage again after reiterating her conviction.
"Then do you have proof of me harassing this innocent and weak girl that you speak of?"
"Of course, she told me all about it herself." Melissa retorted confidently.
"And did you bother to hear the story of this so-called bastard before trying to exact justice for your damsel?" Zavier had finally caught her in his trap.
"Why would I want to do that? Villains like you need to be dealt with to save other lives from being destroyed."
Zavier gave out a hearty laugh as if he had heard the greatest joke ever.
"Aren't you acting too hypocritically? You say that you are upholding justice but that justice itself is twisted. You had already decided that she was the victim before coming here because she was bawling her eyes out and looked all pitiful and weak while I became the villain just because she said so." Zavier brought them all to reality with his poisonous words.
"…" all the girls were speechless while Lulu was suffering on the inside. Her earlier actions were about to backfire.
"Don't you all just want to do whatever you feel like under the guise of upholding justice? I would have preferred it, if you all had been upfront about wanting to beat me up because you felt like it, instead of making it look like some cheap holy war for seeking justice for your angelic sister who has never committed a wrong in her life. Why do you need a reason to justify your actions by making me look like a villain when that pet of yours is clearly shedding crocodile tears over there while manipulating you all into fighting me with her pitiful appearance?"
Zavier finally stopped smiling and seriously confronted the girls who were itching to fight him.
"You can continue if you still haven't come to your senses. I don't mind beating the shit out of idiots who are willing to be hired muscle without even knowing the context of the situation." Melissa looked conflicted as she didn't know which person to believe as there really wasn't any other evidence beside the words of both parties.
"Sister, how can you listen to him? From his crude language, it is obvious that he is a villain." One of the overprotective sisters shielded Lulu from Zavier's sight as she hid Lulu behind her back and spoke to Melissa.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmMelissa raised her hand to stop the sister from talking. She too had started to feel that something was wrong with this situation.
As she began to calm down once again and looked at Zavier who was still composed as before but the joking manner had changed into a stern expression as if he was reprimanding their earlier actions with his expressions alone.
"Then let me hear your end of the story as well. We can continue from here if I find it unsatisfactory." Melissa gave her decision.
"Since you have come to your senses, I won't bother about you any longer. Let me show you the true demonic face of your little pet Lulu."
"Your little pet has you all under an illusion without you all even knowing about it. I guess none of you managed to use your brain to think that she had managed to come this far in the entrance examinations by herself. If she had needed your help for a small matter like this, wouldn't that have been a joke?"
Zavier finally revealed what he had long since found out. Even at the beginning when such a huge number of girls had rushed out to beat him up, Zavier had felt something wrong about the situation. No matter how he saw it, it hadn't been that long before the girls had met each other. How could they have developed such a strong bond with each other?
"Let me ask you in a way that even you brainless ones might come to understand the situation that you are in."
His words drew him the ire of the already irritated girls but no one tried to stop him since Melissa had given him the green signal to speak his mind.
"Who is the girl that you all are trying to get justice for? How long have you known her for?"
The girls didn't find anything wrong with those questions and tried to answer them with confidence.
"Of course she is my sister."
"…my best friend."
"…my mother."
"…my older sister."
"…my only family."
As the answers came one after the other, the girls started to discover something wrong about the whole situation.
The girls who had yet to answer the question faltered mid way as if remembering something from a long time ago.