Chapter 29: She’s So Arrogant

The stone-like Holt slowly raised the “Pass” sign, and Maeve also raised the “Pass” sign without hesitation.

No one denied the strength and talent that Dounia had displayed.

“Look, Instructor Latifah moved?”

Latifah, who usually couldn’t be bothered to respond and was only sitting here to go through the motions, also crookedly raised a “Pass” sign.

“Doesn’t she always treat these assessments like child’s play? Instructor Latifah is actually raising a sign?”

“As for the matter of taking on an apprentice…” Maeve exchanged a look with Holt, seemingly asking if he wanted to take Dounia as his apprentice.

Holt shook his head.

“Ahem, we will discuss this separately after the assessment this time. Student Dounia, please stay until the end,” Maeve said, clearing her throat. “Now, students who are willing to participate in the next round of assessment, please come forward…”

The crowd in front began to whisper.

“Eh? With such great talent, none of the three instructors want to take Dounia as their apprentice?”

“Yeah, I forgot until you mentioned it. They always pick someone directly, although Instructor Latifah has always looked down on everyone.”

Violet also seemed a little surprised.
She frowned slightly, lost in thought.

“It seems that neither of the two instructors intends to take Dounia under their wing,” Adelle said.

Violet immediately looked at her.
Adelle’s clear gray eyes contracted slightly with nervousness, and after holding her gaze for a few seconds, she subconsciously looked away.

Adelle had deliberately changed the subject to conceal her own complex emotions.

“It looks like they have some reservations,” Violet said, propping her chin on her hand with a thoughtful expression. “Although Dounia-chan driving Hutchinson to the point of transforming was a tiny bit excessive, it was a result she brought upon herself, wasn’t it?”

“If she really didn’t want to be confrontational, she shouldn’t have been so rude in the first place.” Violet looked a little angry.

Dounia blinked.

It seemed Violet was still quite biased toward her.

“Or is it… that something I don’t know about happened after Dounia called you to the front?” Violet narrowed her eyes slightly, looking at Adelle. “Did something like that happen?”

Adelle’s gray eyes trembled slightly, as if she had been struck in the heart by a scalpel.

“Second Miss… I…” Adelle lowered her head slightly, her tone full of self-blame and guilt.

She wanted to argue that she really hadn’t wanted to do such a thing, but…

Precisely because she was someone who valued rules and would not easily overstep them, even a small thing like lying to Violet became extremely difficult to say.

“Still being so secretive.” Violet raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Didn’t Dounia’s method use a Surveillance Officer’s ‘Command Seal Prohibition’ to forcibly restrain her spirit?”

Adelle blinked in surprise, the weight on her heart seeming to rapidly dissipate.

‘Could it be that Miss Violet really didn’t notice?’

“‘Command Seal Prohibition’?” Dounia asked, puzzled.

“Every Surveillance Officer possesses a ‘Command Seal’ to control an Executioner. It is both a restraint and a bond,” Adelle quickly interjected, afraid that Violet would notice something.

“My study of ‘Psychology’ is not very good, only reaching the average level for a Surveillance Officer. Therefore, I only have a ‘Mimic Command Seal’.” Adelle held up her right hand.
Golden patterns appeared on the back of her hand, outlining what looked like a natural crown of thorns.

‘Well, I’ll be!’

‘So that’s what you were guarding against!’

Dounia blinked.

‘It was a good thing I didn’t run before. Otherwise, even if I had run, she would have caught me.’

“‘Mimic Command Seal’ does not have the effect of strengthening an Executioner, and the number of times it can be used is also limited. It only exists as a means of self-protection for the Surveillance Officer,” Adelle explained. “Its greatest effect is that it can share mental pressure to a certain extent, preventing an Executioner’s already poor mental state from suddenly deteriorating.”

‘Ah…!’

Dounia’s eyes lit up.

‘This Adelle is trying to mislead Violet into thinking the wrong thing. She’s learning to be bad.’

‘Is it because she doesn’t want Violet to know what just happened between us…? Hehe…’

An evil plan emerged from the bottom of Dounia’s heart.

‘Miss Maid, you wouldn’t want Miss Violet to know about what happened between us, would you?’

“Even so, I don’t consider this cheating,” Violet said seriously, as if she were still bothered by the instructors’ special treatment of Dounia. “They all said we could use any means.”

“Given Hutchinson’s personality and performance, she must have made preparations in advance. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have suddenly surpassed Dounia-chan.”

“Dounia’s counterattack was within the rules! Why refuse to take Dounia as an apprentice because of this!” Violet said indignantly.

“Miss Violet, forgive my impertinence, but you still need to be mindful of your influence…” Adelle advised.

Everyone knew that Violet was the apple of Fia’s eye, and the Chief of Section Six was a very important figure in the branch.

Therefore, Violet’s every word and action could also upset the seemingly balanced scales.

“I know,” Violet shot Adelle an annoyed glare. “I’m just standing up for Dounia-chan and venting a little. Is that not allowed?”

“Of course it is,” Adelle timely lowered her head, maintaining the humility of an attendant.

“It’s okay… Violet,” Dounia said weakly. “I didn’t really care about being taken on as an apprentice anyway. I just want to become a Surveillance Officer like Miss Adelle.”

“Silly Dounia!” Violet wrinkled her nose and pinched Dounia’s cheek hard.

“Mmph!?”

Her anger seemed to have dissipated a little, but she was still somewhat unwilling.

“You don’t even know how much you’ve missed…” Violet hugged Dounia tightly. “If you could have been taken on as an apprentice, even my sister would have had to look at you in a new light, and she couldn’t have easily kicked you out of the Anomaly Bureau…”

This young lady had clearly thought much further ahead.

“Such a good opportunity…” she complained in a low voice, burying her head in Dounia’s chest.

Dounia sniffed Violet’s citrusy body fragrance, experiencing the soft, warm touch.

Feeling Violet’s unhesitating favoritism, Dounia couldn’t help but raise the corners of her mouth slightly.

‘Miss Violet is so nice…’

One by one, the students in the back row walked to the front.
Unsurprisingly, almost no one could last the entire time.
Most became dizzy and vomited within a few minutes, and were then carried away.

The entire classroom suddenly became empty, and the other few winners were also chosen as apprentices and left the room.

Only Dounia’s group of three remained in the lecture hall, and the air seemed to have grown cold.

“Ahem.” Maeve cleared her throat, a hint of apology on her face. “Sorry, Student Dounia. Instructor Holt and I have discussed…”

“We both believe you have a strong talent for psychology, but given some other reasons, we have to reconsider.”

Violet snorted and turned her head away in displeasure.

Dounia nodded slightly and said nonchalantly, “It’s okay.”

As long as she could pass the psychological assessment and have the qualification to become a Surveillance Officer, that was enough.

As for whether she could become an apprentice to the three psychology instructors, that was not a key part of her plan.

“Those useless wastes are finally gone,” Latifah spoke for the first time. “Let me state my opinion.”

Her voice sounded very young, even younger than Maeve’s, more like a young girl’s.

Latifah stood up, adjusted her witch’s hat, revealing strands of fiery red hair.

Her torch-like yellow eyes seemed to be sulfur from purgatory, fully displaying her arrogance.

She pointed a finger at Dounia.

“From now on, she is my student.”

Latifah swept her arrogant and untamed gaze over the other two instructors, as if she were looking at two ants. “If you have any objections, you can raise them now.”

“Don’t save your opinions for some annual psychology council meeting. I can settle this with a duel right now!”

“Any time, any place, any method. You choose the manner of the duel, and I will oblige!”

Dounia’s eyes widened slightly.

‘Why is she so arrogant!?’