Caius remembered the classrooms at Hydis Magic Academy, where the desks and chairs were curved long tables and benches, each row seating up to five people.

  It was the same at Ocean City Academy.

  The classroom was spacious, and even with forty or fifty students, it still wasn't full. Naturally, students sat with their friends.

  Most formed small groups of twos and threes, while some squeezed six people into a row.

  Only Belle sat alone in an entire row.

  It was obvious—she was being ostracized.

  It wasn’t hard to figure out why. No one wanted to sit with the plain and unremarkable "mushroom girl."

  Of course, her appearance wasn’t the main issue. The real reason was that someone had taken the lead in isolating her, and eventually, the entire class followed suit.

  And the instigator was sitting right behind her.

  Ocean City Academy operated under a gender-segregated system—male students had one campus, and female students had another. In theory, this should have made management easier and student relationships more harmonious.

  However, sometimes, these things had nothing to do with gender.

  Right behind Belle sat Manasa and her clique, a group of five girls.

  There was one girl Caius didn’t recognize, but she was clearly part of the group.

  To be honest, Manasa was even more beautiful than in the portraits, and perhaps due to makeup, she exuded a charm uncommon in ordinary girls.

  However, at this moment, she wore an expression of disdain and ridicule as she looked at Belle sitting in front of her.

  The instructor on the podium turned around and began writing something on the blackboard.

  Manasa seized the opportunity to whisper something to her companions. The girls giggled together, as if they were anticipating a show.

  Then, Manasa extended her finger, a faint green light appearing at her fingertip. With a slight flick, a gust of wind lifted Belle’s books off her desk and scattered them onto the floor.

  Hearing the noise, the instructor turned back. A book had even slid to his feet.

  “Student, even if you don’t like my class, there’s no need to throw your books in protest, is there?” The instructor picked up the book and smiled at Belle.

  He meant no harm—it was just a joke.

  But this seemingly harmless remark inadvertently pushed Belle further into the fire pit.

  The class had initially fallen into silence upon witnessing the scene. However, when Manasa started laughing, the entire class followed suit. Whether they truly found it funny, only they knew.

  “All right, all right,” the instructor quickly motioned for them to quiet down, then said to Belle, “Come and take back your book.”

  “Sorry…” Belle clutched her small hands, stood up, and spoke in a barely audible voice.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  She retrieved her book and returned to her seat without a word.

  But Caius noticed that this time, she kept one hand firmly pressed on her books. She was gripping them so tightly that her fingertips had turned pale.

  For the entire lesson, Belle remained in that posture, her hand never leaving her books.

  Manasa tried two more times but failed to blow Belle’s books away with her wind magic. Pouting, she switched to another tactic.

  When the instructor turned to write on the board, she propped her leg up on the desk and began rubbing her shoe against Belle’s back. Before long, Belle’s originally beige sweater had turned gray.

  Belle shifted in her chair, trying to evade her, but Manasa simply lifted her chin. The other girls followed suit, crossing their legs onto the desk, their dirty soles pointed directly at Belle.

  Belle had nowhere to hide. She leaned forward as much as possible, but the space was limited—there was no way to escape completely.

  Caius’s eyelids twitched as he clenched his back teeth.

  “Slap her, girl. Just turn around and slap her,” he muttered through gritted teeth. But Belle remained silent, enduring it all.

  Caius couldn’t understand how she could put up with this. If it were him, he would’ve flipped the desk already. If he didn’t rub their faces against the floor all around the classroom, it would be because he had become a monk.

  Just watching was agonizing enough. Yet Belle endured an entire class in silence.

  By the time the lesson ended, her back was covered in dust.

  The second period was an outdoor class. The students left the classroom in cheerful groups, but Belle remained seated, only standing up and slowly packing her things after everyone else had gone.

  Once she had finished, she got up and walked outside. But as she reached the door, she turned to look at the tree outside the window.

  Caius was gone.

  He had already leaped onto the roof, then onto another tree, watching as she turned her head.

  Not seeing Caius, Belle didn’t linger and walked outside.

  However, as soon as she stepped into the hallway, Manasa and her group emerged from around the corner.

  The corridor was wide, yet the five girls deliberately walked side by side, arms linked, forcing Belle to walk against the wall, smearing her arm with dust.

  To make matters worse, as they passed Belle, Manasa lifted her chin slightly. The girl closest to Belle immediately understood. As she walked by, she "accidentally" bumped her hip into Belle.

  Belle, already walking close to the wall, was shoved into it, hitting her forehead on the side.

  “Oh dear, how careless of me!” The girl exclaimed dramatically, without the slightest hint of apology.

  Belle remained silent, merely steadying herself, while the girls laughed and skipped away, as if their sole purpose in waiting had been to give Belle that shove.

  Caius’s fists clenched.

  When he was furious, he would smile. At this moment, a smirk formed at the corner of his lips.

  "All right, you want to play? Let's play."

  With that thought, he flashed into the greenery, concealing himself along the path leading to the training grounds.

  Because they had delayed themselves bullying Belle, the girls lagged behind the rest of the class.

  This gave Caius the perfect opportunity.

  Once in position, he waited as the girls exited the building, chatting obliviously.

  He overheard their conversation.

  "That thud just now must've hurt. I bet she'll have a bump on her forehead, haha!"

  "Hmph!" Manasa sneered. "She dared to take my spot? A little bump is nothing. I'll make sure to ruin her face!"

  "Uh… isn't that a bit much?"

  "What, do you want to side with her?"

  "N-No, I just meant… it’s not enough."

  "Hmm… you’re right. It's not enough. So I was thinking, we’ll strip her and toss her into some filthy slum. When a bunch of disgusting men see her… heh! I guarantee she’ll be ruined for life!"

  Manasa grinned maliciously, and the other girls gulped, hesitating.

  But when Manasa glanced at them, they immediately forced smiles and echoed her sentiments.

  "Yeah, exactly! She deserves it!"

  Hidden in the greenery, Caius’s eyes turned ice-cold.

  At that moment, Belle stepped out of the building.

  The girls deliberately slowed down, clearly planning to continue tormenting her.

  Seeing this, Belle stopped walking.

  Manasa frowned. She had no intention of being late for class because of Belle. There would be plenty of opportunities later. She scoffed and led her group forward.

  Caius smirked.

  Perfect timing.

  Making sure there were no witnesses, he slipped through the foliage and moved beside the last girl in the group.

  One by one, he took them down, dragging them into the greenery before they even noticed they were alone.

  When Manasa finally turned around, she was the only one left.

  And behind her stood Caius.

  Belle watched in stunned silence.

  Caius grinned. "Go to class, or you'll be late."

  "Oh… okay…" Belle nodded absentmindedly and continued forward.

  Caius chuckled, shaking his head.

  "Silly mushroom girl."