Chapter 21: The Vandal is Your Friend?

“Yes, the sales are good.” Tori had her comcry open and placed on the ground, near her left hand. “I’m having weekly reports done to track the sales in each store. I plan to review the data when I come home for winter break.”

She bent her elbows and lowered herself until her chin was about a palm’s length above the floor, then pushed herself up until her arms were straight and her body was level with the bed. Her legs were positioned on the edge of the bed as she worked out, alone in her dorm, after her nightly review.

Since Ilyana came in second in the midterm rankings and then first in the second review exams that followed, she’d been approached by numerous students for guidance. Many believed that she must’ve been a fantastic tutor since her roommate, the notoriously low ranked Tori, had jumped significantly in the rankings.

Tori was in the third spot on the second review exam, missing overtaking Dimitri by a paltry two points. At the very least, Ilyana was confident enough with Tori’s stable ranking to let her do whatever she wanted. Ilyana now ran reviews for whoever wanted them in one of the study rooms on the ground floor of their dorm.

People felt comfortable asking her; Ilyana was friendly, as well as smart. As a result, her reviews were popular and she’d had to switch to a larger study room twice. With their finals approaching in two weeks, she had to make a point to keep one seat open, as Henrik attended to raise his rank after dropping during midterms. If he was too slow, all the seats would be taken.

Ilyana’s review sessions now meant that even after Tori returned from the sword practice grounds, she’d have the dorm to herself for some time. It made it convenient to call her family without bothering her studious roommate.

“Have you started selling at Daybreak Garden yet?” Kasen’s voice asked from the comcry.

“Yes, but it’s more rugged material for frequent use in harsher terrain and climate,” Tori replied. She did another push-up and snorted. “We got a lot of help from Armando for them, but he thought that the vests were ugly at first.”

“Armando has bad taste.”

“He does not.” Tori rolled her eyes.

“You know he and Sebastian went out a few times, right?”

Tori stopped in mid-pushup. “No...no one told me that.”

“It was two dates.”

“Did they have clashing personalities?” Tori lifted her feet off the bed and pushed herself into a standing position. She picked up her comcry and put it on the bed before rolling her shoulders.

“I don’t know, but he still made Sebastian the godfather of his son.” Kasen paused. “His wife has bad taste, too.”

Tori chuckled. “How does his wife have bad taste? Because she married Armando?”

“Because she also dated Sebastian.”

Tori stopped stretching and looked at the comcry. Her eyes crinkled up. “How many people has he dated?”

“I’m not judging, but Sebastian -”

“Kasen! What are you telling my precious baby sister!” Tori heard a loud thud and then her eldest brother’s voice.

“Get out of my office!” She heard Kasen yell back.

“I can’t get through to her comcry! Hurry up so I can talk to her!”

“We agreed on fifteen minutes maximum per family member and I have two minutes left.” Kasen sounded cold and unyielding on this. “You’re wasting my time!” A moment later, the door slammed once more. Kasen’s voice softened. “Did you have any more trouble with that cow person?”

She pretended she didn’t hear her brothers yelling at each other. “No, but I still don’t feel completely at ease.” How could she be, considering the forced conflict constantly awaiting her? “I’m worried he’s going to retaliate.”

“Hire guards for the stores.”

“I did. I’ve had guards there since we rented and renovated the storefronts. I’m just...I don’t know...paranoid.” She sighed and sat down on her bed. “Do you think I’m overthinking things?”

“No, if something inside you is telling you to be careful, listen to it,” Kasen told her. “Where did you get the guards?”

“Daybreak Garden helped me hire them. They’re mercenaries and I have two at each shop. They take shifts at night. I also did what Auntie Lucia recommended and had them introduced to the patrol and constable.”

“Good. Daybreak Garden’s recommended personnel are very capable and reputable,” Kasen said. “They’ll know what to do.”

“Do you think that the Golden Cow will retaliate? It’s been a few weeks since the grand opening and last week, we opened Lions Gate East in the eighth district. Nothing happened, but I keep expecting him to do something...something underhanded. I want to be prepared.”

Adrien was a particular concern. Unlike the love interests who were classmates she unfortunately saw every day, she didn’t know Adrien’s whereabouts and current focus. She had no idea where he was or had a clue at what he could be planning. Not knowing was unnerving.

“Shall I look into it?” Kasen asked.

“No.” Tori sighed. “I don’t want you to have to come all the way here for that.”

She heard him chuckle. “I don’t need to. What’s the man’s name? Rosie?”

“Adrien Rosiek, his store is the Golden Cow Mercantile in the fourth district and his company is the Golden Cow. He mainly deals with reselling, but has his own production contracts. In particular, he has contracted artisans in Chetterswickshire to make the copied vests and sleeping bags,” Tori said.

“Hmm...my little sister did some research.”

“Research is important.” She didn’t need to tell the scholar that, but she said it anyway. “Are you sure investigating him won’t be too much work for you?”

“I’m positive, Tori. Don’t worry. I can handle something this simple.”

“All right, but if it gets in the way of your work, don’t trouble yourself.”

“I should be telling you that.” Kasen sounded a bit amused. “Opening a store while designing all its merchandise just before your midterm exams was reckless.”

“I ended up fine and had a lot of help. I wouldn’t push myself so far if I’d suffer,” Tori told him. She stood up and paused as the flashing of the comcry caught her eye. Her brows knit together. The comcry only flashed when she was receiving a call. During the call itself, the quartz remained faintly illuminated. “Kasey, someone’s calling me.”

“It’s probably just Sebastian.”

She leaned over and picked up the palm sized compact. “No, it’s not. I should answer.”

“All right. Study hard and if you need anything, tell me,” Kasen told her. His voice sounded a bit sad. “I don’t want to have to keep finding out from Axton or Benedict.”

“I will...who’s Benedict?”

“Ignatius.”

“My instructor? Wait...we’ll discuss it next time. I have to go.” Tori shook her head. “Goodnight, Kasey.”

“Dream of glory, my sister.”

She slid her thumb across the crystal and the faint illumination dimmed. Only the pulsing crystal around the rim continued to glow. The name on the crystal made her uneasy, but she didn’t want to tell her brother.

‘Lions Gate East’ was calling and at this time of night, the only ones who would call would be the guards.

She slid her thumb back across the letters that appeared and held her breath. “Hello?”

“Lady Guevera! This is Harold from Lions Gate East,” a man replied at once, sounding rushed.

“Good evening, Harold. Is everything all right?” She squeezed the comcry, trying to quell her unsettled feeling.

“Yes, my lady. Everything is under control. I am calling to report that we caught a vandal.”

Her brows shot up. “A what?” She was almost certain she heard incorrectly.

“A vandal! Several minutes ago, just past the hour, someone came in through the back door. The back door is only for us and deliveries, which had already arrived for the day,” Harold told her. “As instructed, we waited to see what they would do and once they began to cut apart the interior displays, Sasha and I came out to stop him at once. We have already contacted the patrol. They have arrived and...one moment, my lady.”

There was some shuffling and Tori brought the comcry closer to her ear.

“Lady Guevera, this is Lt. Rosas of the eighth district’s patrol unit, would you be able to come to the patrol office?”

Tori’s heart pounded in her chest and for a moment, she wasn’t sure what to answer. The eighth district was halfway across town; almost as far as Daybreak Garden but in the opposite direction. It was also getting late. If she left now, depending on how long it took, she might not make it back before curfew and the gates were closed.

“Lt. Rosas, I’m a student at Lycée. It’s difficult for me to leave this late. Is it necessary for me to come to the patrol office?” Tori paced the space between her bed and Ilyana’s as she knit her brows. If she had to go, then she had to go, but she needed to figure out what she’d do if she couldn’t return on time.

“As the owner of the store, we need some of your information to file the report and ask you some questions,” Lt. Rosas told her. “It shouldn’t take long, Lady Guevera. We can escort you back once the process is completed.”

She didn’t seem to have a choice and Tori nodded to herself. “All right, I’ll be there as soon as possible. Are my guards all right?” she asked.

“Yes, Lady Guevera, your guards are fine. They did an excellent job apprehending the vandal.”

“Then I’ll see you soon, Lt. Rosas.” Tori slid her hand across the crystal and let out a low breath. She pursed her lips and turned around to get to her coat. As she removed it from the hook, Tori brought the comcry back up. “Call Lucia di Biancci.”

She shoved her arms through her coat sleeves when her aunt answered.

“Good evening, Tori.”

“Hi, Auntie, I’m going to a patrol office; can you come with me?” Tori rushed out the question and tried not to cringe. What adult wanted to hear that their child, or in this case, niece, was going to what was essentially a police station at night?

There was a pause on the other end before Auntie Lucia cried out. “You’re what?”

The conversation between them was short, but held a lot of information. Tori asked her auntie to meet her at the eighth district’s patrol office and refused to wait to be picked up. It would take too long since her auntie would need to go in the opposite direction to pick her up. Tori assured her that she’d get a shared carriage to take her from the main plaza down the street and go directly to the patrol office.

First, Tori had to tell Ilyana just in case she didn’t come back for the night. She didn’t want to worry her roommate. As soon as the conversation with her auntie was finished, she ran down the stairs and went to the largest study room of their dorm. As she finished buttoning her coat, the door to the study room opened a few paces away.

A small wave of students streamed out of the room, talking amongst themselves about notes and what to expect from the exams. Tori stood to the side, waiting for them to clear the door before she slipped inside and looked towards the back of the study room. Ilyana and Henrik were erasing the board that was littered with various points from whatever subject they reviewed last.

“Good, you both are here,” Tori said as she walked between the large tables surrounded by chairs.

Ilyana looked over her shoulder and smiled. “You missed it! We had a good review about the influence of the local nobles on empire-wide policy.” She lowered her arm and the large chalkboard eraser as she saw Tori’s solemn look. She squinted as her smile fell. “Is everything all right?”

Tori shook her head. Henrik also stopped to look at her. “What’s wrong?”

Tori exhaled and tried to be clear. “Harold called from Lion’s Gate East. Someone broke into the store. Harold and Sasha should be fine,” she said, emphasizing the last sentence. “However, some of the merchandise was vandalized.”

Ilyana gasped and Henrik looked stunned. “Someone broke in and vandalized the store?”

“Mr. Harold and Sasha let them do that?” Ilyana furrowed her brows.

Henrik shook his head. “If they caught him when he was breaking in, it’s just trespassing. The offense isn’t as serious as vandalism. We also don’t know if he had a weapon on him, so they could have been trying to be cautious.”

“The vandal slashed up some jackets, so he had a sharp object on him.” Tori looked towards the door. “They reported it to the patrol office and the patrol office asked me to come and do some paperwork since the store is under my name.”

Henrik put down the eraser and clapped his hands to get the dust off. “Do you want me to come?”

Tori shook her head. “No, it’s late. I don’t know how long it’ll take and I don’t think I’ll get back by curfew. I already called Auntie Lucia. She’s meeting me there. If it’s too late for me to come back, I’ll stay at Auntie’s and be dropped off in the morning. Lycée is on the way to Université so I can get a ride with Uncle.”

Henrik and Ilyana both looked worried, but knowing that she’d be with her aunt was comforting.

“Ilyana, you finish up here. I’ll walk Tori to the main plaza and help her get a shared carriage,” Henrik told the other girl. Ilyana nodded and hugged Tori.

“Call me when you get to the station so I know you got there safely,” she said.

Tori nodded and hugged her back. “I will. If anything, I’ll see you tomorrow.” She gave Ilyana a reassuring smile and headed out with Henrik.

He slung his bag over his shoulder and the two quickened their pace to leave the school.

“Do we know anything about the vandal?” he asked as they walked across the central courtyard. Tori shook her head.

“I didn’t find out much. One of the patrol officers wanted to speak to me before Harold could give me all the details.”

Henrik nodded and frowned. “Do you think they’re related to the Golden Cow?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t think we have that many enemies to suspect another group,” Tori replied. “If they are related to the Golden Cow, we’ll push for maximum charges and punishment. I’ll find out when I get there. For all we know, it was a random attack.”

“We need to assess the damages, too.”

“We can check after class tomorrow. Let’s not deal with that tonight. There’s too much going on.” Tori ran a hand down her face. “Why do these things always happen when exams are so close?”

“Think of it as making your life exciting,” Henrik said with a small grin. Tori rolled her eyes.

“This from someone who locked himself in his dorm to cram for midterms.”

“You gave me all the papers to file for the store!” Henrik nearly choked out as he looked at her. “I didn’t have time to study when I was at the guild every day after class!”

She cringed. “I know...sorry about that. But opening Lions Gate was important.”

“You don’t have to remind me. I wouldn’t work so hard if I wasn’t so invested in it.”

“You did learn a lot, though.” Tori glanced over at him. She smiled a bit. “Thanks, Henrik. I really couldn’t have done it without you.”

He gave her a small nod. “I know.”

“You’re a great business partner.”

“Uh-huh. So, you should work hard and get those designs for spring and summer ready to repay me.”

She lifted her hand and gave him a little salute. “Understood, boss. I’ll do my best.”

The corner of his thin lips curled up a bit. “So, I’m the boss now?”

“Co-boss.” Tori chuckled. “You did most of the paperwork in registering and setting up the company. Then you looked up the storefronts to rent, you had your dad help negotiate the rates for us, and you got all the information I asked for when we were dealing with the Golden Cow. I’m likely the face of Lions Gate, but you’re the shadow boss behind me.”

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Henrik snorted to keep from laughing as he looked over at her and shook his head. “This from the girl who planned an entire production and roll out process, from the materials to the budget to the opening schedule.”

“Yeah, except I didn’t hire trumpeters,” Tori said with some lingering bitterness.

“It was just for the grand opening of Lions Gate High Street and everyone liked them,” Henrik replied. He raised a brow. “Are you still upset about that?”

“It was mortifying.”

“It was great.”

Tori sighed heavily once more. “You’re lucky you’re a good partner, Skuldsen.”

They reached the main plaza and Henrik waved down a shared carriage for her and arranged the fare. He opened the door and Tori climbed in.

“If there’s a problem, call me,” he said seriously as he prepared to close the door. “I don’t care how late, all right?”

Tori nodded. “If I am able to handle it, I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow. Thanks, Henrik.”

He began to close the door and paused. “Don’t be too soft-hearted.” He shut the door and Tori scoffed.

“I’m not soft-hearted!”

The carriage jerked forward and Tori settled in. Her leg bounced with anxious energy as she peered out the window, to the dimly lit streets. She took out her comcry from her pocket and held it in her hands, over her lap, just in case her auntie called.

Right as the carriage came to a stop in front of the patrol office, the comcry began to pulse and her auntie’s name appeared. She swept her finger across the crystal.

“Auntie, I just arrived,” she said as she opened the door and stepped out. She reached into her pocket to pay, only for the driver to shake his head.

“The boy paid.”

Tori thanked the driver and looked around. “I see you!” She heard her aunt’s voice both from the comcry and somewhere around her. She looked up and saw Auntie Lucia wrapped in her trench and rushing over. “Tori!”

“Auntie.” Tori put her comcry away as she was pulled into a pair of strong arms and squeezed. “I’m sorry to call you out so late.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” her aunt said as she released her. “I’m glad you called me.”

“Were you waiting long?”

“No,” Auntie Lucia said as she took Tori’s arm and gently pulled her along, into the patrol office. “But I was talking to Harold.”

“Harold’s here, too?”

“One of them had to come for statements.” They entered the building and from a wooden stool against the wall, a big, burly man with a scar going across his lower lip and chin, stood up.

“Lady Guevera.”

“Harold, are you and Sasha all right?” Tori asked, walking towards him. The man nodded.

“Yes, my lady. The boy was armed, but he was nothing between the two of us,” Harold told her.

Tori tilted her head to the side and frowned. “It was a boy?” She imagined it to be a young adult man that was either hired to vandalize Lions Gate East or was doing it for thrill.

“He’s a fourteen, soon to be fifteen-year-old boy,” a familiar voice said behind her. Tori turned around and squinted.

“Lt. Rosas?”

The brown-haired, middle-aged man with a full beard and in a gray and navy uniform nodded. “Lady Guevera, I’m sorry to have to have you come out so late.”

She shook her head. “It needs to be done. Can we get started?”

“Of course.” Lt. Rosas led the trio to a desk further into the building. Tori and her aunt sat on the two available chairs in front of the desk while Harold stood behind them. “The boy is a jeweler’s apprentice from one of the neighboring stores. We’ve asked if he knew who the store belonged to and why he’d target it. He only said that he doesn’t like the sight of your store.”

Tori tried to keep her professional expression. “That’s a rather flippant reason.”

“What information is there on this boy?” Auntie Lucia said in a cold, pragmatic voice. She leaned forward and narrowed her eyes. “I highly doubt that he’d target my niece and her friends’ store randomly.”

Lt. Rosas looked over the papers in front of him. “Thomas Fields, a native of the town of Chetterswickshire.”

Tori’s brows shot up. “Oh no....” She knew that name immediately.

“Could it be that his family was one of those who were making the copies of the vests and bags for the Golden Cow?” Auntie Lucia said as she scrutinized the report in her hands.

Tori closed her eyes. She really wished that were the case because the only other option was so pathetic that Tori wanted to slap the boy and ask him what he thought he was doing.

“Lt. Rosas, may I ask what the punishment is for vandalism?”

“For trespassing and vandalism, there is a fine and labor time at the Horizon scrapyard. We would need to know how much damage he caused at your store before I can approximate the fine and duration of labor. However, for an underaged boy, the labor is usually cut in half and isn’t as physically demanding or dangerous. He would also have to pay for the damages incurred,” Lt. Rosas told her. “However, in this case, the boy is not a resident of Horizon and with non-residents, they are sent back to their hometown and banned from entering the city gates for a minimum of two years. Patrols in his hometown will oversee his labor punishment there.”

Tori sucked in a sharp breath. “They’re going to ban him?” For a moment, she was excited. Wouldn’t this mean that she could get rid of one of the love interests for at least two years?

“That’s acceptable,” Auntie Lucia said. She looked at Tori. “When you have a chance, find out how much damage was.”

Tori nodded and tried to keep back her smile. “How soon does the ban begin?”

“After we file all the charges and arrange for payment for damages. You can also choose not to charge him for the damages and that portion will be bypassed.”

That was rather tempting. It was a small price to pay to say good-bye to a potential headache for two years. But she didn’t own the store alone.

“Let me check with my partners first,” Tori said. “And assess the damage. Will he be in holding for now?”

“Yes, until the charges are completed and payment is arranged or confirmed to be waived. Then he will be escorted outside of Horizon’s extended borders, that is past the agrarian areas outside the city. A prison cart will drop him off and hand him over to his hometown authorities,” Lt. Rosas said.

“Sir,” a voice said behind them. Tori looked over her shoulder and saw another patrol officer. “The doctor has finished seeing the boy.”

Tori’s eyes squinted and looked towards Lt. Rosas. “He was injured?”

“In the scuffle, my lady,” Harold said behind her. Tori turned back to him. “He was holding a knife to cut the merchandise. We pushed him onto the ground and took the knife. It seemed to hurt his hand.”

“It’s a bit more serious than we thought,” the second patrol officer said, looking somewhat regretful. “It seems like something was torn in his thumb...the boy might not be able to hold things again.”

Now she knew why Henrik called her soft-hearted.

When she finished the paperwork and made an appointment to return the next day with the costs of damages, she went back to her auntie’s house and had a difficult time trying to sleep. She had barely remembered to call llyana to confirm she was going to stay at Auntie Lucia’s.

Initially, she didn’t think she’d have a problem sleeping after a long night. She was going to make sure the vandal was punished to the full extent and even gleefully looked forward to not having to worry about Alessa’s childhood friend, Tom, for two years.

But she didn’t want this to ruin him forever. He was just fourteen and didn’t physically hurt anyone.

Tom really did come to Horizon to work and support his friend. He was several months into a successful apprenticeship with a reputable jeweler who arrived at the patrol office half an hour after them. The jeweler was so angry that he terminated the apprenticeship and told Tom to never come back. He’d send any of Tom’s things to the patrol office.

Tori didn’t see it happen, but sitting down the hall, she could hear everything. She heard the boy apologize, but said nothing to defend himself. The jeweler then came to apologize to her and Tori, distracted, told him it wasn’t his fault.

If it was just Tom being fired and banned from the city, she wouldn’t have felt bad at all. It was the irrational concern that he’d injured his thumb badly enough that he might not be able to hold tools in his dominant hand again that upset her. What jewelry could he make if he couldn’t pick up the tools? This would make finding skilled craftsmen and artisans work difficult.

What would he do in the future to make a decent livelihood? What would his brother, who he had left to farm in the south by himself, say? What would his poor family do?

One stupid decision could’ve wrecked Tom’s life and for what? To get back at her for not giving into Alessa? How many lives was this game trying to ruin?

Tori still couldn’t stop thinking about this as she was dropped off at the front gates of Lycée. She vaguely registered her uncle’s concerns for her not to worry too much about the vandal, and nodded as she climbed out of the carriage. She thanked him and headed back to her dorm.

She didn’t expect to see Ilyana huddled around with their friends in front of the east dorm, waiting in the cold. Her eyes crinkled up as her heart quickened. Seeing her friends eased her mind a bit. She knew what they were there for and broke into a jog to reach them.

Ewan was the first to see her. “Tori!” All at once, her friends turned to her.

“Tori, are you okay?” JP asked as she reached them. Small puffs of air came out with each word and Tori nodded.

Ilyana grabbed her hands and forced her to face her. She squinted her eyes and frowned. “You have bags under your eyes.”

“I didn’t get a lot of sleep; it took longer than I thought....”

“What happened?” Sonia asked. “I heard you were called to go to the patrol office last night because someone broke into the store.”

Tori shook her head. “Everything is fine. The vandal was caught. Henrik and I need to go to the east store after class to assess the damages. I’ve told Harold to tell Manager Sybil to close the store and leave everything as is for the day so we can see the damage.”

“What about the vandal?” JP asked. Everyone seemed eager to find out what happened to the person who had the gall to break into the store.

“He will be charged for trespassing and vandalism. If he was a city resident, he’d have to pay a fine, the cost of damages, and then do labor.”

“At the scrapyard,” Henrik said with a nod. “Likely a few weeks, if not months.”

“Yes, but he’s not a city resident. His papers still indicate him as living outside of Horizon.”

“What does that mean?” Ilyana asked, looking from Tori to the others.

“Criminals who aren’t registered as Horizon residents are banned from entering the city gates. The length of the ban depends on the severity of the crime,” Ewan said. Ilyana looked at him, surprised he knew. Ewan grinned. “My older sister is a patrol officer for the eleventh district.”

“Did they tell you how long he’d be banned?” Sonia asked.

“At least two years and he’d need to pay the fine and the cost of damages.” Tori let out a heavy breath and looked at Henrik reluctantly. “About the cost of damages....”

He frowned, as if knowing what she was going to ask. “No-”

“Lady Guevera!”

Tori closed her tired eyes and felt the weight on her body grow heavier at the sound of her name from that unfortunately familiar voice.

“Ugh...what does she want?” Sonia scowled beside Tori and crossed her arms over her chest. Ewan and JP moved to stand in front of Tori as Ilyana grabbed her arm and brought her closer. They all knew what happened the last time Alessa rushed to Tori.

“Lady Guevera! Lady Guevera! Please let him go!” Alessa nearly skidded to a stop in front of the group. She was red-faced and out of breath, with glistening amber eyes that either were ready to cry or had just finished doing so.

“Let who go?” Sonia asked in a cold voice. She’d never had a good opinion of Alessa, or rather, never had one, but after the excursion and the Golden Cow, Sonia couldn’t stand her. Their direct interaction was next to none, but what Sonia saw of Alessa, she did not like.

Alessa wrung her hands together and tried to look past Tori’s friend to appeal to Tori directly. “Lady Guevera, please! I’m begging you!”

“What’s going on here?” Gideon frowned as he came out of the east dorm’s entrance and saw the group standing there with Alessa pleading in front of them. Anger filled his face at once as he ran down the steps to get to Alessa’s side. He turned to Tori and her friends with a snarl on his handsome face. “What are you doing to her?”

“What are we doing to her?” JP raised a brow. “Your Highness, it is Miss Hart who approached us this morning.”

“Your Highness! Your Highness! Please help me!” Alessa grabbed onto Gideon’s arm and pulled it. “Please save my friend!”

“What friend?” Henrik said with a heavy sigh. He looked at her incredulously. “What are you talking about?”

“My friend - Tom!” Alessa said with a choked cry. “He didn’t mean it! It was an accident!”

“What was an accident?” Gideon asked gently as he tried to calm her.

“He was arrested last night because they found him in Lady Guevera’s store!”

Tori closed her eyes and drew in her lips. She didn’t want to tell everyone the connection and aggravate things, but it seemed the protagonist did it for her. Everyone’s eyes seemed to grow large and Sonia uncrossed her arms.

With a disparaging look, she stalked closer to Alessa and bore her eyes into her. “The vandal is your friend?”

Alessa dropped Gideons arm and turned to Sonia to try to appeal for Tom. “He didn’t mean to! I don’t know what he was thinking!”

JP sneered. “I think we all know what he was thinking, Miss Hart.”

Alessa shook her head from side to side. Her pretty face was red. “Tom wasn’t targeting your store!”

“Then he breaks into stores and vandalizes their merchandise at random?” Henrik asked with a dubious scoff.

Alessa jerked her head back and cringed. “No. No, that’s not it....”

“Then why did your friend break into our store?” Ilyana demanded.

Alessa opened her mouth, but no words came out. She seemed to be trying to come up with an answer. “He...Tom....” She choked back a cry and looked towards Tori. “Please just let him go, Lady Guevera! You must let him go! This is too cruel! He’s been working so hard since he came; if he gets banned from the city he’ll lose his apprenticeship. How can you be so cold? You can’t ruin his life like this-”

The sound of a fleshy palm hitting a plump cheek seemed to echo off the side of the dorm, cutting off Alessa’s begging at once. The boys around them, Gideon included, all looked stunned as Alessa raised her hand and cupped her left cheek.

Ilyana and Tori looked towards Sonia as she loomed in front of Alessa with a red palm and an unforgiving look.

Sonia’s words were so cold, Tori shivered. “Don’t you dare blame anyone else, Hart. No one forced him to break in and vandalize the store. Your friend ruined his own life.”

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