NOVEL NEXT Chapter 83: Elena La Loannou’s Perspective
Clearly, none of the classmates had expected Dematero, known for his good temper and gentle demeanor, to adopt such an attitude towards his "confession target."
'No...'
Elena was completely speechless and confused. She had thought she could easily handle the situation, but unexpectedly, he turned out to be so firm, not giving her any face at all!
Even though she had no hatred for Dematero and was just preserving herself by outright rejecting him, wasn't it so unfair?
As a girl, she had the right to choose who she entrusted her future to!
She wasn't the one who started all of this!
Just now, Elena realized the reality.
Society often supports the victim and is biased against the other.
And at this moment, she, who held no prejudice against anyone and just wanted a better life for herself, was now painted as the antagonist.
'Society is so cruel, even here.'
Elena stared blankly into space.
In everyone's minds, Dematero, the classic weak-willed male protagonist, was obviously the kind of guy who would be a lapdog!
Yannis's mocking words, though harsh, were absolutely spot on. He was the type who, no matter how hurt, humiliated, or trampled upon, would always maintain his composure, forgive generously, and demonstrate his loyalty and deep affection.
The class group chat became lively once again. Some chose to support Dematero:
"Well done! It's so refreshing to see him cut off all contact after rejection!"
"Dematero, this softie, finally stood up! Xanthia indeed has good taste!"
"Directly asking for his love letters back, this move is a bit bold. It seems Dematero's thickened his skin, interesting..."
"No wonder Dematero confessed via Synomilia. It looks like there were love letters and gifts beforehand. Hmm, feels like there's quite a twist behind this. Elena seems to have hidden depths."
Apart from those supporting Dematero, there were, of course, some who sided with Elena:
"Elena is really unlucky. She did all this just to cover for Yannis. Dematero is too petty. Even if the confession was rejected, we're all classmates. What's with cutting ties? So childish! He deserves to be rejected!"
"From what I see, Dematero just can't let go. He's a complete loser, can't even maintain his dignity. He's really not worthy of Elena!"
"Elena La Loannou is just too charming. It's not surprising that she's liked by Dematero. It's an undeserved disaster for her."
"Dematero, this ordinary guy, is really being petty. The beauties in the group should take a closer look, especially @Xanthia."
Indeed, everyone has biases and says things they want to say even though they don't know the full story from all parties involved.
Of course, the majority in the group were just neutrally enjoying the drama. At this moment, no one really cared about attending the evening self-study. Watching this spectacle unfold was more important!
At this very moment, Elena, with her frozen smile, demonstrated remarkably strong mental resilience and exceptional emotional regulation.
Dematero's response indeed made her feel awkward, realizing and heartbroken in the face of society's cruelty.
Her impression of him worsened even further. As rational as she was, she thought Dematero had no future prospects at all, given his past performance and behaviors. Everyone knows that leaving a way out for oneself to become a better person is the way to go, so you can meet again in the future and pursue romantic relationships.
Yet he didn't understand even this basic principle.
She didn't bother to say anything more to avoid implicating her situation further. She just turned back to her seat. As quickly as possible, she dug out all of Dematero's love poems. Since there were so many mixed in with other people's love letters, she didn't bother sorting them out. Anyway, these love letters were all irrelevant to her.
She didn't throw them away because she simply felt their existence could prove her charm. Sometimes, when she had nothing better to do, she would casually flip through these love letters and then casually show them to other classmates, causing them to gossip and marvel, which was quite interesting.
She returned all these love letters to Dematero in one go with an indifferent attitude. She was very confident in her ability to "spend all the wealth and still recover it."
When returning the love letters, she hoped to see something on Dematero's face. However, to her surprise, she saw a look of creepy pleasure on his face instead.
'Was he mentally ill or something?'
This made Elena inexplicably sigh in disbelief, slightly irritated, feeling that the previous gentle demeanor he had shown towards her was all a facade! Maybe Dematero wanted to destroy her reputation for refusing his confession!
The suicidal Synomilia confession in the afternoon seemed to be just seeking relief. Could it be that in this brief ambiguous relationship, she was being fooled and being played by him?
Forget it, regardless of what kind person he was, Elena was not interested in having any interaction with him anymore.
At this moment, Dematero retracted all of his love poems, finally feeling relieved.
"Future" he wrote a short poem titled "Something Impossible to Find,". It was clearly written for Xanthia, but Elena claimed it as her own, making him disgusted.
In order to prove that she was his "moonlight," Elena shamelessly posted all the love poems the boys had given her during high school, even though Dematero didn't know Yannis was the one behind all of it.
Now with this "rebirth," he had already resolved this disgusting matter in advance, which was the reason for his feeling pleased.
"Refreshing! Let it be, I forgive the matter with Yannis. Actually, I didn't take it to heart in the first place, hahaha... People like you and her, you vulgar girls, can't shake my heart at all now. In the future, just admire me properly." Dematero laughed heartily, his grin of arrogance creeping out.
'This is the power of rebirth!'
Elena remained expressionless, looking down on him, thinking this engagement wasn't benefiting her at all and sensing a bad feeling surrounding Dematero.
But it was fine. With all the love letters returned, she had completely cut ties with him, released all the pent-up negative emotions she had gained from this situation, and could now focus on her studies as she was supposed to.
Well, everything was finally clear now, and everyone was relieved.
Elena had rejected many boys, and Dematero was the worst among them.
She started to believe that his confession was not out of naive love but rather, as a psychopath manipulator, Dematero wanted to pull her down!
Her rejection of Dematero's confession is an act of self-preservation.
And it seemed the earlier situation was just a safety net for him in case she rejected him!
'So unfair. Forget it.'
Elena simply is a rational and intelligent girl. Knowing her prospects, she prioritizes her studies and future, which shows her ambition and determination. And despite the drama and negative emotions stirred up by Dematero's actions, maintaining her composure and focus on what truly matters to her is the best and only thing she could do right now.
She knew fully well her situation.
Even though Elena has a strong sense of self-worth and takes pride in her charm and attractiveness, she is keenly aware of how society views and judges people, especially in matters of love and relationships. She understands the biases and often cruel judgments people can make.
This is exactly why, she prefers to forget whatever happen today and continue do what is the best for herself.
'Reject romance and study, Elena!'
Reminding herself, she bit her lip and move on as if it was just an ordinary bad day.
Fortunately, Elena maintained her reputation in the class, and no one thought she had done anything wrong. Yannis was especially loyal to her.
This was a very successful crisis management for her, and in the process, she completely completely winning even though she felt she encountered something unexplainable in front of Dematero.
But in any case, she is completely safe.
In the eyes of his classmates, Dematero was still a clown, especially one who couldn't handle rejection and ended up making a fool of himself. His reputation among the girls had plummeted to rock bottom.
But he didn't care at all now, they were all just vulgar bystanders who couldn't affect his enlightened heart!
Xanthia is the only human here!
With a heart linked to destiny and a mind focused on writing, he had entered a state of tranquility and was ready to take off!
Being a lunatic writer was still better than being a lapdog, right?
Writers, or rather artists, always had to be a bit eccentric; otherwise, how could they create influential works?
The stronger the influence, the more pain it could evoke...
Xanthia's heart naturally sided with Dematero. Unlike most girls, she understood boys of this age better. Despite their foolish actions, their sincerity was genuine. Who hadn't been through that phase?
Regardless of what Elena performed today, Xanthia can't find it hard to believe Elena was a sincere person.
Such precious sincerity, once out of the school gates, was hard to find again.
This was also why the saying "true feelings cannot endure, only schemes can capture hearts" prevailed.
Elena saw Xanthia enjoying the drama as well. Fortunately, her relationship with Xanthia as current desk mates was quite good.
For now, Elena wasn't in a rush to deepen her relationship with Xanthia. After a while, she closed her eyes and calmed down.
'Dematero, I may lost today but I'm going to beat you in my own terms.'
A guy who had turned into a "public enemy of girls" would surely be isolated among the boys too, unless someone wasn't interested in girls...
With that thought in mind, Elena released herself from line of thought and resumed her studies.
Xanthia listened to their drama all the way through and finally couldn't help but burst into laughter, increasing her happiness meter once again.
Whether it was Elena or Dematero, they were both interesting characters. Perhaps this was what youth was all about.
Next, following her own rhythm of accumulating happiness, she breezed through the second evening self-study session and prepared to leave school.
She didn't need to pack anything. Did anyone really think she'd study hard once she got home?
She wasn't a study fanatic; she was just hanging in there.
Having fun at school, she'd have even more fun once she left.
Today was the day she got the "Malicious Notebook." Feeling spiritually fulfilled, she believed her luck must be good. After returning home, she decided to capitalize on her momentum and open all three blind boxes from the system—guaranteed to yield great loot!
Believe in fate, believe in the draw!
On the other hand, during the second evening self-study session dismissal, Dematero proceeded to do something he had planned.
Perhaps apart from Glen in Class 3 of the first year, his social circle was already ruined. After all, tearing his face with Elena and becoming a clown, but that didn't mean he couldn't make friends in other classes.
Dionysius, his big bro—oops, no, his little bro. Let me test you, are you also "reborn"?
Drawing on his "memories" of Dionysius, Dematero approached him with a cute smile.
As expected, Dionysius appeared very approachable on the surface, liking to make new friends. In reality, he was deeply scheming. Dematero, exuding "clear stupidity," piqued Dionysius's interest.
Dematero's probing was simple: during their conversation about music, he deliberately mentioned recent songs, particularly those created by Xanthia herself, using them as a "secret code."
The results were clear. Dionysius didn't recognize the code, confirming he hadn't been reborn. This left Dematero slightly disappointed yet oddly satisfied. Indeed, he was the unique "protagonist"!
He is the protagonist of this world!
Dematero felt she rose above nine clouds.
Little did he know, his cute attempts at probing and the inadvertent information he exposed were awkwardly counterproductive, sparking a strong interest from Dionysius...
A pseudo-reborn without a protagonist halo, yet daring enough to act like one, Dematero would be strange if he wasn't schemed against by fate!
After all, he wasn't a big shot with mastery of strategy and tactics. His talent lay solely in literary creation. Useless in every other way—a true scholar!
Dionysius, when faced with Xanthia, was completely subdued. However, with Dematero, this "little cutie," he was definitely stronger than the tool-manufactured Dionysius simulated by the system.
Dionysius decided to naturally befriend Dematero and gradually uncover the truth behind him...
Xanthia, unaware of Dematero's "rebirth" and his expanding arrogance, voluntarily presenting himself for Dionysius to uncover, remained clueless. She had no intention of exposing herself as the true mastermind behind the scenes.
Compared to Dematero, whose soul was bound to the system, Xanthia was surprisingly stable. She tried her best not to reveal any of her special qualities. The more she accumulated her trump cards, the better.
After bathing and changing, Xanthia lay comfortably on her bed, finally ready to open the three system blind boxes, or rather, draw cards.