Chapter Seven: Sabotage, Sarcasm, and a Hint of Something More

Myraa wasn't sure what was worse: her sudden, inexplicable popularity or Reina's increasingly aggressive attempts to sabotage her.

The morning started with an incident. Myraa had barely made it to her desk in homeroom when Reina sauntered up to her, holding a perfectly wrapped bento box.

"Good morning, cousin," Reina said with a syrupy sweetness that immediately set off alarm bells in Myraa's head.

"Uh… good morning?" Myraa replied cautiously, eying the bento like it was ticking.

Reina's smile widened as she set the box on Myraa's desk. "I noticed you didn't have time to pack lunch, so I made this for you. Consider it a gesture of goodwill."

From across the room, Kyra looked up from her book, her dark eyes narrowing.

Myraa poked the box suspiciously. "Wow, that's… uh, really nice of you?"

"Of course it is," Reina said, flipping her hair dramatically. "After all, family should support each other."

With that, she swept off, leaving Myraa alone with the box.

"Do not eat that," Kyra said, appearing beside her desk so quickly Myraa almost fell out of her chair.

Myraa jumped. "Where did you come from?!"

Kyra ignored the question, staring down at the bento like it was radioactive. "Reina doesn't do anything without an ulterior motive."

"You think she… poisoned it or something?" Myraa asked, half-joking.

Kyra raised an eyebrow. "Would you put it past her?"

"Well… no."

"Exactly."

To prove her point, Kyra grabbed the bento and popped the lid open. Inside, the food was arranged so perfectly it looked like a photo from a cookbook. But there was something off about it.

Kyra picked up a pair of chopsticks, poking at the rice ball in the center. "There's something inside this."

Before Myraa could stop her, Kyra peeled back the rice, revealing a tiny slip of paper rolled up inside. She unrolled it, holding it up for Myraa to see.

The note read: Enjoy your last day as the school's favorite!

Myraa gawked. "What is this, a soap opera? Who puts threats in a bento box?"

Kyra smirked. "Reina does."

---

The Chaos of Gym Class

If Myraa had hoped to escape Reina's sabotage during gym class, she was sorely mistaken. The lesson of the day was dodgeball, which seemed like a cruel joke considering Myraa's questionable coordination.

"Great," she muttered as she took her spot on the court. "Let's see how fast I can humiliate myself this time."

Reina, standing on the opposing team, gave her a saccharine smile. Myraa didn't trust it for a second.

The game started, and Myraa immediately became a target. Reina hurled the first ball with terrifying precision, and Myraa barely ducked in time.

"Oops," Reina called sweetly. "Didn't mean to aim for your face!"

Myraa glared at her, but before she could retaliate, another ball came hurtling toward her. This time, it wasn't Reina—it was some random overzealous athlete who probably thought dodgeball was an Olympic sport.

The ball was coming fast, and Myraa's brain froze. She braced herself for impact, but it never came.

Instead, Kyra stepped in front of her, catching the ball mid-air with one hand.

The gym fell silent.

"Whoa," someone whispered. "Did you see that?!"

Kyra, unfazed, dropped the ball to the floor and turned to Myraa. "Pay attention."

Myraa blinked up at her, still processing what just happened. "Did you just… save me?"

Kyra smirked. "You're welcome."

"Wait, hold on!" Myraa said, pointing at her. "You're not even on my team!"

Kyra shrugged. "Didn't stop me, did it?"

Behind her, Reina scowled, gripping another ball like it was a weapon.

---

The Lunchroom Drama Escalates

By the time lunch rolled around, Myraa was exhausted. She just wanted to eat her bento (the real one, not Reina's sabotage box) in peace, but peace wasn't something Camellia Academy seemed to allow.

No sooner had she sat down than a group of students swarmed her table.

"Miss Myraa!" one of them said breathlessly. "That was amazing! The way Kyra stepped in to save you—it was like something out of a romance movie!"

"A romance what?" Myraa choked on her rice.

Another student clapped her hands together, her eyes sparkling. "You two are perfect together! Like a princess and her knight!"

"What—no!" Myraa waved her hands frantically. "We're cousins! Cousins don't—"

"But it's so romantic!" someone else said dreamily. "The way Kyra looks at you—it's like she's always ready to fight for you!"

Myraa buried her face in her hands. "This is not my life. This is a fever dream."

"Is it?" a familiar voice said, and Myraa looked up to see Kyra standing behind the group, holding a tray.

The students scattered instantly, bowing and murmuring apologies as they fled.

Kyra sat down across from Myraa, setting her tray on the table. "Trouble?"

"You could say that," Myraa muttered, still reeling from the absurdity of the situation. "Why does everyone think we're—" She cut herself off, shaking her head. "Never mind. I don't want to know."

Kyra smirked. "They're not entirely wrong, you know."

Myraa froze. "What?"

"About the knight part," Kyra said, casually picking up her chopsticks. "I am here to protect you."

"That's not—" Myraa groaned, shoving a piece of tamagoyaki into her mouth to avoid saying something stupid.

---

The Rooftop Moment

Later that afternoon, Myraa decided to escape the chaos by sneaking up to the rooftop. It was quiet up there, and the view of the cherry blossom trees in the courtyard below was breathtaking.

She was only there for a few minutes when Kyra appeared, her footsteps soft against the concrete.

"How did you even find me?" Myraa asked, not bothering to turn around.

"You're predictable," Kyra replied, leaning against the railing beside her.

They stood in silence for a moment, the breeze tugging at their hair. Myraa sighed. "Why does everything here feel like it's spiraling out of control?"

Kyra glanced at her, her expression softening. "You're handling it better than you think."

"Really? Because it feels like I'm drowning in all this 'heiress' nonsense."

Kyra hesitated for a moment before reaching out and placing a hand on Myraa's shoulder. "You don't have to do it alone. I'm here."

Myraa blinked up at her, caught off guard by the sincerity in Kyra's voice. For once, there was no teasing smirk, no witty remark—just quiet reassurance.

"…Thanks," Myraa said finally, her voice barely above a whisper.

Kyra nodded, letting her hand fall back to her side. But for the rest of the day, Myraa couldn't quite shake the feeling that there was something deeper behind her cousin's words.