The School System Explained By Yeshaya

"My name is Sansula Badila," Abeni and Kwame exchanged surprised glances, clearly not expecting the Badilite Crown Prince to be in our class. "I'm 17, born and raised in the Netherlands. I like to read books on a variety of topics in my spare time, and I watch documentaries or videos online."

"I must say, you're quite well-built," Yeshaya remarked, eyeing him with a smile. "What do you do outside of reading?"

"I hit the gym," Sansula replied, his tone casual.

"Is that all?" Yeshaya pressed.

"I play basketball from time to time..." Sansula's voice trailed off, clearly uncomfortable.

"What else?" Yeshaya persisted.

In a bid to divert attention, Sansula threw the ball to Princess Maeve, who caught it effortlessly.

"I am Aurora-Maeve Annelies Jasmijn Helena, Princess of Orange, Princess of the Netherlands, Princess of Oranje-Nassau," she introduced herself, her regal presence striking awe among the class. "I am the Heir Apparent to the Dutch throne. I like it when people obey me and dislike it when they don't. I can't stand being told what to do. That's all."

"Fair enough," Yeshaya said, though clearly intrigued. "But what are your hobbies?"

Without answering, Maeve threw the ball at Zephyrine, effectively avoiding his question.

"What's with you two, avoiding questions?" Yeshaya sighed, exasperated.

"I'm Zephyrine Adelman, 18 years old," she began with a warm smile. "I love helping the people around me. I like being a support to everyone. If there's anything I can do for any of you, feel free to reach out. I'll always do my best for all of my classmates."

"You're the daughter of the Prime Minister, right?" Yeshaya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," Zephyrine confirmed.

"I think we've heard from everyone now..." Yeshaya said, scanning the room. "Now, it's time to vote for a class president."

He handed out pieces of paper to each of us. "Write down the name of the person you think would make a great class president."

"But sir!" Naomi raised her hand. "I don't remember everyone's name anymore."

"That's because they weren't memorable enough," Yeshaya replied, his voice light but firm. "I don't think people who aren't memorable are fit for class president. They lack charisma."

I finally understood—this wasn't a real election, it was more of a popularity contest, ensuring that the results would be as unbiased as possible since none of us knew each other well.

We all wrote down our votes, and Yeshaya moved around the room, collecting the slips of paper.

"In third place, with 4 votes, we have Lucas. In second place, with 7 votes, we have Princess Maeve! And in first place, with 9 votes, we have Zephyrine! Everyone, let's give her a round of applause!" Yeshaya announced.

Maeve raised her hand. "What is it, Princess?" Yeshaya asked, his tone lighthearted. "You're not accusing me of rigging the votes, are you?"

"Why was I placed in the lowest class?" Maeve asked, her voice full of disbelief. "I'm not supposed to be here."

"Oh, but you are," Yeshaya replied calmly.

"Huh?" Maeve's confusion was evident.

"You see, class E is the defective class. All of you are defective in one way or another."

"How am I defective?" Maeve demanded, her eyes narrowing.

"You should know why," Yeshaya said, almost teasingly. "Superbia."

Maeve and I froze. How did he know her codename? Did Zipporah tell him?

"You... How...?" Maeve stammered.

"I have good news, though," Yeshaya continued, not phased by the tension. "There's a way for all of you to climb the ladder in the class ranking."

"How?" Zephyrine asked, eager to understand.

Yeshaya turned on the Digi-board behind him, revealing the class credits for each rank. "Class A starts with 5,000 CC, Class B with 4,000 CC, Class C with 3,000 CC, Class D with 2,000 CC, and Class E—our class—starts with only 1,000 CC."

"The class with the highest overall scores—exams, assignments, performance—will gain more credits than the others, eventually shifting the class rankings. It's possible for any of you to make it to Class A. It just means more effort compared to the other classes, especially since you're starting from the bottom."

"Why does my success depend on my classmates?" Maeve complained, clearly frustrated.

Yeshaya chuckled and approached us with a box. "Put your smartphones in here," he instructed, "and I'll give you these." He handed out strange devices that looked like smartphones.

"These devices are for school use only," Yeshaya explained. "You won't be able to connect to the outside world through them. For the next four years, you'll be isolated from everything outside this school—holidays excluded, of course."

"Is that really necessary?" Isabella asked, her voice uncertain.

"Yes," Yeshaya answered matter-of-factly. "It's to prevent any external influences on your development and the progression of this school."

"But we didn't know this would happen," Fleur said quietly.

"That's because you focused too much on the idea of this school being an utopia, instead of understanding the conditions that come with applying here. It's your own fault," Yeshaya remarked bluntly.

Maeve turned on her device and saw she had 2,000 IC (individual credits). "So we have individual credits too..." she muttered.

"Yes," Yeshaya replied. "Your individual credit is the sum of your class credits and any extra points earned from exams, assignments, or performance. For example, those who scored perfectly on the entrance exam earned 1,000 additional points to their 1,000 IC."

That's why I only had 1,500 IC...

"For now," Yeshaya continued, "explore the campus. Zephyrine, divide the class into 5 groups of 4."

"Yes, sir!" Zephyrine said eagerly. She grouped us together—Maeve, Sansula, and I went with her as a team to explore the school grounds.

"This campus has everything! A shopping district, an arcade, a cinema, restaurants, a park..." Zephyrine marveled. "What doesn't this school have?! I'll be right back!" Without another word, she ran off into a clothing store.

Sansula started to follow, but Maeve stopped him. "You're a real idiot, you know that?"

"Why?" he asked, turning back to her.

"I heard from Maria that you and Mandane were in a relationship but broke up. Then you slept with Haniya."

"How does she know about that?" Sansula asked, confused.

"She orchestrated it all," Maeve snapped. "She's using you to hurt me and the girls."

"What girls?" Sansula asked, genuinely puzzled.

"Minah, Eliza, Kayla, Haniya, Mandane, Benesha, and me. Maria wants to harm all of us."

"Why?" he asked, his confusion growing.

"We excluded her from our friend group back in kindergarten. Anyway, stay away from her. Stop letting her manipulate you."

"Is this true?" Sansula asked, turning to me. I nodded, my expression hardening.

"I can't believe you slept with someone right after breaking up with me," I muttered, bitter. "You're the worst."

"Mandane, Maria orchestrated it all," Maeve interjected, her voice calm but insistent. "Including your breakup with him. She's pulling all the strings."

"Everything?" Sansula asked, his voice wavering.

"Yes," I confirmed, feeling the weight of my words. "Including you joining the military. She's been controlling your life and using you as one of her pawns."

Sansula's reaction was strange—almost like he already knew this or simply didn't care. Something was off about him.

"Is something wrong?" Zephyrine asked, returning from the store and sensing the tension in the air.

"It's nothing," Maeve said quickly, dismissing the moment. "Mandane, we need to talk after we finish exploring the campus. There's something important I need to tell you..."

After our tour of the school, Maeve and I sat down in my bedroom to discuss Yeshaya's possible return from the dead. Maeve invited all our sisters to join the conversation.

"How can Yeshaya be alive?" Maeve began, her voice filled with disbelief. "He looks like a homunculus."

"I think Uncle Nathan cloned his corpse," I said, shocking Maeve with my revelation.

"There seems to be no other explanation..." she agreed, her voice trembling slightly.

Suddenly, a knock came at the door. I opened it to find Minah, who had arrived first.

"It's not just Yeshaya who came back from the dead..." Minah began, her tone grave. "Big sis Zipporah came back too."

We stood there, stunned, unable to believe what we had just heard.