In reality, Hera hadn’t asked for any of this and was, in fact, the true victim of the situation. So why should she apologize or endure Alice’s anger and scolding as if she were the one in the wrong? Why should she be punished for fighting for justice when she was the one being wronged?
Sure enough, the students, who were still naive and had limited knowledge of the outside world beyond their studies, were easily swayed by Hera’s words. They now looked at Alice with contempt and anger for suggesting that Hera was at fault and even wanting her to just let it go.
Alice looked at Hera with wide eyes, brimming with barely concealed indignation. Before she could respond, Hera continued smoothly, "Miss Quinn, I apologize if I have offended you in any way during the Variety Show that led to your dissatisfaction. I’m sure your friends are only acting out of a desire to address their grievances. After all, I never even crossed paths with them to warrant such bullying." Hera’s tone was understanding, yet subtly undermined Alice’s position.
’Isn’t this how the "white lotuses" in novels handle their enemies? By creating misunderstandings and subtly undermining them?’ Hera chuckled inwardly as she watched Alice’s expression shift through various emotions before sheposed herself, or at least pretended to be calm and collected.
"Hera, you misunderstand me," Alice said, her eyes reddened as if she were on the verge of tears. "I’ve long forgotten what happened at the Variety Show. I’ve been reflecting on how socially awkward I must have seemed, struggling to express myself because I’m not used to sharing my feelings." Many people can rte to this struggle, finding it hard tomunicate their emotions because they’re ustomed to keeping everything inside.
"Oh, I see," Hera said, her voice filled with faux realization as if she had just understood Alice’s point. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment as she quickly added, "I’m truly sorry for the misunderstanding. It seems they must really dislike me to act out so without reason and use you as a cover, making it seem like they’re doing it for you. It’s as if they’re pretending to be your friends while taking advantage of you." Hera looked at Alice with feigned pity, causing Alice’s friends to erupt in anger.
As Hera continued to provoke the three women in front of her, she found a perverse satisfaction in watching them turn against each other and watch their trust unravel with just a few carefully chosen words. <i>’Maybe this is why many ancient strategists used this tactic to conquer strongholds,’</i> she thought. <i>’By sowing internal conflict, they could cause the stronghold to crumble from within, making it easier to deal with before any external threats even arrived.’</i>
"You!!!" The girls pointed at Hera with eyes wide and red with anger. "We’re her friends, and we were only trying to punish you on her behalf! Her reputation and poprity have suffered because of you!!!!" one of the girls roared. Alice stepped in front of the two girls, trying to defuse the situation before their outburst led to more damaging usations or undermined her further.
Hera was stiflingughter inside as she listened to Alice’s friends drag her down without even realizing it. <i>"This is what you get for having such unreliable allies, A pig teammate as they call."</i> she thought with amusement, all while maintaining a fa?ade of surprise.
"Hera, I’m sorry. My friends are just very protective of me. Didn’t you have protective male friends who ended up in a scandal with you? They even came to the university and fought with a student just to save you, like a knight in shining armor," Alice said softly. Her words were a subtle reminder of Hera’s recent scandal, jogging everyone’s memory of the dramatic events from just yesterday.