This is my first day at school. The school I've entered is one of the prestigious schools in the country, only students who pass the entrance exam can attend here, regardless of their background.

Now I'm in the school yard. As I expected, this school is very spacious. The school facilities also give a luxurious impression. I look around, there are many children from well-known families here. Their faces look bright.

. . .

I feel a little jealous watching other students around me. Laughing and chatting with friends without any worries. Maybe, if that incident hadn't happened, maybe my face would be bright like theirs.

"Father, mother, brother...", I mutter softly. Remembering them makes my heart ache. I still can't accept their departure.

I will definitely find the mastermind behind your deaths and make sure they receives their punishment. I won't let them live happily after they have destroyed other's people family. 

I take a deep breath and strengthen my resolve.

"You must not be afraid, Rosemary...", I whisper to myself. Then I continue walking towards the school building.

As I walk, someone catches my eye. A tall figure with good proportions and rare red hair. There's no mistaking it, he's Dillon Hart. He just stands there silently. I walk past him, glancing at his face briefly. Seems like he's thinking about something?

Well, not my concern...

I have to focus on my plan. I must not be careless. I believe someone connected to my family's deaths attends this school.

***

After checking the class assignment list, I head straight to my class. I decide to sit in the seat near the window. I look at the students who will be my classmates. There are a few faces I recognize. There are still many empty seats, most students haven't arrived in class yet.

I take out my small notebook, pen, and phone. I open my photo gallery. Earlier, I managed to take a picture of the class list. It wouldn't hurt to make sure who I need to investigate and where their classes are; it will make it easier for me to meet them.

"Hello."

Someone's voice interrupts me. I look towards the voice. A boy about my age is smiling at me, his expression looks warm.

Dillon Hart? Why is he talking to me?

"Hello, are you Dillon Hart? I'm Rosemary Lovelace, nice to meet you," I reply to him. I smile at him.

"Do you know me?" He looks slightly surprised. I'm also surprised by his response.

Doesn't he realize how famous his family is? Anyway, it should be normal for others to know him, right?

"Of course, you're from that famous Hart family. It's no wonder people recognize you," I reply to him.

"Oh, right. Hahaha..." He laughs softly, he looks a bit awkward.

"Sorry, but let's continue our conversation another time. There's something I need to do," I then return to what I was doing before.

After I say that, he doesn't talk to me anymore.

Occasionally, I glance at the boy sitting next to me. He's playing with his phone. The smile that was on his face before is gone. His vibes feel very different now. He feels colder. It seems like the other kids are also afraid to approach him.

Honestly, his appearance is very striking. His eye and hair color are very rare, and his face is handsome. His clothes are neat, but he has a few piercings in his ears that give him a rebellious impression. Nevertheless, he still looks charming.

If only that accident hadn't befallen my family, maybe I could enjoy my high school years like any other teenager. Have lots of friends, join clubs, and maybe fall in love.

*Sigh*

All of that is just a dream for me now. I can't do any of that until I catch the culprit.

***

Time passes, we briefly introduce ourselves to our classmates and our homeroom teacher. Everything goes as it should, except...

One thing.

I feel like Dillon often watches me. Even during introductions, our eyes met. He showed the same smile as before. He doesn't seem to be interested in any other student, except me.

His behavior seems suspicious. Does he want something from me? Well, I'll think about it later.

Now we're being led by our homeroom teacher to the auditorium for the welcoming ceremony of the new students.

I decide to sit in the back row.

After making sure all the new students are in the auditorium, the welcoming ceremony begins.

Some time has passed since the ceremony started. But...

"I need to go to the bathroom..." I murmured. Honestly, something like this is quite annoying.

I get up from my seat and walk towards one of the teachers to ask for permission. The toilet is farther away than I imagined. After finishing my business, I immediately return to the auditorium. Just as I was about to enter, my eyes immediately focused on someone. He was talking to the teacher i asked earlier. I briefly heard the word "library" as I passed by.

"Quinn Chevalier..." I mutter softly. He's one of the people I suspect. I should go to the library later to meet him.

After the welcoming ceremony is over, I immediately hurry to that teacher from back then and confirmed that Quinn went to the library. I hope he's still there, otherwise, I'll go to his class.

Without waiting long, I walk straight to the library.

"Luckily, I remember where the library is..."

After walking for a while, I finally reach the building where the library is located.

***

There aren't many students here. The closer to the library, the quieter it is. Maybe I'll be the only student in this hallway if this guy wasn't with me. I gave him an unhappy look.

"Are you still angry?" he asked, grinning. Seeing his face annoyed me. I just kept quiet.

I still don't understand why he's acting like this towards me. What am I to him, just a spectacle? Annoying. If my plan fails because of him, I--

"We're here," he said, pointing at the library entrance. I didn't see the librarian; are they not on duty? Well, that's not important. Now I have to--

"Hey Dil--"

???

He suddenly slipped in alone. His steps then stopped and he looked at me.

"I won't bother you, just speak with that bastard. I'll wait for you from a distance," then he walked in casually.

Even though I was ready to ask him to stay away from me, he did it by himself.

I'm curious what happened between the two of them, but that's not my problem. I have to focus on my goal.

"Maybe I should be suspicious of Dillon too..." I mutter softly. I then walk into the library and look for Quinn.

His behavior is suspicious, but I don't want to suspect him or his family. The Hart family has a good relationship with my family, you could say that they are business partners.

The death of my family ruined our business, of course it also caused losses to the Hart family. Many people dumped my family's business when they learned about their deaths. The Hart family is one of the few who are still willing to work with us even in this chaotic condition.

I don't want to have bad thoughts about those who are good to us, but maybe I should be more careful.

Father, mother, brother, what should I do?

After a few moments of walking around, I finally found Quinn. He's reading. I approach him quitely.

"Um, hello. You're Quinn Chevalier, right?" I greet him with a smile.

He turned and smiled. At the same time, he also got up from his seat.

"Yeah, right. What do you need? May i know your name too? "

"Oh, sorry. My name is Rosemary Lovelace. I accidentally saw you here, and I'm curious about you, who's the top scorer in the entrance exam. I think you're great."

"Is that so, if i'm not wrong, you're in 5th place. I think you're great too."

"Haha. . . Thanks."

Very awkward . . .

I'm good at learning, but I'm not good at socializing. Academic and social interactions are very different; my EQ seems to be quite low. At times like this, I wish my social skills were much better. . .

"Would you like to be my friend, Rosemary?"

A sentence I didn't expect to come out of his mouth. I stared at him in disbelief.

"Friend?"

"You don't want to? I won't force you, I thought we could be closer because we're both good at studying, maybe we could be study buddies."

This is an opportunity!

"Of course! Let's be friends!"

He chuckled at my response. Oh my, this is quite embarrassing. . .

"Okay, how about we exchange contacts?" He took out his smartphone from his pocket.

I also took out my smartphone.

"Here," he handed me his contact barcode. After scanning the barcode, his contact is immediately registered on my phone.

"Thank you..."

He shook his head.

"It's okay, you don't need to thank me. I just asked you to be my friend. Actually, I should be the one who thanked you."

I feel much better. He's friendly and gentle, unlike Dillon, who's stubborn. But of course, I still can't let my guard down.

Speaking of Dillon, where is he?

I look around. I don't see him at all, he said he was waiting for me.

"What's wrong? Are you looking for someone?" Quinn's voice startled me.

"Uh... I came here with my friend earlier, but it seems he's gone back already," I reply to him. I he's not suspicious of me.

"I see . . . If you're not busy, how about we go around the school together? I plan to check out the clubs that are available. Do you want to come?"

"I wa-"

Just before I finished my sentence, a guy cut me off.

"Sorry, but she already promised to go with me first."

Dillon walked over and touched my shoulder. He looked at me with a smile.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't know."

Quinn still smiled like before, but I could feel his eyes staring coldly at Dillon. At the same time, Dillon also had the same expression.

The tension between them made me uncomfortable. It felt like I was trapped between heavy boulders.

As I was about to say something, Dillon immediately grabbed my hand.

"We're leaving now, sorry for disturbing you, Quinn," Dillon said coldly. Then he pulled me out of the library.

I let go of his grip.

"What was that all about?!" I said annoyed.

"What's with you?! I told you not to mess around with him!" Dillon stared at me with an angry face.

"What do you mean? I didn't do anything!" I protested. We were just going to walk around the school.

"You were about to accept his invitation to walk around, right? Let me clarify. That guy is dangerous. Don't ever walk alone with him."

Dillon then approached me and reached into my pocket.

"Hey, what are you-"

"Look at this."

He held something small in his hand.

"A chip?"

"Yeah, this is a tracker."

"How could that be? When did he put that in my pocket?"

Dillon looked at me seriously.

"Rosemary, do you remember being distracted or something when you were talking to him earlier?"

I... no, I don't remem-

"Oh! I was looking around for you earlier..."

I felt embarrassed admitting that I was looking for him.

"That must have been when he put this in your pocket."

"I didn't even notice..."

Quinn turned out to be more dangerous than I thought.

"But why would he do that?"

Without answering my question, he grabbed my hand again.

"Let's get out of here first," he said quietly. He pulled me like before.

We decided to sit in the café near the library building.

"Now, please answer my question from earlier," I urged him.

"Alright. His reason might be because he wants to know your habits."

"You mean?" I tilted my head.

"More precisely, he wants to know which places you frequently visit."

"Then couldn't the tracker fall out when my clothes are washed or something? The next time I go to that place, the tracker might not even be in my pocket anymore. Besides, with his family background, he could just send someone to follow me. There's no need to bother with this."

"You're right, it's just my assumption. But knowing him, there's a good chance that's his intention. He probably anticipated that the tracker might fall out of your pocket or you might notice it yourself. Nevertheless, at least he thinks he's got a slight idea about you."

I still didn't understand. I looked at Dillon in confusion.

*Sigh*

"I seem to be bad at explaining... How about I just give you an example?"

I nodded.

"Here's how it goes, for instance, today after school you go to a candy store. Even if the tracker falls out of your pocket before tomorrow, Quinn would conclude there's a possibility you might go to that store again in the future."

Dillon paused for a moment and looked around. Then he continued speaking.

"Quinn uses the tendency of humans to repeat actions as a way to get to know someone and potentially control them with it. In this example is your liking. If you like the candy from that store, wouldn't you consider buying from it again? Thus, obviously you ended up coming there again"

When I realized what he meant, my body suddenly shivered. It means Quinn might always be observing every behavior and interest we show in front of him.

"Furthermore, Quinn likes to play hide-and-seek. He prefers to do things alone because he thinks he can move more freely that way. That's why he'd rather place a tracker or something rather than use his family's power. Even if you realize what he's doing, you wouldn't be able to accuse him due to lack of evidence and witnesses," Dillon continued.

The more I heard things about Quinn, the more my determination wavered. But-

I looked at Dillon's face.

"Why are you telling me all this? You could have chosen not to tell me."

"Because you're very important to me. I'll definitely protect you," he looked at me gently.

What?

"I know you're desperate, but I didn't expect you to be that reckless. You could find out the culprit without being that reckless"

???

What? How does he know?

I looked at him incredulously, my heart pounding so hard it felt like it could fall at any moment.

"Who are you?" We locked eyes.

He just smiled and ruffled my hair.

"Try to find out for yourself," he said while grinning.

Author's note:

Phew, this is the longest chapter so far. I hope you like it! Please correct me if you see any mistake.

Bonus

Rosemary's illustration by Namunamnam (fiverr)

Dillon's illustration by gominty_jelly (instagram)