Time seemed to slow down. Ethan could see every movement around him as if it were playing out in slow motion.

The Femme Fatale trio remained completely still. They were breathing softly, faces calm and blissful. Their elaborately manicured and jewel-encrusted nails were now digging into the surface of the table, leaving visible scratches.

Just a few tables away, Autumn and Royce had stood up. Their bodies lowered slightly into defensive stances, ready to react at any second. The two of them looked no less predatory than the Femme Fatale trio.

Why did Ethan feel this way?

His rational mind was screaming at his body to run. Run anywhere, just get away from the girls sitting across from him.

And even further, from the two “friends” only a few tables away.

Trust no one in this space.

But Ethan’s legs felt like they had been nailed to the ground. He couldn’t move an inch, no matter how loud his mind shouted inside.

Then came Ruby, the first to snap out of the trance.

Like a flash of lightning, she lunged forward, grabbing Ethan’s wrist. Her gaze was wild, hungry, fixed on his bleeding index finger.

Ethan couldn’t believe how strong her grip was for someone who looked so delicate and feminine. He tried pulling back, but her hand was icy cold and rigid like a steel clamp, locking around his wrist with no intention of letting go.

“What… are you doing, Ruby?”

She didn’t respond. Her beautiful face was completely still, statuesque, frozen. Her lips slowly parted, and her glistening red tongue flicked across her perfectly white teeth.

Ethan’s heart began to pound violently. His blood surged. Sweat broke out on his forehead. His whole body began to tremble, even though it wasn’t cold.

It was getting harder to breathe.

His voice came out dry and strained, as if something were caught in his throat.

“Let go of my hand, Ruby. I need to clean this up, now!”

He tried to sound casual, like everything was fine.

But she still held tight. Ruby leaned even further over the table, pulling his arm toward her. Anya and Yara suddenly stood up in unison.

Ethan’s heart pounded so hard it physically hurt. His face went pale.

Then, without quite understanding why, his right hand moved on its own. It was shaking, but it reached across the table and found the fruit knife he had dropped earlier.

He gripped the handle firmly, unwilling to let go, even though he didn’t know what he planned to do with it.

Suddenly, Ruby released his wrist.

Her hand pulled back, leaving behind dark red marks where her fingers had been.

And then…

A pair of small, delicate hands began tending to his wound.

The soft fingertips carefully dabbed at his finger with a wet tissue, soaking up the blood. The contact made him wince, pain flared as the tissue touched the open cut.

Before long, his left hand was clean, though the cut still hadn’t stopped bleeding completely. Blood continued to seep from the wound.

His right hand relaxed its grip on the fruit knife as Autumn’s warm hand gently touched it.

“Mind if I borrow Ethan for a bit? His wound needs to be cleaned properly, with antiseptic.”

She said, calm but firm as she addressed the Femme Fatale trio.

“He needs to go to the infirmary, right now.”

Ruby and the twin sisters sat back down properly, regaining full control over themselves.

Their beautiful faces twisted into expressions of mockery and visible disdain as they stared down Autumn .

Suddenly, Ethan was reminded of the moment during their race when the cat Orange had dug its sharp claws into his shoulder, mixing blood and sweat as he stumbled along the track.

Back then, some female students had leapt down from the stands and rushed toward him. He’d assumed they were going to help remove the cat. And Autumn, she had begged him to go to the infirmary, so frantically that she had even agreed to one of his outrageous demands. At the time, Ethan had no idea why she was so desperate.

Only now did it click.

The girls who had tried to approach him that day… had been the Femme Fatale trio.

At this point, Royce had quietly moved closer, just enough for Ethan to catch a glimpse of his pupils, they’d shifted again into thin feline slits, like a cat’s eyes.

They must have been reacting to the scent of blood.

What else was off about these people?

Honestly, it was hard to list it all.

Their appearances were far more refined than any other students in the school.

They scored in the top ten without studying or even attending class.

Their strength, speed, and endurance outmatched any ordinary person.

Even their scent, smiles, and voices could manipulate everyone around them into doing the most bizarre things without question.

These people… they couldn’t possibly be normal.

(And here I am, just a prey caught between two factions of abnormal beings?)

The thought struck Ethan with a strange discomfort.

“I don’t think I need to go anywhere,”

he said, voice flat.

“The cut’s already starting to clot.”

His words stunned everyone in earshot.

“You hear that, Foxy?”

“He said clearly, he doesn’t want to go anywhere!”

“So you and your damn Gorilla can mind your own business and stop bothering us!”

“Goodbye and please don’t come back!”

“Wow, look at her, still standing there after getting kicked out!”

“The little fox wants to keep Ethan all to herself, huh?”

“Isn’t one Gorilla enough for her?”

“So rude, seriously!”

Anya and Yara once again launched into a perfectly synchronized harmony of venomous jabs, directing every word at Autumn .

Ruby stayed silent. Her aura was regal: cold and proud, like a Queen surveying a squabble beneath her.

Queens don’t sully their hands with petty matters. That’s what underlings are for.

She merely smiled, narrowed her eyes, and waited, watching to see how Autumn would respond.

Ethan noticed Autumn’s tiny hand had clenched into a trembling fist. Her petite body shook with rage.

The scent of lily flowers thickened again in the air, sharper, more intense.

But what struck Ethan the most, what made his heart feel as if someone had grabbed it with cruel fingers and squeezed…

…was the pain reflected so clearly in Autumn’s expressive brown eyes.

It wasn’t just anger.

She was hurt, truly hurt by the twins’ insults and by Ruby’s cold disdain.

And in that moment, Ethan realized just how foolish he’d been.

All it took was one second, one moment where his sulking heart had overruled his better judgment, and now things had escalated to this.