The Wrath of the Duchess

...🔥🌳🔥...

The university is like a massive petri dish where every piece of gossip is a virus that spreads rapidly, mutating and destroying the peace of every student. After what happened on the rooftop yesterday, the air in the Nursing building has become as heavy as the lead apron used in the X-ray room.

I am sitting in our lecture hall, forcing myself to listen to a discussion on Pathophysiology, but my mind is like a broken record, looping back to the image of that man—the Dentistry Prince, Thyme Theo Thomas.

"Suanne, relax. Your knuckles are turning white from how hard you're gripping that pen," Bailey whispered beside me.

She gently touched my hand, a familiar gesture to calm the storm brewing inside me.

"I can't believe this, Bailey. The whole campus is talking about the 'Mystery Girl.' And what's worse, so many people are angry. I feel like a criminal being hunted by the entire university without even knowing what my crime is," I replied softly, my voice laced with bitterness.

I wanted to confront Thyme earlier on the rooftop. I wanted to scream in his face to make him pay for the peace he stole. But Bailey stopped me. She said that confronting the Dentistry Prince while wearing my Nursing uniform—which serves as a bright beacon of identity—would be like signing my own death warrant.

"Don't be reckless," Bailey reminded me as we packed our things after class. "Facing the Dentistry Prince in public is a guaranteed way for everyone to find out you're the one in the photo. Be patient for now. We need to play this smart."

I nodded, even though I felt like I was about to explode. Being a Nursing student requires discipline and a poker face, but keeping a secret this big feels like a slow-acting poison gradually destroying my system.

The next day, the April heat became even more punishing.

Lunchtime.

The university cafeteria is the center of the entire social hierarchy—an arena where "predators" and "prey" gather under one roof.

"Just stay here, Suanne. I'll buy our food. It looks like you need some space," Bailey said before disappearing into the swarm of students in line.

I sat at a table on the side, far from the center but enough to see the whole hall.

I felt like an exhibit in a zoo. Every whisper, every laugh, and every glance students stole at their phones seemed to point at me. The Freedom Wall post has gone even more viral, and the comments have turned more vicious.

“Who is that girl? She has a lot of nerve getting close to Thyme.”

“Wait till Duchess finds out. That girl is dead.”

Before long, the noise of the cafeteria suddenly died down. It was as if an invisible switch had been flipped, and all eyes turned toward the door.

She walked in. Duchess Serei Montenegro.

If Thyme is the prince of Dentistry, Duchess is the queen of the Accountancy department.

Flanked by her entourage, she walked with an authority that suggested she owned every square inch of the floor she stepped on. She was breathtakingly beautiful, with sharp features and a style that screamed status and wealth. Her movements were calculated, every step a statement of dominance.

She wasn't just pretty; she was intimidating. A type of beauty that came with an edge—a rose full of thorns ready to cut anyone who dared to touch it.

She headed straight for the center table, where Thyme Theo Thomas was already sitting with his friends, Alek and Wyzo, whom Bailey hadn't stopped stalking since last night.

Upon seeing her, the two stood up slightly out of respect, while Thyme remained seated, his face devoid of emotion—a blank canvas that was difficult to read.

Duchess sat beside Thyme, her hand immediately gripping the man's arm. A possessive gesture that seemed to say, “This is mine. Don’t even try.”

I watched them from a distance. My heart began to race.

There he was, the man who stole my kiss, sitting with the woman who seemed ready to kill for him. The silence in the cafeteria was deafening, filled with a tension like a cable about to snap.

Suddenly, Duchess took out her phone. She slammed it onto the table, the screen facing Thyme. Even from afar, I knew what was on the screen: the viral photo of the Fire Tree kiss.

"Thyme, dear," Duchess's voice was cold, yet carried an authority that shattered the silence of the hall. "Everyone is talking about this. So many people are asking me who this 'mystery girl' is who seems to have forgotten her place."

She glanced at her friends, then looked back at Thyme. "Do you have anything to say? Or do I need to have this girl hunted down to teach her a lesson?"

One of Duchess's friends, a girl who looked nervous, chimed in. "Maybe... maybe the person who took the picture just made a mistake? Or maybe it’s not what it looks like? Thyme is quiet, maybe she was the one who approached—"

The girl didn't get to finish. Duchess turned her gaze toward her, a sharp, piercing look that made the other girl flinch.

"Quiet? So you're saying Thyme can't protect his own image? Or maybe you're taking this girl's side?" Duchess said, her voice turning sharp as a knife. "Don't speak if you don't know the whole story, unless you want to be the next one to go viral in this university."

The girl looked down, utterly humiliated in front of so many people. That was the power of Duchess Serei Montenegro—a caste system where she sat at the top, and anyone who questioned her would be crushed.

I gripped the table tightly.

I had to keep a poker face. Even though I wanted to scream in rage, my expression had to remain calm. If anyone saw me reacting strangely, it would be over.

I felt the invisible "wrath" of the Duchess spreading throughout the cafeteria.

This wasn't just simple gossip; it was a game of survival. For Duchess, the existence of a "mystery girl" was a direct insult to her status. And I knew she wouldn't stop until she found out who the girl in the photo was.

I looked at Thyme.

I expected him to speak up, to defend the truth, or at least say it was all a mistake. But he remained silent. He took a sip of his drink, his gaze fixed elsewhere, seemingly unaffected by the tension surrounding him.

How can he be so cold? I whispered to myself. While my life is slowly burning because of what he did, he just sits there, watching the fire.

"Suanne, here's the food—" Bailey arrived, carrying our tray.

She stopped as she noticed the tension in the cafeteria. She immediately looked at the table of Duchess and Thyme.

"Oh my god," Bailey whispered, slowly sitting down. "The Duchess is on the warpath. Suanne, we really need to be careful."

"I know, Bailey. I can feel it," I replied, forcing myself to take a bite even though I had no appetite. "At first, I thought I just needed to confront him to clear my name. But now... it's about survival. If Duchess finds out it's me, she won't just ruin my name. She'll burn my entire life down."

My internal monologue became a cry of desperation.

With every passing second, I felt the pressure of the university like a massive weight on my shoulders.

My Nursing life, my dreams, the peace I had long cultivated—all of it is at stake because of a blurry photo under the Fire Trees.

"Bailey," I called her, my eyes still fixed on Duchess's table. "I need to meet him. In secret. I can't let this slide anymore. I need to know why he did it, and I need him to fix this before Duchess finds me."

Bailey frowned. "I want to go with you, Suanne. But there's an emergency in the department later and it's mandatory for us to attend; I need to help with the lab preparation. I can't leave."

"It's fine. I can handle this," I said, even though I was actually nervous. "I'll find a way to talk to him. I need to catch him alone."

I looked at the table again. Duchess was now smiling, chatting with her entourage as if her show of force was over. But that smile was scarier than her anger. It was the smile of someone who knew she had already won, someone who was just waiting for the right moment to strike her final blow.

The Nursing student in me says to be careful, to be observant, and to find a cure. But the woman named Suanne Salcedo says enough is enough. Enough of being a victim of circumstance.

That afternoon, as I walked back to our class, every Fire Tree I passed seemed like a witness to my fear. The red flowers falling to the ground looked like drops of blood—a warning that in this world, a mistake is met with the death of a reputation.

I was Suanne Salcedo. I was faithful to the pact. I was a survivor. But for the first time, I felt the true meaning of fear. The fear that I don't control my own story. The fear that by the next time the Caballeros bloom, I will have nothing to return to.

This has to stop. Thyme's game has to end before I am completely consumed by Duchess's fire.

The secret meeting is no longer an option; it has become the only way to survive in the middle of a war I didn't start.

As the sun slowly sets, bringing long shadows across the campus, I know my next step is the most critical. I will stay in the shadows for now, concealing my identity from the wrath of the Duchess and the coldness of the Prince.

But I will find my way out of this fire. Even if I have to walk through the middle of the blazing trees, I won't allow myself to just turn into ashes at the end of this summer.

Summer is just beginning, and the real fight is still hidden beneath the secrets kept by every petal that falls to the ground.

...🔥🌳🔥...

...AerixielDaiminse...

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