They Hated Me in My First Life, But Now I Have the Love System

Chapter 520: You're not Mischievous Now? Nnenna chuckled as she carefully folded the papers back into her bag. "Told you it wasn't a walk in the park." "Girl, that wasn't a park. That was Mount Doom, and you strolled through it like a tourist with a camera." "The person who set those questions must've been really pissed off when they did," Ava muttered, frowning at the memory of the twisted paper. "Because that... that was not cake." Nnenna paused, the comment sticking in her mind.

Carl had been in a ridiculously good mood for the past few months, laughing more, teasing more, even giving people surprise coffee cups and random mentoring sessions. So... no, he definitely wasn't pissed off.

Which only meant one thing.

He had been smiling happily while creating those questions.

He had written death and destruction in academic form, with joy in his heart.

The realization sent a small shiver down her spine.

I'm so glad I'm not his enemy, she thought, instinctively picturing what it would look like to be on Carl's bad side.

Spoiler: It wasn't pretty. It involved a white coat, a surgical smile, and a clipboard filled with chaos.

"Nnenna?" Ava's voice pierced through her tic thoughts. "What's wrong?" Nnenna blinked, snapping out of her horror simulation.

"You look pale. Are you feeling sick?" Ava leaned in with concern.

"No, I don't-" "I knew it!" Ava cut her off, crossing her arms. "You shouldn't have stressed yourself like this! You should've let Carl and Arthur talk to the school and postpone the exam!" Nnenna sighed, trying not to laugh at Ava's flair for tics. "Ava, I'm fine, really." "You say that, but I swear if you faint now, I will personally march to Carl's room and tell him you've been overexerting yourself!" "Calm down, Ava," Nnenna said, reaching out to grab her hand gently and pull her attention. "I'm fine. See?" She sat up slightly straighter and turned from side to side like she was modeling for a health check. "All good." Ava narrowed her eyes, clearly not convinced. "You sure? Because you looked like you just saw a ghost, or worse, a resit slip." "I was just... thinking about something." "Thinking about what?" Ava asked, still suspicious.

Nnenna hesitated, then said it. "That Carl set those questions." Ava's reaction was immediate and explosive.

"CARL set those questions?!" Her voice shot through the roof, nearly making the driver flinch in the front seat. "Are you kidding me?! I should've known the second I saw that evil paper!" "You okay back there, Your Highness?" the driver asked, half turning.

"Yeah! Just academic trauma!" Ava called back, waving it off, then turned to Nnenna again. "No wonder! I mean, con! That paper had Carl's signature villainy written all over it!" Nnenna gave a soft laugh, but Ava wasn't done.

"You know, when I was younger and way more mischievous-" "You're not mischievous now?" Nnenna raised a brow in mock disbelief.

"Fine," Ava rolled her eyes tically. "When I was younger and more mischievous than I am now—" Nnenna nodded with mock approval. "Go on." Ava shot her another eye roll and continued, "I used to run straight to Carl every tI got in trouble. I would hide behind him and pout and act like the innocent little girl I definitely wasn't." "Classic Ava," Nnenna smirked.

"And he would protect me," Ava said with a small fond smile.

"He used to be my safe haven," Ava said softly, her voice dipping into something more reflective. "From my parents. From Somto. Even from Arthur." She chuckled lightly, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Not that Carl ever spoiled me," she added quickly, flicking a glance at Nnenna. "But he did indulge me. Still does, actually. He always gaveroom to be myself, even at my most annoying." A small smile curved on her lips before it slowly faded.

"Right until the day I crossed a line." Her voice grew quieter.

Nnenna looked over, sensing the change in Ava's tone. Ava was rarely this serious unless something truly got to her.

"What happened?" Nnenna asked.

Ava hesitated, then finally said, "It was when I wouldn't stop pestering Somto. I was just a kid, curious and reckless. He toldnot to follow him that day, over and over again, but I didn't listen." She leaned back against the seat, eyes distant.

"He was traveling somewhere... to that kingdom that lost their entire royal family in one night Atleasin that's what overheard. A whole family, gone. It sounded like a fairytale toback then, something tragic and mysterious. Of course I wanted to see it for myself." She paused again.

"What was the nof that place?" she muttered to herself. "I'll have to look it up later." Her fingers tapped against her leg as she recalled the memory.

"I was just so curious. I wanted to know where Somto would go for months... sometimes years. What kind of place pulled him away so often that he couldn't even cback for so long." "My curiosity had been piling up for years. It didn't help matters that i was starting to like—" Ava continued, her voice lowering before she suddenly paused, too suddenly.

A flicker of panic crossed her face.

She bit her lip, realizing what she almost said. Did I really just almost tell her I liked Somto? Her heartm skipped. That was..Xnot something Nnenna needed to hear. It could sound like she was measuring who knew who first, who belonged more. And that wasn't the kind of friendship she wanted to build. Ava quickly backpedaled, grabbing onto a safer thread of truth.

"I-I mean, I was starting to really enjoy riding my bicycle back then," she said in a rush, waving her hand like it wasn't a big deal. "So that day, I made up my mind, I was going to follow him no matter what." She relaxed when she saw Nnenna nodding along, completely unaware of the slip up.