SRC 45

Chapter 45

“What should I do? Olivia is so cute… what if someone is stalking her…?”
“Don’t worry for no reason. Once we get home and see Olivia’s face, you’ll feel reassured.”

Liam kept comforting Emma the entire way to her home.
Still, Emma’s anxiety didn’t fade.
It seemed to be because of the note saying someone had been following her more often after school lately.
Even though the “Deulsamo” members had found that pervert and punished him, Emma was still uneasy.
Every time Liam felt this intense sister-complex-like anxiety from Emma, he shook his head.

But something was strange.
This time, Liam, following Emma, couldn’t shake his own unease either.
“The dorm is that way. Why are you following me?”
Liam followed Emma toward her house.
“I just feel strange. I want to check that Kongkong is safe first.”
“Don’t say things like that. It makes me more anxious.”

Emma scolded Liam even though she was already anxious enough.
“Nothing will happen.”
“Then why are you following me?”
“I want to prove that what I’m saying is true.”

Liam followed Emma to the very end, giving such a trivial reason.
However, he didn’t enter the mansion; he waited for her at the entrance.

A short while later,
Emma came rushing out of the mansion with a pale face.
“This is bad. Olivia hasn’t come back yet!”
“What?”

Liam’s heartbeat surged.
“It’s midterm season; she wouldn’t just go anywhere. Something must have happened.”
“Calm down first.”

Even though he himself was confused, Liam tried to calm Emma.
Of course, it didn’t help.
Emma’s fear only piled higher and higher.
“If anything happens to Olivia like this…!”
“First, let’s find Olivia. Surprisingly, maybe nothing happened. Let’s call people at the mansion to search the area near the route home.”

At Liam’s calm judgment, Emma nodded and went back into the mansion to gather people.
Liam wiped his face and washed his hands quickly.
What really needed calming was himself.
Even though Olivia wasn’t his sister, just knowing she was missing made his heart sink.

He tried to cool his head and think, but all he could imagine was Olivia being harmed and crying.
“I need to think. Where could Olivia have gone?”
Liam tried to calm himself, just like he had for Emma.

While he was taking deep breaths, Emma came out leading the mansion staff.
“Split up to search for Olivia in different directions. We don’t know what could have happened, so you move with the others.”
“Got it.”

Emma immediately directed the people, and Liam ran as well.
He paused while running on the way home, thinking it would be faster to move toward places where Olivia might be.
If she hadn’t returned on her own, she might have been distracted at a place selling snacks.
The people from the Bardedor Mansion would know Olivia’s tastes and could find her quickly.

But what if she hadn’t entered the mansion voluntarily?
What if someone really had targeted Olivia?
She didn’t seem like the type to make enemies, so it could be another pervert who randomly chose a target.
Then, not knowing the pervert’s range would make finding them harder.

Could there be a place nearby the pervert would go?
If so, how could he find it?

While feeling cornered and helpless, Liam’s pocket lit up.
“Oh, Noah.”

The “Deulsamo” members secretly carried communicators to stay in touch and act quickly to help students.
Since no students were watching, he could take out his communicator freely.

• “I think you should come back to school.”
  “Why?”

• “When I went back to your spot, there was a note.”

Liam was about to ask why Noah looked at his note without permission, but Noah’s serious tone told him it was important.

• “If you want to save Olivia, come alone to the gym storage.”
  “Gym storage…?”

• “Do you have any idea who it is?”

Even if he didn’t know, it was clear Olivia had been kidnapped.
Liam’s heart sank.
His mind raced.

If it was the gym storage, the culprit was someone connected to the school.
Calling Liam after kidnapping Olivia meant the person held a grudge against both of them, and knew their relationship.
It was obvious who might recently have a grudge against Olivia and Liam.

“These brats…!”

• “Do you know who?”
  “They’re the ones who bullied Jun Rubelrn.”

• “They’re still at the academy?”

Noah also made a grinding sound, clearly angry.
“I’ll head to the gym storage. You call the others quickly.”

No matter the warning, Liam had never planned to go alone.
Who would fall for such a foolish note?

• “Got it.”

As soon as the communication ended, Liam called Emma.

• “Liam, did you find her?”
  “I found her. Come to the academy gym storage!”

Sensing the seriousness of the situation, Emma didn’t ask further and ended the call.
Liam quickened his pace.
Time was critical.

If the boys tried anything on Olivia while he was distracted…
Liam bit his lower lip tightly.

This was all his fault.
He shouldn’t have involved Olivia in this in the first place.
Emma’s worry about Olivia had been correct all along.
He had thought it would be fine for Olivia to help a little, since she would eventually take over their work—but that careless thinking was a grave mistake.

“Please be safe, Olivia…!”

Liam muttered “please” endlessly and ran toward the gym storage without stopping.

Thanks to his maximum speed, he soon saw the gym storage.
But when he tried to open the door, it wouldn’t budge, as if blocked from inside.
“Open the door! I came alone like you asked!”

He banged on the door repeatedly, but no response came from inside.
What if something had already happened to Olivia?

Liam prepared to force it open with his body.
At that moment, the iron door creaked and swung open to the sides.
And a familiar face stepped out.

“Come in.”

The boy, one year younger, spoke casually, ignoring manners toward the Crown Prince, as if kidnapping Olivia also made him forget respect.
The tone was irritating, but now was not the time to provoke them.

Following the boy inside to the depths of the gym storage, Liam saw Olivia tied to a chair.
The boy holding her hair roughly was right there.

“Let go of her hand immediately!”

Seeing Olivia’s pained expression made Liam feel pain himself.
“Why should I?”

But the leader boy didn’t release his grip.
“You’ll regret this.”
“The matter has started and time can’t be reversed. Since it’s begun, we’ll see it through to the end.”

“Liam…senior…”
Olivia’s voice calling Liam sounded weaker than usual.
He quickly checked her body for injuries.
Fortunately, she looked fine externally.
But he couldn’t know what had happened under her uniform.

“Don’t worry, Olivia. I’m here.”
“Funny. If you want to save a worried Olivia, first get on your knees.”

Liam looked at all three boys.
They seemed weak enough to defeat immediately, but Olivia being in their hands was the problem.
If he acted rashly, who knew what they might do to her?

Finally, Liam slowly knelt down where he was.

“No, senior!”
“Shut up.”

As Olivia tried to stop him, the boy tightened his grip on her hair.
“Ugh.”

Seeing Olivia trying not to groan made Liam even more distressed.
Even now, she was clearly holding back for his sake.

“You and that girl messed everything up, and look at this mess now.”
“Because you’re the Crown Prince, huh?”
“Why do you interfere with other people’s friendships?”

Two other boys surrounded Liam, leaving only the leader holding Olivia.
“This is what you get for messing around!”

The cruel violence began.
Even so, Liam remained steady, keeping his balance.

“Senior Liam! What are you doing? Stand up and fight back now!”
“I told you to stay quiet!”
“Argh! You’re not that weak! Please!”

Even pleading from Olivia couldn’t make Liam act recklessly.
Every time she raised her voice, he saw her holding back pain.
Every time she spoke, the boy holding her hair swung his hand as if he could pull it all out.

“Senior, please!”

When tears finally leaked from Olivia’s face,
a loud crash sounded, and a circular hole appeared in the locked gym storage door.

“Here comes the savior.”