The moment the words left Lioren's mouth, a ruckus broke out. People stood up in shock, looking at him as if he were a traitor.
Lumine, too, was on his feet.
"...Many of you seem to regard me differently now, it seems," Lioren remarked, watching everyone's reactions.
The four heirs—including Princess Veronica and Prince Azriel—did not look particularly surprised.
There were actually quite a few who remained seated, like Liliane or Instructor Ranni. Some of those still sitting were shocked, but they didn't overreact.
"Let's sit down..." Yelena whispered quietly to Lumine, who nodded.
Both of them sat back down just as Gere—the one who had questioned Lioren earlier—stood up again. Face flushed red with anger, he pointed at Lioren.
"What is the meaning of this, Prince Lioren!? After everything you said about your life being more valuable than ours—about deciding to be the leader—how are we supposed to trust you now!?"
"Yeah, that's right!" someone else added.
