Although Thessaloniki First High School gives a half-day off on weekends, for the boarders, this break does not include the evening. They still have to return to school for evening self-study.

  However, for the day students, if they are bold enough, skipping the evening self-study session means they get a long break from the afternoon through to the night—quite a good deal.

  So, some day students do choose this route, like Marcus El Postacio. He’s the type who regurly skips evening self-study, and especially on weekends, he never misses an opportunity. He certainly knows which day to skip for the most comfortable break.

  He’s also adept at knowing the threats. If the teacher supervising the evening self-study is someone like Bartolomeo El Mundo—a non-mainstream teacher who’s lenient, careless, and doesn't even know the total number of students in the css—he’ll skip the session without hesitation.

  However, if the supervisor is someone like the css teacher, Emmanuel, a strict and authoritative figure, Marcus will give in, pretending to endure the evening self-study and leave after two sessions to return home.

  As a day student, Xanthia never skips evening self-study. After all, there’s plenty of entertainment at school, and she needs to allocate some time to homework to boost her progress in upgrading attributes.

  But, on weekends, sometimes she will skip the evening session. After all, most of her homework is finished during the day’s study period on Saturdays, and since the weekend is entirely self-study time, she often chooses not to return to school after lunch and takes a break until Monday.

  However, this weekend, Xanthia didn’t skip the evening self-study. She was with a group of girls, and since they were all boarders, they had to return to school on time.

  The reason why Dionysius didn't invite his friends for dinner was because, being a boarder himself, he didn’t want to break school rules by giving preferential treatment. Instead, he arranged a rather unconventional "birthday lunch."

  It was only at the end of November, when the Papadopoulos familia hosted an official banquet to celebrate his birthday, that he truly held a birthday dinner of proper scale.

  The timing coincided with the winter holiday, so the guest list for that banquet was far rger than the one for today’s private party. The attendees weren’t just his peers but also the Papadopoulos familia’s business partners, social elites, and political figures. A professional TV presenter and celebrities were also invited to provide entertainment.

  Smaller stars and lesser-known idols, such as those from girl groups, would jump at the chance to attend an event hosted by a powerful familia, hoping to meet influential people who could boost their careers.

  Dionysius himself didn’t enjoy such formal social gas, which is why he opted for a smaller birthday party, free from constraints, allowing for a id-back and carefree atmosphere.

  After seeing the girls she brought back to school, Xanthia parted ways with them.

  For her own dinner, Xanthia had it directly in Luciel’s "territory". After all, she had brought back so many snacks and fruits, which were more than enough to repce the school canteen's "awful" dinner.

  The reason for this was simple: the school canteen hadn't been renovated yet, and its evening meals were even worse than the midday ones—calling it "sloppy" wouldn’t do justice; it was the very definition of "sloppy."

  Due to the dreadful evening meals, the snack shop’s chicken cutlets and instant noodles became extremely popur.

  Some students couldn’t help but compin, suggesting that this was all part of a scheme by Principal Hercuno and the canteen manager, who had close ties to the owner of the snack shop.

  Fortunately, the snack shop owner was more reliable than the rumours about the canteen’s manager’s shady dealings. The prices at the shop were reasonable, and the owner had a good understanding of students’ preferences, ensuring the stock was always in demand.

  Xanthia enjoyed visiting the school’s snack shop. She could buy the snacks she liked at affordable prices, perfect for sneaking bites during self-study sessions. The joy of this experience was something she, as someone returning to high school, could truly appreciate.

  As for why she chose to have dinner at Luciel's dormitory, it was simply because their dorm was fantastic—clean, tidy, with fresh air, and the retionships between the roommates were harmonious.

  It was nothing like the 404 dormitory next door, where Noemi served as the dorm leader. That dorm was known for being a "dark zone," where one misstep could lead to a "biological crisis" or "chaotic uprising," enough to ruin anyone’s appetite.

  Dining in the refreshing atmosphere of the 403 dormitory naturally made for a better mood.

  Generous as ever, Xanthia shared the high-end snacks and fruits she brought back with Luciel's roommates who hadn’t attended the birthday party.

  As a result, Luciel’s roommates had no compints; in fact, they were curious about the extravagant nature of Dionysius's private birthday party.

  "Extravagant? It wasn’t all that extravagant. The cake was a bit bigger, the venue was nicer, and there was a wider variety of food... But I was quite satisfied with the party. There were no rules, just freedom and no restrictions," Xanthia calmly summarised.

  Her understated response, of course, didn’t satisfy Luciel’s roommates.

  Fortunately, the "Gossip Queen," Lhoraine, was present. Although she wasn’t in the same dorm as Luciel, she and Luciel got along well as desk mates, often visiting each other's dorms.

  Lhoraine, being an expert in spreading gossip, could tell a story with such depth and fir that it captivated everyone. Through her version, the true excitement of the birthday party was revealed to all the roommates.

  Lhoraine focused on two main points: first, Xanthia's show-stopping musical performance, which stole the spotlight, and second, the fact that Xanthia was now under the protective wing of Dionysius making it clear that anyone who dared cross Xanthia would be in serious trouble.

  After delivering this gossip, Lhoraine was fully satisfied with the reactions of the roommates, who looked at Xanthia with awe. They were astonished that Xanthia had managed to outshine the rich heir, Miss Seranthalia, from the Foreign Languages High School.

  Hearing the gossip, the roommates quickly felt that it was only natural for someone as talented, intelligent, and accomplished as Xanthia to have caught the attention and protection of Dionysius.

  Xanthia was already used to Lhoraine’s "preaching" and exaggerated tales. Although she felt Lhoraine had exaggerated a bit, and even shaded Miss Seranthalia in the process, the situation had indeed unfolded somewhat like Lhoraine described.

  Unfortunately, Lhoraine had only seen the surface of things and didn’t know that Miss Seranthalia and Xanthia had their own private understanding...

  As gossip inevitably gets "embellished," Lhoraine was among the more honest ones. If she were a journalist, she’d be one of the more conscientious ones.

  In contrast, in the neighbouring 404 dorm, Marian, was something else entirely. She was thrilled when she returned to her dorm and saw Hannah there.

  Hannah had wanted to attend Dionysius’s birthday party but missed out because she didn’t make the effort to be close to Xanthia. Despite her attempts at fttering Xanthia, she was unsuccessful.

  Later, when Xanthia took a group of girls to have fun, Hannah compined behind her back, calling Xanthia uncouth, assuming her behaviour would anger Dionysius. She predicted that once Dionysius disliked Xanthia, she’d have no pce in the school.

  This compint, however, ended up boomeranging right back at Hannah.

  Now, when Marian returned, she began funting her "accomplishments," even showing off her new, expensive MP3 pyer, worth over two thousand romanis...

  Hannah instantly felt a surge of anger, her eyes fshing with fury, but she sneered, "Is that it? We're already in the era of smartphones, who the hell still uses an MP3 pyer, an old relic like that? Dionysius really knows how to win favour, huh? Just taking out all the unsold electronic products from his familia's warehouse and giving them away."

  Marian, however, ughed and replied, "MP3s may be outdated, but they're small, discreet, and they have a screen. They're actually quite handy for secretly reading e-books. Besides, it's free; it doesn’t cost anything. Why are you making such a fuss? Are you jealous of me?"

  "Jealous? Jealous of what? You’re just shallow, aren’t you? You get a little something and you act like you’ve won the lottery. You’ve already climbed aboard Xanthia’s ship, haven’t you? She takes you all along, and now she’s probably disliked by Dionysius and his friends, right?" Hannah said, with firm conviction.

  "Shut up! Don’t bad-mouth Xanthia. If you do, you’ll be the one to suffer. She’s currently under Dionysius's protection as his 'little sister,' and she’s really talented. The birthday gift she prepared impressed everyone. Who could possibly dislike her? Everyone loves her!" Marian retorted loudly.

  After that, Marian began to funt her usual "boasting" style, exaggerating to the extreme, literally putting Xanthia on a pedestal. After receiving some benefits from Xanthia, she genuinely sang her praises from the heart. As expected, Hannah was becoming increasingly uncomfortable hearing it. While she knew Marian was prone to exaggeration, she still found it hard to accept.

  The problem was, even if she was boasting, there had to be some truth to it. You couldn’t just make things up completely; otherwise, if someone easily caught you in a lie, you'd end up embarrassed. Marian had, in the past, made exaggerated cims, but those cims were often so inconsistent that they made her sound unconvincing. If you asked her to repeat herself, she would contradict herself.

  Now, seeing Marian confidently praising Xanthia, Hannah felt a pang of worry. Had Marian really attached herself to Xanthia? That was too annoying! Hannah then employed her tactic of repeatedly probing, hoping to find a fw in Marian’s praise. However, she found nothing!

  This only increased Hannah’s frustration. She remembered what Yannis had said to her—what if the other person genuinely liked Xanthia’s straightforwardness?

  At this point, it didn’t seem like Xanthia’s honesty was what had won the admiration, but rather that this "country girl" actually had musical talent. According to rumours, Dionysius also liked music, so perhaps it was a case of kindred spirits meeting?

  Hannah was seething with anger. Why did Xanthia always have such good luck? She just happened to have a talent for music, which coincidentally hit Dionysius’s sweet spot.

  She had initially hoped that Xanthia’s casual attitude—bringing a group of girls to the party—would make her disliked by Dionysius, but the reality was the opposite. Not only was she not disliked, but her gift had been so well-received that she had earned even more respect!

  It was maddening for Hannah that someone like Marian, who shamelessly tched onto others, had benefitted so greatly from Xanthia’s influence.

  "Enough! Shut up and stop boasting, it’s disgusting! Pay me back, you still owe me money!" Hannah, putting on a mask of frustration, resorted to her "payback tactic."

  Indeed, aside from her love for boasting, Marian also liked borrowing money from her roommates. At first, no one realised she was a habitual exaggerator. They assumed she was really well-connected, perhaps on the same level as Hera, the rich girl, so they lent her money without suspicion. She also appeared generous and charismatic, giving off the impression that she was someone with high status. If she were a man, she would be the type to boast about his powerful retives after a few drinks at the table, spinning tales of influential connections and power struggles.

  To make her boasts sound more convincing, she would even throw in some secrets or gossip she'd read in some trashy magazine, mixing in a bit of fictitious upper-css intrigue. If someone was new to her "boasting," they might even fall for it.

  But one day, things went wrong when Marian borrowed money and it was revealed that she was actually not from a wealthy familia. She had been pretending to be a rich heiress the entire time. After attending an event with Xanthia and seeing the world beyond her own, she returned and immediately posted in the campus forum, infting her status. Now, she wasn’t just a rich girl like Hera—she was a real, legitimate heiress!

  She had even gone so far as to imagine herself as the daughter of a powerful familia, adopting the persona of someone like Miss Seranthalia La Magenta.

  Marian’s most bizarre trait was her habit of treating borrowed money as though it were her own, spending it extravagantly and generously with her roommates.

  For a while, she enjoyed a higher status in the dorm than Elena, the campus angel. Unfortunately, once her true nature as a "boasting queen" was exposed, things got more difficult for her.

  However, Marian had learned her lesson and realised that the more she pretended to be wealthy, the easier it was to borrow money.

  So, when someone asked for repayment, she would just borrow from others, shifting money around, and pay in installments. As long as she could keep up the appearance of wealth, she could always borrow money, with only her roommates knowing the truth, while the boys were none the wiser.

  When Hannah asked Marian for repayment, Marian wasn’t fazed in the slightest. With a confident tone, she said, "I’ll pay you back, of course. It’s only 300 romanis, right? Wait for me! I’ll pay you all at once tomorrow!"

  Marian didn’t have any money herself, but her close friend Hera was wealthy. Plus, now that she had received a gift from Dionysius, she could use it as colteral to borrow a rge sum from Hera.

  Repaying Hannah was no problem for her.

  This idiot Hannah still thought Marian was na?ve, not realising how much weight her "boasting queen" persona and "money borrowing expert" status carried.

  Yes, in today’s world, those who could borrow money were the true winners. Those who were asked to lend money were the subordinates.

  Once she had borrowed a rge sum, Marian could even pretend to be wealthier, and perhaps borrow money from Matthew, the heir of a wealthy familia.

  From now on, she wouldn’t be just another rich girl like Hera. She would aspire to be as impressive as Miss Seranthalia La Magenta!

  Speaking of Miss Seranthalia, wasn’t she upset with Xanthia? But Xanthia didn’t have a rich heiress backing her, which made her seem vulnerable…

  In that case, Marian, as Miss Marian, would need to become Xanthia’s "rich heiress" support, right? It sounded like a heavy responsibility, but as long as she could borrow rge sums of money, she was confident she could pull off the role of a wealthy heiress!

  Xanthia, the poor, aspiring girl, would now be protected by "Miss Marian," the heiress!