Chapter Four

Rosé froze in her spot. Her arms and legs seemed to have given out on her, and her eyes were wide open, staring at the Prince's face. She was more than anything, confused. Perhaps he had read out the wrong name? Maybe someone tallied up the results incorrectly. There must have been something. Something must have gone wrong. There was absolutely no way she had won first place. Foretelling the results of the competition was not even her forte, even if she wanted to have any magical powers. She had no gifts. It was point blank. This was obviously a mistake. But how could she explain this to them? How could she look Prince Seungyoon in the eye and tell him she had no idea why or how she won. Not to mention how she wasn't even Lalisa Manoban. 

The entire audience began to speak in low voices and everyone was looking around. Searching for who this Lalisa Manoban girl was and why she wasn't going up on the stage to accept her prize. Rosé swallowed hard, feeling beads of sweat at her temples. 

"Lisa, are you alright?" A voice spoke out to her, and it took her a moment to look up from her spot to see Prince Seungyoon standing next to her. She opened to speak, but only heaved quietly. "You won, you should go up and accept your reward." He smiled down at her and lowered a hand to help her stand. 

Rosé looked around and up at Jennie on the stage, who was frowning with worry in return. Without a word, Rosé reached out to grip the Prince's hand and stood up. With careful small steps, she began to make her way towards the stage. She felt the pad of the Prince's thumb brush her hand gently, and she glanced at him to see him giving her a warm smile of encouragement. Her head felt too heavy to even attempt at a smile in return, and she simply shuffled over to Prince Mino. 

"With the highest score that this competition has ever seen in the past seventy-eight years, Lalisa Manoban, with four out of five correct answers." Prince Mino spoke calmly, and the closer Rosé got to him, the more heavy she felt. He could see right through her, she knew it. She could feel his piercing gaze, amused at her attempt to hide her identity. He knew the trouble that she would be in. Prince Seungyoon released Rosé's hand and she reached out to take the trophy from Prince Mino. He held it out to her, but when she moved to pull back, he didn't let go, causing Rosé to look up at his face with even more confusion. The crowd cheered loudly for her, with hooting and whistles that she couldn't seem to hear. She furrowed her brows and parted her lips to speak, but the two seconds were over, and he released his grip.

As did she. She hadn't expected the trophy to be so heavy, and the simple glass prize slipped from her fingertips. The loud crash of the glass hitting the hard stage floor rang throughout the auditorium, causing all the chatter and cheers to stop abruptly. Rosé gasped, her eyes shooting up to look the Prince before her, only to find just as confused a face staring back at her. She took a step back from him, hearing the crunching sound of her boots stepping on the pieces of glass. She lifted her gaze to look around at the stunned faces all around her, and felt the sweat beading at the back of her neck. 

"Rosé?" Headmaster Kim's voice broke through the silence, and Rosé met his confused, then angry gaze. Alas, she would not be able to get out of this one. 

"Rosé?" She heard Prince Mino repeat faintly, and her head shot back to him, meeting his confused expression as well. 

"Rosé..." Princess Jisoo frowned and glared right at her. Rosé felt her face go pale. "Let me see my answers." The Princess demanded, taking steps towards the judge's tables and began flipping through the stack of paperwork. 

Slowly, everyone on the stage started repeating her name, the audience quietly whispering her name in accusation. She didn't know where to look or what to do. The sudden change of tone in everyone's voices became apparent. They thought she had cheated. She must have cheated. There was no other explanation why a student with no gifts could have possibly won first place. Nor was there a reason why she would have tried to hide her identity. Rosé was just as confused as everyone else, and when Headmaster Kim asked her to follow him offstage, she complied silently. 


Rosé was being bombarded with questions. Some she could not even answer for herself. She tried to explain her situation to Headmaster Kim, as she sat in a room with the entire panel of judges watching her every move. Prince Seungyoon was also in the room, nodding curiously to her every explanation and stopping Headmaster Kim here and there to ask Rosé more questions. She could hear the ceremony continue and come to a close. The five hundred students taking their leave of the auditorium and heading to breakfast. 

"So you're saying you are Rosé, used your friend Lisa's identity to get into this convention because you had no gifts and was not chosen, but somehow you've gotten all the answers correct for the competition and won first place? Are we supposed to believe that garbage?" Princess Jisoo's voice was thick with indignation, and she glared at Rosé with utmost disgust. "I hate cheaters." She snarled, squinting at her. 

"She said she didn't cheat, sister." Prince Seungyoon spoke lightly, coming to Rosé's defense. "She just doesn't know how it happened."

To which the Princess snorted and laughed. "Right. Because getting every single answer correct just happens out of the blue." 

The rest of the judges seemed to agree with her, and a few spoke quietly to themselves, nodding or shaking their head here and there. Rosé kept her eyes low on her fingers and picked at her nails. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate, trying to remember what happened and how she came about with her answers. She simply could not explain it. She repeated what she did remember again, even less convincing for the tenth time. 

"The names just kind of popped up in my head...they just...I just kind of thought of them at the last minute." Rosé frowned, biting her lower lip in frustration. 

"I think we've heard enough, Miss Park." One of the judges spoke, looking around at his fellow judges. "You may return to your room and await our announcement." 


Rosé made her way slowly back to the Healer's office, where her bags were. She began packing her things in silent, her brain still churning at a mile a minute. She herself could not wrap her head around what had happened. She repeated the scenes in her mind over and over again. The last bell chiming for the competition. Rosé setting the pen down. The crashing thud of her trophy as it split into a million pieces at her feet. The look on Prince Mino's face as he said her name. The Headmaster and the Princess spitting her name as if she was a liar and a cheat. 

Soon enough, Rosé's legs gave up on her and she was on her knees, her messy hair tumbling down her shoulders in front of her. Would they suspend her? Her parents surely have been notified by now of these happenings. Would Lisa get into trouble for giving her spot to Rosé? She prayed and prayed that wouldn't be the case. Letting out a breathy sigh, she curled her fingers into fists on the cold tiled flooring. She truly didn't know how she would get out of this one. Perhaps her family would have to send her off to a far away normal school. What if they had to move completely because the neighbors were too ashamed to have them in their community? Rosé felt her stomach leap with guilt. 

"Rosé!" Jennie stumbled into the room with wide eyes, and nearly squashed Rosé with her arms around her. Her friend helped her up and sit on the bed, then turned to wipe the strands of hair from her face. The simple touches from her best friend helped calm Rosé down and she wrapped her arms around Jennie, hugging her closely. "What happeend, Rosie?" Jennie's voice softened and she began  Rosé's back gently, as they always did to each other when the other was down. 

Rosé pulled away slightly and shook her head, frowning. "I don't know Jen. I really don't know. But the judges, they think I cheated or something. All I did was enter the convention with Lisa's name, I swear." Rosé rubbed her own face with her palms, just as the intercom system beeped alive. She looked up at Jennie's worried face and sighed again, shifting in her spot and looking towards the door. She had thought she'd seen someone outside the door, but her thoughts were interrupted by Headmaster Kim's voice. 

"Attention ladies and gentlemen. We apologize for this delayed message, as the events of this morning were still being assessed. I come to you with news and an update on the winners of the last competition. Unfortunately, Rosé Park has been disqualified from the competition. We are happy to announce that Princess Jisoo is now the first place winner of Predicting the results of the competition with three out of five correct answers. We are so proud to have a very talented royal family member with us in this class. Kim Ahryung will be moving to second place, and Choi Sanghyeok of our very own Amethysia will be crowned as third place winner of this final competition. That is all for today folks. Thank you to each and every one of you for coming out to this convention competition with us. Your rides will be outside the front gates waiting to pick you up and bring you back to your respective schools and homes. Congratulations to all the winners, and remember, you are all winners. You are all the future of Obsidian. Have a wonderful rest of your day." 


The rest of the day went by like a flash for Rosé. She was ordered to stay put until her parents arrived. Once her parents arrived to pick her up, she sat in an office with Headmaster Kim and Teacher Jeong for at least two hours, trying to explain the events of the morning to them. It felt more like an interrogation, in which Rosé could do nothing but give the replies that she had. Perhaps it was the faint look on her face, but after a time, Teacher Jeong suggested Headmaster Kim end the meeting. The headmaster made sure Rosé's parents knew that the district and royal family will be looking into tampering with her results or cheating of any kind. Whether or not she would be suspended or expelled would be decided within a few days. 

Throughout the entire car ride, her parents didn't say a word. Not even to each other, making the hour ride quite painful. But by the end of it, Rosé was fast asleep. Exhausted from the anxiety and confusion of the past few days. She didn't even wake as her father carried her inside, and to her comfortable bed. Dreamless dreams were Rosé's favorite kind of sleep, but they only occurred when she was extremely tired. And although she woke up a few times here and there, the lure of the blackness of her sleep invited her back into her subconscious. 

She didn't want to think about being suspended or expelled. She didn't want to think about being disqualified from the competition or being branded a cheater. Hell, she didn't even want to remember Prince Seungyoon's face. His understanding expression as she tried to fight for herself. And she sure as hell did not want to think of Prince Mino's face, inches from her own as she dropped the trophy, as if she knew, he knew, and now everyone knew, that trophy did not belong to her. 



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