They didn't meet that day because Isabelle returned home after witnessing that. She couldn't face Evan anymore.

She returned to her room, looking at the usual furniture and layout. However, the light failed to reflect on her eyes as the room was dark in her vision despite the numerous lamps in the room.

The bed might be the only comfort she could get as the quilt closed her in.

She recalled when was the last time she got bullied and realized that Evan became a bully in the school not long after that. In other words, he had been protecting her for years.

'Why did he protect me?'

The only time they met was years ago, and it was a bad meeting. That was why she couldn't understand why Evan would go to this length.

*Creak*

A middle-aged man pushed the door open, finding a huge round bulge on the bed, covered with a quilt. Next to the bed, he found a chair and grabbed it before sitting on it, facing the bed.

"Isabelle… I heard that you ran to the school earlier… Why are you coming back now? I mean, the class should have just started right now."

Isabelle's body shook, paused for a moment, and let out a hoarse voice. "Father… What should I do?"

The middle-aged man was Isabelle's Father. This was the first time he saw her like this, so he couldn't comprehend. Isabelle, in his memory, was a strong girl. She never cried despite facing adversity, but this weak side of her broke his heart. He abandoned all the work he had and headed to this room after the servant informed him.

"Can you tell your father what has happened?"

"I… I have done the worst thing to someone who has been protecting me."

"Hmm?" The father, Roy Fisher, thought for a moment and realized who she was talking about. "How about telling your father the whole situation first?"

"Ugh…"

"I know this is hard for you, but it's Father's fault."

"…" Isabelle paused. "Why is it Father's fault?"

"I knew your situation this whole time but kept it a secret. I decided to trust you on this matter because you showed your strong side to me, so I would like to see you resolve the problem yourself. If I stepped in, they wouldn't dare to bully you, but I didn't.

"I hated myself to do something like this, but I believed you could do it. After all, I knew you are a proud girl who wants to shut all the other families up with your own strength. Hence, I never stretched my hand to this matter.

"Still, you have worked hard, dear daughter. Don't blame yourself because everything is your father's fault." Roy's voice was gentle and soothing.

Even Isabelle flinched as she slightly opened the quilt, revealing her eyes.

"You are talking about Evan Young, right?"

"Uhm."

"I have been talking with his father as well. And we have agreed to let both of you solve everything. No matter how hard you hide it from us, we will know it."

"Father… Can you tell me more about him?"

"He didn't really talk much, but I knew one thing. He always visited you at least once a week under the pretense of checking his sister."

Isabelle felt useless and cried even more. "Your daughter is useless… She couldn't even realize it. Why would he protect me this whole time when all I had done to him was hitting him and biting him. The first time I saw him, I was the one pushing him and had him covered with dirt."

"Is that so?" Roy gently smiled, correcting her with his own version. "All I know is that he fell when he was playing with friends and he asked me my view about you. Of course, I told him that you are a daughter that I can be proud of.

"You might be the only person who could turn him into something like that. Whatever he felt in the past or even now, he did it because he wanted to. I genuinely believe that. Even if the chance is one in a million, you can try one million times, so you can succeed. You are still young and have a long future in front of you.

"As long as you get back up and try again, I believe there will be a time where you succeed. And Evan was helping you, so your chance could increase with a good environment in school. What is his reason? That is the question you need to ask him. But can you ask him?"

Isabelle gripped the quilt even tighter. Every word struck deep inside her heart. She didn't know why but all of it was more painful than the hardship she bore until today.

"Father… Have you ever felt you want to do everything for someone no matter the cost?"

"I have when chasing my second wife, AKA your mother. It was a life-threatening matter for me back then because it would cost me everything, including this family. Still, I poured every single bit of my energy to make it work. There was a time that I could only sleep two hours each day for a year or even went without sleep.

"I needed to keep the family going and work out the relationship between me, your mother, and your first mother. Everything paid off at the end, where both of your mothers didn't fight anymore and treated each other as equals.

"In any case, if you really wanted something, you should pour everything and risk it all. When you fail to do so, come to me, and I will resolve it. I am your father after all." Roy smiled.

Isabelle fell silent for a few minutes before opening her quilt, revealing her messy appearance. She looked at her father with wet eyes and asked. "Father… What should I do?"

"I don't know. The answer lies in yourself. How about you think about what you want to do today and go to school tomorrow?" Roy rose and patted her head. "One thing that I am certain, don't run away, Daughter."

After telling her everything needed to be said, he left the room and went back to work.

The room turned silent for a whole day. The next day, Isabelle came to school with black bags under her eyes, but her expression was that of a warrior.

She intentionally came a bit later when they were on break.

Evan was dragged to the roof as he was beaten by some classmates.

*Bang!*

Isabelle slammed the door open and ran toward the six people beating him up, hitting the first guy on his face.

"What are you doing?!" Evan was the first to question her.

"Heh! The princess has arrived. Do you think we are afraid of you? The girls have asked us to beat you as well, and I don't mind beating a wom—!" The other guy shouted before pain spread around his jaw, realizing that he was blown away.

"Treat women nicely, idiot." Evan snorted and kicked one of the females on the stomach. "And treat b*tches like this."

"Shut up, all of you scums." Isabelle snorted and threw another punch at the female. The group was comprised of two males and four females to begin with, so her targets were those females that openly bullied him.

"You are the one who should shut up!" The man she punched earlier had recovered and kicked Evan on the stomach. And the other two females hit her back.

They started a full brawl. Evan handled the two guys while Isabelle kept all the other four occupied, albeit their strength was inferior to all of them combined, so the fight slowly turned ugly for them.

Not long after, they were the ones getting beaten up without the chance to fight back.

A few minutes later.

*Ding Dong!* The school bell rang, stopping the fight.

"Sh*t. Now I am covered with bruises like this."

"You guys are lucky this time."

"I really want to beat them more."

"Idiot. The school teacher will patrol around the school when the bell rings. The school doesn't really prohibit fighting, but if you get caught red-handed, trouble will come."

"Tch."

The group clicked their tongues and left the two alone.

Isabelle and Evan then dropped to the ground, flat on their back. Bruises covered their bodies, and they were tired as hell. The bell was ringing, but both of them couldn't get up.

Evan facepalmed and sighed. "What the heck are you doing?! They will come back to you! It's hard for you to escape the bullying again, you know!"

"It's not like they have stopped to begin with. And I don't like the term of sacrifice. Instead, how about you? Why would you do something like this for me?"

"…"

"You can't answer? Or you don't want to answer? Either way, I won't answer as well!" Isabelle stuck her tongue out. "Unless you beat me up until I am hospitalized, I will keep doing this every single day."

"You… Idiot!" Despite cursing her, a smile appeared on his face.

"We are idiots! It's hurt to get beaten like this, but I feel this is the first time I can genuinely smile in school!" Isabelle grinned. "Since the school prohibits the use of magic in an unofficial fight, I can learn martial arts to beat those guys in the future. Then refuse any other official fights.

"Besides, if they are relying on their family to create a fuss with this, I will also move my family. Just you wait… I will beat them up like there is no tomorrow and make their school life the worst. And… I have decided to not run away anymore! I will face everything properly this time. Thank you for teaching me that!"

"You are really… a big idiot…"