A Court of Rebellion

The third and final round had begun. All the contestants had been eliminated, except for two girls.

The stage was empty, waiting for the two finalists, Mio and Seraphine.

This was very frustrating for the blonde. The Bunny was becoming a real nuisance; she couldn't afford to lose on her own show, on her own turf.

The third round was a Mixed Catwalk. Both girls would come out at the same time, walking side by side, in a direct duel of presence and charisma. Mio was already wearing her final dress. It was an architectural piece, a fabric armor that made her look strong but feminine. She was nervous, adjusting her gloves, waiting for the director's signal.

There were only a few minutes left before departure. Seraphine approached her. Her face showed false concern. “ Oh, dear. ” Seraphine said, reaching her hand toward her hair. “ You have something in your hair. Let me help you. ” Mio, naively, stood still. “ Huh? ” Seraphine ran her hand through Mio's long pink hair.

And then she squeezed a small tube hidden in her palm. Quick-drying industrial glue smeared itself onto Mio's locks, sticking them into a horrible, lumpy knot at the nape of her neck. “ Oops, ” whispered Seraphine with an evil smile. “ What a mess. Good luck fixing that in a minute. ”

Frightened, Mio ran her hand through her hair and felt the glue, which caused her to panic. “No, no, no!” She bent down, trying to separate the strands, but it only made it worse. Her perfect hairstyle was now an irreparable mess. Tears began to well up in her eyes. “ It's ruined, it can't be. ”

There were only a few seconds left. The intro music began to play. Mio was about to cry and give up, but then she looked through a small hole in the velvet curtains and saw the audience. She noticed that Tanaka and Kaguya were in the front row.

Kaguya didn't seem worried; she had her chin up, waiting for her protégé to shine. And behind them, in the special guests' area, she saw Ren. He wasn't looking at the empty stage. He was looking at the curtain, as if he knew she was there. His usually expressionless face looked serious and determined. His eyes said, Don't give up. You have to fight.

Seeing that all those people supported him, Mio stood up abruptly. His eyes, which had been teary moments before, now burned with anger. “I won't let you win.”

With just seconds to go before going on stage, Mio did something that even Seraphine in her worst nightmares would not have expected. She saw a pair of sewing scissors left on the table of a nearby stylist. She ran over and grabbed them. “ Mio! What are you doing?! ” shouted an assistant who was nearby.

Without thinking, Mio grabbed her long pink hair with one hand and SNIP! The sound of scissors cutting could be heard throughout the backstage area. Mio had started cutting the glue knot. Long strands fell to the floor. She no longer had waist-length hair. Now, her hair was short, an uneven and unruly bob just above her shoulders. This action made everyone on that side scream. Even Seraphine stood with her mouth open, horrified. “ You're crazy! ”

“ On stage! ” shouted the director. There was no time to react. The lights came on, and both girls went out.

The audience fell silent. They were expecting the sweet, long-haired bunny girl. Instead, what they saw was a girl with short hair, uneven ends, walking with a determination that sent shivers down their spines.

The new haircut framed her face, highlighting her eyes and her determination. Ren, from his seat, opened his eyes wide in amazement. He couldn't look away. She looked... magnificent.

The catwalk ended in silence. It was a shock to everyone. But when both girls turned and disappeared behind the curtain, the stadium exploded. A massive cry of euphoria was heard. “MIO! MIO!” No one had expected such a radical change. They interpreted it as an act of rebellion, a statement about fashion. It was clear that everyone, absolutely everyone, was supporting Mio.

As soon as Mio left the stage, away from the lights, her legs gave way to nerves. She collapsed to the floor, trembling. She was nervous and scared. What she had done was very risky.

She touched her short hair, incredulous. But when she heard the crowd chanting her name, a shy smile appeared on her face. " I did it. "

But Seraphine wasn't amused. The blonde approached her, her face red with anger, losing all her elegant composure. “ You cheated! ” Seraphine shouted, pointing at her. “ You changed your look at the last second! You ruined my show! Damn orphan! ”

Seraphine raised her hand, about to slap Mio, who was still on the floor. Mio closed her eyes, waiting for the blow.

But the blow never came.

An elegant hand with dark red nails held Seraphine's wrist in the air. It was Kaguya Minamoto. She had arrived backstage just in time. “ What do you think you're doing to my protégée? ” Kaguya asked in a serious, dangerous voice. “ Touching her will cost you more than your hand, dear. ”

“ Let go of me! ” Seraphine shouted, trying to break free, which only made him angrier.

“ Enough. ” said a third voice, cutting off the argument. It was Ren Shinomiya, who had entered the scene. He walked straight toward them and stood between Seraphine and Mio, protecting the short-haired girl with his body. He looked at Seraphine with contempt. “ It's over, Seraphine. If you don't want any more trouble, leave. Now. ”

Seraphine let out a nervous laugh. “ You're giving me orders? I don't care about your threats, ‘Prince.’ A small percentage of my money is much more than your entire family and these losers combined. You're worthless! I'm the victim here! ”

Ren, showing no expression, pointed to Seraphine's hand. “ You have glue residue on your right hand. ” Ren said calmly. “ And thanks to Naoki's efficiency, my guards just found a tube of industrial glue with your fingerprints on it in the trash can in hallway 4. ”

Seraphine's face turned pale. “ Ren... ”

 “ I knew from the start that you weren't playing fair .” Ren continued, taking a step toward her. " I always had my eye on you. I can go out right now and expose to the world that the great Seraphine Laurent had to cheat because she was afraid of losing to a rookie. " Ren lowered his voice, making it darker. “ And I won't forgive what you did to Akira at the party either. You've messed with too many people, Laurent. ”

Seraphine felt cornered and humiliated. She looked at Kaguya, then at Ren, and finally at Mio. She knew she had lost. She abruptly pulled away from Kaguya's hand. “ Keep your stupid parade! ” she shouted as she fled, the sound of her heels gradually fading away, marking her defeat.

Mio finally let out the breath she had been holding due to nerves. Kaguya sighed, smoothing her suit, then looked at Ren. “ Thank you, young Shinomiya. ” Kaguya said, but her tone immediately turned serious. After all, they were still rivals in the corporate war. “ I appreciate what you did for Mio and for stopping that madwoman. ”

Kaguya helped Mio to her feet, dusting off her dress. Then she looked at Ren with a raised eyebrow and a wry half-smile. “ But don't think I'll give you my protégée's hand just because you saved her once. Keep dreaming, prince. ”

Ren looked at Mio, with her new short hair, and for a second, he wanted to say something, but he knew Kaguya was right. It wasn't the time. He bowed and turned away, disappearing into the shadows of the backstage, leaving the Bunny Girl to celebrate her victory.

However, the story was not over yet. Outside, in the cold parking lot, darkness had other plans.

Seraphine stormed toward her sports car. She may have lost the battle, humiliated by a pair of scissors and some glue, but she refused to lose the war.

She took out her phone and dialed a number violently. On the third ring, someone answered.

“ Seraphine? ” Ryōma Shinomiya's voice sounded expectant. “ Did we win? ”, “ It's over ” she spat, getting into her car and slamming the door. “ What?, What are you talking about? ”, “ I'm canceling the contract, Ryōma Shinomiya. I don't want your money. I'll give you all of it back first thing tomorrow morning” I don't need your millions to destroy someone. " Ryōma sounded confused and annoyed. “ Explain yourself! I paid you to...! ”

“ Thank your stupid son! ” Seraphine shouted, losing her temper. “ Ren ruined everything! He protected her! He got between that rat and me! ” There was silence on the other end of the line. “ Ren... did what? ”

“ Your perfect Prince isn't on our side! ” Seraphine started her car engine. “ But tell him this won't go unpunished. No one humiliates me and gets away with it. ”

Without waiting for a response, Seraphine hung up. Throwing the phone onto the passenger seat, she floored the accelerator and sped out of the parking lot, disappearing into the night toward an unknown destination.