141: Chapter 141 The Academy's Goddess Goes to Participate in a Beauty Pageant! The Heartbroken Male Classmate!

Frostwind City, Hengshi Academy of Law.

On a winter morning, the sky was a cold, leaden gray, hanging so low it felt as if a finer dusting of snow could fall at any moment.

The bluestone road outside the main gate of the academy, usually quiet and desolate, was different today.

Several spacious carriages, adorned with the green leaf-drop emblem of the Morning Dew Chamber of Commerce, were already prepared.

The carriage shafts were wrapped in anti-slip straw mats, and the horses puffed out clouds of white breath, stamping their hooves impatiently.

Chamber employees in thick uniforms were busy checking luggage and verifying lists.

The head of the chamber was speaking in low tones with one of the academy's vice principals, their faces showing the relief of a completed task and a trace of imperceptible anticipation.

Helena Payne stood beside one of the noticeably more refined carriages, bidding a final farewell to the few friends who had come to see her off: Lucille, Enid, and Laila.

She was still wearing that slightly worn dark blue academy cloak, her black hair pulled back into a simple bun, revealing a face of unparalleled beauty that remained devoid of expression.

Her luggage was sparse: only a small rattan trunk containing a few changes of clothes and her textbooks and notes.

The female employee from the Morning Dew Chamber of Commerce in charge of the matter stood a short distance away, wearing a professional, amiable smile.

But her eyes darted toward Helena from time to time, ensuring that this precious S-grade asset wouldn't run into any trouble at the last minute.

As long as Helena Payne arrived safely at Gino City and completed her registration, the chamber would receive a talent referral fee of five hundred gold coins!

For the employee handling this and the entire Frostwind City branch, this was a massive, non-negotiable net profit.

"Helena, take care on your journey... remember to write back once you get there."

Lucille's eyes were slightly red as she gripped Helena's hand, whispering her instructions.

"That's right, you're not familiar with Gino City, so keep your guard up," Enid said, unusually setting aside her typical feistiness and speaking with a serious tone.

"Don't forget us! If you really become a lady official, maybe we'll have to come rely on you in the future!"

Laila tried to use a joke to dilute the sadness of parting, but her smile was somewhat forced.

Helena nodded at them; deep within her black eyes flashed a hint of warmth, but mostly there was a calm born of resolve.

"I will. You all take care at the academy too. Give my regards to... Aidan, and tell him to focus on recovering." Her voice dropped almost imperceptibly when she mentioned her younger brother.

She said nothing more and did not turn back to look at the iron gate of the academy, which symbolized knowledge and order.

At the female employee's signal, she turned decisively, stepped onto the carriage's boarding step, and ducked into the carriage—a space that, while not luxurious, was far warmer and more comfortable than her home.

The carriage door closed.

It shut out the cold wind and the gazes from the outside world.

The coachman cracked his whip, producing a crisp sound in the air.

The wheels turned slowly, grinding over the icy road as they headed southeast toward Gino City.

...

The news of Helena's departure was like a boulder thrown into a frozen lake, stirring up a massive commotion within the seemingly calm Hengshi Academy of Law.

"Did you hear? That famous Helena Payne from the Law Department really left!"

"She went with the Morning Dew Chamber of Commerce carriage to Gino County to join that Count's beauty pageant!"

"My god! She's the top of our academy's commoner students this year! Her GPA is consistently in the top three, and in Logistics, she's the undisputed number one! The professors all praise her for being meticulous; getting into the imperial bureaucracy in the future would be effortless for her!"

"How could she... how could she go and join that kind of..."

"Why else? Money! The first-place prize is ten thousand gold coins! Even the top ten get several thousand!"

"It's not like you haven't heard about her family's situation—her brother broke his leg, they're drowning in debt, and they can barely put food on the table! Wouldn't you be tempted if you were her?"

"But that's a beauty pageant! Flaunting oneself, being picked over like a piece of merchandise!"

"Helena seemed like such a decent, noble person. How could she... how could she bow down for money and do something that damages her reputation like this?"

"Ha! Decent? Noble? That was just for show!"

A slightly sharp male voice rang out from a corner of the Law Department's common room.

The speaker was a male student who had always harbored subtle feelings for Helena but never dared to confess.

With an expression of bitterness and angry embarrassment, he said:

"If she were really that decent, why would she turn around and join a beauty pageant just for gold coins?"

"To put it bluntly, she was just waiting for the right price. She just hadn't encountered a better offer before!"

"As long as you lack strength and charm, all the women in the world look decent to you!"

"Once the temptation is big enough, let's see if she's still decent then!"

These words were quite vicious and immediately drew sideways glances from some of the surrounding students.

Especially from a few boys who usually had a good impression of Helena or simply admired her talent.

"William, that's going too far!" A male student wearing glasses frowned and retorted:

"Helena has difficulties at home; it's unavoidable. Her choosing this path is to save her brother and save her family."

"It takes a lot of courage. How can you say she was 'waiting for the right price'?"

"Exactly!" Another boy chimed in, his face showing indignation. "You didn't succeed in pursuing her, so now you're here slandering her? What kind of skill is that?"

"Helena's character and academic performance over these years at the academy are plain for all to see."

"If she were the type to covet vanity, she would have accepted Senior Joshua's pursuit long ago. Why wait until now?"

"Accept Joshua?" The boy named William sneered, raising his voice as if to convince more people:

"Joshua is the fourth son of the Knox family, not the heir; what he can give her is limited."

"But this Count Golden Flame? He's a real, solid count and lord, sitting on an entire county. Just a little bit leaking through his fingers is enough for her whole family to turn things around!"

"What a profitable deal! She was just playing hard to get before because she hadn't met a bigger buyer!"

"You guys, don't think of women as too simple, especially women who are both beautiful and smart!"

"William! Watch your language! This is an insult to Helena's character!"

The bespectacled boy stood up angrily.

"I'm stating facts!" William said, stiffening his neck. "If she were truly decent and noble, she should have gritted her teeth and persevered, relying on what she learned in the academy to pay off the debt slowly after graduation and treat her brother's injury!"

"Even if it's slower, even if it's harder, at least it would be clean and honorable!"

"And now? Running off to join a beauty pageant, to be a servant, a lady official?"

"It sounds nice, but who knows what that Count is recruiting so many pretty women for?"

"Once she goes, her reputation is ruined! Where is the decency in that?!"

"Haha," another boy heard the discussion and laughed, "William, isn't it a bit too hurtful to him to say it like that?"

"Stop talking... stop it..."

"Please, stop talking. I have a friend who feels very uncomfortable hearing what you said..."

"..."

The discussion in the classroom ended on a sour note.

But the controversy did not subside; instead, it spread over a wider area.

In the boys' dorms, in after-class social circles, similar conversations played out in various iterations.

"Sigh, I didn't expect Helena to actually take this path... I... I used to really like her."

"Like her? Give me a break, did she ever even look at you properly? It's for the best; the dream is over."

"She's just the type of woman who looks unattainable, but in reality, as long as the price is high enough, anyone can take her away."

"You can't really say it like that... she does have difficulties."

"Can you abandon your principles just because you have difficulties?"

"Does that mean from now on, all pretty women with difficulties can justifiably go and latch onto the powerful and wealthy?"

"Then what does that make us, who honestly study, work, and want to earn everything through our own efforts?"

"Hey, don't say that. If some beautiful, wealthy noblewoman took a fancy to me..."

"Keep dreaming!"

"Sigh... that Count Golden Flame, recruiting so many beautiful and educated women—is it really just to be servants or lady officials? Could it be..."

"Heh heh, who knows? That kind of high noble has all sorts of fetishes. Now that Helena has gone, I'm afraid she's in for some suffering."

"Maybe she's enjoying it? It's ten thousand gold coins! You couldn't earn that in ten lifetimes!"

"Heh..."

"Tsk, I used to think she was a goddess, but thinking about it now, she's nothing more than that."

"Forget it, don't think about it. Just find someone steady and well-behaved in the future."