Genius of the Generations (A Project: Eden's Garden x OC Story)

Chapter 1: Sublime Slam Sisters

(Damon POV)

Nighttime had already begun not long after Eva and I said our farewells to Matteo...

Upon hearing the announcement, Eva departed for Diana's room, leaving with a small wave. Eventually, I was by myself in the corridor.

Who knows what's happening with Matteo... There's no use worrying about talking to him now. Might as well head to Kai's room and wait for tomorrow to confront him...

I turned to go to Kai's door, just as I was about to put my hands on the door knob...

"H-Hey..."

A slightly shaken voice spoke up, causing me to turn my head as I finally saw Diana nervously rounding the corner from where the staircase to the boiler room was.

"...Diana? What are you... Hold on, were you eavesdropping?" I questioned her.

...

Diana wrapped her arms around herself as she looked away with a look of shame on her face.

"I-I'm...sorry. It...didn't seem like a good time to interrupt, especially after overhearing what happened with Matteo."

That's strange... Her behavior seems a lot more cautious than what I've seen of her.

Of course, thinking about it more clearly, I had a very good idea of why she might have hidden.

"Are you...avoiding Matteo...?" I asked.

"H-Huh...?" Diana yelped in surprise.

...

Judging by her reaction, that seemed to be it. She made an attempt to compose herself before speaking again.

"What makes you think that...?"

"You're likely nervous around him because of what he said about having your blackmail. Am I wrong?"

...

Diana's expression settled a bit, as if a weight was lifted off her shoulders.

"Uh...yeah... I guess...I just don't know what he knows about my blackmail...and I'm having a hard time asking him about it," she sighed.

"Are you afraid he might threaten to tell everyone if you press him?"

"Eh...? Well...I... I don't want to believe he'd honestly want to go that far, but..."

"'But...?'"

...

Diana paused before she took a deep breath. "It's...alright... I'm sure if I talk to him, things will work out somehow..."

If I didn't know any better, I'd say that was her way of dodging the issue.

Actually, all I had heard about the dining hall incident was that Matteo somehow discovered the contents of everyone's blackmail. But I never really did get a clear picture as to how things escalated.

"You were there up until Matteo arrived, right? What exactly happened before Eva and I showed up at the dining hall?"

I was determined to get some answers since interrogating Matteo was no longer an option for right now.

"Huh...? Oh..." Diana looked confused for a moment, but quickly understood the reasoning behind my query.

"...Eva and I had just finished taking down the posted letters in the hallways, but afterwards, we heard shouting in the dining hall. I ran to see what was going on. Wolfgang had gotten there before me, and that's when I saw the copies on the walls.