They Hated Me in My First Life, But Now I Have the Love System
Chapter 280 - 280 Doubts

Chapter 280: Doubts Chapter 280: Doubts Her short, dark braids were pulled back into a neat ponytail, and her fitted travel vest looked more stylish than practical.

She wasn’t a noble, just a civilian who had worked her way into Abuchi’s circle through street smarts, charm, and persistence.

She had no battlefield accolades, but she knew how to survive, how to watch, and how to stay close to power.

Her loyalty to Abuchi ran deep, but it was tinted with quiet resentment.

At Nnenna’s arrival, Karen did not bother hiding the way her lips pressed into a line.

“This is the girl?” she said, her tone flat.

No direct hostility.

Just clipped judgment.

Karen didn’t like Nnenna.

She never had.

It wasn’t about her skill, or lack of it, it was everything else.

The adoption.

The royal treatment.

The now growing bond with Abuchi.

He hated her so much before.

What changed?

Karen had clawed her way into his circle and stayed quietly in his shadow, hoping he might one day turn around and see her.

But now there was this girl, sixteen, untrained, unworthy in Karen’s eyes, handed a seat she had worked years to earn.

John, by contrast, didn’t say much.

A low ranked noble born to a family that barely held onto its title, he had enough breeding to enter high society but not enough to matter.

He had trained hard to make himself useful to Abuchi, reliable, grounded, strategic.

His travel worn clothes and low profile demeanor reflected someone who wasn’t flashy, but dependable.

He didn’t like risks, and this… looked like a risk.

He eyed Nnenna for a moment before muttering, “I thought this was a real mission.” He didn’t say more, but the meaning hung in the air.

She was young.

She was untested.

To him, it looked like the prince was letting personal feelings interfere with sound judgment.

And then there was Ekene.

He stood slightly apart from the others, hands in the pockets of his brown utility jacket.

His clothes were functional, dusty from his last trip to the Lionara airfields, and the faint smell of metal and oil clung to him like a second skin.

He wasn’t military.

He wasn’t noble.

He was the tech guy, the one who could hack, fix, design, and build their way out of nearly any trap.

He didn’t carry himself like a fighter, but he had saved their necks more times than they could count.

Ekene studied Nnenna in silence, head tilted slightly.

He wasn’t impressed, but he also wasn’t dismissive.

“I’ll see for myself,” he said after a beat.

“Not making any judgments yet.” That quiet neutrality, free of scorn or suspicion, was the closest thing to welcome she had received.

Nnenna nodded slightly, her eyes flicking over each of them in turn.

She could feel the tension, the disbelief.

She wasn’t one of them.

Not yet.

But she would be.

Whether they liked it or not.

“Hello everyone,” Nnenna greeted, her voice steady even though she could feel their eyes raking over her.

Ekene offered her a small wave, casual, polite, no judgment in his gaze.

But John and Karen didn’t bother to return the gesture.

Their stares were cold, openly dismissive.

“You’re serious?” John said, looking at Abuchi like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“You’re actually bringing a sixteen year old girl on this kind of mission?

Do you want her to get killed?” Karen scoffed, arms crossed tightly over her chest, not even trying to mask her disdain.

“This is reckless, Abuchi.

Completely reckless.” Their disrespect was loud and clear.

Nnenna felt it, saw it in the way their eyes slid over her like she was nothing.

She could guess why.

Over the years, they had seen how Abuchi spoke of her, how he had treated her like an annoying shadow, never acknowledging her properly.

These were his closest friends.

If their leader had no respect for her, why should they?

Abuchi’s face darkened.

“If any of you had been at the Grand Ball, you wouldn’t be saying this,” he snapped.

John’s expression shifted slightly, but not in her favor.

“I was there.

That’s exactly why I’m saying this,” he said coolly.

“You think I didn’t hear what people said?

That she must have bribed the other competitors to lose to her?” Karen didn’t speak, but her silence was loud.

She hadn’t been at the ball, her family wasn’t noble enough to be invited, but she had heard the rumors.

And she believed them.

Of course she did.

To Karen, Nnenna was nothing more than a girl who had gotten lucky.

A commoner taken in by the king, gifted a royal life, and now standing too close to the prince she herself could only circle as a “friend.” It burned.

Watching Nnenna be chosen again and again, it burned.

But Ekene said nothing.

He hadn’t been at the Grand Ball either.

As a civilian from a quiet, working class family in Lionara, he hadn’t even been considered for an invitation.

But he didn’t deal in rumors or politics.

He believed in observation, in results.

And right now, he hadn’t seen enough to decide.

So he simply stood with his hands in his pockets and said, “I’ll judge for myself.” Nnenna’s hands clenched at her sides, but she kept her chin high.

It didn’t matter what they thought.

She would prove them all wrong.

“She’s capable of being here,” Abuchi said firmly, glancing at each of them.

“Even more than some people in this group.

You’ll see.” His words silenced any further protest, though Karen’s crossed arms and John’s doubtful expression remained.

Ekene simply gave a small nod, quietly filing everything away behind his eyes.

Abuchi took a deep breath.

“We don’t have much time, so let’s get straight to the plan.” He reached into his coat and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

His fingers, usually so steady, trembled slightly as he unfolded it.

The others noticed.

Nnenna definitely noticed.

His jaw was tight.

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