Perhaps considering that a public fight would look bad, the four girls followed Mike to the small tent after hearing his suggestion.
As it was a temporary changing room, the "tent" was not large, and the five people inside felt a bit crowded.
Within the small space, the four girls stood in two groups with Mike at the center.
On one side was Mia, the royal princess, who seemed to have calmed down after her initial breakdown and was now staring at Mike, waiting for his explanation.
On the other side were the three girls from The Plastics, with Regina also staring at Mike with great interest.
The other two girls, Karen and Gretchen, had playful expressions, as if watching a show.
It was somewhat similar to a combination of Paige and Lina.
"Mia, there's something I need to confess to you," Mike organized his words and said, "Actually, besides you, I've also dated other girls.
But I can promise you, I am absolutely sincere with all of you…"
"So what does that make us? Am I the third party?" Mia, feeling her emotions had been toyed with, found the situation ridiculous.
As mentioned before, the girl was previously infatuated by Mike's aura and hadn't truly understood him.
Now, she felt a bit disillusioned.
"The third party?? No, no, no… didn't Mike tell you about his relationship with us?" Regina, like a victorious peacock, counted on her fingers and added fuel to the fire, "In terms of order, you can only be at most fifth."
The three from The Plastics plus Lina, in order of arrival, meant Mia was indeed the fifth among Mike's confidantes.
"Fifth???" Mia felt the situation becoming increasingly absurd, and her worldview was shaken.
Afterward, she still looked at Mike, unwilling to give up, and asked for confirmation, "Besides the three of them, who else have you been with? Lina???"
Seeing Mike nod slightly, the girl's emotions reached the brink of collapse.
She might not have noticed it before, but recalling it now, Mike and Lina seemed overly intimate at certain moments in their daily interactions.
"You disgust me!" Mia, realizing the trick, felt a surge of anger from being "deceived" and "betrayed."
After glaring fiercely at Mike, the girl stomped out of the tent in a huff.
She didn't want to see Mike for another second.
"Aren't you going to chase your little lover?" With no "outsiders" present, Regina immediately wrapped herself around Mike.
"I think the last person she wants to see right now is me, and this kind of thing is about mutual consent…" Although it was shameless, Mike had no intention of giving up an entire forest for one tree.
Not even if the other party was a princess.
"You truly are a bad man~" Regina commented with a smile.
This also indirectly showed that women don't love men who aren't a little bad.
Especially when the man is excellent enough.
Just as the atmosphere in the small tent was gradually heating up, commotion came from outside.
From the sound, Lina seemed to be in trouble.
"Excuse me, are you truly the Princess of Genovia?"
"Princess Mia, what is your relationship with 'Miracle Boy'? Are you truly dating?"
"Princess Mia, can you tell us what happened in the tent just now?"
...
A group of reporters carrying long lenses and cameras seemed to have already received inside information, confirming that Mia was indeed a princess.
And the love story of a foreign princess and a "country boy" would definitely grab eyeballs.
Moreover, this princess was also suspected of "fighting" over a man with other girls.
This was simply the big news any reporter dreamed of.
Yes, this group of reporters, eager for news heat, smelled gossip when Mike took the four girls into the tent.
To get a big scoop, they had been staking out not far from the tent earlier.
It could be said that hard work pays off!
Mia's expression when she came out just now gave these reporters a lot of room for imagination.
"Foreign Princess in Love with Sports Boy!"
"Genovia Princess's Love History!"
"Genovia Princess VS The Plastics!"...
These titles sounded very promising.
And at this moment, Princess Mia, surrounded by reporters, was mostly flustered and at a loss.
This girl, who had grown up as an ordinary person in a small town, was not equipped to handle the current situation.
"Move aside." Mike, who had rushed over upon hearing the commotion, parted the reporters to get to the center, then shielded Mia behind him and quietly confirmed, "Are you okay?"
Unlike the girl, Mike saw more.
Firstly, the work badges hanging on these reporters indicated that they were not local Texas reporters.
Moreover, from their precise targeting of Mia, it seemed they had known the girl's identity long ago, and their purpose this time was clearly to get a big scoop.
At this moment, the scene of Mike protecting Mia, surrounded by the three girls from The Plastics, was also captured by all these reporters.
"You need to leave here…" Mike thought for a moment, guessing the reporters' intentions, and after giving the three girls from The Plastics beside him a pleading look, he pulled the still-dazed Mia and pushed his way towards outside the campus.
Fortunately, the tent's location was at the edge of the sports field, so Mike only needed to evade the reporters in front of him to take the girl out of the school.
The three girls from The Plastics behind understood Mike's meaning.
They also "sensibly" helped Mike and Mia, blocking most of the reporters present.
The three girls from The Plastics, who had debuted more than three months ago, were much more at ease dealing with reporters.
Moreover, these reporters were also an opportunity for The Plastics.
An opportunity for their group to gain more exposure.
Princess, sports supernova, The Plastics—any one of these terms had the value to make headlines on its own.
Now, these three elements were combined, intertwined with scandal and gossip, which was a super big news story just thinking about it.
As long as Miracle Company handled it properly, The Plastics could definitely leverage Mike and Princess Mia's fame this time.
However, this kind of news attention was not a good thing for Mia, the future princess.
At the school gate, Mia, temporarily free from the reporters' harassment, shook off Mike's arm and said with a complex expression, "Let's stop here.
I don't want to have any more to do with you."
This "ordinary" girl also had her pride and knew it was not good to continue dragging things out with Mike.
Yet, Mike's brave "rescue" just now made the girl feel safe again.
She was afraid that if she stayed with him any longer, she would not be able to maintain her resolve.
Therefore, the girl urgently needed to adopt an aloof demeanor, building a high wall within her heart.
"Now is not the time to be temperamental.
I need to get you to Queen Renaldi quickly," Mike said, looking at the reporters who were about to catch up from behind.
"What does this have to do with my grandmother?" Too much had happened today, causing Mia to lose her ability to think calmly.
"Didn't you consider that if your identity is exposed, Queen Renaldi's itinerary certainly can't be hidden either.
A secret itinerary being exposed means big trouble for the Queen," Mike explained simply.
Queen Renaldi, no matter what, was the supreme leader of a country.
This time, in order to quietly train her granddaughter into a qualified royal princess and thus amaze everyone in the Genovia royal family, she acted very low-key, not even bringing her bodyguard team.
In this situation, an exposed itinerary meant danger.
After Mike's reminder, Mia also realized the seriousness of the situation.
With no time to think further, she immediately got into Mike's car and rushed to the villa where Queen Renaldi was staying.
More than half an hour later, Mike, using his superb driving skills, shook off the trailing pack of reporters' cars like leeches and arrived at the Queen's luxurious villa in the suburbs.
"Mia and Mike, why are you here? Is something wrong?" Queen Renaldi, wearing pajamas and preparing to rest, looked a little surprised when she saw Mike and Mia in the living room.
The incident happened suddenly, and Mike didn't care about being impolite; he quickly explained about Mia's identity being exposed.
"Alright, I already know the situation."
Queen Renaldi's emotions showed little change.
Afterward, she even had the leisure to specifically thank Mike before having Mr. Joe, the butler, see him out of the villa.
"Mia, you'll stay here with me for the next few days.
A little later, I'll have someone pick up your mother as well," Queen Renaldi arranged her granddaughter in a guest room in the luxurious villa.
Clearly, with her family's safety at stake, Her Majesty the Queen was not as calm as she appeared.
Then, after Mr. Joe returned from seeing off the guests, Queen Renaldi continued, "Joe, go gather my guard team.
From now on, the security around the villa needs to be strengthened…"
Upon receiving the instructions, Mr. Joe's gentle demeanor gradually faded, and his eyes became sharp.
Next, Mr. Joe first called the captain of the royal guard team, who was lurking in Medford, to gather them, and then went to a room to prepare some defensive weapons.
Not long after, the fully armed Mr. Joe met the reporters who had rushed over outside the villa.
Then, with the imposing aura of one man holding off ten thousand, he blocked the group of reporters in their tracks.