「Time Check: 09:20 A.M」
Keith stalked down the hallway, a theatrical sigh dissolving into the marble silence. "Three days. I miss my Reise."
"Did I not instruct you to cease claiming my fiancée?" Prince Dio's voice was a blade of ice, materializing beside him.
Keith jolted. "Why are you here? Stop pretending you care."
"My movements require no explanation to you." Prince Dio.
"Buried in recruitment paperwork, aren't you?" Keith.
"Completed. The proposals are on the Queen's desk." A sliver of pride. "I returned with all due haste." Prince Dio.
"Ah. Rushing back to Reise's playground." Keith's grin was a taunt.
"Earl has been… soloing her for three days," Prince Dio murmured, just loud enough.
Someone's jealous. Keith's internal grin widened.
"Is it truly acceptable for me to train where Lady Reise is?" Eliza's voice, a study in false delicacy, cut in as she tried to match Prince Dio's stride.
"No other arena. It's wide enough. Don't worry," Keith dismissed.
"She might become angry…" Eliza.
"You'll find out." Keith.
"Oh! Heading to the arena?" Brenda's voice rang out behind them.
They turned. Brenda and Zen approached.
"You two as well?" Keith asked.
"Good morning, Your Highness," Zen offered Prince Dio a respectful nod.
"Prince Dio. Tsk." Brenda's mutter was pure contempt.
"What is your business there?" Prince Dio's question bypassed Brenda's insolence.
"Earl is training us today," Zen answered.
"Great. Three geeks." Keith chuckled.
"Problem with the Nocturnes, you bed-wetting idiot?" Brenda fired.
"Cease." Prince Dio's command was absolute. He resumed walking, a reluctant procession forming: Eliza clinging to his shadow, Keith, Brenda, and Zen trailing in a wake of simmering rivalry.
They found G6's servants clustered at the arena archway, faces etched with identical dread.
"Why are you hiding—" Keith began.
"EARTHEN WALL!"
Earl's roar shook the stone. The ground trembled. A colossal wall of rock and soil erupted from the sand, groaning as it rose.
"What is happening?" Prince Dio demanded, striding forward.
The scene was controlled annihilation.
G6 moved through the air with a predator's grace, her Reaper's Ascent holding her aloft. Bullets of Death—compressed, concussive spheres of air—slammed into Earl's defenses in a relentless staccato BANG-BANG-BANG.
"STONE BULLET!" Earl countered. A barrage of fist-sized rocks screamed toward her.
"CYCLONE." Her reply was bored. A spinning vortex shredded the projectiles mid-air with a shriek of grinding stone.
"Are they trying to kill each other?!" Keith's jaw hung slack. "And how is she flying? Sustained flight is a myth!"
"It is no spell I recognize," Prince Dio admitted, his analytical mind reeling. The awe was tinged with alarm.
"Is this… sparring?" Brenda whispered.
"She is holding her own in genuine combat with Brother Earl," Zen observed, respect clear.
G6 pivoted in the air, a phantom dancer. Her advantage was terrifying: no chants. Spells formed at her will—Wind Blades scything gouges into the earthen wall, Bullets hammering weak points. It was an unnatural, silent violence.
"EARTHEN SHRAPNEL!" Earl's patience snapped. The ground exploded upward in a cloud of razored stone, saturating the air.
With impossible reflexes, G6 sidestepped the cloud, answering with another volley. The arena shook with the impacts.
"THEY'RE GOING TO KILL EACH OTHER! THEY ARE DEADLY SERIOUS!" Brenda yelled, her scholar's composure shattered.
"Edmund. Explain," Prince Dio commanded, genuine concern beneath the formality.
"Nothing of grave import, Your Highness," Edmund lied, his worry plain. "They are individuals who do not accept a draw."
"A draw?"
"Fifth round. Thirty-minute rest after the first two," Lilia clarified, eyes glued to the battle. "Score: one victory each. Two draws."
"'There's no way in hell I'm letting you walk out of here victorious,'" Tina quoted, voice low. "Her words."
"'Do not get so cocky. You will regret this,'" Edmund finished. "His reply."
"Brother Earl is a notoriously sore loser," Zen stated.
"Precisely. He will not stop until he wins," Brenda added, wringing her hands.
"And our Lady is cut from the same cloth. This ends at the brink of collapse," Edmund concluded, face pale.
Keith's grin returned. "Earl's a handful. Reise shares that trait? This is gold."
"Earl is not irrational. He knows her limits. What triggered this?" Prince Dio's demand was sharp. He knew Earl was calculating, not reckless.
"It began two hours ago…" Edmund started.
「FLASHBACK」
Time Check: 07:15 A.M.
G6 finished her warm-ups, devouring the strawberry cupcake Alistair had baked for her.
"Mana control is getting boring," she stated, mouth full.
"Do not get ahead of yourself. You've only mastered novice and mid-level control," Earl chided, stealing another cupcake.
Tch. Easy for you to say, cupcake thief.
"Then let's spice it up. Advanced control." A sharp, mischievous grin.
Earl avoided her gaze. "Brenda and Zen arrive soon. Do not exhaust me."
G6 leaned her chin on her hand. "Live battle." The words were deceptively light. "But if you're scared of losing to a 'defector'… that's just cowardice."
"Mockery will not provoke me."
"Ah. I was wondering," she shifted to false curiosity. "What's the point of Earth Affinity? Read a book. All the attacks seem… lame."
Earl set his cupcake down. Slowly. His gaze locked onto hers, scholar's calm replaced by razor intensity. "Say that again."
"You heard me."
The insult landed. Prodigy pride. Family legacy. Scholar's honor—all stomped on.
"You speak boldly for a weak novice in need of grooming," Earl shot back, voice cold.
Weak.
The word was an electric insult. In her life, no one who called her that lived.
"Weak?" Her voice dropped to deadly calm. "Watch me introduce your face to the ground."
"You will regret those words."
"Make me."
They stood simultaneously.
"This is not good," Tina murmured.
"Lord Earl, Lady Reise. Please, calm down. Resume normal training," Edmund pleaded, stepping forward.
"Don't intervene." G6's glare was a blizzard, freezing all three servants in place—a ghost of the terrifying woman from weeks past.
Without another word, they marched to the center. Found their distance.
Attacked.
Stone Bullet and Wind Blade collided mid-air in a cloud of dust.
"EARTHEN WALL!" The ground shuddered, a barrier erupting.
G6 seized the high ground. Reaper's Ascent. She hovered, unleashing a relentless barrage of Bullets of Death.
"EARTH TOMB!" He encased himself.
What spell is that? Earl thought, cramped inside his dome as concussive impacts shook it. And she's attacking without interval. How? The shortest recorded interval is two seconds!
The gunshot reports were unceasing.
She's under a mana restraint, yet these can penetrate with three consecutive hits. This defense is supposed to be impenetrable! His mind raced. I can only imagine their lethality at full power.
The assault stopped.
Earl dropped his defense. G6 dropped from the sky like a hawk. A flash, and she was behind him, finger-gun pressed to the base of his skull.
"Move, and you die." A chilling whisper.
She is… dangerously proficient. Cold sweat traced his spine.
"This round is yours." Surrender.
She released him. The stabilizer ring on her finger glowed faintly. A skill to manage strain. To master it so quickly… His mind whirred. I will discover her full extent.
"A blow to my pride. Another round." Challenge returned.
G6 read his expression. He's not angry… he's digging for intel. Unlucky. I don't show my hand. Everyone's a potential enemy.
A predator's smile. "Suit yourself."
Round two. Same attacks. Same maneuvers. Nothing new.
Are these truly all her moves? Earl was unconvinced. Very well. Push her.
"EARTHEN SHRAPNEL!" A 50% more forceful cloud of razored rock.
G6 evaded sideways with compressed air, but the dual strain of Perception and Aim reached its limit. A stray rock grazed her shoulder. Concentration broke. She plummeted.
"Air Cushion." A rote murmur from yesterday's reading, not a visualization. It worked. She landed on an invisible platform.
Earl ran to her, guilt flashing. "Reise! Are you alright?"
"Fine. Rebooting." She shook off the disorientation. "This round is yours. Rest. Half an hour. Until my body settles."
He agreed, helping her up, draping her arm over his shoulders, a hand on her waist. They didn't notice their servants had long since evacuated to the archway.
After rest, they returned.
1st Draw: Mutual cornering. Bullet of Death and Earth Bullet at point-blank range.
2nd Draw: Earl blocked her sight, forced her low. She floated a Cyclone at his back. He leveled an Earthen Spear at her chest.
"There's no way in hell I'm letting you walk out of here victorious," G6 snarled.
"Don't get so cocky. You will regret this," Earl retorted.
「END OF FLASHBACK」
"And that led to this fifth round," Edmund finished, shaking his head.
"Since when does Reise fight like that?" Keith asked, baffled. "Simple moves, advanced tactics."
"Combat training at the Worthon Residence," Prince Dio stated, shutting down speculation, though he thirsted for the answer.
"It makes me fall in love with her… more," Brenda sighed.
"Fell…in love? More?" Keith asked
"Shut up."
"Lady Reise is… quite the fighter," Eliza whispered.
"Indeed. The Worthons rule the sky. She owns it," Zen said, impressed.
Their attention snapped back. A final, simultaneous attack. A massive sand cloud erupted, obscuring everything.
The dust settled.
G6 sat triumphantly on Earl's chest, finger-gun pointed at his forehead.
"You lost." Her grin was victory incarnate.
Earl was speechless. Not from the takedown. From the intimate, compromising position. A woman atop him. His heart hammered. A furious, involuntary blush scalded his cheeks.
Stunned silence gripped the spectators.
Keith and Brenda moved to interrupt, but Prince Dio was faster. He strode past them, expression a thundercloud, and approached the pair.
Everyone watched, wary.
"Reise." His voice was low, cold, simmering.
She looked up, didn't move.
He reached them, grabbed her arm, pulled her to her feet. The grip was firm, careful not to hurt.
"What is your prob—"
"That was very bold," he cut in, eyes locked on hers, "knowing your husband-to-be is watching."
What is wrong with this freak?
"Didn't know you were there. Let go." She tried to yank free. His hold was iron.
"Uncomfortable with my touch, yet comfortable atop another man?" Dangerously quiet.
The fuck? What's he so mad about? Pissing me off.
Earl stood, brushing off sand, studying Prince Dio's face. "Calm down. An advanced mana control exercise," he said, rational, trying to shake the fluster.
Prince Dio's glance was not neutral. It was loaded.
Is he… jealous? Earl thought, surprised.
Without a word, Prince Dio pulled G6 toward the archway bench. Not rough, but irrevocably firm.
"Hey, fucker. I break your hand in three seconds."
"Break it. My hold remains."
She stared at his back. A nagging sense of something off. But her perception had a blind spot. She could orchestrate affection and fear in others with surgeon's precision. Genuine, un-manipulated emotion directed at her—possessive jealousy, protective concern—was a language she didn't speak. Kindness and love were tools she planted. Offered freely, they were data with no reference, filed under irrational, annoying behavior.
They reached the archway. The crowd parted silently. Even Keith's playfulness was absent.
Prince Dio guided her to sit. "Rest. Your body trembles. No further activity until I permit it." Absolute authority. No argument.
"Don't boss me around, fuck." But he was right. The tremors were there. Still, that last attack was satisfying.
"Curse me all you want, rest." Prince Dio said, ignoring her harsh words.
Earl joined them. "Brenda, Zen. You're here."
"I saw you blushing, Earl!" Keith sang, finding his toy.
Prince Dio's head turned slightly, gaze cutting toward Earl. Keith smirked.
"Shut your mouth, oaf," Earl barked, ears red. "Rest until I regain energy. Then we train."
"Let Miss Eliza join you. I'll supervise," Keith offered.
"She may observe. You will participate." Earl.
Through it all, Eliza stood in the corner, eyes glued to Prince Dio, whose world had narrowed to the woman he once ignored.
"Stop looming," G6 grumbled.
"I am not in the mood to bicker." Prince Dio said, his usual neutral expression now changed with obvious fury.
"Let us relocate to the exterior benches. More space," Edmund suggested, trying to diffuse the tension.
Prince Dio didn't answer. He took G6's wrist again, guiding her toward their usual spot.
"I already said I don't fucking like unsolicited touch!" She struggled. He didn't budge. The persistent skin contact was an aggravating invasion.
"Ow, someone's grumpy. Thanks to someone," Keith hinted at Earl.
"Let's follow," Earl said, ignoring him.
The spells had faded. A new tension crackled in the air—thicker, more volatile than any magic. The unflappable Prince Dio, led by a cold, unfamiliar fire, dragged his oblivious victor away, leaving stunned spectators to witness a clash far more dangerous than any duel of mana.
—To Be Continued…—