I gradually began to regain my balance; that annoying heat in my veins started to subside, and the weight of the pain that had been gnawing at my body retreated, making way for my energy to stabilize once more.
I stood up from my seat, my body exhausted yet steady, and stepped toward the mirror to face my reflection.
"Damn it..."
I whispered in frustration as I scrutinized my features. I looked like a living corpse; a ghastly paleness covered my face as if I were a piece of ice or a vampire who had just emerged from its coffin.
I clenched my teeth, fury boiling in my chest:
"That bastard... he will regret every moment. I swear he will regret it."
I turned on the faucet and splashed cold water onto my face to cast away the remnants of weakness.
With quick, resentment-filled movements, I began wiping the bloodstains off my formal uniform, using paper towels to dry them in haste.
I didn't care much for perfection; all I wanted was to erase the trace of my temporary defeat.
I adjusted my fiery red hair, cast one last sharp look at the mirror, and then exited the bathroom with confident steps toward my classroom, leaving behind the scent of blood and weakness.
I pushed the classroom door open with a provocative calmness. I was greeted by absolute silence before it was broken by the voice of the teacher, who shot sharp looks at me over his glasses.
"Miss Aria, it seems the time did not suit Her Highness."
He threw those words with loathsome mockery, but I didn't grant him even the pleasure of a response.
I ignored his ugly speech, which matched the features of his face, and continued my way with complete coldness toward my seat next to Christoph.
I passed by that despicable Prince sitting directly behind me; I made sure not to blink or turn my neck toward him.
To me at that moment, he was nothing more than an empty vase—a trivial piece of decoration not worth the effort of a glance.
As soon as I settled into my place and the teacher began his usual chatter, I felt a slight nudge from Christoph.
I turned to him and saw his features shouting with concern. He whispered in a disturbed tone:
"Aria, why is your face so pale? Are you okay?"
I exhaled deeply, trying to push the remnants of fatigue away, and raised my hand to pat his shoulder gently, painting a calm smile to reassure him:
"I am fine, Christoph. Don't worry."
I returned my gaze to the teacher, who had begun today's lesson on
"How to control energy and avoid losing control."
I couldn't help myself; I let out a stifled, mocking laugh. It was obvious that every word he uttered was an arrow aimed personally at me, and the sharp sidelong glances he kept throwing my way confirmed it.
My God, how I longed at that moment to attack and absorb the energy of that "pig-faced" teacher and rid the world of the ugliness of his voice.
Amidst this academic noise, I felt a movement behind me. That despicable Prince leaned his body slightly forward until his breath was close to my ear, and he whispered in a cold tone dripping with venom:
"You look as though you've just crawled out of a grave, Aria... Did you exhaust all your energy trying to stand before me, or has your weak body finally begun to collapse?"
The moment he finished his words, I saw nothing but black.
My dark aura surged from my body like crushing waves, enveloping my space in a barrier of pure horror.
Everything in the classroom began to shake: the desks, the windows, and even hearts.
Everyone fell silent suddenly, as if Death had passed among them. The "pig-faced" teacher froze in his place, pale, stammering with shaky words:
"What... what did I just tell you about control?!"
He was complaining with obvious fear, terrified that yesterday's explosion, which almost annihilated them all, would be repeated.
I turned slowly, and with a lethal coldness overflowing from my pale eyes, I stared directly into the Reaper Prince's eyes.
It wasn't the look of a student at her classmate; it was the look of a Queen at her enemy. I said in a low voice, as sharp as a razor blade:
"If you don't shut your cursed mouth right now... I will rip your damn throat out with these very hands."
A terrifying silence reigned for seconds before gasps of horror erupted from every corner of the classroom.
The students were frozen in their seats, their eyes wide with the horror of what they had heard.
In their world, anyone who disrespected the Prince had dug their own grave—so what about someone threatening to kill him in cold blood?
The Prince leaned back, and despite his outward calmness, the veins in his hand that gripped the edge of the table nearly burst.
A twisted, dark smile formed on his lips, and he rose slowly to meet your aura with an aura no less terrifying. He whispered in a voice that made everyone's blood freeze:
"Rip my throat out? Bold, as I expected. But you forgot one thing, Aria... in the Kingdom of Reapers, blood is only shed by those who possess the ability to endure its hell. Are you ready for the hell you've just opened the gates to?"
Terrified whispers rose among the students:
"She's insane... her blood will be shed now!"
Meanwhile, the teacher was backing away, clutching the collar of his shirt, searching for an exit from this suicidal confrontation.
I stood up, my exhausted body drawing its strength from pure rage, and stepped toward him with steady strides until my chest was pressed against his.
I raised my chin upward to face his towering height, and our gazes met in a heated struggle.
His eyes had turned into glowing golden dragon eyes, pierced by that sharp vertical black line, while the dragon tattoo crawling from his chest up to his cheek began to glow as if power were breathing into it.
I said to him in a whispering tone, yet stronger than thunder:
"Prepare yourself well... because this damn dragon of yours will submit to me."
At that moment, our auras exploded together. The blackness collided with the gold of his eyes, and the walls shook violently as if an earthquake had struck beneath the classroom.
Students fell on their heads, gasping for air due to the immense atmospheric pressure left by this collision.
With the utmost degree of defiance, I focused every atom of my energy into my eyes.
When the glow in his eyes reached its peak, I commanded him in a voice haunted by power:
"Back down... you Dragon."
And suddenly... everything went still. The gold in his eyes vanished, and the glow of his tattoo faded, as if the spirit of the dragon within him chose safety and retreated before the doom it saw in my eyes.
His muscles went still, but the aura of his royal power did not disappear; it remained hovering around him like an invisible shell.
A terrifying silence fell, broken only by the gasping breaths of the students. The Prince took one step back, looking at me with a strange gaze; it wasn't just anger, but a mixture of astonishment and dark respect.
He wiped his hand over his cheek where the tattoo had been glowing, then leaned down slightly to reach my level and whispered in a hoarse voice:
"You have done what no one has dared to do for centuries, Aria... You made my dragon silent. But beware, for the dragon that falls silent out of fear wakes up to burn everything when the time comes. Do not think this is the end; it is merely the beginning of a hell that will burn us both together."
Then he straightened his posture, a cold and terrifying smile appearing on his face.
He directed his gaze toward the teacher, who was on the verge of fainting, and said coldly:
"Finish your lesson, you pig... it seems the atmosphere is starting to get truly interesting."
He returned to his seat with a movement full of pride, leaning back in his chair. Meanwhile, his golden royal aura continued to surround him in a majestic stillness, like a shell of cold fire.
He stared at me with icy coldness, his tongue moving slowly inside his mouth as if he were tasting the encounter that had just ended, or perhaps swallowing the sharp words that almost escaped.
At that moment, I withdrew my black aura with lightning speed, causing a sudden drop in pressure inside the room that made everyone burst into a fit of violent coughing as they tried to inhale the air that had suddenly returned.
A triumphant side-smile formed on my lips, and I sat in my place with complete calmness, ignoring the looks of astonishment that surrounded me from all sides.
Everyone was waiting for my certain death, yet the "Prince" had preferred stillness with a coldness they were not accustomed to.
I felt the gaze of Christoph, who was watching me closely.
His concern surpassed mere fear of the situation; he knew for certain that I was pushing my nerves and my soul to their absolute limit, and that I was exerting a legendary effort not to collapse or show a shred of weakness before the might of the dragon.
I caught his eye with a quick look and gave him a faint, tired smile, while I was desperately trying to regulate my racing, rebellious breaths, careful that no one heard the sound of my chest, which was nearly exploding from the effort.
The silence in the classroom was heavier than noise.
The pig-faced teacher was trying to gather himself to return to his lesson with trembling hands, while the air between me and the Prince behind me was still charged with sparks that had not yet been extinguished.
As the teacher was trying to pull himself together and finish his stammering explanation on how to stabilize energy, the classroom door opened with majestic calmness, and Director Vasilios entered.
In that moment, for the first time in my life, I felt a spark of relief invade my chest; his presence was a lifeline I hadn't expected.
Vasilios cast a fleeting glance toward my seat, as if he immediately read the state of exhaustion I was in or noticed my snowy paleness that was becoming increasingly obvious.
He stopped beside the teacher's desk and said in a resonant, authoritative voice that carried an unanswerable weight:
"Mr. Holmes, I will have to take Miss Aria with me now. The results of her preliminary tests indicate a dangerous instability in her energy levels, and we cannot risk her staying here before completing the medical protocol. We don't want a repeat of yesterday's explosion inside this classroom, do we?"
He finished his words with a look that swept over the entire class, while the teacher nodded his head with ridiculous speed, as if begging the Director to take me away before my aura collided with the "Reaper" Prince's aura behind me and everyone died of suffocation.
Vasilios turned to me and gestured with his head toward the door, saying calmly:
"Miss Aria, come with me... now."
I stood up with a simulated calmness and steadiness, bypassing the Prince's looks that were burning my back.
Once I reached Vasilios's side, I painted a slight, grateful smile before following him out of the classroom.
As soon as we left the boundaries of the room and were in the corridor away from prying eyes, the mask of strength fell.
I exhaled in total surrender to my exhaustion and grabbed his arm, leaning on him with all my weight, whispering in a tired tone:
"Damn you, Vasilios... you are my savior and my tormentor all at once."
Vasilios raised his eyebrows as he stared at my pale face and replied in a calm tone not devoid of reproach:
"I expected you to reach this state, so I decided to intervene under the pretext of tests before you collapsed there."
I merely hummed to him as we stepped toward his office. As soon as we entered, I collapsed into the nearest chair and said, struggling with my ragged breaths:
"Give me some of that substance... quickly."
Vasilios headed toward his shelves, took out a small circular device, and handed it to me, saying:
"Place it in front of your nose and press the button."
I grabbed it from him eagerly. As soon as I pressed the button, a refreshing magical substance was emitted.
I inhaled it deeply, feeling it sneak into my depths, lifting the pain from my bones and refreshing my cells that were dying, as the blood of life began to flow through my veins once more.
Vasilios stood before me with his arms crossed, watching the natural color return to my face, then asked me in a serious tone:
"Aria, how long will you continue to exhaust your energy to face that Prince? You know that your body can no longer bear this direct collision."
I moved the device away from my face after feeling the strength return to my body, staring at him with eyes whose rebellious red glow had returned, and said mockingly:
"I will not stop until I see him kneeling, Vasilios... This Prince needs a lesson in submission, and I am the only one capable of teaching it to him."
Vasilios spoke in a heavy tone—a tone that wasn't just a reproach, but an explicit warning that sent shivers down the spine.
He stood behind his massive desk, interlacing his fingers as he stared into my eyes with extreme seriousness:
"Aria, you aren't just playing with fire; you are dancing with an unquenchable blaze. By subduing his dragon, this is no longer just a student competition... you are now under the Prince's direct responsibility."
He paused for a moment to watch my reaction, then continued in a lower voice:
"In the Law of Reapers, whoever touches the spirit of the dragon becomes the property of its owner in one way or another—either as a close ally or as an enemy that must be tamed. You have placed yourself under his microscope, and every move you make from now on will be watched by him and his family."
I felt a coldness run through my spine—not out of fear, but an excitement that made my blood boil.
"His responsibility?" I repeated the word mockingly, then stood before his desk and slammed my hand onto its wooden surface with force:
"Let him consider me his responsibility as much as he likes, Vasilios, but he will soon discover that I am not a bird to be placed in a cage. I am the lightning bolt that will burn down his forest."
I turned toward the door coldly, feeling my newly stabilized energy yearning for a confrontation:
"If he wants to tame me, let him prepare himself to lose everything... because Aria bows to no one, even if he carries the blood of dragons in his veins."
"Stop, Aria."
That was how Vasilios's resonant voice stopped me before my feet crossed the threshold.
I turned to him in a spontaneous movement and caught a glimpse of a metallic object shining in the air, heading toward me.
I caught it with grace and skill, and it settled in my palm: a bracelet of strange design, with delicate engravings that pulsed quietly.
I stared at it in surprise, while Vasilios explained its mission to me in a deeply serious tone:
"This bracelet will measure the flow of the Void energy within you. When it is yellow, it means your energy is stable. Green means a safe level of flow, and orange means it is at its peak flow. As for red... you might begin to lose control. And as for black, I hope you never reach that stage, because that means one thing: the destruction of everyone."
I put it on, feeling its coldness touch my wrist.
Suddenly... the bracelet lit up in a glowing orange, pulsing with power.
I stared at it in surprise; my body was boiling with suppressed energy that I hadn't realized the extent of until now.
Vasilios fixed his gaze on my hand with a concern he couldn't hide and said warningly:
"I hope you never raise your energy while you are at this stage, Aria... an explosion is imminent."
I watched the orange color as it reflected on the office walls, and I felt a surge of power rising in my chest.
I wasn't afraid of his warning; instead, I smiled to myself. Being in the orange zone meant that I was a walking time bomb.
I looked at Vasilios defiantly and said:
"Don't worry, I'll make sure no one sees the black color... unless they deserve it."
I walked out of the office with confident steps, the bracelet flashing a fierce orange beneath my shirt sleeve, heading once again toward that classroom and toward that Prince who was waiting for my return.
I stopped in the middle of the corridor when the silence of the place was pierced by the sharp sound of the whistle announcing the end of the period.
I closed my eyes for a second and breathed a sigh of relief.
"My God, thank you!"
That class had survived, and I had survived committing an early crime.
I immediately changed my course toward the cafeteria, where I could silence the hunger that had begun to gnaw at me and find some peace away from the noise of "Pig-Face" and those golden eyes.
I wanted to sanitize my eyes from the sight of that handsome, provocative Prince's face.
"Aaaa... how I loathe him!"
And since I am Aria, still lost in the labyrinths of this cursed academy, I began to follow the lines of students emerging from their classes like my own little shadow; the map of this place in my mind still resembled the Void energy—blurry and undiscovered.
I walked through the crowd, trying to hide the orange flash of the bracelet glowing under my sleeve, hoping I wouldn't run into him on my way to get food.
I finally entered the cafeteria, grabbed a tray, and began serving food despite a mysterious lump in my throat that blocked my appetite.
Then, I took a bottle of cold juice and headed to my favorite table by the window, seeking a breeze of air to cool the dormant fires inside me.
It wasn't long before Christoph approached, accompanied by that blonde young man. I stared at his face for a long time.
"Where have I seen this idiot before?"
He was standing with a ridiculous awkwardness until I snapped at him:
"Sit... don't just stand over my head like a pillar."
As soon as he sat down, my memory lit up; he was the boy I saved yesterday, the one whose disasters caused my exhaustion.
I looked at him with an unusual calmness, feeling a strange comfort spread through my chest seeing him unharmed; at least my sacrifice and paleness hadn't gone to waste.
He broke the silence, saying in a voice filled with gratitude and confusion:
"I... my name is (Leon). I just wanted to thank you for your quick intervention yesterday. If it weren't for you, I would be among the dead."
I leaned my head on my palm and gave him a scrutinizing look, then said in a tone carrying a mock fascination:
"Leon? A truly beautiful name... fitting for an attractive and reckless young man like you."
His green eyes widened in surprise, and a blush of embarrassment swept over his cheeks like lightning, making me let out a mocking laugh as I continued:
"Look at him, his face has turned into a tomato! Does a single word of praise make you collapse like this? How did you stand before the flaming student yesterday, then?"
Leon began to grumble childishly, trying to hide his shyness:
"Aria! Stop mocking me, I'm trying to be serious in my thanks!"
Meanwhile, Christoph was laughing beside us, and the bracelet on my wrist was pulsing with a calm orange color, as if sharing this moment of temporary serenity with me.
I laughed softly while shaking the juice bottle, as Christoph stepped in to make matters worse, saying:
"Don't let his stance in battles fool you, Aria; he is incredibly shy!"
I looked at Leon, who almost hid under the table from the sheer embarrassment, and said to him in a sarcastic tone:
"Really? Shy in life and a beast in combat? What a ridiculous combination. It seems I saved a hero suffering from an identity crisis."
Leon grumbled in a muffled voice:
"Christoph! Did you have to say that now?"
His face turned even redder, while for a second, I felt that this laughter and this calm atmosphere had made me forget the weight of what I had been through.
But I knew that this calm was only a warrior's break; the golden eye watching me from afar would not let me enjoy my juice for long.
I smiled a soft smile, a rare sight on my face, and said to him in a quiet tone no one was used to hearing from me:
"It's alright, for you are truly kind, Leon."
A sudden silence fell over the table; the word "kind" coming from Aria's sharp tongue was like an unexpected thunderbolt.
Leon froze in his place, his green eyes widening as if I had cast a paralysis spell on him, while Christoph stopped laughing and shot me a look of bewilderment, checking to see if it was really me who had spoken those words.
Leon began to stammer unintelligible words, trying to respond, but his shyness reached its peak to the point where he started staring at his plate as if the food would grant him an exit from this embarrassment.
I couldn't resist any longer; I burst into a clear laughter I hadn't known in a long time, and reached out spontaneously to ruffle his soft blonde hair that had been carefully arranged.
"My God, your reaction is priceless!"
I said it amidst my laughter, while Leon completely froze under the touch of my hand, as if an electric charge had hit him.
At that moment, a loud "choke" was heard; Christoph had choked on his juice from the shock of the scene and began coughing violently, trying to regain his breath while looking at us with bulging eyes.
No one expected to see the "rebel" or the "tyrant" Aria stroking someone's hair with kindness and mockery at the same time.
The scene was comedic in every sense:
Leon, impossibly red; Christoph, fighting for his life due to the juice-choke; and I... I was laughing from my heart, completely ignoring that the bracelet on my wrist had begun to
flash a calm yellow for the first time since I put it on, as if serenity had found a way to my heart through this blonde boy...
I felt that familiar coldness running through the air before I saw him; the Prince's energy preceded him, invading the noisy cafeteria atmosphere and imposing a strange silence in the space surrounding us.
He stepped forward with measured strides and sat at a table not far from us, and without any ambiguity, he aimed his sharp gaze at me, as if watching a prey that had gone out of control.
But I didn't care.
I deliberately showed total disregard for his presence, continuing my laughter and teasing with Christoph, who was trying to regain his composure after his coughing fit.
Even Leon, despite his initial dread of the Prince's aura, began to feel safe within my circle; he grew accustomed to the atmosphere and started sharing our conversation and laughter, as if we were in a bubble isolated from the world.
I could feel the Prince's gaze piercing my side, enjoying every moment of this ignorance.
It wasn't just a lunch; it was a cold war in which I declared that his existence made no difference to me, and that his "dragon," which I had subdued, had no authority over my laughter.
Suddenly, the Prince made a noticeable move; he pulled his chair back with a force that created a grating, annoying screech in the place, and spoke in a resonant voice that reached our ears clearly:
"It seems some forget quickly how they were begging for oxygen an hour ago... isn't that right, Aria?"
At that moment, the laughter stopped. Eyes turned toward us. I hadn't expected this direct move from him. I felt anger gathering inside me, but I maintained my external calm.
I looked at him directly, with a coldness matching his own, and said in a quiet, steady voice, heard by everyone around us:
"My memory is very strong, Your Highness, but it does not keep unimportant details."
I smiled a slight smile that didn't reach my eyes. I added in a lighter tone, directing my speech to Christoph and Leon as if the Prince didn't exist:
"Anyway, we were talking about plans for the weekend. How about going to the old library? I heard they got a new collection of rare books."
I ignored him completely. I turned my back to him and redirected my attention to Leon and Christoph, waiting for his reaction, certain that my total disregard would provoke his anger more than any direct response.
This was a war, and provocative calm was my weapon now.
I turned toward Leon and said in a quiet tone that carried a terrifying weight:
"Your magic... it's from the Lightning Mages, right?"
He nodded his head in silence, so I continued while watching the orange flash of the bracelet intensifying on my wrist:
"Your magic is powerful, Leon... so much so that my energy surged and longed to drain you the moment you sat here. Perhaps lightning magic doesn't affect fire magic much..."
I paused for a moment, deliberately keeping my back like an impregnable dam in the face of the Prince, and completed, directing all my attention to Leon as if we were the only ones in the hall:
"But it possesses a speed that makes the owners of (Arrogant Fires) look like mere helpless piles of wood before a sudden storm."
Leon grew flustered, his voice coming out shaky as he tried to grasp the power I was talking about:
"Aria... your words make me feel fear and pride at the same time. Lightning magic is rare, but it is unstable... just like your condition right now. As for the fire, I don't even dare to think of matching a real (Dragon), but I promise you that I will train to be worthy of this praise."
I gave him a mysterious side-smile, enjoying my total disregard for the Prince, whose aura I felt growing heavier behind me, as if he were boiling from this deliberate marginalization.
Finally, that icy coldness was broken.
I heard the sound of the chair being violently scraped against the floor, creating a grating screech that pierced the cafeteria's silence like a cry of anger.
He stood up from his place with a sudden, tense movement, then charged out of the place with heavy steps that nearly shattered the marble beneath them.
His aura this time wasn't cold or royal; it was fluctuating and raging, hitting everything around it like filthy, turbulent waves, leaving behind a trail of suffocating heat and tension that made the students breathe a sigh of relief the moment he left.
I didn't turn around. I remained staring at the window, but the corners of my lips rose in a devious smile of victory.
I had succeeded; disregard was the weapon that pierced his fortified shield and burned his nerves more than any direct confrontation.
"He left..."
Leon whispered, wiping beads of sweat from his forehead, while Christoph looked at me with bewilderment mixed with terror, saying in a low voice:
"Aria... you are the only one who dared to make him lose his temper like this. You have insulted his pride as a Prince and as a Reaper."
I took a final sip of my cold juice and said with lethal coldness:
"The pride that shatters just because of being ignored... is a pride made of paper, Christoph. Now, since the atmosphere is finally clear, shall we continue our talk about lightning?"
Leon chuckled with a bright smile for the first time since sitting with us, a smile that dispelled what remained of the atmosphere of anger left by the Prince's departure.
He seemed relieved at last, freed from the weight of the situation. He looked at me with sparkling green eyes and said:
"Certainly, let's continue the talk about lightning... I want to know how you control all this power while I tremble at the mere thought of directing a strike!"
I returned the smile, feeling that this new ally might be more useful than I expected.
My smile suddenly turned into a gaze as sharp as a dagger, and I tilted my head toward him to pierce his eyes directly with my stare, as if I were planting my words in his soul. I said in a low voice filled with firmness:
"Don't care about anything around you, focus only on your goal as if it were your arch-enemy who stripped everything from you... Attack it with all ferocity as if it were your last confrontation in this world."
Silence fell over the table again, and Leon's laughter faded to be replaced by features of serious bewilderment; he felt the weight of my energy touching the depths of his heart.
My advice wasn't just training; it was my philosophy of survival, where there is no place for weakness or hesitation.
I leaned back again, resting, and shot him a confident look before saying:
"Just rely on my advice and you will see the results for yourself... for your powers are not to be underestimated, my shy blonde friend."
I paused for a moment, then added in a mysterious tone as if I were predicting his future:
"Perhaps one day the Spirit of Nature will choose you, and then you will reclaim your dignity with your own hand, and satisfy your thirst for revenge against that flaming one who looked down on you."
Leon's eyes widened as if my words touched a sensitive nerve deep inside him, and I felt a small spark of hope shining in his green eyes.
As for Christoph, he looked at me with silent appreciation, realizing that I don't give these words to just anyone, and that I see something in Leon he hadn't seen in himself yet.
I stood up after finishing the juice bottle and said to them:
"And now... I'm going to explore the hallways of this cursed academy before I get lost again. Don't let the Dragon ruin your mood anymore."
Before I could take a single step toward the exit, I reached out my hands and with a quick, sudden movement, I smacked the backs of both their heads at the same time.
A light "thwack" sounded, followed by their collective grumbling as they rubbed their heads with a ridiculous resentment.
"Aria! That hurts!"
Leon cried out, his features reddening, while Christoph was muttering unintelligible words about "morning violence."
I couldn't help myself and burst into laughter at their childish sight, waving my hand in the air without looking back as I left the hall with confident steps.
I left them there, one smiling with gratitude and the other trying to grasp my madness.
As soon as I stepped into the corridor, the noise of the cafeteria faded, and the majestic silence of the academy greeted me with its usual coldness.
I took a deep breath and began walking through those endless labyrinths, searching for my way... or perhaps searching for the next confrontation, which I knew for certain was waiting for me behind one of these corners.