1st place- Sirius Blue

2nd place- Dolf Ironcross

3rd place- Cornelia De Recruz

…

Abegail was a bit disappointed. This was probably the first time ever that someone who was not from the Griffin class won the tournament. But once she looked at the two sitting beside her, she thought that this whole tournament was nothing but a farce.

The tournament was over. Everyone started to leave the arena. But not the audience in room 4 of the VIP lounge. Nor Abegail, neither Isabella dared to stand up from their seat since Adrian did not. Nor did they dare to disturb his train of thoughts.

He suddenly looked at Abegail- scaring the poor woman.

“Remember that condition, I think I found it.”

“Yes?” She gulped.

“I want you set up a duel between me and that champ. He should not feel anything out of the ordinary, got it?”

She squinted her eyes and looked down.

“If you can’t, don’t worry. I will just have all the male students of Griffin class…” He gave her a look and smirked.

“I CAN! I CAN!” She shouted. For a moment, she let her imagination run wild and it almost scarred her mind.

“Oh, I was thinking of letting all the male students of Griffin class pick up a fight with him so that I can interfere. Now that you have agreed, I will skip the hassle.”

Her blood rushed to her cheeks.

“What were you thinking?” He teased.

“YOU!” She stood up.

“Hehe young master, she was probably thinking of being gang-”

“SHUT UP!” Abegail ran away as fast as she could.

But Adrian ignored her and gave Isabella a ‘where did you learn that?’ look.

“Look! There is a girl facing hellish torment and unimaginable suffering.” She exclaimed, pointing a finger at the glass screen.

Adrian’s sadistic mind betrayed him. But when he looked back, Isabella was gone.

******

Night. The Everwarm lake, a lake whose temperature remains the same throughout the bright years or the frigid years, was making plopping sounds as the snow on the treetops were melting and dripping onto the lake. It was like music to the ears of the residents of the nearby Celestea House.

Candle lights and a kindled fireplace illuminated the lavish room. The blonde princess had her window opened as she was walking to and fro, humming to the natural beat produced by the magical lake- her eyes closed.

Suddenly, she felt something cold pressing against her mouth. She opened her eyes in panic. Before she could resist, she felt something else pressing against her stomach. She was pressed back towards something soft and warm.

She looked down and could see a hand covering her mouth. That hand blocked her view but she inferred that another hand was holding her stomach. Through her back, she could feel what seemed to be a fur coat. She tried to resist but-

“Do anything funny. And the royal family will receive your body tomorrow.” She heard a completely unfamiliar voice. It was that of a male.

She stopped any form of resistance.

“Good girl.” The man’s mouth was close to her sensitive ears.

She could feel the strength of this man from his hands- he was stronger than her, a level 4 circler. He was most probably a darkness attributed or wind attributed circler. Worst case scenario, he was a circler strong enough to avoid the detection of her level 8 guardian even without the said attributes. Her life was completely in the hands of this man.

“Never tasted a princess before. I wonder how it’s like.” She could sense him licking his lips. She felt a chill down her spine.

She could feel the hand on his stomach rising higher, slowly- but surely.

‘No! No! No!’ She closed her eyes, knowing where it was going.

The hand reached its destination, her soft and round mound. He started to knead it as hard as possible. The pain was enough to make her shed tears, let alone the humiliation. His other hand became wet from the running tears of the humiliated princess.

There was only one time she was humiliated like this before; but she did not mind the as it was a ‘price’ being paid. But now, she was being assaulted by an assailant, a complete stranger- maybe he was an assassin who would kill her after the ‘taste’.

This feeling of despair, pain and humiliation was destroying her mind. The crisis began to destroy her hopes.

But suddenly, she felt an extremely stimulating lick on her ear, almost making her climax.

Rather than losing all hope, she sighed in relief.

“Mhmhm… mhm… mhmhm?”

“Tsk, darling. You are no fun. How can a human remember a person by his ‘lick’?” He released her.

She calmly took two steps forward and took a deep breath. She wiped the tear off her face, still sniffing. Once she felt her face was clear, she confidently turned back.

But once Adrian’s face, upon which the candlelight glimmered, came into her view, her tears started flowing again- blurring her beautiful green pupils.

“You’re mean!” The crisis today brought out the playful little girl she hid deep inside herself. Thrones weren’t meant for little girls.

“Tsk. If you think that I will hug and apologise, console you- you’re dead wrong.”

“Adrian, you son of a bitch! What’s wrong with wanting a circler in shining armour?” She rebuked him as she started to clear up her face again.

She sat down on the bed and drank a glass of water.

“Why did you do it? If you wanted it that much, you could’ve just come and asked?” She was both enraged and embarrassed.

“I don’t have time for you. There are better bodies out there.”

“YOU!” Just looking at him was increasing her rage.

“Besides, that was a revenge for the spell you used against me six months ago. It was also because the price increased.” He took off his fur coat, dropped it on the floor and then jumped and laid on the bed beside her, closing his eyes.

“Increased?”

He remained silent.

“As long as you don’t go back on your promise, it’s fine.” She sighed. She knew how important he was.

“When will you make your move?” She asked.

“I will sign up for the ‘jungle stroll’ next month?”

“Will the Academy allow you to leave?” She squinted.

Adrian just smiled in response.

“You. Come to think of it, the vice principal’s faction has been laying low for the last six months. Did you make a deal with the principal?” She raised her brows.

His smile grew wider.

She gasped. “What did she ‘sacrifice’?” She asked in a mocking tone.

“Just know that she paid the right price and her being a ‘tower master’ is already set in stone.” He said, his eyes still closed.

She thought for a second, “You slept with instructor bell, right? She had visited you those three months quite a few times for ‘checking you up’.”

“Jealous?”

“Hmph. You **ed both of my maids in front of me. Isn’t it a little too late to ask this question?” She glared at him.

Her question was met with silence.

“Speaking of maids, Stella has been doing a stellar job for the last few months. I deliberately revealed my moves on the neutral Counts for him to interfere. Now, his trust on Stella is solidified. I will throw a feint when I go to deal with Silva house.”

“As long as you know that the she can be used once, unless the prince is a fool.”

“But my biggest fear is being betrayed again.” She sighed.

“Don’t worry, she does not have any intentions of betraying again- for now that is.”

“But what if-“

“When it happens, I will know. And once I know, I will make sure that she is killed by your very hands.” He opened his eyes and looked into hers.

The princess shivered when their eyes met. An image of Stella’s cold and lifeless body and her own hands drenched with hot blood flashed in her mind. And so did their time together since childhood. ‘Why had she done that?’ Her vision went blurry again. ‘I just hope you don’t make the same mistake again.’

The sad memory evoked another one.

“Hey! Did you ever feel lonely even when you are surrounded by people?” She looked at him as she rubbed her eyes.

“But you are not feeling lonely right now, are you?” Her question was met with another question.

She suddenly hit upon a realisation. She had not spoken this much in a long time. Even the last time she had a long chat with someone was with the very same person. She looked at him. His perfect face looked even more magical under the glimmering lights of the candles. The melodic sound of the lake which never stopped only added to the moment. She blushed and looked away.

“What? Out of awkward and silly questions to ask?” His question caused the wavy feeling she had in her heart to puff away.

“Why do you always tease me?” She snorted.

“It’s fun!”

“You!”

“I will sleep here tonight.”

“Whatever… WHAT?!” Her eyes almost popped out.

Before she could process what she needed to do, she felt a strong grasp on her arm before being tugged towards him. Before she knew it, she was lying beside him- imprisoned in his cuddle.

‘Too close!’ His face was right in front of hers. She could smell the scent of new snow from his skin. All of her blood rushed to her cheeks.

She tried to push and get out- but to no avail. His eyes were closed. He was already… asleep?

She stared at his sleeping face for a whole minute, before bringing her own arm up and wrapping it around him.

“Good night.” She whispered, before closing her eyes.