The third princess wants to summon a Duelist?
This unprecedented development seemed even more surprising than the marquis's son getting beaten to a pulp.
Princess Nova was notorious in the royal family for her willfulness and dislike of Dueling.
Yet now, looking at the princess's excited expression as she waved to Aisha from the Duel Arena, there wasn't the slightest trace of the rumored aversion.
Aisha muttered, "The princess… she's calling us. What should we do, Mr. Miles?"
"What should we do? Obviously, leave it to you."
—Soul Exchange.
As someone who only cared about playing cards, Miles personally disliked these aristocratic social occasions. Even if the other party was a doll-like, cute princess, he couldn't be bothered to deal with her.
After all, children with high status could be the most troublesome—like comparing a child with a gun to an adult with a gun in terms of danger.
Come to think of it, the taciturn Dark Aisha in the Soul Room was far easier on the eyes.
In the banquet hall, Alice set down her wineglass, lifted her skirt, and gave Marquis Barrett a noble curtsy before smiling.
"That's that, Marquis. The Carlos family, by royal summons, can no longer remain to enjoy the banquet with your family. As for the engagement, as agreed, let's consider it as if it never happened."
In the gentlest tone, she delivered words that would infuriate Marquis Barrett the most.
The layers of jowls on his face had gone from green to purple—clearly wanting to explode, but constrained by the princess's presence, forced to swallow it down.
Leaving gracefully, Alice passed the marquis, and in that moment, the old man finally spat out a harsh threat.
"Don't think this is over, Alice Carlos!"
A blatant threat from the marquis's family. Even if the Carlos family's duel performance had earned a royal invitation, the Mariana Trench–like gap between the two families' statuses was not so easily changed.
"Indeed, it's not over, Marquis."
Pausing deliberately beside him, Alice's calm tone didn't waver despite the open threat.
"The night is still long. A soul wandering in hell will have no chance to escape."
Her overly calm answer, paired with that cryptic remark, suddenly froze Marquis Barrett in place.
It was as if, for a moment, he glimpsed the abyss. By the time he snapped out of it, Alice was gone, and his back was drenched in cold sweat.
He wanted to turn back, but fear stopped him from looking at her retreating figure.
'Does this girl really not have Spirit Eyes?'
Even without Spirit Eyes, without even being a Duelist, the pressure Alice had just exuded far surpassed that of any Duelist he had ever faced.
Meanwhile, Princess Nova had finally managed to approach Aisha.
Up close, she was smitten all over again—not only were Aisha's Duel Monsters cute, but Aisha herself was utterly adorable.
"Um, Your Highness? You called me over for something?"
"Oh, right!"
Snapping out of her daze, the golden stars in Nova's eyes sparkled once more.
"Aisha, Aisha, let me get a good look at you—erm, I mean, your Deck!"
"Her Highness wants to see my Deck? That's no problem."
Due to the Spirit Continent's rules, cards were strictly bound to their owners. So the cards Miles had tossed into the air during the Duel had already returned to Aisha's Spirit Eyes once it ended.
"Use honorifics, Aisha," Alice quietly reminded.
"Ah—um, it's truly an honor that Your Highness would take an interest in my Deck."
Aisha was still unused to interacting with royalty—especially in such formal settings—her words laced with tension and awkwardness.
"No need to keep calling me 'Your Highness'—just call me Nova."
Overjoyed, Princess Nova sat back down, kicking her legs as she took Aisha's Deck.
"I think you can be even more honored than that, Aisha Carlos~"
"Deion-senpai?"
The ever-familiar Second Prince Deion Kaiser, who had no royal airs in Fusion Academy thanks to being Aisha's senior, strolled right over.
"My little sister has always been willful and extremely averse to Dueling—so much so that even our father and mother can't do anything about it. If your Duel today can change her attitude, that's a feat worth rewarding in the Kaiser household."
"The third princess… Nova is that opposed to Dueling?"
Aisha glanced at the little princess flipping through the cards.
Her eyes sparkled as she admired each Kuriboh, like a child clutching treasure. Aisha felt the urge to spoil her a little—there wasn't a hint of Duel aversion anywhere.
"If you want to know, Aisha Carlos, I might as well tell you my sister's dark history."
"The princess's dark history… can we really hear this? Won't it get us in trouble?!"
Deion's problem was that he couldn't keep his mouth shut—he'd talk about anything. Even his own Duel losses became stories to boast about.
Still, not everyone had the chance to 'associate' with a royal like the Kaisers.
As a junior from Fusion Academy, and thanks to her stellar performance in the Year Group Challenge, Aisha had earned Deion's recognition and favor.
In the eyes of the other families at the banquet, even if the First Prince Homar Kaiser hadn't spoken yet, two of the three royal heirs already showed goodwill toward the Carlos family.
Add to that Aisha Carlos's overwhelming victory over Marquis Barrett's son Villy…
It was safe to say the Carlos family was the biggest winner of the night. After years of dormancy, they would soon rise again.
Ignoring Aisha's hesitation, Deion began recounting how Princess Nova had once gone out as a child and been caught up in a Shadow Game staged by unsavory characters.
Though the palace guards had kept her from harm, the cruel, bloody nature of the Shadow Game had left a scar on her young heart.
It was an experience not unlike what Aisha and Ren had endured.
Only, Nova had been even younger at the time, her heart more deeply tainted by the abyss. Even now, she hadn't found the courage to summon her first Duel Monster.
Her Spirit Eyes, once brimming with energy, had dimmed without ever calling forth her own monster.
...
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