「09:20 A.M」
Lord Keith stalked down the Bastion hallway, releasing a theatrical sigh into the morning silence.
"Six days. I miss my Reise."
"Did I not instruct you to cease claiming my fiancée?"
Prince Dio's voice came from beside him with enough coldness to cut through stone.
Lord Keith jolted.
"Why are you here? Stop pretending you care."
"My movements require no explanation to you."
Prince Dio continued walking without sparing him a glance.
"Buried in recruitment paperwork, are you not?"
"Completed. The proposals are on Her Majesty's desk."
A restrained note of satisfaction entered Prince Dio's voice.
"I returned with all due haste."
"Ah."
Lord Keith's grin sharpened.
"Rushing back to Reise's playground."
Prince Dio's gaze moved toward him.
"Earl has been… training her alone for six days."
He delivered the observation far too casually.
Lord Keith caught it immediately.
Someone is jealous, Lord Keith thought, his internal grin widening.
"Is it truly acceptable for me to train where Lady Reise is?"
Miss Eliza's voice interrupted from behind them as she quickened her steps to match Prince Dio's pace.
"No other arena. It is more than wide enough. Do not worry," Lord Keith dismissed.
"She might become angry…"
"You will find out."
"Oh! Heading to the arena?"
Lady Brenda's voice rang out behind them.
They turned as Lady Brenda and Lord Zen approached from the adjoining corridor.
"You two as well?" Lord Keith asked.
"Good morning, Your Highness."
Lord Zen offered Prince Dio a respectful nod.
"Prince Dio."
Lady Brenda acknowledged him with considerably less enthusiasm, followed by a quiet—
"Tsk."
Prince Dio ignored it.
"What is your business there?"
"Brother Earl is training us today," Lord Zen answered.
"Great. Three geeks."
Lord Keith chuckled.
Lady Brenda's head snapped toward him.
"Problem with the Nocturnes, you bed-wetting idiot?"
"Cease."
Prince Dio's command ended the exchange before Lord Keith could retaliate.
He resumed walking, and the reluctant procession followed: Miss Eliza close behind him, then Lord Keith, Lady Brenda, and Lord Zen, their usual rivalry already simmering despite the early hour.
They descended through the Bastion's internal access toward the Training Arena.
Before they reached the sand, however, the entire group stopped.
G6's three servants were clustered beneath the arena archway. Tina stood with her arms crossed tightly, while Lilia looked as though she had witnessed an execution. Edmund wore the strained expression of a man attempting to remain dignified while disaster unfolded before him.
"Why are you hiding—"
Lord Keith never finished.
"EARTHEN WALL!"
Lord Earl's roar shook through the arena.
The packed sand trembled as a massive section of earth surged upward in front of him, compacting into a thick defensive wall of stone and hardened soil.
Prince Dio immediately stepped past the servants.
"What is happening?"
The scene before them looked less like training and more like controlled annihilation.
G6 was already airborne.
Reaper's Ascent sustained her several meters above the training floor, compressed currents continuously correcting her position as she moved laterally across the open sky above the arena.
Her right hand remained extended.
Finger-gun aimed.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Bullet after Bullet of Death hammered against Lord Earl's newly raised defense.
Each concentrated projectile struck a different point across the wall, forcing Lord Earl to keep moving behind it rather than allowing G6 to determine his exact position through repeated impacts. The barrier shuddered beneath every strike, dust bursting from its surface.
Lord Earl did not cast immediately.
He could not.
The moment Earthen Wall completed, his conventional spell interval began.
Four seconds.
He used them.
One—
He moved behind the widest portion of the barrier.
Two—
G6's next projectile punched a fist-sized crater through the outer layer.
Three—
Lord Earl shifted toward the opposite edge, denying her the angle she had been building.
Four—
His mana pathways settled.
He stepped out.
"STONE BULLET!"
A cluster of fist-sized rocks tore free from the arena floor and launched upward at G6 from multiple angles.
G6's head turned.
"CYCLONE."
Wind exploded into rotation around her.
The incoming stones entered the vortex and immediately lost formation. Several were flung sideways, while others collided with one another and shattered into fragments that scattered harmlessly across the sand below.
Lord Earl was already moving again.
His next four-second interval had begun, and he knew better than to remain exposed while G6 could attack continuously.
She did not possess the same limitation.
That difference had become painfully clear during the last several rounds.
G6 tilted forward.
Reaper's Ascent redirected, carrying her diagonally above the arena and forcing Lord Earl to rotate his position to keep her in sight.
A Wind Blade carved through the upper corner of his Earthen Wall.
Then another struck lower.
No spoken chant.
No forced pause.
Only shaping, release, and correction.
Lord Earl ducked behind the remaining cover and counted the rhythm he had trained into himself over years.
Two seconds.
Three.
G6 changed elevation.
Four.
His interval cleared.
"EARTHEN SHRAPNEL!"
Lord Earl slammed one hand toward the ground.
The sand and hardened earth around him erupted upward, sending dozens of sharpened stone fragments into the air in a wide-spreading pattern. He was not aiming at where G6 currently hovered, but across the direction she had been using to evade.
The attack filled the available space.
G6's eyes sharpened.
She altered Reaper's Ascent immediately, dropping beneath the highest concentration of stone before twisting sideways and surging through a narrow opening between two crossing fragments.
A shard passed close enough to disturb the loose strands of rose-gold hair near her cheek.
Another scraped through the air behind her shoulder.
She fired while moving.
BANG! BANG!
Lord Earl raised one forearm before his face as the first compressed projectile slammed into the ground near his boot.
The second struck the damaged wall behind him.
The arena shook beneath the combined impacts.
"THEY ARE GOING TO KILL EACH OTHER! THEY ARE DEADLY SERIOUS!"
Lady Brenda's scholarly composure shattered completely.
"Edmund. Explain."
Prince Dio's voice remained controlled, but genuine concern sat beneath the command.
Edmund cleared his throat.
"Nothing of grave import, Your Highness."
He lied badly.
His eyes never left G6.
"They are simply… individuals who do not accept a draw."
Prince Dio looked toward him.
"A draw?"
"Fifth round," Lilia clarified immediately, her eyes glued to the fight. "They rested for thirty minutes after the first two. The score is one victory each and two draws."
Tina exhaled through her nose.
"'There is no way in hell I am letting you walk out of here victorious.'"
She quoted G6's earlier words with perfect exhaustion.
Edmund followed solemnly.
"'Do not get so cocky. You will regret this.' His reply."
"Brother Earl is a notoriously sore loser," Lord Zen stated.
"Precisely."
Lady Brenda wrung her hands.
"He will not stop until he wins."
"And our Lady is cut from the same cloth," Edmund concluded, looking considerably paler than usual. "This ends at the brink of collapse."
Lord Keith's grin returned.
"Earl is a handful. Reise shares that trait? This is gold."
Prince Dio's expression remained serious.
"Earl is not irrational. He knows her limits."
His gaze followed G6 as she redirected through the air.
"What triggered this?"
Edmund gave a long, suffering sigh.
"It began two hours ago…"
「FLASHBACK」
07:15 A.M
G6 finished her warm-ups while devouring the strawberry cupcake Alistair had baked for her.
Lord Earl stood several paces away with his notes and tea.
"Mana control is getting boring," she stated around a mouthful.
"Do not get ahead of yourself. You have only mastered novice and mid-level control."
Lord Earl reached over and stole another cupcake from the basket.
He meant the level of output she had learned to reproduce reliably, not her elemental affinity itself. G6's control remained the subject of the lesson.
Tsk. Easy for you to say, cupcake thief.
"Then let us spice it up. Advanced control."
A sharp, mischievous grin appeared.
Lord Earl deliberately avoided looking at her.
"Brenda and Zen arrive soon. Do not exhaust me."
G6 leaned her chin against one hand.
"Live battle."
The words were deceptively light.
"But if you are scared of losing to a 'defector'… that is just cowardice."
"Mockery will not provoke me."
"Ah. I was wondering."
G6 shifted into false curiosity.
"What is the point of Earth Affinity? Read a book. All the attacks seem… lame."
Lord Earl stopped.
The cupcake lowered slowly as his gaze settled on her.
The scholar's usual composure thinned.
"Say that again."
"You heard me."
The insult landed exactly where G6 intended.
Earth Affinity.
Nocturne pride.
His family's accumulated research.
His own reputation as one of the most technically skilled young mages in the Collegium.
All casually dismissed as lame.
Lord Earl set the cupcake down completely.
"You speak boldly for someone still a weak novice at control and in need of grooming."
Weak.
That one word reached G6 before the rest of the sentence mattered.
In her old life, people who called her weak generally regretted having functioning mouths.
"Weak?"
Her voice dropped into deadly calm.
"Watch me introduce your face to the ground."
Lord Earl's eyes narrowed.
"You will regret those words."
"Make me."
They stood at the same time.
"This is not good," Tina murmured.
"Lord Earl, Lady Reise. Please, calm down. Resume normal training."
Edmund stepped forward.
"Do not intervene."
G6's glare stopped all three servants where they stood.
She did not shout or offer another threat, yet the cold authority behind the command was enough to make Lilia instinctively take one step backward.
G6 and Lord Earl walked toward the center of the arena without another word.
They separated until roughly twenty paces lay between them.
Lord Earl planted his feet first, one slightly behind the other to support lateral movement.
G6 stood more loosely, her weight balanced and her hands empty as her grey eyes fixed on him.
A few seconds passed.
Lord Earl initiated.
"STONE BULLET!"
The arena floor broke beneath the spell.
Several compact stone projectiles tore toward G6 at chest and shoulder height.
G6's hand moved.
Wind compressed.
A Wind Blade crossed the distance and met the first stone in mid-air.
—CRACK!
Stone fractured.
The compressed air continued through the debris before dispersing.
The remaining projectiles forced G6 sideways. She pivoted from her lead foot and moved past the second while the third tore through the space where her shoulder had been.
Lord Earl was already repositioning.
He could not cast again yet.
His four-second interval had begun.
G6 could.
A second Wind Blade followed immediately.
Lord Earl moved before it reached him, and the spell cut across the sand behind his heel.
Two seconds.
G6 advanced.
Three.
Her next Wind Blade forced him farther left.
Four.
His interval cleared.
"EARTHEN WALL!"
The ground erupted between them.
The barrier rose directly into G6's line of attack, and her next Wind Blade struck stone instead of flesh, carving a deep groove across its front.
Lord Earl used the wall as cover during the opening of his next interval.
G6 did not waste time trying to batter through the thickest section from the ground.
Wind compressed beneath her boots.
Reaper's Ascent drove her upward.
Lord Earl heard the change in air pressure and looked above the wall.
Too late.
G6 had already taken the high angle.
Her finger pointed down.
BANG!
Bullet of Death struck the top of the Earthen Wall.
Another followed.
BANG!
Then another.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Lord Earl moved behind the barrier as successive concussive impacts hammered through the upper layers.
What spell is that? Lord Earl thought.
The interval had not yet cleared, leaving him no choice but to reposition while cracks spread through his defense.
Another impact struck.
And again—still no interval.
His eyes sharpened.
How? The shortest recorded interval is two seconds!
His own four seconds finally ended.
"EARTH TOMB!"
Earth surged upward around him.
Instead of forming a single frontal wall, the spell closed into a thick dome, sealing him inside.
G6's barrage immediately redirected.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Each impact shook dirt loose from the interior.
Lord Earl crouched beneath the shelter while the entire structure vibrated around him.
The compact spell gave him protection from every direction, but the cost was visibility.
He could no longer see G6.
He could only hear the relentless concussive reports striking from different angles.
She is under a mana restraint, yet three consecutive hits in the same area are already compromising the outer layer, Lord Earl thought.
Another series struck.
The earth above him cracked.
This defense is supposed to withstand far heavier conventional attacks.
His jaw tightened.
At unrestricted output…
He stopped that line of thought.
There was no point speculating without data.
Then the firing ceased.
Silence followed.
Lord Earl waited.
One second.
Nothing.
Two.
Still nothing.
He lowered the front section of the Earth Tomb enough to see.
Empty air.
No G6.
His eyes widened.
Wind shifted behind him.
G6 had not vanished.
The moment her barrage stopped, she had redirected Reaper's Ascent into a steep descent along the blind side of the dome. Her boots touched the sand several paces behind Lord Earl, and she absorbed the landing through bent knees before immediately crossing the remaining distance.
Lord Earl had barely begun turning when her finger pressed against the base of his skull.
"Move, and you die."
He froze.
Cold sweat traced the back of his neck.
She is… dangerously proficient, Lord Earl thought.
"This round is yours."
Surrender.
G6 withdrew her hand.
The black stabilizer ring on her finger had begun glowing faintly.
Lord Earl recognized it immediately.
Of course he did.
He was the one who had given it to her.
What caught his attention was not the artifact, but Reise herself.
Only days ago, less strain than this had left her shaking on the ground for far longer. Now her breathing was heavy but controlled, her knees remained stable, and although the ring was easing the accumulated nerve stress, her body itself was already tolerating more punishment.
Her conditioning is improving much faster than I expected, Lord Earl thought.
That alone made him want more data.
"A blow to my pride."
He adjusted his glasses.
"Another round."
G6 studied his face.
He is not angry… he is digging for intel.
Her mouth slowly curved.
Unlucky. I don't show my hand.
Everyone is a potential enemy.
A predator's smile crossed her face.
"Suit yourself."
Round two began after they reset their positions.
G6 deliberately used the same tools.
Wind Blade.
Bullet of Death.
Reaper's Ascent.
Nothing new.
Lord Earl noticed.
Are these truly all her moves? he wondered as he sidestepped another Bullet of Death and brought up a compact earth barrier while his interval recovered.
Very well.
His eyes narrowed.
Push her.
When the four seconds ended—
"EARTHEN SHRAPNEL!"
This time, the spell exploded outward with considerably greater force.
Not enough to deliberately maim her, but enough to saturate the air and remove the clean pathways G6 had exploited during the first round.
G6 redirected Reaper's Ascent to the left.
A stone fragment crossed her path.
She dropped beneath it.
Another came from the lower right.
She twisted.
A third passed behind her.
The repeated adjustments demanded more from the sustained propulsion than her body had been forced to maintain during the first round.
Her muscles were already carrying fatigue from the earlier victory.
The mana restraint kept her output controlled.
It did not make Reise's body inexhaustible.
A fourth fragment entered from a blind angle created by the larger stones ahead.
G6 saw it late.
She pulled sideways.
Not enough.
The edge grazed her shoulder.
Pain disrupted her concentration, and the continuous current beneath her boots weakened.
Reaper's Ascent lost stability.
Her body dropped.
Lord Earl's face changed instantly.
"Reise!"
G6's eyes sharpened toward the rapidly approaching sand.
"Air Cushion."
It was a spell she had read only the previous day.
This time, she did not build an elaborate visualization. She used the concept exactly as written.
A compressed platform of softened air formed beneath her descent.
Her boots struck it first.
The invisible cushion collapsed gradually beneath her weight, bleeding momentum until she reached the sand without suffering the impact she otherwise would have taken.
Lord Earl reached her seconds later.
"Reise! Are you alright?"
"Fine. Rebooting."
G6 rolled one shoulder experimentally.
"This round is yours. Rest. Half an hour. Until my body settles."
Lord Earl exhaled.
"Agreed."
He offered his arm.
G6 accepted only because her balance remained unreliable.
Lord Earl moved beneath her arm and helped support her weight, one hand steadying her at the waist while they walked toward the lower stone tier.
Neither noticed that Tina, Edmund, and Lilia had already retreated to the arena archway, wisely increasing the distance between themselves and whatever madness had developed between mentor and trainee.
Thirty minutes later, they returned.
Neither had learned anything from the first two rounds except how badly both disliked losing.
Third Round — First Draw
Lord Earl changed strategy.
Instead of building a large defensive structure, he used smaller sections of raised earth to break G6's line of sight and force her into narrower attack lanes.
G6 remained airborne only long enough to make him commit to watching the sky.
Then she dropped.
Lord Earl saw the shift and rotated toward her landing point.
His interval had just cleared.
"STONE BULLET!"
A dense projectile formed beside his shoulder.
At nearly the same instant, G6 crossed the last few paces from the opposite side of his cover.
Her finger-gun rose.
Bullet of Death condensed at its tip.
They stopped less than an arm's length apart.
Lord Earl's Stone Bullet was aligned with G6's torso.
G6's compressed-air projectile was aimed directly between his eyes.
Neither could safely release without the other doing the same.
Lord Earl looked at her weaponized hand.
G6 looked at the stone hovering beside his shoulder.
Neither moved.
"Draw," Lord Earl said through clenched teeth.
G6 lowered her hand.
The stone dropped harmlessly into the sand.
Neither looked pleased.
Fourth Round — Second Draw
Lord Earl abandoned the open exchange entirely.
He raised several irregular earth formations across the arena floor, not as direct defenses but as visual obstructions.
G6 moved between them.
He deliberately allowed one barrier to block her view of his position.
Then another.
The moment she lost visual confirmation, Lord Earl changed direction.
G6 landed and searched.
Nothing.
Then a faint shift disturbed the sand to her left.
She turned.
Lord Earl emerged from behind the earth formation with his interval already cleared.
An Earthen Spear formed in front of his hand and stopped inches from G6's chest.
Lord Earl's mouth curved.
Then his eyes shifted.
Behind him, a compact Cyclone spun at shoulder height.
G6 had formed it while searching for his position, leaving the vortex suspended where she calculated he would emerge if he tried to circle behind her visual obstruction.
The rotating wind hovered close enough to slam into his back before he could safely complete his attack.
Neither moved.
G6 looked down at the Earthen Spear.
Lord Earl glanced over one shoulder at the Cyclone.
Another stalemate.
Their expressions darkened simultaneously.
"There is no way in hell I am letting you walk out of here victorious," G6 snarled.
"Do not get so cocky. You will regret this," Lord Earl retorted.
「END OF FLASHBACK」
"And that led to this fifth round," Edmund finished, shaking his head.
Lord Keith stared toward the battlefield.
"Since when does Reise fight like that?"
Above them, G6 changed direction as another section of Lord Earl's defense shattered beneath her attack.
"Simple moves, advanced tactics," Prince Dio stated.
"Combat training at the Worthon Residence."
The explanation came quickly enough to discourage further speculation.
Yet Prince Dio's own eyes remained fixed on her.
He wanted the answer just as badly as everyone else.
Perhaps more.
"It makes me fall in love with her… more," Lady Brenda sighed.
Lord Keith slowly turned.
"Fell… in love? More?"
"Shut up."
"Lady Reise is… quite the fighter," Miss Eliza whispered.
"Indeed."
Lord Zen watched G6 redirect in mid-air.
"The Worthons truly rule the sky. She owns it."
The fifth round reached its end.
Lord Earl's earlier Earthen Wall had already been destroyed. The battlefield had become an uneven maze of cracked earth, scattered stone, and torn sand.
Both fighters were tired.
That changed the strategy.
G6's Reaper's Ascent had begun losing some of its earlier smoothness, while Lord Earl's breathing had deepened from maintaining repeated defenses and managing the unavoidable pauses between spells.
Neither wanted another draw.
Lord Earl initiated.
"STONE BULLET!"
G6 banked left.
The projectile tore past her.
She fired twice in return.
BANG! BANG!
Lord Earl moved laterally rather than immediately answering.
Interval.
G6 knew it.
She dropped lower to exploit it.
Lord Earl knew she knew it.
Instead of retreating, he ran toward one of the broken earth formations, forcing G6 to choose between maintaining distance or descending into terrain he had already shaped.
She descended.
Exactly what he wanted.
Three seconds.
Lord Earl planted one foot against the edge of the raised ground.
Four.
His mana pathways cleared.
"EARTHEN SHIELD!"
A short, thick barrier erupted directly between them.
G6's next Bullet of Death struck the center.
—BOOM!
The shield fractured but held long enough to blind her with a sudden eruption of sand and powdered stone.
Lord Earl moved through the dust.
He was not casting.
He could not yet.
Instead, he used the four-second recovery window physically, circling toward G6's right side while the debris obscured her vision.
G6 landed, her boots sliding through disturbed sand as visibility dropped to almost nothing.
She heard movement.
Right.
G6 shifted.
Lord Earl emerged from the dust before his next spell interval had fully cleared, attempting to force her backward through positioning alone.
She gave him ground.
One step.
Two.
He thought he had cornered the angle.
G6's gaze dropped.
Sand. Loose. Perfect.
Her foot swept sharply across the ground.
A wide sheet of pale sand exploded upward between them.
Lord Earl flinched.
Not enough to blind him completely.
Enough.
G6 moved into the obscured space instead of away from it.
Lord Earl reached the end of his interval and raised one hand.
G6 struck his wrist aside before the spell name left his mouth.
No spell.
No interval advantage.
Now it was physical.
Lord Earl twisted his arm free and stepped across her line, using his greater body mass to deny her a straight approach.
G6 pivoted around the contact.
Her shoulder slipped past his.
Lord Earl turned with her.
She dropped her center, hooked one leg behind his ankle, and planted her other foot.
G6 pulled at his arm while driving her shoulder against his upper body.
Lord Earl's balance broke.
He tried to widen his stance.
Too late.
His rear foot slid in the loose sand G6 had deliberately thrown across the ground.
His body tipped.
G6 followed the fall rather than releasing him.
Lord Earl hit the sand on his back.
G6's knee landed beside his ribs, and her weight shifted over his torso only long enough to prevent him from rolling.
Then she was sitting squarely across his chest, one hand controlling his shoulder while the other formed the familiar finger-gun.
The dust began settling around them.
The spectators slowly became visible again.
G6 pointed directly at Lord Earl's forehead.
"You lost."
Her grin was victory incarnate.
Lord Earl stared up at her.
For perhaps the first time that morning, he had absolutely nothing technical to say.
Not because the takedown had confused him.
He knew precisely how she had done it.
She had exploited his interval, broken his casting posture, used loose terrain against his footing, then turned his larger frame against him.
No.
The problem was the position.
Reise Worthon was sitting on his chest.
Very much in public.
Lord Earl's face burned.
A furious, involuntary blush spread across his cheeks and ears.
The spectators fell completely silent.
Lord Keith's mouth slowly opened.
Lady Brenda looked one second away from marching into the arena herself.
Then Prince Dio moved.
Faster than either of them.
He strode through the settling dust toward G6 and Lord Earl, his expression darkening with every step.
The sight irritated him more sharply than it had any reasonable right to.
That alone made the reaction worse.
It was inappropriate.
That was the simplest explanation available.
Reise was his fiancée.
Lord Earl was a childhood companion.
They had been sparring.
There was nothing unusual about a physical takedown during combat training.
Prince Dio knew all of this.
None of it quieted the distinctly personal irritation twisting through him.
"Reise."
His voice came out lower than intended.
G6 looked up.
She did not move.
Prince Dio reached them and took hold of her arm, pulling her to her feet.
His grip was firm but controlled, careful not to hurt her.
"What is your prob—"
"That was very bold," he cut in, his eyes locked on hers, "knowing your husband-to-be is watching."
The words left his mouth before he properly examined them.
Prince Dio heard himself.
A flicker of surprise passed through his thoughts.
Why did I say that?
G6 stared at him.
What? What is he acting up for?
"Did not know you were there. Let go."
She tried to yank her arm free.
Prince Dio's grip held.
"Uncomfortable with my touch, yet comfortable atop another man?"
Again.
Too sharp.
Too personal.
Prince Dio recognized it the moment the words left him.
Some irrational part of him knew he was making a spectacle.
He could not seem to stop.
Fucking problem of this one?
Lord Earl stood and brushed the sand from his clothes.
"Calm down. An advanced mana-control exercise."
His tone was deliberately rational, even if the flush had not fully left his ears.
Prince Dio looked toward him.
The glance was brief.
Far from neutral.
Lord Earl paused.
Is he… jealous? Lord Earl wondered, surprised.
The possibility was ridiculous enough that he almost dismissed it immediately.
Almost.
Prince Dio turned away without responding and began pulling G6 toward the arena archway.
Not violently.
Not carelessly.
But with the maddening certainty of someone accustomed to being obeyed.
"Hey, fucker. I will break your hand in three seconds."
"Break it. My hold remains."
G6 stared at the back of his head.
Something about his behavior did not fit the data she had collected.
She could manufacture affection.
Manipulate fear.
Exploit loneliness.
Predict attraction when she deliberately encouraged it.
But whatever Prince Dio was displaying now had not been planted by her.
She had done nothing to provoke it intentionally.
That made it harder to categorize.
Irrational.
Possessive? Annoyed?
Some aristocratic issue over public appearances?
Whatever. It is irritating.
They reached the archway.
The crowd parted without being asked.
Even Lord Keith had stopped joking.
Prince Dio guided G6 toward the stone seating.
"Rest. Your body trembles. No further activity until I permit it."
The command came automatically, royal authority stripped of negotiation.
G6's eyes narrowed.
"Don't boss me around like I am your lackey."
He was right about one thing.
Fine tremors had already begun traveling through Reise's hands and thighs now that the adrenaline of the fifth round was fading.
Still, that did not give him the right to order her around.
"Curse me all you want. Rest," Prince Dio said, ignoring her harsh words.
Lord Earl joined them.
"Brenda, Zen. You are here."
"I saw you blushing, Earl!"
Lord Keith's voice finally returned to its natural state of nuisance.
Prince Dio's head turned slightly.
His gaze cut toward Lord Earl.
Lord Keith saw it.
His smirk immediately returned.
"Shut your mouth, oaf," Lord Earl barked, his ears becoming red again. "Rest until I regain energy. Then we train."
"Let Miss Eliza join you. I will supervise," Lord Keith offered.
"She may observe. You will participate."
Lord Earl adjusted his glasses.
Lord Keith groaned.
Through it all, Miss Eliza remained near the edge of the group.
Her attention had barely left Prince Dio.
He, meanwhile, seemed to have temporarily forgotten anyone else was standing there, his attention still caught on the increasingly irritating problem that was Reise Worthon.
"Stop looming," G6 grumbled.
"I am not in the mood to bicker."
Prince Dio's usual controlled expression had not entirely returned.
The irritation remained obvious enough that even Lord Zen had begun quietly studying him.
"Let us relocate to the exterior benches. There is more space," Edmund suggested, attempting to diffuse the tension before G6 decided to make good on her threat.
Prince Dio did not answer.
He reached for G6's wrist again and began guiding her toward their usual resting area.
G6 immediately resisted.
"I already said I don't fucking like unsolicited touch!"
Her boots dragged briefly through the sand as she twisted her wrist against his grip.
Prince Dio did not release her.
The persistent contact was becoming less of an inconvenience and more of an aggravating invasion.
"Ow, someone is grumpy. Thanks to someone."
Lord Keith glanced meaningfully toward Lord Earl.
"Let us follow," Lord Earl said, refusing to give him the satisfaction of a response.
The spells had faded from the arena, but the tension had not.
What remained between G6 and Prince Dio was harder to classify than magic and considerably less orderly: his uncharacteristically personal irritation against her mounting fury at being handled without permission.
Prince Dio pulled her toward the resting area with all the stubborn authority of a man who still had not figured out why the scene had bothered him so much.
G6 followed only because resisting while her legs trembled would waste more energy than she was willing to spend.
The others trailed behind them in stunned silence.
Whatever had just happened, the fifth round was over.
The next confrontation had apparently already begun.
—To Be Continued…—