I was sauntering through the corridors, scanning the corners with my curious eyes, when I suddenly felt a darkness closing in on me.
A powerful hand pulled me with sudden violence toward a narrow, isolated passage, slamming my back against the wall with a force that made my breath quicken.
He cornered me with his massive frame, erasing every inch of distance between us, to the point where I could feel the hardness of his chest muscles tensing and stiffening in front of my face.
I raised my head slowly; I didn't need to guess. I recognized that familiar heaviness in the air.
I was met by his flaming yellow eyes, sparking with madness and rage.
The Prince was so close; his hot, spiteful breath brushed my forehead, and his dragon-like eyes pierced my soul as if they wanted to burn me alive.
"So... did you think that laughing with those scum would erase what you did in class?"
He whispered in a hoarse voice overflowing with menace, while the bracelet on my wrist began to pulse with a violent red color, warning of an explosion of Void energy within me due to this provocative proximity.
I smiled with a provocative coldness that shook his stability. I looked deep into his burning eyes without blinking. I stood there, a trapped body with a free soul, and said in a tone dripping with indifference:
"Oh... did something truly important happen worth mentioning? I completely forgot."
His body stiffened further, and I felt the heat of his breath grow angrier against my face; my words were like pouring oil on his raging fires.
He pressed his hand against the wall beside my head so hard that the stone began to crack under the influence of his power. He hissed through clenched teeth:
"Pretending to forget, Aria? Or are you trying to test how far my patience can go before I crush this false pride?"
The Void energy inside me was dancing, hungry to clash with his golden aura that had begun to suffocate the narrow corridor.
My smile widened with a madness that made my eyes glow with a terrifying flash.
I tilted my head slightly to whisper into his ear in a voice dripping with the desire for destruction:
"You can't imagine how much I look forward to that... Show me how you will crush it. Show me your hell, Dragon."
The distance between us was no longer just two bodies; it became a battlefield pulsing with electricity and sparks.
I felt his jaw muscles tighten, and his golden eyes, which had turned into smoldering embers, almost scorched me.
The bracelet on my wrist shook violently, its color turning from red to pitch black for a single second, announcing that the Void energy within me had responded to his challenge and begun to consume the stillness of the place.
His hand gripped my shirt collar, and he growled in a voice that shook the walls of the narrow corridor:
"You are playing with doom, Aria... and the hell you're asking for won't just burn your pride; it will devour every atom of your existence."
His breath was burning my skin, but I did not back down. Instead, I widened my mad smile, waiting for him to begin the dance that would end in the destruction of one of us... or both.
I screamed with feverish excitement, madness dancing in my eyes like tongues of black flame.
I gripped his shirt collar with sudden strength and pulled him toward me with a violence that shattered every remaining shred of dignity between us.
Our noses touched, my panting breath mingling with his scorching breath, and I whispered to him in a voice buzzing with ecstasy:
"I'm excited for that... Show me your hell! Ignite your fire; let us burn together!"
At that moment, I appeared completely insane to him—a rebel who did not fear doom but invited it.
The walls around us shook from the collision of the two auras: his golden fire beginning to sear our skins, and my Void beginning to absorb the light from the corridor.
The pupils of his golden eyes widened in shock mingled with a primal urge for control.
He no longer saw just a provocative student; he saw the "Beautiful Ruin" he had been searching for all his life.
He tightened his grip on my waist to lift me slightly off the ground, leaned his head down, and replied in a faint voice filled with obsession:
"Then so be it... Do not ask for mercy when this corridor turns to ash, Aria."
Suddenly, the dragon tattoo on his cheek began to glow with a blinding light. I felt a terrifying heat emanating from his chest, while the air molecules around us began to vanish...
Were we about to burn the Academy and everyone in it, or would someone interrupt this suicidal moment?
My madness suddenly vanished as if it had never existed, replaced by an overwhelming, childish curiosity I couldn't restrain.
My eyes widened in genuine wonder as I glimpsed the dragon tattoo on his cheek glowing—and moving—as if it were a living creature trying to break free from its leathery prison.
In a moment of awe, my black aura subsided, and my turmoil stilled.
I instinctively raised my hand, my fingers touching that moving tattoo.
I placed my entire palm over it, feeling a strange pulse and a fluid movement beneath his skin, as if the dragon were exhaling under my palm.
My smile widened with pure curiosity, and I whispered in disbelief:
"Damn... It's moving! For a moment, I thought it was just a stupid drawing... My God, this is truly amazing!"
I didn't stop at his cheek; my hand ventured further with a curiosity that knew no shame.
My palm slid down, tracing the rest of the tattoo that extended from his neck down to his chest, completely forgetting that I was trapped between the wall and the body of this Prince who, a second ago, was burning with rage.
I was exploring his "Dragon" in complete awe, unaware of the shock this movement of mine had etched onto his features.
The Prince froze completely; his turbulent breath hitched. After being ready to burn the world, he found himself under curious, exploratory touches that no one in his life had dared to perform.
The glow of the tattoo dimmed slightly under my palm, as if the dragon itself was caught off guard by this gentle audacity.
Time stopped at that moment. After being ready to burn the corridor and everyone in it, my curious touch caused an electrical shock to his being that his fires hadn't expected.
The Prince froze completely, his raging breath cut off, and his golden eyes widened with a shock he had never known before.
He didn't move away, nor did he push me.
Instead, he felt the dragon tattoo under my palm, its raging pulse calming and shifting from aggressive movement to a peaceful ripple, as if the dragon itself had submitted curiously to that bold touch.
He slowly loosened his grip on my shirt collar. A paleness washed over his face for a second before being replaced by a slight blush he couldn't hide behind his cold mask.
He looked at my hand, which was tracing his chest up to his cheek, and whispered in a faint voice, stripped of menace and replaced by royal confusion:
"Have you completely lost your mind, Aria? No one touches the Reaper's tattoo this way. It isn't a toy for you to fondle with your curiosity."
Despite his rebuking words, he did not move his hand to push me away.
He remained there, cornering me, as if my touch had enchanted both the dragon and its master, turning a battle of death into a moment of shared wonder that broke his pride before my sudden innocence.
I didn't hear his warning, or perhaps I chose to ignore it. The texture of the tattoo under my fingers was warm, pulsing with a mysterious life I hadn't known.
I leaned closer to him, until my breath brushed his neck, and whispered with indifferent curiosity:
"Not a toy? But it responded to my touch, Your Highness... Look, your raging dragon calmed down as soon as I touched it. Are you sure it doesn't want to play?"
My audacity went even further; my fingers slid to slowly undo the first button of his official shirt, my eyes shining with an exploratory glint:
"I want to see its end... How far does this dragon go?"
The Prince's body stiffened completely, and I heard the sound of him swallowing clearly in the silence of the corridor.
His grip, which had been pinning me to the wall, loosened to rest beside my head, while his golden eyes ignited with a color that was no longer pure rage, but a mixture of embarrassment and shock at this suicidal boldness.
He suddenly grabbed my wrist, but without violence—a grip both strong and hesitant at the same time. He whispered in a hoarse voice:
"Aria... Stop. You are crossing boundaries you might not emerge from safely. Touching the dragon tattoo of the Reaper family is considered... a Contract."
He looked deep into my eyes, as if his internal struggle had shifted from a desire to break me to a desire to understand how a creature like me could possess such gentle madness.
With features masked in defiance and strength of character, I completely ignored his warnings and continued unbuttoning his shirt with a coldness that stunned him.
I said in a curious, rebellious tone:
"It doesn't matter... I want to see its end. And what 'ridiculous contract' are you talking about?"
The Prince held his breath, his back hitting the opposite wall as if he were now the one cornered.
His grip on my wrist loosened and surrendered to my boldness, while the golden color of his eyes turned dark from the intensity of his agitation.
He whispered in a fragmented voice, as if his words were emerging from suppressed fires:
"The Contract... means you have bound your soul to my dragon's soul, Aria. By touching the heart of the tattoo, you are no longer just a strange student... You have become a partner in the destiny that everyone curses."
I pulled the shirt back slightly to see the tattoo wrapping around his broad chest, throbbing with a force synchronized with his accelerating heartbeat.
"My God, it wraps around your heart!"
I whispered in awe as I contemplated the tattoo that seemed to guard his pulse.
I didn't care about his warnings of contracts or curses. I said mockingly:
"No one is cursed with my destiny, Mr. Dragon, so don't exaggerate."
I couldn't resist that wild urge, so I extended my palm to place it directly over his heart.
At that moment, what no one expected happened: his heart beat with immense power beneath my palm, and the dragon in his tattoo shook violently, then exploded in a brilliant golden light that flooded the narrow corridor.
I blinked in shock as I saw the light leaking through my fingers, while the Prince closed his eyes tightly, a muffled groan escaping him as if he were in pain or struggling with a flood of emotions and energy awakened by my touch.
The bracelet on my wrist was now glowing with a strange color—a blend of orange and gold—as if the Void energy within me had begun to merge with his dragon's fire.
I stood up straight, my hand still over his beating heart, and asked him in a stunned whisper:
"What's happening? Why did it light up like that?"
The Prince opened his eyes slowly. Their golden color overflowed with a brilliance I had never seen before.
He looked at me with a lost, sad, and complex gaze, then said in a trembling voice:
"You've done it... You've awakened the sleeping dragon. This light means the Contract has been sealed, Aria. From now on, my pulse and yours... have become one."
I clenched my fingers over his shirt tightly, increasing the pressure of my palm over his heart, which was thumping like a war drum.
I looked directly into his eyes, which were drowned in complete shock.
With a smile full of pride and a challenge shining in my eyes like a sharp blade, I whispered to him in a confident voice that shook the stillness of the corridor:
"Then, I will control your pulse as I wish, Mr. Dragon... From this moment on, you are under my responsibility, so prepare to follow my own laws."
I didn't wait for a response. I let go of his shirt collar with a sudden coldness, brushed my red hair back, and glanced at him with a victorious look, completely ignoring the Prince's aura that had been cornering me moments ago.
The rules of the game had flipped entirely; instead of being his prey, I became the one holding the reins of his heart... literally.
The Prince froze in place, his features looking like a struggle between his wounded pride and his shock at your boldness that transcended all logic.
It took seconds for his voice to return, but it wasn't the thundering voice with which he began the confrontation.
It was a low, deep tone, laden with a mysterious threat.
He slowly reached out and grabbed my wrist where the bracelet gleamed, leaning his face close to my ear to respond to my challenge with a whisper that made the blood freeze in my veins:
"Controlling my pulse? Bold as usual, Aria... but you forgot that the dragon you just awakened does not accept chains. If my pulse is yours now, it means my hell has become your home, and I will see if you can endure when this contract begins to burn everyone who approaches you but me."
He didn't pull away. Instead, he tightened his grip on your wrist, looking into your eyes with intensity as if trying to explore the seriousness of your words.
Then he added with a cold, dark smile:
"You are no longer just my partner in destiny... You are now my own 'Curse.' Prepare yourself, for from today, neither Vasilios nor any power will protect you from the tyranny of this pulse you thought you could possess so easily."
He suddenly let go of your wrist, stepped back, and calmly re-buttoned his shirt with a suspicious tranquility, while his golden eyes still radiated that strange light you had awakened with your touch.
I sighed lightly, as if his threats were nothing but dust in the wind.
His honeyed words of menace no longer meant anything to me compared to the thrill of victory I was tasting now.
In this cold war, I was the one who set the rules, and I was the one who fired the final shot.
I turned away with complete coldness and began walking away from him in that narrow corridor, the powerful echo of my confident footsteps announcing the departure of the "Victor."
Without granting him the honor of turning back or looking at his face flushed with shock, I said in a calm, confident tone that defeated the silence of the place:
"We'll see... My Prince."
I left him there behind me, cornered by his raging heartbeats and his dragon tattoo, which was no longer his alone.
The bracelet on my wrist flickered with a faint golden color mingling with orange, as if confirming to me that the "Contract" he spoke of had indeed taken effect—but in my own way.
Finally, silence drew its curtains over this long, dull day, which passed like an eternity within the suffocating classroom walls and magic lessons that no longer occupied my mind.
The chatter of the "Pig-Face" teacher was melting in my ears like a faint noise, while my body was there and my mind was somewhere else entirely.
Throughout those hours, that weight never left me—the Prince's sharp gazes piercing my back like golden daggers, watching every move I made as if he were trying to solve the puzzle of the "Contract" with which I had shackled his pulse.
His gazes were a mix of resentment and shock, watching me with icy coldness while I deliberately ignored him completely, enjoying the faint golden flicker of the bracelet that reminded me of every touch with which I had explored his dragon.
I walked out of the final hall, and calmness began to creep into the Academy's hallways as dusk approached.
I put my hands in my pockets and sighed deeply, feeling the Void energy settling in temporary peace within my veins after the morning's storm.
I was about to leave the classroom, but a sudden thought stopped me at the threshold:
"Wait... what's his name?"
Surely, I won't call him "Prince of Reapers" all the time; that title is heavy and boring, just like its owner.
I turned slowly to find that he had stood up and begun heading toward the exit right behind me, as if he were tracking my scent.
I waited until he drew near, then stood in his way coldly, raising my eyebrows and saying in a dry tone lacking any royal respect:
"By the way, Prince... you haven't told me, what is your name? I don't expect you to think I'll call you by your official title every time I want to annoy you, do I?"
He stopped directly in front of me, his golden gaze fixed on my face.
Then he leaned down slightly to my level and whispered in a deep, resonant voice dripping with mystery:
"Alcaeus... my name is Alcaeus. And I hope you don't regret later that you learned a name at which even the dead tremble, Aria."
I pronounced the name in my mind: "Chaos." I gave a mocking side-smile, a new challenge gleaming in my eyes.
I tilted my head slightly as I stared into the void, and began to repeat the letters very slowly, as if I were tasting the word on my tongue:
"Al-ca-eus..."
I said it in a whispering, lingering tone, intentionally drawing out the letters with a sort of provocative flirtatiousness and deadly coldness at the same time.
I felt the echo of the name vibrate in the empty corridor, as if I were testing its effect on his own ears.
I looked up at him again with a mysterious smile and said in a semi-mocking tone:
"Alcaeus... Utter Chaos. It seems your parents were expecting a lot of headaches since your birth, weren't they?"
My eyes gleamed as I noticed his reaction to my dismissive way of treating his great name.
I continued on my way, repeating the name one last time in a faint voice only he could hear:
"Alcaeus... we'll see if you'll be the chaos in my life, or if I'll be the chaos you cannot stop."
Alcaeus stopped in his tracks, as if your pronunciation of his name in that lingering manner had completely paralyzed him.
He wasn't as angry as I had expected. Instead, a heavy silence reigned for seconds.
I saw the veins in his neck stiffen as he tried to restrain his dragon, which had awakened behind his ribs the moment his name was touched by my lips.
He stepped one pace closer, his shadow completely covering my body. Then he said in a low, deep voice, trembling with dignity and suppressed rage:
"Do not utter my name that way again, Aria... because its letters, when they emerge from between your lips, awaken something inside me that not even the 'Dragon Contract' can control."
I glimpsed a strange glint in his golden eyes; it wasn't the usual glint of hatred.
It was a mixture of shock and the recognition that I was the only one who could strip him of his royal dignity and turn his great name into a mere melody I could toy with as I pleased.
He gave a cold, dark smile and added as he slowly walked away:
"Enjoy the name game for now... for tomorrow, when the pulse between us intensifies, you will realize that 'Chaos' is not just a name; it is the destiny you chose to belong to with that touch of yours."
My smile faded gradually as I watched his shadow vanish at the end of the corridor, replaced by a biting coldness that settled on my features.
I whispered to myself in a voice heard only by the silent Academy walls:
"We'll see who loses their pulse first, Alcaeus..."
It wasn't just a word; it was a promise of submission I would make to myself.
I turned toward my private wing, walking with steps heavy with both exhaustion and ecstasy.
I had no desire to eat; the confrontation with "Chaos" had fed my soul with enough adrenaline.
I entered my room and threw my exhausted body onto the bed without turning on the lights, letting the moonlight streaming through the window dance on my red hair.
I raised my hand before my eyes, watching the bracelet pulse with a very faint golden light, dancing with my steady heartbeats.
I felt a strange heat in my palm—the same heat I felt when I touched his heart—as if the spiritual bond he spoke of had begun to take root deep within me.
I closed my eyes, repeating his name for the last time before sleep—not with mockery this tim