Arthur casually picked up the glove, dusting it off. “Right now? We have classes to attend.”
“Who cares about classes?! Meet me in the academy arena!” James bellowed. He spun on his heel and stormed off, the furious crimson on his face and the throbbing veins on his forehead still vividly clear. With a collective murmur, the crowd of students quickly followed in the prince's wake.
Arthur chuckled softly, looking down at the leather glove in his hand. “I don’t even know this school’s layout yet.”
Beside him, Elaine gently brushed her thumb against Arthur’s hand, her eyes laced with worry. “You don’t have to do this, Arthur. He’s just… being himself. He’s just protecting his property.”
Arthur’s brow furrowed, his relaxed demeanor instantly tightening. “Property?”
Elaine nodded sadly. “When we first met years ago—during one of the grand balls my father threw to find me a husband—James called me his property when another man tried to approach me. He has looked at me that way ever since.”
Arthur stopped walking. He turned to her, forcing intense, unwavering eye contact. “You are no one’s property, Elaine. You are a human being with your own emotions, your own thoughts, and your own feelings.”
Elaine bit her lower lip, desperately trying to suppress the sudden wave of emotion threatening to break through her royal composure. “You don’t understand, Arthur… Women in the royal factions are treated like commodities. Our opinions don't matter. We are simply married off to whoever our parents choose for us. Whoever they deem worthy of our status.”
A familiar, confident smirk returned to Arthur’s lips. “You’re right. I don’t know a single thing about royalty.”
He gave her hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze, his eyes softening. “But I know what unfairness looks like.” He glanced down the hallway in the direction the prince had vanished. “Please lead me to this arena, Elaine.”
A few minutes later, Arthur and Elaine arrived at the academy arena. The stadium was packed to the brim, the air vibrating with roaring cheers as the crowd chanted James’s name.
There stood the prince, right in the center of the stadium sands.
“Who wants to see me humiliate the peasant who had the audacity to set foot in our noble academy?!” James shouted, throwing his arms out to incite an even louder roar from the stands.
Elaine looked at Arthur, her eyes filled with deep anxiety. “Please stay safe. I don’t want you to get hurt… I mean, I saw you vaporize those demons earlier to protect me. No one in this entire academy has ever killed a real demon before…” She looked down at the ground for a brief moment before locking her eyes back onto his. “I know you’re strong, Arthur. But please, still be careful.”
“I understand what you're saying. I’ll be careful, I promise,” Arthur said reassuringly, his voice a calm anchor in the middle of the stadium noise.
Elaine nodded, slowly letting go of his hand. She headed up toward the spectator stairs while Arthur continued walking forward, stepping out into the open dirt.
The moment Arthur emerged fully into the arena, a wave of mocking laughter and jeers swept through the crowd.
“Ah! There he is! I thought you’d chickened out on me!” James laughed boastfully, the student body instantly chuckling alongside him.
“Put him in his place, James!” someone yelled from the front row.
“Teach him to respect nobility!” another interjected.
Arthur walked directly toward James, his face completely deadpan. He was entirely unfazed and unbothered by the insults raining down from the stands.
Once Arthur halted a few paces away, James spoke again, his voice dripping with arrogance. “Okay, peasant, the rules are simple. We can both use magic to the absolute full extent of our abilities. The first one knocked out cold loses. The one who can’t continue fighting loses… Oh, and if you try to back out now, I’ll personally ensure you are exiled from this kingdom forever. Got that?”
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Arthur simply nodded, completely relaxed. “Alright then.”
James smirked, turning on his heel to walk away and create distance between them before the match officially began.
A female student stepped onto the arena sands and raised her hand high. “Both duelists ready?”
“Hell yeah!” James shouted, cracking his knuckles.
“Aye,” Arthur said, casually scratching the back of his neck. Dear God, he thought, scanning the prince's theatrical stance. I’ve never seen anyone so obnoxious in my life. Is this really what it means to be royalty?
The student brought her hand crashing down, slicing the air. “START!”
James instantly kicked into motion, summoning a massive halo of glowing magic circles around his body. With a dramatic roar, he began firing a chaotic, simultaneous barrage of offensive magic. Fireballs, ice shards, razor-sharp leaves, jagged rocks, and crackling bolts of lightning erupted from the circles, rain-storming down onto Arthur's position.
CRASH! FSSSS! CRASH! FSSSSS!
Explosions ripped through the dirt, tearing up the arena. Yet, Arthur simply drifted through the storm, dodging every single projectile effortlessly without a single wasted movement.
“Yeah! That’s right! Dance for me, peasant!” James laughed mockingly. “What’s the matter? Can’t even use magic? You poor, pathetic thing!”
The crowd went completely wild, chanting James’s name even louder while hurling venomous insults down at the sand.
“Fight back, you coward!” someone yelled.
“I bet he doesn't even know how to use magic,” another sneered.
“Hah! What kind of loser can’t cast a simple spell? Even commoners can manage basic offense!” a third chimed in.
High above the stands, Elaine watched the chaos unfold, her hands clenched tight as worry consumed her eyes. Arthur noticed her anxious expression mid-dodge and paused for a split second to flash her a quick, reassuring smile.
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He then looked back at James, who was practically grinning like a child while throwing everything he had into the empty dirt. Arthur decided he had seen enough.
In a fraction of a second, Arthur vanished completely from James’s sight.
James abruptly stopped firing, his spells fizzling out as his eyes widened in absolute shock and confusion. “Where the hell did he go?!”
Suddenly, he felt a light, casual tap on his shoulder.
“Right here,” Arthur's voice whispered from behind him.
Before James could even begin to turn his head, Arthur delivered a swift, sharp strike straight to the prince's nape. The impact sent James flying forward, slamming his face hard into the arena dirt.
Instantly, the roaring cheers of the stadium died. The mocking laughter vanished. A heavy, suffocating silence washed over the entire crowd as they stared down at the prince who had just been forced to kiss the ground.
Arthur crouched down beside the face-planted prince, casually poking James's leg with his index finger.
After getting absolutely no response, he stood back up, looked at the crowd with a purposefully blank expression, and asked, “Uhh… I guess I win?”
The stadium remained utterly frozen. The students stared down at the sand in a speechless, suffocating silence, completely unable to process what they had just witnessed.
Arthur tilted his head and shrugged. He crouched back down, leaning in close to James's ear. “Elaine isn’t your property, nor is any other woman,” Arthur whispered, his voice dropping into a chilling, low register. His relaxed demeanor vanished as he glared at the unconscious prince, his eyes flashing like daggers that could pierce through a man's soul. “You’re the one who needs to learn respect.”
Standing up, he left the prince in the dirt and began walking toward the stadium exit. He caught Elaine's eye in the stands, flashing her a warm smile and a reassuring thumbs-up.
Relief washed over Elaine's face, and she immediately rushed down the spectator stairs to meet him.
They met right at the bottom of the flight of steps.
“Arthu—” Elaine started, but her voice was cut short as she suddenly tripped over her own feet.
Arthur lunged forward and caught her effortlessly, pulling her against his chest. He chuckled softly. “Were you really that excited to see me, or are you just clumsy?”
Buried against Arthur’s chest, Elaine’s muffled voice emerged as she looked up at him, pouting cutely. “N-No… My legs just suddenly crossed over.”
While Arthur was still holding her, a refined feminine voice suddenly cut through the quiet corridor.
“Arthur?”
Arthur froze. He whipped his head toward the source of the voice, his face twisting into absolute shock. Standing before them was a woman who looked identically, inexplicably like the parent he had lost the day he was born.
“Mother…?” he breathed, his grip tightening instinctively before he helped Elaine back onto her own feet. He couldn't break eye contact with the woman.
The woman offered a soft, melancholic smile. “No. I am your aunt. Just call me Aunt Alice.”
Alice stepped closer to them, her eyes scanning Arthur’s face with deep emotion. “You two, please come with me to my office. We have a lot to talk about… especially you, Arthur.”
To Be Continued...