Chapter 139: Chapter 137
The romantic atmosphere immediately shattered into a thousand pieces.
Vesphyr slowly turned toward him, the look on his face could have frozen an ocean.
Meanwhile Sykelion was confused as he looked between us, to how close we were sitting, at my burning face, then at Vesphyr.
His soul practically left his body when he finally understood the situation.
"I..." he started as he slowly took a step backward.
"I can come back later."
His hand found the doorknob.
"So just continue whatever you two were doing."
The traitor actually started closing the door.
"NO!" I shouted immediately.
"Don’t come back," Vesphyr said at the exact same time.
Sykelion genuinely looked like he was being forced to choose which cliff he wanted to jump off.
Finally, he straightened up looking like a man who had accepted death.
"Your Grace."
Vesphyr narrowed his eyes.
"The King and Queen wishes to meet you."
The two stared at each other while I silently prayed for Sykelion’s safety.
Sykelion swallowed hard then delivered the final blow.
"They said if you refuse, they’ll come here themselves."
Vesphyr’s expression immediately darkened but my expression immediately brightened.
I shot to my feet so quickly that Sykelion visibly flinched.
"Well!" I said cheerfully. "Looks like you’re busy!"
Vesphyr grabbed my sleeve before I could take a single step.
"Your answer?"
Sykelion looked away and suddenly found the wall extremely interesting.
"The King and Queen are waiting for you," I reminded him.
Vesphyr didn’t even look away from me. "Then let them come here."
My eyes widened. "WHAT?"
Even Sykelion nearly twisted his neck. "Your Grace?"
"Later."
"Your Grace!"
"Later."
Sykelion looked one sentence away from resigning.
I dragged a hand down my face. "Do I really have to give my answer right now?"
"Yes."
"Can I have a few days?"
"No."
"A few hours?"
"No."
"A few minutes?"
His expression became suspiciously serious. "Answer me now or I’ll go crazy and tie you up beside me."
u up by my side," he said seriously.
Sykelion suddenly started choking.
I glared at Vesphyr. "YOU CAN’T JUST SAY THINGS LIKE THAT!"
"I can."
"No!"
"I absolutely can."
"That’s kidnapping!"
"You’re my mate."
"Can you at least give me a moment to think?" I pleaded.
Instead of answering, he started counting.
"...Ten."
I froze.
"...Nine."
"Vesphyr."
"...Eight."
One of his tails suddenly appeared.
My eyes widened when the fluffy appendage slowly wrapped itself around my waist.
"Vesphyr."
"...Seven."
"Vesphyr!"
"...Six."
Sykelion was no longer pretending to be interested in the wall.
Instead, he looked like a man witnessing a disaster unfold in real time.
"Your Grace," he said weakly.
"I have eight more tails."
My soul left my body.
"I can bind you with all of them."
Sykelion made a strangled noise.
I immediately imagined being wrapped up like a very embarrassed burrito and that image was absolutely horrifying.
"...Five."
"VESPHYR!"
"...Four."
Two tails slowly wrapped my legs.
"Remove that!"
"...Three."
"I’M SERIOUS!"
"...Two."
I looked around but there was nothing that could help me.
"...One."
"YES!" I screamed.
Vesphyr unconsciously let me go and that’s when I spun around and bolted away.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Before I could quietly slip back into my seat beside Gawain and pretend none of the last two hours had happened, he spoke without even looking at me.
"So," he said lazily, "how did it go meeting those two idiots?"
My eyes narrowed at him.
"...Wait."
Gawain finally glanced at me.
"You knew I went to meet them?"
Instead of answering, he leaned closer and sniffed. His expression immediately twisting in disgust as he slightly pushed me away.
"Ugh!"
I felt offended. "What was that for?"
"You reek."
I gasped. "Excuse me?"
"You reek of reptile."
"..."
"And there are black fur strands all over your clothes."
I looked at my clothes to see that Soren’s black fur was apparently still attached to me.
"Disgusting."
I smacked his arm. "Stop insulting people!"
"I’m not insulting people."
"You literally called him disgusting."
"I’m insulting reptiles."
Gawain said it with such confidence that for a moment I genuinely wondered if he had forgotten basic biology.
I pointed at him.
"Mind you, you’re also a reptile."
"Well at least I’m a handsome reptile," he stubbornly crossed his arms.
"That’s not how species work!"
"It does for me."
"You’re impossible."
"Thank you."
"THAT WASN’T A COMPLIMENT."
Gawain looked entirely unapologetic.
Meanwhile, my blood pressure was steadily climbing as I jabbed a finger into his chest.
"And another thing."
His expression immediately turned wary.
"Why didn’t you come rescue me? Do you know how much I suffered back there?!"
"Why would I rescue you?"
I stared at him. "Because you’re my aide!"
"More like bodyguard."
"Same thing."
"Not even remotely."
I groaned in defeat.
"Besides," Gawain leaned back in his chair before glancing at me and sighed. "Those two idiots would never put you in any real danger."
I looked offended. "I’m still your master, you know."
"And I’m still your underpaid all-purpose aide, My Lady."
"Underpaid?"
"Yes."
"UNDERPAID?"
"Yes."
I pointed at him. "I pay you FIFTY THOUSAND a month!"
He shrugged. "Your words. Not mine."
"You—!"
I was already halfway out of my seat when Gawain calmly stood up.
"Let’s go."
I blinked. "...Where?"
He grabbed his coat. "Back to the dorm."
I glanced toward the stadium, the carving examination was still ongoing. "What about the exam?"
"There isn’t much left to watch."
He started walking.
"We should rest and prepare for the combat exams instead."
The moment he mentioned combat exams, I felt my soul leave my body.
"Oh."
Gawain smirked. "What happened to all that confidence earlier?"
I immediately grabbed his sleeve. "Gawain."
"Yes?"
"What if I suddenly develop a mysterious illness?"
"No."
"What if I break my leg?"
"No."
"What if I become spiritually unavailable?"
"No."
"What if I accidentally fall into a coma?"
Gawain sighed. "My Lady."
"Yes?"
"You’re not escaping a combat exam."
I slowly lowered my head.
’My future was bleak.’
Meanwhile, Gawain looked entirely too happy about my suffering as he dragged me back toward the dorms.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
"Make sure to rest, My Lady. I’ll come back later with your dinner."
Blanca had already collapsed face-first onto her bed.
"Don’t forget to buy strawberry milk."
"Yes, My Lady."
Click.
The moment her bedroom door clicked shut, Gawain’s smile disappeared completely.
The easygoing expression he always wore around Blanca vanished as though it had never existed.
The hallway suddenly felt colder as his eyes narrowed slightly.
’How did Miss Blanca meet that person?’
He can’t forget the scent lingering on Blanca’s clothes.
It was faint that most people wouldn’t have noticed it but unfortunately for him, he wasn’t most people.
He knew that scent very well and that was exactly what bothered him.
His expression darkened.
That man shouldn’t have been in this kind of place and yet here he was.
’What did he want?’
Without hesitation, Gawain pulled out his OmniSync and began accessing the academy’s security network.
In an instant, dozens of camera feeds appeared before him.
Hallway.
Stairwells.
Entrances.
Exits.
He moved through them one after another but not a single camera had caught them.
Gawain leaned against the wall and folded his arms.
The man wouldn’t be foolish enough to get caught on camera.
’If that person is here... then those creepy, weird, annoying twins—’
A sudden shift in the air interrupted his thoughts, his body reacting before his mind did.
Whoosh!
He casually tilted his head as a dagger whistled past where his skull had been a fraction of a second earlier.
The blade embedded itself into the wall behind him.
At the exact same moment, he twisted around and caught another wrist attempting to bury a knife into the back of his neck.
"Look who we have here~"
Gawain sighed.
’Of course.’
"You retired from being the world’s top 1 assassin just to become a student here?"
Gawain tightened his grip on the wrist before shoving the attacker away.
Standing before him were two identical men wearing matching smiles, clothes, and expressions that practically screamed problem.
One was twirling another dagger between his fingers while the other looked far too pleased to be alive.
Gawain immediately felt a headache coming.
"Remington."
One twin waved.
"Colt."
The other waved.
"What an unpleasant sight."
The twins looked offended.
"Did you hear that?"
"I did."
"That hurt my feelings."
"Mine too."
Neither of them looked hurt. If anything, they looked delighted.
"I was having a wonderful evening until now," Gawain replied.
The twins immediately brightened.
"See?"
"He missed us."
"No."
"He definitely missed us."
"That’s affection."
"That’s disgust."
The twins ignored him.
"Didn’t you miss us, Gawain?" Colt asked.
"Because we missed you," Remington added.
Gawain pinched the bridge of his nose.
This.
This was exactly why he hated seeing them.
The twins were among the few people capable of making assassinations feel relaxing by comparison.
"Why are you here?"
The twins exchanged a glance before smiling wider.
Gawain immediately regretted speaking.
The more annoyed he became, the happier they looked.
"We’re students now."
"We wanted a normal life."
"We’re pursuing education."
"We’re becoming productive members of society."
Gawain stared at them.
The twins stared back with expressions so sincere that it would’ve fooled almost anyone.
Unfortunately, Gawain had known them for years.
"Cut the bullshit before I blow you two up."
"Yes, blow us up."
"Specifically..."
"...inside."
He slowly pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why are you like this?"
"We were born this way."
"It’s a medical condition."
"It absolutely is not."
The twins shrugged.
"We’re actually here for someone."
"Someone very interesting."
"Someone very cute."
"Someone with red eyes."
The temperature around Gawain seemed to drop instantly and for the first time, Gawain smiled at them.
The twins immediately stopped smiling.
"Let me make something very clear," Gawain’s voice remained calm.
The twins exchanged another glance.
"Uh oh."
"He’s doing the thing."
"The scary thing."
"The polite thing."
Gawain took a step forward. "If either of you goes anywhere near my cute, crazy sister—"
The shadows beneath his feet stretched unnaturally, darkness began creeping across the floor like black water.
Another step.
The lights above flickered.
Another step.
The entire hallway seemed to grow dimmer.
The twins looked down then slowly looked back up.
"..."
"..."
For once in their lives, neither had anything clever to say because they both recognized that look.
It was the same look Gawain used right before someone mysteriously disappeared from the assassin rankings forever.
"—You two will never see the light again."
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