“We’ve arrived.”
Rainald placed his hand onto the huge brown door and pushed it open. They were greeted with a luxurious view of a classical-styled room. The entrance hall was small with a few decorations. There was a chandelier hanging at the ceiling, shining with a warm, bright light pleasing to the eyes.
The lounge room could be seen ahead through the three-pointed arch. It was big, and an ambient light shone at the ceiling. The floor tile was expensive. One could see their own reflection if they look at it. There were many couches, large and small, placed around. Some plants, decorations, and even an aquarium could be found.
On the other end of the hall was a staircase leading upstairs. On the right was a huge door to another area.
A few people sat on the couches while having a discussion. They turned their heads over when they heard the door being opened.
“Ah, Rainald! You’ve come back. Is that him?”
A burly young man asked Rainald. His calloused skin, deep voice, and rough muscles would make someone assume that he was a middle-aged man.
“Yes.”
“Zachariel!” A female student hurried over to him, carrying a worried face. It was Amelia. She grabbed his hand and asked. “Are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you?”
“Amelia, what’s wrong?” Zachariel was confused. Does she really have to be that worried every time they meet?
“I went to the Great Martial Arts School earlier and saw Hal in a beaten state. His classmates said that students from other classes came and beat him up. He’s fine now, but I was worried about your safety too! So, are you really okay?”
“Uh, yeah.”
Zachariel was shocked about Hal getting beaten up. The school was very strict regarding fights within the classroom, especially when beating a student to a severe state. `Somebody’s behind this.`
“Uh, hmm.” Their intimate scene was interrupted. Amelia was taken aback and blushed when she realized she was holding firmly into Zachariel’s hand. She immediately let go and stuttered while explaining herself.
“I’m just worried about him, that’s all. Hehe, yes, that’s all there is to it.”
Rainald massaged his temples seeing how intimate the two were in front of many people.
“All right, we know you’re worried for him but just be careful next time. You must be Zachariel Strom, right?”
The burly student stood up and tapped Zachariel’s shoulder.
“Yes. Senior is?”
“I am Zito Valentino, titled Steeled Muscle. You’re pretty interesting, aren’t you? Let me have a spar with you later!”
“Zito, you’re as outgoing as ever. You’re going to scare him with those ugly muscles of yours.”
“Shut up, Rainald. Your smooth skin makes you no different from a woman. A real man needs to have muscles, lots of them!”
`What a muscle-headed idiot.`
Rainald could only curse in his mind. “Where’s everyone anyways?”
“The other Prospects are still on their way here. That Vittorio guy is upstairs in the kitchen and preparing the meals. Those twin maidens are in the training area along with that Sabrina girl. The black-haired twin seems to be a bit excited over something and dragged her twin sister when they arrived here. The other girl followed them over.”
“It’s just me and these mage Prospect candidates left here. Hey, introduce yourselves.”
Alongside Amelia were three other Prospect candidates.
“Hello, I’m Helena Summer. Nice to meet you, Zachariel Strom.”
Helena had ginger hair that flowed right down to her chests, overflowing with beauty and elegance. Her feminine body was carefully crafted with well-defined curves and an elegant posture, only observed to those of noble lineage.
“Zachariel Strom, I’m Victoria Spencer.”
Victoria had short grayish hair and a fierce expression in her eyes, emitting a small hostile intent. Nobody knew where this came from, but when Amelia held Zachariel’s eyes, Victoria felt jealousy rise within herself, as if somebody was controlling her emotions instead of her own.
“Hello Zachariel Strom! I’ve been waiting to meet you and finally! Oh, by the way, I’m Jeremias Pickler, hehehe.”
A timid student approached Zachariel. His large eyes and slightly plump figure would attract someone to have a friendly conversation with him.
“Where’s the other Prospect candidates?”
There should be 5 other Prospect candidates, but they were nowhere to be found.
“You already know why, Rainald.” Zito gave Rainald a hint of what could have happened. Rainald was quick to sense the atmosphere and nodded to Zito.
“I see.”
`It looks like they had made a move.`
“You guys wait here for a moment. Zito and I will go outside and wait for the others.”
Rainald and Zito went outside. The five of them were left on the lounge. Jeremias felt scared when left with the three devil-women. The scene of them thrashing those seniors and their other classmates had traumatized him.
He was relieved when Zachariel came, but after seeing that he and Amelia were close, he became afraid of approaching him now. He sat there, silently contemplating how he should communicate to Zachariel.
“Zachariel, how did your classes go?”
“Fine, I guess.”
“Fine, huh?” Amelia looked at Zachariel with doubtful eyes. She knew that this guy had displayed his prowess to the whole class, and acted being humble about it.
“Anyway, I had made friends with sister Helena and sister Victoria earlier. Some boys wanted to bully me but we beat them instead.”
She recalled the ‘amazing scenes’ of them bullying those people. “I was glad that both of them were there. Thank you, sister Helena, sister Victoria!”
“It’s not a problem, sister Amelia. We sisters should stand together and fight against those who oppose us.”
Helena smiled at Amelia. She could not stand the arrogant behavior of those people wanting to bully her sister Amelia. Victoria also smiled at her.
Deep inside, however, she was holding herself back from lashing out. `Why? Why am I so deeply affected by their intimacy?`
On the outside, Rainald and Zito were also having a discussion. “Zito, has Sir Matthias said anything else?”
“No, he’ll lay out the plan after measuring out Zachariel’s strength.”
“So, we are really going to do this, huh? They’re still fresh kids. I feel bad for them experiencing a bloody revolution at such an age.”
“Yeah, I pity them too, Rainald. However, we’ll have to do everything to help them survive on this path. We can’t stop now just because they are still greenhorns. The people have long waited for the fall of the Imperium, and the establishment of a new form of governance.”
The both of them fell silent. The upcoming revolution would be bloody, and many people, including them, will die. They were not confident that they could survive. After all, the Imperium’s strength was too much, and they could only muster the strength to barely organize a revolutionary movement.
However, the appearance of Zachariel and his talent have changed the situation.
“So, have you proposed to her yet?”
“Not now, I’m afraid I will break the promise with her if I do so.”
“Tch, what a coward. Man up, Rainald. If you die before proposing to her, that would be the biggest mistake you could do in your life. Don’t waste the time now, or else you’ll lose the chance.”
Zito reprimanded Rainald’s cowardice. He hated men who were indecisive and half-hearted. When the chance to do something passes over, they would then start blaming themselves for missing the opportunity. What a lame excuse.
`If you’re worried about something, worry that you won’t be able to achieve anything because you hesitated on doing anything!`
That was his belief in life. Rainald was conflicted. Confessing his feelings for Cassia was something that he had waited for all his life, ever since they met each other during childhood. However, he was afraid. What if Cassia rejected her?
Zito sighed on the side. He was supportive of their relationship. Rainald was just hesitant. Zito knew that they have mutual feelings, but they chose to hide them when they were together.
Figures appeared far away from the building. “Here they come.”
Rainald looked over. The group was composed of Prince Kane Cromwell at the front, and his followers behind him, including the senior Prospects.
“Tch, what an arrogant display of power, huh. How nice it would be crack that head of his.”
“Shut up now, or they’ll hear you.”
Zito snorted. This Child of Destiny acted cocky as if the world was below him.
“Hey look, our bouncers are out here, waiting for us.” Prince Kane haughtily mocked Rainald and Zito. The people behind mocked them as well. The two of them frowned.
“What, you got a problem being called a bouncer, senior titled Prospect?” He threatened their position of being a Prospect. If one was stripped off of their titles, they would be treated as trash.
“Prince Kane, let’s not waste our time on these two clowns, I mean, bouncers. They are not worthy of your presence.” A senior Prospect bowed to Prince Kane and offered him advice.
“Yeah, you’re right. Let’s go inside.” He spitted on them then kicked the door open with such force. Prince Kane entered with those followers in tow.
“Tsk, that Noel, how dare he bow down to that stupid Prince.” Zito was annoyed by how that coward betrayed them.
“Oh, senior Edward is here.” Rainald did not mind Prince Kane’s arrogance. That guy will be dealt with sooner or later. It was best to keep their emotions held down for now.
“If only senior Edward was as talented as Prince Kane.”
“What are you talking about now? Senior Edward is second only to Sir Matthias when he was still a Prospect. Don’t underestimate senior Edward’s strength. There’s a reason why he is entitled the Exalted Monarch.”
Edward’s group drew closer to the building. He was arguing with Cody again. “Same old, same old”, Zito sighed in defeat. Those two never changed all over the years.
“Oh Rainald, Zito, you’re outside?” Edward was surprised to see these two talking outside. Why were they not using the lounge for that?
“We were waiting for your arrival, senior Edward.”
“Come on, don’t treat me like I’m some Emperor now. Alright, let’s go together inside.”
“Ah, I forgot, senior. That Prince has already arrived.” Rainald emphasized his sentence, giving senior Edward a glint of comprehension to what had taken place earlier.
“Oh, is that so?” Edward’s eyes emitted a slight hostile intent. Looks like this Prince was looking for a beating. To dare not invite these two senior Prospects inside, and seeing Rainald and Zito’s behavior, Edward concluded that Prince Kane was acting in arrogance earlier.
`Prince Kane Cromwell, huh? I’m about to teach you a little lesson you brat!`
