Micha
Gosh, the emperor didn't need to worry about Ronak lying low. People were outright avoiding us like the plague. Word had gotten out about his demonic transformation, and people were freaked out. They were even avoiding me, which didn't seem completely fair. I was the victim! I even made sure the jerk didn't die!
Only a small group of omegas would hang out around me, and I discovered that the only reason they were there was because their families lived in Ronak's dukedom… Ugh, so they were loyal… Did they like me or just Ronak's title?
"I don't think you need to be so stressed out. Archduke Abraxos protects those who are loyal to him. He might go to blows rather often for Micha, but I've also seen him punch someone over the baron's son who's on a scholarship from the Archduke." My ears perked up, and I glanced over at Terra, who was talking to a viscount's daughter who sat by us. I had never heard this information before. Ronak was giving out scholarships to students in his dukedom? That seems… unlike him…
"What happened with Ronak?" I asked, completely butting into their conversation. I know it was rude, but I really wanted to know.
"Did you not know?" Terra asked as she glanced over to me. "Some alphas were bullying the first year that Archduke Ronak sponsored, I think his name is Benedict… When he found out the Archduke went after the bullies." Terra smiled proudly at me, but I was still feeling confused. We're talking about Ronak, right? My Ronak? He's super tall and muscular with a scowl that can send shivers down your spine… He's definitely not the first person to come to your rescue when you're getting bullied because he's probably the one doing the bullying…
"I didn't know Ronak helped pay for students to attend the academy…" He'd buy things for me, but for others? I didn't take Ronak to be the giving type… Not that he didn't have oodles of money…
Terra furrowed her brow slightly and stirred her tea. "I might be wrong, but I believe that Benedict is the first student that the Archduke has sponsored for the magic academy. He does it all the time for families that want to send their second or third-born children to the Knights Academy. Ronak's knights might be some of the best in the empire besides the army that the commander leads." Ronak mentioned that all his knights go to the knight academy, but I didn't know he personally paid for some of them to go. This was news to me. Gosh, it felt like I was constantly learning new things about Ronak…
"We'll meet some of the knights today during our combat training final." Jade smiled at me before taking a big bite of her omelet. Oh, right… That was today. I had been so stressed out because of Ronak that I lost track of the days… "My twin brother should be there," Jade said nonchalantly as she cut up her omelet into another perfect bite.
"Whaaat?!" I whipped my head back over to look at Jade in confusion, and the sweet cakes on my fork fell back to my plate with a sticky splat. "You have a twin?! Why haven't you mentioned him before?" Jade talked a lot. How did she magically miss this key part of her life?!
"Oh… I thought I mentioned him to you at the tea party the other day…" She held her empty fork to her lips and tilted her head to the side.
She mentioned him?… "You only mentioned an older brother and a younger brother, but not that one was a twin." I furrowed my brow as I thought back to what she said. I think that was all of Jade's siblings, besides a few cousins.
"That's because I was first born, so technically he is younger than me." That… doesn't make him your younger brother… Oh Jade… You're so cute.
Terra seemed completely unfazed by our conversation, which made sense. She would have known exactly who Jade's family members were. I was the only one desperately trying to catch up to who people were and how they were related. Ronak told me that I needed to start memorizing all the noble families in his dukedom after winter break, since that would be my new home, but it seemed so hard. Like, every noble family?! Weren't there a lot of them?! His dukedom occupied half our empire!
"Nothing will be delaying your departure, right?" Terra asked. "You're still leaving this weekend with everyone else?" Huh? How did she know we were departing this weekend?
"I don't know the details, but Ronak said we'd be leaving soon. I can't imagine we'd stay too long. The emperor is about to kick us out of the capital." I said dryly while stabbing more sweet cakes with my fork.
Terra softly giggled as she wiped her mouth with a napkin. "If you two would stop being such terrors to the students, the emperor wouldn't be threatening to kick you out."
"Why are you lumping me in with him?!" Ronak was the terror! Not me!
"I heard you sat back and watched while the archduke went scary mode." Jade had set her fork down and cupped her hands to look like claws. She cutly growled, and I looked away awkwardly. Don't call it scary mode… It's not that scary…
"The pervert deserved it. I still get chills from remembering his hands touching my body." I grumbled before putting my sweet cakes into my mouth.
Terra let out a slightly exasperated sigh. "I'm sorry that happened, but you should have known better than to be alone with an alpha. Did you not learn the first time?" I gave her a slightly annoyed side eye and kept eating my food. Rude. "I swear you know nothing about being an omega… Ah, look at the time, I must leave for class. I'll see you at a later time."
"Bye, Terra." I sighed. I-I knew a little about being an omega…, but it's not like it's my fault… I-I'll have to get some books this winter…
"Yeah, alphas are big and scary!" Jade childishly growled again, and I rolled my eyes. She had no problem being alone with me when she thought I was an alpha. I was embarrassed to admit it, but I now understood why my mother attempted to instill a fear of alphas into me. "See? Big, and scary!" Jade's eyes drifted behind me as she growled again.
"Are you calling me big and scary?" I flinched as Ronak leaned down to rest his chin on my head. Jade nodded her head, but quickly put her pretend claws away. I still don't understand how she has no fear when it comes to Ronak, but is incredibly respectful to Terra… Ronak scoffed and stood back up. "Are you done with your meal?" The omegas at the table seemed tense, but I was rather surprised when none of them fled.
"Yeah… we can go to class." I sighed. I wasn't looking forward to the two tests I had today, but I guess I should get them over with.
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"Alright! Listen up!" Our combat training professor had been replaced by a new one after Ronak got into a big fight with the last guy. I was pretty surprised to see that our new professor was a woman, but apparently, she had spent a few years as a combat mage in the army, so I had faith that she knew what she was doing. She was pretty tall for an omega, and she had a pretty high-energy attitude, which was refreshing. "Today's the last day of this class. We're having our annual friendly competition with the Knight Academy. You will be paired up with a student from their academy to spar with. If you lose, don't worry. It won't affect your grade… unless you get taken down in one shot. So try putting up a good fight." She didn't think we stood a chance either… Did she? Talk about a vote of confidence. She slowly turned to where Ronak and I were standing, and gave us an odd look. "Will you two… try not to hurt anyone?" I let out an exhausted sigh and nodded my head. Ronak was standing behind me with his arms wrapped around my shoulders, and I could tell that he shrugged. "Micha… can you…" She wiggled her finger in our direction. "Heal any poor souls for us today?"
"Yeah." I figured she'd ask, but at least she does ask. She doesn't just expect it out of me. I liked that a lot about her.
"Alright, you lot! Into the carriages!" She shooed us away with her hands, and Jade came skipping over to us.
"Can I ride on your carriage, Micha?" That's a silly question.
"Of course. It's just an academy carriage. It's not a problem, right, Ronak?"
"Don't care." Gah! Did he always have to be so blunt to my friends? Would it kill him to be a little nicer?
"Thanks! I'm so excited to see my brother! I haven't seen him in months because he's been so busy." Jade excitedly followed after us as we headed off towards the line of carriages for our class.
"I'm excited to meet him as well. This will be a fun excursion." Jade excitedly picked out the carriage, and I followed after her with Ronak in tow. Surprisingly enough, the professor joined us in our carriage. Maybe it was because the other students were still heavily avoiding us, or it could have been that she just wanted to keep an eye on my troublemaker. "Jade, I have an odd question," I asked as we settled down into our seats.
"Yeah?" She turned from the window to stare at me as the carriage started to rattle down the road. It wasn't nearly as smooth a ride as Ronak's or the imperial palace's carriages.
"I guess I never learned an innate fear of alphas. You said that all alphas are scary, but you don't seem intimidated by Ronak in the slightest." He's even the archduke, and it doesn't bother you… Like at all… I reached over to poke Ronak's arm as he stared out the window, and he softly grunted. Hehe.
"Oh! That's easy! He's bonded to you, plus he's our dukedom's archduke!" So she was aware… Did she just… not care? "My family has been loyal to Terra's family for multiple generations, and by proxy, his. I'm not worried about him doing anything to me because he has you. He's not interested in anyone else in the slightest." Jade gave me a rather teasing look before turning serious. "Now unbonded alphas," She wagged her finger at me. "You stay away from those, unless you want trouble. At least that's what my mother always says. You should have learned that lesson."
"Y-yeah… Lesson learned…" I grunted while feeling uncomfortable. Being chastised by an airhead like Jade was a bit embarrassing. Don't act like you're an all-knowing sage, Jade… You literally said your mother taught you that…
"Not to impose upon your conversation, but did something happen?" The professor tilted her head to the side, but I think I was the one feeling more confused. How did she not know what happened? Wasn't that why she told us not to hurt people? Did she live under a rock?
"An alpha tried to do naughty things to Micha, and the Archduke beat the stuffing out of him. The pervert got kicked out of the academy, and everything!" I had to cover my red face with a hand as Jade told her version of the story. She kept shadowboxing the air, which would have been cute if she didn't make me feel slightly mortified. Stop it, Jade!
"Oh my. I heard about an incident, but I didn't know it involved you two. I hope you're okay, Micha." The professor said with concern on her face.
"I-I'm fine now." I didn't like thinking about what happened at all, and I wish people would stop bringing it up; it was uncomfortable to talk about. Couldn't everyone just forget about it?
"You two are bonded, right? How did something like that occur in the first place?" The professor didn't have any ill intent, but I didn't want to get into this with her. If she didn't know, then she didn't need to know.
"Both of us are dominant." Ronak leaned away from the window and gave the professor a side eye. "Dominants continuously release mating pheromones even after bonding. It's rather bothersome, especially when you're far too nice." Ronak's side eye drifted towards me, and I quickly turned back to the window. Hey! It's not my fault! I would have been far more cautious had you told me about it sooner! I can't believe you forgot to tell me something that important!
"I wasn't aware. That does sound difficult, but don't be too harsh on Micha. I think he's truly lovely to be around, and it would be a shame if he changed just to keep people like that away." Aww! I knew I liked this professor! She's super nice!
My attention was drawn to the massive gates that were opened for our carriages. Woah. Upon entering the knight academy campus, we were greeted by a field of horses that was alongside the road. I understood that the knight academy would teach horseback skills, but there were sure a lot of horses here. None of them seemed to be quite as impressive as Onyx was, but I enjoyed seeing the many breeds and coat colors.
Wait… This place looks shockingly similar to our academy… All the buildings are in a similar format… I flinched slightly as Ronak leaned against my back. "They were both funded by the imperial family many generations ago to promote potential individuals to grow into even more useful tools. That's why they look similar."
I turned to him with wide eyes. "Are you sure you can't read my mind?"
"You were excited, and almost instantly let down when you saw their campus. It was a simple thing to guess." Ronak said as he returned to sitting normally in his seat. Was it? I doubt I would have been able to guess such a thing…
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Once off the carriages, our professor led us through the buildings to the back of their campus. I-I guess it's not that similar. We sure don't have an obstacle course or running track hiding behind our campus. We didn't stop at those things, though; we were headed to a large, barren field where students were milling about on some stands.
"Ah, Julie. You've arrived with your class. We've been waiting. I'm glad to see that you haven't chickened out." Their professor looked intense, but maybe it was just his eye patch. I wonder what happened for him to get that… "Are you ready for your students to have their butts kicked again this year?" His grin was far too smug for my liking.
"I haven't been the professor of this class for a long time, John, but I think I have some candidates that will surprise you in this group." Our professor folded her arms and returned a smug look of her own.
I could tell that the knights were sizing us up, but most of them were avoiding looking in Ronak's direction. Did they know not to mess with him, too?
Their professor clapped his hands loudly. "We will begin after a moment. Mingle amongst yourselves, and take seats in the stands." The two professors wandered off with their clipboards, and I looked around the large field. It was pretty similar to our training field except that this one had a short brick wall that ran the perimeter, and stands were littered about. Quite a few students were milling about in the other stands, but ours only seemed to have students wearing protective gear sitting in it. I feel rather underdressed…
I thought for sure Ronak would guide me over to sit down, but instead, he simply watched as a few students from the Knight Academy approached us and bowed. There were eight of them, all politely bowing in two rows, but one of them was clearly one step in front of them all. "Congratulations on earning the title Archduke, sir!"
"Enough. You don't need to bow in this sort of setting." The eight of them rose from their bow, but placed a fist over their heart in salute. Whoa, they're a rather serious bunch, weren't they?
"It would be disrespectful if your future knights didn't greet you, sir!" The guy talking had dark hair like Ronak's, but it had warmer tones to it, whereas Ronak's had cool tones. His eyes were a striking shade of purple, and they shone with respect as he looked Ronak in the eye. Talk about being brave. Very few people look Ronak in the eye.
"At ease," Ronak grumbled. The knights lowered their hands at Ronak's command in perfect unison. Woah. Did they practice or something? "Micha." Ronak looked down at me and pulled me a little closer to him. "These are some of the esquires who attend the knight academy from my dukedom. There are others, but they're not in this class." Ronak gestured towards the knight standing a step in front of the rest. "This is Guerin. He's the first son of a family known for producing knights; his father is a margrave." Guerin looked incredibly proud as Ronak spoke about him, but I think Ronak introduced him to me mostly because he was trying to get me to memorize who people were.
"How many of your esquires attend this academy?" I asked. There were eight of them here, so there couldn't be that many…
"There are thirty-two of them." Whoa, that's way more than I thought. "Twelve of them are third years, eleven of them are second years, and only nine of them are first years."
"You have that all memorized?" I was getting some strange looks from the esquires, but I tried to ignore them and focus on what Ronak was telling me.
"It would be rather bad if I didn't know who the knights and esquires protecting my dukedom were." Ronak went on to introduce me to the other seven knights, and to my surprise, two of them were betas. He had mentioned to me before that he had knights who were betas, but I wasn't expecting them to be women. That's so impressive! I wonder if he sponsors any of them? "Ah… I almost forgot. I assume word has spread to this academy, but in case it hasn't, Micha is my omega and my fiancé." My cheeks turned a bit pink as Ronak introduced me to his esquires. I like it when he calls me his omega, but I really like it when he calls me his fiancée. It's so cute. "I expect you to treat him with as much respect as you treat me." He pulled his arm off my shoulder so he could pat the top of my head, which made my face go a bit pinker. H-hey! Patting my head in private is one thing, but I'm not a dog, don't do it in front of people! They're all giving us odd looks because of you! Also… did you really need to emphasize my gender like that? It really wasn't a big deal if they got it wrong.
"Yes, sir!" All of them said in unison, making me jump. They even saluted, which felt like a bit much. They looked a little concerned after I jumped, and I tried to play it off with a smile, but I don't know if they looked very convinced.
I noticed Jade scoot a bit closer to the knights with a massive smile on her face. W-was Amon her twin brother? They both shared the same dark green, almost black hair and green eyes, but… if anything, Jade looks like his little sister. Not his twin. He's waaaay taller than her! "Amon!" Jade squealed as she grabbed her brother's arm. Most of the esquires who greeted us drifted off, but a few stuck around.
"Jade…" Amon looked between us and his sister with concern. "You… aren't annoying the Archduke, are you?" That made me snicker. Her brother would probably faint if he knew how brazen she was. She literally didn't care if she was getting on Ronak's nerves.
"Micha, and I are friends!" Jade released her brother's arm so she could prance over to my side. Heh, I thought Amon was going to pass out as he watched his sister grab my arm.
"I consider Jade to be a close friend." I smiled down at her beaming smile and glanced back over to Amon, who looked pale. "It's good to meet you. I see who stole all of Jade's height."
"I'm not that short!" Jade whined. Both Amon and I gave her dry looks. Jade… you're so short that the fourteen-year-old princess is taller than you, and you're twenty…
I was about to open my mouth to tease Jade, but the professor interrupted me. "Alright, you yellow bellies! Sit down! We're going to start announcing names!" The knight's professor walked to the front of the stands and beckoned the rest of us over. Ronak took my hand back from Jade and walked me over to the stands. It was incredibly hard not to notice the awkward scoot most everyone performed to get further away from us. There was an obvious divide between our two groups. On one side, there was Ronak, Jade, I, and the knights who were loyal to Ronak. While on the other side of the large gap were the other knight academy students, with our own classmates hiding on the far side. I-I don't think anyone in our class, besides Jade, was anywhere near the two of us.
Our professor walked to stand next to the knight professor, and she smiled up at us all. "When your name is called, you will go to the middle of the training field, and on my whistle, your sparring match will begin. No cheap shots or anything dirty. I expect you all to play fair." That's it? No other rules? Gosh, now I don't even know what to expect.
The first two students were called to spar, and I noticed that it was one of Ronak's knights. I think his name was James. The whistle was blown, and before the poor girl from our class could get a spell off, James rushed forward. He brought the hilt of his sword up, ramming it into her stomach. Oof… that looked like it hurt. Not only were our students not wearing armor, but we weren't used to taking such blunt attacks.
Our professor turned to me with wide eyes, and I let out a sigh. "I'm on it…" I stood and snapped my fingers, appearing next to the poor girl. James got some well-deserved payback as he practically jumped out of his skin upon my sudden appearance. I wasn't exactly sure what her name was because even before everyone started avoiding us, she thought I was beneath her, so we never talked. She was practically foaming at the mouth and definitely unconscious. I held out my hand and gently pressed it against her abdomen. "Did you really have to use enough force to break three ribs? She's an omega, not a monster in the forest." I glared up at James, who flinched, but returned my attention to healing.
"I-I'm sorry, sir!" I finished healing her ribs and noticed that James was bowing to me.
"I'm a lord's son. Please don't bow, James." He only needed to bow to Ronak. Not me.
"Is she going to be okay?" He asked with a worried look on his face.
"Yep, she'll probably be rather upset when she wakes up, but she'll be fine." I placed my hand on her shoulder and snapped my fingers, taking her to the sidelines, next to the benches.
"Thanks, Micha!" Our professor walked over and started looking after her student, so I returned to my seat to watch the next match.
I was a bit flabbergasted that this one ended similarly, but at least our student didn't have any broken ribs or was unconscious this time around. He simply had to walk away with his tail between his legs. This is embarrassing!
Ronak leaned over and whispered in my ear. "I warned you."
"I was… expecting a bit more… Umph…" I wiggled my fingers around, and Ronak snickered, causing the knights around us to go wide-eyed.
"You were told that it was a wash every year. Do remember that the people attending the knight academy have been training since they were children on how to wield a sword, while most of the people at the magic academy have only had their abilities since they manifested as alphas or omegas." Ronak folded his arms and glanced over to the next sparring duo. To no surprise, it ended with our student getting pummeled in the back. He was still conscious, so I didn't think my talents were needed.
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense…" I couldn't help but notice Amon getting more and more nervous by his sister's side.
Jade's name was called, and her brother whipped towards her with an anxious face. "I think you should just drop out, Jade! You don't even like combat! So sit this one out!"
"What? Why would I do that?" Jade made quite a face as she looked at her brother. Clearly, she was annoyed with him.
"I just don't want to see you get hurt." Amon pleaded with Jade, but it didn't seem to do much in convincing her.
"I've got a plan! Just you wait!" Jade stood up excitedly with her fists on her hips and marched forward towards her opponent. Even her opponent looked a bit concerned. He was like double her size in every way. I think I was even getting nervous.
"Ummm… Do I have to fight her? I don't want to hurt her…" The big, burly dude looked down at Jade and over to the professors with trepidation in his eyes.
"Then I'll just kick your butt!" She declared as she turned on her heel and marched a good fifteen feet away from the guy. The whistle was blown, and two orbs of water appeared in her palms. Huh? Was that what Jade seemed to be mumbling to herself as she walked away for proper spacing? I guess the professors didn't say you couldn't cast spells before the whistle was blown… Technically, the knights started with their weapons in their hands, so I guess it was fair?
"That's an interesting approach. She's been watching the two of us spar." I tilted my head to the side at Ronak's words, but the moment the fight started, I understood.
The knight rushed towards Jade, and she threw her water orbs forward. If someone didn't know what was happening, they would have assumed that Jade simply had bad aim. Her orbs were a bit slow, but I instantly noticed she wasn't using them to attack. She was leading the knight somewhere. Of course, he dodged her water orbs, but Jade planned for that. Jade let out a loud cry and thrust her hands against the ground as he stepped onto her partially prepared spell. All she had to do was send the last little bit of mana to the spell to make it cast. Honestly, it was brilliant. The ground erupted, and a massive water geyser sprayed out directly under the knight.
"I-is she trying to replicate your spell with water?" I giggled.
"Probably, but it's not carrying enough punch. My spell is physical, while her spell needs body and shape given to it. All she's done is startled the guy and gotten him wet. If she refines it, it could be a useful skill, but right now all it is is a waste of her mana." Ronak was right. Besides startling the guy and soaking him from head to toe, her attack did little to no damage. It was far more impressive than getting pummeled instantly, though. Jade used his confusion to cast her wall of water spell and push him back, but even I could see that she was looking exhausted. "She should try applying the same technique to her spells as I use for my needles. It would give her more firepower without costing more mana." Ronak mumbled to himself.
"What?" I asked as I leaned in to hear him better.
Ronak's eyes darted over to me, and a small smirk formed on his face. "I'll tell you later, and you can relay the message. This battle is over, she's out of mana." Ronak pointed towards the field, and I turned my attention back to it.
Jade had her hands over her head and was waiting for the incoming impact that never came. The knight she was fighting stopped short and sheathed his blade. "I'm not going to hit you." He scratched his slightly pink cheek with a free finger. "Please surrender."
Jade peeked out from her arms, and I could see from the look in her eyes that she was upset. "I wanted to go out honorably!" She stormed forward and smashed his toe underfoot before stomping back towards the benches. The poor guy she had been sparring with had a bright red face, and simply watched as she left with an open mouth. I couldn't help but snicker as she angrily plopped down onto the stands.
"Are all omegas volatile when irritated?" Ronak mumbled softly under his breath, which only made me burst into giggles.
I calmed down enough to lean forward and address the angry omega that was Jade. "That was incredibly impressive, Jade. You've improved a lot since we last sparred."
"Don't butter me up, Micha! Had he not been treating me like a child, I would have lost instantly." She angrily whipped towards her brother and grabbed his ear so she could tug on it. "It's your fault I'm short!" Before she could go completely feral, more names were announced, and she settled down.
To no surprise, it was another wash. Gosh, this was getting boring. Why even have the two academies spar if this was going to happen? The only silver lining was that I didn't have to peel any more classmates off the ground… Well, Ronak hasn't gone yet, so maybe I'm speaking too soon.
As if a summoning spell had been cast, Ronak's name was called. Everyone held their breath as we waited to find out who had to spar with him. I didn't recognize the name, which was good. I doubt any of Ronak's esquires would want to face off against him. Though the poor guy didn't look all that thrilled either as he stood from the benches.
Ronak rose from the seat beside me and glanced over to our professor, who was still keeping an eye on our unconscious classmate. "Can I use my summonable swords?"
"Mmm, no. I want you to use spells since you're being graded on magic, not swordsmanship." I don't know what the professor thought she was preventing, but Ronak simply shrugged.
I grabbed his hand before he could escape, and looked up at him with wide eyes. "Can you pleeeeeaaaase not break too many bones?"
"I'll think about it." Ronak pulled his hand free and patted my head. He was totally going to break tons of bones, wasn't he?
The students around us let out a collective sigh of relief as Ronak left the stands. "Ugh, poor Jeremy." Someone mumbled under their breath.
"I hope his end is a quick one."
"His swordsmanship is on par with Guerin's, so it shouldn't be that bad."
"Pft, he doesn't stand a chance."
"Bro is going to be a splatter on the ground."
The students were a flurry of whispers, but each set of eyes was glued on the disaster that was about to unfold before us. I let out an annoyed sigh as the whistle was blown.
Jeremy rushed forward with a valiant war cry as he brought his blade down towards Ronak's head. I was completely confused. Why was Ronak standing there with a puzzled look on his face? Did he not care at all about the incoming blade? It was headed right towards his head-
Ronak lazily brought an arm up and grabbed the blade with an annoyed sigh. His hand was transformed, and honestly, it looked like his claws took most of the impact, but gosh, did it have to be his hand with the golden replacement claws? I found those a bit embarrassing to look at.
Ronak let out a big yawn as Jeremy jumped backwards to escape Ronak. Not that he needed to be in such a panic. Ronak was just standing there with a slightly furrowed brow. "Is this all you've got?" Ronak asked.
"Why you!" Jeremy ran his hand across his blade, making it glow blue, and the knights in the stands started losing it.
"He's going to use his magic blade technique!!"
"Is that allowed?!"
"The professors didn't say you couldn't!"
Despite the knight's excitement, the students from the magic academy still looked deeply concerned. Not for Ronak, of course, but for Jeremy.
Jeremy rushed forward again, and Ronak lazily shot up spikes from the ground. Jeremy managed to dodge them all, but Ronak wasn't even trying. What's up with him? I knew his spells could move way faster because they could keep up with me. Jeremy slashed his sword, and three blue slashes followed the first through the air, crashing into Ronak, who didn't even try to block them.
"Wha-! But how?!" Jeremy exclaimed. Ronak was, of course, scratch-free. Not even his uniform was bothered. I knew he had it in him to dodge, but clearly, he didn't care to do so. Instead, Ronak had wrapped his leathery wings around himself. Was he trying to copy my advanced shield spell? My spell looked like wings too… Ronak unfurled his wings, and they disappeared with a shimmer of red mana. "This is offensive! You're not even trying! You're just playing with me!"
Ronak looked up at the sky dismally before his gaze slowly wandered to me. "My omega oh so politely asked me not to break too many of your bones. I've just been trying to figure out how many is too many. He tends to get grumpy if I break more than eight, but he's also snapped at me for breaking three before. I'm simply trying to decide what the optimal number is to prevent him from getting frustrated with me."
If only I could melt into the benches and become one with the ground. Why would he say something like that?! Of course, all the eyes in the area slowly turned to look at me creepily. I-I was just trying to prevent Ronak from murdering the guy! Stop looking at me! It's not like I could ask him to break no bones! You've seen Ronak! The best I could do was ask him to break only a few!
I slowly looked away from the gawkers with a red face and glared at Ronak. Y-you're in so much trouble! "Look what you did. Now he's mad." I'm not mad at Jeremy, you dummy! I'm mad at you for blurting things out that you shouldn't!! No amount of hands could hide my embarrassment either! I'm pretty sure even my ears were red! I can't believe him! "I'd better finish this."
Ronak stomped his foot down onto the ground, and multiple spikes shot up at a much quicker pace. So much so that Jeremy was really struggling to avoid them. One ended up catching his boot, which caused him to trip. I was a little concerned that Ronak was going to make him into a living pincushion, but I think what Ronak decided to do was worse. Ronak lazily walked over to Jeremy, who was trying to recover from his fall, and kicked him in his side. He used so much force that Jeremy went sailing across the training field and crashed into its low stone walls. I hid my head in my hands and let out an annoyed groan. R-really Ronak? You couldn't have waited until he was off the ground? That was a low blow… This is why you have a bad reputation!
To my surprise, the eight squires that worked for Ronak cheered excitedly at Ronak's win while the rest of the stands were silent in horror. Despite my red face, I peeled myself off the bench and walked towards Ronak, who was approaching the stands.
I grabbed his collar and pulled him down to me. Usually, he doesn't react when I try this, but today Ronak was being oddly obedient. "Why would you do that?! A-and why would you say that out loud?!?!" I angrily grabbed his cheeks and squeezed his face, but Ronak just watched me with amused eyes. He didn't even seem bothered that I kept squishing his face as he scooped me up into his arms.
"Come on, my little grumpy sunshine. Your alpha made a mess that needs to be cleaned up." He snickered loudly as I tousled his hair around, making a mess of it. I mean… I planned on fixing his hair, but I was so irritated that I made sure to really mess it up.
"I'll show you, grumpy!" I snapped as I brought a pillow from my storage, and tried to suffocate him with it. Ronak didn't even stop walking as I pulled the pillow down so I could glare at him.
He sat me down next to Jeremy, who was surprisingly still conscious but was groaning in pain. I stuck my pillow back into my storage and looked at the damage. Yuck, his arm was at a weird angle, and he definitely had some broken ribs from Ronak's kick. "Your name is Jeremy, right?" I ignored my naughty alpha hovering behind me and kneeled next to Jeremy so I could heal him. "My name is Micha, I'm going to use my magic to heal you, alright. Is it okay if I touch your chest to see if you have any broken ribs?" I was trying to have a better bedside manner like Doctor Rayner, and I figured I could try it out with Jeremy since he was conscious. Jeremy only nodded his head, which I found odd. "Are you having trouble talking?" Jeremy opened his mouth to talk, but blood bubbled up from his throat and dripped down the side of his face. I let out a frustrated sigh and glared up at Ronak for a moment. "You probably have a punctured lung. It's okay, I'll fix everything, but first, this big meanie is going to help me lay you flat. He has to help as punishment."
Ronak let out an annoyed grunt and stopped fiddling with his hair. Heh, it still looked bad. He did as I asked like a good assistant, and was surprisingly careful not to cause any more damage to Jeremy's pummeled body. Alright, now that he was lying down flat, it was time to get to work. The first thing to take care of was his lungs. I gently pressed my hand against him, and sure enough, he had four ribs that had lodged themselves in his lung. I carefully pulled them free and quickly repaired them all the way down to the little alveoli so he could breathe normally again. I wouldn't want him to bleed to death internally. Next, I worked on fixing his bones by setting them back into place and healing them. It took a bit of work with how fractured and damaged his side was where he took the impact, but I managed to heal it all.
As I worked I was glad to see Jeremy cough and start to breathe normally. When I pulled my hand away from his chest, he looked up at me with astonishment. "I thought I was going to sit over here, and choke on my own blood until I died…" Jeremy glared at Ronak, who didn't even spare him a glance.
I chose to ignore his comment and focus on what still needed to be done. I didn't want him to get any wrong impressions. I had had enough of those for a lifetime. "This is going to hurt a little bit. Please be patient." I moved his arm back into place, and Jeremy hissed in pain. He was taking it quite well for what had transpired. Thankfully, his arm was far less complicated to heal than a lung was. Just had to repair some torn muscles and ligaments, fuse his bone back into one, and stitch the veins back together. He'd have a bruise, but that was nothing compared to what he could have dealt with. "There, all done. Do you have pain anywhere else?" I didn't check him fully over, but I didn't see anything life-threatening.
Jeremy slowly moved all his joints around and flexed his arm. He gave me an incredibly broad smile, which made both Ronak and me nervous. "I don't think so."
"That's good to hear-!" I let out a surprised yelp as Ronak plucked me from the ground and tossed me over his shoulder.
"He's healed. Let's go, the class is waiting for us." Jeremy watched us in utter confusion as I was abducted. I didn't even fight him as Ronak hauled me off. I just gave up and went limp in his arms. It was extremely distracting, healing all of Jeremy's wounds with Ronak being jealous the entire time next to me. Who knew that simply touching someone to heal them made Ronak go nuts? There was no convincing him when he became like this, so I decided not to start something with him. We had caused enough scenes for one day.
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"W-will you put me down? This is embarrassing!" Ronak was still holding onto me as the next few matches played out. It wasn't over his shoulder, but he had me sitting in his lap with my legs off to one side. Of course, his arms were wound tightly around me. I thought he was going to calm down, not do whatever this was!
"Don't want to." He grunted in response.
"Aren't you embarrassed? Y-your poor esquires look mortified." I felt mortified, too, but he knew full well what I was feeling. I peeked over Ronak's shoulder to see his knights still watching us in horror. Yeah… I know… Most people are shocked to discover Ronak has a needy side. I-it wasn't like we were m-making out or anything though, calm down!
"Why would I be embarrassed? Am I not permitted to hold you in my lap?" That's not exactly the problem here! Before I could come up with a counterargument, the professor called my name. Oh! Is it my turn?!
I managed to escape Ronak, despite him not wanting to let me go, and was rather surprised to see Guerin rising to his feet. Was his name called? I probably missed it while bickering with Ronak… "Take your spots, you two." This will be interesting.
With a quick snap of my fingers, I appeared in the center of the field. It probably would have been smart to keep this skill hidden so I had the upper hand, but it was too late now. I don't think I needed the element of surprise to win anyway. There were plenty of other cards up my sleeve.
"Greetings." Guerin politely bowed to me, but he seemed nervous. His eyes drifted off to the benches, and he was obviously trying to gauge Ronak's reaction.
"Please fight to the best of your abilities. Ronak will not interfere." He better not, otherwise I'll make him regret it. I wanted to put my own abilities to the test as well. Guerin nodded his head and readied himself while I simply watched him curiously.
The whistle blew, and Guerin charged towards me like all the knights before him had. I waited until the last second and snapped my fingers. I appeared directly behind him and watched his blade slice through the spot I had been standing. Good, he doesn't seem to be going easy on me.
Guerin was pretty fast as he flicked his sword to the side and spun with the momentum, but I was far faster. This time I didn't teleport. I simply skipped backwards from platform to platform just above the surface of the ground. I didn't want to trip, so I figured this would be the best option. Besides, my platforms were clearly confusing Guerin. He swung at them with his sword to shatter them, which was extremely unnecessary. They'd break just from him stepping on them. Guerin started to charge me again, but he slowly came to a stop as I jumped up onto a platform high in the air. "Don't tell me you're only going to run the whole time."
I sat down on my platform and looked down at Guerin's annoyed face. "Oof, you sound like Ronak. He says it's like playing cat and mouse. Unfortunately, I've never escaped from the cat. It always manages to capture me."
"Then that means I have a chance!" I don't know about that… Guerin tried stepping on the platform staircase that led up to me, but of course, the first step shattered under his weight.
"Is that what you took from that? I have no intention of losing today." I flipped off the side of my platform and snapped my fingers before I hit the ground. My feet lightly touched the ground behind Guerin, and I reached an arm forward to bind his legs together with one of my golden hoops. Guerin guessed my move, though, and whipped around to strike with his sword. I, however, recognized the movement from the many times Ronak would whip around to catch me, so I quickly put up a shield to block the incoming attack.
Guerin's blade glowed for a second as it hit my shield, and due to his momentum, it ended up digging into the ground. As his blade struck something solid, the blue of his sword sparked out, causing electricity to go bouncing off in multiple directions. Wh-what? He can use magic, too?! Ronak wasn't able to use swords, but the knights can use magic? How is that fair? One of his sparks ended up striking the binding hoop around his legs, causing it to shatter. Ugh, what a waste!
I wasn't sticking around to see what other types of magic Guerin could cast, so I snapped my fingers and teleported to the opposite side of the training field. I guess it's time to stop playing around… I waved my hand in front of me, causing ten light arrows to appear around me. I sent them one after another, zipping after Guerin, whose eyes grew wide in shock. He dodged the first few, but was rather alarmed to discover that they simply whipped around in the air, and came charging after him again. I didn't make them strong enough to hurt him; I wasn't a big meanie like someone else. They'd probably feel like bee stings, but like I said, I was done playing around.
As Guerin did his best to avoid my arrows, I decided to take a page out of Jade's book. I held up my hands and slightly blew into them, causing bubbles to spread out on the training field. Guerin wasn't paying attention to me in the slightest, which was a major mistake. I teleported next to the benches, and my bubbles had drifted all around him at this point. Slowly closing in like a threatening swarm. He didn't even notice because he was too busy avoiding my arrows that were still zipping around. Mmm, he should pay better attention to his surroundings…
"And you say I'm mean." I could hear Ronak grumble under his breath as I raised my hand and snapped my fingers.
My golden bubbles, which seemed all nice and friendly, exploded like bombs, sending golden shrapnel in all directions. I managed to block any of it that flew our direction with a large shield, but Guerin wasn't so lucky. The dust slowly cleared, revealing Guerin, who was a sad heap on the ground. His sword had fallen from his hands and was flung a few feet away. I doubt he was going to get up. He was probably pretty sore and dizzy from the loud explosions.
"Winner, Micha!" The professor blew their whistle after it was clear that Guerin wasn't going to move.
"I don't think I broke anything. Would you like me to check?" I asked as I teleported over to check on him.
Guerin hauled himself to his knees and bowed his head. "I apologize for questioning the strength of Archduke Abraxos's fiancée. I was a fool. Of course, he didn't select someone weak and frail to be his omega." Ummm… did he hit his head? Also, that felt like an insult… He thought what of me?
"P-please stop bowing to me!" I whined as it was clear the Guerin had no intention of rising.
"Rise, Guerin. You're making Micha uncomfortable." Ronak appeared beside me and scooped me up into his arms. "I caught the mouse. I win." Wh-what?! You weren't part of the game! You can't win! No fair! I won! I angrily squirmed around in Ronak's arms, but like always, it was no use. The cat had truly caught the mouse. "You fought well, but appearing directly behind a seasoned knight would be a death sentence. It seems I've allowed you to form a bad habit." I stopped struggling in Ronak's arms and looked up at him curiously. He had mostly fixed his hair, but it still looked a little silly in spots. I let out a little sigh and reached up to finish fixing it for him. "You need more practice with blade-wielding opponents."
"I-I don't know anything about sword fighting besides the little bit you do when we spar. You'll have to teach me." I became completely engrossed in fixing Ronak's hair as he walked us back to our seats. Hehe, his hair is always so soft.
"Did your father never wield a sword?"
"Mmm… I've seen him use daggers before, but never a sword." My father had a relatively lean build like myself. He was rather quick, but didn't have the muscles and strength that Ronak had. I pulled my hands away from Ronak's fixed hair with a slight smile. "Fixed it."
"Oh, so you do take responsibility for your actions."
"Hey!" I grabbed Ronak's ear with a scowl. "I always take responsibility, unlike someone."
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Ronak
"I don't know what you're talking about." I always take responsibility for my actions, too. Why did Micha think he was sitting on my lap right now? He gave me a rather dull look before turning to watch the next matchup.
Micha did rather well for himself. There were a few times he made me nervous, but overall, Micha had excellent combat abilities. I was always frustrated when he said he wasn't combat material. He had no clue what was good or bad. My only complaint with him is that he's never willing to actually hurt his target. If his spells actually did something besides inflict minor damage, he'd probably have won our spars a few times. The problem was, I knew that Micha didn't have it in him to hurt me or anyone, for that matter. Not that I was going to hurt him, but he doesn't have any sense of what it means to have to fight to live. Life was always sunshine and daisies for him, so he didn't have any normal combat instincts, but… I also didn't have it in me to put those instincts in him. I'd rather he live a peaceful life and continue being my easy-to-catch mouse.
"You're a brat," Micha grumbled under his breath as he watched another loser classmate of ours get defeated in under a second.
His bare neck was awfully close to me, and I wanted nothing more than to lean over and give it a slight nibble. He'd really think I was a brat then, but I didn't want anyone to hear the sound of pleasure Micha makes when I bite his skin. Hurry this shit up so we can go home. It's not like any of the other losers are going to put up a fight.
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I knew this feeling all too well. I sat up in bed and glanced down at Micha, who was sleeping soundly. Your life is in danger, and yet you sleep without a care in the world… I couldn't help but reach out and tickle his nose as I put scads of pheromones into the air. That should give me plenty of time.
"What's the situation?" I asked as I pulled my robe on in the hallway.
"One entered the main hall, but was taken down. Two tried to escape, but my men are on it. The bastards will be hunted down faster than your sleeping beauty will stir." Blade glanced towards our bedroom doors, and a low growl escaped my throat.
"If you want to keep your eyes, you'd better not be peeking in there. Better yet, don't fucking look at him at all."
"I don't know if that's what you should be worrying about…" I could tell Blade was smiling under his mask, which only irked me further.
We made it to the main hall, where the remnants of a battle were left behind. "Go do a goddamn perimeter sweep. I want all the bastards that dared-"
A jolt ran down my spine, making me jump to the side just in time for me to dodge a dagger that had been thrown my way. My gaze turned towards the side hall where a shadow was lurking. Before Blade could even move, I slammed my foot into the ground, causing two spikes to block the hallway. A surge of anger coursed through me, and I completely transformed into my demonic form.
The foolish assassin tried to cry out as his spell disappeared, but I whipped my claws forward, slicing through his neck before he could make a sound. "Don't you fucking wake my omega by screaming." I grabbed his head and bashed his face into the floor repeatedly until he stopped squirming. After a while, only the wet thunk of his smashed skull could be heard as it splashed into the pool of blood that was forming.
"I doubt he's going to wake from a sound all the way from here, but don't you think the repeated sound of a man's skull hitting the floor is worse than a scream? Also, how are we supposed to retrieve any useful information from a dead man-" The words died in Blade's throat as I glared at him. "Calm down!" Blade nervously whispered.
My eyes widened, and I stood. Shit… I completely lost myself to my anger. I stared off into the distance for a moment, but… it seemed like Micha was still asleep. "Fuck." I pulled off my bloody robe and tossed it over the mess I made. "Have someone clean this up. I want there to be no traces of it by morning." My transformation faded away as I calmed down, and Blade gave me a rather perturbed look. "I need to go get cleaned up before he wakes…" Damn, how much time did I have left?
"Here is a wet towel, my lord." Gerard appeared with perfect timing and handed me a towel to finish cleaning the blood off myself. I noticed Blade's eyes watching me as I cleaned, so I let out an annoyed huff. "What the fuck is it now?"
"No wonder sleeping beauty blushes so much-" Blade let out an annoying sound as he dodged my incoming fist.
"If you don't shut the fuck up, you'll be the next corpse in the hall. Go do your damn job. I want those other two assassins caught and interrogated." I snapped.
"Yeah, yeah. You're never any fun. I'm going." Blade sarcastically rolled his eyes and melted down into the shadows. His spell was similar to mine, but not quite the same. Either way, it was incredibly useful.
"I'll have the usual crew come clean this up," Gerard said as he looked down at the corpse in mild disgust.
"Good. Like I said, there better not be a trace for Micha to find."
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I barely made it back to bed as Micha was stirring. "Did you get up?"
"Yeah, there was something I had to take care of, but I'm back now." Micha's sleepy eyes blinked a few times, and a rather cute smile formed on his face as he snuggled against me. He didn't even hesitate like he used to as he made himself comfortable.
"I'm glad… urr back." Micha's eyes were closed, and it would only be seconds before he completely fell asleep, so I leaned over and kissed his forehead. He rotated his head slightly, and I took that as an invitation to steal a kiss from his lips as well.
Yeah, don't worry at all. I'll make sure that nothing ever happens to you. Just keep peacefully sleeping like the beautiful angel you are. "I'm so glad I found you," I whispered into his ear as he squirmed around. He mumbled something in return, but it was far too incoherent to understand. Pft, he's so cute.
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"My lord." Gerard's voice rang out in my head as I watched Micha peacefully slumber. He might be sleeping peacefully, but there was no way I could fall asleep until I knew that the estate was safe.
"Yes?"
"Blade informed me that there were only four assassins sent to complete the job. One is being interrogated, and the other three have been eliminated." I breathed a little sigh of relief and tickled the tip of Micha's nose, but he didn't react, which was disappointing. Good. I don't like the idea of someone still being out there who could hurt Micha. "According to the living assassin, you messed up some academy boy a bit too well. I assume he's referring to the incident that happened on campus." Fuck, I knew I shouldn't have let that bastard get off scot free. I was trying to play nice because Micha was involved, but apparently that was the wrong move.
"I want his family's actions reported to the emperor, and I want Blade to ensure that not one damn cockroach flees their estate." If the emperor doesn't see to it that their family is razed to the ground, then I will. I realized I was holding onto Micha a bit too snugly, so I released my hold on him. Shit, I don't want to cause a bruise…
"Yes, my lord," Gerard said before cutting off the connection we had. I let out an annoyed huff and snuggled down into the bed with Micha. Those bastards are going to rue the day they messed with my omega.
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Micha
"Did you pass?" Ronak asked as I exited my last test of the term. I don't know why the professor waited so long to give the test, but I was glad to have my last class of the semester done. Hehe, it was extremely charming that he was waiting for me. Ever since the incident, he never lets me go anywhere alone, but I didn't mind it at all…
I giggled as Ronak brought the ends of my red scarf up and wrapped them around my neck snugly. "Who do you think I am? I'm not here on scholarship just to play around! I'm the top-scoring student in most of my classes!" I wiggled my graded test in front of his face, and Ronak smirked.
"Only most of your classes? Not all?" I couldn't help but grimace. Whose fault is that?!
"You're the reason I'm not the top student in every one of my classes. I rank second in three, though I have to be honest, I feel robbed in alchemy class. The professor did nothing but sing you praises for my sweetener syrup." I angrily poked Ronak in the chest as I shoved my exam paper into my storage. It wasn't fair at all! I wanted credit for what I made!
Ronak chuckled and grabbed my mittened hand. "Sorry, had she found out you made it, she would have wrung your secret out of you." Ronak paused as we made it outside and gave me a teasing glance. The campus was incredibly quiet with the lightly falling snow that was coating the ground. I loved this time of year; it was so peaceful and cozy. "Technically, it's our sweetening syrup now. I own half the rights to it." He winked at me, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "Now, now. I'm the one who's been swamped trying to incorporate it into production. You haven't done enough to help to be allowed to roll your eyes."
"I-I said I would help with research and development." Ronak's grin widened, and he reached up to poke me in the nose.
"We'll do that once we get to the dukedom. I'm simply teasing you." We continued walking down the snowy path, and Ronak fell silent for a second. "Mmm, I have a really important question."
"Oh yeah?" I asked. I peeked over at him to see a rather gentle expression on his face.
"Are you ready to go home for real? You've never been there, but I think you'll come to enjoy it once you adjust." Oh, he was talking about the dukedom, not the capital estate.
"I-I'm a bit nervous about going there… The furthest I've ever traveled was to the capital from my parents' home… This will be the longest journey I've ever been on." I didn't like the idea of traveling at all. When I came to the capital for the first time, it was incredibly scary, not knowing anyone and being alone. Ronak squeezed my hand and pulled me a bit closer to him as we came to a stop again.
"It will be long, but you won't be alone. Most of the students from the dukedom travel together." He pulled my chin up and looked down into my eyes with his beautiful crimson ones. "Besides, you'll have me. I'll make sure you never feel lonely." Oh, duh. How could I be so dumb? A small smile formed on my lips, and it slowly turned into a rather broad one. I was getting to spend the winter with someone that I was starting to fall head over heels with… what could be better?