(Arin's Perspective)
Early mornings were usually the most comfortable time to curl up under a blanket, but not this morning.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
My door shuddered under a brutal assault, as if a great fire or a Tier 5 monster attack were sweeping through the dormitory.
I jolted awake, tumbling off the mattress, and reflexively adopted a combat stance with eyes still half-closed.
"Attack?!" I shouted in panic.
"Arin! Wake up, Sluggard! The sun has risen three centimeters!"
That shrill voice. Definitely Erika.
I dragged my heavy steps to the door and opened it with squinted eyes. The sight before me instantly made my drowsiness evaporate.
Erika stood there. She looked... wow.
Usually, the girl wore only the stiff academy uniform or sweat-stained training clothes. But today, she wore a bright yellow summer dress with a sunflower motif. Her black hair was braided to the side with a matching ribbon. She looked very sweet, exactly like an innocent village girl on a kingdom tourism poster.
Unfortunately, her facial expression was not sweet at all. She grinned slyly like a thief about to steal an opportunity in a tight spot.
"Erika? It is only six in the morning," I complained while rubbing my eyes. "Our appointment is at nine."
"Shh!" Erika pushed me back into the room quickly, then closed the door behind her. She whispered enthusiastically with sparkling eyes.
"It is a strategy, Fool! If we leave now, we can get 'lost' together and leave that Princess waiting at the gate until she grows moss! Genius, right?"
I stared at her flatly. "That is called cheating, Erika."
"In love and war, everything is fair!" Erika pulled my hand, dragging me forcefully toward the bathroom. "Shower quickly! Or I will bathe you myself!"
"HEY! Boundaries!"
Fifteen minutes later, I had been dragged out of the dormitory in casual clothes. Erika linked her arm with mine tightly, her smile blossoming wide as if she had just won a grand lottery.
"Come on, come on! We will buy breakfast at my favorite bakery, then we can stroll in the city park while it is still quiet!" chattered Erika cheerfully, her steps skipping lightly.
We walked quickly toward the academy's main gate. Erika hummed happily, feeling her evil plan run smoothly without obstacles.
However, as the majestic iron gate of the academy began to appear at the end of the road, Erika's steps slowed. Then stopped completely.
Her humming died instantly.
In front of the gate, a tea table complete with a lace parasol was neatly set up in the middle of the road.
Sitting there, sipping tea gracefully from a thin porcelain cup, was Elena Rhyms.
She wore an elegant knee-length white dress, a wide sun hat, and sunglasses. Behind her, two uniformed servants were fanning her slowly.
Elena lowered her sunglasses slightly, staring at us from behind the dark lenses with a piercing cold gaze.
"Good morning, Couple of Start-Stealers," she greeted flatly.
Erika's mouth hung wide open. "H-How... Did you sleep here?!"
"Do not underestimate the Rhyms information network, Erika," Elena stood up, then gave a hand signal. In the blink of an eye, the servants cleared the tea table until it vanished without a trace.
Elena walked closer, her gaze sharp. "I knew you would try cheap tricks like this. Commoners do like to break time rules for personal gain."
"You are the cheater! You use spies!" accused Erika, tightening her hug on my arm as if afraid I would be snatched away.
Elena didn't care. She walked closer to my right side, then without hesitation linked her arm with my other one possessively.
"I am just ensuring fairness," said Elena while smiling sweetly at me. A smile containing a hidden threat. "Arin, you don't mind if I join early, do you? My pick-up carriage is ready."
"Carriage?" I asked confusedly.
A luxurious horseless carriage stopped in front of us. Its body was shiny, its wheels coated in thick rubber, and there was a magic engine humming softly at the front. This was clearly the latest magic technology trending among capital nobles.
"No!" refused Erika loudly. "We walk! Let it be romantic and down-to-earth! If we ride that iron box, we can't see the scenery!"
"Walk? To the city center? That is five kilometers, Fool! My feet could blister!" protested Elena, staring in horror at the dusty road.
"Then you just take the carriage alone! Let Arin and me walk!"
"In your dreams! Arin comes with me!"
"No! Arin comes with me!"
Left pulling. Right pulling.
I felt like a worn rag doll being fought over by two starving pit bulls. My shirt collar began to choke my neck.
"Friends..." my voice was strangled, breathing becoming difficult. "Can we... walk until the steam train station only?"
They both stared at me, then looked at each other with hostile gazes sparking imaginary fire. Finally, they snorted in unison and released that deadly pull.
"Fine. But I hold the right hand!" exclaimed Erika quickly.
"Please do. The left hand is closer to his heart," replied Elena casually with a victorious smile.
Erika glared, realizing her mistake. "Swap! I want the left!"
"Too late."
I sighed deeply, staring at the bright blue sky. God, if this is a test of patience, please give me an A plus.
The journey to the city center was true mental torture.
Imagine an ordinary young man with an average face, walking flanked by the two most beautiful girls in the academy. One a cheerful and sweet girl-next-door type, the other an elegant and stunning noble princess type.
How was the public reaction? Total disaster.
Every male student we passed stared at me with murderous eyes. If glares could become daggers, I would have been minced into dust right now.
"That is Arin the Cripple, right?"
"Why is he holding Goddess Elena AND Goddess Erika?!"
"What love potion did he use? Mushrooms?"
"Damn it. I want to throw a rock at him."
I lowered my head deeply, trying to hide my face. It felt like being a state fugitive paraded toward the gallows.
"Lift your head, Arin," said Elena proudly, tightening her grip. "You are walking with a Rhyms. Show your dominance."
"I am showing a target on my back, Lady," I whispered in horror.
Upon arriving at the bustling city center, our first agenda was food. And of course, the cold war continued at the dining table.
"Crepes!" exclaimed Erika enthusiastically while pointing to a roadside stall crowded with a queue. "Arin likes sweets! Let's buy banana chocolate crepes!"
"Street food?" Elena frowned in disgust watching the seller wipe sweat with a small towel. "Unhygienic. Arin, I have reserved at Le Lune Restaurant. There is an imported Escargot menu from the southern region."
"Snails?" Erika stuck out her tongue, making a face like she wanted to vomit. "Arin doesn't eat snails! Arin, choose! Warm populist crepes, or expensive slimy snails?"
I looked at them alternately. My stomach was indeed hungry, but my wallet screamed frugality. Although Elena paid, eating snails in the morning felt strange and too heavy.
"Crepes sound good," I decided finally.
"Yesss!" Erika jumped happily, while Elena pouted, looking heavily disappointed.
"Fine. But I don't want the one with bananas. It... has a strange shape," muttered Elena softly.
Five minutes later, we sat on a city park bench.
Erika ate ravenously until chocolate cream stuck to her cheek. "So delicious!"
Elena held her crepe with two fingers, keeping it away from her white dress as if the object were a time bomb ready to explode. She tried to bite the tip gracefully.
Splat.
Strawberry cream squirted out from the bottom of the fold, dripping right onto her sharp noble nose.
"..." Elena froze stiffly.
Erika laughed out loud until she choked. "Pffft! Hahahaha! The Princess is messy!"
Elena's face turned beet red from embarrassment. She panicked looking for a handkerchief in her small bag, but her hands were full of sticky crepe.
"Here," I sighed, taking a tissue and wiping Elena's nose gently. "Eat this tilted, Lady. Don't bite perpendicularly."
Elena froze. Her eyes stared at me from close range. Her cheeks turned redder, but this time not from embarrassment. Her gaze softened.
"Th-Thank you," she squeaked softly.
"Cheater!" Erika suddenly thrust her chocolate-smeared cheek in front of my face, blocking my view of Elena. "I am dirty too! Wipe me too!"
"You have hands, Erika," I answered flatly.
"Arin is meaan!"
The second agenda was shopping for clothes.
I thought this would be a session where I sat sweetly waiting while they tried on clothes. It turned out I was very wrong.
I was the doll.
"Arin, try this!" Erika offered a plaid flannel shirt. "You will look dashing like an adventurer!"
"No, no," Elena threw a dark blue velvet jacket at me. "He needs elegance. Wear this and you will look like a Prince."
"I don't want to be an adventurer or a Prince. I want to go home," I groaned from inside the cramped changing room.
"Shut up and wear it!" they shouted in unison from outside.
An hour later, I came out with a pile of clothes. Shirts, jackets, scarves, even a strange hat whose function was unknown. They bought me clothes as if I were going to ten different events in one day.
"You realize I am carrying all these groceries, right?" I asked, both hands full of shopping bags until my fingers turned white.
"That is a man's duty on a date," said Rose. Wait, Rose wasn't here. That was Elena imitating her best friend's speech style.
"Now, it is our turn!" exclaimed Erika.
And the real hell began.
"Arin, which is better, the red or the blue?" asked Erika, holding two dresses that in my opinion were exactly the same model in front of the mirror.
"Umm... red?"
"Why red? Because Elena likes wearing blue? You are thinking about her, aren't you?!"
"Then blue!"
"Oh, so you want me to copy Elena's style?!"
Wrong either way. Whatever the answer, I was dead.
Then Elena came out of the changing room wearing a casual summer dress that exposed her white shoulders. She spun slowly in front of me.
"How is it?" she asked shyly, her face slightly flushed.
I had to be honest, she looked charming. Without the heavy and stiff noble attributes, she looked like a very beautiful normal girl.
"You look... more alive, Lady," I said honestly.
"So you mean I was like a walking corpse before?"
Damn it! She was no different, equally wrong either way and annoying.
Elena smiled widely, enjoying my frustration a little. "Then I will buy this one. And... call me Elena. No need to use Lady when we are on a date."
"Ahem!" Erika appeared with a shorter and bolder dress, cutting our moment. "Arin! Look at me too!"
I slapped my forehead. "You are both beautiful. I swear! Now can we pay? My legs are starting to go numb."
The last agenda was theater.
The title was very cliché: "Love Triangle Among Roses and Swords".
We sat in VIP seats, of course, this was Elena's connection doing. I sat in the middle, squeezed between Elena on the right and Erika on the left.
During the romantic scene where the hero hugged his two lovers under heavy rain, I felt two hands crawling onto my arms.
Erika leaned her head on my left shoulder, hugging my arm tightly. She sobbed softly watching the sad scene, her tears wetting my new shirt.
Elena, with her high pride, only grasped my fingers on the right side. But her grip was very tight, and she shifted her seat until our shoulders touched warmly.
On the stage screen, the hero said loudly: "I will protect both of you, even if the world opposes me."
Erika looked up, whispering softly, "You are like that too, right, Arin?"
Elena didn't speak, but she squeezed my hand harder, waiting for an answer in silence.
I swallowed. "If the enemy is a monster, I can try. If the enemy is your shopping bills... I surrender."
They both pinched my waist simultaneously.
"Ouch!"
Though it hurt, and though I was dead tired, strangely I didn't hate this moment.
The smell of Elena's expensive perfume mixed with the scent of Erika's strawberry soap surrounded me. Warmth from left and right. Their laughter and small quarrels.
Though exhausting, I had to admit that this was fun.
Watching them laugh, fight over trivial things, and forget for a moment that we were military academy students whose lives were threatened by monsters and political intrigue every day.
For a few hours, we were just normal teenagers.
The sun began to set as we came out of the theater building. The sky turned a beautiful purple-orange.
"Today... was not bad," muttered Erika, her face satisfied though she looked tired.
"Yes. Not as bad as I expected," added Elena, who was still reluctant to let go of my hand.
We walked home toward the academy. Our shadows lengthened on the path that began to quiet down.
I sighed in relief. Finally, this crazy day was over. I could go home, take a warm bath, and sleep soundly.
However, that peace was merely an illusion.
Far above the academy bell tower, two pairs of eyes watched our return from a height.
Elian Delphine stood twirling his magic wand. His face was flat, but his eyes radiated a piercing cold hatred.
Beside him, Karl Benzzi squeezed the stone railing until it cracked. Veins in his neck bulged holding back explosive anger.
"Look at them," hissed Karl, his voice full of jealous poison. "Laughing happily with my Elena as if they own this world."
"Let them enjoy their last laugh, Karl," answered Elian calmly. He took out a rolled paper with the official seal of the examination committee from inside his robe.
"Are the preparations complete?" asked Karl impatiently.
"Operation 'Broken Wings' has been approved," Elian smirked thinly, handing the scroll to Karl. "The exam chart has been arranged. The supervisor team has been paid. And a 'special gift' for the Cripple Arin has been prepared inside the forest."
Karl opened the scroll, reading it briefly, then laughed wickedly echoing in that silent tower.
"Good. Final Semester Exam next week..." Karl stared at Arin's back getting further away down there with a predator's gaze.
"...will be your burial ground, Arin."
The night wind blew hard, carrying the scent of a storm that would soon come to destroy this momentary peace.