“A friendly spar?” The Emperor repeated with a slight frown. “And who do you want to fight against?”
That was exactly the question I wanted. I looked over to Derek and pointed at him.
“With Professor Derek over there. Rumors have been that I utterly lost to him, so I just want to clarify a few things.”
The Emperor wasn’t too sure of what was happening. However, Alexandra started muttering some things in his ears, probably explaining our past to him. The look in the Emperor’s eyes changed a few times, and I hoped he would agree to it because, as far as I could tell, Derek didn’t want to participate in this fight at all.
A few more seconds passed by, and the Emperor rubbed his chin.
“Hm, why not. However, there will be some rules.” It seemed he didn’t want the same thing as last time to happen. “As soon as one of you two bleeds, then the fight will be over.”
I nodded.
However, the Emperor suddenly turned toward Derek, who still hadn’t said anything. He was probably stressing like crazy, knowing that his rumors would be revealed as total lies. Though he had no idea how much I had overpowered him back then, his memories were still altered after all.
Well, unless he transformed into a demon. If he did that, then things would be a little more interesting.
“What about you, Professor? Do you want to take part in this spar?”
Derek shook his head. “I don’t think it would be appropriate in this setting. We could do it at another time, perhaps.”
“Hm, don’t worry. I don’t mind your fight; in fact, it will be interesting to see two powerful professors fight against each other. Also, I want to see what the Professor of my daughter has to offer. If you are that much stronger compared to him then I might appoint as her new teacher.”
Derek opened his mouth to say something else, probably to avoid the fight again. But he wasn’t going against Alexandra. He was against the Emperor. He couldn’t say anything to him that would change his mind.
The Emperor suddenly turned to everyone else present and took a deep voice. “Don’t you all want to see this fight?”
“Yes!” Most of the parents replied in unison. “We want to see them fight!”
The Emperor turned once more toward Derek with a smile this time. “See? They all want it.”
I managed to see the clenching of his jaw even from where I was standing. He was mad, really mad.
“Then, I guess I have no choice. We will fight.”
***
A few minutes passed by as a lot of maids and butlers ran everywhere, trying to prepare a nice place for the two of us to fight. We were now in front of the Emperor’s Manor as there was a lot more space than inside. That way, we would be able to fight to our hearts’ content.
The butlers and maids were impressive as they had set up an entire arena in less than fifteen minutes. We were now standing faced against one another, and surprisingly, Derek wasn’t the arrogant person he was the last time around.
“You’re not going to say anything this time?” I teased him with a smile.
“Shut up.” He frowned. “I’ll make you wish you hadn’t proposed this.”
I laughed. “Well, let’s hope you can land a hit on me.”
I turned to my left, and the Emperor was sitting on the best seat, with his wife and his daughter right beside him. The director had no choice but to act as the referee of this fight since she knew things could go south in an instant. She was currently standing in between the two of us, her palm rose toward each of us.
“Are you two ready?” Alexandra asked, not wanting this trash talk to continue.
We both stared at one another and nodded.
The director also nodded as she moved away from the center.
“3…2…1…Fight!”
Everyone had their eyes glued on the two of us as we stayed in each of our spots.
This time around, Derek hadn’t dashed in my direction, staying on his side of the field. He was probably thinking that it was a better idea than rushing at me like a dog. But, well, the only thing it would change would be the duration of the fight. Seeing that he wasn’t planning on moving, I was the one to make the first move, disappearing from my original spot before reappearing right in front of him.
“Are you scared?” I smiled at him while winding up a punch.
However, there was no reaction on his face. He just stayed there, ready to take in the punch.
Instantly, I understood his strategy. He wanted to lose. He wanted to lose as fast as possible without putting up the slightest fight; that way, he would be able to come up with excuses on how I managed to beat him. I nodded. That wasn’t a bad strategy. However, he must have forgotten where we were currently.
The Emperor was watching.
Seeing that he wasn’t moving, I turned toward the director and the Emperor.
“It seems that Derek doesn’t want to fight against me.” I giggled. “He’s not even trying to protect. It’s as if he’s trying to lose on purpose.”
The crowd reacted instantly.
“Why would he do that?”
“Is Professor Caedrel that much stronger than him?”
“That doesn’t make sense! All the students know that Professor Derek fought against Professor Caedrel and beat him to a pulp. P-Professor Derek is probably just sick! Yeah, that must be it!”
I had no idea who that last person was, but when I turned in the direction of that voice…it stopped instantly. I quickly understood that it was one of his students that stood up for him.
A literal child.
That was the kind of people standing up for him.
“Haha! Are you going to let kids defend you? What kind of Professor are you?”
He gritted his teeth, still not moving whatsoever.
“Look at you! Too fucking scared to fight me!”
His head moved up.
“Shut up.”
“Come and do it!” I teased him again.
He gritted his teeth.
“Shut your mouth.”
I smiled without saying anything. His emotions were just so easily manipulated. If things continued this way, then his eyes would be turning bloody any moment.
