“You are all better now, right?”
I asked with a smile to the embarrassed Olivia, who shyly nodded her head. The two of us were now cleaned up and dressed, with Olivia sitting on my lap, her shy expression filling her face. I chuckled lightly, hiding the near-death experience I had gone through as Olivia responded, trying to get her bearings back.
“I don’t know why it happened like that suddenly, but don’t worry, my mind is better now.”
“Good, then let me tell you about what I was going to…”
With that, I started to tell Olivia about the ‘real’ situation regarding the dragon incident. From there, I talked to her about how Scarlet had looked for me, the unique situation in which we met as friends, and about how, if I didn’t say yes, she would have gone ballistic and hurt everyone in the academy.
It wasn’t hard to put this idea out there with the fresh situation of how the whole academy had trembled altogether twice or something, with its root cause still not having been found. Of course, those in power, like my aunt Mira, had understood it and chalked it up as a dragon just releasing its bad mood.
Scarlet had been talked to about never trying this again, but that’s all the academy could do for now. So, with all these issues at hand, I started to explain to Olivia that right now, I had put Scarlet on a ‘break,’ but it wouldn’t last long, as Scarlet might return, and I probably wouldn’t have much of a way to stop her.
With each word from me, I could see Olivia’s face changing, her expression worsening each moment. The situation wasn’t looking good at all for Olivia, as I actually saw despair filling her face. Going against the best friend of the dragon princess—now that’s something not many could even dream about.
‘The only good thing is the fact that dragons can’t simply break into mortal matters due to the rules that cover them.’
“You! Why did you have to travel so much?!”
Olivia shouted in annoyance and despair as she started to lightly beat against my chest. The situation was much worse than she could have imagined, and when I laid the story bare, I became a poor victim who could do nothing. After all, what could the academy have done when Scarlet could have gone ballistic due to rejection?
It’s not hard to paint a picture when a dragon’s love is involved. I mean, who would want to mess with that?
“How is it my fault when I was just trying to be a friend?”
My words, filled with helplessness, quickly reached Olivia, who turned to look at my face, seeing only helplessness. This made her flinch as her hand found itself on my face, holding it lightly as she spoke.
“Normally, I would just question why it’s like this for you, but knowing the fate you were dealt with, I can understand the unique things that keep happening around you. This fate you hold—it’s never easy, is it?”
All I could do was give a wry smile to Olivia, her expression turning to one of love and care as she snuggled her face against mine. Her emotions were very clear in her actions as she suddenly spoke.
“But to think you hold the heart of the most wanted woman in the academy, my man is quite something, isn’t he?”
Her words tried to alleviate a bit of the pain I was showing, to which I responded in kind.
“That’s true. I am indeed one of a kind.”
I replied, to which Olivia just placed her head on my shoulder, listening to the rhythm of my heart. The two of us found strength in each other as we sat in that moment of peace. A powerful enemy beyond our control had now appeared, so what would we do? That was the atmosphere.
“Is there any way to deal with this?”
“I don’t know…”
I replied, to which Olivia quickly asked,
“Is this also one of the reasons why you didn’t want to quickly publicise any sort of talk about the engagement?”
Patting her back, I replied,
“Yes, it was among the reasons, too. I thought I could handle it on my own, but it seems that’s no longer possible.”
My words carried a certain level of weakness that Olivia could pick up on. Silence filled the room again as Olivia asked,
“Who else knows?”
“Currently, just you.”
I replied, though technically, it also included Mika and Rika. The situation with Scarlet was something holding them back from any public display, and now the arrival of the engagement would soon reach their ears one way or another, pushing them into a sort of fearful frenzy that I’d also have to deal with.
‘The only good thing about that situation is the fact that they don’t have powerful backgrounds, which gives me a lot more leeway in how I handle them.’
In the silence, Olivia suddenly spoke.
“Are we truly that helpless?”
“I don’t think so. There will always be ways. And don’t forget, the war for the throne to be king or queen will start soon. Have you forgotten the prize you will earn for it?”
My words widened Olivia’s eyes, a path now open in front of her—a wide, burning path that might grant her more than she could ever ask for. Her eyes blazed for a moment as she turned towards me and shouted,
“We must win it and get that bitch as far away from you as possible!”
Olivia shouted, her desire ever-present. I nodded my head, my expression matching hers with a peculiar calmness as I spoke.
“You know my strength, right? A blessing you gave me. With that, I will wipe all the opponents, getting my wish—one for our love. The only issue would be the threats from those new students, who won’t be easy to deal with.”
My words made Olivia’s expression serious as she spoke.
“You’re right. Those new students can’t easily be dealt with. We need a plan.”
A small smirk crept onto my face, hidden as I spoke.
“We need allies.”
My words widened Olivia’s eyes as I continued.
“I have a lot of friendships and control over several powerful people here and around the world. With that, we’ll be able to earn ourselves some breathing space.”
Olivia nodded at those words, but I could see her expression flashing with hesitation, and the words I was about to speak would only fan those desires.
“But there’s still time until the matches begin, which means you’ll have to live with the fact that I might be together with Scarlet until then. Will you be okay with that?”
I saw Olivia’s expression darken and grow weary from those words, her possessiveness starting to show. But she was smart enough to understand that she couldn’t let things get to her head now. She had to be smart. Right now, all the stakes were stacked against her. She turned to face me.
Her expression shifted as she saw the pain on my face. She masked her expression to look light as Olivia spoke, holding my face in her hands.
“You don’t have to worry about me at all, okay? You’ve already gone through so much for yourself and for me. Let me sacrifice something this time for you. After all, that dragon bitch might get to hold you for now, but she will never be the winner in the end.”
Olivia’s words were filled with deep malice at the end, and I could see it was killing her to agree to let things be like this for now. But she had no other choice—not when the other side was so much more powerful.
‘This will be the first time Olivia will face this, the first time all the girls will feel it, even Scarlet. That powerlessness you feel when facing something you can’t defeat, especially after living a life where you could get all you want.’
“I love you, Olivia.”
I remarked with a moved expression, my face making Olivia happy as she spoke.
“I love you too, Austin.”
With that, I went forth to kiss her, taking a sip of her lips, filled with gentleness and love. She hugged me back as we kissed. The scene was romantic, and though Olivia tried to hide it, I could see the planning that had passed through her eyes. It seemed the first domino had fallen.
‘Now, slowly, everything will fall into place.’
I mused about this very romantic situation.
