Diana Redonica.
The daughter of one of the Twelve Pillars of government. From birth, she was exceptional—not only in talent but in intelligence as well. And as though she wasn't perfect enough, her overwhelming beauty became more apparent with age.
There was once a time when she'd been kidnapped by one of her father's enemies—some fat, disgusting bastard who'd tried to molest her. She was saved before the man could inflict any real harm, but it was from that moment onward that she developed an indescribable hatred for men. Her father was no exception—she hated him as well, since it was his negligence that had led to her mother's death in the incident that resulted in her kidnapping.
From then on, the girl named Diana became a cold-hearted person who saw others only as tools and never acted unless it would benefit her in the long run. Fate seemed to be on her side, because as she grew, her looks became so dangerously outstanding that they became an added advantage in battles against the opposite gender.
It was something instinctive. Once a man laid eyes on her, he suddenly felt this overwhelming urge to impress her, which in most cases led to poor judgment on their part, ultimately favoring her. She was already a formidable opponent, so coupled with her looks—and not to forget her killer figure—the chances of losing against a male opponent were slim to none. Unless, of course, it was an opponent with exceptionally strong willpower who could outsmart her and remain immune to the advantage her appearance brought.
But that rarely happened unless it was an elite ranker. Even if some of those bastards were lustful idiots, they were still extremely competent and dangerously manipulative.
Did he just... ignore me? she thought, her eyes visibly widening.
She was certain of it—it couldn't be a mistake. He had definitely made eye contact with her, but all she'd seen in his gaze was... disinterest. This was strange, not only because she could read men like a book, but because she knew that young man. Calling him a hopeless simp was putting it nicely.
He was obsessed—and that wasn't an exaggeration. But it also wasn't something new to her. She was used to men (sometimes women) fawning over her, and with how much she enjoyed being in control of everything and being the center of attention, she'd learned to read people. She knew when someone was acting indifferent to catch her attention, and that gaze she'd seen from him wasn't such an act. He genuinely didn't seem interested in her in the slightest—it was as though he'd looked at her like a normal person.
She didn't like it.
She hated it.
It was the same look he'd given her the first time they'd stood face-to-face at the academy, and she remembered how much that had annoyed her. It wasn't that he wasn't looking at her with lust or fascination—it was just that he looked at her like she was like everyone else. Normal.
At that time, she'd unconsciously made it her mission to make this young man unable to look at anyone but her. She'd succeeded during the first phase before team assignments. She'd saved him during a mission since he was part of her team, offering him a smile—the first time she'd given anyone that type of smile. It was a false smile, of course, but the young man had fallen for it hook, line, and sinker. From that day forward, he'd become obsessed with making her his girlfriend. But she'd never been interested in the first place—she'd achieved her goal, which was to make him realize she wasn't normal. She wasn't just like everyone else. She was a goddess.
Yes, the young lady was a hopeless narcissist with a god complex. She always saw others as beneath her, and her background, talent, and looks only made it worse. She saw herself as a being above others, so she wasn't normal. She hated that word—it made her feel powerless.
This was all related to that event in her past.
A traumatic event that had left a permanent mark on her psyche.
"Hmm... Is it just me, or did he just ignore Anna?" Lisa spoke up, having clearly seen the way he'd given them a single glance and continued forward as if they weren't elite rankers. He should have at least reacted the way others like him would—stiffened in fear, forgotten how to walk, felt overwhelmingly self-conscious. But he didn't. He just looked annoyed and exhausted for some reason, obviously headed toward his opponent.
She might have overlooked that, but the problem was that Diana had been standing there, and the young man had barely looked at her. That was what she found strange—very strange. The Kaeden she knew, even if he avoided them like the plague, would at least keep staring at Diana like a creep whenever he saw her. So what had changed?
Not only his looks—it seems his personality changed too. Could it be related to the... incident? Lisa thought with a frown, but then she grinned. I think I just found something intresting.
She didn't care about him being a simp for Diana or an idiot. What drove her now was an instinct telling her there was something different about this young man—especially after the incident. The one involving Kaeden that the academy had kept under wraps for some reason. It was clear something was up, and whatever had happened that day had changed him.
She was a very curious and straight-to-the-point person, so when her gut told her something, she didn't hold back. She could sense it—he seemed... different. It wasn't ether; she couldn't feel that from him. It wasn't news that Kaeden didn't possess ether resonance—that was one of the reasons he was deemed useless. But she could sense something strange about him. After all, her sylph, which had a very special type of ability, was reacting oddly to his presence.
I wonder, she thought with a grin.
"It seems the incident wasn't a lie after all," they heard someone say, quite surprised anyone was discussing it so openly. They turned to find a girl with an unamused expression, her eyes tracking Kaeden, who was now far from them.
"Amira," Lisa said, then chuckled. "Don't tell me you still haven't gotten over it. It was a fluke... you said so yourself."
The girl with blue hair and peach eyes ignored her completely. There was no way in hell she was going to let it slide—not even if he came out publicly and confessed to cheating in that duel. He had disgraced her before her father, and that was something she could never forget. Blood for blood—though that was twisted thinking, since he'd never actually attempted to take her life in that duel. He'd simply made judicious use of an opportunity when it presented itself.
But who was she? An irrational woman who was a well-known psycho. She wouldn't rest until she crippled him—or better yet, permanently put him to sleep.
That was why she'd taken full advantage of her doting father to always match her against Kaeden. But like the shameless bastard he was, before she could even move, he would surrender and walk away. Given the strict rules of the academy, you couldn't attack an opponent who'd surrendered. Surrendering before the first ten minutes of a match symbolized cowardice and resulted in academic point deductions, but who was Kaeden? A shameless survivor. Points be damned—he could make up for it with written exams. He never cared about the points he lost with every rejected duel, and that only fueled her frustration.
At this point, getting revenge on him had become an unhealthy obsession. She could remember their last duel—she'd practiced so much on her speed, using her ability to boost her velocity to a level her body could barely handle, all to be able to send a blade through his chest before the idiot could say, "I give up."
I was so close, she ground her teeth in frustration. He'd survived that last duel through some strange luck she still couldn't understand—tripping just before her sword could cleave his stupid head off. While he sat there on the ground, horrified, the bastard had quickly shouted, "I give up!" ruining everything.
This time could have been different, she thought, and it only enraged her more that her father hadn't yielded to her demands this time. He'd said something about a favorite student asking for a favor, and that she could no longer be matched up with Kaeden since the young man had reported the unfair treatment to the dean. If it continued, it could lead to serious problems.
Argh! she roared internally. That bitch better not hurt him, or I swear on everything in this world, I WILL KILL HER! HE IS MINE! MINE! MINE TO KILL! MINE ALONE!
At this point, she was losing her mind. She desperately needed to kill him—she needed it, craved it. He had to die at her hands; only then could this obsession end. But it seemed it would take much longer, since she could no longer fight him in combat drills.
"It seems everyone is hot-blooded today," came an amused voice. Lisa and Damian turned to find a well-known rival of Damian's approaching—someone the young man hated more than being compared to anyone else, and all because of a certain event.
"Mason," Damian said, his expression turning cold.
"Sup, girls... and my good friend, Damian," said the black-haired young man with a grin.