Lex's POV
The Following Day
Angelica guided us to an empty room, far from prying eyes.
"Bartfort, I want you and your team to withdraw from this duel," Angelica finally blurted. Her face had grown gaunt, heavy with exhaustion.
"I don't think you're going to have any luck in trying to convince him, plus with what happened to our rooms, we are all feeling pretty pissed, off," I said in place of Leon who had his head in the clouds thinking of all the money he was going to win.
Daniel also added a tired," Plus Leon convinced us to use all our money, to bet against the whole academy in favor of our victory. "
She gave a dry, empty laugh. "You've already been hit by the repercussions of this, haven't you? They made a mess of your rooms, and they plan to keep hitting us as hard as they can until the day of the duel."
Apparently "they" were going to do their best to make sure we didn't stand a chance of winning. Prince Julius and his friends were, in my estimation, blissfully unaware. Their flunkies were carrying all this out on their behalf.
"I don't have any power. Not anymore," Angelica confessed. "Whatever you're expecting from me, there is nothing I can do for you."
My brother sighed. "Let me guess, your family had some harsh words for you, didn't they?"
She wrapped her arms around herself, squeezing tightly. "They called me reckless for demanding a duel. But I…I had to do something! I didn't care what.
All I could think about was getting that woman away from the prince. My mind went blank. When I told my family that, they ordered me to stay put and keep quiet. It's all over for me. If I'm lucky, I'll be sent off to stay under house arrest in one of the border regions. If I'm unlucky—" She'd be forced to take her own life. Suicide in the name of repentance.
"You seem to have the wrong idea," He said. "I don't care that you come from a duke's household."
Angelica jerked her head up and stared at him in surprise.
"Then why in the world did you volunteer yourself?! And drag your friends in too! Are you an idiot?
You must be an idiot! Listen to me, whether you win or lose, your lives are already over. Our opponents are the future king and other high lords. What good will it do to provoke them?" she finished, breathless.
He gave her an enigmatic grinn. "Who cares? I don't need status or honor. Do you know what it's like for those of us at the bottom of this caste system? I poured my blood, sweat, and tears into becoming independent, but now I have to spend every day trying to suck up to girls I don't even like. I'm tired of it. If this is what my life's gonna be, I figure I can at least give the people I hate the most a sock in the face before I drop out and leave,." then pointing at the rest of us he added, "and I think those other idiots think the same as me, otherwise they'll would not have joined me"
"But what of your families?!"
I shrugged. "We were promoted so we count as independent houses. Well, a provisional one.
Regardless, our families are members of a separate house, related though we may be, as members of a different house they can't be punished for our transgressions."
"Pr-provisional?" she echoed. At last she seemed to understand what I was trying to tell her.
She took several steps back. "Are you insane? Your opponents are at the top of our grade."
"On that note Lady Angelica, can you tell us about our opponents." Leon Asked.
"Julius Rapha Holfort
Grace: Ocean
Grade: A
Jilk Fia Marmoria
Grace: Tornado
Grade: A
Brad Fou Field
Grace: Terrain
Grade: A
Chris Fia Arclight
Grace: Ice
Grade: A
Greg fou Serberg
Grace: Fire
Grade: A
What their Ranks are, I don't know, but they can't be more than_" but that was already more than enough so Leon interrupted her before she could share one more piece of important information.
"So now we know their Graces, we can plan our fights, based on Grace compatability,
I'll take the prince and Jilk, Lex you take Brad, Daniel you get Chris and finally Raymond you will face Greg."
"Those assignments won't do for me, I have a bone to pick, with Jilk, Leon I'll take him off your hands for you" to my insistence all he said was OK.
With that done you would think we would be done but Daniel still had some misgivings about something "Lady Angelica, was it alright for you to give us their information like that?"
To his question she just smiled and responded "I can't have you all risk your lives for me, and not be willing to give you all the help I can."
A voice then called out from the door after knocking "Sorry to disturb you, but Lady Atlee is asking for Lord Bartfort."
After bidding Everyone farewell I left, but shortly after Daniel and Raymond also left.
Leon's POV
Now being the only two left in the room I saw that, Angelica seemed worried.
"It'll be fine," I assured her. "we might not seem it, but we're fairly strong."
"You expect me to believe you?!" Angelica huffed. "I've heard adventurers who clear dungeons end up with a few screws loose. You must be one of them!"
"Hey, rude much? I'm not an idiot. I'm doing this because I know I have a good chance of winning. Besides, you're the one who started this whole duel!"
She averted her eyes. "Th-that's why I'm telling you to back down! I'm sorry about this, and I'll take responsibility for my actions. You can stay here at the academy. I can't get you involved. It was enough that you volunteered yourself at the party."
From her perspective, I jumped in to help her without regard for the consequences while everyone else looked at her like she was the enemy. She might even see me as some kind of hero. Oops?
"Nah… I've come this far. Backing out now would be kinda… embarrassing."
"You realize Greg and Chris will be two of your opponents, right? All jokes aside, they're terrifyingly strong."
She was right. And it wasn't just the two of them; the other three were also said to stand head and shoulders above, the rest of the people in our Grade. Though I've never seen them in action, they were weak in the game at this stage but with all the changes and new threats in the world now I expect them to be super OP. (OH how wrong I was)
"One more thing," she said. "What are you thinking, betting all that money on yourself?, and even forcing you're friends to join"
I wanted to explain that I actually hated gambling, but instead… "Why don't you do it, too?" I grinned. "You'll make a ton."
"Ridiculous! Do I look like I'm in desperate need of money to you?"
This is exactly why spoiled rich girls like you are…! You know what, never mind.
"Their harassment has an expiration date. Only a few more days until the duel." And I left to return to my room.