Seraphine's participation felt like a slap in the face to the people from Pradiles.
"Don't they have any better students? Now they're sending someone who hasn't even broken through the first limit to fight?" the swordsman mocked, looking at Sera with contempt for her almost nonexistent mana.
Seraphine lowered her head in shame, feeling the weight of every gaze in the arena on her.
But Valeria wouldn't let them keep humiliating her.
"If you're scared, just say it. You asked to fight together from the very beginning. Now that we've brought two people, are you still going to refuse the duel?" Valeria declared, her voice as cold as the steel of her sword.
The wind mage shook his head in amusement, as if he were accepting an unexpected gift.
"If this is what you want…"
The two pairs took their positions on the platform.
Professor Elena, clearly uneasy about the difference in levels and the risk of Sera ending up seriously injured, prepared to start the match.
Once it began, Pradiles' strategy was obvious: they would quickly disable Seraphine and then corner Valeria between the two of them.
But it wasn't as easy as they expected.
What had been so difficult for Cassane and Julius was clearly much easier for Valeria to handle. She moved with astonishing fluidity even when it was practically two against one.
Seraphine tried to help from time to time, but her attacks were always easily dodged. However, Valeria's swordsmanship—which had improved greatly after a few conversations with me—was shining brightly.
The wind mage from Pradiles, frustrated at being unable to break through Valeria's defense, lost his temper.
He decided that the fastest way to end it was to eliminate the weak link with a single strike.
He concentrated an absurd amount of mana and created a spear of compressed air aimed directly at Seraphine's heart.
It was a disproportionate attack. At that power, it wouldn't just knock her unconscious—it could kill her on the spot.
Professor Elena screamed and tried to jump into the arena. I myself was already gathering my energy to intervene before the air blast was released.
But in that microsecond, something happened.
An overwhelming "magic," a pressure that far surpassed the seventh circle, suddenly erupted from Seraphine's body.
The air itself solidified into a golden fiery shockwave that sent both opponents flying like ragdolls.
The Pradiles students were hurled against the arena walls, falling unconscious before they even hit the ground, their mana cores temporarily sealed by the impact.
Immediately, their eighth-circle guards—who had been hiding until now—revealed themselves and rushed down to the arena to help them, looking around in confusion.
Seraphine, with a pale face and empty eyes, collapsed where she stood.
And I can say this left me with a doubt that wouldn't be resolved until much later.
Most people at the scene thought that Seraphine's grandmother had left some kind of protective spell on her, but it was clear to me that wasn't the case.
What came out of her felt more like a manifestation of Qi than mana. Yet she had no cultivation, which made everything even stranger. Besides, I could clearly sense that her body belonged to this world… unless it was something similar to me.
Either way, I didn't allow myself to dwell on it any longer. I appeared in the arena in the blink of an eye and caught Seraphine before she could fully fall to the ground.
I looked at Professor Elena, who was staring at me in confusion, and said in a flat tone:
"I'll take her to rest."
She nodded. Valeria looked at me worriedly, and the people in the stands began staring at me in surprise, wondering when I had appeared there.
The two eighth-circle guards from Pradiles also seemed surprised, but they didn't think too much of it since they couldn't sense any mana in my body.
I carried Sera and left the arena, leaving behind the murmurs of the crowd and the suspicious glances of the foreigners.
To them, I was just a talentless student moving on instinct. Still, something in their eyes—much like with the Pradiles students—didn't sit well with me at all.
…
I took Seraphine to her room.
I knew it would probably have been better to take her to the infirmary, but I felt she was simply exhausted.
And although I wanted to investigate what had happened, I also felt it wasn't so bad not knowing everything all the time.
I looked at Seraphine's face. She looked very peaceful, as if nothing could bother her in that moment.
I sighed as I laid her on the bed and waited until she woke up to make sure she was okay.
Several hours passed, but they went by quickly. I distracted myself by coming up with theories about what had happened.
Not knowing everything was actually kind of fun… as long as her life wasn't in danger because of it.
This made me think again about the words of that damn woman. The siren really saw me as someone empty, and here I was, worrying about every person who entered my life and had even a little relevance in it.
Although, considering I'm also having fun because of this, maybe she wasn't entirely wrong…
Suddenly, Seraphine's eyelids fluttered and a small groan escaped her lips.
When her eyes opened fully and she became aware of her surroundings, she immediately asked:
"Cassian?" Her voice was a little hoarse.
"Mmm. Do you remember what happened in the arena?"
She lowered her head, depressed.
"We lost, right?"
"No. You won. Somehow, you defeated both of them by yourself."
She looked at me in disbelief.
"You don't have to lie to cheer me up. I know that if we won, it was probably Valeria who did it."
I stayed silent, neither confirming nor denying her words.
There was no point explaining something she couldn't process herself.
"Anyway, now that I know you're fine, I'll head back to my room," I said, standing up.
But at that moment she grabbed my hand tightly.
"Wait—" Her face suddenly turned red as she avoided my gaze. "Could you… stay a little longer? I still don't feel completely well."
I looked at her in silence. Her lie was obvious, but I didn't point it out. I sat down beside her again, and we stayed together for a while in a slightly awkward but strangely warm silence.
…
I returned to my room at night, but someone was already waiting for me at the door: Rose, the Empress's maid. She looked somewhat anxious and annoyed at having waited so long.
As soon as she saw me, she approached and said:
"Her Majesty requests your presence."
I looked at my room door and thought about everything I had done that day with exhaustion.
I wasn't in the mood for Caelia's games.
"Tell her I'll go see her tomorrow. I'm tired today."
She looked at me in surprise. She clearly hadn't expected me to refuse.
"I think you don't understand… she won't accept 'no' as an answer."
"And you don't understand either," I replied, holding her gaze. "If I say not today, there's nothing she can do to make me go see her."
Rose frowned, trying to use the only card she thought she had over me.
"Aren't you afraid your stepsister will go back to prison?"
I made her look directly into my eyes, drawing her into their depths.
"If she does something like that, she can expect to never see me again."
I said nothing more and entered my room.
Spending time with Caelia was fun, but if I wasn't in the mood, I wasn't going to force myself. I could always find another way to deal with certain problems if she decided to break our agreement.