Love fools

Ten o’clock in the morning.

Code had barely finished reading the second page of his report when the doors to his office were thrown open.

BANG!

The sound echoed through the entire corridor.

Several heads turned outside.

Code slowly lifted his eyes from his desk.

Venisa stood in the doorway.

Her breathing was sharp, her expression murderous, and the documents clutched in her hand looked as though they had been folded and unfolded several times on the way there.

She marched toward his desk without waiting for permission.

Then—

SLAM!

The documents struck the polished surface hard enough to make the inkpot tremble.

Code glanced down.

His eyes immediately caught the familiar seal stamped across the first page.

ESTABLISHMENT AGREEMENT OF THE AETHERIUM ENERGY NETWORK

His expression changed.

Only slightly.

But Venisa noticed.

“So,” she said, her voice dangerously calm, “you were planning to tell me about this?”

Code leaned back in his chair.

“I was.”

“Your idea of eventually is apparently after my name has already been written into an agreement”

Code sighed. “It isn't quite like that.”

“Oh, really?”

She dropped the document back onto his desk.

“Then perhaps you can explain why Greymore is written all over this agreement.”

Silence.

Code glanced at the document again.

“It isn't my agreement.”

“I don't care who drafted it.”

She leaned closer.

He said nothing.

Venisa laughed bitterly.

“What exactly were you thinking?”

Code's jaw tightened.

“Venisa—”

“No.”

She straightened.

“You don't get to use my name simply because it happens to be convenient.”

“I have nothing to do with your estates,” she continued, her voice quieter but no less angry. “I have nothing to do with your holdings, your council, your network, or whatever grand scheme you're building now.”

She pushed the agreement back toward him.

“So remove my name.”

Code stared at her.

“I can't.”

Her head snapped up.

“What?”

“The agreement has already been registered.”

Venisa's eyes widened.

“You're telling me you couldn't even have the decency to ask me-?”

“Venisa.”

She stopped.

Code's voice was unusually low.

“The name wasn't placed there because of my estates.”

She slowly looked back.

Venisa stopped.

Slowly, she turned back toward him.

“Then why?”

Code's gaze remained on the agreement.

For the first time since she entered the room, his expression softened.

“It was meant to be a gift.”

Venisa frowned.

“For my fiancée.”

The words struck her harder than she expected.

Her fingers slowly loosened around the document.

“Your... fiancée?”

“Yes.”

Code looked at her. “The Aetherium Network was supposed to be established under her name.”

Venisa's brows drew together.

“Then why is my name on it?”

Silence.

Code didn't answer immediately.

Venisa's voice became sharper.

“Why is my name on something that was supposed to be a gift for another woman?” She is angry now.

His eyes remained fixed on hers.

“Because you were the reason I built it.”

Venisa froze.

“What?”

Code stood from his chair.

“I wanted to give my fiancée something that no noble family could take from her. Something that would belong to her alone. A legacy.”

He paused.

She looked down at the document again.

Greymore

Her stomach tightened.

“We're done, Code.”

“I know.”

“Then give your fiancée your own name.”

Her eyes met his.

“Leave mine out of it.”

And this time, when she walked away, Code didn't stop her.

The door slammed behind her.

Venisa was gone.

Code remained where he was, staring at the closed door for a moment before a quiet laugh escaped him.

“Feisty,” he muttered to himself.

He glanced down at the agreement still lying on his desk.

“She gets older, and somehow her temper becomes even more extraordinary.”

His smile lingered.

But only for a moment.

The amusement slowly faded as his eyes returned to the document.

Venisa Greymore .

“Why did you trip me?”

“Did it hurt? Of course not, because you’re fat. Hahaha.”

Venisa slowly looked him over from head to toe.

Her expression was one of refined disappointment, as though she had just discovered an unpleasant stain on an otherwise immaculate carpet.

“You know,” she said calmly, “you resemble a mantis.”

“A what?” he did not expect to hear it from her.

“Yes. All those long limbs, that irritating face, and absolutely nothing useful to do except lurk around and bother people.”

Code's expression darkened.

“You're enjoying this far too much.”

Venisa had barely taken two steps when Code's hand shot forward.

He caught the collar of her uniform.

She stopped dead.

The laughter around them immediately quieted.

Venisa slowly glanced down at his hand, then back at him.

“Release me.”

Code leaned closer, wearing that infuriating smile.

“You seem rather confident for someone who just declared war on my dignity.”

“I wasn't aware you possessed any.”

A few students immediately covered their mouths to suppress their laughter.

Code's eye twitched.

“You're enjoying this.”

“Immensely.”

He gave her collar a small tug, pulling her back toward him.

“You know, for someone so refined, you have a remarkably sharp tongue.”

Venisa looked at his hand again.

“And for someone who calls himself a gentleman, you seem remarkably comfortable grabbing a lady by her collar.”

Code glanced toward the crowd.

Venisa smiled sweetly.

“Careful, who ever your name was. At this rate, you'll have the entire school convinced that the mantis has finally lost his manners.”

Code looked back at her.

“Why did your household never learn how to discipline you?”

Venisa's eyes narrowed.

“What exactly are you implying?”

He leaned slightly closer.

“You're like a spoiled little heiress who grew up surrounded by so much love that you forgot other people were allowed to have patience limits.”

Venisa's expression became dangerously calm.

“Oh.”

She forcely removed his hand from her collar.

Code's eyebrows rose.

For a moment, she simply stared at him, smoothing the creases in her uniform with deliberate precision.

Then she looked up.

“You really should be careful with your words.”

Her voice was soft.

Far too soft.

Code's amusement returned.

“Did I offend you?”

“No.”

“Between the two of us, my patience is a rather delicate thread—and you do enjoy pulling at it.”

Code's lips curled into an amused smile.

“Careful, if your mother could see you now, she'd probably wonder where all that patience she tried to teach you disappeared to.”

He chuckled. “Or perhaps she simply planted too much fire in you and forgot to teach you how to keep it from spreading.”

Venisa's expression changed.

The irritation vanished from her face, replaced by something far more unsettling—calm, still, and dangerously composed.

Now, the faint curve of her lips carried none of its usual warmth.

“What?” Code asked, catching the change in her expression. “Angry already?”

Venisa slowly dusted off her clothes.

“No.”

Her voice was soft.

Far too soft.

“I've been angry since you decided to put your foot in my path.”

Code's smile faltered for half a second.

Venisa lifted her eyes to him.

“I was merely deciding how much patience you deserved.”

A pause. “And I've just reached my answer.”

She stepped toward Code and placed one hand firmly on his shoulder.

“Stay still.” Her voice was gentle—almost unnervingly so. “This will only take a moment.”

Code's brow lifted.

The air around them suddenly stirred.

A faint pressure gathered around her, drawing inward as though the very atmosphere had been caught in her grasp. The loose strands of her hair fluttered as energy coiled around her clenched fist.

Code's eyes widened.

“Wait—”

Venisa's fist shot forward.

It stopped mere inches from his face.

Venisa smiled.

“Consider that a warning.”

Code stood completely still.

For once, he had nothing to say.

Years ago, beneath the shade of an old acacia tree, there had been a girl with the same sharp eyes and the same stubborn fire.

He remembered how she had looked at him back then—annoyed, proud, and utterly unimpressed by him.

He remembered their first argument.

Her first insult.

The way she had refused to back down, even when everyone else would have.

And, somehow, that was the beginning of everything.

Code's lips slowly curved into a smile.

“The first person who ever threatened to hit me.”