|The Royal duel (part 2)

All I wanted to do was get to the library. So I ignored him and opened the doors of the library. A faint smell of wood passed through my nostrils upon entering. It had three floors, and furthermore, it was cleverly spaced. It wasn’t that huge or anything, like a neatly placed item in a box. In the center was a round desk, right beside the stairs. It was the librarian’s desk. I was expecting a slightly older lady with glasses in front of me but much to my surprise, the lady flipped my expectations and showed me how cruel reality was.

I mean, it wasn’t that terrible. She was a plump lady, with no hint of make up. She looked like someone in their mid-thirties. Luckily, the library was almost empty. What a relief. I just realized something. The shelves were arranged in an interesting manner. Like the petals of a sunflower, they went round, complementing each other. With the desk stationed in the middle. I’ll say it was unnecessary and pretty much an inconvenience for all parties concerned.

“Prince Voyan. Seeing you here is such a pleasure.”

I pressed a finger against my lips and prepared to lower my voice.

“Shhh. Let’s not disturb those that are studying.”

“You’re right, your highness.”

“I’m here to relax, though.”

“U-Understood. I’ll lead you to the special room we have in store.”

“I appreciate.”

The special room was located on the third floor. As we left, I looked around and noticed that a lot were actually delighted that the librarian left her desk. For reasons I just didn’t know. All I knew was that the bizarre arrangement actually made a bit more sense when considering how difficult it was to be watched by the librarian. This should be much easier, I believe.

“Here it is, your hig---”

She noticed it too. That weird, musky smell coming from the room in front of us. She attempted to cover her nose but composed herself. Maybe it was because of me?

“I’ll call some janitors to take care--”

“That won’t be necessary. Return to your desk.”

“Understood, your highness.”

As she turned to leave, I said the words “Thank you.” before entering the room. She smiled as she walked away. Slowly opening the door, I saw the contents of the special room in slow motion. There was a desk, a brown, wooden sofa and a bunch of books specially placed in a medium sized shelf. In front of me was a beautiful black haired lady who crossed her legs and placed her chin on her palm. One that I had seen way too many times, one that I was stuck with for life. Rumi Leopold. She had a deadpan expression which left me with even more questions.

“Rumi, glad to see you here.”

“I’m glad to see you too, dear.”

Wait, why was she here to begin with??

“Umm..”

“I assume you can’t handle the smell. Quite understandable. I tried opening the window but it will take some time for it to clear out.”

“You’ve been here since when??”

“A couple of minutes ago, to be precise. Not long enough to make me reek of this smell.”

“No, that’s not it. I’m asking why you remained here.”

“Well, Voyan. I was busy thinking.”

Thinking?? Thinking about what???

“Rest assured. Whatever it is you have in mind, I did none of that.”

“I’m not accusing you of anything.”

“Your face says it all.”

“Face?? Your face is basically emotionless and you expect me to think things are fine??”

“It’s impossible to put on a smile all the time.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“Do not worry about me, I’m perfectly fine.”

“Whew.”

“Voyan.”

“Yeah??”

“I have more of a reason to beat up that spoiled prince now.”

“Why??”

“He was the one that soiled this room.”

“What??”

“As I said, I came here a few minutes ago and got to the door by myself. I believe the librarian was absent for whatever reason but as I got closer…..I heard voices… They were…”

“I understand.”

“Of course you do. When I heard the voices, I initially thought it was you and some lady in there.”

“You really doubted me?????”

“You haven’t given me enough of a reason to?? Besides, you also doubted me.”

She had a point there.

“Listen, all of the weird cases were not my fault. Rona, Lez and the multiple women at the academy. Rona was being harassed by Viesta while Lez saved me from the crowd of girls. That’s all there is to it.”

“I thought it would be more complicated than that.”

“I’m just that good at summarizing.”

I sat on the chair and stretched my arms around her, pulling her close.

“Fine. Let’s sort out our trust issues when we have the time. Right now, my wife is having a duel with a tough opponent so I have to do my best to support her.”

“Right.”

She met my embrace with hers. And yes, the smell in this room was almost gone.

“It was when I thought of entering that he barged out of the room himself. Him and his accomplice. As usual, he tossed a disgusting smirk before asking for my answer.”

“So what did you tell him??”

“I told him i was planning on bringing him to his knees in a shameful defeat but this time, I was going to make him kiss the ground.”

Scary!!!!!!

“That much will make him stay away.”

“He deserves even worse but I can’t forget that he’s royalty.”

“By the way, Rumi. Do you mind telling me what Martial did to you that makes you hate him so much??”

“Yeah. The explanation is long overdue. Remember when we announced our wedding??”

“yeah.”

“When he found out we were getting married, he targeted me relentlessly. In other words, he wanted to ruin our wedding weeks before the event. His non existent flirting skills left me appalled. I didn’t pay him any mind but ignoring him was getting more difficult with each failed attempt of his.”

“That scum. Didn’t he consider the fact that you were technically a princess already?”

“I wasn’t, though. Only until after the wedding could I fully consider myself a princess. That was why I was a viable target at that moment. I endured all that for a couple of days before we left the academy. This was the last place we met.”

“Huh??”

“He brought me here, to this room for ‘privacy’. I figured I’d turn him down but I was at my limit. I was this close to attacking him. His royal genes were the only obstacle.”

“So what did he do to you??”

“Oh, he tried to touch my backside so I hit him right in his pelvic region. He screamed like a wounded animal. I left him where he was... On the floor, grabbing his swollen manhood. ”

This was a pretty serious story, one that was nearly tragic. So why was I fighting the urge to laugh?? My hand that was placed on her shoulder started shaking. This silence made things even worse. Quick, I have to s-say something.

“So what happened afterwards??”

“His hatred for me grew even more than his hatred for you. I thought he would forget about it and never approach me again but it seems like I was wrong.”

“He’s a stubborn one, after all.”

“He really thinks he’s so clever but no one has told him how stupid he is.”

“So you hate him??”

“Of course I do. There is only one thing I hate more than the royal insect known as Martial.”

“And what is that???”

She gently pulled back from my embrace and looked into my eyes. Her face was so close.

“You know already.”

No, I don’t. I couldn’t think of anything she could hate more than Martial. Could it be those Wieners we had for breakfast?? She wasn’t asking a question so I had no reason to answer. Whatever the answer really is, I will find out eventually. After all, I am Voyan. Voyan Leopold.

With that being said, I understood the motives of the prince and knew precisely why he sought a duel with Rumi. He thought he was killing two birds with one stone but he will soon see. See, why it’s not wise to mess with the Leopolds.

“Y-You’re that tired, huh??” Rumi gently chuckled as I fell over to the side and rested my head on her laps.

“Who on earth will squander such an opportunity when it is right in front of them?”

“You want to rest on my laps that much??”

“Well, it wasn’t a priority or anything.”

“We still have about half an hour left before this break is over. Rest up while you can.”

“What will you do??”

“I’ll read a book.”

“Hmm.”

I wanted to talk to her for a while longer.

“Close your eyes.”

I shut my eyes and relaxed my body as I drifted into a different state of consciousness. I never thought moving this body will be so draining. And for her to be able to predict my fatigued state was impressive, downright telepathic. Rumi really is my guardian angel. Always there for me when I needed it. It was just a random thought but I wondered how I could be there for her when she was someone I knew nothing about. Sure, we aren’t perfect but we also aren’t that terrible either. If the time comes when I need to pick between her or my harem, who knows…..Perhaps I’ll choose…..

{Zzzzzzzzzzzz}

"Such a light sleeper. Even in your sleep, your body is still high on alert, huh??? That’s right. That’s how things are meant to be. To prevent yourself from dying in your sleep. I wonder if my weapon will be able to do any damage when you’re in this state.”

….…………………………………………………………………………………………..

“It’s time, Voyan. Wake up.”

“Did I oversleep?”

“No, we’re just a few minutes away.”

“From the duel??”

“From class, silly. We still have a long day ahead before the duel.”

“Oh.”

I got up from her laps and sat upright, checking if I mistakenly drooled in my sleep.

“We don’t have the same lecture this time so I will be heading there now. It’s better to get there early, don’t forget.”

“Yeah..”

She closed the door and exited the library.

“Wait!!”

I was silly not to ask, no.. asking might have been more silly. Regardless, I still didn’t know what specific lecture she was referring to, and I still couldn’t navigate my way around the academy. In other words, I was stuck…. I leaped from the sofa and paced around the room. It wasn’t that big a deal but it also was.

“I can pull this off!! I can pull this off!! I can’t pull this off….”

All my motivation had been sucked out. I always had the option of simply waiting here and hoping Rumi will come for me once more, like my saviour, like my knight in shining armour!!! But then, how would she know I’m here in the first place?? It was a gamble that I hoped was going to pay off. I looked around me and was immediately put at ease when I realized my situation. The cloud truly had a silver lining.

“In this academy, there are foreign students who don’t know much about Havendore. Therefore, it won’t be a stretch to imagine that there would be books addressing just that. If said books are here, that means I can get access to them and gain the necessary knowledge to continue this act unsuspected.”

I said all this excitedly while still pacing around the room, inspecting all the books in this special room.

“Ta-da!!!”

Here it was, the book that I’ve been looking for all this time. With this, I could be one step closer in closing the gap between me and him. I sat on the chair and desk, doing what every teenager did at least once in their high school years, skip class….

Only that this time, I skipped class for the sake of the greater good. Indeed, this time, the only nuisance was the class itself.