Chapter 9. New Rival

"Morning Ken, time to get up." Lovetta called out for Ken early Monday morning as she always does.

"What happened? Why do you look so tried?" Lovetta asked out of concern when Ken came out of his dorm looking much worse than normal.

"Too much happened last night, didn't get enough sleep. I will explain later when I'm not so sleepy." Ken answered while yawning.

Even though she is very concerned and wanted to know what happened last night, Lovetta decided to keep quiet for now.

When they met up with Clare in the common room, before Clare could even comment on the dark circles around his eyes, Alice came in from behind and hugged Ken tightly.

"Good morning, Ken! Hope you slept well." Alice said cheerfully while clinging onto him.

Both Clare and Lovetta were at a loss for words and didn't know what was happening and why this girl had suddenly got so friendly with Ken.

Too tired and hungry to explain, Ken told them he will try to explain what he can once they get to the dining hall and get their breakfast.

As the four got to the dining hall, Alice held Ken's arm the whole time while ignoring the glares from Lovetta and Clare. Getting both Alice and Clare to grab their share of the free meal, Ken, who's been getting bigger and stronger, welcomed the additional free food.

After two months, the staring and gossiping around Ken gradually decreased but with the sudden addition of Alice, who is also acting extremely intimate with Ken, the staring and gossiping for today was back to an all-time high.

As the four sat down with their food, Ken knew he's got some explaining to do.

"Long story short, Alice asked me out last night and we talked for a while. I happened to be her soulmate which I think means my blood just taste delicious to her? I guess she wants to hang out with us? I am not sure, I myself is quite confused and that is all I know."

"Basically, I find out that Ken's blood is the perfect fit for me and after talking to him last night, I have decided to be his bride."

"YOU WHAT?" Clare and Lovetta shouted in unison while turning to Ken.

"I know nothing of this marriage." Ken replied defensively.

"Us holding hands and kissing under the moonlight wasn't romantic enough of a proposal for you?" Alice answered slyly.

By now, the other two girls were ready to explode, and Ken knew he had to say something that would calm them down. Never knew how to lie or how to manipulate people, all Ken could think of doing is tell them how he really felt.

"Alright, calm down and hear me out. Up until yesterday, I had never thought about having a relationship or love simply because finding ways to fill my stomach was my only concern before coming to the academy. And now, I have only been focusing on learning the materials so I can pass the classes and not have all those people looking down on me.

What happened last night was not something I expected or knew how to deal with. I will admit that under the circumstances, when there were couples all around us making out and I was that close with such a beautiful girl, I just couldn't help myself and wanted to experience that sensation as well.

I know we did technically kiss but that definitely felt like you were teasing me instead of having any romantic intentions and honestly, I am glad now that it didn't escalate to anything more serious.

I don't think I'm ready for any romantic relationship right now because I want to stay focused on my studies and not end up like those that are spending hours every night making out in the garden."

"It's ok, I don't mind waiting for a few years. Once you pass all the advanced stuff, school life will be much easier when you can just focus on a few areas. Besides, I don't want us to get too intense right now anyways since we can't do the deed even if we want to."

"What deed are you talking about and why can't we do it?" Ken asked curiously.

"Making love obviously." Alice replied while nudging Ken on the side.

"Do you know why there are so many couples that just makes out in the garden? For almost all the nobles and royals and high-class families, the moment a daughter is born, they would have the most powerful protection magic they could afford cast on the infant.

To someone like you, been the daughter of a duke or a king might seem like a great privilege, and we are lucky to have the wealth and power you see at the academy. But to our family, we are nothing more than trade tokens to build their connections with other kingdoms or people with power.

To keep us desirable, they make it impossible for us to make love with someone we actually want but instead, force us to be with whoever benefit them the most.

The only way for you and me to make love one day is either you somehow convince my parents to have the protection removed, you are able to pay someone stronger than who they hired to cast the spell, or one of us get strong enough to remove it ourselves.

All of those couples in the garden making out for hours on end are most likely not able to go any further and I don't want to have to endure years of having the desire but not the ability so it's fine for me as well if we take things slow.

By the way, the spell cast on me is a very high tier divine level, I'm sure the elf princess probably has a holy level cast on her maybe even a mid-tier holy level.

You know what will make you the richest person in the world? If you could come up with a spell that prevents us from even kissing, I bet those controlling nobles and royals would love it if we can't even kiss the people they didn't approve of."

As Ken tried to process all the information while finishing his food, he turned to Clare to see her response.

"It is a mid-tier holy level protection spell, and just as the vampire has said. To most kings, just like the one that would let you have one of his daughters simply because you have the potential and got accepted to the academy, daughters to most nobles and royals are nothing more than trade tokens.

But that's fine for me because I will eventually become the strongest hero and I will remove the spell myself if needed and be with the person I want to be with. I won't let my father decide my future, especially not when the most likely candidate right now is that Xandrian."

"Do you hate Xandrian that much you are willing to put in this much work to become the strongest?" joked Ken.

Glaring at Ken, Clare replied coldly.

"I am just not someone who is going to be manipulated and let some vampires take advantage of me."

"You don't understand the environment we were in Clare! It was dark, the moon was bright, everyone around was making out and she just got me in a position where I couldn't resist!

Just imagine. You and me sitting together in the dark on a bench, the moonlight shines on us as our eyes locked with people all around just passionately kissing each other. You think I can resist not trying to kiss you? Or Lovetta?

If it was either of you instead of Alice with me last night, I think it would have gone even worse. No matter how much I want to focus on studying and trying to improve my academics, it's not like I am blind and can't see how beautiful you all are."

The anger and frustration quickly disappeared from Clare, and it was replaced by a sense of embarrassment at how blunt Ken is.

"Ken! You can't just go around trying to kiss people just because you are attracted to them. And next time, don't go wonder off in the middle of the night with some suspicious girl who will try to take advantage of you!"

As the mood lightened, the girls returned to their normal selves but only as normal as they could be with Alice continuing her aggressive intimate behaviors with Ken.

When the group finished their breakfast, Clare headed off to her lessons while Lovetta and Ken made their way to the beginner lesson with Alice tagging along.

"Why are you coming with us Alice? Don't you have any lessons you need to take?" Ken asked.

"No, I don't care about studying. If you haven't noticed, I am ranked third overall and already passed every subject up to advanced, so I am good for the next five years at least."

"So, I guess it's true that for most of you, you just come to this academy to meet people and build connections instead of studying or trying to get stronger."

"I would say it depends on the individual and which kingdom they are from. For the elf princess, I can tell she really doesn't want her family to decide her future, so she is trying super hard.

But mostly, I would say it will be a guy who tries hard so he can maybe get the throne over his other siblings or trying to make a name for himself if he is a noble so he can have more influence.

But yea, for most of the girls that get selected, we are just better products for our future husband that our family gets to decide for us. That's why most of them would just try to have fun, kiss some different guys and enjoy their freedom until they couldn't anymore.

That's why you rarely see a noble or royal finish at the top and amongst the current top 10, 7 of the heroes are of common birth."

"Yea, I can definitely see why. For most of the commoners to survive at this school, they must have some special talents and a strong will. Maybe I will end up becoming the next hero." Ken joked.

"Sounds good to me, I won't mind being the wife of one of the ten heroes."

While the trio sat through their morning lessons, both Ken and Lovetta had a hard time concentrating due to the presence of Alice. When they got back to the dining hall for lunch, it was clear to see that some others weren't too happy with this situation either.

When the three got their lunch and grabbed a table, they were soon joined by Clare and Alice's friend Genesis. Genesis is a human girl who is about Clare's height with golden blonde hair, deep green eyes and a soft fair complexion, another beauty without a doubt.

"What is going on here? Why are you so intimate with this human, Alice?"

As Ken looked up, he saw the male vampire from the other day standing over them with a few human students that are acting more or less like his servants.

"What do you mean Dimitri? What's wrong with me been close with my future husband?" Alice answered with a smirk while hugging Ken even tighter.

"I see what's going on here. You must be drinking his blood, that's why you didn't even bother asking for blood from the kitchen staff. But how long can you last Alice? Not like you can just depend on the blood of one person." Dimitri observed.

"That's where you are wrong Dimitri, he happens to be my soulmate and as long as I have him, you can play your game all you want, and it won't affect me at all."

"HaAhh! Soulmate? I didn't know there was still anyone who believed in that load of bullshit. But let us pretend that he is your soulmate. What's stopping me from making his life so miserable that he wished he never got in my way." Dimitri said menacingly while giving Ken the death stare.

Like clockwork, Lovetta squared up against Dimitri without a single ounce of fear or hesitation.

"I am stopping you from doing anything to him." Lovetta answered confidently while staring Dimitri in the eyes, completely opposite of her typical timid behavior.

"Is this a circus? What's up with this beastman? Get out of my face you animal! Do you want me to teach you how to behave as well?" Dimitri said menacingly.

"The beastman girl is a friend of mine so please stop with your disgusting racist comments. And like she said, if you try anything on him, I will make sure your whole kingdom wishes that you would have never been born." Clare said calmly as things started to get chaotic.

"First, my woman is behaving like a slut, I will have you properly educated soon Alice. Then, a dog barked at my face, and now a pointy is talking down to me. What a day it has been, I better get to work and teach you foolish first years a lesson."

"I know you are stupid Dimitri, but I didn't know you are stupid enough to try and pick a fight with elf King Yelwraek's daughter." Alice commented sneakily.

At Alice's words, Dimitri's anger suddenly changed to panic, and it seems like no matter how bold and brave one might act or pretend to be, the hierarchy established is just too much for most to ignore.

Making up some lame excuse, Dimitri angrily walked off with his groupie following behind. To let out his anger, Dimitri slapped and kicked a few of his followers and they just took the abuse without any complaints.

"You are really trying to escalate things aren't you, Alice." Ken said with a heavy sigh of relief.

"I am just taking advantage of the elf princess, that's all. We all know Dimitri won't stop bothering me unless he knows who he is messing with, and I just felt like this is the best option to get him to leave me alone." Alice answered happily.

"Thank you, Clare. Thank you, Lovetta. Thanks for always defending and standing up for me. I know I haven't really properly thanked either of you, but I really do appreciate the two of you very much."

"What did this vampire do to you Ken? Stop acting so weird, I didn't do anything that needs your gratitude."

"I agree with Clare. I am just doing what I want, I don't need you thanking me."

"So much for me showing my appreciation for the two of you. Never doing that again! Soon enough I will be too strong for them to talk to me like that anyways." Ken replied defensively after been brushed off by the two girls.

While the two might have acted like Ken's gesture was out of character and behaved like they didn't care, he was the only one that didn't notice their sudden awkwardness.

With Dimitri gone, the group was able to settle down and enjoy their food. But once again, the rumors and gossip surrounding Ken grew even more wild and ridiculous.