Chapter 47. Self Control

With his brows furrowed, Ken tried to sleep through the chit chatting happening around him but as the chattering grew louder, Ken opened his eyes begrudgingly.

“Morning Alice. Happy birthday!” Ken said as he turned to Alice.

“What’s there to be happy about? I’m 18, still not married, and the guy I’m in love with sleeps with another girl every night. I think I am just following in my sister's footsteps.” Alice replied full with spite.

“It’s kinda your fault I am only sleeping with Cecilla. You have the money to remove the spell from everyone else but refused to do so out of pettiness.” Ken countered.

“You have the money too! Are you sure you are too stingy to pay or you only want Cecilla? You weren’t stingy at all giving money to a bunch of stupid kids. Haven’t you mastered boost to break the stupid spell yourself yet? ”

“Alice! School hasn’t even been going on for a month yet! I am not like the genius, ok? I can’t just learn something that’s not taught until master level in a few weeks.” Ken replied while looking at Genesis.

“Stop calling me that!” Genesis complained.

“Fine. You waste of talent!”

Grabbing a pillow, Genesis started playfully hitting Ken when he refused to stop calling her a genius.

“Genesis, if you could conjure freaking space magic after having some random imagination, you need to stop wasting your talent!” Ken said once again.

“Nope, I don’t want to do anything except to be by your side.” Genesis replied while hugging Ken as he got out of bed.

After the semester started, to prove to Ken that her imagination and fantasy with Ken is superior and that space magic is nothing compared to her ability to imagine. Genesis spent three days actually trying and to the surprise of everyone except herself, she somehow conjured the most basic space time, which simply distorted the color in a small area where her magic was active.

While the magic did little and was not all that useful, the fact that she was able to conjure space magic automatically got her into the master level classes and just like that, Genesis escaped any possible expulsion for 11 more years where she would need to reach divine level.

While to most, having this easily reached master level and able to conjure space magic would most definitely pushed them to try and achieve healing or teleport if only for the great wealth it would offer. Genesis stopped trying the moment her enrollment was confirmed as a master level student and went back to do nothing except hanging around Ken all day everyday.

“Ken! Let’s make love!” Cecilla cuts into the conversation while trying to pull Ken back into bed.

With the appearance of Cecilla, Ken has now been staying in the private suite with her and obviously, the rest of the girls weren't going to leave them alone. Genesis, Lovetta and Alice have been staying in the same bedroom with Ken and Cecilla where they managed to pull two king size beds together for the five to share while the rest have settled in the other rooms in the same suite.

With no one staying in the room Alice was paying for, Ken asked her to cancel the room and give the money to him instead. She agreed to do so on the condition that he wasn’t going to use the money to get the protection off the rest and to which Ken replied that he would only use his own skills to undo the spell.

“Ken. For my birthday wish, I do not want to see you inside her.” Alice demanded.

“You can turn away while we make love!” Cecilla added, not deterred at all by Alice’s request.

“Sorry Cecilla, as much as I enjoy having sex with you. I will have to pass today.” Ken replied as Cecilla scowled.

As the group got ready, they headed out for the dining hall for breakfast on the Friday morning, ready for another day of school but already discussing about skipping classes and planning on where they want to eat for Alice’s birthday.

“Morning Clare! Haven’t seen you in at least a week now. How have you been?” Ken asked excitingly after not seeing Clare for the entire week.

Without saying a word, Clare walked past the group and headed down the spiral staircase without acknowledging their existence.

“Cecilla, have you talked to Clare lately?” Ken asked.

“She’s been ignoring me like the rest of you.”

“She hasn’t been doing too well with her schoolwork either. I know she is overloading her day with every class she could fit but I overheard her having trouble with some of the materials.” Indra added.

With everyone staying in the suite Cecilla got, the interaction between the group and Clare decreased even more since the start of their third year. With her continued refusal to talk to Ken and getting more and more distant, everyone is starting to worry about Clare’s well-being as her friends.

“Cecilla, you are her sister. Can you try harder to talk with her please? I am obviously not getting through and I am starting to lose hope in getting her to talk to me again.”

“I will try, but she can be very stubborn so it's hard for me to get through to her as well.”

“Well, I guess we can only give her time and hope for the best.” Ken replied sadly, losing confidence that he would ever get Clare to talk to him again.

After breakfast, the group divided up and went their own ways but came to an agreement to skip all of the afternoon classes and join back together for lunch and spent the afternoon at the training facility so Ken could work on his boost technique with Cecilla.

With Alice no longer able to tutor him, Ken started the semester attending all of the expert level written subjects with Alice and Genesis while also doing the same for his practical classes.

Wanting to join the boost class and learn how to activate boost so he could temporarily get strong enough to destroy the protection spells, Ken was shocked that he was denied access to the course.

While for most classes, the professor could care less who is attending and people like Genesis who is nothing but a distraction are allowed to join all the classes Ken is attending. But due to the nature and danger of boost, the professor refused to let Ken attend because he hasn’t reached master level.

Thankfully, with Cecilla at master level and doing everything she could to get even stronger, Ken was able to get her to tutor him after each lesson and she was more than happy to do so. Likewise, because of her advanced masteries in all subjects, she became the new tutor that Alice once was whenever Ken needed any additional help with all of his subjects.

Also thanks to Cecilla and her status as the princess of the Yelwraek, peace has once returned for Ken and the group as Luke and his goons watched in envy and anger when another princess of the Yelwraek showed up and like Clare once did, the new princess was madly in love with the human commoner.

However unlike before where Luke would leave the group alone, he also knows the Yelwraek would not want any trouble and has kept up his taunting but to a much lesser degree.

After finishing their morning lessons and having a small lunch, the group joined together at the training facility to work up an appetite before heading to town for dinner.

“Can someone go invite Clare?” Ken asked.

“I don’t want that drama queen at my party to ruin the mood.” Alice snapped at Ken’s request.

“Alice. Clare is your friend. Do you really want to see her suffer this badly?”

“Ken. You are the reason she is acting this way so don’t put the blame on me. If she’s going to keep acting this way then no, I don’t want her anywhere near me.” Alice said firmly.

Unable to get Alice to agree, Ken eventually gave up and turned his focus back to training with Cecilla.

“I am amazed that Ryo could do this without any training or teaching. I am barely able to keep up with the pace of the lesson with a private tutor and that kid was able to do it all on his own. He will be something else when he gets older.” Ken commented, impressed by the young vampire boy from the slum.

“Impressive for sure, even with all the training I had with my uncle and through studying. It’s not that easy for me to keep up in class. I can definitely see why they won’t want people below master level trying to boost.” Cecilla replied.

Even though Cecilla was more than happy to help Ken with anything he needed, unlike Alice who dedicated all her time helping him improve. Cecilla’s main focus was still her own studies as she is now more fired up than ever to prove her father wrong for discarding her and to show all those that saw her in disgrace to look at her in a new light.

“Let’s go! I am starving!” Ken proclaimed after spending hours with the girls training well into late afternoon.

After the group arrived in town, they ate a great meal and chatted late into the evening while enjoying cakes and ice cream for dessert.

“Hey all, if you can go ahead, Alice and I will have a quick chat.” Ken said to the girls.

While reluctant to leave the two alone, since it’s Alice’s birthday, after saying goodbye, the rest of the girls headed back to the dorm.

“Don’t stay up too late Ken, we still have early class tomorrow.” Lovetta warned as she walked away.

“Thanks Lovetta, I just want a quick chat, we will be going to bed soon.”

“What do you want to talk about?” Alice asked not knowing why Ken wanted a sudden chat.

Grabbing hold of Alice, Ken led her to the garden where the pair walked through a sea of kissing couples until they reached the exact bench under the tree where they chatted two years ago.

“Come on Alice, let's have a seat and enjoy the moon. Pretty tough that it’s your birthday party but you were the one who couldn’t eat anything wasn't it.”

“No, not really. As long as I have your blood, I could care less about what everyone else eats.”

“Well, what’s wrong? Why are you feeling so down lately?”

“What makes you think I am feeling down?”

“Alice, I’m not blind okay. I can see that you are not your usual self lately. Let’s talk it out just the two of us, it’s not often I get to have alone time with any of you anymore and it’s been hard trying to juggle so much myself.”

“Ken. Are you only in love with Cecilla?” Alice asked suddenly.

“I don’t even know what that means.” Ken answered in confusion.

“You two are always making love, you obviously enjoy getting intimate but why have you not removed the spell from Lovetta, Genesis or Emma?

I know Cecilla is beautiful, she is also smart and a princess of the Yelwraek on top of all that. I know I can’t compare to her, you are no longer the guy who knows nothing and is even above me now in all the subjects so I can no longer even be your tutor.”

“Alice, I think you are getting the wrong idea. What do you think I see you as? My private tutor?”

“I mean, you don't seem that interested in sleeping with anyone except Cecilla and I don’t think I had anything to offer you other than helping you with your studies. But since you are so smart, now I have nothing to offer.”

“You know, when I was in Yelwraek, I had a quick conversation with a butler from the castle. He warned me that it’s hard to balance life with many lovers and at the time I really didn’t understand what he meant.

I am naive enough to believe that if I told a girl I loved her, it would be enough but obviously it’s not. As much as I appreciate all the help you offered me the past two years. I am not with you because I wanted a private tutor, Alice.” Ken replied, shocked that Alice would feel the way she did.

“Then what do you want? It would have made me feel that much better if you were sleeping with the other girls even if no one would remove my spell. Your actions don't match your words, Ken. You say you love all of us but why are you only making love with Cecilla?” Alice demanded.

“I’m scared, Alice.”

“Scared of what? You are not making any sense!”

“Scared that I won’t be able to control myself. Like you said Alice, I really do enjoy having sex with Cecilla and it made me think back to what your sister said. What if every girl is that different and I end up not able to control myself and really does turn into someone like your sister’s husband? Someone who will sleep with any girl just because of my lust? Someone who’s lost his ways and only seeks for pleasure? What if I enjoy it so much that I no longer want to do anything else?

I want to be that person you all can depend on. The person who will win the tournament and show your parents that you didn’t make the wrong choice. It’s a lot of pressure trying to live up to everyone’s expectation and I don’t know what will happen if I have more temptations.”

“Well, I won’t allow any random girl to sleep with you anyways so you won’t ever turn into my sister’s husband.” Alice replied firmly.

“Hey! That’s the Alice I know! I was seriously suspecting an imposter with all that ‘I have nothing to offer’ business.”

“I was always confident in myself. Even Clare didn’t faze me, but seeing you with Cecilla was different. She is just superior in every aspect no matter how I look at it and when you keep on making up excuses and won’t sleep with any of the other girls, I couldn’t help but think maybe you have actually found your true love and the rest of us are just extras.”

“Yeah. I love Cecilla for sure but you know how greedy I am. I want her, you and everyone else. I also want to become the strongest so I can beat that Luke and one day become the number one hero.”

“So greedy yet so stupid at times! At least learn how to do the stupid boost and break our protection already. That annoying Ryo kid could do it, how come you still can’t do it.” Alice complained getting back to her normal self.

“Alice! Are you even listening to me? I told you I’m scared and don’t know what will happen if I have access to more of you and I don’t want to lose control of myself.”

“Ken. Are you stupid? Sure, you enjoy sex and I can see you go overboard but did you want to have sex with Cecilla this morning?”

“Yes.”

“And you didn’t because obviously no matter how much you might enjoy the act, you are still in control and if you really want to beat Luke and eventually become the number one hero, you will find the balance so stop worrying about such pointless things!” Alice replied confidently.

“You should stop worrying about feeling Cecilla is superior to you as well. Sure she has better grades and is a princess but so what.

You have as much potential as anyone else since all of you are selected, just look at Genesis. She literally spent two years doing absolutely nothing and when I pushed her on it, she freaking learned space magic in three days!

I’m sure if you really want to compete with Cecilla when it comes to academics, you will catch up in no time. I can even be your tutor if you need!” Ken offered, feeling some of the burden leaving him after having a heart to heart with Alice once again.

“No thanks. I don’t want to end up like Clare and get overwhelmed trying to compete against a genius. I know I was harsh, calling you stupid and telling you to stop worrying about pointless things but that’s just how I felt.”

“Thanks Alice, now that you called me stupid, I really do feel like I was worried about something pretty pointless. Maybe I was just trying to look for excuses in case I failed and couldn’t live up to all the expectations.

Well, I was looking to talk to you to cheer you up but it turned out you are the one to cheer me up. Oh, you are also stupid for worrying about Cecilla replacing you. Like anyone could ever replace you.

You stole my first kiss here, remember? My heart was pounding and I was so confused yet excited that someone so beautiful just kissed me.” Ken recalled the moment fondly.

“I guess we are both stupid for worrying about pointless things and maybe should have just let our feelings out. You know Ken, after talking to you like this, as much as I hate it, you should go make up with Clare.

No matter how much we get on each other, she is one of the first friends I have ever made and I know how much she loves you and it must pains her greatly to be alone all by herself for this long.”

“Are you sure she still loves me after ignoring me for all this time even when I tried to talk to her every chance I had? I am beginning to think that maybe it’s over between us.”

“Don’t be stupid Ken. She is just being her stubborn self. You know how stubborn that girl is.”

“For this long though? What exactly is she wanting me to do? You know Alice, after hearing your worries and hearing you telling me how stupid my worries are. I think we are all still too young and haven’t lived long enough.”

“Yep. I think you are right. You will have to deal with me for at least 400 more years.” Alice replied happily.

Pulling Alice in to give her a kiss, the two sat under the dark night enjoying each other's company.

“That was much better than the peck you gave me back then. Better head back from we hear the others complain all night.” Ken proclaimed after the two finally let each other go.

After the two returned to the suite, as Ken predicted, the rest of the girls were not happy with how long they were gone and demanded answers.

“Sorry everyone! I was not feeling my best lately but after talking with Alice, my worries seemed somewhat stupid. I will do my best to learn how to boost so I can get strong enough to break your protection, you all better watch out in bed!” Ken said with a grin.

“I am always ready for you in bed.” Genesis replied while Lovetta nodded in agreement.

Grabbing Alice, Ken said goodnight to the rest and headed to bed too sleepy for anything else. Happy that he was able to talk to Alice and figure out her silly worries while also hearing from her perspective that his own worries are stupid, Ken fell asleep quickly with Alice in his arms.