Chapter 104 - The Start Of Something New

~Three years later~

The academy was lively on this day. The weather was pleasantly warm with a slight breeze. It was springtime, and the start of a new school year.

Before classes start, the academy would host a festival to celebrate. Parents came to see their children or came to drop them off.

On this day, an athletic competition would be held. Everyone from the city eagerly awaited it. They always looked forward to the yearly competition.

The male students would compete against each other just for the sake of fame and glory. There was an agility contest, an archery contest, and a sword fighting contest. Even though everyone participated, they knew who would come out of top.

The cold-hearted Prince would win the agility contest. The Charming knight would win the sword contest. The Playboy son of the Duke would win the archery contest.

Even though the results were to be expected, everyone still had fun attending. This year would be no different.

In a distant hall, a short girl walked gracefully with her heels clacking against the stone tiles. She wore a light blue dress with white flowers and a set of satin white gloves to match.

Her loose honey blonde curls bounced with every step she took. She wore a faint smile that could calm anyone. Her deep brown eyes looked ahead of her with a feeling of warmth.

She was walking toward a crowd of girl's chattering in excitement. Why?

Well there was only reason why girl's acted so foolishly like that. That's because it was where the Prince and his Knight were at.

William stood crossing his arms ignoring the crowd around him with a cold indifferent attitude. He wore a flashy light blue suit with his Royal crest on it.

His dazzling blue eyes glared at everyone sharply, showing how irritated he was. His long platinum blonde hair was pulled back neatly. It shined in the sun's light.

Despite never responding to the girls around him, they didn't care. They were drawn to that cold personality of his.

On the other side was Dante. He was the polar opposite to William. His tan skin glistened in the sunlight and his fluffy dark brown hair was almost screaming to be touched.

He wore a tight dark shirt with dark grey pants. This was usual for Knights to wear. Around his wrist was a crudely made handkerchief.

He smiled at the girls around him with a warm smile. Although his smile did not reach his eyes. His golden eyes stared down at the girls with boredom, giving away the fact that he did not genuinely care.

But no one noticed that. They saw a smile and didn't think too much more. To them, a smile is a smile. Not to mention it was from a handsome man.

She stood on the edge of the crowd and smiled at the two men. "Prince William." Her small fluffy voice said, "How nice to see you again."

William glanced over at her. Even though the girls around him were being loud and annoying, he could still hear that small voice. In fact, just the sound of it sent shivers up his spine.

He frowned at her, "Millie."

William then glanced around her quickly as if he was curious. He tried to hide his excitement, "Where's Seri?"

She kept smiling at him, "That's what I'd like to discuss with you. Could we go somewhere private?"

He gave a nod and glared at the girls in his way, "Move."

Instead of being hurt, they kyaaa'd and collapsed onto each other. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and pushed them out of the way.

Noticing his Prince was leaving, Dante bowed to the girls. "I'm sorry ladies, but it seems as if we must take our leave. Please forgive us."

The girl's awed but seeing his charismatic smile, they squealed in delight. The Prince was there to freeze their hearts, and his Knight was there to warm them back up.

As soon as he walked away, his smile disappeared. As they walked down the hall with William leading, Millie gave Dante a look.

Her voice came out with a hint of coldness, "I see you haven't changed one bit. You are still fake as ever."

"I'm fake?" He glared at her, "And what about you?"

Her smile fell and a scary expression replaced it. There was only one person she could never keep up her facade with. Right now she wanted to do something awful, but she controlled herself.

She shook her head and put her smile back on, "I have no idea what you mean."

"Haah?" He raised an eyebrow. Visible sparks of anger could be seen between the two of them.

William sighed, "Can you two not fight? It's really annoying."

Millie looked away and smiled at William, "I'm sorry Prince William. I didn't mean to make you feel left out. Should I treat you the same as I did when we were children?"

William's face paled as he glanced behind him at that smiling face. He felt another shiver run up his spine. He shook his head quickly, "Nope! That's not necessary."

"Hmm? You sure?" She gave a light giggle.

He quickened his pace and they entered a room. "Okay, this should be fine. Now what was it?"

Millie smiled at him. She fiddled her fingers as if she was nervous, but the other two knew better. She tilted her head, "Wellll. I was curious. Do you perhaps know if Seri's here?"

Dante scoffed, "You don't know?"

She gave him an angry look. She smiled once more, "Well you see... I know she's here somewhere. She's definitely going to be attending the Academy. It's just that... Well I haven't spoken to her in three years."

Their eyes widened and she started to explain. "After the end of the year trip, she wasn't able to attend school because of her broken ankle. I stopped in to see her and she was... Strange. Her eyes looked lifeless. My usual cuteness didn't seem to work on her either."

"Really?! Now that is strange..." William said in disbelief.

She nodded, "Yes! So naturally you could understand why I was so worried! But after that, she declined to have me over. I inquired with her parents as to the reason why, and they said that she fell ill with something."

Her tone turned anxious, "A year past, and she never returned back to school! Then I found out her family moved to their summer Villa out of nowhere!!! She wouldn't see me. She wouldn't even answer my letters. I was..." She let out a chilling chuckle, "Well I was going a bit crazy."

She cleared her throat and composed herself. She gave William a smile, "So I'd like to know where she is. I figured you two would definitely know. So please tell me."

William looked away from her sheepishly, "Well.. To be honest I don't know either."

She blinked in disbelief, "Huh?"

"We haven't heard from her in three years either. I mean... We were busy with the Academy so there wasn't many chances anyway, but she also ignored our letters. I tried to use my family power to force her to attend an event.. But well you know her father."

She nodded in understanding, "I see. It didn't work for you either. But... She's coming here right?!"

"She will be attending the Academy." Dante cut into the conversation. They both glanced at him.

Millie tilted her head slightly, "How do you know?"

"I happened to hear that she already moved into her dorm room. So she's definitely here... Somewhere."

William frowned and glanced around him, "Knowing her she's probably hiding in a bush laughing at us." He sighed, "Do you think she's actually learned to behave in these past three years?"

A collective silence permeated the air. They all knew the answer.

It was definitely a no.

William shook his head, "Well... Whatever. The competition is about to start. We can talk more later."

As everyone filled the stands, trumpets rang out alerting everyone to the start of the competition. The crowds cheered in anticipation and excitement.

The contestants made their way out for the first competition: Agility.

It was a course set up, much like something you would find in a military training camp. Climbing, crawling, and finally a 500 meter dash to the finish line.

William walked out as people chanted his name. He was now in a less flashy outfit, but it was still attractive nonetheless. He looked around in boredom. His eyes caught a figure at the starting line seeming to be staring at him...

Well, maybe he was staring at him. He couldn't tell. The person was in a black bodysuit, completely hiding their face and figure.

When they noticed him looking back, their held tilted slightly. They pointed to William, then gave him a thumbs down. Essentially telling him that he was going down.

William only clicked his tongue in annoyance. Seems like another annoying person wanted to challenge him.

The King was in the audience watching with glee. Next to him was his wife and Simon. Beside them was Kane, his wife, and Oliver. William knew Seri must be somewhere if her parents were there.

The gun went off and he took off. He effortlessly cleared each obstacle.

He thought to himself: How boring... Not a single person can even keep up with me.

As he started on the 500 meter dash, thinking he had this competition in the bag, a black figure sprinted past him. Before he could register what had just happened, the black figure crossed the finish line in front of him.

"Did I just... Lose?" He whispered in surprise.

The black figure just turned to him without even looking tired. They tilted their head at William. He grit his teeth at the cocky feeling he got from that black figure. They were definitely giving him an arrogant smile.

A silence spread across the stadium.

"Prince William.. Lost?"

"Can't be. Must be a fluke."

The King's face twitched. The crowd broke into another cheer. They would still cheer for their Prince regardless. William wanted to rip that person's mask off, but he already disappeared into the crowd.

He stomped over to Dante who stood on the side. Dante glanced at him, "You lost."

"Shut up."

"That's what happens when you don't take it seriously."

"I don't want to hear that from you."

Next was the archery contest. The playboy son of the Duke sauntered off and grabbed a bow. He had messy bright red hair and dark green eyes. He was the kind of character who looked gorgeous as soon as they woke up.

"Kyaaa! Lucius! Do your best!"

He turned and winked to the girl, "Since you've said so, I definitely will." She nearly fainted from overstimulation.

He let three arrows go and each one hit a bullseye. He smiled in triumph as the rest of the men sighed. No one could do that.

Then the figure in black strolled up and casually grabbed an arrow and bow. The figure raised the bow and was shaking as they pulled it back.

Lucius snickered. Such a weak man. There's no way he will even hit the target. Why is he even trying?

Then the figure let go the arrow that soared through the sky, splitting Lucius's arrow in half. Then in a fluid motion, he let two more go. Each one splitting the one before it.

Everyone's mouth dropped. Three bullseyes?! Not to mention in the same spot?!

Then, to add insult to injury, the figure sent out even more arrows in a blink of an eye. In two of the targets were two letters....

F U

The referee ran over and held the figure in black's hand up, "Winner!!!"

Lucius was overcome with anger. He was just humiliated in front of everyone?! This masked person would pay! He went to punch the figure, but he was already gone.

Now it was the last contest. The crowd was confused. Just who was this figure in black?! Where did they come from?!

Oh well. There was no way he would win the last event. No one could possibly win against Dante. He was just too... Monstrous...

William glanced at Dante, "Don't take this lightly. There's something off about that person."

"Hmm." Dante responded in disinterest.

He walked over to the arena and faced the contestants. Each one was easy to take down. With one flick of his hand, their sword would go flying. There was only two contestants left.

Dante and the masked man.

The black figure in front of him was much shorter and smaller than Dante. He also didn't have any obvious muscle definition. Basically, he looked too weak to even try to take on Dante.

The figure cracked his neck and tossed his sword in the air which spun in circles before he caught it skillfully. Dante just looked at him coldly in indifference.

"Showoff." He muttered to himself.

The figure held out their light sword. Dante gripped his heavy one. A gun went off announcing the start.

The figure jumped forward in the blink of an eye. Dante barely had time to block the attack as he was not expecting the person to be so fast. He threw his strength into the block to toss the figure's sword out of his hand, but instead the figure redirected his force.

The figure smoothly rolled off and when his foot tapped the ground, he used his momentum to push off. Dante barely had time to parry his attack.

Each time Dante tried to go in the offensive, the black figure easily parried his attacks. It was almost as if he knew Dante's fighting style and all of his moves. Yet Dante couldn't recognize this person's fighting style. It was completely foreign.

They were light on their feet and looked like they were dancing midair. They didn't rely on physical strength, but instead they relied on their fast speed. Dante's movements were strong and swift. But this person's was light and tenacious.

Dante wasn't stupid. He just had to figure out this person's weak spot. Then he noticed that the person seemed to favor their left foot and go easy on their right, most likely from a previous injury.

He just had to use that. He sent his sword out to knock the person off balance by using their bad foot. But it was as if the other person anticipated this. They spun midair and smacked Dante's hand that held his sword.

Dante's sword flew out of his hand flailing in the air. The person gently pushed Dante's shoulder, causing him to fall onto his backside. The sword stabbed into the ground beside the arena.

Dante sat blinking in disbelief. Was he just... Defeated?

Silence filled the stadium. No one dared speak, let alone let out their breath.

The masked figure pulled off their mask that had successfully kept them secret. Light brown hair pulled back in a high ponytail flopped out. Meeting the air, the hair automatically flipped out on it's ends.

Peach colored eyes gazed down at the defeated Dante and a cocky grin covered her face. Beads of sweat covered her forehead. She wiped it off and flicked it.

"Holy sh*t! I thought I was going to die in that mask! F*ck! I almost had a heat stroke! D*mn. Don't wear black on a warm day."

Dante blinked in disbelief. "...Seri?"

She gave him a big grin, "I finally beat you yah little bastard!"