’What should I do? Should I approach her, or leave her be for now?’
Raine was pulled in two directions. She hadn’t a clue what Marie wanted with Leomaris right now. Was she there to plant a curse on him, unleash all that energy she’d been stockpiling?
—
"Hehe... don’t worry. Tomorrow, I’ll gather my courage and finally have a conversation with him."
"Are you sure? You’ve been saying that for ages now. Ti is of the essence... we can’t afford to waste any more of it."
—
That conversation kept cycling through her mind. Marie and whoever the other person was. They’d been explicit about it. No ti left. This could be a last-ditch attempt to do Leomaris in once and for all.
She gritted her teeth against the irritation rising in her chest, then her crimson eyes finally found Charlotte’s dark ones, slow as anything.
’Should I tell her?’
’No. I can’t.’
She couldn’t trust Charlotte. In truth, the only ones she could trust were Leomaris and his butler. But even setting that aside, she wasn’t convinced that telling her was the wisest move.
Walking up and pulling Marie out of a conversation wasn’t an option. Any fuss she kicked up would draw attention straight away, and if she’d planned this, their stepping in would hand her the chance to replan or bin it altogether, making them out to be the oppressors before the lot of them.
She let out a sigh.
’Just hold on a little longer, Leomaris.’
Amid the chaos, she settled on it fast. She wouldn’t act, not yet. She’d observe and leave it at that.
She’d watch the pair closely and make sure she didn’t miss a single dodgy move from Marie. But tonight at eleven, she was going to have it out with her.
’Poor boy.’ She thought and shook her head in disbelief.
Before long, Marie took her leave. Leomaris sent her off with a bright expression. The second she was out of sight, it dropped, leaving sothing darker, and more exhausted than his usual.
Raine knew full well the pressure Leomaris was carrying. His reputation as a lout had stuck to him like mud from the mont they arrived at the academy, and clawing his way back from it had been no easy feat.
He’d learned the rcy of Death sword arts, nabbed the title of Apostle of Death, gotten stronger, and pieced together a solid reputation as a Calamity worth following and one of the top first-year cadets to boot.
His days as the academy lout were all but forgotten, but people’s mories had a way of being flimsy. A single frown from Leomaris aid at the wrong person could be enough to set tongues wagging and drag that rotten reputation straight back into the light.
So like it or not, he had no choice but to grin and throw his arms open to everyone, just to keep his na from going to rot.
’That explains why he looks so exhausted after just having a conversation... but that isn’t all.’
Her eyes drew in just a touch as she watched Leomaris tense up, wary of everything, even the very air around him.
’What’s wrong with him? Is it because of the other curse I sensed yesterday?’
Her original plan had been to question Leomaris about the curse she’d sensed on him yesterday. It was powerful, not the sort of thing even Marie’s piled-up energy could manage.
She’d have jumped at the chance, truth be told, but Marie’s odd interference had muddied today’s waters enough that approaching him didn’t feel like the right move anymore.
Still, it nagged at her. Why did Leomaris look so wound up? If it were down to Marie, he’d be glad of her help or his butler’s, at the very least.
Soon enough, her attention found Marie. She was talking with a friend. Short dark hair, and slightly shorter than Marie. They stood together, both smiling. This ti, Marie kept her eyes well away from Leomaris.
’I just need to keep observing a little longer.’
—
Exactly ten minutes away from eleven at night.
Raine had already settled herself into a restroom a few tres from the balcony where she’d spotted Marie the previous night.
She stood right behind the locked door, sword resting in its black sheath, drawn snug against her belt.
She worked at her nerves, let her muscles loosen, and tried to settle herself down for the standing wait. The problem was she could only pinpoint one thing at a ti, keeping tabs on both Leomaris and Marie at once was beyond her reach.
Even if she could, she wasn’t sure she’d survive it. That powerful curse on Leomaris had nearly choked her to death yesterday, and if Marie had piled a curse on top of that, the darkness around him would be well beyond what she could handle. Worse still, it could kill her entirely.
’My focus must remain on Marie for now. I must eliminate her before it is too late.’
Soon enough, eleven was only five minutes off. She activated her ability.
Above her head, two enormous eyes materialised. A massive glowing blue eye hung suspended in a stormy void, its iris alive with intricate circular patterns that radiated cold light outward from the pupil and into the room.
Beside it floated a terrifying red eye, more violent in tone, and aner in nature. Its pupil was narrow and sharp, wrapped in rough, blood-red textures that gave the whole thing a demonic cast.
The mont her focus locked onto Marie, the eyes took off, moving at a terrifying pace, darting every which way, and giving off sothing deeply unsettling.
A soft smile tugged on her lips the mont she located her.
Oddly enough, the shadowy sensation from the night before, the one that had played havoc with her sense of direction, was gone. And the pool that had been sitting around Marie had cleared off as well.
It only strengthened her belief. Marie had used their encounter to curse Leomaris. Her blood boiled, rage climbing through her fast, along with the urge to slit her throat that she couldn’t quite keep a lid on.
Still, she kept her patience. She waited until Marie had made her way to the balcony before finally cutting her ability off. Her hand shook against the sword’s grip. Whether it was anxiety or plain eagerness to kill the person who’d toyed with her fiancé’s life, she couldn’t say.
She slipped out of the washroom and moved wall to wall, careful not to give herself away. She wasn’t about to make the sa mistake twice and find Marie had done a runner by the ti she closed in.
The balcony was small and dim, roofed by the floor above. But it wasn’t just gloomy. It had been put together with romance in mind. Dim lights, flowers. The sort of place ant for sothing entirely different.
Raine couldn’t care less about any of it. So long as Marie was there and had nowhere to run from her sword this ti, nothing else was worth a thought.
’Tch, she’s there.’
She reached the door. Marie stood by the rails, a soft smile pulled at the corners of her mouth as she looked out at the waterfall below.
Just the sight of her was enough to irritate Raine. She moved toward her in silence, her sword leaving its sheath in the sa breath.
Even so, that tiniest of movents was all it took. Marie made her move.
"Hey, you—
It was too late. The words hadn’t even finished leaving her mouth, and she hadn’t even fully turned, before Raine’s blade was pressed against her neck.
"Don’t try anything funny."
Marie gulped back bile, sweat already breaking out across her face. Through it all, she managed a smile. It looked uncomfortable and uncertain, the sort that only sits on soone who knows they’ve been caught out.
Raine had no interest in dragging it out. Kill her, toss her into the sea below, and be done with it. But before any of that could happen, a voice ca from behind her.
"Uhm... what’s going on here?"
Her heart missed a beat, her body locking up on the spot. The voice was rough, but she knew it. Knew it too well, even.
’Wait... is this her ally?’
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