Inside the classroom, Aldric let himself fall into his chair, feeling like he’d just survived an encounter with a dragon.
Ren’s words kept resonating in his mind, each one a small wound.
"I don’t need you anyway."
"Things would have turned out the sa."
"There’s nothing I can’t get in the first place."
Each phrase had been a dagger. Veiled threats that clearly communicated that Ren knew exactly what Aldric had tried to do. And that it hadn’t worked even a little.
The boy was a master scher. He had to be. The casual way he’d delivered those threats, as if they were simple observations...
It was terrifying.
But now Aldric had an exit. A way to compensate, to avoid Ren’s wrath, and potentially even gain so advantage for Seiya in the process.
The "reward" he had promised.
Baelthon was right. If they couldn’t control Ren’s power, if they couldn’t manipulate his intellect, then they had to win him over through where he was vulnerable.
Emotions. Distractions. Love.
And Aldric knew exactly how to do it.
He took another paper and began writing. Another letter. To so specific people. People who could be exactly what they needed to keep Ren... occupied.
While he wrote, a small smile appeared on his lips, satisfied.
Maybe all wasn’t lost after all.
And Ren, in his apparently limitless brilliance, had no idea what was coming.
♢♢♢♢
It all had started innocently one day after his strange conversation with Aldric.
Ren was leaving his morning class with Zhao, tired but satisfied after two hours of intensive training when he heard the voices.
"It’s him!"
"Ren Patinder!"
"Please, wait a mont..."
Ren turned, expecting to see maybe so of his known companions. Instead, he found a group of ten noble girls approaching with expressions that could be described as... enthusiastic?
He didn’t sense any threat. They were students like him. He vaguely recognized so from shared classes. There was no reason to worry.
That was his first mistake.
"Mister Patinder," the one who seed to be the leader of the group, a girl with perfectly arranged brown hair, approached with a radiant smile. "Forgive the intrusion, but we wanted to tell you how impressive you are."
"Oh," Ren blinked, feeling slightly uncomfortable but not alard. "Thanks, I guess."
"No, seriously," another girl intervened, this one with bright blue eyes that seed to sparkle. "What you do is absolutely extraordinary. My family had been talking about it for the full 7 days of vacations."
"My father says you’re an unprecedented genius," a third added, full of admiration.
And then they all started talking at the sa ti.
Comnts about his power. His intelligence. His "impressive presence" at the award ceremony. His achievents in general. How his cultivation thods had helped many families. How they admired his dedication.
Each complint was like a small needle of discomfort pricking his skin.
Ren felt his ears heating up. His back developed a strange sensation, like tickles he couldn’t scratch. It wasn’t fear exactly. It was sothing different. Sothing that made him want to shrink and disappear.
"I... thank you," he managed to say, stepping back slightly. "But I really have to go to..."
"Your next class?" the group’s leader interrupted with an understanding smile. "Of course. We don’t want to keep you. But maybe we could walk with you? My next class is in the sa direction."
"Mine too," another added imdiately, perhaps too quickly.
"And mine."
"What a coincidence," Ren murmured, knowing perfectly well it wasn’t... Mana didn’t lie.
The group surrounded him and escorted him through the hallway, continuing with their complints. So students watched them with varied expressions. So with amusent. Others with envy. So with sothing darker, whispers following in their wake.
When he finally reached his next class, Ren practically threw himself through the door, grateful for the excuse to escape.
But that was only the beginning...
The next day, there were three different groups waiting for him. One outside his room in the morning. Another near the dining hall at lunch ti. A third "coincidentally" finding him on the way to the library.
Each group had between eight and twelve girls. Each one competing for his attention. Each one with complints that made his ears burn and his back feel those damn tickles.
"This is ridiculous," Ren complained to Min that night, flopping onto his bed with exasperation. "Why suddenly so many...?"
"So many what?" Min asked with smile that suggested he found this hilariously entertaining. "Girls noticing you’re an incredible catch? So many girls recognizing your value?"
"Shut up!" Ren rolled his eyes, feeling the tickles a bit, but cald himself fast and sighed. "They all chase like I’m... I don’t know, so kind of trophy."
"Welco to being popular x2," Min laughed, the sound genuine and without malice. "Although I admit, this is more intense than normal. Generally noble girls are more... reserved. Family pressures and all that."
Ren was already popular. If he were in a normal school, many girls would have been chasing him insistently and fanatically since before... But here he’d had very little of that. The young won here had much family responsibility and although they might be attracted to soone, it was very difficult for them to act on it because of different pressures.
"Exactly," Ren frowned, confusion evident. "So why now...?"
"Maybe their families finally gave them permission," Liu suggested from his bed, without looking up from his book. "You’re a great catch, Ren. With your latest demonstration you practically have secured enormous territory and wealth, plus you have powerful connections and unique abilities. From a matrimonial perspective, you’re basically the jackpot for most noble houses."
Ren felt strange hearing himself described that way. "I’m not a prize."
"To them, you are," Taro added with more serious tone, setting down the docunt he’d been reviewing. "Or at least, to their families. And if the families are actively pushing their daughters to pursue you..."
"Then they won’t stop," Ren completed with growing horror, the realization sinking in.
And they didn’t stop.
It turned out that Baelthon had already used his cards in the strategy even before Aldric used his...
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