The dining hall was emptier than usual, probably due to the recent announcement. Students who would normally be eating were already strategizing, forming alliances, or anxiously discussing the competition. The Prince and Aurora were nowhere to be seen, likely already planning their respective approaches.

  I looked for Lina at our usual corner spot, but was surprised to find only empty seats and a handful of scattered students nearby.

  I scoured the room, assuming she might be running late, but stopped short when my eyes met hers at one of the center tables—the ones usually reserved for B-ranks and above who wanted to eat in group.

  She was looking at me with an expression that clearly asked for help. Erick sat beside her in his modified platinum uniform, casually stealing extra food and wrapping it in napkins without a care for who noticed.

  I headed for the table, a faint smile forming. Even if unintentionally, Erick had a point. If I was already marked as undesirable, what harm would it do to eat better food?

  I sat in the center chair on the opposite side, looking at the impressive spread laid out before me—perfectly seasoned meats, roasted vegetables with herbs, fresh bread that was still warm, even some kind of glazed fruit I didn't recognize. I was genuinely unsure what to try first.

  "Yo," Erick said when I settled in, giving me an appraising look. "Prince try to recruit you yet?"

  "Hello, Kai," Lina interjected quickly, trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy. "How was Theron's class?"

  "Hey... Uh, no, I haven't even seen the Prince today. And yeah, class was... fine." I turned my attention back to Erick. "Recruit me? Why would he do that?"

  "Not yet, huh?" He held up a piece of roasted chicken he'd been in the process of wrapping. "It'll happen. Just wait."

  I thought better of trying to get an actual answer from him and opted instead to focus on my food. I picked a generous piece of steak and some roasted vegetables that looked particularly good.

  "You still beat Mary in a one-on-one mock combat, even if she didn't have her equipment," Lina added, her voice quiet enough that nearby students wouldn't overhear. "The Prince might see you as a valuable asset."

  "I hope not," I said, dreading the thought. "I'd prefer to stay as far away from all of this as possible."

  "Well, too bad," Erick said, looking at me with an expression of absolute certainty. "'Cause we're joining Aurora."

  "We?!" I asked, my voice rising in confusion and earning us a few stares from nearby tables. Erick didn't even glance at them.

  "Yeah. Can't have the Prince winning this thing." He took another bite, completely casual about the declaration.

  "Sorry, I can't really—"

  "'Course you can. Don't go making up excuses now." He interrupted me, but his tone wasn't aggressive, it sounded more like he was just stating facts about who I was. "You're not the kind of guy to stand around watching." He said it like he'd known me for years, which made me feel oddly exposed.

  Lina tried to help, her diplomatic instincts kicking in. "Well, we still have two days. Plenty of time to decide, right?" Her gold-trimmed uniform was neat as always, but her plate contained only simple food—bread, some vegetables, nothing fancy. Like she was afraid to take the premium options despite sitting at a premium table.

  "Yeah, whatever," Erick said, standing abruptly. "See ya." With that, he left, leaving us stranded at the center table like shipwreck survivors.

  Lina and I proceeded to eat in awkward silence. Any attempt to start a conversation ended in brief agreement followed by more silence, neither of us able to form coherent thoughts about what had just happened.

  The food was excellent, though. I ended up getting seconds, and even found myself wishing I had Erick's courage to just pocket some for later. But I kept my impulses under control and simply finished my meal.

  When we finally left together, I noticed him immediately.

  Prince Aurelius stood at the entrance to the dining hall, leaning against the wall with practiced casualness. His white uniform with its silver laurel crown embroidery caught the light, making him impossible to miss. I didn't need to look at him directly to know what this was about.

  Lina looked at me, her eyes a mixture of apology and concern. "Be careful," she mouthed silently, then left, leaving me to face the approaching storm alone.

  "You're making quite an impression," the Prince said, pushing off the wall and gesturing for me to follow. He led me away from the dining hall entrance into a less crowded side corridor.

  "Guess I am," I said, trying to keep my voice neutral and my mana under control. After Professor Silvani's lecture, I was acutely aware of how much my emotional state could give away.

  "My initial intention was simply to forget about you," he said, not looking at me as we walked. "To leave you as one more name on the list of undesirables who will never amount to anything."

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  "Oh? Did you change your mind?" I couldn't keep the genuine surprise out of my voice.

  "My dear Mary is too kind." He said it like that explained everything, his tone carrying fond exasperation. "She asked me to forgive you, and I couldn't very well refuse her, could I?" He turned to look at me then, smiling like he was doing me an enormous favor.

  "I suppose I should thank her, then." I wondered if she'd actually done that, or if this was just political maneuvering.

  "Don't be so hasty." His smile didn't waver. "While I don't wish to upset her, what you've done cannot be so easily forgiven. So imagine my surprise when today the competition was announced, and the perfect opportunity presented itself." He paused dramatically. "It seems the gods are watching over you."

  In a way.

  "It's my lucky day," I said with deliberately flat affect.

  His expression shifted then, the diplomatic mask falling away to reveal something more commanding. His posture straightened, his tone hardened. "I'll be direct: Join my team for the competition. Show the academy that you submit to my authority during the event, and I will lift your undesirable status. I'll even consider putting in a good word about your... reform... to the rest of the student body."

  It should have been tempting. It should have been something I wanted to accept. An easy way out of social isolation, a chance to restore my standing. But not a single part of me felt any inclination to take it.

  "Hm. I suppose I should be honored by such an offer."

  "Yes, you should be. Many can only hope to ever receive an offer like this one." His tone had turned harsh, irritated that I wasn't immediately grateful.

  "I'm afraid I'll have to refuse this generous offer." The indifference in my voice replaced what would have been a challenging tone had I not held back.

  The Prince looked genuinely insulted, his perfect composure cracking. "Are you mad? It's the perfect opportunity for you. You'd even score a free win in the competition and gain some proper respect for once."

  He talked about winning with such absolute certainty that it bothered me more than his arrogance.

  "Are you that certain you'll win?"

  "Of course I am!" His voice rose slightly before he caught himself. "I am the Prince. I have the best students at the academy on my side. This competition is a mere formality—a public demonstration of what everyone already knows."

  He paused, his expression shifting to something almost pitying.

  "Aurora, for all her power, has never led anyone. She won't even accept party invitations, let alone coordinate a team in competition. Raw strength only gets you so far when you can't work with others." He shook his head with exaggerated disappointment. "I almost feel sorry for whoever ends up on her team. They'll be following someone who doesn't know the first thing about command."

  The casual certainty in his voice, the way he dismissed any possibility of losing, made something hot and angry coil in my chest. It wasn't even about Aurora. It was his absolute conviction that he couldn't fail, that the competition was already over before it began.

  "In that case, you wouldn't mind a small wager, would you?" The words were out before I could think better of them. "If you lose, you remove my undesirable status and apologize. If you win, I'll kneel before you and ask for forgiveness in front of the entire academy."

  His eyes gleamed. "Hah! You're hoping Aurora will bail you out? Fine by me—it saves me the trouble of having you on my team anyway." He turned to leave, his white uniform swirling dramatically. "I'll see you there."

  He strode back toward the dining hall, every step radiating confidence.

  Good job, Kai. One more for the list of times you should have just shut up.

  Still, despite my internal criticism, I felt oddly satisfied. I hadn't bowed down to him. I hadn't let him bully me into submission through political pressure.

  I turned to head in the opposite direction.

  "You should have taken his first offer."

  I stopped. Mary stood in the shadow of an archway that led to the inner courtyard, perfectly still and composed in her platinum uniform with its elaborate detailing. I hadn't even sensed her there.

  "It didn't come from the heart," she continued, stepping forward slightly, "but it was sincere nonetheless."

  "I won't let him bully me into submission," I said simply.

  "Many others have said the same thing." Her voice was even, giving nothing away. "None of them able to discern that they were no different from the ones who came before."

  "If I say I'm not like the others, I'll just be saying exactly what they did, right?" I guessed.

  "I pray that you don’t come to regret your pride." She ignored my question, turning gracefully and walking toward the courtyard. Her posture was perfect, her movements precise. But something in her tone had seemed... genuine? Perhaps she was worried about me in her own carefully controlled way.

  It isn't me you should be worried about.

  I stood there for a moment, alone in the corridor, processing everything that had just happened. Then I turned and headed back toward the main hall where the notice board still floated, its golden glow visible even from a distance.

  A small crowd had gathered around it, students examining the announcement with eager expressions. The enchanted quill hung suspended beside the board, and I watched as a B-rank student reached for it, wrote something I couldn't see, and walked away looking pleased with herself.

  I approached and took the quill. It jumped eagerly into my hand, warm to the touch and humming with subtle magic.

  The board's surface shimmered, awaiting input.

  For a moment, I hesitated. This was real. Once I wrote my name, there was no backing out. I'd be officially entered in the competition, publicly committed to opposing the Prince.

  What am I doing?

  But even as I thought it, my hand was already moving. The quill wrote smoothly across the magical surface:

  Name: Kai Preferred Team Leader: Aurora

  The ink shimmered for a moment before being absorbed into the board, my entry disappearing from view as the magic filed it away. The quill returned to its floating position, waiting for the next participant.

  I stepped away from the board. A few students were waiting their turn, but none of them seemed particularly interested in me

  Walking back through the corridors toward my dorm, I felt the weight of what I'd just committed to settling over me. Then, despite myself, I started laughing. Quietly at first, then louder.

  A few students in the corridor gave me strange looks and hurried past.

  But I couldn't help it. Erick had been right all along. The Prince had tried to recruit me, exactly as predicted. He'd seen it coming from a mile away, had probably anticipated I'd refuse, had known I'd end up on Aurora's team.

  It was almost scary how perceptive he was.