"So," he said, looking down at her with that familiar predatory smirk, "How does it feel, losing to a mere commoner like me, princess?"
"Umm…" Anita exclaimed softly, slightly looking away with her pale cheeks flushed bright red.
"I-I don't know what to say," she stammered.
"Huh?" Damien blinked, completely caught off guard. The confident smirk faltered on his face.
"What do you mean you don't know what to say?" His frown deepened—this definitely wasn't the reaction he'd been expecting.
"I-I guess it's my loss then!" Anita practically shouted, her cheeks burning even brighter red for reasons she couldn't quite understand herself.
"What the... You're supposed to be furious! You should be screaming 'How could I lose to a commoner!' or something like that, you know..." Damien suddenly slapped his left hand against his forehead with his eyes shut tight, just realizing how incredibly stupid he must be sounding right now.
"Tsk... what a way to ruin my glorious moment. Just forget it," he muttered, removing his sword from her shoulder with visible disappointment. Then his eyes found Lucas across the arena, and the intensity of his side-eye made the announcer shiver.
"Eh, ahem!" Lucas cleared his throat nervously. "The winner is... Damien! You have been awarded 1,000 points!" The announcement came out bitter and reluctant. Then immediately, surprised gasps rippled through the whole arena like a shockwave.
"Did he just defeat the kingdom's greatest talent?" students whispered among themselves, voices filled with disbelief.
"Just how powerful are these mysterious twin brothers?" they whispered as their amazed gazes also flickered to Giovanni, Damien's twin, who just flashed a confident smile.
Immediately, skilled mages who specialize in healing magic entered the frozen arena, carefully unfreezing those unfortunate students who were caught up in Anita's devastating ice frenzy. Some royal mages, those from the prestigious royal family came rushing to Anita's rescue who was still sitting on the cold ground. Upon arriving and quickly assessing her injuries, they shot Damien venomous glares that could have melted steel.
'How dare this filthy commoner harm our precious princess in such a brutal manner,' some of them thought, grinding their teeth in barely contained rage.
Damien simply smiled at their hostility as he turned to leave, but Anita suddenly stretched her trembling hand forward, pushing her concerned attendants away.
"Wait!" she shouted desperately, awkwardly facing down. She just remembered the important conversation she had with her father when she was just ten years old.
"Father, am I the strongest in the world?" she had asked innocently, her childish eyes sparkling with curiosity.
"Hahahaha!" The king laughed heartily. "No my little princess, but I'll tell you what though, no one within your age can ever defeat you," he said with complete assurance.
"Ohh really!" She said excitedly, her eyes sparkling brighter. The king smiled while nodding enthusiastically.
"But what if someone actually defeats me?" Anita asked out of pure curiosity.
"Hmmm…" the king pressed a thoughtful finger to his bearded jaw, thinking carefully.
"Well, I guess there's a slight probability. But if such a person truly exists, I suggest you keep the person close to you, he might become your greatest ally one day. You might as well just marry the person, hahaha!" The king said, using his last sentence as a playful joke but never did he know that Anita would remember those very same words from five years ago.
Damien turned around to see why she had stopped him.
"What is it?" Damien asked with mild curiosity.
"Um..." She blushed furiously, the words catching in her throat like thorns. Her heart pounded so loudly she was sure everyone could hear it.
"Umm... please, will you marry me?!"
The words exploded from her lips as she squeezed her eyes shut, unable to bear looking at his reaction.
For a heartbeat, the entire arena fell into absolute silence. Then...
"WHAT?!" The collective gasp from the crowd was deafening, jaws dropping in perfect synchronization. Even Damien who thought nothing could surprise him anymore was shocked to his very core.
"Did the princess just propose to him, a mere commoner!!!" Everyone murmured in complete disbelief. Even that unexpected proposal took the almighty captains by surprise.
"What! Why would you…?" Before Damien could finish his sentence, she cut him off abruptly.
"Please, marry me," she said with a seriousness that sent cold shivers down his spine.
"Please princess, snap out of it!" One of her attendants grabbed her shoulders, shaking her while the other three pleaded frantically for her to reconsider.
"He-he has bewitched the princess!" The attendant accused loudly. Everyone started wondering seriously if she was actually bewitched by some dark magic.
Damien couldn't overlook her unwavering determination. He couldn't say yes because if he did, he wouldn't live to see the next sunrise. And besides he wasn't seriously considering it. And if he says no, people would think that he considers himself higher than the princess, which would still eventually lead to his death. Each choice he made was a potential death sentence.
'Damn it, why the hell would she put me in such a bind like this?' Damien thought frantically. And then, slowly, a dangerous smile spread across his face.
"Marriage, huh..." He paused deliberately, letting the word hang in the air as every person in the arena held their breath.
Anita swallowed hard, her throat suddenly dry as desert sand. Students leaned forward eagerly, desperate to hear his answer. The royal attendants started sweating cold beads from their worried faces. Lucas suddenly felt like his collar was strangling him as he loosened it desperately with trembling fingers.
In the VIP section, Captain Steffen Wolves of the Black Scorpion Guild—a mountain of muscle wrapped in a black and golden coat with a scorpion emblazoned at its center—leaned toward Captain Lark Snidder of the Trinity Guild, who wore his signature purple coat.
"Hey, let's make this interesting. Five hundred gold coins says he accepts," Captain Steffen whispered. "With royalty comes wealth and power. No commoner is stupid enough to refuse." Steffen said confidently as Lark just smiled mysteriously, his calculating gaze still fixed on Damien.
"I'll take that bet. But I say he won't accept." Lark said, still smiling knowingly.
"What, you think he's gonna say no?" Steffen said with confusion.
"Not that either," Lark said cryptically.
"Huh, if he's not gonna say yes or no, then what the hell is he gonna…?" Before Steffen could finish his question, Damien opened his mouth and said…
"Hmmm…well, I'll think about it," Damien said with a mischievous smirk as he turned around and started walking away casually. Meanwhile Steffen's jaw nearly dropped to the ground.
"This clever imbecile…" Steffen muttered, regretting betting on him. Just as he turned to Lark, his face was already twisted into the most unsettling smile he'd ever seen, eyes closed in satisfaction and his hand outstretched as if demanding his payment.
"Tsk..." Captain Steffen sighed heavily, reluctantly handing over his heavy pouch of gold coins.
---
The rest of the test was a complete blur after several hours had passed. Now it's finally time for the captains to choose their apprentices.
"Now if I call your name, step forward. If more than one Captain raises their hand for you, then it's up to you to choose which guild you wish to join. But if no captains raise their hand, you are automatically disqualified," Lucas declared as he brought out his official list of names.
The weight of those words settled over the remaining candidates like a shroud.
"First up, Anita von Britton!" Lucas announced as Anita who was fully healed stepped forward gracefully. Immediately all the captains raised their hands for her without hesitation.
"It would be an honor to be accepted into the Pink Oasis," Anita said as she bowed slightly with respect.
'If I remember correctly, that's a guild filled with only females members... nice choice,' Damien thought approvingly.
"Next up, Giovanni," Lucas announced and just the same as Anita, all the captains raised their hands eagerly which took everyone by surprise, for a commoner to be so universally desired by all the captains was practically unheard of.
"It would be an honor to be accepted by the Tempest Guild," Giovanni said, bowing slightly, his demeanor calm and collected.
"Next up... Damien!"
Damien stepped forward confidently, but as the seconds ticked by, his heart began to sink into his stomach. Not a single hand rose for him. Not even a finger twitched in his direction.
The silence stretched on, becoming more oppressive with each passing moment. It was understandable, really—the captains didn't want guild members whose powers they couldn't comprehend or control. More importantly, none of them wanted to risk getting on the king's bad side by accepting the commoner who had publicly humiliated his daughter.
"Any hands?!" Lucas announced again desperately to make sure but no captain raised even a finger.
"Damien, no hands!" Lucas finally announced with disappointment.
'Fuck,' Damien sighed internally.