The Third Prince Of Darkness

Chapter 136: Soft

"You're an fool who can't see what's in front of you...."

When I heard those words, I felt extremely strange for some reason. I had never seen Evangeline with such a sad expression. Moreover, the fact that this sadness was caused by me triggered a movement in my heart, which was now encased in ice. Of course, not being a complete animal, I realized that what upset Evangeline so much was not that I had beaten her in a fight. But what had I done?

But Evangeline had the answer to that question, not me.

"Evangeline-....." But just as I was about to call out to her, a dragon teleported in and took her away in an instant.

Unfortunately, I lost my chance to talk to her. She had probably been eliminated because I had hit her so hard that I caused some internal bleeding. Still, I had to speak with her after this round. I returned to the match with an unpleasant feeling inside me. My mana was running low. Even if my mana value reached zero, I wouldn't faint.

I would simply be unable to use elemental magic.

As I looked around, I noticed that all my closest opponents were looking at me with fear, and I even saw some people trying to distance themselves from me. It seemed that the previous display had been impressive enough to scare many. However, this was an extremely favorable situation for me.

Yet when I caught sight of a few eyes still looking at me questioningly, I realized that standing still was not a good decision.

Therefore, With what little strength I have left, I lunged at the nearest person. My quick movement seemed to frighten many nearby, as several started to flee, realizing that the most logical way to get through this round was to stay away from me. But the prey I had chosen as my target couldn't escape, no matter how much he wanted to.

As soon as I caught him, it took me thirty seconds to cleave my opponent in half with my sword, which I had previously hardly bothered to use.

The number of participants left in the second round was rapidly decreasing, and if this continued, the tournament would likely end in five or ten minutes. But probably everyone participating in this tournament was conserving their strength as much as possible during this round, so the second round's conclusion might take longer than five minutes.

That's why I needed to conserve the remaining power I had. Right now, someone who was only a quarter as strong as my normal self could defeat me if they fought without making a mistake. Especially considering that participants in this tournament ranged from second to fifth grades, there must still be many powerful names among those who had not yet been eliminated.

In fact, in this tournament, if desired, alliances among participants were possible, but limited to one person. So, if Roxanne and I wanted to, we could work together. But I needed to find Roxanne first. Also, since I wanted to showcase a sufficiently flashy fight, it was more reasonable for me to be alone.

Therefore, what I needed to do now was carefully trying to eliminate someone while also looking for someone familiar; that would be the best option. When I looked at the next person closest to me, I saw a man who was clearly from the sea folk.

The sea folk, or as they called themselves, the children of the water, were extremely agile beings. As their name suggests, they are a fascinating humanoid species capable of living underwater. But they had evolved to live both on land and in water, indicating they had a very interesting evolutionary process.

Anyway, I was not in evolution class; I was at the tournament, so I sprinted towards the sea person, maintaining my speed.

As I ran, the child of the water looked at me. The calmness in his eyes signaled that he could counter me at any moment. Still, I knew that no matter how fast an agile opponent like him was, he couldn't cope with my strength. I approached him with light steps and, just as I intended to raise my sword and strike powerfully, he made his move by swinging his spear.

Our weapons clashed, and a few people around us shuddered as they watched the encounter.

After a brief struggle, I caught an opening in my opponent's defense. I swung my sword from the right, rendering his spear ineffective, and delivered a final blow. As the man from the sea folk collapsed to the ground, I plunged my sword into his heart. After cleaning the blood off my sword, I stood up and looked around. It was clear that the number of remaining participants had dwindled significantly.

For a while, I continued to run around the fighting arena, engaging in small skirmishes. Each one was against weaker opponents than the last, and eventually, the second round of the tournament was nearing its end. I tried to catch my breath, and avoiding the last few people close to me.

My mana was about to run out, and my body was filled with exhaustion, but I was good at not showing it on the outside. I knew the tournament would end within a few minutes, and all the participants were staring at each other with their last ounce of strength. Everyone was trying to gauge how strong the others were, but for me, the most important thing was to get through this round.

The gong that announced the end of the tournament finally rang. As fatigue spread through me, I felt a deep sense of relief within. As a few injured participants withdrew from the arena, I slowly walked away as well. The tournament had come to an end for now, and I would have a new opportunity to speak with Evangeline.

The third and final round would begin tomorrow. However, as the final round will consist of one-on-one matches with a hundred participants, it would probably be more exhausting than today. Moreover, considering that the last hundred would be the strongest, or at least the smartest, from the second to the fifth grades of the Academy, my task would be exceedingly difficult.

But upon reflection, I had won against Evangeline, who possessed the greatest potential among humans, and aside from a few minor injuries, I hadn't been too harmed.

Now I needed to go see my dear fiancée, Evangeline, and understand why I had upset her. She was probably in the Academy's infirmary right now. After leaving the arena, my thoughts continuously drifted to Evangeline. Knowing that I had upset her was unsettling, but what bothered me more was that I couldn't fully grasp how we had come to this situation.

After gathering myself a bit, I headed straight to the Academy's infirmary.

The sun was beginning to set, and the sky was bathed in shades of orange and pink. When I arrived at the building, a quiet atmosphere prevailed as I stepped inside. Many students were waiting to have their injuries treated. However, it was not difficult for me to find Evangeline. She was in a special room; it was no surprise to see her being treated with privilege, as usual.

I knocked lightly on the door and then stepped inside. Evangeline was sitting on the bed, still wearing that serious expression. Seeing her like this oddly pained me.

"Evangeline..." I said cautiously. She turned her gaze to me, but her expression didn't soften at all. There was a faint glimmer in her eyes, but this time the glimmer was not admiration or praise; it was deep disappointment.

"What happened?" she said, her voice sounding weary.

"Can I talk to you?" I asked, standing at the door without fully entering.

Evangeline let out a deep sigh and nodded. I stepped in slowly and sat down on the chair right next to the bed. I then looked at Evangeline's beautiful face. She was stunningly beautiful, even when she was unhappy.

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"Today.... Did I do something to hurt you?" I finally broke the silence.

"hahh..... No, I mean yes, but this is a complicated situation," Evangeline said, making a point to avoid eye contact with me.

"I know this is a stupid question, but can I ask what you're doing?" I asked gently. At the same time, I slowly moved my hand to try to hold Evangeline's hand, which rested on the blanket. Fortunately, she didn't object to my holding it.

"It's just... Actually, it's just—" Evangeline struggled to form her sentence.

"It's okay. Just say what you're thinking directly."

The air in Evangeline's room had taken on an orange hue from the setting sun outside. The light filtering through the window curtain created a dim glow in the room. The silence was only interrupted by the ticking of the wall clock. The serious expression on Evangeline's face contrasted sharply with the soft atmosphere, as if a storm was trapped within the calm.

When I held her hand, the coolness of her skin sent a slight shiver through me, but I didn't pull away. For a moment, our gazes met, but there was still a distance, a wall in her eyes. As I held her hand tightly, I noticed her fingers trembling slightly.

Evangeline fixed her gaze on the window, at the orange-painted sky. Her breath quickened a little, her lips trembled slightly, but still no words came. After a long moment, she began to speak without looking away from me.

"I just... really like you, Ethan. I didn't want to get engaged to you because I wanted something from you or because I thought this relationship was beneficial. I actually got engaged to you just because I liked you... And don't ask me why I feel this way, because I don't even know the answer to that question. But I'm tired of pretending.

I'm tired of maintaining the lie that I'm with you for some clever plan. Can't we just love each other like normal people? Can't we go out holding hands and go to the theater together or do whatever other couples who like each other do? O-of course, if you like me too," said Evangeline, the last words coming out of her mouth with a deep blush and shame.

The silence that settled in the room deepened further after Evangeline's words. As I struggled to process the thoughts swirling in my mind, I tried to digest what she had said. She had left behind her usual cold demeanor and spoke from the heart. And although it was unexpected, it was all the more valuable.

I held Evangeline's hand a little tighter. I took a deep breath and thought again about what she had said. "Pretending" .... Actually, the worst reaction I could give right now would be to laugh, but after all the tension, when I heard the real reason Evangeline was breaking down, I felt a mix of surprise and relief that made me want to laugh.

But of course, I wasn't going to do something so foolish as to cause a second disaster.

"Eva... I've misjudged you. I'm sorry.... But I'm really happy that you've confessed your feelings right now. Also I like you too, Evangeline. So if you want to be a real couple, let's make it so," I said as I stood up while still holding Evangeline's hand.

Then, I suddenly leaned toward her soft, plump lips that were pinkish and clearly, even from a distance. Evangeline's eyes widened in surprise at my sudden movement, but she didn't resist in any way. When our lips met, it felt like time stood still for both of us. My kiss settled gently but firmly on her lips. At first, there was uncertainty, but over time, the distance between us completely vanished.

As we closed our eyes and savored the moment, Evangeline's lips slowly parted, responding in kind. Her lips seemed to pull me deeper into another world.