The cool breeze gently blew as the mechanical clock's hour hand slowly pointed to eight o'clock, accompanied by eight chimes from the swinging pendulum.

In fact, it was still early, but Princess insisted that she was completely exhausted from preparing dinner and used tomorrow's competition as an excuse to send a few students away.

Then, she casually ran to the balcony to enjoy the scenery.

"You... We agreed that you would cook, but now I have to do the dishes!" Aya opened the door leading to the second-floor terrace and complained, standing behind Princess, who was leaning against the railing, swaying her highball glass.

"Well, cooking and washing dishes are two different things, and besides, Aya, you're already dressed as a maid, so isn't it just right for you to do some maid's work?" Tiran turned around and made a silly face.

"You're the one who asked me to wear a maid's outfit!" Aya looked frustrated as she picked up a bottle of wine from the nearby table, poured herself a glass, and drank it all in one go.

Then, her tongue almost went numb.

"Lemon juice. There's honey on the side for you to mix in."

"Why didn't you say earlier? And why is there lemon juice in a wine bottle?"

"I don't get drunk easily from a little alcohol... You should know that," Tiran glanced at Aya and hummed softly.

After adding honey, the lemon juice did taste a lot better. Aya, however, was more concerned about something else.

"Hey, that curry dish earlier, did you make it yourself?" Aya raised an eyebrow and asked.

"...Yusha-sensei made the curry, I just handled the plates and chopped the vegetables," Tiran said after a moment of silence.

"But my portion was completely different from the one Petra and the others had! There's no way Yusha-sensei made it good, right?!"

"Tch."

Princess showed a disgusted expression. "Aya, has anyone ever told you that girls don't like being exposed when they're not telling the truth?"

"No matter what, I boasted about cooking myself, so I should at least try it...," Aya said confidently, but her voice gradually weakened.

"Hehe... Even if that's the case..." Aya chuckled and didn't know how to respond for a moment as she looked down, considering that Princess ate the same curry she made.

I like you, Aya.

The whisper from Princess last night flashed through Aya's mind, and she felt her cheeks flush again, quickly lowering her head.

Thinking like this, the overly sweet curry didn't seem so bad anymore.

Aya discreetly glanced at Princess, only to find her turning her face away unnaturally to conceal her expression.

Well, considering Princess's strange behavior today, Aya finally reached a conclusion.

It seems what I heard last night wasn't just a dream.

"Oh, Aya," Princess tilted her head and whispered softly.

"I'm here," Aya responded in a low voice.

"After a few more months, when our agreed time is up, do you still plan to continue the contract?"

"Can I say no to that? Honestly, this master-servant contract is a bit uncomfortable..." Aya covered her face and said.

"Is that so?" Tiran's voice became even softer, almost inaudible.

Although I say that...," Aya added quietly, "I haven't really thought about going anywhere else, so staying in the castle to serve Princess seems nice too."

"That... Is it settled?"

"Yes, it's settled."

...

The next morning, the crowds gathered once again and made their way towards the large arena outside the city. It was the final day of the Martial Arts Festival, and the battles between the top three academies would surely attract attention. But the ones who were more alert and focused than the ordinary spectators and participants were the guards of the academies. Today was undoubtedly the best opportunity for the enemies to cause chaos and achieve their goals.

The audience was still immersed in a festive atmosphere, completely unaware that the members of the Milt Academy were ready and waiting inside and outside the arena. In this slightly strange atmosphere, the final day of the Martial Arts Festival officially began.

"To sum it up, I've taught you everything, just fight your best." Milt's dear coach started his customary pre-match speech in the entrance passage.

"Coach, you didn't say anything just now. Where did the 'sum it up' come from?" Mairun rubbed his nose and leaned against the wall, asking.

Bang!

A spinning brick grazed his hair and smashed into the wall, sending rock fragments flying. The brick borrowed from Teacher Yusha was quite useful.

"Sorry, what did you say just now?" Princess His Highness tapped her ear, behaving like an old rogue. Behind her, Aya and little Angel took on a menacing appearance, like a black villain gang.

"Nothing, really."

"That's about right." Tiran nodded and turned back to remind them, "Oh, and don't forget, be careful when you start. We might have other plans afterwards."

Lucius had specifically instructed them about this. These children were all outstanding in the academy, and their strength was not much inferior to the official Watchers. They could be of great help in case of an enemy attack on the academy city. The championship of the Martial Arts Festival seemed insignificant compared to terrorists preparing to attack the academy city.

"Understood. Principal has told us."

...

Although there were only two matches scheduled for today, one in the morning and one in the afternoon – unlike yesterday when the left and right sides clashed – regardless of whether Garulan or Milt's team won, the winner would inevitably face the top-ranked Dongdaulu Academy.

Dongdaulu had already demonstrated their strength in the individual matches, and consecutive battles would be more challenging for the challengers. This arrangement was also made to give the challengers more rest time, as well as to avoid hindering the ongoing search mission being conducted by Lucius in the city area.

"And our ominous premonition is getting stronger and stronger."

The internal passage of the arena was empty, as both the staff and the spectators had gone to their seats to prepare for the matches. In a corner through a small door, the young female academy head was speaking earnestly to a glowing crystal ball in front of her.

Inside the crystal ball was a scene of Seika, who left a few days ago because of her so-called "private matters." From the background, it appeared to be an Eastern-style bedroom.

"Don't believe in premonitions or anything if you're not a prophet," Seika lazily reminded while reclining on a soft couch.

"Tsk, then what did you, the so-called prophet, see this time?" Although somewhat annoyed, Ciella didn't say much, knowing it was someone else's specialty in The Realm.

"Well, to be honest, the divination is a bit unclear and disrupted..." Hoshimi's tone sounded somewhat guilty.

"I thought you were so powerful, but it turns out you don't know anything either!"

"If I really didn't find anything, I wouldn't have contacted you just to be mocked," Hoshimi replied casually.

That's true, Ciella admitted to herself. Her relationship with Hoshimi wasn't to the extent of calling each other across continents for a casual chat. And she had heard that Hoshimi herself had some troubles on her end, so whatever she contacted Ciella about couldn't be something trivial.

"You also know the level of prophet I am. Honestly, except for events related to ancient secrets or gods, there are few things I can't perceive."

"But a few days ago, I encountered someone in the capital city of Milanía who I couldn't read at all. It was because of him that I didn't bring back that kid, Brad."

"Just now, I did a divination for this Martial Arts Festival, and the result was also blurry. To have two instances like this in such a short time, I don't believe it's just a coincidence."

"Alright, fine, I get it," Ciella yawned, waving her hand. Even though she said that, she was still in control of the situation at the moment, and she didn't know what else she could do.

"Can you at least show a little bit of concern? I contacted you from so far away, at least act a bit panicked so I can feel accomplished," Hoshimi said disappointingly, looking at her.

"Do you know how you look right now? Like an old general in our plays, covered in flags from head to toe."

"Oh, stop it. Do we really have that kind of curse?" Ciella was annoyed.

Hoshimi didn't show any emotion towards Ciella's disdain, simply saying lightly, "Then let me remind you, the last time I encountered a similar situation was in Müsber. !!!"

Ciella suddenly sat up straight.

"That time, I couldn't foresee it either. Don't be surprised, there are not many known Holy Ranks in the world, so I occasionally check on their situations. And shortly after I couldn't see Müsber, that incident happened in your academy."

...

In the audience stands, Tiran, Aya, and little Angel were still seated in the positions they had reserved yesterday, watching the match.

"By the way, Aya, why are you here too? Shouldn't you be acting as the great dragon on the field?" Tiran smiled sideways at Aya. "It's not good to play truant, you know."

"Damn it, that damn Chimera recovered early! And that meteor yesterday was already enough to mess with me!" Aya gritted her teeth.

"Sis...ter...ad...ult..."

A familiar voice and figure, Miss Coco appeared once again in Milt's seating area.

Well, Coco wasn't really the issue. The problem was that according to the instructions from Lux earlier, she shouldn't be with Ciella at this time, right?

"Did that guy go off to slack again?" Tiran's face darkened.

"The headmaster of Ciella's academy said there's something urgent, so she asked me to find Lady Sister and then went back to the academy city to find Director Lucius."

Go back to find Lucius?

Aya and Tiran exchanged a look, confirming that something was indeed not right. Normally, Ciella wouldn't even have time to hide from Lux, but now she actively went to find him?

Either Dean Panran realized his mistake and went to apologize to the director, or an unexpected situation occurred.