Ryuen landed soundlessly in the courtyard of the palace.
The scent of cherry blossoms mixed with the early morning air, bringing back the short mories he had in this place.
Yet, beneath it all, he couldn’t shake off that feeling of hatred within him.
And the fact that he could sense their presence and sll Haruka’s cologne made him hate it even more.
A flicker of amusent crossed his eyes as he stepped forward.
His boots were silent against the stone pathway as he made his way into the palace.
He could sense the guards—weak and unaware of his presence.
Hell, if they knew, they would inform the royal family and have him killed.
He slipped behind two guards and through the palace doors that had been left ajar.
With his eyes filled with nothing but disappointnt.
They had let an enemy slip past them, even when he had hoped they would at least try to protect the palace.
Ryuen made his way through the long, dark, and silent halls of the palace, eyes closed, bothered by nothing.
Why should he be?
After all, if the royals didn’t fear him, they wouldn’t have desperately tried to kill him in a dungeon.
If they had truly wanted him gone, they would have done so the mont he stepped into their palace.
There was an urge to march into the king’s chambers and start his revenge there, but he wasn’t quite upset about the king’s betrayal.
That was if the old man was even in on it—he had no clue.
Then there was Aika.
He was almost fond of her. Almost.
The only thing he liked about her was her na anyway.
And the way she carried herself. Anything aside from that was useless in his eyes.
He let out a short breath as he made his way up the flight of stairs leading to the floor where he rembered his students were.
He walked past his old room—now empty and abandoned.
He walked past Kenta and Akari’s bedroom, deciding not to see them first.
Not that he didn’t care. Akari was defenseless anyway, and Kenta was all talk and no action.
So they weren’t worth worrying about.
Yuta, on the other hand, was nowhere to be found on that floor.
Which ant he was either a prisoner or with the princesses.
Probably their new guard.
And that left him with Haruka.
He walked to the far end of the hall, where faint yellow light peeked through a door.
He chuckled softly and silently pushed it open. Luckily, it made no sound.
Then he locked it behind him before turning around to get a view of the room.
There she was.
Haruka sat at her study desk, her long brown hair falling over her shoulder as she scribbled on a piece of paper.
Since their phones didn’t work in this city—considering the poor network and the barriers blocking signals—she had resorted to writing.
Her expression was tense. Her shoulders were stiff as well.
As if she had done sothing wrong and was waiting to be discovered at any mont.
And sohow, that was true.
Smart girl.
Ryuen thought back. If only he had noticed it sooner.
The way she tailed him, how she did everything she could to provoke the princess.
The dark look in her eyes when he was too focused on sothing else.
The silent warnings she gave Yuta.
But he still couldn’t understand why she did what she did.
An apology might have worked—if he hadn’t known she was in on it that sa day.
Still, it was far too late.
Ryuen leaned against the wall beside her window, arms crossed.
He let the silence stretch, letting her revel in the montary quiet.
Probably the last mont of peace she would have before eternal silence.
Then she paused her writing and exhaled loudly, exhaustion and frustration clear on her face.
Ryuen finally spoke.
"Is that a letter of regret, or a goodbye to your friends?"
Ryuen spoke, his voice a whisper, yet it cut through the silence like a blade.
Haruka stiffened instantly, her blood running cold as the color drained from her bright, adorable face.
She clenched the quill but did not dare turn to face him.
"H...how long have you been standing there?" she stuttered, earning a smirk from Ryuen.
"Long enough to see that you’re struggling to put your guilt into words."
She exhaled again and dropped the quill. "Mister Takeru, is that really you?"
Ryuen’s brow rose. Her tone was not tinged with fear—she was masking it ever so perfectly.
He had no choice but to play along.
Without hesitation, she sprang up from her seat and ran into his arms, embracing him as she would have on a normal day.
"I thought you actually died," she sniffed back tears and tightened her hold around him.
"I missed you so much," she said, moved her hand to his chest, and gazed at him with her teary blue eyes.
Ryuen smiled warmly and placed his hand on her head.
"I thought it was over too, but so good friends helped ."
"I’m sorry," she mumbled. "I should have stopped you from going that day."
"It’s alright, Haruka."
She smiled and placed her head against his chest.
"You’ve gotten taller, Ryuen," she said his na softly. "And your abs and muscles."
"Hm?" He lowered his gaze to her fingers tracing the outline of his body.
’Impressive. She pretends well.’
He thought, grabbing her hands just as they began to move downward.
"You should control yourself, Haruka."
"But why?" she asked, taking his hands into hers.
"I’m not seventeen anymore. I’m old enough to be in a relationship with you now."
"Really?"
"Yes. It’s not fair. You know I’ve had..." She trailed off when she felt the sudden change in the environnt.
It was cold—but not the normal kind.
She raised her gaze to look at Ryuen but saw him smiling at her.
"Haruka, you shouldn’t let such thoughts linger in your mind. I am still your teacher..."
’And you don’t even stand a chance.’
He wanted to add but remained silent for the sake of playing along, and entertainnt.
"That was when we were in Japan. We’re in a new world now, and I’m legal."
"If you want to reconsider, let ask you sothing."
She turned to him fully, now giving him her undivided attention.
"Do you hate ?"
"I’d rather die than hate you."
"Do you know what death feels like?"
She slowly lowered her head and mumbled, "No."
"Did I do sothing to hurt your feelings?"
"Ryuen," she called softly, raising her hand to his face.
"Everything you do only makes admire you more."
"You’re actually talking like a woman now."
"I might as well be your woman."
Ryuen sighed and slipped his hands back into his pockets.
His gaze shifted—cold and distant, he was already fed up with her lies and facades.
She was actually a wonderful and exceptional liar.
Haruka quickly withdrew her hands and stepped back out of fear. "Ryuen?"
"Do you know how much I hate it when you call that?"
"But you told ..."
"Yes, I did. But that was when I was your teacher—soone who actually cared about you."
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
Ryuen chuckled and slipped his hands out of his pockets. He widened his arms, urging her to give him a hug.
He wanted to stab her from the back.. literally and ask her how it felt like.
But she refused—and a hand suddenly landed on her shoulder.
A very cold one, one she almost mistook for a stick of ice.
"Is she one of them, Master?"
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