An annoying pair

IT SEEMS THAT Pearl also decided to join in the festival by putting up a dessert stall just outside of her restaurant.

"What? Hades is here—oh! Hades, my adorable little brother! Have you come to visit you lovely sister and work for her food stall?" Pearl soon appeared from behind Leo, she was also wearing a pink apron, even had her long hair tied.

"Brother...? Sister...? Huh?!" Rufus reacted a little late, while Livia was speechless at what she just heard from the two. Hades sighed, controlling his emotions. 'I swear to the gods, if I get caught just because these two nonchalantly spewed out our relations, they'll be the first one to suffer', Hades thought.

"I'm from the North, you see. On my way here, we happened to get acquainted, and had traveled together until we got here in the Capital. They've been treating me like a younger brother since then." Hades explained shortly, and that alone was enough to ease their confusion, even Livia believed his lies.

Pearl's smile reached her eyes. 'This is the scariest and craziest fact about Hades. He has this ability to make people believe him no matter what he says, even a woman's intuition can be deceived by his words, and you won't even realize it at all.' This is one of the reasons why she's glad to have him on her side.

"Since you're here with Rufus and Liv, you must've heard about what we're selling, right?" Pearl asked Hades, but he arched a brow. Leo soon handed out a cup full of shaved ice with sweet red strawberry syrup. 'Ah… this dessert…'

It was his sister's—Linnea's favorite. It was a rare dessert. He had seen Linnea make this dessert in the past for him, but there was that one time she bought it from the Spring Festival and had him taste it after desperately preserving it. She said that it hits different if you eat it in the festival, and that she wanted Hades to experience that feeling.

Hades takes the cup, taking hold of the spoon and eating it. Leo and Pearl watched him as he continued to eat the frozen treat.

'He looks like a child.' That's what they thought, including Rufus and Livia. Although Hades had his childish and mischievous moments, he looked different as he eats the dessert quietly.

"Here you go too, no need to pay, it's on me." Leo also handed out two cups to Rufus and Livia and they gladly accepted it.

"Thank you very much." Livia said thanks for all three of them, while Rufus started eating at a faster speed than Hades. Hades noticed that and nudged Rufus on his sides.

"Slow down, that's a frozen dessert you're eating." He warned, but Rufus didn't listen, and soon felt his brain chilling.

"Ow… damned brain freeze." He groaned, Hades simply sighed. Leo and Pearl couldn't hide their awe watching Hades. 'So this is what he looks like when he has a friend', they thought.

"I warned you." He stated, as he glanced around, then turned to Pearl and Leo. There were less people in this street, when it normally should've been flooded right now. "Where are the others? And why are there less people here?" He asked, and Pearl showed an obvious awkward expression, while Leo… was trying his best not to laugh, he was shaking.

That alone gave Hades his answer. "Ah… don't tell me, she made a ruckus again?" He asked, and Leo burst out laughing.

"HAHAHAHAHAH! She kicked out another noble the other day because the lady was too loud!" Leo revealed it himself before Pearl could even explain. Pearl kicked him to the side, and since Leo was busy laughing to his heart's content, it was enough to get him rolling on the hard ground.

"Silence, you insolent bastard! How dare you spread false information!" Pearl snapped at Leo, but he continued laughing too loud on the ground. Pearl then turned back to Hades. "I kicked her out because she complained about my food and made a mess inside my restaurant! Those are the kind of people who don't deserve to be served!" She exclaimed, then sighs to calm her anger down.

"Any noble would know better than to insult your food and make a mess inside your restaurant. Who was that ignorant lady?" Livia asked, curiosity and confusion filled her gaze. She's not wrong, Pearl is known as a great cook, and as a barbaric princess.

"Hah! Who else would boldly cause a racket in my territory? That bitch Alory Falkov, of course!" Pearl exclaimed, full of sarcasm. "I only let her in because she was with her younger and better sister, Hollis, and because she said they would be celebrating for Hollis' admission to the academy as an official archery course student."

'Hah, only Pearl Novak would curse out a famous actress and known saint in public. She knows she's superior', Hades thought as he found himself smiling at his adoptive sister's bold actions. He then turned to Rufus. "Yesterday when I saw her practical exam, I thought she was better than Rufus. I can't blame the lady for being confident in her sister's results."

Rufus sighs. "I know, right? Everyone present in yesterday's practical examination knows I would have lost to her in terms of composure and skill, but I won just because I have better strength and foundation." He stated honestly and tool another bite of dessert.

"Why treat it a competition in the first place?" Pearl asked, Livia also showed her disbelief at these two overly competitive meatheads. Leo soon appeared next to her and it seems that he had finally calmed down, he was also shaking his head.

" Tsk, tsk, tsk. You don't get it, ladies. That's just how it is in the Knight Department. Every entrance examination, there's this competitive tension among examinees that can't be tamed. There's no normal person that can pass the exam, the only examinees who can pass as official students are the hungry and competitive ones. It's a survival of the fittest, and a selection of the strongest!" Leo stated, proud and true. Hades and Rufus couldn't deny that.

"You know what's crazier? Hades went crazy and started a rivalry with the Second Imperial Prince!" Rufus mentioned, he was in the mood for bragging about his commoner friend. The two immediately turned to Hades, while Hades obviously avoided their sparkling gazes.

"Kyaaah! That's my brother!" Pearl proudly cheered. She would've disowned him if he didn't show off at the entrance examination, it's the whole point of the exam. Although, she had expected this to happen, since Hades is the one who kept challenging her father and will keep doing so. That's just how hungry he is for growth and superiority.

"Aren't you adorable? Being competitive and all that." Leo teased, he was smiling from ear to ear. He knows how competitive Hades is, but he thought that he would lay low in the academy because his plans. 'To think he'd show off instead…' Leo thought wrong.

Hades smirks. "Of course, that's a given. A commoner like me would want to show off his strength in front of a few nobles." He stated, taking another bite of the dessert. A man hiding his power is boring and dull, 'Hades' doesn't settle for that.

'Uwah… he's really getting into his identity and character', both Leo and Pearl couldn't help but be in disbelief, although at the same time they had expected this. After all, this is Hades we're talking about. This lad can wear more masks than the number of his fingers and toes.

"Now that I think of it, I heard Brother Greyson and Senior Russet became one of the new professors in the academy. How was Senior Russet, Liv?" Pearl shifted her attention to Livia who was silently eating her treat.

"He was so happy that at least one took a directing course, we talked for a few minutes after the practical exam because of that." Livia says, Rufus sharply glanced at Livia in disbelief.

"Don't listen to her, they talked for hours! She said she'd come to watch our practical exam, but we were the ones who waited for her instead! And for an hour at that!" Rufus complained, obviously still upset about yesterday. He's probably just jealous, but Pearl laughed.

"Senior Russet was probably just happy to have met someone who took the same course as him when he was a student. Many art department students prefer either performing arts, music, or fine arts since they like standing out. Liv is probably the only one who took the directing course." Pearl stated, her smile was gentle and soft, as if she was talking about an old close friend.

"He had many known actors and actresses under him since he graduated, but he decided to settle down in the Academy for a long term rest." She continued and chuckled a little. 'Well, partly the reason he wanted to be a professor at the academy in this time is to meet Dwayne Winchester, but there's no way I could say that.'

"The results come out today right? What're you going to do after you stop by the academy?" Leo asked out of curiosity.

"Oh, Rufus said we'll celebrate at their manor, want to join?" Livia asks, but the two immediately declined the invitation by shaking their heads.

"It'll be a busy night for us unlike you brats. Go have fun on your own." The trio simply nodded and were about to say their thanks and goodbyes to head off to the academy, but Leo suddenly called for them. "Oh and by the way, boys," Hades and Rufus, even Livia, glanced to Leo.

He was wearing a big smile as he says, "Tell Professor Yahto I said hi~"