Chapter 18: The Prince

The cousins and the prince reunited once again in the twins' dorm room, all six of them are sitting on the floor, in various stages of disarray.

Stage 1 is over, and all of them passed their sections. The twins were purposely registered in different sections so that they'd pass stage one. This is also their last rank competition, and they're giving everything they've got.

Right now, Jin Qiu is undressing his brother, and his fingers are tangled in Jacob's tie. Jacob already fell asleep on the floor long before Xiao even got here. No one made a move to help Jin Qiu, but the younger twin didn't complain.

Xiao was peeling an apple with her a knife she borrowed from Raxithak when Yin walked out of the bathroom. The older witch dropped herself next to her cousin with a sigh. Across from them, Raxithak's focused on a writing something in his notebook; he's sitting cross-legged, and his notebook was balanced on his messenger bag which sat in between his legs. Draped over his back was Alexander playing with his fingers and gloves. The prince rested his entire body weight on her cousin, yet Raxith isn't complaining.

The young witch internally giggled to herself. A few days after her presentation about the Silverin Temple, Yin sent Xiao to fetch Raxith from his room. The young witch knew where it is, she just never went there since all meetings were conducted at the twins' room exclusively. The door was unlocked, so Xiao knocked once before entering it.

And behold, Alexander was in the same bed as her cousin, both of them holding each other like a married couple while the other bed on the other side of the room laid barren. She made eye contact with the prince, who was apparently awake at that time.

They stared at each other for a minute, and a million thoughts crossed Xiao's mind. Is this why Alexander is so touchy feely with Raxithak? Because they're a couple? The prince is flirty to everyone, and his charisma earned him a lot of admirers... Her cousin Raxith is more quiet and reserved, he didn't respond to love letters sent his way.

Her thoughts was cut short when amber eyes widened, and Raxith promptly kicked the prince out of bed.

"It's not what you think it is!" Her cousin said, but Xiao can tell with the look in their eyes, especially Alexander. The prince's bright green eyes didn't leave her cousin, and Xiao could feel the longing in those green eyes from a mile away.

They're in the Monastery of Magic's Academy, raised to worship the God of Creation. Of course, the God of Creation's doctrine disapprove of same sex relationships since it discourages procreation. If any member of the staff found out about the prince and her cousin, both of them will be kicked out, even with Alexander's prince status.

So, Xiao promised to keep her mouth shut and left before she could even get their reactions. It's fine, because right now all three of them are acting like nothing ever happened, though the young witch noticed that Alexander is more touchy feely than usual with Raxithak, and her cousin isn't actively pushing him away.

They can come out when they're ready; it's not her choice to announce their relationship to anyone else.

"Spacing out again?" Yin mumbled as she reached for an apple at Xiao's side. "And what's with the books? I thought you said the librarian wouldn't let them out."

Beady black eyes looked at the two books with the author's name scrapped out, stacked on top of each other neatly above her messenger bag.

After stage one of the competition was over, Xiao immediately went to the library to get more of his books. She got the one with rantings about silver carps and another one which was unfinished. The blue dyed leather book was more of a personal journal than a research article; she went through it once and didn't find anything interesting, but after today's last fight, she knew it can come in handy.

"The blue one contains good stuff." The demon told her on Friday. "More of war tactics I observed, but I think it'll be useful for you."

In Xiao's opinion, it's less of "war tactics", and more of "using whatever method you can to win as long as it doesn't break the rules", after all, all is fair in the ranking competition as long as you don't kill your opponent. A dozen pages in, the book took a darker turn, from how to quickly avoid your opponent's spell attacks to how to disembowel your opponent with a single syllable spell, all written in his account.

"With enough begging, you can achieve anything." The young witch put on a sarcastic tone, and her cousin laughed. "I'll volunteer at the library next season."

Alexander's little flinch didn't go unnoticed, and the knife in Xiao's hand stopped moving. Oh no, please don't let her words inspire the prince or something. An inspired Alexander is bad for everyone involved.

"What really?" Yin stopped herself from taking a bite of the apple. "When I told you to get a hobby, this isn't it."

"You said a hobby is doing something you enjoy." Xiao argued back. "I love books."

"Yin, let Xiao do what she wants in peace." Alexander joined in their conversation, his back is still stuck to Raxith's. "She could be into something worse, like demon summoning or drugs. Imagine Xiao running an opium lab."

The young witch snorted. Right, her running an opium lab. It would be highly successful though since she's educated and have connections to the elites who put opium in their cigars. Those people would buy from a reliable source made by another elite citizen than hush-hush their maids into getting some for them. Unfortunately, business and trading isn't Xiao's cup of tea.

For the demon summoning part... She doesn't have to summon him, but she did go a long way to see him. Teleportation makes things easier.

"Xiao, are running an opium lab?" Yin asked her cousin, and the young witch only giggled as she continued peeling her apple.

"How did we get from books to Xiao running an opium lab?" Jin Qiu deadpanned after he tucked Jacob into bed. "Xiao, you're not running an opium lab, are you?"

The young witch shrugged. "I'm not now, but who knows? Maybe in the future after I graduate. Thank Alexander for the suggestion."

"What? Hold up, I didn't mean to say that." The prince laughed nervously, his eyes moving between Jin Qiu and Xiao. "It's just an example. Drugs and demons are the worst things I can think of."

"Oh, your standards are low." Yin grinned at the prince before she took a bite of the apple.

"Hey, my standards are perfectly fine." The prince faked an offended voice.

"You implied that hobbies can be anything as long as it's not demons or drugs." Yin chuckle. "Come on, you can do better than that!"

Alexander rested his head on Raxith's shoulder. "Buddy, she's bullying me!"

Xiao giggled as she cut the apple in half, and then the halves were cut in halves. She quickly scooped out the seed core before cutting them in half again. Eight slices of evenly cut apple, peeled and deseeded.

She popped one into her mouth, and her mind wandered off to the demon she met. Is he lonely in there? Definitely. Is he bored? He didn't complain about it to her, but obviously he is. Should she get him something to occupy while she's away?

They only meet once a week, on a Friday night so she can sleep-in on Saturday. She wanted to sneak out at night after everyone's asleep, but she'd miss a few hours of sleep, which is already scarce since she has a hard time falling asleep after her head hits the pillow unless she's too exhausted to function.

The topic moved from hobbies, and Xiao ate her apple in silence, watching and observing the conversation as usual.

What's out of the usual is an hour later when Jin Qiu shooed them out of his room, and Xiao was caught by Alexander.

The prince had his hand on her shoulder, and she turned around to look at him. Bright green eyes shined down on her, and his expression is the softest she's seen since she saw him looking at Raxithak.

"If you're felling down or unwell, I'll be here." He whispered while Raxithak and Yin were preoccupied with choosing a broom. "Don't turn to the darker methods."

"Darker methods?" Xiao tilted her head in genuine confusion.

Did he mean demon summoning? Too late on that one, she already met a demon and made a deal, and she doesn't regret it.

"Like demons." The prince stressed the word like it's a curse.

"What's with you and demons?" The young witch smiled a little to assure him. "Or you believe the outdated stereotype that women who read a lot tend to associate themselves with the devil? I'm into resorting old books, not occultism. Though I know a few books on demons... I can show you where they are in the library if you want."

"Alexander, not you too!" Yin's dramatic whine can be heard from the balcony. "I already lost two cousins to the library, I don't wanna lose you too."

Raxithak chuckled at his cousin's words. "The library didn't take us, Yin. It's a peaceful place to study. You justified your hatred because you're loud and get kicked out often."

Xiao removed herself from the prince's hand, and she took a broom from the closet. As she rode back to her dorm with Yin, she couldn't shake the feeling that the prince knows something she doesn't.