The Daughter of the Heinford Family (1)

When I opened my eyes, I saw Rosalyn in front of me, staring into my eyes in puzzlement like she woke up from a weird dream. I stand up and gave her a pat on the head and then veer my attention to Stephanie. "All good now," I said beamingly.

"Huuuuuh!?" Stephanie exclaimed.

"What happened?" Erik rushed over.

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"You... Why... always... that... hate..." Stephanie mumbled then puffed her cheeks upsettingly which speaks volumes.

"Relax..." I paused for a brief moment and forcefully pulled both of her cheeks up with my thumbs then our eyes met. "... O evil spirit of grumpiness, I expel you away from Stephanie's body," I smiled cheerfully.

Suddenly, Stephanie's face turned crimson, and thereafter, she immediately averted her gaze away shyly whilst I smiled meaningfully. People may be glancing at us, but I didn't seem to give care about it. Am I getting used to it? Probably does.

Meanwhile, the other girl, Rosalyn, she's clinging to the hem of my uniform like a lost child, and since then, she hasn't uttered a single word. I offered her my left arm to cling to, but she shook her head at it. The tranquility that she emanated before all things went loose suddenly returned. However, her current state is temporary, as she'll slowly return to her usual aggressive, psychotic behavior.

On an unrelated matter, Rosalyn reminded me of Clara, given that Clara had some instances of uncontrollable urges of 'kidnapping' me, on any given day. She's far more terrifying than Rosalyn because once she puts her mind to something, she's determined to finish the task at all costs like searching for me from miles away...

Lastly, Erik, he's just behind us, staring at my back intently.

As soon we entered the lounge area, students are chattering with each other. My eyes automatically wandered around the layers of magical arrays set on the entire building which I have already seen last time; however, my senses picked up something different, an abnormality. Unlike the last time I visited, they added three or more layers of magical arrays that are difficult to perceive even with high-graded tools and the old ones seem to be damaged.

'Something happened here. A fight probably transpired.' I thought before getting abruptly interrupted by the people around us.

Stephanie's presence alone garnered a lot of eyes which also redirected toward the people alongside her. Stephanie didn't bother batting an eye at them. Once other people caught the glimpse of our uniform, they all immediately directed their gaze toward our faces, especially to me and Erik beside me. They have different reactions when they saw us and remarks about us flooded.

"Isn't that...? What is she doing here with... Those two? Are they her lackey?"

"Who are those people with her...? Honestly, though, I dig the red hair. I love her fair skin."

"Who's that girl clinging to the guy? And... Is it me or does Senior Stephanie oddly close to that guy...?"

"Black uniforms? What the fuck are they doing in this place?"

"Presumptuous inferiors, tch... Breathing in the same air as them makes me puke."

"The female phoenix twin is a beauty as the rumor said..."

"The long-haired handsome at the back is my type and the dark purple hair one too." She thirstily stared at us. Her gaze felt violating that it gave shivers to both Erik and me.

"Tch!" Stephanie clicked her tongue in disdain. "So annoying. Why don't they just mind their own business?"

Rosalyn beside me scoured through the crowds intently, marking every face of the people who made those hurtful remarks about me. Hence, I flicked her forehead.

"Ouch...!" Rosalyn exclaimed.

Rosalyn's eyes gawked at me, pondering why I flicked her forehead. I ignored her by averting my gaze away. Then, I felt an arm around my shoulder, so I looked at who it is and saw Erik's face. "We don't seem to be welcomed by many of our peers." He said with a smirk on his face.

"No need to state the obvious."

"But, not all of them ain't bad. Some of them are quite... Complimenting?"

"Guess so..."

"You two have some problems with your brains." A soft, elegant voice reached my ears.

Our heads naturally veered to the voice and were surprised to see Lily standing there. Beautiful figure, long flowing golden hair that's swaying in the air gracefully and causing an inexplicable enticing divine, soft floral fragrant. She's the embodiment of beauty itself. Lily was standing there with her arms crossed under her ample breast, staring intently at us.

"Oh, hey."

"Don't hey me," Lily replied.

Then, Lily briefly looked at Rosalyn hiding behind me. Rosalyn's clutches tightened as she felt the immense pressure coming from Lily's brief glance at her. The two felt like I'm watching a wolf preying on a little bird. Meanwhile, Erik slowly backed off.

"So, how's your little bonding with him," Lily said with a cold smile.

Rosalyn burrowed her face in my back.

"You told her..." I said wryly.

"She kept pestering us. At least, commend me for not lashing out. Furthermore, isn't she, your problem?" She stuck her tongue out.

"Ha-ha... So, what are you doing here?" I said in a flat tone.

No one's commenting on Lily's beauty but rather kept it to themselves because of her status as royalty and her sharp tongue, no one wanted to be ridiculed in front of everyone with a few exceptions... Those masochists... Nevertheless, most guys are already admiring her beauty without saying a word, they all fell in love at first sight. Even though they're not saying a word, I can hear their thoughts out loud. They're all the same.

"Do I need to ask for an appointment to meet you?"

"Well, no..."

"Then there's no problem, ain't it?"

"True."

"Oh yeah, here's Erik, you know him, my roommate." I introduced Erik to Lily.

Lily glanced over my shoulder.

"Greetings, Your Highness, it's my pleasure to meet the esteemed elven princess. My name is Erik Halvig from a lowly baron family from the Maiveil Kingdom, the Halvig Family." Erik bowed gracefully as a basic royal courtesy.

"Halvig family...? Where have I heard that?" Lily contemplated.

"Um?" Erik slightly tilts her head sideways in confusion.

"How rude of me. I'm Lily Blanch, the current guardian and the first princess of the Askar Kingdom..." Lily shoves her finger to my cheek. "...This guy may be a pain in the ass, but please be good on him."

"Yes, Your Highness." Erik chuckled.

"Good to see you having friends other than females." After saying that, she threw a glare in my way.

"Ha-ha-ha..." I scratched my head and averted my eyes away.

"Anyhow..." Then out of the blue, Lily shifted her gaze to me and pulled my necktie, and sniffed my neck. "Hmm..."

As she was doing that, I glanced over Lily's shoulder and eyed five young men glaring at me. They stood out from the rest because of the unbelievable hostility they emanate. However, they're not the ones who are following me earlier.

"What a surprise. Nothing." Lily cast her gaze to my face.

"Did you go here because of 'that'?" I smiled meaningfully.

"What's wrong with being possessive?" Lily curled her lips.

"Nothing. It warms my heart."

"Either way, I'll also want to add that I'll be joining you guys inside." Lily puffed her chest proudly with her arms around her waist.

"Is that so?"

"Ho-ho! I do find it unfortunate that these people are also trying to enter the same zone. I hope they won't meet us or else." Lily sneered as her eyes sweep the crowd of students.

Lily garnered a few unpleasant scowling gazes that immediately diminished as soon Lily caught them and some didn't react to her at all because they knew what she just stated is the truth. To explain Lily's provocative words, it's because, on the other side, it's quite common for different students to clash with each other and fight the same beast together. In order to make it fair among students, the Union emplaced a rule regarding any dispute inside the dungeon to be amicably settled by combat between two parties or if possible needed to be amicably settled by consulting through Student Helper Committee.

The Union is an association solely created to decide on every dispute, subject, and control over other institutions. It is a supreme decision-making body, comprising major institutions of the academy to take decisions by majority vote after an open civilized debate. The student council president and the other major faction leader can request a Union.

Now, if this was outside, adventurers like me will just fight the other party, in a barbaric way. Needless to say, there's also the peaceful way which is negotiating like what civilized people would do, but this 'peaceful negotiation' is unlikely to happen because the adventurers prefer the dirty way, or in short, they will do anything to get what they wanted, no matter how immoral it is. I almost got deceived once when the other party used my lack of experience against me, they're all kind and all but behind those masks are monsters who won't hesitate to backstab an innocent. Fortunately, I have Clara who's used on all those kinds of people.

"So, you heard them on the way."

"They kept spouting words with their bumbling mouths." Lily shrugged her shoulders as she say those words out loud.

"You do you."

"Now..." Lily faced me before clinging her lascivious body to my arm. "... Shall we go?"

"Hm—?"

Lily pressed her finger to my lips. "Before you say anything. It's better this way. As long father or brother won't find out that I've already been defiled by you, everything should be fine. Father and brother thought of me as his strict, untainted daughter who's similar to my mother, but neither did he know... Furthermore, the one whom he entrusted to protect his daughter was the one—"

"Please, don't phrase it that way. H-How could you say that so casually..." A cold sensation slithered down my spine, giving me a terrifying scenery of the entire elven race with Lily's father and brother in front of them with their terrifying gazes and weapon in the air about to castrate me into pieces. "... and entrusted? Oh, heavens... Sorry, father."

"Fufufu~ Even calling him father, eh? So cute~" Lily sheepishly laughed, captivating every poor man inside this room even Erik is not an exception.

"You two! Let's go! The line had already advanced!" Stephanie puffed her cheeks in jealousy.

Then Rosalyn behind me pulled the hem of my uniform. She then slowly took my other free arm quietly. Stephanie and Lily narrowed their eyes on that arm. Rosalyn didn't falter from the pressure of the two and retaliated with a glare.

Then I heard Rosalyn mutter. "Someday..."

"Looks like, there's always upside on every downside of everything." Erik patted my shoulder as he pass by to get ahead of us in line.

"This is a pain in the ass."

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"Hand your student card."

"Here." I handed my student card to the attendee.

After handing it to the man, his eyes almost shot out of their socket. Then he checked my face, confirming something. "Um, I apologize if my question is rude, but how were you able to acquire this privilege mark?"

"Oh... I don't know. Headmaster Winster gave it to me when I asked him. Is there any problem? You said I need to get the headmaster's permission last time, right?"

"Asked?! Uh... Y-Yes, I did say that, but through the process... Uh... Okay. Thank you, I shall list your name now... Here you go..." He returned my student card back still in bewilderment.

'What's with your response...? You said it yourself get the permission from the crazy pervert, so I did.'

Stephanie had already listed her name along with 7 more people whom I'm not familiar with. I even saw Adelle, Stephanie, and Lily's names already on the list, it made me ponder.

"Hold on..." Stephanie stepped forward, staring at the list of people.

"Wait, why has the list changed?!" Stephanie exclaimed.

"Arya forcefully changed it. She overheard that there was a 'fun' new place, so she decided on her own that we all should try that new place. That's how we ended up here."

'Could it be, we're entering that area? Arendel? It's a name inside the dungeon world where I'm familiar because it was mentioned to me many times. It was part of the Purple Zone.' I thought.

"She can do that?!"

"Of course, she's 'Arya'," Lily explained somewhat mockingly.

"Oh, I thought Lily was just messing with us earlier," I remarked.

"I would never."

"Damn it..." Stephanie pinched the bridge of her nose irritably.

"What's the problem? Your friends recently joined our faction."

"Wait, since when?"

"Yesterday..." Lily averted her gaze.

Stephanie squinted her eyes in suspicion. "What did you do?"

"I may have suggested something bad inside Arya's head... Um, you see... We're arguing on this particular topic and told her that she should respect your decision to pursue that place on her own... But she insisted, So... How do I say this...? They're not tied with any faction group, right? Um... Yeah, you get the rest of it."

"Nice, so they're now with us. I don't see any problem with it." I commented, yet for some reason, it seems I forgot the gist of her message.

"Are they okay?" Stephanie asked worriedly.

"They should be... physically... But mentally? I can't say for sure."

Stephanie's face became paler, but at the same, she let out a sigh of relief. "I... I hope they're okay. I'll talk to them."

"Oh..." I finally got the gist of it.

"Yeah, you do that." Lily gently said.

"Is she really that bad? From the look on your faces, she seems like bad news. A dire one." Erik added.

I smirked and lazily placed my elbow on Erik's shoulder. "Since Arya doesn't seem to have any problem, why don't you join us?"

"Well, I would love to... There's no need to join... Right?" Erik's eyelashes twitched and averted his gaze the other way.

"But since the group party became a faction one, you can't join us you know? Did I say that right, Mr. Attendee?"

"Yes." He replied.

"See?" I smirked.

Erik bit his lower lips, seemingly giving a deep thought about it. "Okay fine... I'll join."

"Heh, I wonder what will happen if the two met?" I muttered. 'It's not like I'm putting his life on the life when I invited him, right...? I wonder if I'm doing the right thing...?'

Stephanie heard everything and gave me a disgusting look, meanwhile, Lily's eyes glistened.

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"Your esteemed Highness, Lily Blanch, can you confirm all the names listed?" The man handed the translucent stone plate over to Lily and she signed it.

"In the name of, I, Lily Blanch, the princess of Askar kingdom, shall vow in the ordinance of Academy Protection Law. However, if once broken, I promise that we as a unit shall humbly accept any punishment bestowed on us by the academy's magistrate." Each letter on the stone plate began illuminating.

"The vow has been established. In the ordinance, the academy shall send an emergency rescue group if one of the party members or the entire party hasn't returned within 12 hours of the designated time that was written here which is the exact morning after."

On our way out, I can still sense the unpleasant gazes on my back. Yet, out of everyone, I noticed a particular set of eyes, looking at me, a woman to be exact. Even when I caught her looking at me, she was still shamelessly staring at me. But unlike everyone else, she's showing interest only in me, as she's keenly observing me from head to toe. I've never felt uncomfortable under a beautiful woman's gaze. She's something else...

She's sitting with a man at the table across from us.

'I know who she is! She's with Prince Lykos, the beautiful girl with glasses from back then.'

She's focusing on every part of my body, gradually going up to my face. It's creepy. I thought she already noticed me when I caught her looking, but it seems she hasn't. She's sitting at the table with someone. It was a man, but I don't remember his face among the five people standing behind Prince Lykos from before. He was also looking at the woman and me, going back and forth. Perhaps figuring out why the woman was looking at me.

The woman's stare is something else... It's like she wanted to devour my soul. But that all ended when our eyes met, she averted her gaze without showing any sort of facial expression, unfazed by the fact that I caught her looking.

I engraved her face into my mind because her beauty was astounding, despite it being hidden behind her glasses and fringes. But that's not my purpose, she's a close entrusted vassal to Prince Lykos which means she's a lady from a high-ranked aristocrat family in the Maiveil kingdom.