[19.5] A King and a Villainess

Before I knew it, Felix was already pulling me out of my seat. He grinned happily, "Don't be shy. He's really kind and he will love you. I just know it."

I cried out, "I don't want to meet a King!!! I believe in anarchy!! ANARCHY! I don't respect authority!!! I won't curtsey!!"

Felix ignored my cries and continued to drag me along. I was so shocked by his strength that I couldn't fight back. Cyrus ran after me, "Don't pull on her like that!!! Felix!!!"

I whimpered, "Save me Goldilocks!"

Felix laughed loudly, "Stop being so dramatic."

Hazel noticed everyone was leaving and scurried after us, "Wait! Don't leave me behind!"

In the end, I was pulled into an adjacent room where I saw a very tall man standing next to the Headmaster speaking with him. Felix spoke, "Your Majesty. I've brought Reika and my friends to meet you."

The King turned to me revealing pale blue eyes, cascading brown wavy hair, and a thick beard. Although he was dressed in a King's attire, his eyes were kind and gentle.

Something I didn't expect to see in a King.

I looked him up and down, "Are you sure this is a King?"

Zephyr moved to poke his stomach, "Reika! He has abs!" He looked at me with a serious expression, "No Kings have abs."

The Headmaster swiftly picked Zephyr up and tossed him to the side without a change in expression. He cleared his throat, "Please forgive them, your Majesty… They have the minds of toddlers."

"Oi!" I placed my hands on my hips, "My mentality is definitely that of an adult!"

The Headmaster took a sip of his wine and averted his eyes, "Mhmn."

But I am!!!

The King laughed with a twinkle in his eyes, "You don't need to apologize, Aldrich. I think it's more of a compliment than an insult. Now let me get a look at your little one."

He bent down to my level and smiled softly at me. I raised an eyebrow unsure of what to do.

His eyes felt as if they were piercing deep into my soul and prodding around. It was a strange feeling, but not uncomfortable.

I leaned forward to sniff him, but he suddenly rubbed the top of my head and said, "You are perfect, my child."

Huh? Child?! Who's your child!?!

He stood up and nodded in admiration, "This child is going to do great things, Aldrich. You should be proud."

The Headmaster nodded softly, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Felix nudged me and whispered into my ear, "See. I told you he would like you."

I rolled my eyes. That's not what I was worried about.

The King looked at Cyrus who was jealously eyeing how close Felix and I were. The King seemed to pause for a moment before speaking, "Young Master Cyrus. How have you been? Have the dorms at the Academy been treating you nicely?"

Cyrus seemed flustered by this question and averted his eyes. He spoke in a low voice, "I've been good. The dorms are really nice. Thank you for caring, your Majesty."

I noticed some tension in the air and glanced over at Cyrus. I could tell he wasn't happy and was forcing himself to be polite.

Ah. That's right. I almost forgot that the King was the one who didn't really punish Cyrus's Aunt and Uncle even though they sold him off to a kidnapping group.

No wonder he looks so unhappy.

I suddenly grabbed Cyrus's hand and pulled him towards the door, "Come on! I want to go explore."

Cyrus was stunned by my sudden action, "A-Ah but wait! We have to-"

The Headmaster frowned at me, "Reika. You have to properly excuse yourself in the presence of the King."

I stuck out my tongue and spoke in a childish voice, "What do you mean? I'm just a little toddler. I don't know any better."

Zephyr scurried after us while Caldwell, Hazel, and Felix stayed back for a moment to properly excuse themself.

As I pulled on Cyrus, I couldn't see the slight flush on his face. He spoke in a low voice, "Where are we going?"

"On an adventure."

Just somewhere far away from all of these fake b*tches.

I found a nice veranda and stepped out. I leaned on the railing and took a deep breath, "Ah… The air quality is great here."

Cyrus stood next to me with a somber look in his eyes. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and felt a twinge of guilt. I reached out to ruffle his hair.

He scowled at me and swatted away my hands, "Why do you keep treating me like this!?"

Because I find you pitiful.

I smirked at him, "Because I find your reactions cute."

He flushed a darker shade of red and squealed at me, "I'm not cute!!! Stop calling me that!!"

I smiled softly at his blushing face.

He says that and yet he's making such a cute face.

I want to pinch those rosy pink cheeks.

Zephyr looked at the two of us, clicked his tongue, and decided to find a quiet place to lounge. As he walked away, a sudden girl stepped in front of him.

She looked to be around 8, but the look on her face was one of entitlement and pride. It wasn't the look of a child.

She clicked her tongue, "Oi. Fox pest."

Zephyr looked her up and down, "Can I help you?"

She tossed her long, overly curly, blonde hair, "Where is that Master of yours?"

Zephyr's face stiffened in irritation, "She is NOT my master."

She rolled her eyes, "Owner or whatever. That ugly brat who bombed the school. Where is she?"

"Why would I tell you, trashy girl?" He crossed his arms, "Also, she didn't bomb the school. She only tried to, but the Headmaster prevented that."

She noticed the two people on the veranda and pushed him aside, "Ugh! I don't need you!"

She forced her way onto the veranda and stepped out with a haughty laugh, "Oi! Girl!"

My eyebrows twitched, "Oh great. A pesky fly."

Can't I have one moment of peace!?

I turned to the girl attempting to look down on me while being my same height. Behind her were two other girls smirking arrogantly.

They always come in threes.

I raised an eyebrow in disinterest, "And you are?"

She flinched in surprise then growled at me, "I am Princess Priscilla!!"

I narrowed my eyes, "Priscilla? Sorry. I don't know any Priscilla's."

Her face flushed red as she stammered, "P-Princess!"

I smirked, "Princess? Oh, that's right. I know a Princess." I glanced over at Cyrus, "Hazel's a princess, right?"

Cyrus stared at me dumbfounded, trying to understand what kind of situation we were in.

The girl behind her spoke, "How rude! Don't you realize this is Princess Priscilla!? She's the daughter of Duke Newman!!"

I raised an eyebrow, "Newman?"

I looked over at Cyrus who explained, "She's Felix's sister."

"Ohhhhh." I looked back at her, "What do you want, Felix's sister?"

One of the girls behind her gasped, "How rude! You can't talk to her like that!"

Priscilla trembled from anger since she had never encountered this kind of talk before. She crossed her arms and tried to retain her haughty look, "Listen here you. You need to leave NOW and never talk to Felix again. It's an order."

"Haaaah?" I stared at her in disbelief, "An order? Nah. Sorry, Prissy. But I don't take orders."

She turned pale in shock, "P-Prissy!?"

I nodded, "Don't you think Prissy sounds just like Priscilla? Not to mention it perfectly describes your personality."

A vein on her forehead started to throb, causing me to giggle.

Making little brats angry is a bit fun. I guess she's cute in her own annoying way.

She stomped her foot, "Y-You low-born commoner!!! You MUST call me Princess Priscilla! You're not allowed to call me anything else!"

One of the girls joined in, "That's right! Who do you think you are!? You can't just call the Princess whatever you'd like!"

I tilted my head, "Why can't I? Plus, from my perspective, she's not even a Princess since she's not the daughter of the King."

Cyrus was stunned by my words and stared at me with an unreadable expression.

Priscilla screeched, "You-you ruffian!! I'm going to destroy your reputation!!!"

I rolled my eyes, "I'm so scared."

"Arg!! You should be!!! Felix will never talk to you again!"

I grinned, "Even better."

"YOU DARE DISRESPECT MY BROTHER!?"

Looks like I hit a sore spot.

Cyrus stepped in with a sigh, "Alright. Let's just be calm about this."

Priscilla snapped at him, "Stay out of this, curse boy. You're just as much of an eyesore as she is!"

Cyrus flinched and averted his eyes with an irritated expression.

My eyebrows twitched in annoyance.

I stepped over to her with a smile despite the rage I felt inside, "What did you call him?"

She leaned away looking slightly intimidated. Her lips trembled as a guilty look started to surface on her face.

A girl behind her stuttered, "H-He is the cursed boy… Anyone close to him will be cursed."

Priscilla seemed to regain her courage and straightened her back to meet my face, "That's right. He's going to get Felix hurt if he stays by his side! Him being at the Academy is already causing trouble! He's going to die soon anyway so he should just go and die now to save all of us the trouble!!"

Cyrus looked down at his feet with a complicated expression.

I grit my teeth feeling a fire ignited in my soul, "Little girl, little girl. You'd better watch the words you say. If you make me angry, I can promise I won't care who you are. Money? Reputation? I don't care about either of those. I only care about power, and I can guarantee you that I have that. My punishments are far worse than anything you could ever think of."

She gulped and took a step back, "A-Are you threatening me?!"

My grin grew wider, "Threatening you? Oh my, no. I would never dare. I'm merely making a promise."

Seeing her tremble, I backed off.

Did I go a little overboard?

I let out a sigh and turned away from her. I nudged Cyrus, "We should go."

He blinked in surprise, "Huh? O-Oh… Okay."