Chapter 20: ²⁰: micasa

Athena’s POV:

"Ryan, accompany Miss Moonvel out of the building!" I said, trying to mimic the deep, commanding voice of that mighty Alpha Kael.

I had thought that after all the hell I went through just to reach his office, I would finally be able to ’seduce the Alpha King’ with the charms I had practiced so religiously.

But even after I told him I was ready to follow all of his conditions while standing just inches away from his lips... He didn’t do what I had imagined.

That fucker didn’t kiss me like I had practiced for!

"ahh!" Screaming into my pillow I cursed him to become bald as I remembered what he had done after that.

He had pinned me against his desk, one of those ridiculously strong hands wrapped around my throat while the other rested beside my face, leaving me completely unable to move.

"A little girl like you cannot seduce me."

That was what he had said!

A little girl. He had called me a little girl! And before I could even argue with him, he had called his Beta, and the next thing I knew, I was standing outside the very building I had planned so carefully to sneak into.

My plan had failed. Terribly....Literally terribly.

The only thing keeping me sane right now was the fact that, just as I had expected, he had investigated my background... and had found exactly what I wanted him to find.

Now there were only two possibilities.

Either I had piqued his interest...

Or I had repelled him so badly that he would never want to see me again.

And the only way to find out which one was true was to attend the birthday ball he was hosting for his brother.

Speaking of his brother... I still hadn’t figured out what exactly was wrong with Louis Dreven. Just because of the Dravera, he behaved as though I were his mortal enemy.

And that blonde girl constantly hanging around him....She was just pathetic.

The two of them behaved like immature teenagers.

Well... technically we were teenagers.

But we were already in the last year of it.

The least they could do was act with a little maturity.

Shoving those thoughts to the back of my mind, I changed into my academy uniform before leaving for class.

"Good morning, Athena!" I heard Rose’s energetic voice echo through the hallway the moment she spotted me.

"Good morning," I replied.

The moment I reached her, she wasted no time linking her arm with mine as we walked toward our classroom together.

"So... where were you yesterday?" she asked the moment we sat down at the seats we had decided to make our regular seats. "Were you okay after going home the day before yesterday?"

"I was fine. I just didn’t feel like coming yesterday," I answered, conveniently leaving out the part where I had spent the entire day trying to seduce the very Alpha she had claimed was completely out of our league.

Noticing my thoughts drifting toward Kael again, I quickly changed the subject.

"Were you worried about me?" I asked teasingly, raising my brows at her.

Rose narrowed her eyes as though I had asked the world’s strangest question.

"Of course I was worried about you! You’re my only friend here."

She pouted. "And you haven’t even given me your contact number yet."

The smile on my face slowly faded as I heard her saying that I was her friend.

Friend...That single word terrified me now.

"What happened, Athena?" Rose asked after noticing my expression change.

I quickly shook my head. "Nothing." I forced a small smile. "It’s just... hearing you call me your friend touched me."

Rose immediately grinned. "Of course you should feel touched! After all, it’s me who’s making you her friend."

I couldn’t help laughing. Only Rose could sound so proud while saying something so ridiculous.

"Oh, by the way..." she continued excitedly. "Keeping aside the fact that we both think Louis is pathetic..."

I raised an eyebrow.

"...are you excited for his birthday ball?"

"I heard it’s considered the grandest celebration in the entire Empire. It’s held every single year without fail, and Alpha Kael personally supervises all the preparations."

I looked at her quietly. Whether I wanted to attend or not didn’t matter. Whether I liked it or not didn’t matter either. I had to be there.

And if I wanted to accomplish what I came here for... I had to make a statement.

I had to prove to one incredibly arrogant Alpha that I was definitely not a little girl.

"Yeah," I replied. "I’m going. What about you?"

Rose’s eyes sparkled. "Of course I’m going! Everyone in the Empire dreams of attending that ball at least once. And now we’re lucky enough to be Louis Dreven’s classmates, so we’ll receive invitations."

She clasped her hands together dramatically. "How could we miss something everyone else envies us for?"

I laughed before giving Rose a quite fake offended look "Hasn’t it only been two days since you declared you didn’t find Louis handsome anymore? So why are you fangirling over him again?"

Rose instantly looked guilty. "I didn’t say I found him handsome again!" She quickly defended herself. "And I’m not excited because of him."

She paused. "It’s just... Even if we don’t like him, he’s still Louis Dreven."

"A royal."

"Someone we can only look up to and admire from afar."

I chuckled at her expression which was resembling that of a scared chicken. "It’s okay, you dont have to be so worried. I already forgot that incident. Even if you decide to go back to fangirling over him, I won’t judge you."

Rose’s wyes imidately brightened reassured that I was not mad at her.

We were still talking while waiting for the teacher to arrive when we saw some girls enter the class whispering like they had the most spiciest gossip one could ever find.

"You know she’s in critical condition!" One of them whispered. Both Rose and I instinctively looked at each other. Who were they talking about?

"Yeah," another girl replied. "Olivia said Maria stormed out of the store after getting angry, and on the way she got into a terrible car accident."

"They said she’d already lost a huge amount of blood before the ambulance arrived. It’s crazy to think Maria, who made everyone’s life miserable, is lying in a hospital bed fighting between life and death right now."

Rose and I stared at each other in complete shock. Maria... Had been in an accident? I was still trying to process what I had just heard when our teacher entered the classroom. The room instantly fell silent as everyone returned to their seats.

After classes ended, Rose and I walked toward the academy gates together.

"It’s crazy how the world works," Rose sighed.

"Just yesterday Maria was acting like some stuck-up queen beside Louis."

"And today... We’re hearing she might not even survive."

I simply kept walking, unsure what to say.

"Okay then!" Rose smiled. "See you tomorrow!" And then moved towards the direction of her home.

I also waved goodbye before continuing alone toward the packhouse.

Soon I reached my room. Without wasting any time, I went straight into the bathroom, removed the artificial skin covering from my wounds, soaked it in antiseptic, and carefully changed my dressings.

Ignoring the familiar sting of pain, I stared at my reflection in the mirror, mentally preparing myself for tomorrow.

No matter what... Tomorrow, I had to succeed. Time was slipping through my fingers.

Life was unpredictable. Just like Maria.

One day you could be walking around full of life... And the next, your fate rested in someone else’s hands.

After changing into comfortable clothes, I sat down at my desk and reached toward the shelf above it for one of my books.

Before I could grab it, a beautiful pink-and-white envelope slipped from between the books and landed softly in my lap.

Confused, I picked it up. The moment I read the words written inside... My heartbeat stopped.

"Nobody can hurt you and get away with it, Micasa."