Chapter 354: Unbothered Attitude

Kai and Matilda walked out of the front door once it was time to leave.

It was about fifteen minutes away from their regular morning exercise.

Only two of them today. No Bree.

"She probably made plans for tonight with her friends." Matilda closed the door behind her; the soft click of the latch echoed in the quiet down. "Or as Talitha said, she must have spent the night in the training chamber to absorb the Nectar of Spring."

Just as she came down earlier, he was already eating at the dining table.

And there he asked whether she knew where Bree went.

Matilda spun around and found Kai already several paces ahead.

His back was to her, and his gaze was fixed on something in the distance—or perhaps nothing at all. A frown crept to her face. He had been avoiding her gaze since earlier, since before they even left the house.

Every time she looked at him, his eyes would slide away, finding sudden interest in anything but her.

"What’s wrong with you?" She asked, standing beside him and trying to look at his face. "I think there’s more than Bree. What is it? Spit it out."

"Nothing." Kai shrugged, trying to be nonchalant.

"Say it. I don’t want to walk in awkward silence the rest of the way."

"Err—I went to check on you earlier. When you were asleep, you said some... things."

"Some things? What things?"

Kai fixed his collar, suddenly feeling hot as heat rose to his face.

For a second, Matilda stared at him in confusion—before her eyes widened in realization. She turned around in a snap, not daring to meet Kai’s eyes again. She expected trouble, but most certainly not this kind of problem.

"I didn’t hear much! Don’t worry about it!" Kai quickly said, trying to make her feel better.

"I think I’m in the middle of my menstrual cycle..." Matilda said, though her voice was barely audible. It was more like a rat’s squeak than a whisper. She waved her hand, trying to cover her reddening face, and headed out. "Let’s not talk about it."

"I-I agree on that."

"Mn."

Matilda wanted to avoid awkward silence as they walked to the main gate.

But after what happened, it was unavoidable.

Even though Kai tried his best to change the topic and clear the awkwardness, it was simply unavoidable. They walked together in silence, falling into step with the other frantic students who were pouring out of their dormitories.

A river of black and red uniforms flowing toward the outside.

Due to the blizzard, the bald professor needed time to prepare for their morning exercise.

It would take at least ten minutes—as he and a few other professors would need to encompass about a quarter-mile radius from the academy’s wall with mana to block the snow. Normally, the students should have ten minutes of extra time to prepare.

However, in the name of solidarity, the bald professor gave them no extra time.

As he and the other professors were preparing the surroundings, they needed to be there.

Many students called him the Bald-headed Kobalos due to how annoying he was.

But then again, none dared to voice their disagreement.

Once the professors were finished, a translucent reddish mana shield manifested, blocking the snow perfectly, but the cold air—was still there. And though it was morning, the sky was still really dark.

Exercising despite the mana shield was still horrendous.

Fortunately, the students had already adapted well—humans always adapt.

Kai glanced at Matilda while running laps.

He hesitated for a second, but decided to ask anyway, "Did anything happen last night at all?"

"Bree is not around, huh..." Matilda swept her gaze around—and found no sign of Bree. She already told him to drop it, but this was also worrying her. "After we got back, I immediately passed out. Didn’t even know you gave me a Nectar of Spring until I woke up earlier."

She paused, thinking.

But she let out a deep sigh as she couldn’t remember anything.

"I did hear Bree’s door close. Our rooms are neighbouring, so I heard it. But other than that, I don’t know much." Matilda shook her head. "I’m not a deep sleeper, but considering that Bree has your imprint, it’s easy for her to bypass my senses."

Kai nodded.

Even he wouldn’t be able to sense Bree due to the Nigh-phantom Imprint.

He needed to actively seek her to find her, exactly like how others need to do to find him.

Only now did he realize how powerful and outright scary the Nigh-phantom Imprint was.

Just then—his eyes caught sight of two familiar figures. Dorian and Bryan were running side by side, and their closeness made Kai feel complicated. He was going to deliver them the bad news, and there was no helping it.

Noticing him and Matilda, their eyes lit up before they quickly came over.

Despite the battle in the Barbarian Hold, they seemed to be in a good mood and full of energy.

"Are we going back to the Barbarian Hold today?" Dorian immediately asked.

"Nope." Kai shook his head—no need to go there anymore since he already got what he needed. Of course—that is, other than to train their combat prowess. "I got the Chieftain’s head, so we don’t need to go there again. You can if you want to.’

"Please... Like hell I want to go there. I’d rather feel cold than hot and dehydrated."

"As long as you don’t attack the tribe itself, then you should be good."

"No, thank you. I’d rather sleep."

"How about you, Bryan?" Matilda suddenly intervened, glancing at the man. "Are you feeling any closer to the Aspirant Supernal rank?"

"I’m still steadily getting there," Bryan flashed a small smile as he scratched his head. He was smiling, but there was an edge to it—the corners of his mouth twitched, betraying the emotion he was hiding. "I’ll probably spend the entire day in the training chamber."

"Scratch that," Kai said, shaking his head. "Don’t go after the second class. I need to talk to you about something."

Bryan’s face fell, but he didn’t let it show too much.

Noticing that Dorian was about to say something, Kai patted him on the back. "You can come along, too."

Dorian closed his mouth again.

Since he could come along, then he had no complaints.

He exchanged a glance with Bryan before exhaling deeply from his nose. They could already tell. The tone. The words. The way Kai’s eyes held a weight that hadn’t been there before. Kai was going to address Bryan’s situation.

It was only right, as he was the leader of the Ambrosia Pact.

Bryan was the troubled one, but it was Dorian who was nervous the most.

Even so, he bottled it down and only reacted when the time came.

Once the banter died down and exhaustion began to choke the students due to the added weights, silence wrapped around the area as the morning exercise settled to a slow, steady rhythm of bodies in motion.

Kai, despite his rise in power, was also getting exhausted.

Not because he barely grew stronger—but because his added weights were far more than the other students. As the bald professor said—it wouldn’t be an exercise if it was not challenging at all.

So, his added weights were pushed higher.

Just then, Kai’s eyes narrowed at a figure in the distance.

He recognized the braid, the colour of the hair, and the back of this woman.

"Bree...?" He muttered the name.

Doubting who he was seeing, Kai rubbed his eyes before taking a second look, before he was sure that it was really Bree. She was surrounded by her other friends, smiling bright and easy as if she hadn’t disappeared for the first fifteen minutes of the morning exercise.

Bree turned to glance over her shoulder, and met eyes with him.

She smiled and then turned away again.

Kai’s lips twitched at this.

Did she really sneak in, act as if nothing happened, and expect me not to notice?

Her unbothered attitude grated on it. As if it had never crossed her mind that her very sudden disappearance would worry everyone in the house. That was when Kai snapped. He forced a smile onto his face and ground his teeth behind it.

"Don’t mind me," Kai said, addressing the others. "Keep going without me."

Matilda, Dorian, and Bryan turned to where he was looking.

And then they saw Bree.

Dorian and Bryan had no idea that Bree had sneaked out last night.

Matilda, on the other hand, could only massage her forehead and sigh.

She already knew that Kai wasn’t going to let it go, especially seeing how Bree was bantering with her friends like it was fine to sneak out without saying a word. "Just don’t cause a scene or else you’ll be punished."

"I am the fucking Red Prince." Kai headed away. "I can do whatever the fuck I want."

Meanwhile, on the other side.

"Eugh... Just a little bit more and I’m a Grade-2 Awakened Supernal." Georgia complained as she ran, frustrated that her last null crystal hadn’t ignited a breakthrough. "Can anyone spare me one null crystal, please?"

"Don’t even ask. I barely got my own share." Tara rolled her eyes—and then glanced at Bree. A greedy thought came to mind as she formed the sweetest smile. "Bree, do you have spares? Red Prince Kai would never treat his lady badly, so you must have some, right?"

"Oh, right! Give us beggars some, Blessed Lady..." Georgia clasped Bree’s hand in a pleading manner. "Just one, no, even a half legal mana ore would be enough! I swear—if you help me this one time, I’ll pray to Aphrodite to quicken your relationship with Red Prince Kai!"

"Wow." Bree scoffed. "Now that you want something from me, it’s Blessed Lady."

She rolled her eyes and pushed their faces away.

Even if she wanted to give them some, she didn’t have any on her right now.

Due to Bryan’s condition, the others’ weekly shares were also given to him—so she doesn’t have any legal mana ores on her right now. "I don’t have legal mana ores, but I can help you hunt some Star Beasts."

"Really?! Then it’s a deal!"

"Yippie~!"

Just then, a haunting whisper seeped into her ears.

"That’s generous of you..."

Bree’s body turned rigid, and so did the others.

She felt something wrapped around her bicep firmly—no, it was a hand. A big hand that she recognized almost instantly from its shape. A gasp slipped out of her lips; the sound was sharp and quick, but she didn’t turn.

Even without turning around, she already knew who it was.

Kai had used the Nigh-phantom to sneak up on her, and he was now right behind her.

"Now—Blessed Lady," He leaned down to her ear. "Care to be generous enough to tell this beggar where you went?"