Chapter 297: Justified Paranoia

How… and why.

Those were the first two questions I asked myself when I saw Ravilenna walking out of the cafeteria.

The letter explicitly said she’d be waiting for me on the third floor of the main building, inside the practice chamber. Yet here she was, nowhere near the main building, let alone any practice chamber.

Maybe I'm overthinking this. Maybe she just grabbed a quick bite to fuel up before our spar? That’s believable, right?

Then again... if she truly was leaving to get food, wouldn't she have mentioned it in the note? What if Carine had arrived early, found an empty room, and left? Unless Ravilenna had calculated her lunch break down to the exact second, the math just wasn't adding up.

Yeah, I’m in total overthinking mode right now.

I shook my heads to calm down a little. After all, what better way to solve this mystery than to ask the person of interest who was standing right before Feyt?

Ravilenna walked down the road and, after turning her head, immediately noticed me.

“Feyt…” she muttered to herself, her pace grinding to a halt.

“L-Lady Ravilenna! What a pleasant surprise!” I blurted out as Feyt, offering a smile that felt a bit too stiff.

Ravilenna didn't bother returning the greeting. She simply scoffed, sidestepped me, and kept walking.

“W-Wait, Lady Ravilenna!” I blurted out, stepping in front of her path.

She stopped, her cold glare piercing straight through me.

Damn, I pissed her off already. Great start.

Now, how do I ask her about a letter meant for Carine without sounding like a crazy person?

“Uhmm, where are you… heading?”

She blinked, clearly thrown off by the sudden question. For a second, she just stared in disbelief. Then, she let out a long, weary sigh.

“If you must know, I am heading to my dorm. I intend to rest before my next match. Now please, move out of my way.”

For her dorm?

Not the main building?

Why would she be heading for the dorm if she had a spar waiting for her? Was she trying to hide the spar from Feyt for some reason?

No, that doesn't make any sense. Why would she care if Feyt knew she was having a spar with Carine before their next matches?

“Are you done?” Ravilenna’s eyebrow twitched, tapping her boot on the cobblestone. “Move.”

“Wait! Just—just one more question!” I raised my hands in a frantic move.

She let out another heavy sigh. “Fine. Make it quick.”

I didn’t have a lot of time, and not a lot of her patience, so it was best if I just went straight for it.

“Are you… planning to spar with Lady Carine?”

“Huh?” Ravilenna’s face contorted into a masterpiece of utter offense and profound confusion.

She stared at me as if I’d just insulted her and her forefathers with the worst slur one could imagine. She leaned in slightly, her eyes narrowing.

“What? Are you worried I’m going to injure your Lady before our eventual match?”

“N-No! It’s not like that at all!” I stammered out, hands waving frantically.

Ravilenna crossed her arms, her tone dropping, stripped of all the annoyance. “Listen to me carefully. I have no interest in cheap tricks. The only place I’m fighting Carine is out on those arena sands, in front of everyone. Anywhere else is a waste of my time.”

She sidestepped me without waiting for a reply as she marched off toward the dormitories. Just before she faded away from view, however, she tossed a cold look over her shoulder.

“Tell your Lady to save her strength. She’s going to need it.”

I stood there in silence, watching Ravilenna slowly fade away from view. From the path she took, it seemed she wasn’t lying about heading for the dorms instead of the main building.

I turned my attention to the road to the arena as Feyt, and the letter as Carine.

Ravilenna hadn’t changed, and I didn’t misinterpret our wordless “agreement”. She really was saving our rematch for the arena, nothing else. Which meant the letter I was currently holding in my hands went from an exciting invitation to ultra-suspicious in a blink of an eye.

I analyzed the writing on the paper once more. The handwriting was, admittedly, close to Ravilenna's. She was my classmate in Honors after all, before the incident, so I had had plenty of opportunities to catch glimpses of her notes. This letter had the same handwriting as those notes.

But the more I stared at the curves of the ink, the more obvious the flaw became. The writing was nearly identical, perhaps even a one-to-one match. But the phrasing was far too calm and polite.

The real Ravilenna would rather eat her own wooden swords than send a polite, formal invitation asking for a spar from Carine of all people. I mean, she was the same person who called Feyt Carine’s “boy-toy” after all.

“Lady Carine?”

Leila’s composed voice pulled my attention back to the spectator stands. She was leaning in slightly. “Is there something wrong?”

I slowly folded the paper back along its creases and handed it to her.

“It would seem so; someone is trying to lure me to the main building for some reason.”

Leila took the letter and began scanning it carefully.

While she was reading the letter thoroughly… My mind was in a complete mess.

I’m an idiot!

I almost fell for it, hook, line, and sinker!!

If Feyt hadn't stumbled upon the real Ravilenna outside the cafeteria, I would have happily waltzed right into the slaughterhouse like a sheep as Carine.

I should’ve trusted my gut about Ravilenna saving up our rematch for the arena. But nope, I just had to get all battle-maniac and nearly jumped into the pit of spikes or whatever else they had waiting for me there.

Leila methodically refolded the letter before turning to me, her face remaining still, but her gaze had sharpened and grown rather cold.

“Lady Carine, shall I track down the girl from earlier and demand answers from her? Or should I seek out this Ravilenna?”

I shook my head. “No. Stay close to me. If they’re bold enough to give me forged letters, who knows what else they had prepared?”

Leila remained silent for a few seconds, but nodded. “A sound judgment, My Lady. I shall remain by your side.”

“Thank you, Leila.”

I let out a silent sigh.

So, my random excuse to give Leila something to do… ended up being reality.

How wonderful.

Safe to say, even my walk to the arena as Feyt suddenly filled with a lot more paranoia.

—

A match between two students concluded on the sands before me, but I hadn’t had the time to enjoy the match, trying to keep one eye open at all times.

It was right around this time that Lionne and Eve finally made their way back into the stands, looking thoroughly pleased with whatever food they'd scavenged from the food stalls.

I offered them a quick, polite greeting as Carine and they took their seats, but I couldn’t even pretend to join in on their chatter. My focus stayed high, keeping Carine’s eyes glued to the surrounding crowd for suspicious figures while trying to navigate the stone corridors below as Feyt, heading for the eastern prep room.

No one’s gonna jump at me from behind, right?

The fact Feyt’s match was up next was some unfortunate timing. I could only hope this completely justified bout of paranoia wouldn’t affect my performance during the match, but judging from the fact that I looked behind my shoulders three times before opening the prep room door as Feyt… yeah, that seemed unlikely.

I slowly pushed the door open.

The prep room was empty, save for one familiar figure standing beside the equipment rack.

“Sir Feyt!” The volunteer student greeted me with the same calm smile as yesterday. “Welcome back.”

“Hey. Good to see you again!”

I stepped inside, keeping my eyes on him for longer than necessary. His expression was perfectly calm, his posture relaxed, and there was nothing immediately suspicious about him.

Except for the fact that I was hearing something rather unignorable.

Thump Thump Thump.

His heart was still racing just like yesterday, noticeably louder this time.

I frowned slightly as I analyzed him.

“Same gear as yesterday, Sir Feyt?” he asked.

“Yeah.” I nodded.

“Very well. Please take a seat while I grab them.”

He turned and walked toward the equipment rack. I took a nearby seat and began quietly observing him.

He retrieved the gear carefully, balancing it neatly in his arms as he moved from rack to rack. Though his heart was still racing, it didn’t seem like he was doing anything malicious.

Hmm… Maybe I’m just a little too paranoid.

If so, this kid might have some serious heart condition.

The volunteer student returned with my equipment in his arms, wearing that same polite smile.

“Here you are, Sir Feyt.”

“Thank you!” I reached for the first piece of gear. Then I noticed the cup in his other hand.

“Oh, and please have this as well.”

He extended it toward me with a soft gesture.

I stared at the cup for a moment, noting the clear liquid swirling inside.

“Is that… water?”

“Yes.” He nodded. “It’s complimentary. All contestants have been provided with one before their matches for today, since it’s a particularly hot day and all.”

All contestants?

You sure?

Carine certainly didn’t get one earlier today.

Did they start handing the water out after my match as Carine? Or did Olivia just forgot to give me one? Those two scenarios were certainly plausible, but… something about it bothered me.

I looked back at the volunteer.

His heartbeat had picked up again.

Thump Thump Thump Thump

My eyes narrowed for just a moment, before I flashed him a wide smile.

“You didn't put something in it, did you?” I said jokingly, letting out a loud chuckle.

“Hahaha! Of course not, Sir Feyt!” he laughed as well.

He wore a calm smile. However…

THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP

Oh God, there’s something in this drink!

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