"That sounds intriguing," Odette commented.
'But don't you think it is too boring, Father? What's fun in a weak person being beaten up? The result for this is expected.'
Despite of those being her true thoughts, she did not voice them out for two reasons. First, she did not want to make her father suspicious of her for the seven old her would not have thought in this way and, most importantly, wanted Adrian to hate Dennis.
She wanted to fuel up Adrian's anger towards Dennis and see whether or not he was capable of destroying him at this age.
At her last life, all the odds were against him, and therefore, it was not possible for him to accomplish such a feat. However, with her backing him, she desired to see whether or not it would be possible.
"Prepare for it then!" Damian ordered.
The pleasure he felt showed in his face, and Odette found herself thinking that he was pathetic. Maybe after knowing how effortlessly he died at hands of Adrian, she lost all of her respect and admiration for him. It was not possible for her to look at him in the same light.
However, the mask she put on was hard to see through, and it was mastered to the point she felt confident that she would be able to deceive her father.
Walking over to the chair beside her father, she sat down upon it, and the maid from earlier followed behind her. At the presence of her father, the maid seemed to be shivering tremendously, and the glances her father stole at the maid intensified that.
The maid was quite a beauty, and Odette understood her father's reason for frequently looking at her. Knowing her father's lust for women, this was to be expected sooner or later.
Both of the boys were pushed forward by the guards, and they trembled as they stood at the centre of the room.
A maid walked forward towards them, and held within her hand was two knives. Bending down to the boys' height, the maid extended the knives towards them.
They stared at the knife with fear in their eyes and stumbled a step back. Their reluctance was easily visible on their face.
"Accept it or die!" her father ordered.
At the mention of the death, both of the boys accepted the knives with their shivering hands and stared at each other, not knowing what to do.
"Let the fight commence!"
As her father's voice resonated through the room, Odette let out a subtle yawn. The contents of the fight were clear to her, and the winner was predictable.
Although hesitant, Dennis approached Adrian first while Adrian stared down at his knife, not making a move.
Both of them were obviously frightened. However, Dennis was the cunning one among them. Odette was well aware of how sly that boy was.
But the problem was that he was not smart enough to support that. His slyness and greed was what that let him be destroyed in her last life, and she was eager to use that to her benefit this time around. He will be a helpful pawn.
Adrian raised his head and stared at Dennis with his widened doe eyes. The boy appeared quite endearing at that instant, and the desire to taint him grew within her.
He stumbled backwards as Dennis' knife came in contact with his shoulder. A wince escaped from his mouth while blood flowed out of his shoulder, colouring his white garment red.
Tears flowed down his eyes, and the knife in his hand fell down. He whimpered while he held on to that wound.
Moving towards him, Dennis targeted his other shoulder this time around, and Adrian squeezed his eyes tightly. As Dennis attacked his other shoulder, laughter escaped from Damian's mouth.
This was just like how it had happened in her last life. Dennis won the entire thing, and Adrian barely made a move on him. The boy was way too innocent for that.
As Dennis pulled away the knife from Adrian's shoulder, Adrian fell back on the ground, and more tears fell from his eyes. Immense pain went through his shoulders as his bottom lips quivered.
"It hurts," he cried in a low voice.
More blood flowed out of his shoulder, and coupled with his malnourished body, he was close to losing his consciousness. His sight got blurry.
Dennis, on the other hand, stared at his blood stained knife with fright in his eyes. There was a disgust present within him at what he had done. Nevertheless, if this meant that he had passed, he was willing to do it over again.
"This was too boring," her father said as he stood up from his place and fixed his clothing.
With that, Damian Albinius made his way towards the door, and a steward followed after him. The women who were with him earlier docilely stared at the ground.
Odette stood up from her place, and wearing a smile on her face, she looked at one of the older maids.
She then spoke out, "Hand over the rest of the servants to my siblings, and as for Adrian, fix him up. After that, bring them both to my room. Treat both of them well. I don't like my things being destroyed by others."
The glint in her eyes caused chill to go down their back, and the maid nodded her head at her. The fright she due to Odette was clearly visible on her face.
The smile on Odette's face widened.