"Why do you look like that?" Daren asked with a frown as he put his bag down and took a seat next to Alora who was busy staring into empty space.
"Daren, I thought Serah had a crush on you."
"Eh? Who's Serah?"
Alora skillfully ignored his question and continued, "But it seems that I was the one she had a crush on."
"..."
"And she also thinks that you're gay."
Daren tilted his head innocently and blankly stared at the girl before he asked, "I'm gay? How come I didn't know this?"
"Well, now you know," Alora sighed as she spoke, "Don't worry, even if your parents kick you out of the house, I'll be there to support you and your future boyfriend."
"I'll appreciate that but I don't think I'll be kicked out of the house that easily."
"Just in case," Alora added.
Daren let out a small chuckle as he once again asked, "Who is this Serah now? I don't think there's someone in our class with that name."
"There is," Alora nodded her head as she confirmed it and pointed her finger at a particular girl who was sitting in one of the starting benches, "There she is."
"..." Daren immediately fell a little speechless as he saw the girl.
"She didn't even let me finish my assignment," Alora complained.
"Alora, that's my cousin," Daren spoke as he pursed his lips into a thin line, "And her name isn't Serah. It's Ceira."
"Oh..." Alora's eyes widened with a bit of surprise, "Then it seems that your cousin has a crush on me."
Daren shook his head with a sigh as he spoke, "Not possible. She doesn't like dumb people."
Alora's eyes narrowed down on the man dangerously as she asked, "Are you calling me dumb...?"
Daren shrugged his shoulders and said nothing as a response to that.
"By the way, who is that? I don't think I've seen her in class before this," Alora frowned as she pointed at the girl that sat beside Ceira.
"Hmm?" Daren looked over with a bit of confusion as he spoke, "Isn't that Mari? She has been with us since the beginning of the semester."
Alora could only see the back of the girl's head and hence although she found her a bit familiar, she was not able to immediately recognize her. However, now that she had heard the name, her eyes widened as she managed to recognize her in a heartbeat.
"Mari...?" Alora muttered in disbelief.
At that exact moment, Mari turned around and smiled as she looked at Alora.
"Eh? Do you two know each other already?" Daren asked as he felt a little confused after seeing Mari turning to smile at Alora.
"Daren, that's one of the demons I talked about," Alora muttered seriously as she informed.
"Huh?"
Alora gulped with a bit of worry as she wondered what the demon was doing here.
"Hasn't she been here this whole time?" Daren's eyebrows creased together as he questioned.
"No," Alora was more than sure of this.
Although she didn't pay attention to the students, she had always paid attention to the seating arrangement and the seat next to Ceira had always remained empty before this.
"I think your cousin might be in danger," Alora spoke as she stood up.
Daren looked to be even more confused as he asked, "What are you trying to do?"
Alora glanced at Daren and only smiled as she heard this question but said nothing as a response.
It seemed as if Daren wanted to stop her but before he could do anything, Alora had already walked away towards Ceira and Mari.
The whole class looked to be shocked as they saw Alora grabbing Mari's hand and pulling her up.
"We need to talk," Alora spoke before she dragged the girl out of the class.
"..."
Such a scene was clearly not an everyday occurrence and hence it was only natural that there would be new gossip arising because of this.
"Where are you taking me?" Mari asked with an amused chuckle as she obediently followed after Alora.
"Shut up," Alora clicked her tongue as she kept walking.
They reached the second-floor ladies washroom which was always empty and only then did Alora let go of the girl's hand.
"It's you, isn't it?"
Mari smirked as she heard this question, "Why ask when you already know?"
Alora's face immediately turned a little white as she heard this.
"Don't worry, the other two don't know about this. They still think you're just a new demon," Mari sighed as she tried to reassure the girl.
"Why are you here?" Alora gritted her teeth as she questioned angrily.
"It seemed that you had gotten a bit too friendly with the prince so I was here to remind you," Mari tilted her head as she spoke with a smile that could be considered a bit wicked, "You're supposed to kill him. That's the reason why you entered the palace."
Alora gulped as she heard this but said nothing.
Ever since she had recognized the demon prince, she was no longer interested in completing this mission.
"Are you thinking about backing down now?" Mari asked with a small mocking chuckle and before the girl could even answer the question, she continued with a threatening tone, "We have already warned you about the consequences. If you really want to back down then you should prepare yourself for the funeral of your friends."
"Stop kidding yourself," Alora scoffed as she retorted, "The curse prevents you from harming humans."
Mari smiled as she heard this and nodded her head, "That's right. It stops us from directly killing a human but there are still other ways."
"..."
"You have already fooled us by lying about yourself. However, although it is infuriating to know that you're nothing more than a mere mortal, I still want to give you a chance to prove yourself. If you can kill the prince, nothing would happen to the people around you."
Mari suddenly stopped and took a minute to laugh before she continued, "But if you are to fail then the ones around you would be the first to be tortured."
This was a clear threat and Alora was not a person that liked to be threatened.