A wave of cold air assaulted Hajime as Octavia opened the door. The Flora-binding room was utterly frozen and managed to make the surrounding temperature drop, inside the whole building. The sound of bickering could be heard or rather the sound of an upset prince. Hajime stepped outside, hoping to see what the fuss was about, but he walked right into a pair of boobs. He looked up and was met with the cold, hard gaze of Charlotte. The temperature dropped even further.
"Hajime. I gave you one job. One job. But somehow you managed to get another noble killed. And it had to be another Dominalis noble."
His head throbbed; he wanted to see the drama not be in it. His eyes darted to the side as he ignored Charlotte and saw Prince Zovian.
Two guards stood in front of him, preventing him from entering and refusing to speak to him.
"What's that about?" he asked Charlotte.
She sighed, "Rumors spread quickly. Another Dominalis noble was killed."
"Headmistress Charlotte! I demand to see him. I've been informed Hajime Starfall killed a Dominalis noble and I demand an explanation." Prince Zovian yelled.
The guards blocked him with their swords but suddenly they retracted their weapons, allowing the prince to enter after him entered a woman, dressed in a pink uniform that had several insignias on it. The most eye-catching one was the one that belonged to the Dominalis Royalty. She walked behind Zovian until they stopped in front of Charlotte, Hajime, and Octavia.
"Ursula," Charlotte said, "You got here quick."
Ursula forced a smile as she side-eyed Zovian, "I hope to solve this matter quickly and without further complications. So what happened?"
"A commoner killed one of our noblemen. That's what happened." Zovian said.
Hajime groaned, "I'm the son of a Marquiss okay? Not a commoner. And what happened was a simple accident."
"Accident?" Zovian said, "You're telling me the death of three people was just an accident. Just because you're talented doesn't mean you can go around killing people. You killed an Avyris candidate!"
Hajime rolled his eyes at his hypocrisy. Zovian practically abused his title of Crown Prince every chance he got. Nonetheless, he was still a prince so Hajime had to treat him with a certain amount of respect and because the woman in front of him seemed important.
Octavia chuckled, "That guy wouldn't have been able to reach Avryis in a million years."
"Who do you thi-"
Ursula silenced Zovian with her hand, "Zovian. You're standing in front of Octavia Sydali, the third Aicte. Please show her some respect."
Zovian averted his gaze and Octavia smirked.
Ursula bowed, "Now, Charlotte please show me where the accident happened."
Charlotte obliged, leading Ursula, Octavia, Zovian, and Hajime. The cold was getting more severe. They reached the Flora-binding room that had no door because Empress Tella broke it like it was nothing. Zovian stepped inside first. His eyes widened as he recognized which noblemen died earlier.
"Blake." his voice was flat and monotone.
A vein bulged on his forehead as he faced Hajime. His flower tattoo glowing, his hand faintly glowing blue, dashing towards Hajime, his fist aiming for his jaw, he missed.
Hajime dodged him as if he was playing with a baby. He took far too many face punches from Octavia's training.
Ursula raised her eyebrows; Zovian was expecting to connect his fist to Hajime's face and failed to think of what would happen if he missed; he slipped and fell to the floor. Hajime laughed, Octavia laughed, and Charlotte scoffed.
Ursula massaged her forehead and crouched next to Zovian, helping him up, whispering something in his ear. Zovian bit his lips and stayed quiet. Ursula began examining the statues, particularly the one that belonged to her noblemen.
"What was he doing here?" she asked.
Charlotte gestured for Hajime to answer, earning a glare from Hajime.
"Blake was supposed to bond with Aveline."
Ursula's eyebrows furrowed, "That's rather vague mister Starfall."
Hajime turned to Charlotte, who had a smirk on her face, and then turned to Octavia, who nodded. He inhaled a long breath.
"I want my lawyer."
Everyone besides Octavia's eyes widened. Ursula forced a chuckle.
"Lawyer? I'm an ambassador from Dominalis, not a prosecutor. I'm just here to relay adequate information back to the Emperor."
Hajime had seen enough cop movies back on earth and he felt like he had done enough explaining for today. He shook his head.
"Lawyer."
Octavia chuckled. Ursula frowned and ordered Zovian to follow her outside, leaving Charlotte, Octavia, and Hajime. Hajime leaned against the doorway and Octavia rested her arm on the frozen doorway.
"Octavia," Charlotte said, "Are you in love with him or something?"
Octavia snorted, "Hell no. He's just an amusing brat."
"Then why are you here? I can still feel Tella's mana lingering in the academy. Are you planning to pick a fight against her or something? Over Hajime?"
Octavia hummed.
"Maybe. Who knows. More importantly, what happened to you? You used to be able to put up a good fight against me, now you're barely scratching the surface. Was losing your partner too traumatizing? It's been 10 years Charlotte."
Charlotte gritted her teeth.
"You're one to talk. You never cared about your partners. Heck I'm assuming your current one is just locked in a basement."
"She is," Octavia smirked, "but I feed her once a month and they get to go outside every two months."
"You're twisted Octavia."
"Thank you."
Octavia yawned, stretching her arms.
"Hajime, let's go."
He obeyed.
They bumped into Ursula and Zovian on their way out. Zovian still had a vein bulging on his forehead. In fact, it seemed to get bigger. On the other hand, Ursula was gazing at Hajime with focus. A slow smile started to grow on her face. She leaned forward a little bit.
"Mister Starfall. I'll be telling the Emperor that it was an accident, however, we will still be taking this matter to the Court of Blossoms. Hopefully, we'll get this settled peacefully. Also, Octavia, a word."
Octavia clicked her tongue and the duo separated from Hajime and Zovian. Zovian walked towards him and stopped right next to him, their shoulders almost touching.
"I'll kill you if you join the tournament."
Hajime snorted, "Yeah, yeah whatever."
Zovian clicked his tongue, walking away, his aura oozing out of him.