I messed up.
It was careless of me to think that no one would be able to tell. Most people wouldn't, but there are always exceptions. That's right, he is in charge of the magic department, of course he would be able to tell.
It's not so bad though. I wanted to stand out, and now that the head teacher is keeping an eye on me, I definitely do. I'm just hoping not to attract too much attention, to the point where the big shots would notice me. Just enough so that I would be selected as a participant for the upcoming competition, and that's it. I need to be forgettable.
"You are incredible!" Vivian exulted. I could almost see some stars in her eyes.
"Keep your voice down," I advised. "We're not alone."
After the class ended, I joined Vivian in the refectory for lunch break. It's been five minutes since we've sat down at the table, but she still hasn't started eating. Instead, she keeps talking about what just happened.
"The advanced class," she dreamed. "Do you even realize? You just arrived and you're already joining Mustache's classes! You are so awesome!"
I could feel my cheeks turning red as she kept showering me compliments.
"But… didn't you find it weird for him to choose me instead of Lucius?" I inquired.
The young girl tilted her head, her eyes wandering.
"To be honest, I did at first, just a little bit," she admitted. "But since it's Mustache, he probably has his reasons."
Lost in her own enthusiasm, Vivian finally started eating her lunch. I've already noticed it last time, but she seems to have a big appetite. This time again she took a big serving. Well, she's a growing girl, I guess? It was somewhat pleasing to see her eat to her heart content. No useless etiquette, just a girl and her meal. Our last meal together didn't go so well and she couldn't finish her dinner, so hopefully, this time it'll all go well.
But of course not…
"And have you seen Lucius' face? That was hilarious!"
As Vivian burst out laughing, remembering the scene, someone kicked the bench she was sitting on, choking her laughter at once. When she turned around, she gasped in surprise.
"Glad to hear I amused you," Lucius snarled with a threatening look.
Vivian immediately lowered her gaze, her face flushing in embarrassment. The boy however, didn't pay any more attention to her than this. He immediately shifted his furious gaze on me.
"I want a rematch," he demanded.
I blinked several times at him.
"A rematch?" I frowned. "What for?"
Lucius' eyelids twitched as he shot me a deadly glare. Suddenly, he slammed the palm of his hand down on the table, causing the plates to jolt on the impact.
"Don't play dumb!" He bellowed. "I know you cheated!"
What the hell? That's ridiculous.
"You stole my place!" He continued. "I should be the one to go to the advanced classes, not you! So I demand a rematch!"
Well, I can see where he is coming from, but that's really not my problem. In fact, I even let him win to save his face, isn't that enough?
I sighed.
"Not interested," I said as I took a sip in my cup of water.
The boy glared at me for a few seconds. Then a smirk formed on his lips.
"I thought you'd say that."
What is he thinking?
Lucius straightened his back and took a deep breath, puffing out his chest.
"My name is Lucius Bain!" He suddenly shouted, attracting the attention of everyone around us. "By the old laws of this school, I hereby challenge you to a duel!"
…
What? That's it?
I frowned a little confused at the boy who was grinning confidently.
And then I sighed.
"I refuse."
"I'll wait for you next- Wait what?!"
His face washed blank in surprise, Lucius looked at me with wild eyes.
"I said I refuse," I repeated with the same disinterested voice.
"You can't refuse a duel!" He exclaimed, outraged.
"Of course I can. I just did."
"Do you have no honor?!"
"Nope, I don't."
Bewildered, Lucius stayed still for a few seconds. He had clearly not expected me to decline, not in front of this many witnesses. But I couldn't care less for my reputation. Thanks to my brother, it was already bad anyway. So I'm not going to bother myself with him. The chatters of the surrounding people brought back the frozen Lucius to his senses.
"Aren't you just admitting in front of all those people that you cheated?" He finally got a hold of himself.
I could tell by the tone of his voice that he was losing confidence. So I simply tilted my head at his accusations.
"I cheated?"
"Yes you did!" Lucius denounced, as he pointed at me. "That incantation of yours…!"
"You mean 'Abracadabra'?"
"It doesn't even mean anything!"
Well, he does have a point, but that's not going to help him. After all, there is no way for him to check.
"Yes it does," I lied. "It means 'Fireball' in an ancient language."
The boy flinched at my casual explanation as the people around him were starting to grin out of amusement. I flatly refused his duel and now, his groundless accusations were making a fool out of him. He knew it. He clenched his fists, slowly losing patience.
"E-Even if that was true," he grunted. "What kind of chant is that short?"
I shrugged.
"Why not? Such a simple spell as casting a fireball shouldn't have a long chant to begin with."
For the boy, it was straight provocation. I was basically telling him that he was the abnormal one, for being unable to cast a simple fireball without a long chant. Still, he couldn't find anything to retort so he simply took it in, his face reddening in anger. Around us, those who had listened to our conversation mocked the poor boy. Vivian was no exception. She tried to hide a chuckle with her hand, but it didn't escape Lucius' eyes.
"What are you laughing at?!" He vented his frustration on her. "You think this is funny?"
Startled, Vivian averted her gaze, but her smile was not subsiding.
"Well, kind of," she admitted in a low voice, loud enough for Lucius to hear.
The boy's eyelid twitched as the veins in his temples were ready to pop out. He couldn't tolerate the humiliation any longer, or at least, not coming from Vivian.
"That's rich coming from you, dead-weight!" Lucius scoffed with a mocking grin.
Vivian's expression immediately hardened at his words. So far, I noticed that the nickname 'dead-weight' was something she was especially sensitive about.
"You can't even cast a spell properly!" The boy continued.
Vivian's eyebrows furrowed, so I glared at him. He was taking it out on her purposely. However, before I could say anything to him, Vivian spoke first.
"At least I can admit defeat," she retorted dryly.
Well, I didn't expect that. And neither did Lucius.
"What did you say?" The startled boy asked.
"You heard me."
Lucius ground his teeth.
"I didn't lose!" He shot.
"You were being dominated during the whole exercise," Vivian stated with a sharp tone, slowly losing patience in her turn. "And Mr Glenn chose her, not you."
"That's because she cheated!"
Annoyed, the young girl got up from her seat to face Lucius.
"No she didn't! We were all here, we saw what happened, you lost!"
The boy ground his teeth, unsure what to respond. I must say I'm surprised as well. I didn't expect Vivian to suddenly take my defense. Giving a quick glance around him, Lucius noticed the crowd of students that had gathered around us, alerted by the sudden commotion. If he didn't want to lose face, he knew he couldn't back down.
"Who are you to butt in anyway? My business is with her! What are you, her lover?" He barked in a mocking tone in an attempt to humiliate her.
But Vivian didn't react to his provocation.
"I'm her friend!" She responded.
"Yeah, right!" Lucius sneered. "I bet you forced your friendship because she's new! Let me guess, you got kicked out again of your group, right? And now you're leeching off of her, following her around like a puppy!"
Actually, that's pretty much the contrary.
As Vivian glared at him with wide red-rimmed eyes, the boy smirked.
"What? It's the truth!" He scoffed, provoking her even further. "Dead-weight!"
But not only did Lucius not expect Vivian to retort, he also not expected her to retort the way she did. Neither did I, to be honest.
"Crybaby!" The young girl spat.
It was probably on the spur of the moment, but that one word was enough to send Lucius into shock. Only for a while, though, as fires of fury and indignation began smoldering in his eyes.
"Say what?!" He raged.
"We all saw you crying like a little girl when you failed your incantation!" Vivian shamelessly denounced out loud. "How old are you? Even my ten years old sister doesn't cry when she gets hit with a belt!"
The boy wrinkled his nose at her accusation, as the wide judgmental stares of the others around did not go unnoticed by him. He took a menacing stance.
"Are you picking a fight with me?!"
But Vivian stood her ground.
"What if I am?!"
Lucius took a step forward, until there was only a few centimeters left separating them. He glared right through her, but that wasn't enough to intimidate Vivian as she glared right back at him.
"Then I challenge you to a duel," the boy declared, without breaking the eye-contact. "I'll make you swallow back your words. You're going to crawl on the ground."
Vivian did not back down.
"Come at me, I'm waiting for you!"