Pride-Niklaus's Point of View
♕︎ ♕︎ ♕︎
Even after that spectacle, even after Scarlet had already taken the edge off her frustration, she wasn't done with putting the fox in his place. Not by a long shot. She wasn't satisfied yet. The way her eyes remained locked on Loki, filled with a quiet but simmering rage, sent a chill through the room. There was something colder behind it, something that made the air feel a few degrees cooler, as though her very presence was capable of dropping the temperature.
She spoke slowly, methodically, the calm before the storm—each word carefully placed, each syllable dripping with finality. "We are from different worlds," she began, her voice steady, but cold as ice. There was no hesitation, no room for negotiation. And by "we," she didn't mean just their physical separation; no, she was talking about the entire chasm between them—the distance in their personalities, their lives, their very essences.
The gulf was as deep as it was wide, a divide that could never be bridged. She continued, her tone laced with a biting edge.
"And though I respect your amazing taste for choosing me," she added, each word cutting through the space between them, "I just want you to stop with this obsession on me. It's fruitless. I have no intention on falling in love, on living anything like that at all, especially not with you." Her eyes narrowed slightly as she made her point. "You should snap out of it and look for someone who wants you back. Someone who isn't as disgusted by you as I am." Her voice now dripped with such palpable disdain that it was almost suffocating.
Every word was a slap in the face, filled with years of frustration, resentment, and outright hatred.
"This," she said, pointing from herself to him with such sharpness it almost seemed like she was physically separating them with the motion. "This will forever be unreciprocated. You're wasting your time, fox." Her words sliced through the tension like a razor. "You aren't even in the friend zone because we are not friends." She paused for emphasis, letting that sink in. "We are nothing but classmates. We are both part of the Council of Painite, sure, but that's only because we are Captains of two of the houses. That's all we are. Nothing more." Her tone darkened. "You're a fucking nuisance to me."
It wasn't anger that rang in her voice now; it was cold, unfeeling, like a wall of ice.
"And don't get it twisted," she added, her voice suddenly even sharper, colder. "I will never give you a chance. I don't want you. I don't like you like that. At all." She took a deep breath, eyes still trained on him like a predator locking in on its prey. Then, she threw the final punch with an eerie calmness, her voice unwavering: "You are not attractive to me. I feel nothing but annoyance when you are near me. In fact, I feel more attracted to the devil here than to you."
Her hand moved with deliberate slowness, pointing at me as she made the comparison, and I froze. There was no pretending it hadn't happened now. Did she really just say that to me, in front of all these people?
My mind reeled for a moment, struggling to catch up to the surreal nature of what had just transpired. I couldn't decide if I was more shocked by the fact that she had said it or by the way she delivered it, like it was the most casual thing in the world. The words were like ice shards, each one lodging itself deeper into my chest. My gut twisted, not from the insult, but from the fact that I had just been pointed out in the same breath as Loki's rejection.
'I'm more attractive than this filthy fox,' she had said. The sting of it was bitter and sweet, the kind of pain that left you both stunned and slightly… flattered? No, that couldn't be right.
And yet, through the shock of it, the strangest sensation curled in my chest. It wasn't anger that I felt—not immediately. No, it was something else—something dark, dangerous. But I didn't let it show. Not even for a second. I kept my eyes on her, unblinking, and waited.
But Loki… Loki was something else entirely. The sight of him standing there, ashen-faced, his eyes wide with heartbreak, was something I would never forget. It was a rare thing to see someone so completely defeated, and yet here it was, right in front of me. I reveled in it. The fox, broken. His pride shattered. And I loved it.
I couldn't help it. It was pure gold. Delicious.
"Was I clear now?" Scarlet asked, her voice still calm but carrying a quiet venom, as though daring Loki to speak, to say anything at all.
But she wasn't done. Far from it.
Her voice sharpened once again, the threat in her tone unmistakable. "Because if you keep this up, I might genuinely kill you if I lose my mind, fox." The casual way she said it made the threat all the more chilling. There was no anger now—no fire. Only cold, calculated resolve. "If you haven't gotten the memo yet, this is me rejecting you. This is me saying no. This is me telling you to go after someone that will be better for you and will love you back, because to me, whatever you think you feel towards me is nothing but a burden."
The word "burden" hung in the air like a heavy stone, settling over us all. It wasn't just a rejection—it was a dismissal. A finality. She had no intention of playing games, no intention of giving him false hope. And with that, she made it painfully clear: there was no room for negotiation.
"I don't want you near me," she continued, her eyes icy, her voice cold as ever. "I don't want you getting funny ideas." Her gaze flicked over to me briefly, but she didn't let herself linger on me. "I am not playing hard to get. I am not feigning rejection. I am not playing any kind of seduction games with you." Her words were firm, resolute, and unyielding. "I'm being fully honest here. I'm done." Her declaration wasn't just the end of a conversation—it was the end of any possibility of change, of hope, of anything resembling affection from her.
And she made it clear that there would be no second chances.
Kai, who had been standing beside me throughout the entire exchange, shifted uncomfortably, his voice barely above a whisper. "I'm scared that you're not screaming," he muttered, eyes wide with disbelief.
I could feel the tension in the room shift slightly as his words broke the spell of Scarlet's icy calm.
But she didn't acknowledge him. Not directly, anyway. It was as though she was still speaking, but now to no one in particular, just putting her thoughts out into the open. "His ways are terrible and don't work," she said, her tone almost pitying. "But fox likes me. He's had genuine feelings for me since we were kids."
There was a strange honesty in her voice, something that almost felt… vulnerable. It wasn't that she was giving him an ounce of sympathy, but there was a subtle honesty in acknowledging his feelings. And yet, it didn't change anything. It didn't matter. She didn't care. She couldn't.
"It's not his fault," she continued, her voice softening slightly, but still sharp enough to cut through the air. "And that's why I'm keeping my cool right now. I do wish to scream, but it won't change the fact that he can't switch off his emotions just because I feel nothing back." The softness in her words only served to make the pain of her rejection that much worse. "Again, I am not playing with anyone's feelings in here, and I do wish I could. But fox has good taste. He's just stupid to fall for me."
And just when I thought she couldn't possibly do anything else to humiliate him, she offered him advice. It wasn't what he wanted to hear, but it was advice nonetheless. "So, take your time, away from me, and find a rebound, or fall for anyone else. Just stop this thing you have for me. It's uncomfortable. And I'm not playing games with you."
At least she didn't reject the filthy fox in front of the entire academy. But there were still so many people in here, still too many eyes watching. The humiliation was public, undeniable, and I couldn't help but enjoy it. It was painful for Loki—undoubtedly—but I wasn't the one standing there, crushed under the weight of her words. And that made all the difference.
I couldn't help but wish I had recorded the whole thing. It was too perfect, too satisfying not to replay over and over again. Pure, unfiltered gold. Something I would savor, each and every moment, the next time I watched it unfold.
Her final words hung in the room, ringing in the silence that followed. Scarlet leaned back in her seat, her posture suddenly relaxed, as though she had just accomplished something monumental. Loki, on the other hand, stood before her, utterly defeated. His heart shattered, his pride in pieces.
It was a victory, in some ways, but it was also something else—something darker. A moment to remember. A moment I would never forget.
And in the midst of it all, I couldn't help but smile.
She is so mine.