It was three weeks until the Intergrade tournament began, and people were already talking about it. Just not for the reasons Cain hoped.
A lot of people were whispering about him and his team. He had left the team name to the girls since he did not really care about such a meaningless thing.
That was his first mistake.
Team Sovereign Heart.
Just hearing that name whispered as people directed pointed stares at him left Cain feeling extremely uncomfortable. He could feel the eyes on him whenever he walked through the halls, not the curious kind of attention given to someone strong, but the speculative looks of people trying to read between lines that did not exist. Some whispered about the tournament, sure, but most whispered about the name.
Team Sovereign Heart.
The rumors were getting out of hand.
Some students claimed he had bent the four strongest women in the academy to his will. Others said they were not just his teammates but his loyal followers. The most ridiculous rumor claimed each of them had confessed to him after some secret dungeon raid where he had saved their lives.
Cain ignored it all, or at least he tried to. None of it mattered. Not the name, not the whispers, not the strange looks he kept getting every time someone passed him in the hallway.
He had classes to attend, training to complete, and a tournament to win. That was all.
So when he walked into his morning class, he did so like normal. He took a seat in the middle row, opened his notebook, and waited for the instructor to arrive. Around him, the usual chatter filled the room. A few students glanced his way, some whispering about the tournament again, but he ignored them.
The instructor had just begun lecturing when the classroom door slammed open.
Every head turned toward the door.
Maris stood there.
The room went silent in an instant.
She was hard to miss. Tall, poised, and beautiful in a way that seemed to make the air in the room heavier. Her silver hair caught the sunlight streaming through the windows, and her golden eyes scanned the room slowly, deliberately.
She said nothing at first.
Her gaze moved from face to face. Most of the girls who met her eyes flushed crimson and looked away almost immediately. A few shifted in their seats nervously as if the weight of Maris's stare revealed every secret they had ever kept.
Then her eyes locked on Cain.
The tension in the room shifted instantly.
Maris began walking toward him.
Cain blinked, unsure why she was here at all, let alone in his classroom. He noticed the heated looks coming from several students as Maris made her way down the aisle. She moved with unhurried confidence, ignoring the whispers that had already begun spreading around the room.
When she reached him, she pulled out the chair next to his and sat down without a word.
Cain stared at her for a moment, confused.
She stared straight ahead, ignoring the looks she was getting.
Cain's confusion deepened when he noticed the glares she sent toward certain students. Specifically, any man who let his gaze linger on her figure for longer than a split second found himself on the receiving end of a look so sharp it made them flinch and look away.
She did not say a word to them. She did not need to. Her eyes promised consequences.
Cain exhaled slowly and finally spoke.
"Why are you here?" he asked, keeping his voice low so as not to draw even more attention than they already had.
Maris turned to look at him, crossing her arms over her chest as she did so.
"I came because I want to spend some time with you after class," she said clearly, her tone serious, as if she were discussing a simple training session.
The room went very still.
Cain stared at her, his expression blank, as whispers erupted immediately.
"That sounded like she was asking him out," someone hissed from the back.
"Did she just confess to him in front of everyone?" another whispered.
"Oh my god," someone else breathed.
Maris ignored all of it.
Cain, however, finally understood why the air in the room had changed so abruptly.
The way she had phrased it. The deliberate tone. The fact that she was sitting next to him in front of everyone after storming into the classroom like she owned the place.
It sounded nothing like a training request.
At least not to the students listening in.
Cain sighed quietly, dragging a hand down his face.
"What exactly do you mean by that?" he asked slowly, though he already knew the answer.
Maris leaned back slightly in her seat, her arms still crossed, her golden eyes unwavering as she replied.
"I want to train with you," she said. "After your class is finished."
She said it plainly, as though there was nothing at all suspicious about the words leaving her mouth.
Unfortunately, her tone was calm in a way that only made people misinterpret it even more.
Cain could practically feel the stares digging into the back of his head.
"That sounds like a date," someone whispered loudly enough for half the room to hear.
Maris's brow furrowed slightly as if confused why anyone would be whispering.
Cain closed his eyes briefly.
He had known the name would cause problems, but this was reaching new levels. The girls had picked it because it sounded elegant and dramatic, something romantic enough to fluster the other students while making rival teams take them seriously.
Cain had not expected it to fuel rumors this fast.
The instructor cleared his throat, clearly annoyed by the disruption, but even he seemed reluctant to say anything directly to Maris. Her reputation in the academy was formidable, and few wanted to risk being on the receiving end of her displeasure.
Cain opened his eyes again and looked at her directly.
"You could have just waited until after class to ask," he said quietly.
Maris tilted her head slightly. "Would that have made a difference?"
"Yes," Cain said flatly.
She looked faintly puzzled by his tone but said nothing more.
The instructor finally resumed the lecture, though the atmosphere in the room never quite returned to normal. Too many people kept glancing toward Cain and Maris, their imaginations clearly running wild.
Cain ignored them as best he could. He focused on the lecture, on his notes, on anything except the whispers surrounding him.
Beside him, Maris sat silently, apparently unaware of the fire that her words had started.
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