Alice wasn’t sure who her first opponent would be but she had an inkling that it would be one of those two who had her eyes on her.

’I bet my money on the princess who wants to get revenge.’ she thought, cracking her neck as she walked up the stage.

"The first opponent to go against Alice from ’Home’ is Elizabeth Hart from the New Veil academy."

"Aha," Alice scoffed and dropped her gaze to watch Elizabeth step into the podium. "I don’t know why tricks you used to fight me first but let me tell you," she pointed her sword at her. "...that stubborn heart of yours will be your downfall."

Elizabeth frowned and did not say a word.

’Hm, still haughty, huh?’ Alice thought. ’Let’s see if you have a backup plan.’ she used her third eye to check if Elizabeth had ingested demon blood. ’Ah, would you look at that? The princess still has a bit of pride.’

She was clean. She did not take in demon blood, which meant she wanted to win with her own strength. Excuses like, ’I wasn’t ready and that’s why I was taken off guard,’ wouldn’t work this time.

Because they were in an arena, and there would be a signal before they took action.

So, if she lost this time, it was really her loss. And because she probably wouldn’t be able to handle her loss and Alice’s victory, she would leave the fight to that demon she brought with her.

’A well-thought-out strategy,’ Alice thought. ’Only, it’s not going to work because I’ll beat her and that blood-sucking demon along with her.’

"Fighters ready?"

Elizabeth took her stance. A rather peculiar and awe-stricken stance. A stance that did not show any openings to the opponent.

Her legs were closed together, her hand behind her back and her sword stretched to the side.

But for Alice, who was still a beginner to swordplay, did not really care about openings. She was planning to end things as swiftly and quickly as possible.

If either of them lost their weapon or stepped out of the arena then it was their loss.

’Do I need to make a stance? This isn’t fencing practice or anything.’ Alice thought and yawned.

Up at the seats where the important people like the chairman were sitting, Noah stared at the scene and then laughed.

"Did she just yawn?" He asked. "She’s a one-of-a-kind, really. Who yawns when they’re supposed to take their stance?"

"She’s simply that confident that whatever happens, she’ll win." Adolf said and Noah grinned.

"Don’t you think you’re doting on her more than your real grandson?" He asked and Philip, who was sitting just a few seats away from them, flinched.

He was not supposed to react. He was supposed to act like none of it was his business but he could not ignore Noah’s remark.

"Hey," he turned his head and glared at Noah. "Stay out of other people’s business,"

Noah snickered.

"What? Are you angry?"

"I’m just annoyed that the leader of the Awakened’s agency in America is such a busybody that he’s trying to poke his nose into someone else’s family matters." He said and squinted his eyes. "Mind your damn business."

"Oh wow, he’s even as feisty as Alice. Are you sure those two aren’t related?" Noah exclaimed, disregarding Philip’s threats. "I should better take heed, lest I get a punch on my face out of nowhere."

"Noah," Adolf called. "The fight is about to start," he said and Noah turned his attention to the arena while Adolf shifted his gaze to stare at Philip with a lingering expression of regret in his eyes.

When will his grandson finally open up to him?

Though, it seemed like he wasn’t cussing at him as he would do back in the day. Maybe Alice’s threats go to him, or maybe he realized he was taking his anger out in the wrong way all along.

If he ignored Adolf, that would be much more effective in making Adolf despair.

He sighed.

All this was a result of his stubbornness.

Down at the arena, Alice simply stared at her sword, checking how sharp it was. She pricked her finger on the top but it was not sharp enough to tear her skin. So, she wondered,

’Hm, do they want us to kill each other by giving us real swords?’ she glanced at Elizabeth. ’But then again, we used real swords while practicing.’

The crowd suddenly started growing restless and Alice glanced at them.

"They should’ve started by now, why are they just standing still?"

"It’s going to be boring if they do this all the while."

"Aren’t they just wasting time at this rate?"

"No one wants to take the first move. One is taking a stance while the other is acting like this is the time to sharpen her blade."

The complaints were piling up, and even Elizabeth wondered why Alice was not charging towards her.

She thought by now, she would’ve charged at her, releasing her energy in order to cut her down, but she was acting so nonchalant and even yawning.

Alice decided to provoke Elizabeth to make the first move.

"Hey, are you scared?" She asked and Elizabeth’s eyebrows furrowed. "I understand you’re trying to be cautious but if you wait for me to come at you, you’ll regret it."

Elizabeth wanted to take that as a bluff but one look in Alice’s eyes through her glasses and she could see how dead serious she was.

She wasn’t joking. If she charged at her and took her at unawares, she could possibly behead her and call it a mistake with a, ’Ops, I didn’t know she was that weak,’ or ’I thought she was going to defend. Well, guess not.’

Elizabeth gulped. She could feel a long line stretched towards her neck from Alice’s blade. What was this? Her throat felt dry and her hands were getting sweaty.

It was as if she was facing defeat even before she began to fight.

No, this could not happen. She would fight. She would make sure to fight and...

"If you’re going to come at me," Alice interrupted her train of thought. "Make sure you’re coming at me with your full strength because I won’t go easy on you."

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com