Chapter 24: Arena Twenty-Two: Buried Grudges II
"Uh... D-do you know Anastasia, Roxy?"
I asked slowly, while breaking in a cold sweat.
"Yes. Who wouldn't know the wolves of the Valentina family?"
Roxy hissed in reply, trembling.
"A-and Anastasia, you?"
"How would I forget the one who turned my childhood into shit?"
An extremely coarse language came out of Anastasia's mouth as she clenched her fists.
"Oh... That's..."
I didn't know why, but these two despised each other.
"A-alright... Let's talk about it, shall we?"
I tried to pacify them but...
"No. Answer my question first. Why is she here?"
Roxy didn't budge.
"Yeah, Arnold. You were supposed to spend your time with me today, so why is that girl here?"
Anastasia also chimed in, looking at me with poison in her eyes.
"A-ah, you see... Roxy usually reads books in this place..."
"A-and I came here with Anastasia as we didn't have any classes today."
I tried to explain the situation to both of them.
"Hmm..."
Yet their stares seemed oddly cold.
"W-well, that s-should explain things to you two, right?"
A moment of silence passed... Then Roxy sighed.
"Fine... It's not like our enmity has to do anything with you."
"True... Yeah."
Both of them surprisingly agreed on something. I sighed in relief.
"S-so what brings you here, Roxy?"
I asked, wiping the sweat off my brows. Oddly enough, her oppressive aura felt lighter.
Perhaps my level had to do something with this? It needed further thought, so I left it for later.
"I wanted to meet you..."
She said, looking away. Her cheeks seemed oddly flushed.
"O-oh... For what?"
"I-I... I wanted to invite you to my home."
"... What?"
...
"Why am I here?"
Anastasia grumbled as she stared at the large old building in front of her. It wasn't tall, but wide.
"Well, I couldn't leave you there after making a promise with you..."
I tried to reason with her. After Roxy had invited me to the mansion, I saw a butler behind her, pointing his glare at me.
I felt like it wouldn't have been a good idea to reject her, so I had accepted and brought Anastasia along with me.
Almost immediately we were brought to a luxurious car, which took us directly to her mansion. Of course, we didn't have the pass to leave the academy, but for some reason, neither Principal Flora nor Grey told me not to go.
But... I now knew the reason why.
"Roxy... You were one of the great nobles?"
I asked, gulping.
"Yes, I thought I had told you my name when we met?"
Roxy asked, tilting her head.
"W-well... You did, but I was too occupied with controlling my desire to run away to notice..."
I muttered, looking at the large door in front of me.
"Well, no matter. Let's enter."
She laughed it off and gestured her butler, a young man, to open the door. He looked extremely handsome with his chiseled features and perfect suit, but his eyes seemed extremely cold.
"You never showed the same reaction to me..."
Anastasia grumbled again.
Of course, I didn't. Back then, I, for some reason, hated the Elliots. I didn't know what I was thinking, but my hatred had clouded my judgment.
"Come on, you wouldn't like it if I had feared you."
I smiled at her, but another voice interrupted my attempts to console(?) her.
"So you fear me?"
"O-oh, come on, Roxy. Both of us know about that aura of yours."
"Hm... Fine. Whatever."
Roxy entered the mansion, with me and Anastasia tailing behind her.
Roxy brought us to a luxurious waiting room inside.
"Have a seat."
She said before ordering the servants to bring something to drink.
"Thanks."
I muttered before sitting down on the couch.
Anastasia sat down beside me without much of a word. Roxy took a hard glance at her, but decided to ignore her for the time being.
The servants soon brought the drinks and placed them on the table. Roxy sat opposite of us and casually took a glass.
"Thanks for the drink."
I muttered a quick thanks before picking up my own glass. I rubbed the touchpad on the side to cool down the drink a bit more.
The latest models of utensils felt extremely mismatching with the old yet expensive decorations around us. Maybe it was a thing the nobles liked.
"So... How has it been for you ever since we last met?"
Our last meeting, which was also our first meeting. Roxy seemed to have left that part out, so I didn't point it out either.
"W-well... I guess it has been fine?"
I tried to pass it off casually.
"Don't lie. I had heard that you defeated the Winchester boy in a duel. And you also have awakened two active skills in one day. In just four days, you did all these... And you say you have been just 'fine'?"
Roxy replied in a cold tone while looking at her drink.
"U-uh... You seem to know everything."
"Well, I am a Rubiat, after all. Collecting information is our speciality."
Roxy tried to seem smug, but a gentle voice suddenly chided her.
"Now, you weren't supposed to tell them that, daughter."
"M-mother?"
Roxy almost jumped out of her seat. I looked at the owner of the voice, only to be greeted by a woman whose face was hidden behind a veil. She was also wearing a black goth type dress. Even though her features were hidden behind the veil (which was, unlike Roxy's, impossible to see through), I could tell that she was extremely beautiful based on her features that peeked out of the veil every now and then.
Just like Roxy, I could feel a off-putting aura from her, but it was much less intense than the former.
"M-mother, I did not know that you would be here today."
Roxy stood up and bowed. But what surprised me the most was Anastasia standing up and bowing too. Trying to follow their examples, I also stood up to bow, but the woman held up her hand.
"It's fine. I don't wish to make my daughter's first friend uncomfortable."
She said in a light tone before looking at Anastasia.
"And how do you fare, Anastasia? I have heard much of your achievements in Stigma."
"You honour me, Lady Rubiat."
Anastasia humbled herself gracefully.
"How long has it been since we last met?"
"Three years, if I am not wrong, Lady Rubiat."
"You have grown much in these three years. Good work."
The woman smiled at Anastasia. But it bothered me how she didn't mention Anastasia among Roxy's first friend's'. Perhaps unlike what I had thought previously, Roxy and Anastasia's enmity wasn't based on something petty.
"Anyhow, you should keep in mind what to tell your friends, daughter. Lest you make them fear you or despise you."
Roxy's mother gave another piece of advice to her before giving me a slight nod and leaving the room.
"I didn't know mother was here..."
Roxy let out the breath she had been holding before sitting down again.
"Are you afraid of her?"
I asked before sitting down myself. Hearing my question, Roxy shook her head.
"No, I respect her... I just don't want her to be disappointed with me..."
Seeing her like this, Roxy felt much more like a girl of her age.
Unlike our first meeting, I had a much better impression of her.
"So... Why did you want to invite me here?"
"Ah... For this."
Roxy looked at her butler, who handed over an ornamental box to her.
Roxy put the box on the table and opened the lid carefully. Inside was a bracelet. Unlike what I was expecting, the bracelet was modern, not anything made out of gold or something.
The bracelet itself was silver, just like the one I was using to hide my class. However, unlike the latter which was bland, this one had thin glowing blue lines running through them.
"That's..."
Anastasia seemed to recognize it, as she was currently looking at it while frowning.
"What is this?"
I asked Roxy who was looking at my face, possibly judging what expression I was making.
"You had a run-in with Jeffery Valentina, didn't you?"
"Yeah... I did."
I nodded, grimacing.
"And you probably felt his 'charm', didn't you?"
"I guess... I did, yeah."
"This bracelet will stop that charm from working on you. So from the next time you meet him, you'll be on equal grounds, or maybe you'll have the advantage when it comes to physical strength."
"O-oh... Thanks."
I nodded and accepted the bracelet. Knowing Jeffery, he would come for me the moment he gets back in the academy.
Having something with me that could potentially stop his plans would be beneficial in the long run.
"No problem."
Roxy smiled at me gracefully, before turning towards Anastasia.
"Well, I know that we have bad blood between us. But I would like to make it so that it doesn't inconvenience Arnold."
"That is what I was going to say."
Anastasia muttered but agreed nonetheless.
Seeing them agree to something without any argument... Perhaps there was still a chance to mend their relationship... Or so I thought.
I never knew how deep the grudge ran, however.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone