บท 6: 1.06 – Ice Prince – Crimson Academy

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Edited by Psycho S

Proofreaded by P.D Webb.

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Olivia stood in front of her sister, Grace, and automatically, Mark and Victor stepped before her.

When the youths finally registered what was happening, Bing Shi nudged her sister out and didn't bother acknowledging the staring Xavier, "Let's go."

Looking at the leaving group with an expressionless face, Xavier passed by the staff that bowed to him with respect and fascination. While calling his butler, his gaze halted on Olivia's back, "Tell my parents I agree to end the engagement. But I'll only end it under the condition that I get to choose my own partner."

"Y-yes, young master!" answered the person on the other side of a line. This young master was a genius prodigy. He passed all tests with flying colours, knew how to play many musical instruments, and even improved his father's company at such a young age! He didn't need a woman's backing to establish his already strong position.

[Side mission success: Break the engagement between Grace Bacchus and Xavier Dalton.+1000p]

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"Don't you think Xavier is a bit too much of himself lately?" Bing Shi asked Mark, picking up her tennis racket in one hand, "He treated us as if we were thin air. I really want to see him get a taste of his own medicine. Don't you want to see that too?"

'I hope Victor can hear this. I want to see him be the Xavier to my Grace. What should I do so I can be treated like I'm thin air right now?'

"Hm? Ah, y-yeah," Mark answered in a daze. Olivia blatantly showed him more attention than she should, which gave him a very... wrong impression.

Bing Shi wanted to team up with her sister or Mark in tennis, but Grace quickly grabbed Mark's arm and dragged him to the right side of the tennis court, leaving her with Victor again.

"You should stop looking at him or any other man if you know what's good for you,' said Victor as a dangerously beautiful smile carved onto his face, "I won't tolerate any distractions or wandering eyes. Your smile and body are only to be appreciated by me. Understand?"

'Too late. My mind and body already belong to someone else.'

'But I can't destroy Olivia's future by telling the truth.'

Bing Shi got herself into position and gave Victor a sugary smile. She then threw the ball into the air and hit it with her racket. When the ball smashed into the net in the middle of the court, she sighed in feigned disappointment, "I'm so bad at this..."

"..." Victor expected her to at least show a bit of a negative reaction, or at least a small scoff or a sign of fear, but all she showed so far was 'a forced' politeness, "Why don't you let me teach you how to play tennis?"

Victor walked behind her to show her how to play tennis. This was an attempt to become more intimate with his fiance when he crept closer to her with intent.

Before he could touch her, Bing Shi hurriedly turned around. Her abrupt action caused her racket to hit his shoulders, very, very hard— so hard, apparently, that it made him groan loudly in pain, alarming everyone who heard him.

Grace and Mark had heard Victor when he groaned loudly. They ran over to the pair and exclaimed with alarm, "What happened?!"

Bing Shi stood rooted in the place. She had to learn how to strike a chicken sooner than she expected, "We should call an ambulance... I think I broke his shoulder."

"I'm alright," holding his arm, Victor only requested Olivia to accompany him to the infirmary. She complied with his request.

The whole trip to the infirmary was quiet. Victor realised that Olivia wasn't going to apologise for hitting him; he would have thought she was too shaken to apologise, but after a few days of learning her act, he knew that she just didn't want to apologise at all.

Before entering the infirmary, Victor bluntly told Olivia, "I'm fine with playing the mouse and cat chase. The more you play hard to get, the more I'll enjoy the sweet win."

Bing Shi didn't like this guy who continuously schemed to get with her like she wasn't human, but rather a toy, "Wasn't my message clear? Being alone with you feels like you'll kill me in a second. Everything you do creeps me out. Every time you talk, you make me want to gouge out my ears!"

As soon as he got closer, Bing Shi directly hit Victor's shoulders with her racket again as he gave a near shout of pain. She carried on ranting to Victor, frustrated that he treated her discomfort like it was a game, "You want to know why I give Mark so much attention?! Well, go ask him for some advice on how to act like a proper man! Maybe then, and only maybe, when you learn to grow a pair of balls and stop acting like a creep, I'll talk to you like you're not a weirdo, and say sorry for hitting you with a racket."

"..." Victor stepped to the side to create a distance from her. She should be careful of what she said. He really wanted to snap her neck in half when she hit him with that racket.

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The whole resort already knew about the broken engagement between Grace and Xavier. Because there was this wet chicken always annoying Grace, she didn't have time to show off her innocent self, thus Xavier losing his interest in her.

The days continued as always, until that thing happened, right before the end of the summer break.

[Hidden quest success +1000p: Make Grace kiss someone besides Xavier.]

'Wait...What?!? How?'

"I don't like him anymore! So stop pestering me!" Grace yelled out.

"Then why did you tell those girls, who were interested in him not to go near him!?" Mark yelled back, cornering Grace in the corner of the building.

"How do you know? Were you stalking me?" Grace glared at him as she avoided his question indirectly. She just wanted to help those girls to avoid death. Whoever went near that ice cube except for the heroine, would surely die a painful death like her! Xavier belonged to Alisa Charles!

It didn't occur to Grace that her warning these ladies would create an interesting misunderstanding...

"I was just on my way to meet Oli-!"

Suddenly, Grace tugged his hand down and her other free hand grabbed his neck and pulled him closer to her with force. She pushed her lips to his, muffling whatever complaints were going to leave his mouth.

Mark wanted to push her away, but to no avail, the more he tried to push her away, the more she pushed her lips to his. Groaning in pain when his lip was bitten by her out of annoyance, he opened his peripheral vision and saw him.

Xavier was looking at them. There was no expression on Xavier's face that Mark could make out.

Then, Mark noticed Grace's heaving shoulders and the wet tear tracks that ran down her cheeks. She made no noise as she wept silently in the kiss. Why she cried, he didn't know. Perhaps she was humiliated?

Mark looked back at Xavier while his lips were still locked onto his best friend's ex-fiance's lips. Embarrassed, Mark looked away from Xavier's piercing eyes. Mark put his hand on the back of her head and gently guided her head into a tilt; this pushed her body closer to him so, he wrapped his arm around Grace and... closing his eyes, he kissed her with a sudden fierceness that surprised Grace.

When Mark opened his eyes to look back at that place, there was no Xavier to see.

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[I don't think so. They hate each other.]

["No, I could clearly see how Mark kissed her back at the end. It's the beginning of a love-hate relationship! At least she broke her engagement before doing the deed."]

Bing Shi chatted with her system as she went out for a walk with Victor.

Victor had to say. This girl was the most boring female he'd ever met. To bluff the public, they would sometimes show up together in a restaurant. But despite this, if the public tried to look into their facade any closer... they would be busted.

The couple never talked to each other because there was nothing to talk about.

She'd stare at her phone, the menu, her glass water — anything but him. And when she finally did speak, she kind of said nothing at all. She didn't hate him, she didn't like him, she felt absolutely nothing towards him.

"Are you... not interested in men?" he finally asked.

Continuing to look at the vast greenery inside the park resort, Bing Shi shrugged her shoulders. He could have taken this in a no/yes manner, but knowing Olivia, it would have been more like a 'don't look at me, mind your business, and stop talking to me' kind of manner.

Thinning his lips, Victor stopped talking. If he tried, he would be mad at this silly girl.