The knife blade broke clean in half before it reached him. Even with all her strength put into an attack, she still couldn’t reach him.
“Again?! What’s going on? Why can’t I ever hit you?!”
Fuming with rage, Sharon brought her right hand to her chest and pulled out another knife. They say that a woman’s body holds many secrets, but nobody would ever expect those secrets to be so deadly.
“Stop resisting, cur!”
Sharon once again went in for the kill without even trying to hide her intent.
Clang!
This time, it wasn’t his usual trick that saved him. Help came in the form of an ice ball flying in from the side and knocking the knife out of Sharon’s hand.
“That’s not how a princess... That’s not how a Diva should act.”
Lesfina, who had been quietly watching until now, pulled out her wand and drew a magic circle in front of her.
“And... it would be an issue if you killed my future husband before our wedding.”
An “issue”? That’s it? What, is my death on the same level as her losing her house keys?!
The two of them ignored Al’s displeasure, instead preferring to angrily face each other down.
“Wait a second! You can’t fight here!”
“It’s okay, darling. I also once read that you should protect your beloved at all costs.”
“Forget about that book. Just listen to me for a second!”
But Al’s desperate cry could not penetrate the thick veil of tension surrounding the two.
Lesfina thrust her arms out, a fireball starting to form in her palms. The rumors were true. She was able to use magic without chanting first.
I guess that’s the power of a Diva. Wait. Is she planning on blowing up this entire room?!
“Hah! Do you think that’s enough to scare me?”
Sharon smiled as the vicious ball of flames closed in on her.
“It’s pretty rare that I get to fight another Diva!”
She deflected the fireball with a skillful swing of her knife.
“Wait, how is that even possible?!”
Al was stunned. Too stunned to move out of the way of the incoming fireball.
Kaboom!
The explosion launched him spinning through the air.
Huh? What the heck happened?
To Al, the explosion wasn’t very hot or painful.
However, the beautifully arranged furniture wasn’t so lucky. Caught in the blast was the pride and joy of the royal family.
“Nooo! That clock was my father’s favorite! Do you have any idea how much it cost?!”
“Don’t worry. I made sure you wouldn’t get hurt, darling.”
Alnoa could see Lesfina focusing on the threat in front of her as he soared through the air.
That clock was a national treasure. Would it kill you to feel at least a little remorse?
“I’m fine, but that doesn’t mean— Gahh!”
Al hit the ground mid-sentence.
The impact hurt more than the damn explosion.
“Are you okay?! That fireball blew up right in front of you!”
Al’s would-be assassin checked on his health in a concerned tone.
“I just put on the tea. Could you please wait a few more minutes?”
Al fought off the pain and looked over to the side. There was Cecilia, peacefully preparing the tea with her personal tea set.
Right. Cecilia’s a Diva too. It’s almost impressive how unperturbed she is by this whole ruckus.
“A-Anyway... Back to assassinating Al!”
“Is that really something you should say out loud?!”
As a king, countless assassins had made attempts on Al’s life. Assassination was a wicked and cowardly act he would never respect.
“Sh-Shut up! This is my first time doing this!”
She’s awfully moody for an assassin...
Even Sharon realized that her blatant murder attempt was on the aggressive side.
“I too wish to have my first time with King Alnoa...”
Lesfina injected an innuendo-laden remark from the sidelines.
“What do you mean by that, Lesfina? Actually, sorry. Forget I asked.”
Al’s headache was becoming the most painful part of this ordeal.
“King Alnoa, please call me Feena. That’s what those who are close to me call me.”
“Ah, all right! Then, please call me Al!”
“Al... Okay.”
Feena nodded in agreement. If you looked close enough, you could see a slight trace of happiness on her face, befitting a teenage girl. For a moment, Al was captivated by the beautiful princess and her bashful smile.
Feena puffed her (hopefully) developing chest out and shot an ice-cold glare at Sharon, who was standing next to Al.
“And to the brute over there. Make sure you address me as ‘Miss Lesfina’!”
“Hey, who are you calling a brute?!”
Sharon met Lesfina’s cold gaze with a fiery glare. Her expression was that of a wild beast, ready to attack.
“Sorry... I meant fiend.”
Feena pressed on without even flinching at Sharon’s fierce look.
“Oh, is that so? Don’t think that I’ll let you get away with this!”
She was fuming, grinding her teeth in frustration. A red aura began to emanate around her.
“Hey, hey, calm down...”
“Al. Watch out.”
Recognizing the gravity of the situation, Feena jumped in front of Al to protect him.
“Oh my. Sorry to keep you all waiting. The tea is ready.”
Cecilia defused the bomb that was about to explode with a single, casual remark.
“Come on, sit down!”
She directed her gentle smile at Al and hurried him to the table. Al’s nerves settled down a little, but he still felt the need to warn his sister about the brewing storm.
“This isn’t the time for that, Cecilia!”
“I understand that you’re all wary of each other since you’ve just met, but would you mind joining me for a relaxing cup of tea? Oh, did something happen?”
Cecilia tilted her head in surprise, as if she had no idea what kind of situation she’d just walked into. Whether she planned this all along or was simply oblivious, Althos’s Diva was a master tactician who commanded a great sense of authority.