ROSES HAVE THORNS

Step.

A single white polished boot set itself firmly on the edge of the shattered arena, ready to step into the clearing dust.

"I must say, I’m surprised that you saw right through Senior Lily’s illusion magic," a confident voice called out across the rubble. "You didn’t even flinch when her fake golems attacked you."

Ayako turned her attention toward her next opponent, wiping a small smear of blood from her lower lip. Her voice remained cool as she spoke. "When one is well versed in the art of mana to the point of well near mastering it such as I, no attack, whether illusion or not, will phase me, Your Highness... Prince Maxwell Dorothy Junior."

"Oh yeah? Well, my mana is a bit special. To the point where "One such as yourself" might even call it... divine."

"""YEEEEAAAHHHHH!!!!"""

["AND ENTERING THE ARENA NEXT FOR ELDORIA!" Commentator Ken bellowed into his microphone, ["IS NONE OTHER THAN PRINCE MAXWELL DOROTHY JUNIOR!!!!"]

["Woohoo! Personally, I am very interested in what the prince will bring to the table today!"] Christy leaned forward as her eyes sparkled with genuine intrigue.

Feeling the massive wave of support washing down from the spectators, Junior’s excitement bubbled over. He raised his fist straight up toward the front VIP seats. "I dedicate this fight to my new master, Kurt Rossana!"

Every projection in the arena pivoted and zoomed in to where Junior was looking.

Instead of showing the fearless lover of the most beautiful woman the crowd expected to see, the holographic screen displayed the Golden Phoenix mascot of Myria, sitting perfectly upright in the Eldorian section, right next to Diana Valentine.

The plush, cartoonish bird head, complete with giant round eyes and a wide yellow beak, sat completely motionless. Just staring ahead like it’s nobody’s business.

"...H-Huh? Master?"

Up in the commentary booth, Ken nearly dropped his microphone as his jaw hit the desk. ["W-WHAT IS THIS?! MYRIA’S OFFICIAL MASCOT IS SITTING IN THE ELDORIAN VIP SECTION RIGHT NEXT TO THE PRINCIPAL OF FUTURE ACADEMY?! THE ENEMY TERRITORY?!"]

The Myrian fans pointed and shook their fists at the giant golden bird.

"GET BACK OVER HERE, YOU TRAITOROUS FEATHERED PIECE OF SHIT!"

"WHO PAID YOU OFF, HUH?!"

Christy was practically doubled over in her seat, clutching her stomach as she died of laughter.

The Eldorian crowd, despite being confused, immediately seized the opportunity to taunt their rivals.

"EVEN YOUR OWN MASCOT KNOWS WHICH SIDE IS GOING TO WIN!"

"DAMN! I THINK I MIGHT HAVE CHICKEN SOUP TONIGHT! AHAHAHA!!!"

Dominik joined in on the mocking laughter, clapping his hands together. "Paahahaha! Look at those idiots! They lost their own bird!"

Suddenly, he squinted at the seat next to Diana. He turned his head slowly. "Wait... where’s Kurt?"

"That is Kurt." Mia hissed under her breath,

"It is?" Dominik looked back and forth between Mia’s dead-serious expression and the giant, cute, perfectly still mascot head. A second later, he burst out laughing even harder.

At the Eldorian representative benches, Amber and Kiana were standing and screaming at the top of their lungs.

"JUNIOR, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??!!!"

"WAKE UP YOU BLONDE IDIOT!" Amber yelled. "STOP STARING AT THE BIRD AND FIGHT! YOU’RE LETTING HER RECOVER HER STAMINA!"

"R-Right. Right!"

His eyes and hair flaring into a radiant gold as pure divine mana surged around his body. Right as he planted his boots on the stone, preparing to charge, he caught sight of the expression on Ayako’s face.

She was staring at the giant cartoon bird with wide, heartbroken eyes. The giant, ridiculous plush head returned her gaze with its blank, adorable stare.

"W-Why is our cute mascot... over there?"

A single tear slid down Ayako’s bruised cheek, and she slowly lowered her head, her posture slumping slightly.

Seeing the opening, Junior burst forward, his golden aura leaving a blazing trail across the shattered stone floor.

Ayako muttered softly to herself, "... I believe I’ve done enough. It’s about time I end this–"

BOOM!!!!

Junior landed a square fist directly into Ayako’s midsection. The sheer force of the impact created a shockwave that blew the surrounding dust into a high ring.

Ayako was sent flying backward, her body skidding across the arena floor before crashing heavily into a mound of rubble.

CRASH!!!

Junior pulled his fist back, looked at his glowing hand and then back toward the crash site in surprise. "W-Whoa... nice! I actually hit her!"

"DONT GET DISTRACTED, YOU FOOL!" Kiana screamed from the bench.

A sharp glint of steel flashed in the corner of Junior’s peripheral vision. His survival instincts screamed, and he bent his upper body into a backward dodge.

Shing—WHOOSH!

Ayako’s katana whistled through the empty air directly above his face, cutting a few stray golden hairs.

Reacting quickly, Junior summoned a sharp spear of divine ice in his palm and thrust it upward. The spear pierced straight through Ayako’s chest – only for her form to shatter into a flurry of pink sakura petals.

She rematerialized directly above him, bringing her mana coated sword down in a deadly two-handed strike. Junior raised his ice spear horizontally to block in the nick of time.

CLANG!!!

The force of the overhead blow drove Junior’s boots into the white stone, causing a web of fresh cracks to spread beneath him as the two fighters locked eyes in a fierce standoff.

While the battle raged in the background of the arena, two coliseum guards marched toward the front VIP row and stopped directly in front of the Golden Phoenix mascot.

"E-Excuse us," the lead guard said nervously. "You’re going to have to come with us... s-sir."

"He is not going anywhere." Diana didn’t even turn her head to look as she addressed them.

"Ma’am, please understand. He... He caused a disturbance in the men’s restroom."

"What did he do?" She raised an eyebrow and finally looked at them.

"Well... he beat up a few men, and then he..."

"He beat up some men? Then those men obviously started it. Go kick them out of the premises. Problem solved."

"B-But ma’am. There is a victim who–"

"Is this ’victim’ hurt in any way?"

The guard hesitated as his face flushed with embarrassment. "N-No... physically, he is not but..."

"Then tell him to meet with me at my office after today’s match concludes. If he isn’t there, then I will assume it wasn’t anything major."

"Ma’am–"

"That’s enough, you boys," an authoritative female voice interrupted from behind them.

Vicky – the bodyguard whom Kurt hired to protect the orphanage – pushed past the two guards. "You’re disturbing the high-profile spectators, as well as our employers, from enjoying the match."

She nodded respectfully toward the seat next to the bird. "Haven’t seen you since graduation. It’s been a while, Valentine."

"It has. Hello Vicky."

Vicky turned her sharp gaze to the two guards. "Move along. We already got a full confession from one of the men who woke up in the infirmary."

She then looked directly at the giant mascot head. "Boss. They attacked you first while you were using the facilities, correct?"

The giant golden mascot’s head awkwardly nodded up and down.

"We also caught the faint scent of alcohol on the man who claimed you forced him to perform an indecent act on the bald attacker’s head," Vicky continued, looking completely serious. "That was a fabricated lie to cover his own drunken embarrassment... right?"

"Pffft–! Ahem! L-Let’s go Prince Junior!" Beside them, Sadie let out a sudden, loud snort of laughter, quickly covering her mouth with her hands before cheering on again.

The mascot’s head, after a hesitant pause, slowly nodded its big cartoonish head once more at Vicky’s cover up lie.

"Then it’s settled. Dismissed, boys."

The two guards saluted quickly and hurried back down the corridor. Once they were gone, Vicky leaned down and spoke softly to the plush bird. "I’m going to need the mascot suit back now, Boss. There’s a man named Suzuki who is desperately looking for it."

"... Alright," Kurt’s muffled voice echoed from inside the beak.

He reached up, grabbed the edges of the giant bird head, and popped it off. Sweat was running down his neck, his face was slightly damp from the sweltering heat inside the costume, and his dark hair stuck to his forehead.

While he began unzipping the oversized plush body suit, Vicky leaned in slightly closer, keeping her voice low. "By the way... the two siblings over at the orphanage got into a big argument this morning. They’re apparently not on speaking terms."

Kurt stopped as he pulled his arm out of the plush sleeve. "You talking about Tristan and Rupee?"

Vicky’s eyes drifted over his sweat-glistened collarbone, when a faint flush touched her cheeks. Sensing danger, she suddenly caught the terrifying, dead-eyed glare Diana was directing straight at her.

*A-Ahem* "Yes. Those siblings. Just thought you should know."

’... Please just be a silly sibling squabble.’

He smoothed down his tight pink shirt with a golden printing of Jin Fu singing and nodded. "Thanks for the heads-up, Vicky. I appreciate it."

"No problem, boss."

She grabbed the plush suit and the giant bird head, gave Diana one last polite nod, and practically sprinted down the hallway to escape the suffocating aura cast onto her.

Kurt sat back down and turned to face Diana but stopped dead in his tracks.

She was leaning ridiculously close to him, her crimson eyes were wide, dark, and utterly devoid of emotion. Without a word, she leaned in even further and brushed her nose against his neck, taking in a slow inhale of his scent.

A devious smile curved her lips, though her eyes remained unreadable.

"You smell like shit," she whispered softly as a subtle blush crept up her cheeks.

Her gaze slid down and watched a stray bead of sweat roll down the side of his neck. "You need to go clean yourself up right now."

"Now? I kinda wanted to watch my so-called student’s match against Izumi–"

"I conceded this match."

"""".............""""

I was unmistakable. Ayako’s clear voice echoed across the coliseum, cutting through the noise of the crowd.

Every single person in the stands froze. Junior, who had been mid-stance with his golden ice sword raised, blinked in shock.

["W-WHAT?! I-IZUMI AYAKO HAS FORFEITED THE MATCH! ELDORIA SECURES A MAJOR VICTORY OVER MYRIA!!!!"]

The Eldorian stands erupted into a confused, but ecstatic celebration, while the Myrian fans groaned in agony – some, unable to speak, blink, or move at the shocking move from their strongest.

Kurt looked down at the arena, then turned back to meet Diana’s unwavering gaze. She hadn’t looked away from his face for a single moment.

"You were saying, Rosie?"

"I... I guess I could go clean up for a bit. But I can’t be long. I still want to watch till the end. I’m pretty invested in this whole shabang."

Diana’s smile widened as her hand reached out to wrap her fingers firmly around his wrist. "Don’t worry. Where we’re going... you’ll have a wonderful view of the whole arena."

"... I am just going to clean myself up, right–?"

SHWOOSH!

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!