159 Was It Really A Surprise? (1/2)

Birds chirped cheerfully to signal the morning arriving. Ears twitching, both Snow and Lucius woke up first and lazily stretched and yawned. Theo also opened up his eyes, but he did not seem to want to believe that it was already morning. Feeling playful, Snow burrowed into Greyson's shirt and her head popped out at the collar. Snuggling up against him, she found a comfortable position to sleep. However, Greyson woke up from the sudden heat sticking to his chest. Blinking for a moment to come back to reality, he warmly smiled before rubbing Snow's head.

\”Alright, you lazy lumps, time to get up.\” Getting up out of bed, Greyson still hugged Snow so that she would not fall out before gently pulling her out. Heading into the bathroom, he did a quick wash-up to wake himself up with a cold splash of water. Throwing on a loose white linen shirt and brown pants, he did not try to dress up like some of the other contestants. Fighting was all about comfort anyways.

\”Any of you guys coming with?\”

Without answering, Lucius surprisingly jumped up onto Greyson's shoulder.

\”Is the sun rising from the west today? You actually want to come along?\”

\”I'll grow moldy at this rate just staying in. I might as well join the excitement for once.\”

\”Snow, too! Snow, too!\” The Moon Leopard bounced around eagerly.

\”Theo?\”

\”I'll join in, too.\” The small mouse climbed up and dove into Greyson's pants pocket.

With a bit of a spring in his step, Greyson quickly made his way towards the closest bakery. Buying a couple pieces of bread, he and the rest of the animals munched on the loaves for breakfast. Already a good-looking young man by himself, Greyson turned even more heads with the three little friends joining him today. When he made his way to the arena, he leisurely sat by himself. Seeing that he was early, he passed the time by playing around with Snow and Theo. Just like a normal house cat, Snow enjoyed chasing moving light. Using his pointer finger and light magic, Greyson had Snow hopping around happily. Although Theo was not so inclined, he still joined in on the fun. Lucius just rolled his eyes at their dumb antics. Little did he know that his games would catch the attention of all the young women in the audience. Many envious expressions turned towards the cute magic beasts with affection practically dripping from their eyes.

Standing out from the rest, an amused look in her eyes, Eris approached the oblivious party of four.

\”Hey, you're rather early today.\” She casually greeted.

Looking up, Greyson just smiled and nodded at her.

\”Are these all your contracted beasts?\”

\”No, they are my friends.\” Slightly furrowing his brow, Greyson was always a little displeased when other people treated his companions like his enslaved minions. True, he had a contract with Lucius, but no one ever asked with an equal contract in mind. They only asked believing there would be a master-servant contract.

\”None of them? And they still follow you?\”

\”I guess it's just my charm.\” Greyson responded by throwing out a rare joke.

Heh... yeah, charm, alright. Careful now, Grey, your true narcissistic colors are coming out. Lucius' sarcastic voice sounded in his head.

Able to see the eyeroll without even looking over, Greyson just shrugged the comment off.

\”Oh? If it's charm they are looking for, maybe they will prefer me.\” Taking the joke in stride, Eris crouched down and began petting Lucius' head. Pleased at the attention from a pretty girl, Lucius rubbed his head into her palm. Theo also wanted the attention so he hopped onto her lap. Chuckling, Eris did not deprive him.

\”It seems only Snow is loyal to me.\” Greyson grumbled while shooting a dirty look at the two traitors.

\”Snow is the best!\” She agreed nodding her head.

\”Yes, Snow is the best.\” With clear indulgence in his eyes, Greyson stroked her soft fur while echoing her words.

...

Time ticked by peacefully while the two were absorbed in their own world. Without Greyson realizing, the ten representatives already made their way onto the stage at some point. Except for Prince Braiden and the girl next to him, the other eight seemed anxious. All of them were trying and failing to subtly glance over at the three winners from yesterday. Feeling a particularly obvious gaze on him, Greyson peeked over and locked eyes with Rouven. As if it did not occur, both of them casually looked away towards other directions. For both their sakes, it would be better that no one knew of their talk from last night. As smooth as it felt to them, Eris was someone who trained her senses in the royal palace every day. She clearly caught onto something.

\”Are you challenging the one from the Zeennak family?\” She whispered over softly.

A moment of shock flashed on Greyson's face before returning to its original placid expression.

\”Did you catch it?\”

\”Please, you are too green to try and pull the wool over my eyes.\” Cupping her chin in her palm, she gave him a cheeky smirk.

\”Yes, I will be challenging him.\”

\”Hm... Could you do me a favor and choose someone else?\”

\”Huh?\”

\”You see, that Rouven is exactly the person I wanted to challenge.\”

A contemplative expression appeared on Greyson's face before finally shaking his head.

\”I don't think I can. I already promised Rouven I would challenge him and beat him. He does not wish to be a part of the team of representatives, but he cannot lose badly either.\”

\”Are you saying I can't beat him.\” Eris shot back.

\”N-no, that's... uh... not what I meant.\”

\”Hehehe, how cute~. I'm just joking around. But, really, I am confident that I have a real fighting chance against him.\”

\”Why?\”

\”Don't you know his element?\”

\”No. I didn't ask.\”

\”What if his element was something that countered you?\”

\”You should know that such an element does not really exist in my case.\” He replied flatly.

\”...\”

\”Comparisons are truly odious. Yes, yes, well you are amazing, okay. Us, mortals, have to keep those kinds of facts in mind when choosing opponents. This Rouven and most of the Zeennak family are all fire element magicians and tend towards straightforward, vicious attacks. He is probably the most ideal opponent for me. Plus, if he really does want to give up the spot, that's even better. Maybe I won't have to go all out to defeat him.\” Rolling her eyes, Eris still explained herself.