Chapter 310: Sixth Member
Dorian pulled nothing back.
It seemed the sheer fact that Abigail treating the group as a refuge offended him.
"Dorian, why are you being so harsh on her?" Bree asked sharply.
"And why do you think I don’t need to be harsh on her?" Dorian shot back, raising a brow. "I act how I want to act. Besides—we already agreed that there should not be any new members. Not until we’re all Aspirant Supernals."
"I don’t mind not getting any share of the mana ores and null gems," Abigail muttered.
"But we’re still going to make an exception for you—and I don’t understand why that is." He added, still insistent on not accepting Abigail blindly. "In my eyes, you refused to be a part of our group because we are still unstable and have many enemies. Now that the threats were all neutralized, you thought this was the perfect time to leave our group.
"I don’t know what you say to convince these two, but you’re not fooling me."
"Dorian," Matilda’s eyes narrowed. "She saved your life. When you were about to be executed in the main square for crossing High Angel Hensen—she was the one who had the poof that saved you that day."
"And she almost killed me in the Blood Rite." Dorian’s eyes shifted towards Matilda. "I’d say that only makes us even. No—I’d say it’s still less than even. She probably helped because she wanted to rid herself of the guilt. It was all for selfish reasons."
"No... No, I didn’t do it for me." Abigail replied, but her voice came out weak.
"My words against your words." He smirked. "And I don’t believe your words at all."
"For the record, I’m the one who suggested Abigail be a part of our group," Bree spoke up, and then turned to look at Kai, who was still nonchalantly eating his food. "Kai, do something! You are the leader of the group. Besides—this is a four-against-one vote. Dorian has no say in this."
"Hm?" Kai raised his gaze briefly, and then looked down again. "I am the leader, but I’m not going to disregard Dorian’s feelings for a non-member. If Avigail wanted in, then it has to be a unanimous decision. Everyone has to agree.
"If not," He shrugged nonchalantly. "Then I’m not going to let her in."
His answer made Matilda’s eyes narrow.
Something about his answer seemed odd.
Bree bit her lower lip, feeling guilty that she put Abigail in this situation.
But surprisingly, Abigail didn’t back down.
For once, she didn’t let the flow of life dictate where she would go. She fought the current.
Abigail fixed her blue eyes on Dorian. "What do I need to do to make you believe me?"
"Hm... Quite frankly, I don’t know. Everything about you made me feel uneasy. But I think what’s missing is a little bit of genuineness." He turned towards Kai. "What do you think, Kai? Bringing Matilda and Bree along as backup didn’t feel genuine at all, don’t you think? And her request earlier also didn’t seem to come from the heart."
"I understand what you mean. Those things did make her less genuine." Kai nodded.
Asking to join the group while bringing Bree and Matilda showed a flaw.
Abigail clearly knew that the boys had a higher chance to refuse her, so she brought backup.
It was a form of pressure, one that Dorian did not appreciate, especially coming from someone who wanted something from him. "See? Even Kai, our leader, understands where I’m coming from. You should’ve come alone."
"Let’s go." Bree held Abigail’s forearm. "They’re being assholes. You don’t have to force it."
"No, they made sense." She shook her head.
Once she freed her forearm from Bree’s grip, she walked around the table and stopped beside Dorian. She made a polite bow with both hands at her sides. "It was my mistake for not seeing it from your perspective and how this would make you feel. And I know I have made myself untrustworthy, but if you give me one chance, I’ll redeem myself.
"I’ll work hard to earn the trust and respect of everyone."
Kai wiped his greasy lips, nodded his head lightly, and then wore his dragon mask again.
"It sounded more genuine now." He muttered.
"You think so?" Dorian cast him a glance, and then turned back to Abigail again. "In that case, I’ll also agree." He rose and extended his hand, positioning it beneath her bowed head. "Allow me to say this first—welcome to the Ambrosia Pact, Abigail."
Abigail paused for a second, and then straightened.
She looked up at Dorian, wondering if he was being serious, and realized that he was.
"T-Thank you." She accepted the handshake eagerly. "I won’t let the group down."
Despite the surprising resistance, Abigail finally entered the group.
Bree brought her away, happy that it ended up well.
On the other hand, Matilda stayed behind and sat down beside Kai, forcing him to move aside.
She swept her gaze across the table, lingering longer at Kai and Dorian—while skimming past Bryan, who did not seem to know what was going on—at all. "Did you two know that Abigail was going to ask to join the group?"
"Nope," Kai replied shortly. "Not a clue."
"Same here." Dorian chuckled.
"Then how did you plan that? Because it’s obvious that you two were deliberately making this difficult for Abigail." Matilda’s sharp gaze moved between them. She had noticed it clearly— that they seemed to be on the same page—in making Abigail show some effort to be a part of the group, when they were going to accept them in the end. "And for what reason?"
"Instincts?" Kai smirked meaningfully. "Or something like that."
Dorian nodded in agreement. "We made it hard for her because that way, she won’t look down on this group. She’ll feel lucky just to be accepted. After all—she wasn’t with us when things were at their worst, and there won’t be any hardships in the near future she could use to prove her loyalty. So, this—" he gestured vaguely, "—is the test we had."
"And we thought this... let’s say, initiation, would be good for her. She’ll feel more fulfilled if she earned her spot, too."
Matilda shook her head, ’I guess it’s good that they had already thought that far."
She wasn’t thinking that far ahead, but it seemed the boys had.
And it was a good thing, especially considering Abigail’s personality.
Someone who wasn’t confident and also the type to keep things bottled in her heart.
"Wait... You two did all those things for that?" Bryan stared at Kai and then Dorian. "I thought you guys were hating on her—simply to hate. You know, for fun and all. Boys before hoes, you know?"
’Okay... Maybe not all the boys are thinking.’ Matilda chuckled inwardly.
Just like that, there was now the sixth member of the Ambrosia Pact.
It felt like a family growing.
And then, more good news.
"Red Prince Kai?"
A voice crept from behind them.
Kai turned and saw a senior who wore the insignia of the student council.
"Yes?"
"Can I talk to you for a minute? Of course, that is, if you’re done eating."
"Okay."
Even though he didn’t know what was going on, Kai rose and excused himself from the others to follow the student council member. They didn’t go far. Just to the corridor right beside the cafeteria’s entrance, where there were fewer people around.
Recalling his past incident with Ragnar, a student council member, Kai felt uneasy.
But he suppressed the feeling.
"Is there something wrong?" Kai asked.
"Something wrong? No—This is not something like that." The student council member shook his head and then handed Kai a few papers bound by a paper clip. It seemed to be a form. "A Red Prince must report to the Angel Academy Association and be registered. Every champion from every academy was required to register in person, a formality that was both ceremonial and binding.
"So, you need to travel to the AAA headquarters. It has no deadline, but best for you to do it as soon as possible. Just fill out the forms and bring it there."
After telling Kai that, the student council member lent him a watch with the map that already marked the headquarters location, and then excused himself.
Kai, on the other hand, remained completely still.
His eyes were fixated on the papers.
Just early in the morning—Kai was fretting about what reason he could use to visit the Angel Academy Association’s headquarters. He had forgotten about it for a moment, so he probably won’t find a reason today.
But to his surprise, that reason fell into his lap.
As the champion of Eventide Academy, as the Red Prince, he would need to go personally to the AAA headquarters. Something mandated—for all champions from every academy within the First Sky.
It was perfect for Kai—this was the reason he needed.
Now, he could go to the AAA, register, and finally meet with Markus.
Since he had an obligation to go there now—Kai skipped class entirely without hesitation. He called the raven with his mind and a whistle once he walked out of the academy’s main gate, and watched the raven soar through the sky from a distance.
It stayed in the Aerial Stable with the other mounts, and it seemed staying there was boring.
Even from below, Kai could see the gleam in its eyes.
Kai mounted it with an easy leap, and together, they launched into the sky—heading straight for the AAA Cloud Alpha Headquarters. On his wrist, a digital watch blinked with a map. Its glowing lines guided him through the clouds toward the unknown.
He would need to traverse almost one hundred miles to reach the headquarters.
But with the raven, that wasn’t a problem at all.
Just thinking about the clarity he would experience from talking with Markus about the Fallen made his heart thump inside his chest. He believed that the Fallen were a somewhat reasonable faction, as Professor Hera was reasonable, but he wasn’t really sure.
"If they are not good people, then I would heed Bree’s advice." Kai nodded. "I’m only willing to hear him out as that’s what I owed to Professor Hera, nothing more."
Kai soared through the sky and enjoyed the view from above—watching the lumps of clouds passing in a blur underneath. He soaked in the sensation of freedom that he hadn’t really felt in a long while, and then remembered something.
"Oh, right..." His eyes turned to the other side. "I need to meet with the dean."
Remembering his deal with the dean, it seemed to need to make a stop first.
He needed to show the dean that he had won, and that he had managed to become the Red Prince.
"Let’s go to the Aurelian Academy first." Kai tapped on the raven.
It banked hard and streaked in another direction, leaving behind a trail of darkness.