Rise of the Malactric Heir

"You are really trying to pick a fight with me, aren\'t you?" Alix asked and Adora stopped then looked back at him.

"I am not sure what you\'re talking about; I just think you\'re trying to pick a fight you won\'t be able to win," she replied before winking at him and then left.

"You two are getting along much better than you used to," Kyris observed.

"He is correct; you two have grown closer, which is a good thing," Yan said, and Alix smiled.

"Well, things change with time, and I am glad that my relationship with her has improved, as a friend and her student, despite our differences," he replied.

"You guys are all growing wise, I like this vibe I\'m getting from all of you, it\'s positive," Kyllan said, and they all smiled.

"Even you are becoming more positive now; keep it up," Sarah replied and he smirked.

"I promise I will try my hardest, just like you guys, don\'t tell me you are not nervous for the finals," Kyllan said.

"I would be, but are you guys?" Yan asked.

"Not really, I don\'t think I am nervous at all; I just want to win and finish this tournament," Alix replied.

"I see, how about you guys?" Yan questioned.

"Well, I am a little nervous, but that\'s natural, and I\'m not going to let it bother me; I just want to win," Sarah responded.

"Same here, I think all we can think about right now is winning, so we won\'t focus on anything else," Aerav said, while Nina smiled.

"I think she found the perfect team," Nina said, sitting next to Kyris, who smiled.

"Yeah, she found it; I just hope Adora can find a way to fill that hole within her heart; I can tell she is hurting a little, I don\'t know why, but I can sense it," he said.

"I understand, believe me, I do, and I believe she now has a chance to be truly happy now, maybe," Nina said.

"Maybe is the right word to use because I think you noticed she has been acting a little strange lately, sometimes she\'s on edge a lot," Kyris explained.

"Yeah, I noticed, but she\'s great and is our friend," Nina responded.

"You have grown attached to her as well, haven\'t you?" Eliza asked as she approached Nina.

"Yeah, she was just so warm to us and still is, just like she is to them, even though she has so many problems," Nina responded.

"You are right, I just came here and still don\'t know much about all of you, but I can tell she is great," Aerav said.

"Don\'t worry, we\'ll all get to know each other well enough," Nina said. "You guys should also talk to us if you have any other problems or so, we will help in any way we can."

"Thanks, guys, but for now we don\'t have any problems, you guys should do the same," Ayden responded, and Nina chuckled.

"We will," Nina said.

"It\'s already afternoon; does anyone want something to eat?" Nina inquired as she stood up.

"If we do, we\'ll get it ourselves, help ourselves, relax, and thank you," Alix replied, and Eliza smiled.

​ "Ayden, you are quite the gentleman at times," Ayden said and Alix scoffed.

"Yeah, more of a gentleman than you," Sarah replied and Ayden scoffed others laughed.

"That hurts my feelings, sweetheart," Ayden said, making Sarah laugh.

"You deserved it," Aerav said, and Ayden looked at him with glowing eyes.

"Did I now?" he asked.

"Did you what?" deserve it? If that\'s the case, then hell yes," he replied, and Ayden sighed before Alix patted him on the shoulder.

"This is your fault, you demonic angel," Ayden said and they laughed.

"Demonic angel?" Kyllan asked.

"He appears to be an angel but is actually evil," Ayden responded then chuckled.

"I am not sure if that was one of my best or worst made-up names," Ayden said.

"It\'s not that bad, I think it\'s on point, after all, Alix isn\'t that different," Adora said as she returned to the deck with a trolley of various snacks.

\'I thought you went to get some rest,\' Nina clarified.

"I was going to, but I decided not to," she said, "so I got you guys some things, enjoy," she said as they gathered around the trolley and took whatever they wanted to eat.

"Now, what\'s my cut for this?" she asked, and they all looked at her before taking their first bite.

"Cut?" Alix inquired.

"Look at your faces, I am kidding, go ahead and eat," she replied, and they smiled.

"Here," Alix said as he threw Adora a pack of chocolate chip cookies, which she managed to grab.

"Thank you," she said.

"You are welcome, enjoy it, one thing\'s for sure, I\'m really starting to hate that mask," he replied, and Adora smiled as she stepped aside from them, removed the mask, and began eating the chip where no one could see her face and her hair blew up in the wind.

Sarah was about to take a peek at the girl when Alix placed his hand in front of her face and blocked her view.

"Why Alix?" she asked.

"We all despise the mask, but we also respect her privacy and understand why she wears it, Sarah," he said and the girl smiled.

"You are correct, she trusts us as well, so we will wait until she is ready, I feel like the princess doesn\'t have enough freedom," Sarah replied, and Nina and the others exchanged glances before smiling.

"That is because I am sure she doesn\'t, but she always tries her best," Alix said, and Sarah sat down, then looked up at Alix, who poured himself a glass of wine and drank it.

\'Well it seems like he has grown a lot, I guess one can\'t help but admire him more now, we won\'t let the princess down no matter what,\' Sarah thought as she ate her snack.