Bully's second chance

CLICK!

Karl opens the door of his room. Then, he takes 3 steps and falls on the bed. Fatigue overwhelming him. But he cannot sleep now. He forces his hand to move to tap on his watch.

[8:12 pm.]

"I need a long vacation." Karl dumps his head into soft pillow as he winced. With great reluctance, he gets up and hops into shower.

[9:02 pm.]

Karl has now changed into his school uniform. "Hmm?"

He flexes his arms and notices that the shirt is tighter. This brings a huge grin on Karl's face. He is now posing in front of mirror.

RING! The sound of his watch ringing startled Karl. He picks up the call.

"Where are you?" Ian asks.

"Infront of the elevator." Karl lies.

"Don't be late." Ian says in a firm voice and hangs up. Karl checks his clothes one last time before stepping out. As he locked the door, his eyes fell on the room adjacent to his own. 'I wonder how she is doing? Should I check?'

Karl thinks but drops the idea as he doesn't want to face an angry Ian.

Waiting for elevator, Karl feels an itch on his hand. His instincts take over and he looks around for Kalonice or Yelm. But there was no one behind him. 'Huh? Where-'

TING! The elevator door opens and Karl sees Chief along with Ken. "Oh! I was just thinking of paying you a visit. Come inside."

Karl makes an awkward smile. "I think I should take the next one."

Before he could step back, Ken grabs Karl's hand and pulls him inside. "Don't be like that now. You made me really proud. The plan of pushing the golem outside and disqualify was excellent."

Karl is smiling while keep an eye on the Chief. "It wasn't really a plan. It just happened."

"What do you mean that?" The Chief asks.

"Like I said, the plan was never to push him out but to break him." Karl answers.

"You hoped to break the golem made by a sentinel? Hahaha!" Ken laughs in an exaggerated tone.

Karl just stares at Ken and remains quiet.

Seeing Karl's response, the Chief chuckles. "You are a madman. But a lucky one."

Karl scratches his hand.

"But this kind of style will only lead you to death. You should act more carefully. Not everyone plays by the rules in this tournament." The Chief advises.

"Let me be the one to worry about that." Karl says with an arrogant tone.

The Chief narrows his eyes at Karl's response.

Suddenly, the tension in the elevator raises. "Now! You two. Don't fight. Susen, cut him some slack. Being confident in one's ability is not always bad." Ken interrupts.

TING! The elevator doors open up. "I hope that the same luck stays with you in the last phase as well." The Chief says as he walks away.

"Don't listen to him. You are doing great just keep doing it." Ken says with a smile as he gets off the elevator. The door closes.

Few seconds later, the itching stops and Karl sighs loudly.

TING! The elevator has reached the top floor, the door slowly opens. 'I hope the buffet is the same.'

POP! POP!

Few fire crackers go off in the air which sprinkles dazzling golden dust all over the place. Then, a loud trumpet goes off, followed a number of instruments. Together, they create soft melody which sets a romantic mood.

Karl, baffled by the situation sees Ian sitting on the sofa. He is wearing a formal white suit with a tie and he has a white rose brooch on his chest. Karl walks up to him and takes a seat. "What is this?"

"Dinner? I wanted to throw some good party for your victory in the last three phases." Ian answers without looking at Karl.

"Oh. They are here. Leo, watch your step." Two men wearing full plate armour with Phirsecot's insignia on their chest walks into the suite. One of the men summons his magic circle and waves both of his hands. An entire dinner table slowly appears in front of Karl. It has complex cracks all over, at first glance it looks brittle as well. With it's translucent material anyone will mistake it for a glass table.

The second man summons his magic circle and flames erupts from his hands, then he proceeds to burn the entire table. Even Karl who was sitting away could feel the heat of the flames. Few minutes later, the entire has changed it's colour from translucent to bright orange. The men bow deeply before leaving.

Just as they leave, a number of maids enter with trays and trollies filled with exotic food. They serve the food with precision, careful not to touch the hot table below. Karl is now looking at the unknown dish in front of him. He raises his hands to try.

"At least wait for Andressa." Ian stops Karl. Few more minutes go by which felt hours for Karl. Suddenly the lights turn dim. The entire is glowing orange in the darkness, creating surreal experience.

TING! The elevator door opens and red carpet comes out. The music down to takes a beat drop. Andressa comes out of the elevator. She looks stunning, her hair in slick back, long red gown gracefully wrapped around her body and her red lips looks mesmerizing. She looking down at the ground while walking forward, her cheeks red as a strawberry. Only one thought on her mind. 'Does he like it?'

With much courage, she looks up at Karl. She smiles at Karl's open mouth. His eyes have a purple faint glow. She goes to the couch and takes a seat opposite to Karl.

"Shall we start?" Ian asks while raising a glass high in the air.

"I know we did this earlier but this time we are doing it officially." This time Karl and Andressa also raises their glass high in the air.

"CHEERS!" They say in unison. Karl puts his glass down while both Andressa and Ian takes a sip.

"If you had informed me earlier, I could have worn something fancy too."

"Like your armour?" Ian jokes.

Karl smiles and looks at Andressa. His eyes focusing only her and blurring everything else. "You look magnificent."

Andressa blushes and takes another sip. Ian is silently observing both of them with a smile. Karl notices that his heart is beating a bit too fast. He tries take breath and look away but his eyes won't move.

'She is mine!'

A voice sounds Karl's mind followed by a sting of pain in the back of his head. To distract himself from Andressa, he moves to the food and takes a bite. The taste was very good. So good that Karl uses both of his hand to eat the food.

"Slow down. The food isn't going anywhere." Ian remarks.

Karl looks at Ian. "You guys just eat too slowly."

This statement isn't wrong as Karl takes 3 bites while Ian is still taking one and Karl is eating like a normal human does on earth. But here eating procedure is different. Ian and every other upper class person follows a different lifestyle. For example, just to eat one steak Ian uses 4 different knives. Different for each part. Method of chewing also different. If one sees any major moments of the jaw while they are eating, it is considered as disrespectful and lower class mentality. Ian who has been watching Karl's eating habits has never thought of Karl in such way. He was always open towards his friends but tomorrow was different.

"You should change your behaviour." Ian advises.

"Why? What's the problem?"

"Tomorrow is the last day of knight succession tournament. Which means many nobles from houses will be present tomorrow to scout out new talents for their houses. Infront of them you cannot act like you are doing right now."

"Who cares about them? I am just going to win and get 2nd place." Ian had the urge to facepalm of himself at Karl's response.

"By the way, I forgot to ask. But what is the last phase?" Karl asks.

"The last phase has been the same since the first tournament. How can you not know that?" Andressa asks.

"It is duelling. A proud practice done since thousand of years. Two opponents will face off each other. Until one collapses or resigns and death is not uncommon." Ian explains. "Gladiators? Sounds cool."

"Not to dull your confidence or anything but the opponents that you are going to face are the real knights. Also, you should expect some familiar faces."

"Who?"

"Mikaela and my father."

COUGH! COUGH!

Karl chokes on his food. Andressa quickly hands her a glass of water. Karl drinks the water. "I totally forgot about her. Why haven't I seen her anywhere in the tournament?"

"Participants who belong to any sentinel family are directly placed in the last phase."

"Wow. Blatant discrimination."

"You cannot do anything as the staring is different for anyone in sentinel families." "Just fought one and I deny."

"Leo, don't get overconfident. This time if you face Mikaela your defeat is certain." Ian drops the ice bucket.

"We see about that." Karl answers and returns to devouring the food.

"Aside her, you should also lookout for Niren Vienna Branchio."

"Oh. The guy whose greenhouse we are going to steal."

"The chances of you facing against Niren is much higher than Mikaela. If you had to fight against Niren in the earlier stages then remember to leave a good impression." Karl nods at Ian's words.

"The matchups will be announced tonight or early in the morning. You will be informed on your watch."

"Yes."

"Let's just hope that we don't have to fight against someone strong at the start."

Personally, Karl doesn't really care about the last phase at all. For now, all he wants to do is to get and run away from here. The more he stays in the presence of Andressa the more unstable his mental is becoming.

While Karl is struggling to stay in place, Ian and Andressa are plotting their own schemes. Andressa coughs thrice in exaggerated way.

Karl notices it but before he could say anything, Ian roses from his seat. "OH NO! I totally forgot that Hector was coming here. I need to go and pick him up." Ian quickly runs to the elevator leaving Karl and Andressa alone in the room.

'Fuck you, Ian.' Karl curses internally.

Andressa grabs her glass filled with alcohol and chugs it all down. Her face has turned bright red, her body feels and she can't think straight. She wipes her face and looks directly at Karl who is avoiding eye contact. She sees that Karl looked away from her. Andressa clicks her tongue and stands up from her seat. She walks to Karl and grabs his face.

"Look at me!" She yells. "For who do you think I am wearing this dress?"

Karl immediately closes his eyes. Andressa releases Karl's face.

'She let go?'

'Why is she not saying something?'

Karl slowly opens his eyes. He sees Andressa trembling, tears falling and eyes swollen.

"D-do you hate me that much?" She speaks in a low voice.

Seeing her cry, something hurt in Karl's heart. "No. No. I don't hate you." He grabs his chest and tries to console Andressa.

Andressa looks up at Karl, smell of alcohol is too strong. She grabs her dress tightly and opens up her heart. "Then do you love me?"

She waits for Karl response. But currently, Karl is fighting to keep himself sane. In his head, there are multiple voices echoing.

'Accept her!'

'She is meant to be loved.'

'I deserve her.'

'I am the one for her.'

Leonard is pressuring too hard on Karl's mind, risking his as well as Karl's consciousness. All for Andressa. Suddenly Karl grabs a knife on the table and stabs himself. Andressa gasps in surprise. The feeling of pain overcomes the voices and Karl mind clears up a bit.

He finally looks Andressa in the eye. 'She really looks beautiful.' That was the first thought that came in his mind.

"Yes, a certain feeling gets bloomed in my heart whenever I see you." Karl slowly stands up. "But that feeling is love or not, I do not know. But if anything, I like you."

Just as those words escaped Karl's mouth, Andressa's world became colourful. Butterflies formed in her stomach. She hoped to cherish this moment forever. She then notices purple glow in Karl's eyes diminishing changing to a light yet bright yellow colour.

"But for that feeling to bloom into love. I need time. Afterall, I don't know you well enough."

"Huh?" Andressa just simply stares at Karl. No tears, no cries or no questions. She falls to her knees and grabs Karl's trousers.

"W-What do you mean?" Her voice breaking. 

The voices came back. Karl remains silent.

"We spend 8 years together. I have been watching you since we were small. How can you say that? ANSWER ME!" She screams.

"I waited my entire life for this moment!" She screamed.

"I was there in every moment of your life! HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?" She screamed.

"ANSWER ME! ANSWER ME! ANSWER ME!" She kept screaming yet no answer came.

Andressa sees the yellow light in Karl's one eye and purple glow in the other eye. A sudden realization hits her. 'He doesn't like you anymore.' Chief's words echo in her mind.

"You are not Leonard. Who are you? WHO ARE YOU?" She yells and grabs Karl's collar.

"What did you do to him? Where is he? Wher-"

THUD!

Andressa is on the ground. Her cheeks stinging. 'He…..hit me.'

That moment something died in Andressa's soul.

She stands up with the sofa's support and quickly leaves the room.

Leaving Karl and Leonard alone.