In a private room at the Arcade...
Few machines were scattered across the luxurious room, their screens blinking with light.
Yet the two boys inside the room had abandoned the machines, sitting across from each other on opposite sofas while playing a game of chess.
"Since when did you get this good at chess, Julien?"
The one who had spoken had the buttons of his shirt partly open, revealing the glimmering tattoo of snake-like fangs drawn across his chest.
His hair was pale like moonlight, his head leaning leisurely on his hand in a carefree attitude.
Julian clapped both his hands mockingly, the rings on his fingers reflecting the light from the machines on their shiny surfaces.
"Stop joking around with me, smug bastard," Julien grimaced, looking at the board with his face turning sourer by the second.
"To tell me this even after I lost—"
Cassius smiled, swinging his leg lazily.
"Oh, Julien, you really are getting good at it, believe me. Last time it took me only eight moves, but this time I actually had to put in quite the effort. Ten moves, Julien, ten moves! You should really brag about this for days~"
Julien twirled the drink in his glass, barely resisting the urge to empty the contents on the boy right in front of him.
Only because he knew he might dodge, but still—
"Ugh! I hate you!"
Up till now, Julien never knew why he still kept on playing chess with Cassius when he only ever ended up losing, in fact...
He had a feeling that he was being manipulated... mentally.
After all, Cassius was a Scion of the Viscount House of Northvale, one of the few Noble Families that had made their settlement within the cold settlement of Antarctica.
And for some reason, people of that family always awakened with Resonance Strings that often manifested diverse soul or mental abilities.
Although Cassius had done a good job of keeping his ability hidden, Julien wasn't naive enough to believe that it was not being used against him in some way.
But even when he knew all that...
'Fuck it, I can't resist!'
The thought of beating this guy at a chess game was like a dopamine rush that kept him up at night. And while he knew Cassius was certainly exploiting this weakness of his to ask for favors, it's not like he himself was helpless.
After all, Cassius was a lustful bastard that couldn't keep his dick to himself.
Nobles like them certainly led very active sexual lifestyles, even from a younger age. After all, it was kind of hard to resist when basically every girl threw herself at you just because you existed.
But Cassius was often called the Wastrel of Northvale for a reason. Within the cities his family lorded over, he moved like a demon, charming any girl that struck his fancy, unmoved even by the presence of their boyfriends... if they were unlucky enough to have one.
After all, what could a commoner do to a noble? Even the so-called laws that were put in place were only like flimsy papers at best, torn to shreds when they no longer served the interests of the powerful.
And Cassius exploited this, knowing well enough the power behind him. And his family always turned a blind eye. After all, his two elder brothers and the Matriarch all adored him—
Enough to even turn their heads away when he extended his claws to nearly all the maids back at the Northvale Manor.
Julien couldn't deny it; he was fucking envious. Yet this also benefited him, because all he had to do was offer Cassius a gorgeous whore to get the guy drooling like a dog.
So yes, let him win the chess games. At the end, it's a two-way deal. And to the both of them, it was like some unspoken understanding passed on without words, a silent exchange of sorts.
But Julien couldn't help but speak his mind.
"Stay away from me when the trials begin after we leave this dimension. Because I can't promise to resist the thought of punching that annoying face of yours, douchebag."
Cassius curled his lips slightly, not bothering to reply to his words. Rather, he asked something Julien had been expecting ever since he lost.
"You lost the game. I get a favor."
Julien rolled his eyes, sighing internally. 'Here we go.'
"I am listening."
Before Cassius could speak, however, someone walked right inside the room.
It was a boy his age with a bloodied blindfold over his eyes, his hair a bright, translucent crimson. He seemed almost like a ghost, unable to be noticed unless you focused intently on his presence.
Julien grimaced.
'This damn Echo...'
The Echo was named Marcus, last Julien remembered from how casually Cassius had mentioned it once mid-conversation.
In many ways, Julien was much more scared of this particular Echo than he was of Cassius himself.
Call it a gut feeling, but Julien had never had his instincts wrong before. There was simply something about this guy that set off alarm bells in his damn head—
Marcus bent to Cassius's right ear, whispering words.
Cassius's face went through a series of changes. It first contorted to one of anger, then hesitation... before settling into that of deranged glee.
The moment the blindfolded boy stood aside, Cassius turned to Julien, who was already half wondering what the hell the exchange was all about.
And seeing the look on Cassius's face only intensified the bad feeling crawling down his spine.
The edge of his lips curling into a cruel smile, Cassius began to speak.
"I am using the favor right now. You are going to assist me in beating the living hell out of Dorian Aragus. He's here at the Arcade with that Cherry bitch—"
He spoke the last part with his body trembling slightly, his teeth grinding.
"And he's hitting on Belle again."
Julien laughed for a few seconds, his voice dying down in his throat when he realized that Cassius wasn't joining along.
His face twisted. "You can't be serious."
Cassius smiled mockingly. "Don't tell me you are scared, Grandis Heir."
Julien hissed. "An Aragus? Seriously? Forget the fact that you are about to act against the descendant of a Duke Family, but of all of them, you just had to pick the worst, the family that can probably never run out of insane lunatics. Forgive me for saying this, Cassius, but have you by any chance gone mad?"
Cassius waved it off with a scoff. "Stop overreacting, Julien. Any of the old folks that interfere with matters of the young generation are only going to end up bringing themselves some embarrassment. And don't worry, we will wear masks the whole time."
"You really weren't paying any attention to the part where I called them lunatics–"
Cassius stood on his feet, cracking his neck.
"Dorian Aragus dares to hit on my woman. My fiancée, nonetheless. I will only be able to repay this kind of grudge by making sure he gets castrated before sending him to the infirmary wrapped in a pretty birthday box."
Julien knocked his fingers against the table, his face expressionless.
But his mind was anything but that.
'Hit on your woman? You have been anything but faithful either, you hypocrite!'
Keeping those words to himself, he decided to ask something else that made him curious.
"Why go after a girl that despises the very ground you step on, Cassius?"
Cassius sneered, lifting one of the apples on the table and biting into it before throwing it against the wall.
It splattered, turning into mush.
"But she is still engaged to me. When have arranged noble marriages ever been driven by affection? With time, she will learn to adore me, to love me, to live for me and me alone."
His face twisted, lighting up with rage. "But to see her prancing around with some talentless bastard, isn't that sending the message that he is a better option than me? Me, Cassius Northvale. Now that... I cannot allow."
Julien was really starting to feel embarrassed on this guy's behalf.
"So the answer to this is... beating him up?"
Cassius grinned. "But of course. I am going to rough him up so badly that she would barely recognize him when I am done. Then she will realize how naive she had been and come back to her senses."
Julien chuckled. "What a solid, very thought-out plan. I am sure she will come running back to you immediately. Should I say congratulations in advance?"
Cassius didn't reply, only walking towards the door. Behind him, the blindfolded boy followed obediently.
"Join me at the Lobby so we can settle on a plan to get him alone. And don't butt out of this, Julien. After all, you are a Grandis. And the Grandis never pull back on favors."
Julien rubbed his forehead with his fingers, letting out a sigh of resignation.
"Curses."