Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Rena was sitting next to Lyrah at a long desk. Currently no one else was sitting around them. Other members of nobility and even commoners with exceptional Compatibilities with Arts or Magic, had no interest in interacting directly with the young Oracle, her maid, or the red-headed disgrace.

It had gotten out at the academy that Rena had been in a close, romantic relationship with her body guard who was also a Marked One. When she realized that her cousin Thomas was also in attendance at the Academy, she realized who it was that had spread the information.

Though, she spent no effort to deny the allegations. At first a few ladies of smaller noble houses attempted to interact with her, to curry favor with the daughter of the lord of the Petra family. After all, they were a household of such high ranking, it would only benefit them to curry some sort of favor despite the cost.

However, when these noble ladies attempted to provide Rena the opportunity to vocalize her denial, she refused to take it. Instead, she loudly proclaimed that she was in a relationship with a Marked One named Lucius and that when he returned from war, she would continue to be with him as an adventurer.

This declaration of intent while surrounded by people dashed any potential conversation about the validity of the allegations and cemented the truth in the minds and hearts of the academy students. There were other rumors that spread, however, that continued the allegations in to much seedier territories.

In reality, being known as the 'disgrace' was quite tame when compared to many of the other names that she had been called by fellow students. Though, they would never refer to her as such in anything more than hushed whispers.

"You know, Rena." Lyrah giggled. "I am quite impressed the display you made the other day. To think that you would confirm to the masses that you tossed the sheets with your body guard. Such topics would be the focus of lascivious novels, and yet here you are living out a noblewoman's darkest fantasies!"

Rena rolled her eyes at the girl's behavior. At first she had thought that Lyrah was some sort of relative of Lucius from his birth family, but after spending some time getting to know her, she realized that such things were almost impossible.

First off, the girl had the complete opposite personality to Lucius. No matter where she went, she maintained a childlike aloofness, treating life itself as if it were a game to be played. Nothing was ever serious with her, where for Lucius everything was serious.

There were times that he was playful and teased and joked with her… but those moments were few and restricted to the eyes and ears of Rena only.

She found herself subconsciously touching the choker on her neck. No matter the situation, the attire, or the time of day, Rena never took the choker off. Were the cat-shaped pendant anything other than enchanted, she might have worn away at the intricate designs in the metal from how frequently she brushed it.

This ritual had become a soothing practice to her and any time she was sad or worried, she would gently touch the choker and be reminded of Lucius' warm embrace.

"Was that a gift from him?"

A soft voice, barely more than a whisper, interrupted Rena's thoughts. Looking directly at her were the icy-blue eyes of Natali. They were not close… for some reason the girl did not like her, but when it came to Lucius, there was a strange comradery with her that she did not quite understand.

"Yes… he gave this to me as a birthday present. It has an enchantment, though I do not know what kind. However, even so it is my most important treasure." She thumbed the cat charm and giggled quietly.

"Why a cat?" Lyrah asked.

Rena couldn't help but blush. She could feel the tips of her ears burning from embarrassment. "Well… when we first met I noticed his feline eyes and saw he was half-beastman. So when I brought him to my father's estate, I told a soldier that I had found a stray cat to bring home."

For some reason she thought she saw the corner of Lyrah's mouth twitch, and not the pleasant kind. Though it vanished too quickly to really know for sure.

"Ever since then, I would often refer to him as my pet cat. He was quite similar to one in his personality."

"Do share. I would love to know more about how this Lucius boy is, and maybe how it was that he seduced the heart of a fair noblewoman." Lyrah teased.

With a grin that grew wider as she spoke, Rena divulged many of the stories of their childhood. She did her best to leave out the worst bits, because she did not want to relive those horrors again.

There were plenty of holes in the story from Lucius' side because he never talked much about life prior to when they met. She also never asked. Something felt wrong about asking for stories before his father's death since she blamed herself and her family for it.

She did her best to portray his best qualities and how he was fiercely loyal to his friends and family. Lucius was also extremely tenacious and stopped at nothing to achieve his goals even when they seemed impossible.

It was easy to share the stories of how he never gave up and continued to fight against the fate the world tried to throw against him.

The story that really piqued the interest of the other girls was when he fought in the misty village against an insane Marked One. He had only awakened his Thunder Magic after years of trying a little while before that battle, yet he still managed to break through into the Beginner Rank.

Again, she left out several important details that would expose Lucius. Though Lyrah gave Rena a knowing smile as if she had witnessed the incident already. This fact did not surprise Rena one bit due to her own abilities.

"It sounds like you two have been through a lot. The love you developed must have taken time." Lyrah finally said after Rena had finished the stories.

"Yes… I felt this for him for some time… but it took that slow idiot almost five years to finally say that he loves me…" Rena pouted.

"Well! Maybe in the future you can grant his adoptive mother her wish for many grandchildren!" Lyrah said with a wink before she yelped.

Rena looked at the source of Lyrah's discomfort and saw that Natali's hand was firmly squeezing the black-haired girl's waist.

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