CHAPTER 171: CHAPTER 171 AFTERMATH

"What! When did you?" She muttered as she turned around and no one was in front of her. She thought she was talking to Roman, but it was a clone.

Roman walked towards the door and stepped outside. The guard wasn’t at the door; instead, she was at some distance away looking at the door.

Roman didn’t meet her eyes and just walked away. It took a while before he got back to the arena, but the match was already over, and all the Nobles and the Queen had already left.

The only people there were the girls, all 9 of them...most of them sat down under the shade while Aurelia was training with her sword.

Roman strode forward till he got to where the girls sat. He didn’t need to be told how the last battle went, as he could see it on both of the girls’ faces.

Elena was smiling while Joanna was angry, he wasn’t sure how the battle was fought but he knew Elena won.

"Where were you? When the battle ended, we all had to go into the arena," Reina spoke.

"I was busy, what did I miss?" Roman asked.

"Nothing much, Elena won her match pretty easily, then we were required..."

"Pretty easily?" Joanna spoke as she stood up. Reina didn’t talk too loudly, but she heard it either way.

"She did win easily, I’m not saying you aren’t powerful, I’m just saying your abilities and spells aren’t suitable against blood mages" Reina replied.

"What the hell do you know about me? You need to mind the way you speak to me, you filthy commoner." Joanna snorted.

"Filthy commoner...just because you’re from a noble family doesn’t give you the right to talk to me like that. I could join a noble family if I wanted, but you could never be an S-rank mage." Reina spoke as she also stood up.

Roman was surprised by the way Reina spoke; he didn’t view her as the kind to talk like that, but Joanna started it, so it was fair game.

"What did you say to me?" Joanna sneered.

"I said, you can never be an S-rank mage." Reina snorted back, stepping right in front of her.

None of the girls did anything to stop the fight, even though Aurelia had noticed it and stood there watching to see what would happen, the rest of the girls were also enjoying the scene.

The worst that could happen was that both of them would start fighting, but even that seemed unlikely as they both knew they were in the Royal Palace.

"Before you think of doing anything, just remember you’re in the palace and Royal guards are already watching both of you, you would be able to cast spells before both of you are on the ground" Ava spoke.

Both of the girls were in a staring contest, and Joanna was already planning to strike, but she already knew what would happen even before Ava said it; that was the only reason she was holding back.

Joanna cracked her neck and stepped away from Reina. She didn’t join the girls again as she walked towards the main building. As she walked past Roman, he could see her face; she looked like she wanted to cry.

And it didn’t take long as tears began dropping down her face as she walked away but none of the others saw her.

"I’m sorry, but I didn’t like the way she spoke," Reina muttered as she sat back down.

"You did tell her she lost easily, I’m sure she’s angry about that," Ava said.

"But it’s the truth, I did win easily, I also could have won the battle in its earlier phase, but I didn’t want her to look bad in front of her family, and she’s my friend." Elena joined the conversation.

"Maybe you should have considered letting at least one of her spells touch you; that way, she might have had the hope of winning, but you kept dodging and blocking everything. She couldn’t even land a single hit," Reena muttered.

Elena sighed, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "If I let her hit me on purpose, that wouldn’t be fair either. She’s strong, but she doesn’t think clearly in battle. That’s why I won."

"Still," Clara added softly, "Losing like that in front of her family must’ve hurt more than the actual fight."

"Especially the Gaines family," Reena said. "They’re strict... I’ve heard they don’t take failure lightly."

"Maybe that’s why she couldn’t think well, it was the same for me growing up, but now I don’t care that much, I’m going to be a powerful mage someday, that’s all that matters," Ava spoke.

"Letting her hot you on purpose isn’t the best thing to do, if she can’t accept defeat, she’ll never grow stronger. We’ve all lost at some point. That’s how we learn." Aurelia added.

Reina looked down. "Still... maybe I shouldn’t have said what I did. I wasn’t trying to hurt her, I just..." she trailed off, her voice quieter.

Now that the girls were talking, Reina realized that Joanna wasn’t angry at her; she was just frustrated and taking it out on Reina because there was no one else.

Roman was quiet and listening to what the girls were saying. He had nothing to add since he didn’t actually watch the match, and even before the match, he knew Elena would win; her powers were better, and she was stronger.

’Maybe I should go see her, I haven’t talked to her before but still... I’ll just go’

"I’ll see you girls later" Roman spoke as he walked away.

He didn’t know which room or side of the palace the girls were staying, but he was going to ask one of the maids.

Roman stepped into the main building and one of the maids stopped to greet him and he asked her.

"Do you know where the girls are staying, I’ll appreciate if you can show me" Roman spoke and the maid nodded almost immediately.