CHAPTER 311: LOVE OR WEAPON-II

Karnala and Renard were locked in place, their hands clasped tightly over the table, bodies pressed together in a frozen tableau of panic. Both turned sharply toward the door like startled predators, eyes gleaming, jaws tense.

Between them, Arabella sat stiffly, her arms spread wide as if shielding a delicate, trembling egg about to hatch.

Lastor paused at the threshold, blinking slowly. "...What, in the name of all decency, are you doing?"

Karnala and Renard glanced at each other. Arabella, ever the desperate improviser, straightened with a snap.

"Arm wrestling!" she blurted. "They’re arm wrestling."

A silence fell.

"...Why?" Lastor arched a brow, eyes sliding toward Renard. "An arm wrestle. Against a woman. How gentlemanly of you, Mister Renard."

"There’s a reason!" Arabella rushed to say. "It’s, it’s because there’s something important at stake. Something that could, uh, alter the course of their entire relationship!"

"Oh!" Lastor blinked three times, slowly, then his expression shifted to a knowing smirk, as if he’d just cracked some ancient vampire courtship ritual. "I see. So this is how vampires... court?"

"COURT—" Karnala choked, scandalized.

"YES!" Renard jumped in, cutting her off with terrifying speed. "Yes. Absolutely, correct. As you know, Lastor, strength is everything among vampires. I told her I refused to hurt her, so this, this arm wrestle, is our fair compromise. My life depends on this moment. Which is why I must humbly ask you to leave. For... honor."

Lastor narrowed his eyes dramatically, then nodded. "Ah. As a fellow man of honor, I understand. I shall take my leave."

He turned toward the door, then hesitated, frowning. He turned back slowly, eyes narrowing at the table.

"...But what about you, Princess?" His gaze fixed on Arabella. "Shouldn’t you be leaving with me to give them the privacy they deserve?"

"I— I can’t?" Arabella squeaked, glancing nervously between the two vampires.

Lastor gave her a look of such disbelief it bordered on offense.

Before the moment could stretch into disaster, Renard straightened sharply. "She must stay!" he declared. "We require a witness. A neutral witness. And who better than Princess Arabella? Honest to a fault, sharp as a dagger. Truly, no fairer judge could be found in the land. Don’t you agree?"

Lastor paused... then slowly nodded, though the skepticism in his squint was not fully gone.

"...Fine," he murmured, tugging the door open again. "But if I hear any groaning in there, I’m coming back with holy water."

"Yes!" Lastor beamed. "Then I suppose I should give you your own time now. Ah, princess do let me know when this has ended, I shall quickly resume our lesson. The day of the court is tomorrow so we have to finish everything as quickly as possible for you to have a day full of rest following that."

"Alright," Arabella nodded her head firmly, "Don’t worry, Lastor. I’ll study everything quickly."

"Of course! You are a great learner, I have no qualms about that," Lastor chuckled as he walked out. "So Sir Renard and Miss Karnala are... I see... hahaha."

As Lastor’s laughter echoed beyond the door, Renard, still clutching Karnala’s hand, let out a deep sigh of relief. It was clear he believed he had successfully pulled off the act, until a sharp smack

landed on his head.

"YOU! MY GOOD NAME!" Karnala growled, ruffling his hair with a vengeance.

"HEY!" Renard cried, flinching as she tugged at his scalp. "You don’t have a man you’ve promised your future to, so it’s fine, right?! Stop pulling my hair! My father has gone bald, and I’m not ready to follow in his footsteps!"

"I’ll make sure your head is round and shiny by today!" Karnala snapped, yanking again.

Atlas slowly popped his head from under the table, staring at the door in an awe. He stared at it for a long time until he finally spoke, "That’s amazing... he really didn’t age."

Arabella turned at him, "But why do you have to hide from him?"

"Well," sighed Atlas as he slowly stood up, patting his back as though it was killing him, "Lastor has never liked me. I’m sure he will kill me if he sees me, and this isn’t just words... I’m sure he will go through with it."

Arabella cocked her head to the side, "Just what have you done to acquire his rage? Lastor had never once gotten mad at anyone."

"Stealing his first love?" Atlas asked with a smile but he didn’t completely laugh. Instead he turned and puckered his lips, "Lastor loved Circe, she didn’t notice that but hey, if Lastor is still alive then Circe is also-"

"The witch have died," Karnala answered instead and could see how the hopeful gaze that Atlas had slowly dimmed.

He held his hands together and muttered to himself, "Right... of course. How?"

"No one really knew," answered Arabella, hoping to save the heartbreaking news. "But if we ask Lastor-"

"It’s alright," answered Atlas after a brief ponder, "It wouldn’t be right for me to dig through old wounds by having you ask such question. But court? What is about to happen?"

Arabella hummed for a while before finally breaking all the news to Atlas, including how the human kingdom has ended ever since Cassius rose to the throne and how now Queen Morgana plan to accuse Cassius of sins that he didn’t do and had ordered the court to prove his sins.

Hearing all that, Atlas hummed, interested but he hadn’t uttered a single word.

"For now," Renard then said, "We should bring Sir Atlas in a place that’s better for him to hide."

"I don’t think it would be difficult," Atlas answered, "Only Lastor would remember my face clearly and hearing that the kingdom had fallen to vampires, they would not possess the portrait of my face."

"If we could hide your face," muttered Arabella, "Maybe we don’t really have to hide?"

"But how?" Atlas questioned in interest as Arabella turned to the pot.

"There was something I was looking into earlier, something that could change appearance," she then beamed a smile that made Atlas’s smile to turn faint.

"Are you interested in magic, Sir Atlas?"