154 You don't have any plans after the Tournament, do you?
"Elara, how have you been? Did you miss me? I missed talking to you."
Elric spoke as he sat next to Elara and held her hands.
"Brother Elric..." Elara greeted with a smile on her face. "I have been well. What about you?"
"Hahaha~ I am doing quite good as well. Now even better since I got to talk with you! How long has it been since we have talked like this without anyone bothering us?"
Elric questioned.
"It has been a while, yes." Elara nodded politely but at the same time, she tried to move back and free her hand.
For some reason, Elric didn't seem like his usual self today. Usually, he is gentle and easy to talk to, he only listened while Elara talked to him, today, however, Elric seemed... a bit too aggressive?
Elara didn't know how to put it in words, but she felt strange as Elric continued to hold her hand.
"I still remember you sitting alone in the library not sharing your problems with anyone but me. That habit of yours of sitting alone still hasn't changed, now has it?"
Elric laughed, as he tightened his grip around Elara's hand, not wanting to leave even when Elara was clearly trying to move away.
"I-I am different than before, Brother Elric. I am all grown up now." Elara replied. There was still a smile on her face, however, it looked a lot more forced than before.
Elara didn't like how Elric wasn't leaving her hand despite her giving out every signal possible.
"Oh? So my little Elara is all grown up now? Is it finally my chance to make a move? I have been waiting for quite a while now." Elric questioned with a playful smile on his face.
"W-What?" Elara's expression changed.
"Hey! Don't look at me like that, I feel strange."
"O-Oh. I apologize."
"Come on, you don't have to apologize either. The two of us are so close to each other, do we need to be all formal when it is just us two?"
"B-But it is not just u-us two here..." Elara muttered.
"Hmm? Is that why you seem a little different than before? Don't worry about them, Elara. I have told you this before as well. Only focus on yourself and leave people who hold you back. You are a brave and talented girl, you do not have to bind yourself with others and hold yourself back.
Free yourself of any possible burden and fly as high as possible together with those who put you and your heart at ease.
These people you are worrying about?
Most of them won't even achieve half of what you will achieve in the future, learn to differentiate yourself from them."
"Y-Yes." Elara nodded.
Seeing this as a chance, Elric lifted Elara's hands and brought them near his chest, then, he looked into her crystal-like beautiful red eyes and, "Start looking around more carefully, observe and try to understand who means the good for you, and has been helping you for a long time without asking for anything in return and who has been nothing but a leech, only taking and taking more things from you and pushing you away after using you.
Make a better choice, and live a happy life.
And remember, you can always come to me if you ever feel like you are in trouble or want someone to talk to.
I promise that no matter how busy I am, I will always be there for you, Elara."
Elric spoke with a genuine look on his face.
Elara stared into his eyes for a while, he was the same man who had been there for her when she was alone, thinking about that, Elara's racing heart that was panicking calmed down and her breathing stabilized.
Feeling that her resistance had dropped, Elric smirked inwardly. 'Heh, I knew it!
He has been with Elara and has been observing her for years now, he knew perfectly well what her actions meant and how to calm her down. For him, Elara was an open book. A girl he could understand and manipulate however he wanted.
This was the reason why he wanted to spend some time alone with her, he could easily close the distance created between these two in the time he was in the Academy, he just needed some time, time that that bastard Vaan wasn't giving him.
Now, however, things were different, that brutish bastard wasn't here anymore. Of course, there were many eyes here, so Elric couldn't do what he pleased here, however, just this much was enough.
He just needed to slowly chip in and in the end, create some opportunities to meet alone in the future. Who knows? Maybe they won't even need to go to the Academy before Elara finally falls for him.
As Elric thought of that possibility, his smile widened even further. He then glanced at Elara, wanting to go a step further,
"Have you prepared well for this Elemental Clash? I don't want you to lose in the first or second round, alright? This time, you should aim to reach at least the quarter-finals, okay? I plan to win the tournament as well, if I do, I will arrange a big party in Enchanted Heart and I want you to join as well, okay?"
"Brother Elric I..."
"No, I don't want to hear any excuses.
You don't have any plans after the Tournament, do you? If you do, can-"
"She does. She has plans with me after she wins the tournament, it is going to be the winners' night so the losers should fuck off!"
Suddenly, a loud shout was heard. Elric, Elara, and the other 4th Circle Mages turned around and saw Vaan walking into the Hall.
The moment she saw Vaan, Elara's eyes brightened up, a newfound strength suddenly filled her body and she quickly pulled away her hands that she couldn't free this whole time.
"Vaan!"
She exclaimed as she jumped into his arms.
An extremely surprising sight, especially considering Elara's usually reserved personality, let alone other mages, even Vaan himself was quite taken aback.
Not that he let his surprise stop him from using this opportunity, He hugged Elara back as he placed his hand on the lower back, his chin on her shoulder, then, with a smirk on his face, he glanced at Elric and,
"See? Losers should just fuck off."
He chuckled.
Elric clenched his fists in anger.
How could he not understand what Vaan was trying to say?
"That fucking bastard, he even came here. Why is he following her like a dog?' Elric cursed inwardly, then, with a sour look on his face, he questioned,
"What are you doing here? This is a place for Mages who are participating in the Fourth Tier, and let alone qualifying for participating in the Fourth Tier, you aren't even a 4th Circle Mage yet."
"Trust me, Elric. If I was a 4th Circle Mage, none of you would be standing in front of me."
"But the thing is, you are not a 4th Circle Mage, so stop building castles in the air and get out of here," Elric replied coldly, he didn't want to see this bastard's face for even a second longer.
Especially when he is hugging his Elara like that.
Vaan, however, didn't give a rat-shit about his opinion.
"I don't see how it is wrong that I came here to support my fiancée. Do any of you have a problem with me being here?" He questioned as he glanced at the other mages present in the hall.
No one spoke.
How could they?
Vaan was not the same Vaan as before, not to mention him being the son of Lady Astra, just the fact that he created the Advanced Magic Circle said a lot about his future potential, no one here wanted to offend someone a potential top mage for something as little as this.
Except for a few,
"I do," Leif, Elric's subordinate spoke up.
"This is a place for 4th Circle Mages, Young Master doesn't belong here and should leave."
Vaan however, looked straight into Leif's eyes and, "When I asked for opinions, a Dog's wasn't included." Leif narrowed his eyes.
"I have a problem as well," Lirael spoke up as well.
"Who said a bitch's opinion was included?
I believe in gender equality, female dogs aren't allowed to speak either.
Anyone else?
Or to be clearer, any sane human having a problem with me staying here and supporting my 'fiancee' who I 'love' a lot?
If there is, don't step forward.
I don't really care!"
Vaan spoke as he sat in a corner holding Elara's hands, this time, the only difference being that Elara wasn't trying to free her hands.
She was simply too busy hiding her face in Vaan's shoulder ever since she finally realized what she had done in front of so many mages.
Vaan continued to ruffle her hair, it was a wholesome sight.
A sight that Elric didn't like one bit and, "I will call guards and let them decide then."
"Yes yes, might as well call you father too.
'Papa! Papa! Please do something about this since I am too much of a pussy to do it myself!
Fucking loser."
Vaan snorted.
