Chapter 321| Match Score: Tie, 1-1
The morning sunlight was already piercing through the window curtains just as Raphael slowly peeled his eyelids open.
One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.
His head was still glued to the pillow when reality violently slapped him awake. Raphael’s eyes bulged in absolute horror.
"Damn it! Crap, I’m late!"
Thud!
He scrambled off the bed in a blind panic, nearly eating the carpet as his calves tangled in the edges of his blanket. With the frantic energy of a student who had severely overslept, he haphazardly tore open his pajama buttons, snatched a towel from the rack, and threw himself into the bathroom.
Splash! The roar of the shower instantly broke the morning silence in his room.
It took him only a few minutes to stand tall in front of his wardrobe mirror, clad in an impeccably neat school uniform—definitely not the crumpled, sweat-smelling uniform from his long walk with Elodie yesterday.
Fresh uniform. Smelling like a million bucks. The creases in his trousers were as sharp as razors. Raphael even managed to comb his hair multiple times using wet fingers, though to his frustration, his bangs still fell into a messy swoop.
Without wasting another precious second, he sprinted down the castle corridors toward the dining hall. Tap! Tap! Tap! The heavy thud of his boots echoed noisily against the cold stone walls.
Inside his head, nightmare scenarios were already playing on a loop: The ice-cold glare from Lady Elara when he walked into class late. Or the most terrifying one... Sergeant Garon grinning like a demon while punishing him to run laps around the mud field carrying a weighted rucksack.
"Raphael?"
Raveena’s gentle voice greeted him the second he violently shoved the dining room doors open. "Careful, you’re going to break the hinges. Why are you panting so hard this early in the morning?"
Raphael slammed the brakes on his momentum right at the doorway. His chest was heaving violently. Hah... hah...
Before him, Raveena sat casually alone at the end of the long dining table. His older sister was wearing nothing but an oversized, cream-colored cotton loungewear shirt—one hundred percent not an outfit meant for teaching a class.
In front of the princess sat a large bowl of chicken congee, emitting thin wisps of steam. The mouth-watering aroma of sliced ginger, thick chicken broth, and soy sauce instantly invaded Raphael’s nostrils.
"I overslept! Why are you just chilling and eating porridge?!" Raphael marched quickly toward the table, yanking out a chair in a panic. "The school bell is about to ring!"
Raveena stopped her spoon mid-air. One of her eyebrows arched upward flawlessly. "Raphael... today is a holiday."
"HUH?!"
"It’s a holiday, my dear. A red-letter day. There are no school activities today."
Raphael froze stiff, resembling a stone gargoyle. His mouth hung open in a comical half-gape.
His brain, still flooded with residual panic adrenaline, slowly began to process the barrage of facts. Holiday. No school. No death glare from Lady Elara. No physical torture from Sergeant Garon. No ticking clock to chase this morning.
"I... my gods, I completely forgot." Raphael slumped heavily into his chair. Thump. The tense line of his shoulders dropped instantly, as if his bones had just been plucked out. "And I even took a lightning-fast shower. Wore a fresh-smelling uniform. I even combed my hair."
Watching her little brother’s suffering, Raveena carved a thin smile—a sweet, angelic smile that Raphael recognized immediately as a catastrophic danger alarm.
"Well... at least you smell nice and look presentable now," Raveena quipped in amusement. "But... it seems you aren’t the only one who lost focus this morning."
Raphael, who had just reached out to grab an empty bowl, abruptly froze. He had a very bad feeling about this. "What do you mean by that?"
"Last night." Raveena scooped some porridge and brought it to her mouth with an excruciatingly slow, provocative motion. "My eyes accidentally caught quite the sight."
Raphael swallowed hard. Gulp.
"A very... heartwarming sight." Raveena rested her chin on the palm of her hand, her devilish grin now stretching to its absolute maximum. "My youngest brother, taking a stroll under the dim glow of the city streetlamps."
Raphael’s face instantly flared hot.
"His smile didn’t fade the entire walk," Raveena continued, holding back a laugh. "The way he looked at that girl... oh my, how should I describe it? Melting. Melting into a puddle, exactly like chocolate ice cream left out in the midsummer sun."
"I WAS NOT MELTING!!" Raphael barked loudly, his face now the shade of a boiled crab.
Raveena casually blew on her hot porridge. Phew. "’Raphael looked like a poor sap seeing the sunrise for the very first time.’ I could barely believe that lovesick boy was my own flesh and blood."
Raphael hurriedly bowed his head, trying to hide his ears, which were already as red as cherries. He deliberately busied himself aggressively ladling chicken congee from the large pot into his bowl, desperately avoiding eye contact with his sister, who was throwing a massive feast at his expense.
But Raveena clearly had no intention of stopping.
"So, when are you going to bring the girl over to introduce her officially?" Raveena pressed, thoroughly enjoying herself. "Mother has already met her. I know her well since Elodie is my star student. But what about Father? What about the reactions of your other siblings? Wow, you’re definitely going to have to—"
"Sister."
Raphael suddenly cut her off, the tone of his voice dropping abruptly to the temperature of absolute zero.
Raveena’s spoon froze stiff in the air. There was a sudden frequency shift in her little brother’s tone that immediately triggered her defensive instincts. "What is it?"
Raphael slowly raised his head. The embarrassed flush on his cheeks had completely evaporated, replaced by a lopsided, incredibly cunning, and highly suspicious smirk.
"Hearing you say all that... reminds me of something interesting," Raphael murmured quietly. "About a week ago, around midnight, on the park bench behind the castle."
Checkmate.
The color drained instantly from Raveena’s face. She turned pale for a split second, before exploding into a shade far, far redder than a ripe tomato.
"I happened to be out getting some fresh air," Raphael continued, deliberately slowing the rhythm of his speech into an agonizingly lazy, obnoxious drawl. "And guess what? My eyes caught a sight that was far, far more... heartwarming than your little fairytale just now."
"Y-Y-You saw us?!" Raveena shrieked hysterically, nearly choking.
"The moonlight was exceptionally bright that night, Sister. And my vantage point from the bushes wasn’t too far away, either." Raphael took a bite of his porridge with an expression of absolute victory. "Your head resting affectionately on his broad shoulder. Your hand shyly placed over his. Your fingers tightly intertwined. Good heavens above... what a dramatic portrait of a midnight romance."
"RAPHAEL!!"
"I still remember every single detail with crystal clarity, Sister," Raphael blew on his hot porridge in return. Phew. Mocking Raveena’s exact mannerisms from a minute ago. "You looked so incredibly peaceful in Caelus’s embrace. Your eyes half-closed. A tiny smile playing on your lips. I was practically moved to tears, unable to believe that spoiled, clingy woman was my own older sister."
BAM!
Raveena slammed both her palms onto the dining table. The plates and glasses rattled in shock. "It... it was absolutely nothing like the perverted scenario playing out in your head!!"
"Oh, of course not." Raphael nodded understandingly, sporting a mock-serious face that practically begged to be slapped. "Your head just happened to lose its balance and landed on his shoulder. Your hand just happened to be seeking warmth and landed on top of his. And then your fingers just happened to get tangled and intertwined. I completely understand, Sister. The laws of physics and gravity sometimes work in very mysterious ways."
Raveena opened her mouth wide to launch a counterattack, but her vocal cords were completely paralyzed. Not a single syllable of defense was willing to come out. All that escaped was a frustrated, muffled snort trapped in her throat.
The woman bowed her head deeply, hiding her hopelessly burning cheeks.
"But well, it does make me wonder," Raphael leaned back in his chair, casually crossing his arms. "What do you think Father’s comment would be if he knew his beloved, only daughter was getting that cozy in a dark garden with the former enemy of his kingdom? Or... how about Brother Riven’s reaction? You know exactly how insanely overprotective Riven gets when it comes to strange men daring to touch his little sister."
"DON’T YOU DARE BREATHE A WORD OF THIS TO EITHER OF THEM, RAPHAEL?!" Raveena threatened hysterically, her eyes bulging in horror.
"Relax, I haven’t leaked this intel to anyone yet, Sister." Raphael grinned as wide as a lottery winner. "I’m just wondering out loud. Besides, you’re the one who always taught me to think critically."
Raveena pointed a trembling finger straight at her obnoxious little brother’s face. "You... you... you demonic, treacherous little brat!"
"I am merely an excellent student applying the theories taught by my own sister." Raphael raised his bowl of porridge high as if offering a toast. "Besides, you’re the one who fired the first shot this morning."
Raveena grabbed her spoon again. She began scooping her porridge and chewing with incredibly aggressive motions—as if the shredded chicken in the bowl were Raphael’s face that needed to be pulverized immediately. Her cheeks were still as red as chili peppers. Meanwhile, Raphael smiled with supreme satisfaction as he enjoyed his breakfast.
Match Score: Tie, 1-1.