"Hey… something is poking at me."

A voice echoed through the dark space.

"Don't touch me there."

"I said, don't touch me or I will—"

The voice echoed again.

"…I will kill you."

"Bastard, I don't wanna do that either," I finally snapped after this guy acted like a fucking victim for the past hour. "There's literally no space."

It had been exactly three weeks since I challenged Varek to a successor duel and my days had been chaotic… to put it lightly.

"I'm going to kill you once we get out of here, Ashborn."

The one spitting those cringey threats while acting like a self-absorbed daddy's princess was none other than Noah.

"Dream on, bitch," I shot back at him in his own language.

This bastard was just jealous of me.

After my meeting with Alya, when I lied to her about being Noah's friend, I realized it was finally time to start using the protagonist properly…

…and step one was befriending him.

Thankfully, Viola getting somewhat close to Noah had given me the perfect idea and all I had to do was make her forgive me.

And honestly, that part wasn't even difficult.

After she found out about my assassination attempt, she forgave me way too easily. Hell, she even apologized on her own, saying she was sorry for being mad and would never take her eyes off me again.

Which somehow made things worse because now Noah thought I was trying to steal the only genuine suicidal relationship he had ever formed… even though he himself didn't understand what that relationship actually was.

Jealousy really does rot the brain.

Just then, the box shook again, and my already-crumpled knees slammed straight into that bastard's face again.

"You bastard." He snapped. "You're doing this on purpose now."

"How the fuck would I do it on purpose," I shot back. "When it's the road and the carriage driver's fault, dumbass?"

"Fuck you." He cursed and went silent once again.

That had been his default response ever since the trip started and honestly, as much as I wanted to blame this bastard, I really couldn't.

None of this was his fault either.

So how exactly did I end up in such an awkward, messed-up situation… stuck in a cramped space with this bastard?

It's a long story or maybe not so long.

We were crammed inside a small box, being transported by carriage into the city of Anciana because naturally, a black market city had to have some weird ass ways to enter it.

The city of Anciana was a lawless zone, a place where criminals and all kinds of people roamed freely. It was also known as the black market city of the Demon Realm.

All kinds of people and businesses were allowed to exist in that city, bound by a single rule of not bringing any outside grudges.

Whatever hatred, vendettas or politics you carried into Anciana stayed outside its walls.

Even the government knew about the city's existence, yet they let it be. Hell, there was even a law stating that they were never to interfere in whatever happened inside Anciana.

After all… The city had been established by that fucker Ashavar himself, in one of his lives. It was the best place to get all kinds of rare weapons, artifacts, ingredients… even potions.

But more than that, this was the place where the Divine Treasury was going to descend in a few days according to Seraphina.

And me, this Noah fucker and few other were currently smuggling ourselves in that city.

Naturally, aside from me, Seraphina and Bearlo, no one else knew the real reason we were going.

To everyone else, it was just a mission. One I deliberately picked so I could leave the academy and enter Anciana.

I mean, the academy didn't allow students to leave unless it was mission-related… so I had to take one and conveniently, there were two missions available in Anciana.

One was to assassinate some S-Rank individual.

The other was to steal an artifact that was going to be sold there soon by a thief.

And honestly, killing an S-Rank at my current level was straight-up impossible. No matter how glorious I liked to think I was. To begin with, I didn't even understand which lunatic posted that mission or why the academy approved something so blatantly suicidal.

So naturally, I picked the theft mission because nothing is more satisfying than stealing from a thief.

Not that I was going to complete it but had to make it more believable.

The only problem was that it was also an S-Rank mission… which required a party of eight people.

And that… was how I ended up with this bastard.

The rest of my party members were crammed into other boxes as well.

Arza and Viola shared one.

Bearlo and Arthur were stuffed into another.

And finally, Seraphina and Sylvie were in the last box.

Honestly, I was running low on efficient party members and Sylvie, who had been my sparring partner and had somehow started turning into a friend after the last incident, had asked to join.

So I accepted.

After all, no matter how much I planned to kill her once she awakened the Seed… she was still useful for now.

And I needed every useful piece I could get.

Because if the Divine Treasury was the same one mentioned in the novel… it was going to take everything I had if I wanted to make it out alive.

—

Meanwhile, inside another one of those boxes, Viola and Arza were being carried together. Unlike the chaotic mess that was Rael and Noah, this box was deathly silent as neither of them made a sound.

Eventually, Viola broke the silence.

"What do you want from Rael?" She asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. "Why are you engaged to him? And why do you keep following him everywhere?"

After the assassination attempt, Viola might have completely forgiven Rael but she had never stopped doubting the Demon Princess's intentions.

Arza was far too calm and far too detached to be someone who had fallen in love.

So why would she agree to marry him?

Viola couldn't wrap her head around it.

Even in this cramped, suffocating box, Arza hadn't shifted even once. She didn't complain or even react as if she neither felt discomfort… Nor cared about it at all.

So, finally Viola just couldn't hold herself in.

This was the first time Viola had actually spoken to Arza, even though the girl stayed glued to Rael most of the time.

Arza, for her part, had never once tried to speak to Viola either and only ever talked to Rael.

The silence between them hadn't been accidental but it had been deliberate.

But now that Viola had initiated the conversation, Arza finally replied.

"I like his chocolate."

Her tone was as detached and emotionless as ever… but the words themselves were anything but.

Viola's face instantly flushed red.

"Y-you—what are you saying?" She stuttered, completely misunderstanding the Demon Princess's simple statement. "You like his… what?"

Arza looked at her without any emotions, still she explained her point once again, thinking that Viola was asking for more explanation.

"I like his chocolate." Her voice was flat. "He promised to give me more if I protect and agree to marry him."

Viola's head practically started steaming as she couldn't understand anything anymore.

She had been always blaming Arza, thinking she had bad intentions that she never even considered the possibility that Rael could have been in the wrong.

Still, she asked in a hesitant voice.

"S-since when?" Her voice was low.

Arza thought carefully.

The first time Rael had given her chocolate was when he had made her chocolate drop to the ground on the first day of the academy entrance test.

So, she answered honestly.

"Ever since the start of the academy entrance test."

Rael, you bastard… What did you do to this poor girl?

—

Meanwhile, completely unaware of the storm brewing inside Viola's head, where she had thoroughly misunderstood everything and was now seriously considering that her childhood friend and brotherly figure, Rael, might actually be some kind of monster…

Rael sneezed.

Who is remembering my handsome face now?

And his knee slammed straight into Noah's face once again.

"You filthy fucker," Noah snapped but this time, instead of just cursing and going silent, he retaliated, driving his knee straight into my face.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I snapped back and kicked him in return and just like that, the thin thread of peace holding everything together finally snapped.

The tournament of mutual beating began.

And it continued for the next few minutes until the carriage came to an abrupt stop.

Noah and Rael stopped their childish fight as they heard footsteps drawing closer. Moments later, the tightly sealed lid of the box was pried open as bright light assaulted their eyes.

Through the glare, Rael made out the silhouette of an old man with a Santa-like beard.

"Wakey, wakey, kids." The man said cheerfully. "Welcome to the city of Anciana."

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