"Guess you've learned your lesson." Alaric scoffed and released Tyler, who still wiggled in pain and fear. Well, it was simply because Alaric had broken his shoulder joints, so it might take Tyler several days to get treated in the academy's hospital.

"Goodbye. Hope next time, don't let me see your stupid face again." Alaric shrugged quietly, turned around, and headed to his classroom, ignoring the chatter from everyone nearby.

It was quite satisfying to get rid of that heavy stone sticking in his body. He made sure that now the slave could rest in peace.

Pretty soon, Alaric stood in front of the classroom for privileged students. He was a bit fluttery for no reason.

But then, he lightly shook his head, opened the door, and walked in.

Still the usual four students, but now, it was a bit different. Well, they no longer ignored him. Just gave him a cautious look, yet still full of resentment—especially Phyllis and that scar-faced young man.

Phyllis, he could understand, but that scar-faced young man… he remembered he had no issues with him, but thinking back to the first time they met, he supposed that overthinker still suspected him of smelling like a demon.

Finally, Slater Alvarez…that handsome guy carried for him a bad feeling, especially when he saw his friendly but eerie smile. It was pretty weird as if he had seen it before…Oh..that's right. The smile of gay one.

Damn, It gave him goosebumps.

"Tch." He clicked his tongue and walked over to his old seat close to Dana. And for some reason, Dana also slowly moved her chair closer to him… Well, it was quite bizarre to Alaric.

Dana gave him an emotionless look and said, as if trying not to make another mistake,

"My grandpa told me that. Always by your side."

Alaric frowned.

"But your grandpa isn't here."

Dana just sighed while glancing at Phyllis, hinting to Alaric why she had to act even if she didn't want to.

"Oh, I see." Alaric lightly nodded. He was pretty sure Baxter had ordered Phyllis to act as Dana's enforcer.

Phyllis seemed irritated as Alaric gave her an indifferent look and immediately ignored her as if she was nothing more than a stone. Several veins popped on her face and she scoffed.

"Congratulations! You two are indeed born for each other. And you, slave—don't think you're a member of the Neonard Clan. Your origin will never change."

Alaric just shrugged and threw back a few words.

"Don't talk to me, dead-brain loser."

Silence.

Phyllis couldn't help but grit her teeth and clench her fist in rage, yet she forced the wave of fury down, trying to remember her grandpa's command. After a few seconds, she finally sat down and ignored Alaric. However, her resentment only piled up. She promised herself that someday, she would definitely kill that bastard.

During the waiting time for the professor, Dana and Alaric started talking.

"Thank you for your advice, it helped me a lot."

Dana just sighed.

"No need for thanks. I didn't do anything."

Alaric scratched the back of his head… then lingered for a moment before asking,

"Are you angry at me?"

Dana frowned and hesitated, then nodded.

"A bit… but thinking again, it's my fault… I shouldn't have forced you to kiss me."

"I let curiosity overwhelm my senses."

…

The next moment, her eyes sharpened as she remembered Phyllis. Regret and anger filled her voice.

"I should've smashed that bitch from the start. Seems like ignoring her made her think she can do whatever she wants with me."

Alaric stiffened when he sensed her murderous intent. He gulped and glanced at Phyllis, muttering:

"Hope the Shadow God prays for you."

Then Alaric turned to Dana.

"So… what about your grandpa's command? Are you really going to marry me?"

Dana scowled in annoyance, but still answered.

"Yes, I will… but remember this… I won't have anything with you. Love… no. Family… no. Kids… absolutely no. And the most important thing… don't get in my way. If you do, I'll kill you...for sure"

Alaric scratched the back of his head. Dana clearly had her own goals. He figured he shouldn't interfere. And according to what the Nameless God said, he had some strange fate tied to her. More importantly, she wasn't a reincarnator… so she wasn't his enemy, at least.

Being friends with her wasn't a bad choice.

"So, not family… but a friend?"

Dana raised an eyebrow for a moment.

"Friend? …Why?"

Alaric said:

"Friends are good, right? Either way, it looks like I'm the only person who can stay near you. Why don't we start with a decent relationship instead of being enemies? We do have some things in common."

"We're both isolated. I also have a curse… makes everyone hate me for no reason."

"We're the same. And you don't lose anything by being friends with me."

Dana frowned lightly, stayed silent for a bit, then sighed.

"That's true. Fine… let's be friends."

Around an hour later, Barian finally arrived.

"Hey everyone. Sorry to keep you waiting, but I had a meeting with the principal about the dungeon-clearing plan for next week."

"So from now on, you guys can stay home, rest, and get ready. I suppose I don't need to teach you anything else since I already guided everyone two weeks in advance. However, don't overwork yourselves—this dungeon is way more dangerous than you think. One wrong step and you can die."

"Understand?" Barian asked, turning his gaze to Alaric.

"Alaric? Did you get that?"

Alaric flinched and nodded quickly.

"O-Obviously, I understood."

***

"Hey, Dana, do you know any guilds in the city that are suitable for small tasks?" Alaric asked.

Dana blinked a couple of times, slowly glancing out the hallway window before replying.

"You can use your authority as my fiancé to come to the Neonard Clan and take tasks. They'll give you easy ones, and a huge reward too."

Alaric rubbed his chin for a while, then answered,

"Well… I don't like that way. I want to act alone without your clan tracking me."

"So, you're not afraid I'll point you to a guild my clan uses to secretly track you?"

Alaric frowned, but then quickly shrugged.

"It's a test, friend… if you do that, our relationship is going down."

The first time, Dana tried to hide her seductive smile as she looked at Alaric.

"So, what if it's a guild where my subordinates will kill you?"

Alaric just stunned and froze after seeing her smile…it was quite beautiful...but then he quickly shook off and cleared his voice.

"I say again: our relationship is going down."

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