Opening his eyes slowly, Arthur exited the capsule quietly. He was still too occupied with his own thoughts to notice that almost every single student in the hall was looking at him as if he were an alien.
Still, he picked up his BlueLink, put it in his pocket, and then turned around to look for Lamenter. However, the very first person he saw wasn’t what he expected.
“… Isla?” His eyes widened slightly as the girl approached him with a cold look on her face. Arthur immediately knew that she wasn’t pleased at all.
Stopping in front of him, she eyed him silently for a few seconds as if she were trying to read through his eyes. Arthur didn’t turn away from her even though he knew she wasn’t going to let him off easily.
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Then, Elise was the second to reach him. She had a worried look on her face. After what she witnessed, the girl seemed almost hesitant to talk to him.
“Are you ok?” She asked.
“… Yeah, I’m fine.” He replied calmly. Then, his eyes shifted to the capsule a little farther away from him. There, he saw Lamenter dusting off his clothes and adjusting his attire. That was when he made eye contact with Arthur and smiled slightly before he turned around and left.
Arthur’s mind was still replaying everything he said in his head. However, deep down, he still didn’t believe any of it. He trusted Isla way more than he trusted that bastard. She had shown again and again that she saw him as a friend and a valued ally. He knew that Isla was never someone who would use him for her own gains and then throw him away.
‘Still… Why did he want me to ask her about her past? What could it be that she was hiding?’ He wondered.
“Fuuuh, I was a little worried there. Also, Miss Isla had arrived when the fight started. She had been waiting with us the entire time.” Elise said.
“Yeah… Ehem, you aren’t going to say anything, Isla?” Arthur coughed awkwardly.
“…” The latter squinted her eyes before she shifted her gaze to Elise. “I apologize, but I must borrow Arthur for a while. We have some things to deal with.”
“… Eh, of course, go ahead,” Elise said. She felt rather uncomfortable when she saw the look on Isla’s face. ‘Woah, she looks really angry. Is it because Arthur fought that guy?’
“Thank you,” Isla said then turned around and walked away without saying anything to Arthur.
The latter was taken aback for a moment before he shook his head. ‘Fuck, I’m really in a lot of trouble. I have never seen Isla this angry.’ He thought to himself.
“Ehem, I’m going to excuse myself then, Elise. See you later.” He said as he walked after Isla quickly.
The two left the hall in complete silence and headed to the other section of the institution. Arthur was feeling immense pressure. He was wrecking his mind on what kind of excuse he could come up with for this.
Eventually, the two reached the open garden on the third floor of the main section. This place was built on a hanging platform with all kinds of plants, flowers, and exotic species of trees filling the place.
Many liked the place for its calm nature and fresh air. However, since most students were busy with the duels, the garden was rather empty.
‘I haven’t been to this place much since I came. It’s really nice.’ Arthur thought to himself as he stepped inside. Meanwhile, Isla continued walking down the path between the greener till she found an empty, isolated seat and sat down.
Arthur looked at her for a second before he slowly approached the seat and sat next to her. He noticed that Isla had her eyes closed as if she was deep in thought.
“…”
The two sat in awkward silence for a good few seconds.
“This place is really nice,” Arthur said. “We should definitely visit it mor-“
“Why?” That was when Isla cut him off with a simple question.
“… Why should we visit this place more you mean?” Arthur asked with a wry smile.
“…” Isla didn’t even bother to look at him for him to realize that it was not a good idea to try and deflect the question.
So, Arthur sighed and rested his back against the seat. “I had to.” He replied in a calm tone.
“You had to? And what could’ve been so important for you to do exactly the opposite of what I asked?” Finally and for the first time, Isla looked at him.
“I…” Arthur found himself completely speechless. On the one hand, he wanted to just find any random excuse, while on the other hand, he didn’t want to lie to Isla. He knew lying would only make it worse. But, at the same time, his excuse was rather a very silly one. He even knew that he shouldn’t have entertained Lamenter because of it.
“Why are you not responding?”
“…”
“I’m listening, go ahead. I’m waiting.”
Even though Isla’s tone was the same as ever, Arthur could feel the deep anger boiling within her. She was simply a master of composure so she didn’t let it surface. However, that didn’t make the situation any better. Then, when she saw that Arthur was fumbling over his own words, she sighed.
“I have told you how dangerous he is. He is not someone I want you or the others to deal with. The threat he poses for us is far bigger than what you could think. I don’t know what made you think it’s a good idea to fight him.”
“…”
“Now, he knows your abilities and perhaps many more things. He could even recognize you as the Rank 1 player. That could expose your identity very easily. Didn’t you think of that beforehand?”
“…”
Arthur was bombarded with scolding like there is no tomorrow. Everything Isla said was reasonable and justified.
“So, why did you do it? Tell me.”
“…”
“Speak.”
“Because he insulted you!” Arthur finally let go of all restraints and replied. “Ok? He called you a coward and I couldn’t let that go off easily. I didn’t like it one bit and decided to beat him up. I know it was a dumb idea, but I couldn’t for the life of me just ignore that. He could’ve insulted me, I wouldn’t care any less. But, when he insults one of my friends, then I’m not sparing him.”
“…” Isla’s eyes slowly widened.
“I know that it is dumb, It’s my mistake. But, I’m never going to let him just call you names and walk away freely. If he tries to insult you or the others, then he should be ready to face the consequences.”
Arthur could only curse himself inwardly for saying it. He felt really silly for being this way. To be so outraged by someone because they tried to insult your friend was rather not the level of self-control and composure Arthur wanted to have.
It was definitely not what he thrived to be. Now, he had put Isla in a bad position because of it.
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3