The royal family didn't blame Agustine for the incident, neither did Roselia after she calmed down. Although they didn't want to make trouble for the demon who couldn't properly take hold of his Jinx, they were concerned with the fact Agustine was allowed to roam free considering how dangerous he was.
Bennett Kingston and Remiah Westworth quietly took matters into their own hands and reassured the family. The crown prince wasn't too bothered as long as Roselia was okay and the empress wasn't as worried anymore, but the emperor was still frustrated at how things turned out. He didn't think it was safe for the family to stay and planned on leaving immediately until Roselia persuaded to let them spend one more day since she and Niven had finally been reunited.
But while the headmaster and vice-principal dealt with the imperial family, the staff and other teachers hurried to reassure the other families who had come and cleaned up the mess Agustine had made very quickly.
Professor Budreau and Mr. Abberline ran amok trying to find Mirren with the hopes the jaguar beastman could use his abilities to settle everyone down. But Mirren had already done so without trouble and the brunet was currently downing a large glass of wine, emitting low and threatening hisses from his lips.
He slammed the glass down as he watched the crown princess frolic around Niven. He didn't fucking know Niven had a goddamn fiancée. The actual crown princess of a fucking empire.
Mirren stabbed his fork into his dessert with a heavy glare. He didn't think he could even get this angry, but when he looks back at Niven happily standing with Roselia, the brunet bared his canines and sulked by himself.
He couldn't help but think about their own time together. Didn't Niven know how much his companionship mean to Mirren? The brunet can admit he often flirts as a joke and may seem annoying to Niven at times, but he was genuine with the blond. He craved having a companion so much that he was so fucking envious of Arien for having an actual pack since jaguars weren't really destined to have anyone else.
The thought of Arien made Mirren grow even more frustrated and the brunet made a mess out of his dessert. Mirren huffed in irritation before stretching his hand out to grab another bottle, wanting to drown his anger out.
But then the bottle was snatched away by Noah Delgado, frowning down at the beastman. "Dude, the hell are you doing? We have guests here, you can't go out looking like shit. Put on your Mirren Charm and socialize."
"Fuck off," Mirren snarled. "I need more."
"I, too, drink to forget because of the shitty mistakes I have made, but you're eventually going to end up remembering. A piece of advice, Mirren? Drinking isn't going to be the solution to whatever crappy problem you have. It's nothing more than a way for you to treat your symptoms and not the cause. Losers like me do that so don't be like me, my man."
Mirren stopped hissing and let his pupils turn into slits. He stared directly at Noah, somehow finding the student even more annoying. But it's wasn't like Noah was wrong, it only made the beastman more upset that he was right.
"Screw off, Noah. Can't you see I'm trying to drown my sorrows?"
"Oof, that's rough. You can't really drown yourself with this sort of alcohol. It's best to bring out the rum. I even forget who I am sometimes when I drink rum," Noah sighed. "But that's not the point. Look, even though your looks are top notch in this academy, you're looking pretty stupid right now. Now to mention, if you keep this up you're bound to snap at someone and your father may punish you for yelling at a guest."
"Are you helping or fucking with me?" Mirren growled.
Noah instantly held a hand up to stop the male. "I'm telling you right now there will never be a time when we fuck."
"Well, thank God," the brunet said sarcastically with a bit of a slur. "I don't think you could even keep up with me in bed anyways."
"I'm going to ignore the fact you're trying to hurt my feelings because I'm a dumbass who can't stop trying to help people," Noah commented in a tired voice as he took away even more of Mirren's drinks.
Mirren watched the dark haired student grab hold of the glass he was currently drinking from with the intentions of taking it away. The jaguar beastman sneered, wanting to snap at the male even more.
Noah ignored it though and kept taking the drinks away one by one as Mirren continued to give him verbal abuse. If Noah was being honest to himself, he didn't understand how Niven could put up with such a guy like Mirren. Everyone in the academy knew how much of a temper the brunet had, almost rivaling Arien's.
Mirren hardly paid attention to anything and was too lazy to even deal with the councilmen. The brunet was more focused with other affairs such as hooking up with random students and a couple of teachers who were later fired by the vice-principal. And even though Mirren caused problems, they really couldn't go up against the male due to several reasons.
That was because of Mirren's abilities and the fact he was backed up by Remiah Westworth even if they were just family on paper.
If Noah had to judge who was the most trouble, he'd have to admit was Mirren. While Silas and Agustine hurt people, it wasn't like it was intentional so Noah never hated or disliked the D'imperio Brothers. But Mirren always did things with bad intentions, and even if he didn't, the outcome was always horrible so Noah had to sometimes help up clean the jaguar beastman's mistakes.
Noah muttered, "I don't understand why Niven's with you... you're such a mess."
Mirren slammed a hand on the table, almost alerting all of the other people standing around the two students. His ocean blue eyes suddenly changed into a piercing gold, warning Noah not to cross the line just as his snarls grew louder.
Noah simply stood in front of the male without a trace of fear. He crossed his arms and spat, "What are you gonna do? Kill me? I wish you could so I don't have to deal with your ass right now."
"You fucking bitch-"
"If you really want to start fighting with me then let's step outside real quick where there's no one with us. Or would you prefer to drink again?" Noah questioned, noticing Mirren flinch.
"Shut up..."
Noah stifled a groan, finding himself to be even more stupid for trying to help this guy. He was about to try and reason with Mirren when he saw the brunet slump his shoulders, eyes hesitantly lowering themselves as if he just saw something he wasn't supposed to. Noah then turned around to look at whatever the hell Mirren was now depressed about when he noticed it was Niven and Roselia.
The crown princess clung onto the boy's arm as she spoke with her family about something. The emperor and empress were surprised but they kept on listening intently seriously.
Noah had no clue what they were saying, but he looked back at Mirren and noticed the brunet sitting back down on his seat with a miserable expression. Since the male had enhanced hearing, Noah figured Mirren heard something he didn't like from the princess.
Noah rolled his eyes at how dramatic Mirren was over this. The brunet should be happy that Niven found someone who loves him since all Noah ever heard about is how infatuated the crown princess and Niven are with each other. Why the hell does Mirren look so upset? It's not like—
"Oh, shit." Noah almost had a heart attack when he realized why the jaguar beastman was acting like this.
"Don't stare at me like that!" Mirren jumped the male suddenly cursing and grunted, "If you're trying to help me then stop, you're only making me feel worse-"
"Damn... I kind of don't care how you feel if I'm being honest-"
"Then what the fuck were you trying to do five minutes ago? You said some deep shit about alcohol not being the solution, but now you don't care anymore? The fuck?"
"I mean, my mother always told me to do my best and when I fail I have to try again to succeed because I'll know when a problem can be fixed. But dude... you are the problem. Kind of sucks to be you, not gonna lie..."
Mirren glared at him with so much hatred. "Die."
"No really, I mean you're in such a shitty position that I didn't even realize until now. Sorry dude, it must be pretty bad for you having feelings for Niven. Now, you can't ask him out since he's with Princess Roselia-"
"Wait, wait, wait! What did you just say?"
"I said you're in a shitty position because Her Highness is probably a lot better than you in some ways-"
Mirren interrupted with a growl, "Not that you dumb fuck! What did you say about me and Niven?"
"That? Oh, I said I felt bad for you because you like Niven a lot but he has a fiancée. I mean, man... who would've known? All that time you two spent with each other and not once has he ever told you, that must hurt. I still don't really care much about your feelings but it's a pity how things turned out this way. You know I'm surprised you actually haven't asked Niven out before Princess Roselia arrived. You're literally with him every single day and you sometimes get so territorial over him whenever someone tries to talk to Niven. Shit, half of my class thought you two were already dating-"
"I like him?"
Noah's voice died out at the sound of Mirren's whisper. He gazed back down at the brunet, confused with how surprised Mirren seemed.
"What the hell do you mean? Don't you like him?"
"I-I don't know... I've never really... I only-"
"You're fucking stupid, man."
And here, Noah thought he was a dumb shit. He really couldn't believe this fucker didn't even notice he had feelings for Niven all this time and was only coming to realize it now.
"Okay, it's time for a therapy talk with Dr. Delgado."
"Please don't call yourself that."
"Anyways," the student ignored the male and sat down in front of Mirren with a glare. "I'm gonna ask you this once, my dude. Do you like Niven Kingston?"
"Noah, I can't say-"
"It's a simple yes or no question. Niven's already been here for half a year and you two spent all your time with each other when he first arrived, right? From the way I see it, the way everyone can see it, you don't just like Niven like a normal crush."
"You can't just force me to say if I like him or not. I don't think that's how it works."
Noah snorted, "I don't think you understand how serious I am. I know you're a jaguar beastman so it's natural for your kind to be solitary creatures. We've been in this academy with each other for years so I know how you act and what type of people you go for. You literally fuck anything that walks on two legs during your heats, don't you?"
"Wait, what does this have to do with me being a jaguar?"
Noah waved it off, "Let me finish. I may not know you well and I know we aren't friends-"
"I'd like to try and strangle you from time to time so yeah."
"-exactly my point! But like I said, I've picked up on small parts of your habits and traits. You are one lonely-ass bitch and you sleep around because that's the only way for you to get rid of that loneliness. You're more distant than anyone else in the student council, but when Niven came it's like you're a whole different person. You legitimately can't even separate yourself from him for even a minute."
"Okay, so what if I like him? So what?" Mirren snorted. "Is that what you wanted to hear? Fine, I admit that I do."
"Okay, so that's our problem now."
Mirren raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
"Do you genuinely like Niven?" Noah asked.
"What sort of question is that? Didn't you just say you've been stalking me? I'm sure you know the answer."
"First of all, asshole, it's called observation. And this is important for the both of you. I can't tell if you actually like Niven or not and I suggest you don't try to pursue him anymore if your feelings aren't sincere, dude."
"You know you're starting to really aggravate me. I do like him."
"Uh..." Noah made a sour face and gave him a pointed look.
Mirren spat, "The fuck is that look for?"
"Dude... I don't think you like him."
"I don't think this is considered as a therapy talk. You're literally trying to crush my feelings for Niven."
"No, you don't understand what I'm talking about. You have never, ever been in a relationship with anyone because you toss your one night stands away as soon as you can. You don't know what it's like actually having feelings for someone so I think you're confusing yourself. You say you like Niven, but how can you know when all you've ever done is fuck someone once and call it a day? You jaguars are lonely creatures so the moment Niven offered his friendship to you, that's when you started to confuse yourself. I think you were just so desperate to have a companion that you mixed up what a platonic relationship is with the idea of a romantic one."
Mirren immediately sat up as dread started to settle inside his chest once he realized what Noah was getting at. "Wait, stop-"
"Not to mention your hatred for Arien. The only reason why you hate him is because he has a pack but you don't. He has family members who come to visit him every year in the academy while no one comes for you. I think you know how much your alpha likes Niven, so is that also another reason why you think you want Niven? To spite Arien? Let me tell you now that's pretty shitty of you to do so, my dude."
Mirren anxiously grabbed Noah's arm, stopping the male from saying anything further. "No, wait! It's not like that."
"Then what is it? Do you honestly like Niven or were you just using him as a way to cope with your loneliness?"
They stared at each other in silence for a long time. Mirren looked straight at the male's dark eyes and knew how serious Noah was about this conversation. He opened his mouth to speak, but he found himself at a loss for words. And then Mirren shrank back due to his timidity.
Noah groaned, "You're officially the worst person I've ever met. What kind of person uses another as a coping method?"
"Fuck you! Aren't I allowed to have some time to myself and sort out my feelings?"
Noah ripped his arm away from Mirren and stood up with an icy face. "Then until you know how you actual feel, don't even try to make it seem like Niven is your possession. You have no right to be jealous since you two were never dating and that isn't fair for both parties if you do end up realizing your feelings were never real."
Mirren growled once more, finding himself even more angry at Noah for saying that until he paused and went over what the student just said.
When the dark haired student found Mirren in a conflict with himself, Noah merely sighed and muttered, "You poor bastard... you really don't deserve this. Listen, if you really do need someone to talk to, just head straight for my therapy lessons... also with some money because I'm not doing this shit for free-"
"Fuck you, Noah!"
The male quickly left before Mirren threw another tantrum, but Noah looked back just in time for the brunet to sit back down on his seat, completely depressed. It seems like whatever he said really drilled itself into Mirren.
Noah didn't know whether or not that was a good thing. He knows he probably should've have said all of that, but he needed Mirren to understand what situation he was in. And he may not be close with Niven, but he had a feeling it'll turn worse for the both of them if he didn't warn the brunet about the consequences.
"Damn, to think I don't even have a love life and give out advice like that—I should become some sort of therapist," Noah mumbled.
As Noah left to go find his own parents, he didn't notice Niven looking over at his fading silhouette and frowning.
"Who are you looking at, sweetheart? Another friend of yours?" Roselia asked.
"Ah, just an acquaintance of mine."
"Who?"
"Noah Delgado. He's a bit of an eccentric person, but I like him a lot. He's pretty nice."
"Well, if you like him then I'm sure he's a good person," Roselia chuckled as she grasped Niven's hands. "I have to go now since my father is getting even more worried."
"I'll walk you out."
Roselia declined, "That's alright. I'll head out myself. Tomorrow, I want to spend more time with you before I leave. Is that alright or are you busy?"
"Even if I was, I'd clear my schedule for you." Niven leaned down and hugged the girl, still a little afraid of what happened to her from earlier. "You should get yourself checked one more time. I'm always worried about your safety."
"Sure, whatever you say. Have a good night, sweetheart!" Roselia happily pecked the male's cheek and went off on her own, having to ignore how Niven was still distressed.
But even though Roselia said she would head back to find her family, she actually lied and looked all over the ballroom to try and find that albino jaguar. She huffed when she realized Mirren had left so suddenly and went out to find him herself.
It didn't take her so long to spot a male staggering over to the side of the building, having to lean against the wall in case he fell.
Mirren held a small bottle of wine in his hands and took a large drink from it before feeling someone watching him. He turned around with a sneer, already ready to smash the bottle against that person's head when he saw it was the crown princess, standing in front of him with a frown as she crossed her arms together.
"Snap out of it, you stupid drunk," Roselia snipped at him lightly.
Mirren took a moment to compose himself. He looked back down at his drink, wondering if he was already hallucinating.
Roselia snagged the alcohol away from the beastman and huffed, "To think I actually came out here to find you. You're such a mess. Hey, Miley, what's your damage with me? How come you were glaring at me every two seconds in the ballroom?"
"My... name is Mirren-"
"Whatever, I was close enough—you look pale, do you need to sit down? Tell me straight away if you need to throw up because I will stand ten feet away from you. I can't mess up my gown, I just changed into this one like, two seconds ago," Roselia warned.
Mirren groaned, almost wanting to snap at the girl until he forced himself to get off from the wall and roll his eyes. "To what... do I owe the pleasure of meeting Your Highness?"
"It's just as I said. What the hell is wrong with you? Are you against the idea of me marrying Niven?" Roselia tossed the half empty bottle away just as Mirren hissed at her.
"So what if I don't like you marrying him?" Mirren admitted with a hostile glare. "You think he actually likes you? He hardly talked about you during his time here."
The female sauntered up straight to the beastman and shoved a hand over to his chest, pushing him back with a glare. "I'd be careful of what you say right now. Niven will become my husband as soon as we turn twenty. And if I didn't know any better, I'd say a little freak like you have feelings for my fiancé."
Mirren found it hard to even look at the princess. He tried to keep a dull expression but he was just too angry and the sight of seeing Roselia, just listening to her saying she'll be Niven's wife—it really didn't bode well for the jaguar beastman. He almost crumbled down.
Roselia stayed still for a second, wondering why the male wasn't saying anything until she eventually grew tired of waiting. She became a little disappointed with how things turned out. She figured Mirren had a lot more things to say and Roselia was fully prepared to retaliate and see what he'd do next.
Roselia flicked a strand of her silver hair over her shoulder and snorted, "I kindly advise you to stay as far away from us as possible. Niven told me so much about you and how grateful he is to have you as a friend, but I honestly can't see why. You're drunk off your ass, can hardly walk right now, you're also incredibly rude and you only have your looks as a single benefit. So mark my damn words, stay the hell away. If you do so then consider yourself invited to the wedding. You'll get to see him one more time at least."
After she finished, Roselia figured their conversation was officially done and turned around before Mirren responded with a slight sneer.
"And what if I don't?"
"Excuse me? What did you just say?"
Mirren stepped forward and gave her a threatening snarl, "You wanna know my damage? This is it. You're right about me liking Niven so I'm pissed off as hell for knowing he'll be married off to some damn brat."
Mirren said to Noah that he would take the time to properly think about his feelings for Niven since it was a serious issue. But he really couldn't hold himself back when Roselia had the fucking nerve to say she'd invite the brunet to their wedding.
This was honestly the time when Mirren was adamant about his feelings for Niven. It wasn't because he was using the boy as a way to cope with the loneliness, he sincerely had taken an interest in him and didn't even know until Noah pointed it out to Mirren. Niven was more than just a coping mechanism and Mirren had honestly cherished their time together even if they didn't know each other for a long time.
He liked everything about Niven and not once had he thought of the student as some sort of tool. He stuck with him because he wanted to and took care of the blond out of his own volition. Mirren was sure enough that these feelings had to be real.
But Roselia was taken aback from the abrupt change in the brunet and had not been prepared to be talked back to. Though her shock didn't last long and she turned red from anger. Never in her life had anyone spoken to her like this before.
"What did you just call me?" Roselia nearly screeched. She marched even closer to Mirren and shoved the male back with a surprising force and exclaimed, "I've known my fiancé since we were children! We're different from most people and definitely to someone like you! You're nothing but a filthy, abandoned street rat the vice-principal picked up just so he can use you for his own whims. I suggest you remember your place in this world and forget about liking Niven. You can't have him, you don't have what it takes to be with him-"
"Do you know where you're at right now?" Mirren asked cooly.
Roselia narrowed her eyes. "What are you going about now?"
Mirren leaned in close to the girl and gripped her jaw before tilting her head up to look at the large structures of the building. Mirren sneered, "This is Kingston Academy. This school holds only the best and the most prestigious boys with impressive and rare abilities. But the ones who stand on top of those students are the Royals and the Wolves... and I'm a goddamn Wolf, princess."
"L-Let go of me."
"I know my worth and I know I may not be as outstanding like other ability users, but that doesn't mean you can force me to stop wanting Niven. You can try all you like but it's not going to happen." Mirren roughly tossed her face away as the princess backed away, almost trembling at being handled roughly. The brunet continued with a snarl, "There's a reason why I was able to earn my seat as a student council member and I only used half of my strength to do so. Now I'm advising you form the kindness of my heart... don't screw with me."
Roselia looked so angry that she couldn't say anything. The girl wanted to attack him back or threaten him when she knew Mirren wouldn't be moved in the slightest. Even if she were the crown princess, Niven had grown so attached to Mirren and may end up having conflicts with her if Roselia whined to the male about it.
Roselia sneered at how haughty Mirren instantly became. She couldn't do anything to him. Although she knew Niven loved her and would do anything for her, she had a gut feeling Niven would possibly consider taking Mirren's side judging by how close they were. She and Niven may have been childhood friends but they hardly saw one another so it wasn't impossible for Mirren to become highly important to the blond during his time here at the academy.
In the end, Roselia returned back to her older brother with a face filled with scorn. She swore Mirren's face changed into something of a smug grin and that made the female even more angry.
The crown prince immediately took notice of her distress and questioned, "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
"That damned cat really exceeded my expectations," Roselia huffed. "I knew he'd get mad but I didn't think he'd leave me so speechless. This academy is really something, Brother."
"Don't worry so much about Mirren. You should focus more on spending your time with Niven tomorrow. Aren't you happy about that, Sister?"
Roselia pursed her lips and stared at her brother for a while. Alessio tilted his head, wondering what she was thinking about until the girl turned away and scoffed, "Lord Theoden is returning to the empire shortly and Niven told me he already sent an invitation for him to come tomorrow. I'm more worried about that."
"Whatever happens, I'll be there to help you. Your wedding will happen."
Roselia clicked her tongue, still not over what happened with Mirren. Eventually, she tried moving on and asked, "What about that mangy mutt of an alpha? What do you think of him so far?"
Alessio shrugged and merely replied, "Alpha Arien is trying to claim him as his intended mate."
Roselia blinked, a little surprised. "Really?"
"It's rather cute how hard he tries," Alessio chuckled. "He looked like he was about to fight me. To be honest, I'm not so sure if I could've won against him if that happened."
"It's not like your skills are lacking."
"Well, he's a beastman. He has higher aptitude and his skills are remarkably flawless when it comes to physical combat. His abilities are no joke as well," the prince murmured. Alessio gazed down at his sister still pouting and gave her a doting look. "Tomorrow, I plan on visiting Agustine since we checked out all of the Wolves."
"Agustine? Maybe it's best to leave him alone," Roselia suggested.
"How come? I thought you'd like the idea of me speaking to him for what happened to you."
"It's not really his fault you know... I bumped into him first and I didn't know one of his abilities were crippled. Agustine shouldn't be our concern-"
"I beg to differ."
Roselia watched the prince's gentle expression changed into something a bit more serious and quickly decided to keep quiet. She couldn't really persuade her brother to leave the demon alone since Alessio's mind was already set on it.
"B-But what about Levi and Simeon? Shouldn't you focus more on the Lanphere twins than Agustine?" Roselia tried one last time.
Alessio gave her a small smile. "Don't worry about them. They're nothing but trashes anyways."
With a bit of guilt, Roselia watched her brother walk away, already knowing he might cause some trouble for Agustine. Whilst she may not like the other pack members, she actually felt pity for the demon and felt anxious over what Alessio may do.
Roselia could only hope Alessio doesn't take things too far tomorrow.