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Wriothesley found himself, yet again, busy with work.
The surface tremor that occurred not too long ago certainly frightened the prisoners within the Fortress. But because he was all too fond of what happens within the enclosure and what happens above, he knew that the vibration wasn't too much to worry about.
"Continue monitoring this area. Keep everyone away from it. If anything happens, get me."
Wriothesley had concluded his work task with sealing the leakage in the Fortress. Primordial Seawater managed to seep inside, which was indeed worrying. He couldn't wrap his head around the entire situation.
"Understood, Your Grace." The Garde saluted to him while nodding his head. "There is another thing I'd like to mention..."
"Go ahead." Wriothesley said.
"A girl came by asking for you."
Wriothesley titled his head. "Who?"
The Garde shrugged. "I'm still fairly new here and learning about all the prisoners... she was about (your height), (your skin color), and had (your eye color) eyes."
Wriothesley chuckled. "Got it. Any idea where she is now?"
The Garde nodded. "Believe she headed towards the Pankration Ring."
Wriothesley took his leave, placing his trust in the new line of Gardes he established. Walking over towards the Pankration Ring, he was stopped by a familiar voice.
"Your Grace..."
"Oh? Avice." Wriothesley turned to look down at her.
"Sorry to bother you, but... is there any new information about what happened...?" Avice's eyes were red and low, indicating that she had been crying.
Wriothesley understood her pain, but he wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. "I've sealed off the leakage. For now, it won't happen again."
"That's good..." She looked down. "...Thankfully, Faissolle won't dissolve, but he's very sick and won't wake up..."
Wriothesley sighed. "I'm sure Sigewinne will take good care of him."
She nodded. "Thank you."
Wriothesley walked past her and entered the ring. Ever since the recent unfortunate events, people have been locking themselves away in their dorms. If anything though, that only made his job easier since he didn't have to keep tabs on everyone with the various security cameras scattered about the Fortress.
"Evening, Your Grace." The worker, Roussimoff, waved to him behind the counter.
"Evening. Y/N here?" He asked, not bothering to sign his name down on the document.
"Indeed. She's beginning to fight her opponent now." Roussimoff motioned to the center of the ring.
"And who might that be?" He asked.
"Nazumi. He's a very skilled fighter indeed. Apparently, the two of them have history." Roussimoff said.
Wriothesley raised his brow. "History?"
Roussimoff nodded. "When I introduced the two, they were talking about their time together in the desert, reminiscing and such."
For some reason, Wriothesley felt his stomach turn. "...Nazumi, you said?"
Just as Roussimoff was going to respond, a loud bell rang through the room. Wriothesley turned to head up the steps to watch the fight.
His eyes immediately locked onto you.
"How long has it been? Three years?" Your opponent, who Wriothesley assumed to be Nazumi, said with a grin.
You laughed. "Don't go easy on me, now."
Nazumi chuckled. "Wasn't planning on it."
Wriothesley looked down onto Nazumi with a frown. He was big and muscular, and he matched your attire when he had first met you. Now that he learned the two of you had some sort of 'history', he couldn't help but feel... something.
The fight unfolded, and Wriothesley made sure to pay attention to it all.
...
"Damnit..."
You coughed, kneeling over while watching Nazumi try to catch his breath.
"Seems you've learned a thing or two..." He spit out blood from his mouth, standing up.
You panted, trying to force yourself to stand. However, the blows you endured from Nazumi bit back at your attempts.
You groaned, not wanting to accept defeat.
Nazumi was a skilled warrior who often fought with you in the desert. Out of all the times you trained with him, he was always victorious. He was close with your father, hence why you looked up to him. But no matter how hard you tried, he managed to get even better and better than you.
You let a laugh escape your lips, finally pushing yourself up. You wiped the blood from your nose, your legs shaking from the pain you endured.
Huffing, you charged back at Nazumi.
Wriothesley watched your blows become more and more sloppy as Nazumi dodged and continued to hit you. If he was being honest with himself, he was certainly holding back when he fought you. Not because you were a girl, but because that's just his fighting style. He takes on his defeat and learns from it, so next time, he can actually give it his all.
Besides, if you had been fighting the Duke that day compared to fighting Wriothesley... you probably would've been killed.
Nazumi spun your body around and held you into a headlock. You gasped for air, furrowing your brows as your breathing got heavier.
Roussimoff ran to the two of you, waiting to call for your defeat.
You grit your teeth, feeling Nazumi grip your neck even tighter.
"Fuck..." You spat, tapping out.
"Finished! Nazumi has won!" Roussimoff shouted.
Nazumi released his grip on you, making you take a sharp inhale as you fell over. He caught you, patting your back so you could cough.
You rubbed your neck, laughing. "I still got ways to go..."
Nazumi chuckled. "You certainly live up to your father, fireball."
He supported you up, pulling your hand over his back while placing his on your waist.
Wriothesley watched him carry you off the ring.
His cold eyes stared at the hand placement of Nazumi.
He didn't realize how hard he was balling his fist until he felt blood trickle into his palm.