I don't even get a whole hour to myself. A whole hour to cry and cry and break. A knock comes calling not even thirty minutes later, and for a moment, I consider ignoring it. But my eyes ache, and my face feels raw and sore. Maybe talking to someone will snap me out of everything, give me a chance to breathe. I try to wipe the redness from the corners of my eyes, and I blow my nose a few times before I stand up and open the door.
I regret everything as soon as I see who it is. The tears are already starting to well up as I clench the door and try to slam it shut. But he stops the motion, something like sadness in his eyes.
"Look, Mari," he starts, his voice soft and melancholy. But I don't want to hear it. I cut him off.
"I already know. We can't be together. You have a fiancée, you're a noble, this was doomed from the start," I spit out bitterly. It hurts me to say these words, but what's the point? We're over. We're done. It's not like there was anything real between us to begin with. Maybe if time had been kinder, maybe if fate had been more caring... but I can't change the past.
"Don't say that." He sounds angry, frustrated. I am too, but what can we do about it? A forbidden relationship? Secret meetings at midnight? It'll all crumble and fall apart in the end.
Then the sound of loud footsteps comes clacking down the hallway. I instantly know it's Leopold's fiancée, Seradina Lameose. Ugh, what a weird name. Nobles and their flowery words.
"Leopold? Where are you?"
"Hurry up! Go!" I hiss, trying to shove him away and close the door, but he stubbornly stands there, refusing to budge. "What are you doing?!" He's crazy, mad, insane.
"There you are!" Fuck. Too late. The girl comes into full view as she walks up behind Leopold. "What are you doing here, darling?" I cringe as she trills her r's. Then her blue eyes fall upon me, and I know that everything's about to go downhill. "Who is this, Leopold?" She asks, stepping closer to him, as if to say He's mine. I internally gag.
"No one, Seradina. Just an acquaintance." He starts to turn around and leave, and I mentally breathe a sigh of relief, even though the word acquaintance feels like a slap on the face. Maybe there won't be any drama after all. Maybe I can go back and wallow in my misery.
"Oh, really? Then let me introduce myself!" Seradina stops him from walking away, placing a hand on his shoulder. I want to slam the door in her face. "I'm Seradina Lameose, one of the heirs to the Lameose family. I'm Leopold's fiancée," she sneers, as if she's trying to rub it into my face that they're set for life.
"Great. Good to know. I heard all that when I was at the assembly. Don't you two have somewhere to be? I'll be going." My voice comes across as flat and bored, and even though I know she'll probably make my life a living hell for it, I don't care right now. I start to shut the door, but once again, I'm blocked.
"What right does a peasant have to talk to me in that manner? I have enough power and money than you'll ever have in a lifetime!" She snarls, losing her cool. The thing with nobles is that their fancy, graceful masks come off way too easily once someone insults them. They're all a bunch of thin-skinned babies that are used to having everything at their feet.
"Tell me something I don't know." I roll my eyes and try to shut the door again, but her hand pushes against it, her fingernails digging into the wood. She's about as angry as a volcano right now, and yet all I can think of is how much my heart aches.
"Why aren't you jealous? Why aren't you fuming with despair? I'm everything you aspire to be. My magic is top-tier, my family is rich, and soon I'm going to be married into a royal line! Fame has blessed me!" Typical noble shmuck, throwing around their weight and getting confused when no one makes a fuss about them.
But it's the last bit that sets off something in me. The heartbreak washes away for a moment as I ask, "The only thing about being Leopold's fiancée that you care about is fame and having the royal name?"
"Well, obviously, peasant! But I assume your little mind wouldn't understand that. Here, we nobles are constantly battling tooth and claw for rank and power," she responds.
I snap, recalling something from long ago that I read in one of the rites of a Magic Knight.
"I challenge you to a Heart's Duel over Leopold Vermillion. Three different contests for the mind, the body, and the soul. Whoever wins two is the champion. Forfeit my challenge, and you lose your position as Leopold's fiancee. Accept, and we shall discuss the terms," I recite the ancient rites, my voice soft and cold, but unbreakable.
Seradina's face pales, and she looks aghast, her hands going to her mouth. A Heart's Duel is tricky because so much is at stake, and if I challenge her, she gets to design two of the competitions while I only get one. My mouth thins into a hard line, and I glare at her as she trembles with shock and rage. Finally, she holds out her hand, and we give each other a firm shake. I almost want to dig my fingernails into her pretty, smooth skin, but I don't. I'll humiliate her in the duel instead.
"If I win, you and Leopold can never have any sort of relationship ever," she says.
"If I win, the same thing will happen, except it will be between you and Leopold."
She grits her teeth, but continues with the process. "I claim the first two competitions. First is a duel on open water, next is a timed maze run. Only magic can be used."
I nod in agreement. "I claim the last competition. A tournament-styled duel where points are gained by destroying as many artificial enemies as possible. Only magic can be used."
She gives a humph, accepting my terms, before striding away. Leopold gives me a stare choked with worry, as if he's saying What have you done?! before Seradina drags him with her. After they leave, I close the door and sink onto my bed. Thrill, excitement, but also dreadful anticipation run rampant within me. The stakes are way too high for my liking, but this is the only glimmer of hope I'll ever get. As Heart's Duels are, I have two weeks to train and strengthen my own abilities. I'll plant her face right in the ground, nice and neat. I wipe whatever tears I have left out of my eyes before slipping into the hallway. I need some sparring practice.