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Part Thirty-Five

Freya was standing there with a smug grin on her face as she watched Matthew step off the stage. He brushed the front part of his hair to get it out of the way of his eyes. Noticing the look on Freya’s face he mentally prepared himself for whatever she had to say.

“Look at you, flirting and winning. The beauty falls in love with the villain, that's a new one.”

Freya started teasing Matthew as she grinned and rocked back and forth on her heels.

Usually it would be a beauty falling in love with a hero, but Matthew played the role of the villian. He jumped into another groups fight and interrupted it causing chaos. Not only that he dragged the so called ‘beauty’ on the ground. However, at the end the two of them seemed close as if a romance was budding between them.

Matthew furrowed his eyebrows. What did she mean beauty falling in love with the villian? Who was a villain? He wasn’t, he couldn’t be.

Matthew stood in front of Freya and poked her cheek with his index finger. Causing her to jump back, because she was rocking back and forth on her heels she nearly fell.

This action caused Matthew to laugh as he held his stomach.

“You’re just jealous it isn’t you.”

After making fun of Freya, Matthew walked past her and strolled towards Katherine.

She appeared to be miserable as she looked down towards the ground and moved her right leg in small circles.

“Hey, how’d you do?”

Matthew asked her, he did not see her the entire match. He wondered if she actually walked off the stage like she said she’d do. Was that even possible?

Katherine stopped moving her foot and looked up at Matthew. Rolling her eyes at the fact she failed to accomplish what she had hoped for.

“Sadly I moved on to the next round. There was no end to the dessert, it just seemed to go on and on.”

Finally gaining his answer Matthew wanted to laugh. She was trying hard not to participate in this competition but somehow ended up passing the first round. Others would be envious of her luck.

“I’m glad you passed, even if it wasn’t your wish.”

Matthew patted Katherine on the shoulder as he meant what he said.

How could she as the fiancee of Nick fail to pass the first round?

Katherine cocked her head to the side a bit as she was confused. What was he talking about?

“Why?”

She seeked a reply from him.

Matthew had a look of confusion on his face.

“What do you mean by why?”

“I mean, why are you glad I passed? I did not wish to pass, so i’m disappointed. Not in the fact that I ended up going to the next round, but disappointed I could not find an exit!”

Katherine explained as she stared into Matthew’s green eyes. Her face seemed to have a strange glow to it, causing her beauty to evolve to another level.

There were some things Matthew never noticed about Katherine before, mostly about her appearance. She was cold and quiet, but the feeling she was giving him now was warm. Matthew was drawn in by her silver eyes and got a bit flustered. This was new, he’s never been flustered before.

“I… I mean would you rather be sitting on the sidelines watching as all your friends fight? Wouldn’t it be better to be up there with us? That’s why i’m glad you passed, it means another one of my friends made progress in their abilities which let them survive.

I know you might not hang out with us every day, or even talk with us a lot. However, I still consider you a friend, someone that’s close to me. Th-that’s why, i’m happy you passed.”

Matthew scratched the back of his head and kept his eyes off of Katherine’s face.

He did not know why, but he couldn’t look at her straight anymore.

There was no way he liked her. He couldn’t, she belonged to Nick. So, why was he feeling this way?

“A friend… friend.”

Katherine started repeating friend a few times as she tapped her lip with her index finger.

This was the first time someone said she was their friend. She had many acquaintances, but none ever clarified what their exact relationship was. Katherine imagined her first friend would be a female, but… maybe Matthew wasn’t bad as a friend.

“Eww.”

Freya said as she tried to get the sight of Matthew out of her eyes. He was over there flirting with Katherine, and had this stupid look on his face.

Just thinking about it caused her body to shudder.

“I hope she shuts him down.”

Freya said softly, but Nick heard her.

“I don’t know… they wouldn’t be bad together.”

Nick paused for a bit before shrugging his shoulders.

“But who am I to say, i’m not a romantic.”

“Then why are you engaged?”

Freya asked Nick as she looked at him. He was gazing at Matthew and Katherine, probably didn’t even notice her.

“Family circumstances. Don’t worry about it.”

Nick easily said, but realized his later words might have sounded a bit harsh so he apoligzed.

Freya shook her head, there was no need for him to apologize. She asked and he gave her an answer.

“I wish as I as confident as you too.”

Freya softly spoke almost in an inaudible tone. Nick’s ears perked up a bit.

“What?”

He turned to Look at Freya and asked.

Freya shook her head and looked up at him giving him a smile.

“Nothing.”

“Next participates come to the stage.”

The announcer said causing Freya to sigh a little. She turned and started going to the stage but Nick grabbed her arm.

She was stunned and frozen still by his actions.

What was he going to do? Why did he stop her?

Nick gave her a loving smile as he rubbed his hand on her head.

“Don’t look down on yourself. You’ve made the most improvement out of the three of us.”

Nick sounded confident when he said it but he was actually in a state of worry on the inside. His sensei used to do something like this to him in the past and he was not sure if he was doing it right. This was his first time trying to encourage someone else this way. Normally he would not make as much physical contact with them, but he only did it because it was Freya.

Seeing his soft smile caused Freya’s face to brighten. She wasn’t even talking about being confident in her abilities, but in something else. The way Nick could talk to others without even knowing them, she wanted something like that. Or how multiple people loved Matthew without even knowing him. The two of them could fit in with any group, but they stayed by her side.

She wished she had the confidence to talk to others without upsetting the other party.

Freya remembered the time she first met Nick. First day starting high school and she wanted to make a friend as soon as she could. She knew if she didn’t she may never have a chance to do it again.

Throwing her shoe at Matthew was a reflex of her old habits, but he didn’t seem to mind. This made them grow into the relationship they have now.

Slowly, she was becoming a different person than she was before. Freya really loved what she was becoming, but there was still something holding her back.

“Thanks!”

Freya exclaimed as she nodded her head.

There was something Matthew nor Nick knew about her past. Something she would like to keep in her past. It was what stopped her from fully blooming into a rose.

Freya walked up onto the stage to begin her Match. Once again the stage changed and turned into a swamp. Her match was a bit more exciting than Nicks and Matthews as there was no member of the four freshman royals present.

Therefore everyone went all out, not afraid of anyone. It was strange that most of the melee users stayed in the center to duke it out with each other. It was pretty idiotic of them as they were picked off slowly by the ranged classes.

Freya herself had a comrade, or actually three of them. She teamed up with Alyson and two other members who were in the support division. Sadly two of them got picked off when they were lagging behind, and ended up getting eliminated.

It was easy for Freya and Alyson to pass, as they hid in dark area where it would be hard to see. The only problem with the area was that it was covered with mucky water.

Freya sniped from back there while Alyson played lookout.

Once Freya’s group finished, an announcement came letting everyone know the participants who would go on to the next round. It was broken into brackets, and oddly enough the four freshmen royals would not meet each other until the third or fourth round.

The timid man stood on the platform with his arms outstretched.

“Let the top hundred ranking matches begin!”