I Would Rather Be a Rogue [BL]-Chapter 244: The Final Match (2)

The zipper was still mostly fastened. Although now that Felix looked at it, the opening at the top seemed a bit larger than before... Was it large enough for a fox to sneak out? Probably not... But then again, he wasn’t sure. And the fox could zip it back up after getting out.

Felix gulped loudly, and reached out, slowly pulling the tag down to take a look into the main compartment...

And as expected, it was emptier than before. The second bottle with the potion-infused water was still there, and so was the towel he had packed, but the red fur ball was nowhere to be seen.

Did Remi sneak out? In the room full of werewolves? Yes, he could conceal his presence and scent, and everyone was focused on the match, but still... Felix didn’t quite understand why the fox had tagged along to begin with, and now he was just prancing around the pack house as he pleased? What was he even trying to do? Did he want to watch the match or something?

Felix lifted his head, quickly glancing around...

But just then, someone walked over and stopped right in front of him, blocking his view.

"Congratulations on winning the semi-finals!" Cael smiled at him. "I’m sorry that it took me so long to come..."

Cael finally arrived.

"Ah, thank you," Felix nodded his head absentmindedly.

To be honest, he completely forgot about him. After discovering the fox in his backpack, and with the matches consuming most of his attention, he stopped thinking about Cael at all, and hadn’t even noticed that the Omega hadn’t arrived yet. Only now that he saw him, he was reminded of it.

But did it really matter, at this point? Cael couldn’t help him in the match, anyway. And changing the main prize now... It would reflect badly on Felix. Even if Cael raised objections on his own, everyone had seen him talk to Felix. It could be interpreted as Felix wanting to change the prize because he was losing the match...

And that wasn’t even Felix’s only problem at the moment.

"Is there anything wrong?" Cael asked, noticing Felix’s unease. "You keep looking around... Did you lose something?"

"Ah..."

It wasn’t that Felix had lost something. It was that his ’pet’ fox had ’lost’ himself.

Should Felix mention it to Cael, though? It’s not like Remi was in any actual danger... The fox was so sneaky and crafty, he knew how to hide himself, there was no way he was at any risk. And if anyone spotted him, Felix could interfere now. Asking Cael to look for the fox might only attract more attention...

So, he shook his head. "No, it’s nothing. I’m just... a bit nervous."

"Oh, is that so?" Cael lifted his brows. He didn’t seem all that convinced, but he didn’t press any further. He just smiled at Felix reassuringly, "Don’t worry, it’s only the first game. You still have a chance to win!"

...Right. Win.

Felix had... or at least wanted, to win. Whatever Remi was trying to do, Felix didn’t have time to worry about it. He had to focus on the match...

He nodded his head, determined, and took two large swings of his potion water. "I’ll do my best."

"That’s the spirit!" Cael nodded at him, and stepped back to audience, as the second game was about to begin.

Felix and Lyla took their spots on the opposite sides of the table, staring at each other, both serious and determined... But Felix in a slightly better condition. Lyla’s face was still a bit flushed from the effort she had put in the previous game, and her fingers were gripping the paddle so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Felix, on the other hand, seemed far more at ease. Perhaps not relaxed - he was also tense and stressed, anxious to win - but at least not tired. If it wasn’t for the fact that his hair was damp, and his skin was glistening with droplets of sweat, no one would be able to tell that he had done any physical exercise a few minutes prior. His breathing was steady and fairly calm, and his eyes clear...

"...And Felix starts with the serve!" the hostess announced, rushing him to start the game.

And so Felix did. He tossed the ball, and sent it Lyla’s way.

He didn’t hit it too hard. Not because he didn’t have the energy to, but because he was trying to do the opposite of what Lyla might have expected of him.

It turned out to be the correct decision. Just as he had thought, the woman expected the ball to be fast and powerful. Because of that, her response was a bit too strong... And while it didn’t affect the direction of the ball, it made her momentarily startled and confused.

Enough to make a mistake with her second receive. The ball flew a bit too far to the side, and was out.

Felix scored the first point.

Lyla blinked, and shook her head, before taking a deep breath to re-focus. The second game was off to a bad start for her, but that didn’t matter. As long as she gave it her all, she would win. There was no need for her to even save her energy for later, since she intended to end the match in this game...

And just as she hoped, she was able to score the second point.

However.

"4 to 4 for Lyla!"

"6 to 5!"

"7 to 8!"

"11 to 11..."

Everyone was having an intense feeling of deja vu. It was just like Felix’s match with Julien in the semi-finals! He had lost the first game, but in the second, both players were going head to head, unable to gain more than a single point over the other at any point...

Was Felix the kind of player who got better the further they were into the match? If so, was there a chance that he would win against Lyla? At first, no one was really betting on him, but now... It might have just seemed possible!