Jobless Transmigration: I'm the only one who loves monsters.-Chapter 116

Chapter 116:

In the blink of an eye, he was almost upon her, his trajectory carrying him directly into what she perceived as her personal space with absolutely no regard for the consequences of such an action.

Her mind raced through possibilities and interpretations, each one more infuriating than the last.

Daring to launch an ambush on her? On her! How dare he!

The thought of it, the sheer audacity of this common-born noble thinking he could simply charge at her without fear of retribution, sent fresh waves of fury coursing through her veins until her vision nearly blurred red at the edges.

Her lips curled into a contemptuous snear as she prepared to meet his charge, magical energy already beginning to gather in her palms in response to her rising anger.

Hmph! If he was looking to die, then she would be more than happy to grant his wish and send him on to whatever afterlife awaited fools like him who thought they could challenge their betters.

Since he was striking first, placing himself as the aggressor in this situation, she felt confident that the academy would not hold it against her if she were to deal with this persistent annoyance once and for all.

Self-defense was a universal right, after all, and defending oneself against a charging attacker fell well within even the strictest interpretation of that principle.

All around them, examinees who had been focused on their own failing puzzles now turned their attention to this developing drama, their eyes wide with anticipation and confusion as they tried to understand what was happening.

Nearly everyone present stared on as if expecting a fight to break out at any moment, their expressions ranging from shock to excitement, even genuine bewilderment at the First Son’s apparent madness.

"Has he really lost his mind completely?" Someone whispered from somewhere in the crowd, their voice filled with disbelief, clearly they never expected such a thing to happen.

"Perhaps he’s simply too afraid to wait for Her Highness’s retaliation, so he wants to use this opportunity to get rid of her before she can get rid of him." Another voice offered, this one sounding almost impressed despite itself at the audacity of such a plan.

"But what about afterwards?" A third voice cut in, sounding very much practical as well as concerned. "Does he really think he can escape the royal family’s retribution even if he does manage to come out victorious here? Killing a princess isn’t exactly the kind of thing one just walks away from, no matter how justified the circumstances might seem."

"Honestly, I can’t seem to grasp his thinking at all." Yet another examinee added their voice to the growing chorus of speculation. "Perhaps this is simply the desperate thought process of a man who has already decided he has nothing left to lose."

Lucinda heard every word of this whispered commentary, of course, her enhanced senses picking up each syllable despite the distance and the murmuring tones.

The suggestion that some among them actually believed she might lose to this trash, that they entertained even for a moment the possibility of his victory over her, filled her with such profound disdain that she nearly laughed aloud at the absurdity of it.

Rather than stop them, she allowed them to think what they wanted. Let them speculate and doubt as much as they wanted, because as far as she was concerned, those were merely imagined scenarios that could never possibly come to pass.

In just a few moments, they would all see the truth of things, and bere witness exactly what happened to those who dared to raise a hand against royalty.

She was in the midst of muttering the opening syllables of an incantation, magical power building in preparation for the devastating spell she intended to unleash, when something entirely unexpected caused her pupils to contract with sudden confusion.

The words died on her lips, the gathered magic faltered and dissipated, and she stood there frozen like a statue carved from ice, unable to process what her eyes were telling her had just occurred.

Contrary to everything anyone had expected, in objection to every assumption and prediction that had filled the hall moments before, Lucuis had done nothing more than pry a single piece from her unfinished puzzle before twisting around and bolting back toward his own pedestal with the same desperate speed he had shown in his approach.

He had not attacked her. He didn’t even come close to attacking her. The man had simply taken what he needed and fled, leaving her standing there in a daze.

The onlookers erupted into fresh waves of confused murmuring, their voices carrying the bewilderment that now filled the hall like smoke filling a room.

"What on earth just happened? "

"Did I see that right? He retreated at the very end? He charged at her like that only to run away?"

"I don’t understand anything anymore. First he’s attacking, then he’s running, what is this madman actually trying to accomplish?"

"You..." Lucinda’s voice emerged as barely more than a whisper at first, her mind still struggling to process events that made no sense according to any framework she understood.

But then the fury returned to her eyes with interest, doubling and redoubling until it burned with the intensity of a star going supernova. "You wretched, worthless, absolute trash! How dare you! How dare you steal from me! How dare you lay your filthy hands on my property!"

This time there was no hesitation in her tone, right now she seemed to have forgone her collected self, not bothering to weigh any such political consequences or how it would affect her image. Instead, she completely gave in to her personal dssires.

She was truly enraged now, beyond the reach of reason or restraint, and without a single moment of additional thought, she shot off into the air and flew after him with murder burning bright in her beautiful features.

Lucuis felt her death stare pressing against his back like the heat of a branding iron inches away from scorching his skin.