Thanks to my Harem, I Rise as the Dragon King-Chapter 7: Gauntlet

«Aaaah, finally,» Arielle sighs. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

She stretches and lets out a long sigh of relief, while the five of us—me, her, Viktoria, Selene, and Jasmine—walk through the corridors of Astralea.

«Professor Laxar’s Magical Theories classes are such a drag... if he weren’t ridiculously hot, I’d fall asleep within ten minutes,» she adds with a yawn.

«You can say that again!» Viktoria agrees. «By the end, I want him to fuck every hole in my body! Jade already said he wouldn’t mind.»

She shoots me a provocative glance.

«Still going on about this?» I mutter, annoyed.

«Um... Jade...» Jasmine timidly gets my attention. «I finally finished the poem I told you about a few weeks ago... if you’d like, I could read it to you.»

I nod, more curious than I thought I’d be. She’s about to open her precious blue notebook when Arielle jumps in first.

«Jade, Jade! I wrote a poem for you too! Want to hear it?»

A bad feeling creeps over me... Arielle clears her throat.

«Jade, my heart beats quick,

may I take in my mouth your—?»

«ARIELLE!!!» Jasmine cuts her off sharply.

«What? You didn’t even let me finish reciting it,» Arielle grumbles.

«Poetry is serious! I won’t let you disgrace it like that!» Jasmine scolds her, clearly upset.

«Or what? You’ll dedicate a sonnet to me?» Arielle snaps back.

Viktoria and Selene burst into laughter while I struggle to keep mine in out of respect for Jasmine, who doesn’t look amused at all. Jasmine clenches her teeth, fists trembling.

«Now you’ll see... Elemental Invocation • Earth—»

«STOP! LEAVE HER ALONE! PLEASE!»

The playful fight is cut short by desperate cries from a girl echoing around the corridor’s corner.

«Come on, Rebecca, let us have some fun with your friend...»

«Yeah, don’t be a buzzkill, just a little feel. We need to give the foreigner a proper welcome...» two male voices jeer right after.

I turn the corner and spot them—Luke Finghan and Eirik Aelthorn, pathetic third-years. Their victim lies on the floor: Anastasia Krasnof, a girl with snow-white hair cut to just above her shoulders, her right eye hidden by her bangs. She’s Rebecca’s classmate from the frozen kingdom of Volgradia. Her uniform hangs open at the front, wrinkled——clear proof of the abuse she’s been subjected to.

Rebecca stands tall between them, arms outstretched to shield her friend.

«I TOLD YOU TO GET AWAY FROM HER! DON’T MAKE ME SAY IT AGAIN!» Rebecca shouts furiously.

Her face is twisted in anger and tears, her ragged breathing on the verge of losing herself to uncontrollable rage. Honestly, she’s overreacting. Why get so worked up over something that doesn’t even concern her directly? Either way, not my problem.

«Don’t get cocky just because you made it to the last tournament finals,» Luke snaps back. «I could easily—»

«I won’t tolerate this kind of behavior in my school,» I cut in. «Cut it out now, or it’ll get worse for you.»

Not that I really care, but as a senior it’s my job to keep order when no teachers are around.

«J-Jade,» Luke, pale, stammers. «Y-you’ve got it wrong, we were just, you know, getting to know the new girl, that’s all...»

«Y-yeah, Luke’s right,» Eirik adds quickly. «W-we’d never hurt anyone.»

«Get lost. Now. And count yourself lucky I’m in a good mood, or I’d report you straight to the professors,» I warn coldly.

They don’t wait for me to repeat it. Both bolt at once.

Anastasia slowly pushes herself up, still trembling, then runs straight into me, wrapping her arms tightly around my waist. She’s small, so her breats—unusually developed for her age—presses right against my stomach.

«Jade Kyndrake, my hero,» she whispers with overwhelming gratitude. «Thank you for saving me. Thank you so, so much!»

But that flood of affection doesn’t sit well with Viktoria and the others.

They glare at her, especially Selene, who clears her throat loudly to remind Anastasia she’s crossing the line. Yet, as if to spite them, she clings to me even tighter. I can’t deny I’m uncomfortable; after all, she’s barely more than a kid, and feeling her chest pressing into me... yeah, not good.

I grip her arms and gently ease her away, enough to calm the girls’ jealousy—and to keep certain natural reactions under control.

«No need to thank me,» I reply. «Rebecca could’ve taken those two down by herself. I just made sure they didn’t hurt themselves or get her expelled.»

My goal is to defeat Rebecca in the next semester’s tournament and prove once and for all that I’m the best. I can’t allow rumors like, "Jade only won because Rebecca got expelled. Actually, I think he used his father’s influence to kick her out, so he wouldn’t have to face her again."

All bullshit.

Rebecca gives me a timid smile. The rage and tension seem to vanish from her face.

«Then I’m the one who should thank you...» she murmurs.

She takes a few steps toward me. She seems nervous, like she’s speaking to some important political or military figure. Sure, I’m the prince of Kristalia, but here in Astralea I’m just Jade Kyndrake, and everyone’s always treated me that way. Fights with other students, especially in the first years, and getting scolded by teachers were never rare, royal blood or not.

«You know, I was thinking... since our fight, we’ve never had the chance to talk about it...» she says, her voice barely audible and her cheeks flushed.

«And we’re not going to,» I cut her off coldly.

My cold, blunt reply stuns her. The smile fades, leaving trembling lips and watery eyes on the verge of tears.

That girl is the reason I’ve had sleepless nights these past weeks; the last thing I want is to chat like nothing happened, like I’ve already forgotten the humiliation she put me through in front of my father.

«Are you mad at me?» she asks. She looks genuinely sorry, probably clueless about why I hate her. «Whatever I did, I’m really sor—»

«Didn’t you hear what he just said?!» Viktoria growls, cutting her off. «Jade has no intention of wasting his breath on a stupid brat! Get lost!»

Rebecca’s eyes, which had been holding back tears, finally break like a dam bursting. Anastasia hugs her, trying to comfort her, but Viktoria keeps pressing.

«You’re just an overrated kid who only fought Jade by pure luck. You cast the Crystal Chant and risked your life just to humiliate him in front of everyone, didn’t you? Like, ’Look at me, I’m a first year and I can already use it, when Jade couldn’t at my age’. Want to know something? Jade could already use that spell at fourteen, but he wasn’t dumb enough to do it without training his body first to endure that much magic!»

«You’re wrong, I swear. That was never my inten—»

«You think you’re on our level? How pathetic!» Viktoria interrupts again. «Since the tournament ended, everyone in the kingdom just talks about you and your ridiculous strength, overshadowing Jade’s extraordinary performance. I’ll prove to him—no, to all of Kristalia—that we’re on a completely different level from you. Rebecca Asheart, I officially challenge you to a duel!»