Chapter 20: The Winter Ball

The months moved along – as months usually do.

We currently join our pink haired damsel in mid-July.

The school hosts an annual winter's ball in the middle of every year and this year the lucky date falls on a Wednesday, which – my reader guessed it – happens to be today!!

Now obviously Alythia will be attending with Karlyle and our Heroine with Blake but there is another exciting progression I wish to inform you of: our little Cinnamon roll also recently acquired a date.

Mind you, it was quite the battle to get him to this point.

So let me give my readers a short snippet of the conquest so they can better share in my bliss.

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There was only about one week left till the Winter ball and Alythia was growing impatient. She really wanted Kloeye to attend it this year but a certain blond boy had yet to grow a backbone.

So our pink eyed girl – as impatient as she was – decided to take matters into her own clumsy little hands.

She confronted Damien that very same day right as he returned from lunch.

"Oi little boy, weren't you the one bragging a few months back about how old and mature you are? Are you sure your birth certificate isn't fake? Perhaps you're actually 12 and you've just been lied to all these years???"

As Alythia scowled at the poor blond boy, who had up until now just been minding his own business innocently walking back to class, he was completely caught off guard.

Now my reader might think that our little damsel's approach is well.... not the best possible approach. And sure enough – it wasn't. What she did was absolutely foolish. As the proverb goes "a gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger".

And oh was anger stirred alright.

It flared up inside the heart of the little Cinnabon like fireworks on the fourth of July.

But let the reader not be too harsh on our ill-tempered girl. You see Kloeye had been whining in her ears for weeks on end because Damien had not yet asked her to the ball so our poor protagonist was already at her wits end.

Damien glared at her "HAH!? Where do you get off?? With a mouth like that it's no wonder you don't have any friends in this class!!"

The entire room fell silent.

Alythia's eyes stretched wide and she felt a stinging sensation shoot through her heart.

She glanced away since she was much like a water-reserve about to burst.

The blond boy, after a few moments of still huffing and puffing about, noticed that the girl had become unresponsive and suddenly felt quite bad about what he had said.

Alythia, who was shocked into reflecting on her own words, also grew remorseful.

"Sorry..." she whispered ever so faintly.

When the boy heard it the glare in his eyes instantly vanished.

He placed his hand on her shoulder and nudged her to look up at him. When he saw how moist her eyes had become his lips formed a sad smile.

"I'm sorry too, I was also in the wrong"

"I thought Damien was my friend..." the girl whimpered.

The blue-eyed boy let out a sigh "I am your friend... Look I'm sorry I said that, it wasn't true, okay?"

As she saw his sincere expression a small smile graced her lips.

"But... why hasn't Damien asked Kloeye yet?" Alythia ventured to inquire as it seemed like all the flares had now flickered out.

Damien briefly glanced away in embarrassment. "I-I'm not really sure how to... this is my first time asking someone... and... she's absolutely breathtaking... so... I get nervous when I think about it and then I forget how to... you know... speak"

Alythia stared at the boy 'Isn't he too adorable?' she thought, before suddenly jumping to her feet in excitement.

"Got it!! All you have to do is write it down on a card or like a letter or something and give that to her the next time you see her – then there's no need to worry about stumbling over your words or anything like that"

The surprise was clearly evident on Damien's face "Wow... that's actually a good idea". He eyed her suspiciously "did you really just come up with that yourself?"

'Eh?? this kid... how can my guardian angel insult me so easily?? Isn't that breaking some angel code?? Shouldn't I demote him for that... ?'

And thus, dear reader, the battle that our girl started in such a foolish manner actually turned out well in the end. Damien succeeded in giving his letter to Kloeye – though he did end up rewriting his 'fist draft' some twenty odd times.

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So with that we return to our present time.

The two girls were all dressed and waiting in their dorm room to be picked up.

Damien had to go fetch Kloeye at the School's entrance so our Protagonist and Heroine decided to meet up with the Cinnamon-Doll duo inside the main hall where the ball would be held.

Alythia was wearing a rose gold mermaid dress, which she coupled with her black diamond necklace and a pair of short black heels. Her hair was loose and straight, hanging down to her waist.

Ray sported a long halter neck dress. It was emerald in color and the lady's hair was tied up in a loose and elegant bun. She also added some thin golden bracelets to complete the look.

Now the reader might be wondering about the boys' reaction when they caught sight of these two beauties? Well... let's just use an euphemism and say: They were both pleasantly surprised.

We'll leave it there.

In any case, our Prince and Male lead were both wearing black suits. Blake wore an emerald tie while Karlyle's tie was rose gold.

Upon meeting, Blake and Ray quickly linked arms and rushed towards the main hall – like some overly excited 5 year old child rushes to the candy shop.

Alythia and her date stayed behind for a few minutes, simply staring at the two receding figures and feeling somewhat embarrassed on their behalf.

Eventually Alythia turned her eyes to Karlyle and decided that for once she would try to make him blush. "Kai really dresses to impress" she teasingly said.

However, a mischievous glint flickered in the boy's eyes and she instantly regretted her brief show of bravery.

He stepped closer to her and leaned in so that his lips were right next to her ear. "Impressive when dressed... just wait till I undress"

Alythia jerked her head back so quickly that she possibly gave herself whiplash.

"K-Kai... that's not... you can't say..." but her thoughts trailed off as she had not even the slightest idea how to fight against that devilish grin of his.

Karlyle couldn't help but laugh at her cute reaction "Tia I'm teasing, hey come on now don't whimper away like that".

He stretched his hand out and motioned for her to come closer to him.

When she did he gently kissed her cheek "If Tia isn't good at flirting then why would she challenge me so confidently?".

"Because she has a terrible habit of talking before she thinks" Alythia huffed while puffing out her cheeks.

Karlyle tilted her chin up "I'm happy that Tia is pleased with the way I look... what did she say the day we met hm? That my looks are impressive? Was that is?" he teased.

Alythia glanced away awkwardly "I'm glad Kai is having fun..." she pouted.

Karlyle chuckled before taking her hand in his and leading her down the stairs to the main hall.

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When they arrived at the ball, Alythia caught sight of Kloeye and waved at her.

The little doll girl was wearing an orange Peplum dress. Her hair was loose and wavy with a tiny white flower visible on the side of her head. Damien was wearing a white tuxedo – his orange bowtie matching the girl's dress.

At the sight of them Karlyle let out a groan and his face scrunched up in disgust.

Alythia looked at him pitifully 'Is it even possible to hate a couple that much?' but the thought had barely entered her mind when she saw Ray and Blake dancing together. Amusingly enough her face now looked quite similar to Karlyle's.

"Tsk. That stupid snake...making RayRay look bad" she hissed before placing her hand around Karlyle's arm as they walked towards the refreshment table.

Karlyle handed her a glass of punch.

The moment Alythia took a sip, however, a terrible pain shot through her body.

She dropped the glass and let out a horrifying shriek as it shattered on the floor.

The pink haired girl fell to the ground, continuing her agonizing screams, as tears streamed down her cheeks. Her hands and knees were now also bleeding since the glass pieces on the floor had already sunk deep into her skin.

Karlyle anxiously glanced around trying to spot someone who seemed to be chanting or casting a spell... but he couldn't see anyone.

As he grew more fearful, gushes of wind started slashing against the windows. Soon they all shattered and a type of whirlwind entered the main hall.

The four friends rushed to Alythia's side.

As Karlyle picked her up in his arms his pupils had already constricted and visible scales were seen covering his hands and neck. As she continued to scream, his grip on her tightened.

Damien quickly placed his hand over Alythia's head and a blue light flashed under his palm. Instantly the girl was silent.

"She's asleep Karlyle" Damien said slowly, not wanting to agitate the boy who was already on the brink of morphing. "She's fine for now; let's get her to the healers quickly" he urged.

Karlyle stared at the pink haired girl nuzzled up in his arms and his pupils slowly dilated back to normal.

After a few moments he regained his wits and dashed off with her, accompanied by the four musketeers, towards the school's infirmary.

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When Alythia opened her eyes it was already morning.

The first thing she saw was Karlyle's worried expression staring back at her.

"Kai... what happened...?"

As she sat up she saw Ray, Kloeye, Blake and Damien also standing in the room – the same worried expression accompanying all of them.

'Eh? but who is...' Alythia narrowed her eyes to make out who the man standing next to Damien was.

She let out a gasp.

"H-H-Headmaster!? What are you doing here??"

The blond middle-aged man walked closer to her. He wore a gentle expression as he spoke. "I'm here to be of service to you Ms. Ashwrith. Karlyle informed me of what happened and it is quite regretful that I had not caught on sooner. This dark magic user is a threat to the safety of our students so as this school's head I cannot just idly standby and watch"

He placed his palm on Alythia's forearm. "Miss Ashwrith, you have my permission to skip classes for the rest of the day and tomorrow as well so that you may recover" He then glanced at Karlyle and let out a sigh "Mister Karnage you may also stay with her since I know you will do what you please regardless of what I say; however, the rest of you off to class!!"

Karlyle looked at him gratefully "Thank you sir..."

The blond man glanced over his shoulder and smiled at the boy "If you find out any new information about this please report it to me directly. I'll do what I can to help"

"Will do" Alythia enthusiastically responded.

And with a nod he was out of the room with everyone, except for Alythia and Karlyle, following suit.