Royal Pride (Leona Kingscholar/Yuu)

20 ~ Subject Of Affections

When Yuu came to, everything felt off. It felt like a worse version of when she was concussed. Her ears were ringing, her vision was foggy and dark, and she overall felt weak.

"Oh..." she let out, recalling the events from the night before—had it been a night, or more? Less? She had no concept of time.

Her hands and feet were tied, leaving her with no option but to either struggle pointlessly and rub her skin raw, or sit there and wait. Wait for what exactly, she didn't know, but they can't've just left her here.

After a bit of time, her eyes had finally adjusted. She squinted around, trying to notice anything identifiable or significant.

But of course, Yuu had no clue where she was.

'Brilliant.'

Her train of thought was interrupted by a very harsh and unexpected kick to the stomach. The pain was almost overwhelming enough to knock her out of consciousness again.

"W-who are you?" She finally managed to wheeze after a few more mystery attacks. She stared up towards her two attackers—the same people who had knocked her out in the first place, she presumed—as they started laughing hysterically.

'Am I some tragic movie protagonist or something? Is this how I die? Is all of this supposed to be making sense? Seriously, this is the kind of thing that's only supposed to happen in fiction...'

"I think we've had our fun," the girl spoke tauntingly, crouching down to Yuu's level. She could tell that she was wearing her messy hair in short twintails, but couldn't make out any other details.

"Where am—where am I?" Yuu gasped again, trying to get any sort of answer out of them.

The two started laughing again. "You're on no position to be making demands," the male mocked. "You're only alive because we've decided to take pity on you."

"That's right~!" The girl jumped in. "You're at our mercy!"

"What have you brought me here for, then?" Yuu heaved, still feeling breathless from the hits she'd taken only moments before, most of them to her stomach.

There was a little more natural light peeking in through the...windows? More like holes in the walls. They were definitely somewhere abandoned.

She observed her two attackers share a glance before the male spoke, "Take this as a warning: stay away from Lord Leona."

Her eyes widened and she blinked a few times, unsure if she heard right. "Excuse—excuse me?" She stammered out.

"Yeah, you're making him all soft. He used to be strong and cool. The embodiment of Savanaclaw! And then you came along and all he does is hang around you now!"

'Am I about to be killed by two yanderes?'

"Is this really what all this is about..?" Yuu asked, glaring up at them. They were both wearing the Savanaclaw dorm uniforms, their bandanas pulled up to cover their faces. It was still too dim to make out colors.

The two exchanged looks again. "I suppose there's no harm in telling if we don't intend on letting her go, yeah?" The girl said in a peppy tone.

"We're supposed to let her go this time," the boy replied.

'Supposed to..?' Was there even more to this? Yuu couldn't help but wonder after this statement.

"But I'm just saying, what if we didn't?" The girl seemed to be quite the character, making jazz hands with the last word. "Sure would get her out of the way~"

"That would displease Lord Leona, and that is our last aim," the male answered in a final tone.

"Isn't this already displeasing to him?" Yuu interjected. They both turned to look at her, as though they'd forgotten she was there in the midst of their bickering.

"Yeah, it'll sting him for the moment, but that's why we're having you distance yourself from him, so eventually you won't be important to him anymore! Our group's aim is to restore him to his former glory, not weakened because of some girl he thinks he's in love with!" The girl spoke with zeal, making wild gestures with her hands.

'So it's a group... that seems to hold Leona on a pedestal?'

"If you give away any more information, we'll have to kill her," the male scolded harshly. "Remember? We're trying to avoid that outcome this time around."

As the daylight increased and her senses seemed to clear up ever so slightly, she came to the assumption that these two were probably siblings. Not just judging from their looks, but their mannerisms were rather similar as well, though they evidently had very different personalities.

"Why are you deifying Leona? What's so amazing about him to a group like yours?" She hissed, trying to get more out of the girl. The guy seemed to be too cautious to try and get information from.

With every extra second she spent here, her heart pounded even harder. With the girl's whims and their scary devotion to Leona, she wasn't sure if she'd make it out alive.

'I've left so much unsaid...'

They both looked at her as though she had a third head. "Even the holder of his affections can't see why he's amazing..? Oh, how he's fallen, falling in love with someone like this," the male sighed tragically.

"Anyone can tell that Leona would rule our kingdom much better than his elder brother! He's incredible in every aspect! He can exact precise judgment, and he isn't lacking in power either! He's simply flawless~!" The girl gushed.

'So Leona's got a cult that's in love with everything he does and they're jealous cause he finally likes someone, who just so happens to be me. Lovely.'

"Oops, looks like we've spilled too much information~"

"Look at what you've done. Now we'll have to give her the special treatment to make sure she doesn't go spilling our secrets." The siblings turned to face Yuu with a gleam in their eyes.

The girl's eyes widened in delight. "Ahaha~ This should be fun!"