Royal Pride (Leona Kingscholar/Yuu)

33 ~ Surprise

"Yuu, what'd you do to Leona?" Ruggie asked, balancing on his broomstick with his feet. "He's been askin' me stuff like 'how to ask a girl out' and 'good date locations'. Like I don't know said girl's you."

She felt a giggle escape her, and Ruggie made a face. "Please, never make a noise like that ever again." She yanked his broom, making him almost fall off.

"You're just jealous that no one's giggling about you," she retorted, sitting sideways on her own broom.

After their gym class, they headed over to the cafeteria, where Leona was nowhere to be found. 'He's abandoning you again,' a voice whispered in her head, but it was easier to push off. He hadn't even said he'd be in the cafeteria—he was probably napping in the greenhouse as per usual.

"Hey, Yuu!" Cater called, waving his hand wildly. Ruggie glanced over his shoulder at her. "I'll join you guys later. Gotta get His Highness his lunch." He rolled his eyes.

"Where is he, anyway?" She asked, just double checking to make sure her evil alter ego wasn't speaking facts.

Ruggie glanced to the side. "Ah... well, I'm not supposed to tell you, but I promise it's nothing bad or suspicious!" She raised an eyebrow. "It's actually a good thing!"

"Would you tell me if it wasn't a good thing?" She joked before heading towards Cater, who was sitting with Trey, Riddle, Ace, and Deuce.

She sat next to Cater. "Oh, right! Cater, I forgot to tell you earlier, but the copies at the Spelldrive tournament? That was great!"

"LOL, you think so? It was just my signature spell, but thanks!" He put a hand on his neck, clearly pleased by the compliment.

Cater's eyes then widened, remembering what he'd beckoned Yuu over for. "Hey, Yuu, get a load of this! So, today we were having joint classes, right? Well, poor Trey over here got partnered with Leona!"

"Which was mostly awkward since I was the one who made the proposition to let Savanaclaw compete in the tournament," Trey interjected. "But Cater, continue."

There were stars in his eyes as he continued. "I noticed he seemed to be more glued to his phone than usual, so I decided to peek over his shoulder to see what could be captivating him, and guess what I saw!?"

"What did you see?" Yuu asked, going along with his enthusiasm.

"He was looking at popular date spots!!!"

Riddle's head jerked over to Yuu. "Have you two finally started dating?"

"Not yet, but we were talking about it—" Yuu trailed off as she noticed Ace handing five thaumarks to Cater. "What's that for?"

"Acey here bet me that Riddle wouldn't be interested in your tea with Leona! And guess who won~!"

"Anyways, as you were saying, Yuu?" Riddle prompted, only further proving Cater's victory.

Ace let out a defeated sigh. "And here I was thinking the Housewarden didn't care about any of that."

"Everyone's interested in hot gossip!" Cater cackled, waving the thaumarks in Ace's face.

"I wasn't really saying much else, just that we might be making things official soon. It's up to him, really," Yuu finished, taking a bite of her food.

Trey set down his fork. "Say, Yuu, can I ask you a question about him?" She nodded, and he continued, "Is he nice to you?"

She couldn't help but start snickering. "What makes you ask that?" She finally asked after finishing chewing.

"Well..." The whole group turned to each other, growing quiet. "He's su~per mean sometimes!" Cater was the first to interrupt the silence. Riddle nodded in agreement. "And he doesn't carry himself with the decorum he should, being both a prince, and a Housewarden."

Trey nodded. "I know that he's much nicer to girls, but... is there really that much of a difference?"

"Valid question, but you forget one thing. He hails from the Sunset Savanna."

Riddle let out a slight gasp. "Ah, that explains a lot." However, everyone else seemed lost. Riddle furrowed his eyebrows. "Have you all been slacking on studying?"

"Could you just explain?" Ace asked with annoyance. Riddle glared at him before saying, "Men of the Sunset Savanna have great respect for and are intimidated by women. This is due to the women generally being both physically stronger and more strong-willed."

Cater gasped. "We stan a king who drinks his respect women juice! Brings me back to this one thing with Rosaria... What was it he said? I think it was 'portrait or not, I respect ladies and Rosaria is a lady'?"

"He respects women. So does everyone else. That supposed to make him special or something?" Ace asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You should see how nice he is to me specifically! Not to brag or anything, but I have a pretty awesome soon-to-be boyfriend. Thanks for the concern, though, Trey," Yuu replied.

Ruggie slid into the seat next to her. "And your soon-to-be boyfriend wants you to meet with him at the gate after school for a surprise~"

"OMG! I need more details!" Cater exclaimed. Yuu nodded vigorously. "I need more details too! You can't just tell me it's a surprise and then leave it like that!"

"Wait, Ruggie, you're from the Sunset Savanna too, right?" Deuce asked. He nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"We were talking about how wimpy you guys are," Yuu laughed. "I assume what Deuce wants to ask is 'what are your thoughts on women'?"

"I had planned on phrasing it another way, but that's about right," Deuce replied.

Ruggie let out a sigh. "Women? They're terrifying. Even if they're not from the Savanna, I still get nervous talking to them! Yet here I am, my best friend being one."

"Can we get back to how he wants to meet me after school!?"