[GL] I tamed the female lead

Chapter 12

The way Astéria walked to the platform was enough to scare anyone. The way she was walking was so charismatic that I didn't want to be in her way and almost stepped aside but I forced myself to stay put. I was strong. I beat everyone else and even if Astéria was the strongest one here, that didn't mean I didn't have a chance. As if she felt my determination, Astéria looked at me and smiled. She extended me her hand. I accepted it, placing my sword in the other hand. While doing so I noticed that Astéria was left handed. This detail wasn't in the book and for some reason I thought of Orange who was right handed. I didn't know why I was thinking of her now but I forced myself to focus back on the present.

"May the strongest win."

I liked this and smiled in agreement. Astéria wasn't the type to waste time and immediately got into position. My heartbeat calmed down suddenly and my field of vision shrunk to Astéria's body. I didn't hear sounds anymore and couldn't feel anything except for the sword. I was ready and as soon as I heard the ring, I rushed in front. I had to attack first to gain some kind of upper hand during this match. It would have worked with anyone else but Astéria's reflexes were inhuman. She blocked my blade without hesitation and didn't even flinch her gaze planted in mine.

Every time Astéria attacked me I couldn't help block my breathing. How could someone be this strong? Now that I was feeling her strength I realized that she was going way easier on me the first time. How could a human be this strong? It was impossible. In the book they did describe her strength as mountain shaking but I never thought it would be this intense. Was she even giving it her all? I was quite strong myself but she was completely overpowering me and I knew I had no chance of winning by attacking her upfront. I had to put everything on endurance and speed.

Astéria wasn't only strong. Her reflexes were so good it felt as if she had 8 eyes and she never seemed to run out of breath. I wasn't even sure she had lungs and really wanted to check air was flowing in and out. She was dominating me in every aspect of the sport but I didn't give up. Despite being completely towered upon, she still couldn't touch me which was ecstatic. During her last matches she would win in a matter of seconds but even if I had no idea how long we had fought, it had to be more than a minute. I was doing great! I had to keep up!

Unfortunately, I suddenly felt something cold against my throat. It wasn't so sudden because it took me a few seconds to understand why I couldn't move anymore. I didn't even know where the blade came from or how Astéria moved to achieve this but there I was, defeated. It took me long seconds to understand what this meant at first not understanding why I couldn't move. Some time later I noticed that Astéria was holding me by the hip, maintaining me against her. She was so close that I could feel her breath on my lips. She did have lungs after all and I did manage to make her run out of breath. This made me smile. I didn't win but this wasn't that bad either:

"Well done. Next time it won't be that easy."

Astéria stared at me with wide eyes for a few seconds before smiling too. I could feel her hand crisp around my waist and her pulling me in closer. I was crushed against her chest, my breathing still all over the place. There was something strange about the way she was staring at me and I couldn't move as if being sucked in by her eyes. I had no idea how long we had been in each other's arms but soon people understood it was over and they started cheering. I finally heard them and woke up pushing Astéria away softly. She didn't seem happy about this but let me go nonetheless.

Astéria stayed on the platform to gain her ornament as everyone was clapping from beneath her. I climbed down too and felt her gaze all over me as I was walking away. Now that I was downstairs I realized how displeased people were. They didn't seem happy that the winner was Astéria. Apart from looking scary this time around, she was still a wizard and people didn't like that. On my side, I clapped loudly as a good loser and smiled generally happy for her. Astéria didn't look away for a second but soon the crowd got too thick and I decided to leave. As I went back to the changing rooms and got ready, I heard someone knocking. I told them to come in and Alastair appeared with a bouquet of flowers before handed it to me with a smile: