"Yes, and you are?"

There actually wasn't a crowd here. This was rare.

"Count Melhiem Rodwich, Evengeline and Margeretta's father." He made a courtly bow. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance." He proceeded to spread his hands towards me.

I felt weird around this guy. Something about him bothered me but I couldn't tell.

'A count?' I already knew that Eve and Marg were nobles but I didn't know their father's rank was this high. "I see. Helio ROMSWELL Jintel, a pleasure." I spread my hands, extra emphasis on my family name. I had to make sure he knew me, otherwise, later on, things might have gotten a bit more troublesome if he decided to come at me. Because I certainly had plans.

But mom did tell me that I didn't need to worry about the Rodwichs. Well, I did take that with a grain of sugar and lo- ahem! Salt.

Bad memories.

The man smirked and gave my hands a shake.

Judging by the look on Eve's face, things weren't going according to her plan. But this was a family matter, so I didn't want to get involved.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back." I didn't want to get into their debate and this wasn't the perfect time to talk about Marg and me either, after all, I still didn't know Marg's true feelings.

I did feel indebted to Eve, but I considered her my friend. And as a responsible friend, I didn't want to complicate things between her and her father. So shutting my mouth and moving on, was the best thing I could do- at least that's what I told myself.

It was probably just an excuse though.

"Tell me," The count began. "Are you interested in marrying into my family?"

Holy, mother of god, this guy was blunt!

Even I was a bit staggered, meanwhile, Eve's face was still down. Something was up and it didn't look good for me. The Battlesuin family was pretty influential and almost as famous as the Romswells. Meaning this guy wasn't just going to hand Marg over to me, right? So, what was he plotting? "Depends." On a lot of things.

But he if was, it either meant, he had something major to gain from the Romswells, or maybe he was trying to pit my family against the Battlesuins. Either way, it didn't look like a good deal.

But that didn't mean, I'd stopped listening either. In order to make an informed decision, I had to at least hear him out.

I was definitely willing to fight the Battlesuins though.

He smirked. "My daughter Evengeline Rodwhich is up for marriage. I assure you-"

"Yeah, sorry, but she's my friend." I knew something was up. I knew this was too good to be true. I sighed inwards. Why did I ever think Marg's name would up here? "Anyway, if I'm interested in someone, I'll take her even if I've to fight the world. So, don't worry about it." I grinned and started walking. "Good day."

"What if I told you, you can have both?"

I stopped. "Excuse me?" I glanced back.

"I'll give you both if you were to join hands with my family and let's say, become my son? Of course, marrying my daughters and becoming my son in law, would also mean, you'll inherit my wealth and-" This guy really didn't hold anything back.

So, I met him with the bluntness of my own. "Yeah, I'll pass. And I'm not interested in just any woman." I took a deep breath. "No offense Eve, but I see you as a friend," I spoke directly to her but she didn't even glance at me. Something really wasn't right here. I switched my gaze to the man, walked, and didn't look back. "And I certainly don't have any intention of becoming your son."

I couldn't get my priorities mixed up. I wanted to marry Marg because I had feelings for her, not because of lust. I still didn't know if my feelings were love, or even genuine or not. But didn't care either. I just wanted it.

Maybe I was obsessed but so be it.

But I didn't have feelings for Eve. I liked her and all, but she was just my friend and a senior I could count on- probably. But she wasn't someone I wanted to live the rest of my life with. I wanted it to be Marg. It had to be Marg.

Was this love, or just obsession? I didn't know.

Maybe becoming this guy's son would erase all my money concerns, but that also meant I'd virtually become a slave, something which I had no desire to. Besides, I was going to live with Marg in my own way, not in some orchestrated reality.

And nothing was going to stand in my way: if Marg shut me down, I'd just try harder. 'I won't force her, and I'll be patient, but I won't give up.'

I was obsessed and I didn't care. But deep down I knew, I was just being indecisive and running away from reality.

***

"Well that was interesting-" Melheim grinned as he watched the boy's silhouette disappear. And gave her daughter a look. "Looks like your mission is over. Feel free to do whatever. Who'd have thought the failure would be more productive. Oops-" He chuckled. "I shouldn't call my own daughter a failure." He chuckled harder and started walking.

He didn't even give his daughter a second look. She was now worthless to him.

'Maybe this might just work out.' He kept on laughing hysterically as he walked out of the field. Some students thought he was probably a mad guy, he noticed but he didn't care.

Things weren't going according to plan and there were certain factors he hadn't considered. But even he knew, this wasn't a bad outcome. After all, he stood to lose virtually nothing but, either way, there was plenty to gain.

***

Eve gritted her teeth and bit her lips. She didn't let a single drop leak. Sparks flew around her but she controlled everything. She already knew she didn't have a future with Helio. After all, Helio had feelings for her sister and she could see that from a mile away. She could see the color of one's emotion and after seeing both theirs', there was no doubt in her mind.

And she personally didn't like Helio either- up until now.

It was just a mission for her when it first started. But now- now it was something else: something different. She didn't know what but it hurt and her chest felt tighter whenever she imagined that she didn't have a future with him and there wasn't much she could do.

She couldn't steal him away from her sister and she even thought of killing her at times. But what if he ends up hating her instead? That was the only thought that prevented her for taking any drastic steps. So, she just kept her distance and tried to erase those feelings… but the effects were the opposite. Her feelings only grew stronger.

Her head was down, but her emotions flew high. She never gave up anything in her life, and she wasn't going to give up this time either.

And the fire in her eyes was the proof of that. She wasn't going to lose and she wasn't going to be a failure.

She was blessed in both looks and abilities and because of that she was treated rather well in her family, but there were rules, there were orders, there were sacrifices. She'd have enough.

Though the sisters took different paths and might have ended up in different destinations, both of them now had one unified goal.

'I'll end him and make my own destiny."

***

Marg only had two matches this week. The first one being with whoever made it to the semifinal and the second, the finals- assuming she'd win the first semifinal. Both were near the end of this week.

She was still asleep and perhaps this was the only time she was without worries and all the depression of life. The only time she could rest.

"AH!"

But even this moment of peace didn't last as she woke up hearing moans.

Sometimes she felt so vexed, that she almost felt like leaving the dorm room for good, but in the end, there was always the question 'then where will I go?'

She had enough allowance and she could afford a house, but then what?

The three girls on the bed beside hers were annoying and very vexing, but at least she didn't feel lonely. She already knew she was, and yet, she wanted this false sense of 'to belong'.

She knew it was nothing more than hypocrisy on her part, and yet she didn't care.

She just wanted a bit of peace of mind: peace she didn't have. She wanted a place she could belong.

"Oh, did we wake you up?" Through the hushed moans, one of the girls spoke up.

"Sorry about that. We'll finish quickly," Another one spoke.

"Take your time." Marg picked herself up and went to get fresh.

Needless to say, she didn't come out of the bathroom for the next hour.

'Will I ever have a place to belong?' She didn't know. If her plans succeeded, she'd have to be on constant run and perhaps even die.

And yet, now she couldn't stop the flow of things. Now that everything was so close, she started doubting herself: she started doubting her plans. She wanted someone to save her, and yet she didn't want anyone to get involved with her, especially not that boy with cat ears. After all, this was her battle.

She really was selfish: and perhaps, a bit naïve. But she wanted to belong, she wanted things that were genuine, and she wanted to be needed. She really was selfish- and she knew it.