^^ Finn

It has been four months since I first arrived at the Callisto Castle. To think my life could change so quickly in such a short amount of time. There's more wealth here than I ever had my whole life, or could have dreamed of.

Not only that, but I've also been receiving magic training, so I can fully mind control people. Except for that bastard Nyx that always hangs around Eve. I recently tried mind controlling him, but wound up with a painful migraine instead.

That guy seriously pisses me off. He's always taking up Eve's time.

But anyway, I've got more serious things to worry about right now. I open the doors of my room to the balcony. I hop onto the railing of the balcony, and skillfully jump to the railing of Eve's balcony.

"What the hell are you doing here?" asks Nyx. Fuck! I didn't even see him there!

"I'm keeping watch over Eve. You're not needed here anymore," I reply.

"It's fine. I'm stronger than you anyway. I'd be better at protecting her," he says matter-of-factly.

"Come on, even demons need to sleep. It's time to switch out," I contend. He stares at me for a second, as if he's going to say something, then lets out a sort of sigh. Wings appear on his back and he flies off to his room.

I sit on the railing of the balcony, keeping watch for any assassins that may show up. The number has been greatly reduced since most of them end up dead, but the Dukedom has a lot of enemies, so every so often one will show up.

And this happens to be one of those times. I see a cloaked figure scale across the cliffs, towards the castle. I fly down from the balcony toward the ground.

I don't have flying abilities but due to my immense amount of mana, I created retractable metal wings that are able to fly.

I land in front of the assassin, who quickly takes out a knife.

Anger rises up in me as I imagine him killing Eve with it.

I picture imaginary strings connecting the two of us, and think of muscles pulling those strings taunt, stopping him from moving. His muscles freeze into place.

"What... what did you just do to me?" he asks panicking.

"It's not very polite to go pointing knives at people," I chastise him.

"Stop whatever the hell you're doing kid! You have no idea what you're messing with! I've killed kids like you dozens of times," he says.

"What a coincidence! I've killed people like you dozens of times as well!" I reply, smiling. I pause, and stroke my chin, "You know you're hurting my feelings. I've already told you it's very rude to point knives at other people."

His eyes widen as his hand turns against his will and moves towards his neck.

"That's much better! Proper manners are so important," I clap my hands and jump up and down like a kid in a candy shop. He starts slicing his neck open.

"Wait! Stop!" he cries out, "I'll give you a cut of the cash if you stop!"

I chuckle, "But I already have a lot of money?" I say.

"Please, if you save me you'll have more money than you possibly dream of! The Dagger King has a bounty of one billion gold coins to bring the girl to him alive. I've never seen a bounty that f*cking big! You'll be living like a king for the rest of your days!" he frantically pleads.

The Dagger King? Wasn't that who tried to buy her at the auction all those months ago?

One billion gold coins is no joke. Who the hell is that guy?

"What does he want with Eve?" I ask.

"Beats me. Nobody really knows what he wants, but there is a lot of talk about it. Some say he's got some kind of crazy feud with the Callistos, and wants to kill the Callisto princess himself. Others think he has some kind of forbidden love with her, and wants to take her by force if the Duke won't let him, but I doubt he's even capable of love. The streets are abuzz with all kinds of rumors of what it could be. But I'll tell you this, whatever the right answer is, the Dagger King will get what he wants. He always does," he rambles.

"Who is the Dagger King?" I say.

"Everything about him is a mystery. I didn't even meet him when given this job. One of his people met with me. All I know is he basically rules the criminal underground, and I hear he's ruthless," he says, looking at the knife poised at his neck.

"Well I guess that's all I'm getting out of you," I sigh and walk away. Behind me I imagine the string connecting his hand to me plunging downward and cutting open his neck.

At first he screams, but then he just makes a gurgling noise as he chokes on his own blood. He makes a thudding noise as he crumples to the ground.

I fly back up, and land on the balcony to keep watch for the rest of the night.

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"My lord, it's time to wake up," says a footman waking me from my slumber.

As soon as I wake up, I immediately regret it. I probably got about four hours of sleep last night.

I get ready in a sleepy daze, and am dressed in athletic wear for training. Of course, I add some cuteness to my athletic clothes since Eve likes cute things. I decide to wear a jacket that has colorful polka dots on it and light blue shorts.

I walk to the training grounds, only to see Eve and Nyx already running around the field. Eve is wearing a black and yellow leather jacket and shorts. Her hair is tied back by a yellow and black ribbon.

I start jogging as well, but without super speed, they easily outpace me.

As Eve and Nyx lap me, Eve slows down and Nyx does as well.

"Good morning Finn!" she says, smiling. We jog a little further. She studies me, noting the dark circles under my eyes, "You look like you got bad sleep, what happened?"

I pout, "I had a nightmare. It was really scary!" I say. Nyx rolls his eyes and jogs away from us.

Eve ruffles my hair, "Next time if you have a nightmare, you can come to my room. I got rid of all the poison so it should be safe now!"

She increases her speed again and catches up to Nyx. Nyx seems to not even be breaking a sweat right now. I have a feeling he can run much faster than this but is just going at Eve's speed because he wants to.

After a couple more laps, the Duke tells us we can stop.

"Today I wanted to try something a little different for our training. As good as training is, it can't make up for real battle experience!" announces the Duke, "That's why you will be fighting each other today!"

"Wait! What if we hurt each other?" asks Eve with a concerned look on her face.

"Well that's the whole point," he responds, "But don't worry, I've brought some healing potions, and obviously with your super healing everything should be fine. You know I wouldn't let anything harm you before tomorrow's meeting with the prince."

"Oh yes, what a joy that will be," she replies rolling her eyes.

"I'm simply following your wishes. You didn't want an engagement with the crown prince of the Amaria Empire, so I accommodated that request. I expect you to think of our family, swallow your pride, and welcome the crown prince of the Menda Empire tomorrow. You know the consequences if you don't," he warns.

Anger swells in me, but I stay silent. If I say anything it will only make things worse.

"I'll behave, but don't expect me to be warm," she says coldly.

He looks at her with an equally icy gaze, then announces, "First match: FINN VS. EVE!!!"

We walk to the middle of the field, and wait for the Duke to tell us when to start.

Eve smirks and cracks her knuckles.

"You look pretty confident for someone with no chance of winning. I can mind control you and easily make you forfeit the match," I tell her.

"I don't know about that. You see, I'm faster than you," she retorts.

"Ready... set.... FIGHT!!!" shouts the Duke.

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