Chapter 258 : The Root Cause

Next day. Jax was ready at the door.

He stood facing Rudiger, his manservant, while waiting for Celestia to finish whatever royal morning routine she had decided to perform in his bathroom for the past forty minutes.

Rudiger had informed him that Roxana didn’t show up yesterday. She had stayed at the camp with the other students to prepare for their upcoming matches.

Jax didn’t feel a shred of guilt about not being there. In fact, he was happy. The realization clicked into place neatly.

’So that’s why last night went so smooth and uninterrupted. No Roxana barging in. No explanations needed. No awkward lies about why a priestess from holy church was screaming in his bedroom.’

The universe had given him exactly one free pass and he had used it wisely.

Then he heard footsteps behind him.

Celestia was walking toward the entrance. "Walking" being a generous description. She was using every door frame and wall within reach as support, her legs barely cooperating with the basic concept of forward movement.

Last night both of them had gone all out. Multiple rounds. No mercy. Just as she had asked. But for a first-timer like Celestia, she hadn’t accounted for the aftermath. The consequences that no amount of royal training could prepare a body for.

She was about to collapse when Jax caught her. He wrapped her arm around his shoulder, taking her weight against his side. All she could do was press her thighs together and burn with embarrassment at her own state.

Jax whispered close to her ear, quiet enough that Rudiger wouldn’t catch a word. "You shouldn’t have taken Ava’s warning this lightly."

She whispered back through gritted teeth. "I didn’t take it lightly. I simply thought teasing Ava would be more entertaining than patching myself up. Don’t forget my class."

Jax raised an eyebrow. "So you’re telling me you’re risking getting caught just to make Ava jealous?"

A small grin crept onto her face despite the pain. "Obviously. She was enjoying watching my inexperience or misery yesterday. Now it’s my turn to strike back."

She adjusted herself against his shoulder.

"And don’t worry. There’s zero risk. If people at the church’s camp notice, they’ll assume it’s fatigue or some aftermath from yesterday’s fight. And if anyone thinks otherwise, it doesn’t even matter. Mrs. Jennifer is the supreme power now that the Pope bastard is gone. I don’t think she’d mind her comrades enjoying themselves for a bit."

Jax sighed. "That’s reassuring. For a second I thought you’d be in trouble. But I forgot I was dealing with the rumored calculative princess mindset."

He turned to Rudiger. "All the arrangements for her departure are ready?"

Rudiger nodded.

After some time they reached the carriage. Jax carefully guided Celestia up the steps, one at a time, making sure her legs didn’t give out on the climb. He settled her into the seat and stepped back.

Before he could turn and leave, she spoke.

"Last night changed nothing about my goal, Jax. I still intend to make you mine."

Jax crossed his arms. "Thought you said you’d stop competing."

"I said I’d stop fighting Ava’s war. Or anyone else’s." Her amber eyes found his. "I never said I’d stop fighting mine."

Jax shook his head. "And people say I have different sides."

She pouted. Genuinely pouted. The cold, calculated princess of an entire kingdom pouted like a child who’d been told dessert was cancelled.

"What do you mean? Do you think I’m a tsundere?"

Jax pressed both her pouted cheeks between his fingers. Squishing them. "This is what I mean."

He released her face. "But I’m happy for you."

She blushed. For exactly one second. Then the cold demeanor snapped back into place like armor being re-equipped after a bath.

"But don’t forget. I’m still ambitious. And one day I will win you over completely. After I come up with better approaches and strategies."

A pause.

"And if things don’t go my way, there’s still that goddess wish as a reward. Waiting to be claimed."

Jax stared at her. "You would go that far? Waste a goddess wish on that?"

She grinned. "Who knows."

And that was the end of the conversation. Jax stepped out of the carriage rethinking every word that had just left her mouth.

’What the hell is going on with my life? If things keep going like this I’m stepping into a mess I can’t unfuck. The obsessive villainess of the game who was originally supposed to die because of her jealousy is now fixated on me. But in more of a yandere way. And that last warning about the goddess wish confirmed it.’

He looked at Rudiger. "Take care of her for the time being. Sit beside her in the carriage and make sure she gets dropped off carefully at her quarters."

Rudiger nodded. Then hesitated. "But Master, won’t you need to reach the academy for the matches?"

"I don’t need to. I believe in my students. I’ll train here until you and the driver get back to drop me off. I see no profit in going on foot."

"But Master, Madam Roxana will be—"

Jax was already walking back toward the mansion. The protest died in Rudiger’s mouth.

The manservant settled into the carriage across from Celestia. When he looked up, he found her smiling at him. Not the political smile. Not the cold one. The kind of smile that preceded an interrogation more thorough than anything the Holy Order could conduct.

"So," she said, crossing her legs carefully to avoid wincing. "Tell me everything about your master."

Rudiger’s survival instincts screamed.

-x-X-x-

Apart from Jax’s mansion, another tension was building at the academy. The matches were still underway and by the evening of the same day, Astrid had just beaten her opponent in the knockout round.

The tournament Astrid was competing in operated like a gauntlet. Win and advance to the next match, which came anywhere from ten to thirty minutes later depending on the arbiter’s placement schedule. No breaks between rounds beyond that narrow window.

This format demanded insane stamina. Physical endurance. Mana reserves deep enough to last an entire day of continuous fighting.

Players were given mana and health recovery potions between rounds, but they only restored a fraction. Not enough to fully recover.

And no potion in the world could fix the fatigue that accumulated in a body being pushed through match after match without real rest.

Astrid was gulping down her mana potion after the win. Her eyes scanning the spectator faces one by one. Searching through the crowd for one specific person.

She didn’t find him.

But then a duo approached. Lilith and Roxana.

Lilith spoke first with a warm smile. "Congratulations on another win, Astrid! Just one more match and you’re done for the day."

Astrid ignored her completely. Turned to Roxana instead.

"Where is Professor Jax? Don’t tell me he still hasn’t shown up."

Before Roxana could reply, Lilith said. "I met Professor today actually. We talked for a few minutes before he vanished."

Astrid’s eyes narrowed. "Talked about what?"

Lilith hesitated. "Umm, like how things were going on my side. If there were any troubles. Then I asked him some questions that I can’t really share."

She had to keep things about Cleenah’s return and her new body hidden.

Astrid’s voice came out quieter. "I see."

Roxana added. "The other students mentioned they spotted him during their rounds too. He pointed out flaws in Seraphina and Elira’s teamwork. Gave them strategies and corrections."

Astrid’s hand tightened around the mana potion glass until it shattered. Shards and blue liquid scattered across her fingers.

She turned away with a smile that was faker than a politician’s promise. "Now I get it."

She walked toward the arena for her next match.

-x-X-x-

Then came the breaking point.

Next day was the finals of her bracket. And Astrid looked wrong. Not tired. Not focused. Just wrong. Too angry. Too defeated in a way that had nothing to do with fighting.

Every match she played that day was messier than the last. Her technique deteriorated round by round. Whatever remained of her strategy dissolved into brute force that got sloppier with every swing.

She had somehow bulldozed through the semifinals on raw aggression alone. But she was worn out. Burned through. Running on fumes and fury.

And she was getting angrier with each passing minute. All because of one person. And a feeling she couldn’t identify. A feeling she didn’t know how or when it had crawled inside her chest and started rotting everything from the inside.

In front of her stood a third-year student from her own academy. The senior had been overpowering her for the last ten minutes. Astrid was bleeding from her nose due to mana exhaustion and its reckless use.

Her body was a disaster. Sharp cuts across her face. Bruises layered over bruises. And behind her eyes, anyone could see the fatigue. The collapse waiting to happen at any second.

She had already given up on winning. On going forward. She didn’t even know what she was fighting for anymore. How she had ended up in this state. What had broken inside her that turned her into this mess. But then she spotted him.

Standing at the edge of the arena. Arms folded. Watching her with that same unbothered expression he wore like a second skin.

Jax.

The root cause.

Something boiled inside her body the instant she saw him. Anger came flooding through her veins.

Because seeing him reminded her of things she didn’t want to remember. Moments she couldn’t process. Feelings she refused to name.

And memories that hurt worse than any blade her opponent had landed today.