Villainess X Villain: They are obsessed with each other!-Chapter 42 -: 41 Reward.

The arena was no longer quiet.

The moment Julius surrendered, the entire crowd exploded into noise.

"Damn!! Are they really first-years and second-years?!" someone shouted.

"No way... no way!" another student said, grabbing his head. "Those spells were crazy!"

A girl near the front pointed at the field.

"Did you see that Widow’s Embrace thing Julius used?! That chain cocoon was insane!"

"And Rosalina just countered everything like it was nothing!" someone else added.

People kept talking over each other.

"These two are monsters."

"I swear their spells looked like something senior spell casters would use."

"And Julius was smiling the whole time!"

A tall student shook his head slowly.

"If he reaches Spirit Core stage... those spells are going to be terrifying."

All around the arena, students kept whispering, shouting, and arguing.

But it wasn’t just the students.

Up in the viewing box, the professors were just as stunned.

Lucian leaned forward in his chair, eyes shining like a kid who had just watched the best fireworks show of his life.

"These... two... what the hell are they?" he muttered, almost laughing.

"I didn’t think they would already know so many spells."

He tapped the glass lightly while watching the arena.

"And Julius only used Magic Arsenal... that’s just a B-tier spell from the Hayes clan."

Professor Jaya nodded slowly.

"Right."

She crossed her arms and frowned slightly.

"From the way he used it, I’m sure he already knows some A-tier Hayes clan spells too."

"But he didn’t even use them."

She glanced back at the field where Julius and Rosalina were still standing.

"And he was still that strong..."

Her eyes shifted toward Rosalina.

"And Rosalina Valentina..." she whispered.

"Every spell Julius used... she countered it."

Jaya let out a small breath.

"What is even happening here?"

For a moment, the professors were quiet.

Even they looked confused.

Lucian finally leaned back in his chair, still grinning.

Then he turned his head slowly toward the man sitting beside him.

The dean.

The old man had been staring at the arena the whole time.

Completely still.

Like a statue.

Lucian raised an eyebrow.

"Ahem... Dean?"

The dean blinked.

He looked like someone who had just woken up from a deep thought.

"Ah... you called me, Lucian?"

Lucian’s grin slowly turned mischievous.

"Yeah."

He leaned closer and spoke in a teasing voice.

"I was just thinking..."

His eyes sparkled with trouble.

"Can your Crypian Thorne still compete with them?"

The dean rubbed his chin slowly.

"Hmmm."

"Hard to say."

Lucian rolled his eyes immediately.

"Oh come on, you gambling rat."

"Don’t give me that nonsense again."

He pointed toward the arena.

"How can that talentless boy compete with these two monsters?"

The dean didn’t get angry.

Instead, a small smile appeared on his face.

"You will know," he said calmly.

"Once he gets here."

Meanwhile, Rosalina and Julius stepped down from the arena together and walked toward the narrow stone corridor that led back inside the academy.

Julius stretched his arms behind his head and walked beside her with a relaxed grin, like he had just finished a pleasant afternoon stroll instead of losing a duel.

"Well... now that I lost to you," he said cheerfully, "I guess I have to carry your books for the next year. And also act as your personal knight... secretary... caretaker... chef... servant..."

He kept adding titles one after another like he was reading from a very long list.

Rosalina didn’t even turn her head. She just kept walking forward.

"I didn’t ask you to do all those things, did I?" she said calmly.

Julius laughed under his breath.

"Hehe... well, it’s a shame I lost the bet and we can’t go on that date." He shrugged dramatically. "But it’s not all bad."

He leaned slightly closer and gave her a playful smile.

"Just order me around however you like, my lady."

Rosalina sighed deeply, rubbing her temple as if she had suddenly developed a headache.

"Haa... you really are impossible."

But inside her head, two very different feelings were fighting with each other.

The first one was excitement.

’He’s going to follow me around for an entire year...’ she thought, trying very hard not to smile.

’Hehe...’

That had actually been her plan from the start.

If Julius became her servant for a year, she could easily explain it to her father.

She would just say she won a duel and made the Hayes heir serve her as punishment.

And her father absolutely hated the Hayes family.

Making their precious heir run errands for her would probably make the old man laugh for the first time in years.

Not that Rosalina cared about making him happy.

She just wanted a good excuse to keep Julius close.

’This way he has to stay near me... all the time,’ she thought quietly.

But there was also the second feeling.

A small, annoying disappointment.

She had been looking forward to that date more than she wanted to admit.

Now she had won the bet, so she couldn’t exactly turn around and say, "Hey, I know you lost... but I actually wanted to go on that date. So how about we go anyway?"

That would ruin the cool, cold image she had been carefully maintaining.

Rosalina kept walking with the same calm expression on her face, but inside she felt a little frustrated.

’Stupid bet...’ she thought.

Beside her, Julius hummed happily as he walked along like the most enthusiastic servant in the world.

Rosalina kept walking for a few more steps, her boots echoing softly in the quiet hallway.

Julius was still beside her, humming like a man who had just won the lottery instead of losing a duel.

’Let’s see...’ Rosalina thought.

’I didn’t lose... but if I think about it carefully...’

She slowed down a little, deep in thought. Her brows knitted together as if she was solving some complicated spell formula.

’Hmm...’

After a few seconds she cleared her throat.

"Ahem... ahem..."

She coughed twice, a little louder than necessary.

Julius immediately leaned closer, curious.

"Rose?"

Rosalina looked straight ahead, refusing to meet his eyes.

"I was thinking..." she began stiffly. "Even though I hate you and can’t lov—"

She froze.

Her brain slammed the brakes.

"I mean I hate you even more, obviously," she corrected quickly, her cheeks turning faintly pink.

Julius blinked slowly.

Rosalina coughed again, trying to regain control of the situation.

"Ahem. Anyway. You have done... quite a lot for me lately."

Inside her head, however, another voice was screaming.

’Fuck this. I want that date.’

She coughed one more time, pretending to look very serious.

"So I was thinking of rewarding you for helping me."

Julius shrugged casually.

"Oh come on, Rose. There’s no need for that."

He waved a hand like it was nothing. "After all, a wife doesn’t need to reward her husband."

Rosalina’s eye twitched. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

’This idiot!!’

She wanted to punch him.

But on the outside, she only let out a small snort.

"Don’t get the wrong idea," she said quickly. "I’m not rewarding you because I like you or anything."

She crossed her arms and lifted her chin proudly.

"Ahem. This is simply my way of saying that I don’t owe you anything."

Julius opened his mouth.

"No ne—"

Rosalina suddenly stopped walking and turned toward him.

Their eyes met.

Julius froze.

Her eyes were burning like two tiny volcanoes.

Inside her head she was already yelling:

’If you interrupt me again, I swear to god I’m beating the crap out of you.’

Julius wisely shut his mouth.

Rosalina coughed again, suddenly feeling very aware of her own heartbeat.

"Ahem..."

She looked away again, cheeks slowly turning red.

"So... I was thinking..." she muttered, her voice a little quieter now.

Her face grew even redder as the words finally came out.

"...I could reward you with the date you wanted."