The sparring hall was big. It took up half of the house. The other quarter belonged to the library. I suspected that this was where the Lord liked to spend most of his time. After all, he was like a God of War, always embroidered in battles and fights like bees attracted to honey.

                  Some of the Greater Demons came today. Seungyoon Demon of Greed, Kibum Demon of Envy and Jino Demon of Lust joined Jinki and I in the hall. It had been a few months since I last saw them. Jino had changed his appearance yet again. Somehow, he looked a bit similar to Lord Chanyeol this time. But that couldn’t be, could it? Unless I had thought of the Lord while I was looking at him.

                  “Hail, Jinki, my Brother of Pride,” Seungyoon smirked, showing his flawed set of teeth. Nevertheless his smile was beautiful as always, regardless of the little flaws he had. Seungyoon was always a little more cunning compared to the other Brothers, and he rarely behaved in front of anyone but the Lord. “Where is our Lord, the King?”

                  Kibum silently looked around, and it was his gaze that unnerved me, not his words. The Third General was slightly more intimidating than Jinki, though the latter was much more pressing in his presence and sarcastic smile. “Is he away or is he unwell?”

                  I swore I saw Jinki glancing at me, but the moment I looked his way, he pretended not to notice and smiled at the other Demons. Jino was the only one staring at me with a grin so big that I frowned upon noticing his lustful eyes. I looked down at my choice of clothing. I loved wearing tight crops and leggings to exercise fighting and this time it was no different. Jino, being the Ashmodeus, apparently had other idea because he wouldn’t stop staring until Jinki coughed awkwardly and stepped out to my front and covered me behind.

                  “You may want to head back to the first floor to find the Lord. We are doing a little sparring session right now,” My mentor rolled his eyes and turned his attention to me. The three Demons shrugged and stayed by the side, watching as I threw a low kick at Jinki while he dodged it and cornered me with a swift, no-nonsense face punch.

                  “Your right area… is completely…” He kicked me on my right leg and I hissed, “unguarded.” He hit me on the neck and I rolled on the floor in pain. But not before my feet swept over and he, too, fell down gracelessly on my side. His surprised gave me the satisfaction as I got up, despite of the small injury on my waist and tried to punch him on the chest. He rolled over quickly and my fist met with the floor, resulting in a broken, cracked woods.

                  “Oops.” I sheepishly chuckled and raised my shoulders. My fingers pointed at him on its own free will and he raised his eyebrows at me. “Your fault. If the Lord ask, I will blame you on it.”

                  “You are becoming more and more disobedient nowadays,” Jinki mumbled a response and got up, ready to fight again. But then he halted and dropped his hands to the side, his fist opening up as he stared at the door and me, both at the same time. I turned around.

                  “Byun Baekhyun,” Jinki sounded less hostile and more pitiful this time.

                  Byun Baekhyun, a former flame and a very good friend, until that little separation moment when he first woke up. Honestly, I didn’t know how to define our relationship right now. Nights after that, I often pondered in the middle of the night whether he would still accept me as a friend of his. Judging from his cold, disinterested eyes, I was fearful he wouldn’t.

                  “Baek…hyun,” I my dry lips and looked down. For some reason, I felt guilt and a bit of regret rising in my throat. I slumped my shoulder down and looked like a defeated soldier on the floor, waiting for her death.  I gripped my fists tighter, feeling the sharp, hurtful nails on my palms. I felt weak. And I hated feeling weak all my life.

                  “What are you doing, sitting there so pitifully?” Baekhyun walked up to me. My eyes followed him the entire time. He gripped onto my arms and pulled me up quickly. His eyes, I realized, were the same eyes that looked at me for years with the love I never noticed before. I swallowed down the guilt and frowned. No, there were too many people watching us. I couldn’t do anything. Nor could I say what I felt like saying.

                  “You are here,” I breathed out. The tip of my head brushed against his cheeks before I stepped away and stared elsewhere. Jinki was watching every movement with his hawk-like eyes. Kibum folded his hands and observed the situation, warning me with a single look of disdain. I didn’t bother to look at Seungyoon for one second. It was Jino that caught me off-guard, because his grin was even wider now. His long, snake-like tongue his lips slowly, sensually. I cringed.

                  “Yeah. I tried to find you in your room, but the maids said that you and the Lord went somewhere away,” His eyes were accusing. His voice was jealous. I guess I still had that effect on him, and that made me a bad person in this story. Was I stringing him on for too long? Yes, I used to. And I planned to cut it off and laid it clear that we were platonic because clearly, it wasn’t going to work.

                  “None of your business,” And instead of using this sentence to shoo him away, it was a good-natured warning. Baekhyun wasn’t some weak, petty guy that would cry in the corner just because I told him so. “It was between me, the Lord and Jinki.”

                  “Lovers’ quarrel, huh?” Seungyoon snickered from the side, but I paid no heed. Instead, it was Jinki who slowly backed away and let the two of us be the center of attention in the sparring hall. “They seem pretty hot about it.”

                  Surprisingly, the usually cold-headed Baekhyun gave Seungyoon a side-glare, diminishing the distinction between their statuses. I could see plans bubbling up in his pretty little head as he calculated everything immaculately. He could only be up for no good.

                  “Of course, m’Lady,” Baekhyun took my hand slyly, and before he could kiss it, I pulled away and glared at him heatedly. “What you with the Lord is none of my business. But it is, if you leave me in the dark alone with it. Get on your fighting stance!”

                  Without a warning, he pushed me with such force that I stumbled a few meters away.

                  I could see dark mists gathering around Baekhyun, and one last smirk before the mists blurred the surroundings. I got no time to wonder why he was doing what he did. The mist was a special ability only Winter Fey could produce. It was poisonous, odorless, and when it mixed with the air, it would become colorless.

He knew I hated water! That was why he forced me to fight the mist with something else. He knew I didn’t have any water ability. Curse Byun Baekhyun and his smart strategy. He wanted to fight with mental ability? I could handle that.

I in my breath, knowing that I could hold it for long. Wind was my only ally now. I drew in the air from my surrounding and built a force shield. I started breathing again as the air around me slowly cleared up.

The Lord was already here, standing by the side with his hands folded. His green eyes wholly on me.

“Eyes on the opponent,” Baekhyun shouted as he splashed me with cold water.

Silence.

Anger.

I could feel my blood boiling as I clenched my fist and stood up again. Byun Baekhyun had just crossed a line he shouldn’t have crossed. Playing with my water weakness was one thing. Splashing me with it was unforgivable. In a split second, I appeared behind him and tackled him to the ground.

His head hit the solid floor with a loud thud. I could hear his bones cracking. Serves him right.

“Stop!” He coughed and I put my hands around his throat. “Sora! God, I am sorry!”

“It’s not funny, Baek,” I rolled my eyes and tried to get up, but his feet wrapped themselves around my waist, pushing me onto his chest involuntarily. He started laughing and snorting, a lovable gesture that he displayed rarely. A small smile slowly made its way to my lips. Byun Baekhyun’s laughter had always been infectious to me.

“Just like old times,” He my hair, and before I could react, he planted his lips firmly on mine.

That was my ing first kiss that I saved for a century more. I didn’t save it to be taken away by this man. And worst of all… the Lord was there. He saw it. Something inside me snapped. I pulled away and threw him halfway across the room. The nerve of that Byun Baekhyun! I was so pissed I could only see red.

“What the actual ?!” I screamed at him and wiped my lips with my right hand. I lit up a big flame and threw it at him. Baekhyun dodged it in time and sheepishly smiled. I was getting angrier by the second. Without bothering to wait up for his explanation, I lit up another flame and threw it at the ground, lighting the floor of the sparring hall and burnt it all the way to where Baekhyun was standing.

Water was my weakness, but Baekhyun was also fearful of fire. He had been born a Winter Faery. He was well associated with cold, water and frost. Fire was more of a Summer Faery’s ability. Because of the opposition, he was wary of fire and heat all the time. Precisely why I decided to avenge him with it. Because that bastard deserved it well.

“You promised me, Sora. Come on, don’t act like you forget!”

Jerk. Bastard. .

The flame was getting bigger and bigger. Had Jinki not came in and woke me up to my senses, the whole house would be burnt down in no time. My mentor stepped in the middle and opened up his palm, absorbing the fire to his body. I had not seen Jinki done that with his ability for a long time. And I guessed it calmed me down a little.

“It’s not over yet, Byun Baekhyun,” I glared at him one last time and haughtily walked out of the room.