Chapter 2: Good dog
Alexia strolled into the academy cafeteria. The fact she drew everyone's attention wasn't surprising. She always did that no matter where she went. The interesting thing was some of the whispers she overheard.
'Is she really going out with that guy?'
'Why would she settle for someone like him?'
'Do you think he has blackmail on her?'
'Did she lose a bet?'
'Seriously, why him?'
She wanted to smile but maintained the mask of composure people expected to see when she was out in public. It had only been a day, but the word had obviously spread throughout campus. No doubt Zenon had heard too by now and was probably ripping out that perfectly manicured hair of his. She absolutely could not wait to parade her new 'boyfriend' right in front of him.
Speaking of which she needed to move onto step two of plan, 'Get rid of the creeper' by having lunch with her, 'darling.' She spotted him sitting at a table having a discussion with two boys she didn't recognize. Alexia was willing to bet they were both nobodies just like her new pet. Well, birds of a feather and all that.
She approached the table and spoke with a demure and modest voice. "Hello, Cid."
All three turned to her. Their reactions were telling. The two friends just stared with their jaws hanging open. Cid on the other hand had a blank expression, he actually looked bored.
"May I join you?"
"P… P… Please do!" The blond scarecrow said.
"W… We'd b… be honored!" The bald fatty said.
"Whatever," Cid mumbled.
His lackadaisical response annoyed her. Seriously? A beautiful princess, the most amazing girl you've ever laid eyes on, never mind talked to, wants to have lunch with you and that's the best you can do? Under any other circumstances she'd have walked away from him without a word. But doing that here would sort of defeat the whole point of the exercise. So, instead she sat down in the empty seat next to him with perfect dignity.
"Thank you. Cid, won't you introduce your friends to me?"
He grunted and pointed a finger at the scarecrow. "This is Skel Etal second son of Baron Etal." Cid then pointed to the fatso. "And this is Po Tato, second son of Baron Tato."
"It is a pleasure to meet you," Alexia placed a hand to her chest and bowed her head ever so slightly. "I am Alexia Midgar, second princess of the Midgar kingdom."
"W… We know!" Scarecrow said.
"I… It's such an honor!" Fatty said.
Both boys were clearly awestruck, which was only natural.
She caught Cid rolling his eyes.
Alexia felt a vein throb in her forehead and had the sudden urge to punch him. Hard. She tapped into her vast reserves of self-restraint and maintained her composure. As this was going on her personal maid rolled a cart up to the table and began putting out the plates containing her meal. Somehow this was what got a reaction out of Cid.
"Whoa, quite a spread." He had a single plate in front of him with the pauper meal the school offered.
"I hope you don't mind; I always have the exclusive meal offered by the academy. Truthfully, it's always much more than I can eat. I'd much rather have the standard meal instead, but if I don't order it others might be reluctant to."
"So, you don't really want to eat all that?"
"Of course not, I have hardly any appetite at all." She was actually hungry, but a dainty princess wasn't supposed to admit that. As her maid poured some wine into her goblet, she grabbed her fork and knife and prepared to dig in.
"Then I guess you won't mind if I help myself, right?"
"What?"
He reached over and snagged the drumstick in front of her. Alexia's head snapped around to glare at him as he shoved the chicken into his mouth.
Did this bastard really just steal my food?!
"Mmmm, so good, hey you don't want your fish either right?"
"I-"
"Thanks," he grabbed her plate and put it in front of himself. "I'm glad I can help you not waste food. Yum, this is so good, I love salmon."
So do I you son of a bitch! She gritted her teeth and fought down the urge to stab him with her fork. No, I have to play along. If I stab him now it'll ruin the plan. Must. Not. Stab. Alexia maintained her calm disposition and even forced a smile to her lips.
"Fu, fu, fu what a little piggy you are. Here, do you want some bread too?"
She somehow managed to get through lunch without committing a minor felony. As the meal period drew to a close, she got to the main reason she'd decided to have lunch with him in the first place.
"Say, Cid your afternoon elective is Royal Bushin Sword Style, right?" She already knew the answer as she'd had him investigated.
"Yeah, that's right."
"Well, it's mine too. Isn't that amazing?"
"Not really, it's the most popular elective on campus."
She felt the vein in her forehead start to throb again. "I was thinking, wouldn't it be nice if we shared the same class? We could even be sparring partners!"
He started to look nervous. "Uh, that's really not a good idea. You're probably in section one, right? The expert section?
"That's correct."
"Yeah, well I'm in section nine for beginners. So, there's no way I can-"
"I've already gotten an exemption for you from the principal."
He began to fidget like a cornered rabbit. "Uh, I really don't think that would be a good idea."
She gave him a wide smile that was all sunshine and rainbows. "Consider it a royal command."
XXX
She attended math class after lunch and then had a free period before her sword training. As she headed back to her dorm, she spotted fatty. Cid and scarecrow were nowhere to be seen. Alexia thought about just giving him a quick wave, but figured she'd be incredibly generous and actually say hello to him.
"Hello, Po."
"P… Princess A… Alexia!"
"Nice to see you."
She was about to walk past when he burst out. "I… I'm so sorry!"
Alexia stopped and raised an eyebrow. "I beg your pardon?"
"Cid only asked you out because it was part of a penalty game!"
This sudden unexpected confession caught her off guard but brought a smile to her lips. She placed a hand on his arm and leaned in close. "Oh, really? Could you tell me more?"
Within five minutes he'd told her everything.
XXX
"You look like a dove in a flock of crows," Alexia said.
"And whose fault is that I wonder?" Cid replied.
Of course, he was wearing the white exercise uniform that designated someone as a beginner. Alexia and every other student was in the black uniform for experts.
"Well, isn't it nice? You get to stand out."
"I'd much rather blend in."
"Shouldn't you be a little more cheerful?" Alexia asked with a smirk. "I mean you get to spend time with me, your beloved girlfriend. Right?"
"Sure, I guess," Cid mumbled with a distinct lack of enthusiasm.
"Come on, let's warm up."
Cid nodded and began doing a weird series of stretches. Most people just used magic to loosen up their muscles.
"Interesting," she said and decided to mimic him.
After a few minutes Zenon strolled into the dojo with the insufferable smile and phony good cheer he always had. He clapped his hands to get everyone's attention and then spoke.
"Starting today we have a new student joining us. Please make him feel welcome." He motioned to Cid.
"Hello. I'm Cid Kagenou," he bowed to the other students. "Please take care of me."
He was met with stony silence.
With that they began reviewing the fundamental moves that Royal Bushin was based on. As they were doing so, Zenon wandered over to Cid and began talking to him. Alexia kept a close eye on the two of them. She didn't think Mr. Wonderful would actually stoop to threatening a student. For one thing that would damage his sterling reputation. He had to know Alexia would make sure that any threats he made would be rumors almost immediately. For another, she seriously doubted Zenon would see Cid as any kind of genuine threat.
They chatted for a few minutes, Cid appearing to be in good spirits. Eventually Zenon gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder and moved down the line to another student. She wasted no time hurrying over to Cid.
"What did you two talk about?"
"The Royal Bushin method."
"Uh huh. It's time to spar. Let's pair up."
"Aren't you too strong for me?"
"Don't worry, I won't go hard on you. It's just a light spar."
They picked up their wooden practice swords and began. Neither of them used magic to enhance their strength or speed. It was a simple exchange of blows. She would swing and he would block, then he would swing, and she would block. Back and forth at a steady pace they had a mock battle. It didn't take long for her to find his rhythm and march it.
They'd just started to build up a decent sweat when Alexis held up her sword and stepped. Cid matched her.
"Your swordplay isn't bad,' she admitted.
"Thanks."
"But I don't like it."
He shrugged. "I'm a beginner."
"That's not the reason… never mind. It's fine. Let's stop here for today. Class is over anyway."
"Sure."
They both began to pack up and get ready to leave when Alexia saw Mr. Wonderful approaching.
"Hold on, darling." Alexia rushed to Cid's side and grabbed his arm.
"Huh?"
Zenon was standing before them, oozing fake concern. "So, this is your answer?"
"I am sooo sorry, but a girl can't help falling in love," she gave Cid's arm a little squeeze.
The color drained from his face, and he went as stiff as a board.
"You can't keep running away from me," Zenon said with narrowing eyes.
"I'm just a helpless little girl. This situation is much too serious for me. Come on, Cid."
She led him out of the dojo as poor old sourpuss stood there and watched them go.
XXX
The two of them wound up in an empty field behind the dojo. Cid shook her off and rounded on her.
"Okay, I finally get what's going on here."
"Do tell?"
"Zenon-san is your fiancé and you're trying to use me to dump him!"
"He's not my fiancé, just a marriage candidate. One of many," Alexia said calm and composed.
"Same thing!"
"It's not. He's trying to act like it's a done deal and it's stressing me out."
"That's got nothing to do with me! I hate to break this to you, but I have no plans to get sucked into your mess."
Alexia gave him a pout. "How can you be so cruel to your beloved girlfriend?"
"Spare me! Girlfriend? You just need me to try and run interference for you."
She shrugged. "Well, that's true, but you're not exactly innocent in all this either. Are you Cid Kagenou?" It felt quite good to show him a wicked smile. She didn't get to be her real self in front of others very often.
Her crossed his arms over his chest. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Oh, really Mr. I-confessed-to-a-girl-as-a-punishment, Cid Kagenou?"
She saw the look of panic on his face and spotted a bead of sweat. Alexia put her hands up to her face and began to fake cry.
"Oh, to play with the heart of an innocent and naïve maiden, how cruel."
"That's a ridiculous accusation. Do you have any actual proof?"
"I ran into your friend Po this afternoon. He blurted it out without me even having to ask."
Cid was frozen for a moment. "I see. I force a smile as I imagine murdering that walking spud with my bare hands."
"Uh huh, I think you're speaking your thoughts out loud."
He shook his head and refocused. "Okay, I get it. What do you want from me?"
Alexia tapped her chin and pretended to think about it. "Let's see… for now, let's continue with our fake relationship. At least until Zenon gives up on me."
"Fine, but you do know I'm just the son a baron, right? The guy's famous, he even won the God of War Tournament. There's no way someone like me is going to drive him away."
"It's fine, I just need you to buy me some time. I'll figure something out."
"Yeah, great. In the meanwhile, I'd like to avoid getting my ass handed to me. The guy is master swordsman. If I fight him, I'll be lucky to come out alive."
"Oh, boo hoo," she grabbed a leather purse and pulled open the draw strings. She then turned it over and let the gold coins scatter onto the grass. "Pick 'em up."
"What? Do I really look like the kind of guy who'd do anything for money?"
"Yes, you do."
He was already on his hands and knees grabbing up the coins. "Damn straight!"
She watched him collect nearly all of them. When he reached for the last coin Alexia deliberately stomped on it.
"Are you going to do as I say?"
He smiled up at her. "Of course."
"Good dog!" She patted the top of his head and headed back to the dorm whistling a happy tune.