90: 3.30 Ryan's Proposal

3.30 Ryan's Proposal

Oliver frowned. Rosemane's deed of leaving him alone when he almost died due to the pheromones perfume had deprived every little trust and courtesy he had of her. Now, all he wanted was to have nothing to do with her. What was she planning now? He couldn't help but suspect. However, Emperor Father was here and Oliver knew that he had to show basic courtesy to her. Thus he nodded briefly. "I have been well. How about you?"0

"Oh, I am very fine." Rosemane inspected her newly manicured nails and answered leisurely. "Never been better."

The Emperor turned to her, inquiring. "Didn't you say you weren't well yesterday?"

Rosemane smiled sweetly and her tone turned coy. She swung the Emperor's arm like the spoiled girl she was and in fact, among all of the Emperor's children, only Rosemane could—or to be exact, dared to—do that. She had always been bold and fearless. "Thank you for worrying about me, Father Emperor! I am better already!"

The Emperor chortled in amusement. "Well, that's good." Turning to Oliver, he chided softly. "Let bygones be bygones. Don't fight again, you two. I already have enough headache, alright?"

Oliver almost laughed out loud. Who was the perpetrator, he wondered? Oliver had always lived his life peacefully and only after Altair appeared did he finally realize how it felt to regain a missing piece of himself. It was Altair who taught him how it felt to be loved, cherished and respected. He was all Oliver had ever wanted but Rosemane just had to set his eyes on Altair. Well, it was inevitable, he supposed. Altair was truly one in a ten thousand, a rare and excellent Alpha whom everyone yearned for. 

But that exact fine specimen had chosen him of all people. Oliver couldn't help but feel smug about it.

The Alpha had once told him that he would protect Oliver and he was allowed to live the life he wanted, that he no longer had to feel envious because Altair was going to give him everything he wanted. Warmth spread through Oliver's chest just by recalling that. He lifted his chin and for the first time in his life, gave his own argument. "My apologies, Emperor Father. As far as I know, I am a victim in this case. I almost lost my life, remember? It's not a simple fight and we're not even fighting."

Judging by how Emperor Bernard's eyes widened and Rosemane's jaws hung open, Oliver was sure that both of them were equally shocked by his outburst. Well, Oliver had to admit that it was really unlike him to talk back. He knew himself; he used to be meek, cowardly and chose to keep his feelings for himself. But now, he had had enough. He wouldn't stomach any grievance anymore and if someone wronged him, he would fight until he got the justice he deserved. 

"Right," The Emperor blinked, then shifted his attention over to Rosemane. "You have gone over the line that time, Rosemane. Have you apologized to your brother?"

Now, now, Oliver didn't even know such a thing happened. Rosemane asking for forgiveness? It would be better to wish for snow in the middle of summer rather than waiting for that to happen. As he had expected, Rosemane continued to smile sweetly. "We have already made up, Emperor Father. Everything is in the past, right Brother?"

Oliver resisted the urge to sneer and turned his attention back to the match. Anything was better than listening to Rosemane spouting bullshit with that white lotus face of hers. This round had ended with the 40th place winning by a hair's breadth. Next, the challenge came from rank 15th who wanted to fight the 8th. Oliver frowned when he recognized one of the Alphas. Disgust pooled in his stomach. It was the violent Alpha who almost assaulted him last time. The leopard Alpha and fox Alpha faced each other on stage, the tension was palpable.

Faint conversation below drifted to Oliver's ears.

"...The 15th? That's Hubert, right? Last time, Ryan almost killed his best buddy in the semifinals. It seems like he's seeking revenge today."

"Gasp! I remembered it! Isn't this Alpha too hateful? His opponent couldn't even get up anymore but he still gave such a violent attack! He's the one whose rank is demoted because of that penalty right?"

"Yeah. Damn it, a personal vendetta. Won't this match be a bit too bloody?"

"Ugh, I don't want to watch this. I only want to watch Altair fight."

The MC announced the start of the match with the buzz of the bell. Without wasting any time, Ryan directly pounced on his opponent. Hubert had seen it coming and dodged. He rolled on the ground, effectively avoiding Ryan's claws and placing himself on the opposite side of the ring. Oliver saw Ryan glancing at the ticking timer and his face twisted in displeasure. Then, he said something to Hubert. Oliver squinted his eyes and leaned closer however he could only decipher a few words like 'loser' 'stupid' 'friend'. In an instant, Hubert's face morphed into one filled with rage and he lunged forward.

Oliver's eyes widened. Ryan… he was definitely provoking Hubert! Oliver turned to see the Emperor watching leisurely with mild interest then to the MC who was talking to someone else. He had no idea what to do. In retrospect, what Ryan did couldn't be considered as an offense but deliberately playing with his rival's mental state, wasn't that cheating?! 

The match went off without a hitch. Half of the spectators were cheering Ryan on and wished to see more bloodshed while the other half were booing. When the timer counted to one minute and five seconds, the fight officially ended with Ryan biting Hubert on his shoulder and the latter's scream of pain reverberated through the air. Even then, Ryan was relentless and it wasn't until the MC stepped on the stage did he let go. By then, Hubert was already half conscious, numerous injuries lattered his body but the worse was the gaping bite wound on his shoulder where a chunk of flesh was torn off. He gritted his teeth and propped himself up by the elbow, snarling and cursing at Ryan who wiped his bloody mouth with a mocking smirk.

After that, Ryan swept his gaze around and landed right on Oliver, dark eyes clashing right into his, causing Oliver to flinch in his seat.

W—What was he looking at him for?! Oliver promptly threw his gaze away and pressed his lips tight, suppressing the urge to gag from the pool of blood that splattered on the stage. It was disgusting. Ryan was disgusting. Oliver had no idea what the Alpha wanted but Oliver was sure he didn't want to have anything to do with that. Fortunately, the staff quickly brought Hubert to receive first-aid treatment and cleaned the stage. 

"The winner of this round is Ryan! A round of applause, everyone!" 

Ryan bowed like a gentleman did as if he wasn't the one who was latching his teeth on another like a madman. Then, instead of getting off the stage, he snatched the microphone from the MC. Once again, his eyes drifted to Oliver and suddenly, ominous premonition ran through Oliver's body.

It was all proven true when Ryan declared in the next second, his tone still a bit breathless. "I want to continue. This time, I want to challenge the first place, Altair!"

Oliver's breath hitched as the crowd started to go crazy just by the mention of the winged Alpha's name. He clenched his fists, knuckles blanching. This was inevitable. Yes… Oliver knew that Altair would fight at a point of a time. After all, the first place's prize was too mouth-watering to pass up. Everyone yearned to be the ultimate winner. But this was no longer a simple fight. Oliver knew it. 

Ryan must have been waiting for exact revenge on Altair. He was waiting for this moment, right in front of thousands of pairs of eyes, right in front of the Emperor himself, trying to drag Altair down from the high pedestal. He definitely wouldn't miss the opportunity. 

"More than that, I would like Your Majesty the Emperor himself to be the judge for our fight." Ryan calmly continued as he kneeled toward the Emperor.

Emperor Bernard cocked a brow. He raised his palm to shush the crowd, then gestured for Ryan to continue. His expression was mildly intrigued. "What do you mean by that, child?"

"If I, Ryan, win this fight against Altair, then please declare that the victory for Arena Fighting this year will be mine!"

Oliver slammed his palm against the armchair and shot up standing, snarling. "Presumptuous! How can you make your own rules? It has been decided that everyone has the chance to fight for first place! If the winner is directly determined this time, it will be very unfair to others who haven't come up yet!"

His loud argument was met with a soft giggle from Rosemane. The horse omega rested her chin on her palm, smiling. "I think Ryan's proposal is very interesting. It will give us quite a performance, won't it? Moreover, I can see that Ryan's strength has surpassed those whose ranks are above him so there's no problem for us to get to the most interesting match, no?" Seeing Oliver still wanting to argue, Rosemane proposed. "How about this? We will let everyone vote. After all, this match doesn't involve only the contestant but there is also everyone's wager in it. Won't it be fair this way, Brother? Or… are you scared that Altair will lose?"

"Nonsense!" Oliver rebuked with a fierce glare. With a hushed tone that only them and the Emperor could hear, Oliver added. "Of course, I believe in MY Alpha!" He deliberately emphasized on the possessive claim and felt a tad better when Rosemane's smile faltered. He sat back down with a huff. "Fine, let's vote. Do you agree, Father Emperor?"

"Sure." Emperor Bernard laughed as he started to fish out commands. "It's way more exciting this way."

Ryan's face brightened and he gave a deep bow. "Thank you for your generosity, Your Majesty, Princess Rosemane and Prince Oliver." 

Oliver couldn't help but suspect that there was something more in Ryan's tone when the Alpha said his name. Ugh, he hated how his name sounded from Ryan's lips. It sounded filthy and disgusting. He let out a harrumph and crossed his arms over his chest.

The guards were dexterous and fast in executing the Emperor's command and in less than half an hour, the voting result had already been inputted into the program and told to the MC. Oliver looked at the Beta nervously, trying to gauge his facial expressions to no avail. 

"I'm very sorry to keep you all waiting!" The MC exclaimed in excitement and multiple hologram screens across the kingdom which broadcasted the match started to film Ryan who was waiting below the stage. There wasn't an ounce of doubt or nervousness in his face as if he could already guess the outcome. Oliver's dislike toward him increased by tenfold. "Without any further ado, let's reveal the result of the voting!"

The screen flickered, showing two separate sides labeled 'Altair VS Ryan' or 'Another Match'. Both of the original numbers were 0 and with the MC's cue, they started to go up and up with an astonishing speed. "Ooh~ Altair VS Ryan's match has gone over 100… 200… 500 whereas Another Match's option has slowed down!"

Oliver bit his nails, slightly anxious for some reasons he couldn't comprehend. Seconds ticked along and when the numbers streamed into the screen, he felt more and more helpless. The result was too obvious. 

"Aaaand…that's it! We have a total of 1500 voters on site and 1003 people have chosen Altair VS Ryan's match! Woah, that's more than 50% for you! You're all eager for some action, huh? Anyway, congratulations, Ryan!" The loud drum of beats flooded in at the same time with the burst of thundering cheers from the spectators. "Now, let's welcome our first rank on stage, Altair!!!"

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