Chapter : 53

  As soon as she stepped into the light, Ken blinked his sleepy eyes and let his jaw drop slightly.

  "Whoa," Ken whispered out loud. "Am I seeing double?"

  The girl standing next to Hestia had the exact same face as Sayma. She had the same long hair, the same sharp jawline, and the same tall, imposing height. The resembnce was absolutely uncanny. The only difference was that this girl did not wear thick gsses, and instead of Sayma’s polite, gentle smile, this girl looked like she was completely disgusted by everything in front of her.

  Sayma stood perfectly still. She pushed her gsses up the bridge of her nose, her expression totally unreadable.

  "Hello, Zaima," Sayma said calmly.

  Zaima crossed her arms over her chest. She looked at Sayma as if she were looking at a piece of garbage.

  "Do not speak to me like we are friends, Sayma," Zaima snapped, her voice harsh and cold. "Every time I see you wearing that pathetic blue uniform, it makes me sick to my stomach. You are an absolute disgrace to our family name."

  Ken leaned over to Zinia and whispered loudly, "Wait, is that her sister? Or did someone use a cloning spell? Because they look exactly the same, but the new one is way meaner."

  Zinia elbowed Ken in the ribs to keep him quiet, but she didn't take her eyes off the rival team.

  "We made our choices, Zaima," Sayma replied softly, refusing to raise her voice. "I chose to serve Princess Iris. You chose Princess Hestia. There is no need for this hostility."

  "There is every need!" Zaima fired back, taking a threatening step forward. "We come from a proud, wealthy line of elite barrier mages! We were born to serve the absolute best! I am standing beside a Princess who already has twenty points. A Princess who is destined for the throne. And look at you!"

  Zaima waved her hand aggressively at the 13th Unit.

  "You are serving the lowest-ranked Royal in the entire Empire!" Zaima mocked bitterly. "Your team is a joke. Your estate is literally falling apart. You are surrounded by rejects who can't even finish a simple B-rank mission in one day. You threw away our family’s prestige to baby-sit a group of absolute losers!"

  Naomi pulled her dagger halfway out of its sheath. "Say that again, you shiny snob, and I will show you exactly what a loser can do."

  "Stand down, Naomi," Princess Iris ordered firmly, holding her hand out. Iris would not let her team start a brawl in the pace hallways.

  Zaima ughed cruelly. She didn't look scared of Naomi at all. Instead, her eyes drifted to the back of the group. Her gaze locked directly onto Ken.

  Ken was currently slouching against the wall, his stomach making a very loud, very embarrassing rumbling sound.

  "You want proof that your unit is a dumping ground for trash?" Zaima asked Sayma, pointing a sharp, perfectly manicured finger directly at Ken's messy face. "Just look at that. What even is that? Is that supposed to be a Royal Servant?"

  Ken blinked, realizing she was pointing at him. "Are you talking to me?"

  "Look at him!" Zaima sneered in pure disgust. "His shirt is a mess. His tie is a disaster. He slouches like a zy beggar. He doesn't even have a weapon! This is the kind of garbage the 13th Unit hires! You are fighting in a Royal war, Sayma, and you are relying on a filthy commoner who looks like he belongs in a pigpen!"

  The tension in the hallway spiked to an explosive level. Laxmi, Naomi, and Zinia were totally ready to fight. Even Ira and Luna looked angry. Nobody was allowed to insult their team like that, not even another servant.

  Everyone waited to see how Ken would react to being called garbage in front of two Royal Princesses.

  Ken stood there for a second. He looked down at his wrinkled shirt. He looked at Zaima’s angry, shouting face.

  Then, Ken reached a hand under his shirt and gave his belly a long, zy scratch.

  He opened his mouth and let out a massive, incredibly loud yawn. It was the kind of yawn a person makes when they are waking up from a deep sleep on a Sunday morning.

  "Man," Ken mumbled zily, completely ignoring her insult. He looked right at Zaima with wide, innocent puppy eyes. "You talk really loud. It is making my headache worse. Do you guys happen to know what time the pace cafeteria closes? Because my stomach is making whale noises, and I really, really need a cheeseburger."

  Zaima froze. Her mouth dropped open in pure shock. She had just delivered a brutal, cutting insult designed to break his spirit, and he had completely ignored it to ask about burgers.

  "Are... are you ignoring me?!" Zaima shouted, her face turning bright red with fury. "I just called you a piece of trash!"

  Ken gave her a goofy, completely unfazed smile. "Yeah, I heard you. You have a great voice for yelling. Very clear. But seriously, do they serve fries here, or is it only tiny fancy food?"

  Zaima looked like she was going to have a magical meltdown. She raised her hands, ready to summon a barrier to smash Ken against the wall.

  "That is enough, Zaima," Princess Hestia said smoothly, pcing a delicate hand on her servant's shoulder.

  Hestia looked at Ken with a mixture of amusement and deep pity. She turned back to Iris and gave a fake, sorrowful sigh.

  "I see your unit has resorted to hiring jesters for entertainment, Iris," Hestia mocked softly. "It is truly sad. Enjoy your rest tonight, sister. I highly doubt you will survive your raid tomorrow. Come, girls. Let us leave them to their misery."

  Hestia turned around, her white silk dress flowing elegantly behind her. Zaima shot one st, hateful gre at Sayma and Ken before turning to follow her Princess. The pristine 16th Unit walked away down the golden hallway, their ughter echoing off the walls.

  The 13th Unit stood in total silence until the rival team was completely out of sight.

  The encounter left a bitter, sour taste in everyone's mouth. The reality of the Succession War was finally sinking in. The other Royals were not just pying games. They were fast, they were powerful, and they looked down on Iris’s team as if they were nothing but a joke.

  Naomi kicked the wall hard. "I hate them. I absolutely hate them. We should have fought them right here."

  "Fighting them in the hallway would have gotten us disqualified," Sayma said. Her voice was steady, but Ken noticed her hands were trembling just a tiny bit. She had refused to back down against her lookalike, but the words had clearly hurt her.

  Princess Iris turned to face her team. Her expression was completely serious, but her eyes were full of warmth.

  "Do not let their words poison your minds," Iris said firmly. "Hestia has her path, and we have ours. We do not need to be spotless to be strong. We will clear the Doom Tower tomorrow, and we will earn our points. Now, go to your rooms. Rest."