Chapter 35: "The Tsundere’s Inferno"

The Flame of Fallen Nobility

Lady Elara Voss arrived at Arcana Regalia Academy in a blaze of scarlet silk and simmering resentment. Her family's crest—a phoenix engulfed in flames—was stitched into her cloak, a relic of the Voss dynasty's former glory. Once the most revered fire mages in the kingdom, the Voss name now hung by a thread, its legacy reduced to whispers and debt. Elara's mission was simple: Restore our honor. Outshine everyone. Especially the commoner trash.

Her first target? Grey Ardent—a scholarship student with no noble blood, yet rumored to rival even Lady Redwyne's magic.

"Pathetic," she muttered, watching him fumble through a basic lightning drill. "How dare he stand where true nobles once stood?"

The Duel of Fire and Thunder

Elara cornered Grey after class, her crimson eyes blazing. "You. Duel me."

Grey blinked. "Why?"

"To prove you don't belong here." She ignited a fireball, the flames twisting into her family's phoenix sigil. "Unless you're scared?"

Lilia popped up between them, Sir Spicy perched on her head. "Duel? Can I referee? I've been practicing flag-waving!"

Stephanie materialized like a blizzard, frost creeping up Elara's boots. "Touch him, and I'll extinguish your bloodline."

Elara smirked. "The Ice Queen herself? How quaint. But this is between us."

Grey sighed. "Fine. One duel."

The Ashes of Pride

The arena crackled with tension. Elara's fire roared, painting the sky in hues of crimson and gold. Grey's lightning danced defensively, holding back Phoenix's power.

"Fight seriously!" Elara snarled, hurling a phoenix-shaped inferno.

Grey deflected it, his mask's illusion straining. "Why do you care?"

"Because you're what's wrong with this world!" Her flames faltered, revealing cracks in her armor. "Nobles like me… we're born to lead. But now they let anyone in!"

Her fire surged, fueled by memories: her father's disgrace, her mother's tears, the creditors seizing their estate. Grey's lightning met hers in a crescendo, the clash illuminating her pain.

"You think I want to be here?" he snapped, a flicker of Phoenix's fury slipping through. "I'm just surviving!"

The explosion left them both breathless, the arena scorched.

Elara's knees buckled. "I… I didn't lose. Never."

Grey offered a hand. "Neither did I."

She slapped it away. "Don't pity me."

The Ghost of Phoenix

Later, Elara combed the archives, searching for clues about the real Phoenix—the mysterious baron who'd vanished after slaying the thunder god. Her family's journals spoke of an ancestor who fought alongside him, their fire magic once revered.

Find Phoenix, her father had begged on his deathbed. He'll restore us.

But all she found was Grey's file: Commoner. Lightning mage. No connections.

"Lies," she hissed, burning the parchment. He's hiding something.

The Tsundere's Vulnerability

That night, Elara stood at the academy's highest tower, her fire dimming to embers. Below, Grey and Stephanie sparred in the frostbloom garden, their magic a ballet of ice and lightning.

"Why them?" she whispered. "Why not me?"

A voice startled her. "Fire's prettiest when it's lonely, huh?"

Lilia stood in the doorway, holding two mugs of cocoa. "I brought marshmallows! And a non-judgmental ear!"

"I don't need your pity," Elara snapped.

"Good! 'Cause this is curiosity." Lilia sat, undeterred. "Your phoenix fire… it's sad. Like it's crying."

Elara's flames flickered. "You know nothing."

"I know sad magic," Lilia said softly. "Mine used to itch. Now it… sings. Maybe yours can too."

Sir Spicy spat a roasted marshmallow into Elara's hand.

"Disgusting," she muttered, eating it anyway.

The Phoenix's Shadow

Grey found Elara training alone at dawn, her fire carving desperate patterns in the air.

"You're holding back," he said.

"You first," she shot back. "Who taught you lightning? A street rat?"

"Self-taught."

"Liar." Her flames flared. "You fight like someone who's seen war."

Grey's mask itched. She's too close. "Maybe I have."

Elara's gaze narrowed. "You're not just a commoner. Who are you?"

Stephanie's ice dagger lodged itself between them. "Mine. That's who."

The Epilogue: Embers and Ice

Elara added a new entry to her family's journal:

Phoenix is gone. But the boy… he burns like him. I'll unravel his lies. Then the Voss name will rise again.

Meanwhile, Lilia doodled a phoenix and lightning bolt in her notebook, labeling it Friendship Fireworks Coming Soon!

Stephanie sharpened her ice daggers.