The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy Chapter 147

“I mean, I’m going to win,” he says with a confident shrug, a little smug but also a little offended that I’m doubting him.

I sit back a little, half torn by my allegiance and my faith in him and half knowing that his confidence…is not going to be enough to pull him through.

Luca looks around at all of us. “Do you all seriously doubt me?” he says, his feelings obviously hurt.

“We don’t doubt you at all,” Jesse says, frowning. “Ari doesn’t know what he’s talking about when it comes to boxing, he’s just worried about you,” he says, pointing at me.

My mouth falls open in protest, but Rafe speaks before I can say anything. “You don’t know anything about boxing, Ari,” he says on a sigh. And I scowl, shutting my mouth because…well, because again, they’re probably right. But still! My mate, in a prize fight against the champion of a notoriously brutal military force!?

“But,” Rafe continues, lifting his head to look at Luca now, “Jesse’s not wrong. You haven’t been training –“

“I work out every day! You’re there, you know!”

“I do know,” Rafe says, raising his eyebrows. “So I know that you’re as fit as you’ve ever been, but you aren’t doing boxing workouts. Your uncle is going to be appalled when he gets you back in the gym over midwinter.”

Luca scowls, looking down at the floor, realizing that Rafe’s right.

“We’ll work out with you,” Jesse says, gesturing between him and Rafe. “If that’s what you want. I mean, we’re not as good as you, but we’re not crap.”

“And I will watch, and encourage from the sidelines,” Ben murmurs from the floor.

“Thanks, guys,” Luca says, frowning around at us. “That’s…really generous of you.”

“Anytime,” Jesse says, sitting back down in his chair.

“Quit dicking around with alcohol, though,” Rafe murmurs, his own attention back on his book now. “It’s only going to make you weak, and then you’ll embarrass the nation. And I hate losing, even on a national level.”

Luca laughs, promising that he will, but I’m still frowning at him when he turns his attention back to me.

What? He asks, placing the question directly into my mind.

“Do you have to go to Atalaxia?” I ask, worried. “For the fight?”

“No,” Luca says, his face bursting into a grin. “Ari, the fight is at home, in the city. You’ve – I mean, your whole family has already been invited. You’re going to be there.”

My eyes go wide as I realize what he means – that I won’t be there as Ari Clark, but instead as Princess Ariel.

But…I mean, will I be out of hiding at that time? Will my family have patched things up enough with that horrible Prince I left at the altar, so that I can re-emerge into society?

And…what will it mean to go to the fight? Will I go as Princess? As Luca’s friend’s sister?

Or…or as the champion boxer’s mate?

I’m still staring at Luca, confused and pondering the complexities of this when a knock comes at the door. Jesse, always ready for something new, springs out of his chair and strides over to it. We all turn, and my face goes a little pale when the door opens and Jesse reveals Jackson standing there, a note in his hand.

“Hey, Jackson!” Jesse says, ever-friendly. “Come on in!”

“No thanks,” Jackson says instantly, his eyes moving to me on the couch. “Can’t stay – I was just asked to deliver a note.”

“For me?” Jesse asks, eager.

Jackson huffs a laugh, flicking his eyes back to Jesse. “No, for Ari. I just had a meeting with Alvez,” he says, rolling his eyes, “on some…homework stuff.”

I intuit, instantly, that Jackson doesn’t want to share the details of magic class in front of Luca and Ben, and I know that Jesse and Rafe respect that alongside me.

“How did that go?” Rafe asks, his voice low with doubt.

“Precisely as you probably think it did,” Jackson responds in much the same tone, “which is to say…it sucked.”

I laugh, and after a moment Jesse and Rafe do too. Luca stays stonily silent, and Ben just lays on the floor – maybe even fell asleep.

“Anyway,” Jackson says, holding the note out towards me. “He asked me to bring you this.”

“Thanks!” I say, genuinely grateful, and I shove at Luca’s legs, trying to get up.

But Luca?

He doesn’t move an inch, trapping me awkwardly in my seat.