I regressed and became the Sword Ice King

The boys quickly turned to the black-haired boy with fiery red eyes that hid darkness so deep, while Elsie had unconsciously turned on her self-defense mood, her fangs baring at the boy.

Darell's eyes slowly bulged open in shock. 'When did he?'. He thought, turning beside him to find a similar expression on Jane, though Raph seemed to have put on a different kind of emotion. Though, what was it?

"Lo–Louis, I–I told you to meet me here! Did you forget?" She asked, her anger completely washed away by the sight of the boy.

Louis slowly stroked the side of her face, a small smile finding its way on his once aloof face.

"You look pretty today as well," He said, his smile widening a little.

Mariam's cheeks blushed red as she struggled to pull his hand away, but finding it difficult to do so. She enjoyed his touch that much. "No–Not in public!". She was about to pull it back when Raph spoke up.

"Louis La Teur?" He asked, trying to confirm the gloomy person he saw in the Arena was the same as this sparkling, handsome individual right now.

The boy turned to them, realizing their presence for the first time.

"Raffaelo Jun, Jane Lucia, Darell…." His body tensed on recognizing the Elven prince as memories of the battle that had taken place in the Arena resurfaced.

A cold bloodlust exuded from his body, and before he even realized it, it had moved. His body tensed, turning towards Darell, as he swung his hand towards the boy's throat when an onyx mirrored short sword, with a gem on its hilt appeared.

Darell could see him coming, but his body didn't have the speed necessary to react to the sudden attack; in fact, none of them did, well, all except one.

As the knife neared his throat, Raph took a step forward towards his side, his hands swinging faster than the blade as he grabbed Louis's hand before it could get any closer.

"That's enough". He stated, his gaze locked on the boy's murderous, intense crimson eyes.

Louis clicked his tongue, his eyes widening in shock, but he quickly regained his composure, ready to maneuver his way past Raph and attack the assailant in his presence.

His body warped like a shadow, his arm slipping out of Raph's hands, as he twirled his body behind the boys before a blink of an eye, his gaze locked on Darell, and his sword aimed for the back of his neck.

Raph suddenly did the same, twirling behind the two boys at a speed at least 5 milliseconds faster than Louis, shocking the boy as he grabbed Louis's hand, pulling him upwards from the ground, away from Darell, into the air.

He swung his hand to the other side, and pulled him downwards, crashing into the ground.
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A loud thud echoed and some students stopped in their tracks at the sight.

Darell especially took a few steps back, his hand holding his neck firmly, in awe of what could have transpired.

Raph and Louis were locked in a staring contest, as Mariam walked forward with a sigh, folding her hands and puffing her cheeks in disapprovement.

"Louie," She grumbled, as the boys turned to her at the same time.

Louis smiled wryly, a soft chuckle escaping his lips as Raph pulled him up.

"I'm sorry about that; I should have controlled myself better." He said, giving Darell a curt nod.

"It-it's okay; nothing came of it anyways." Darell stammered, still shocked by what had taken place a moment ago. His gaze slowly shifted to Raph, a feeling of appreciation swelling in his chest, when he realized something.

'Did he move that fast with Elsie on his back?'.

Indeed, Raph had controlled his body and Elsie on his back so she couldn't fall or get hurt by his movement or speed. Not to mention how he was faster than an assassin with a handicap.

"We'll be going now," Mariam replied, grabbing Louis's hand and walking away from the group of boys.

The other students seemed to have returned to their conversations, after realizing the commotion had died down, leaving the three boys and female beastkins to their different thoughts.

"Well, I'll have to excuse myself. My sister should be looking for me, right about now". Jane broke the silence, walking forward away from the group. "You know where to find me when you've filled in the numbers".

He waved at them as he walked away.

Darell sighed right after, turning towards Raph. "You saved me there. It could have been a whole drama if he had succeeded".

Raph turned to his gaze, his thoughts still in contemplation.

He looked away after glancing at Darell, an unreadable expression on his face.

"He's an assassin. It's natural he kills before he thinks, but you're right. If he had succeeded, then a war could have brewed".

Darell's smile grew awkward. 'The ease at which he says certain things'.

Though the war between humans and elves wasn't a rare thing of the past, it had become ancient during their time, with a treaty that spans till their children's children.

And if it expires or runs out, all they have to do is sign another one.

"I'll be going now". He waved at him, giving a curt glance at Elsie, and walked away.

A brief silence descended upon Raph and Elsie, their gazes practically in different directions, but they probably had the same thought at that moment.

"Won't you get in?" She asked.

"You know well enough that I'm a sight for sore eyes at the moment".

"I don't think so. You're strong and handsome. I find it hard to believe girls don't flaunt you".

"Well, don't you need to at least be as popular as Jane over there for that to happen?".

"That pretty boy? He was strong but not the kind that I like, yours has a peculiar taste to it"

"....." Raph looked up, noticing her crimson eyes staring right back, a slight red forming on his cheeks. "You know, I like someone else already".

"The blue-haired girl, right? I could tell since I'm on top of you. Were you jealous of their relationship? I can give you that and more".

The red blush intensified in color, but he quickly looked away. "And you're not bothered?" He asked. "I do like her, though, not as much as I thought I would…"

He conflicted with his emotions at the moment. Seeing your former lover with another man is an annoyingly uncomfortable situation.

But she doesn't know they become couples in the future, and the only way for that to happen would be,

'.....If Louis dies…'

In his past life, he had gotten together with her in his 5th year in school, two years after the death of Louis La Teur on a prodigy mission.

'So, practically, the future of their relationship…' He held out his hand, staring at his palm. 'is in my hands'.

"Are you still thinking about her husband? I hate to admit it, but you're making me jealous". Elsie snapped him back to reality, and he dug his hands on her lap, grabbing her tightly.

She flinched to his touch, surprise and embarrassment etched on her face, as her ears turned bright red.

Raph smirked at her reaction. "See, don't tease me if you know you can't handle it either". He pulled her upwards and easily dropped her down on her feet since she loosened her grip after his touch.

"I–I wasn't expecting that! We're in public and all". She stammered, walking behind him as they headed towards the door.

"I'm sure you weren't" Raph replied, dismissing her comment with a wave of his hand.

He sighed, a rather insistent scene replaying in his mind.

'The way she smiled when she saw him….it wasn't nearly as good as the way she did to me in my past life…..was I her…..rebound?'. A question he would never know in this life or another, something that he could only keep to himself and no other; it would have hurt if he didn't expect something like this to happen.

Though, expecting it and seeing it don't always yield the same reaction from you.

"You know, I don't mind if you desire other women".

His eyes bulged on that statement, and he whipped his gaze to his back where Elsie stood, smiling at him.

"It's natural for strong people to desire more than just one mate; it's a custom in my village."

It wasn't like polygamy was a sin, but it was something that was hardly practiced because they never ended well, but that wasn't what bothered him at the moment.

'What's with this girl? Why does she make it seem like I have no choice in the matter?'

"What would you do if I didn't want you as my mate?"

He asked, stopping by the door, when he noticed the number of students that were outside had dwindled to just two, including themselves.

Elsie froze on the spot, her eyes flickering with intensity. A dark cascade formed under her eyes as a small frown exuded from her lips.

"...if they end up not loving each other, they can just as easily separate".

She replied, her frown turning into a small smile.

Raph remained fixed on his spot, his thoughts reeling in. For some reason, he had a deep gut feeling she was lying, but he unconsciously brushed it off.

"Alright then, shall we?" He asked, walking into the building.

Elsie stared at his back, her smile turning back to a frown, and her gaze flickering for just a moment.

"...We'll see…" She muttered under her breath, a new resolve settling in.