Stone Mage: Revenge of the Villain System

Just like when Belladonna and Duke Taevas were fighting, or even back when Duke Taevas and Maellan did....

Whenever there's a conflict that he doesn't see as beneficial to him, he just stayed quiet and watched.

Well, the very fact that there was a conflict was beneficial for him this time, though.

So all he had to do was watch that small spark turn into a large flame, that slow simmer turned to boil....

And a harem member would be completely erased from Cermin's list, turning into a rival instead.

"Friend!? How can he be your friend after what you have done to our family!?" Don exclaimed.

Cermin snorted. "'Our' family? Yes, I did fuck up you blue people, but it had nothing to do with your staff, right? I can befriend any of them if we mutually agreed to it."

Don was even more frustrated by this callback. (I swear, if only this dolt of a prince knew.)

Ronin gave him a certain look, and he did not need any telepathic powers to explain that look.

Don understood very well. It was his 'calm down and don't do anything irrational' look.

He breathed deeply, and exhaled. "Well, I am also friends with Ronin. In fact, we have a much closer bond together, because we live under the same roof."

Cermin gave a cruel chuckle. "Yeah, and make him mop the floors and wipe the windows. That's not friendship, that's slavery."

Ronin raised an eyebrow. 'Dumb Min Cheng knows how to retort back now, huh? What a surprise, this world really changed him a lot.'

He sipped on his cup of water, just waiting for this argument to reach a climax or cool down.

"Who are you to talk for him?" Don snapped back. "You don't know what it was like, you don't know how we treat our servants. We treat them like family, even Ronin can attest to that."

"Uh-huh." Ronin just nodded.

Don smiled triumphantly at this. "See? So you can't just assume our relationship just because we have different classes."

"Even yours would be suspicious, why would a prince like you share a table with him?"

Cermin gripped his chair tighter, his knuckles going white. He wanted so badly to stand up and---

He controlled himself, and tried not to go for his impulses. But this person was getting on his nerves now.

He tried to explain calmly. "Because we are---"

"Because....." Don interrupted him. "You are a scum that wants to fool the weaker and gullible that you are good-intentioned, when in fact you are not."

"When in fact, you only spell trouble for others and yourself!"

Cermin stood and grabbed his collar. "That's going too far!"

To say that he wants to prey on the weak and gullible. That he doesn't have good-intentions...

When he was actually the one victimized by such people!

When he was the one betrayed again and again, and hurt by betrayals and problems!

"You don't know how we become friends either. So you who are you to say that?" He said in a dark tone, as he stared Don down.

"You don't know how much I've gone through last year, and the year before that... How I lost everyone I used to trust."

He bit his lip, trying hard not to sob, and just maintained his grip.

The other people in the Banquet Palace were watching them fight now, and his reputation would be lowered again.

But Cermin did not care.

What mattered to him was to defend his relationship with Ronin.

"And when I thought there couldn't be anyone else..... When I thought I was all alone now, in the dark.... Ronin came." He said, his voice strained.

He turned to his friend. "Ronin was my only light to escape the darkness. He was there when I desperately needed someone, anyone...."

Ronin did not expect this sudden turn, and was baffled for a moment.

And that intense gaze Cermin gave him..... That pure, unadulterated loyalty towards their 'friendship' built on lies.....

He found it unbearable, and looked away.

Cermin thought he must have just been shy, and so he chuckled, trying to calm himself down before he say anything more that will embarrass his friend.

"And so.... I guess both of us have no right to assume. Whether one's friendship was worthier than the other."

He let go, and went back to his chair. "Only Ronin can choose that."

"But know this." He then stared at Don directly, who was frozen by his sudden speech.

He looked at him with a determination that burned brighter than a thousand suns when he promised:

"I swear that I have no bad intentions towards him. I do not see him as weak or gullible."

"I see him as my anchor, the one still keeping me from drifting away in this confusing and messy world."

And everyone in that room could tell that he was telling the truth.

Don was tounge-tied for a moment, before he asked softly, with a bit of hurt.....

"Is this true, Ronin?"

Ronin turned to the prince, who gave him such a hopeful look, then back to his sibling.

"Yes. Prince Cermin never really asked me for anything besides my company..... And even then, he didn't really forced me into it."

Ronin could only think of the irony: 'In fact, I was the one who orchestrated it to be possible.'

Don inhaled deeply, and turned. "I see. And do you like his company more than mine?"

He sighed. "Lord Don, you can't possibly make me choose---"

"You have to. We already drew enough attention and I'm sure everyone is waiting for your response to all this." Don said. "Even that prince, I am sure."

Cermin scratched the back of his head. "I don't mind if you want to have lunch with him for now... Maybe we could alternate days..."

"No. We could not." Don insisted. "The dishonor you brought on my family.... It could only be either you or me."

Ronin made a face. "Young master Don..... You are fighting over something as simple as having a simple Coal commoner sit with you at lunch."

"Don't you think that's too childish and unbecoming as a noble? And---"

"I don't care, Ronin. You must choose." Don said in a sad tone. "I promise.... I would not be cross with you or dislike you for whatever decision you make."

"Me too. Sit with whoever you like, Ronin. Neither of us own you." Cermin nodded, and drank some water to hide his nervousness.

(What if he chooses his master? Then I'll be alone again....)

He heard Cermin's thoughts, overlapping with Don's:

(I still want you to choose me, Brother. Please.... Why him of all people? The very man you warned me about....)

Ronin hated being torn like this. But he guessed he reaped what he sow, he did what he had to do and this was just a minor circumstance to that.

Since before this fight, he had already made his choice.

"I'm sorry, young master. But I must stay with His Highness. He needs me more than you do."

'And I needed him more than you. I need to get closer to him to fulfill my destiny as the villain that steals his Flame.'

'Absolutely destroy his heart, both in a literal and metaphorical sense.'

He turned to the smiling prince who was so happy to be chosen. "Thank you, Ronin....."

He returned that smile with a sneer, but it appeared as a sweet, reassuring smile in Cermin's rose-tinted vision.

'This heart he so willingly wears on his sleeve around me.... I will crush it and burn it to ashes.'