Free Web NovelChapter 152: Princess Is Scared.
The day of the match between Princess and Yuki had finally arrived.
It was supposed to be a friendly match, just an exhibition to get people talking, but I couldn’t shake the heavy feeling in my gut. I felt uneasy, like the air in the room was too thick to breathe. I was sitting with Princess in the locker room, just the two of us and the small circle of people who seemed to care more about the numbers than the actual girl sitting on the bench. freёweɓnovel.com
A TV mounted on the wall was blasting promotional events, showing highlights of Yuki and flashy graphics of the upcoming fight. I sat right beside Princess. She was dressed in her fighting gear, wearing boxing shorts and a bra top that showed off her toned muscles, but she looked smaller than usual. Her head was down the whole time, her hair shielding her face from the room.
Nearby, Beam and Kiara were pacing. They weren’t looking at Princess. They were busy talking about business deals, sponsorship contracts, and the insane amount of views their social media posts had been getting all morning.
Beam had her hand strapped up from the injury. She kept talking about the finances, her voice loud and casual. She kept saying that win or lose, they would still get their money twice over because of the pay-per-view buys. To her, this was just a balance sheet.
Kiara snapped back, her tone sharp and demanding. She argued that winning was the only thing that mattered. She kept repeating that it was about keeping their reputation intact and representing the pride of Oakland. She made it sound like the weight of the entire city was resting on Princess’s shoulders.
Beam laughed it off, arguing that winning didn’t actually matter for this specific event since it was just for promotional reasons. She thought the drama of the fight was enough to sell their actual business.
The two of them kept going back and forth, their voices rising and falling in a constant, annoying drone. I looked over at Princess and noticed her fingers. She was nervously trying to cut her own nails using her other fingers, picking at them with a focused, frantic energy. She was clearly not having it. She was drowning in their noise, and honestly, I was reaching my limit too.
"Will you two shut the fuck up? Can’t you see Princess is trying to breathe here!" I shouted.
The outburst felt good. I could feel the annoyance radiating off me in waves. Princess hadn’t said a single word since we entered the room, and these two were treating her like a statue.
"I was just talking about facts," Kiara said, crossing her arms and looking at me like I was the one being dramatic. "She needs to win to keep the reputation up. That’s just how this works."
I stood up, my eyes narrowing. "Why don’t you take the fucking gloves and go into that octagon cage and win to keep the reputation?" I shot back.
Immediately, Kiara went quiet. She opened her mouth to argue, but nothing came out. She just stared at me.
"It’s a friendly match. Winning is not a must," Beam said, trying to play the peacemaker. I didn’t snap at her because, at the very least, she wasn’t putting more pressure on the girl currently losing her mind on the bench.
"Can I have a moment alone with my girlfriend?" I said.
I kept my eyes locked on Kiara when I said it. Yes, you heard that right. I called her my girlfriend. Part of me wanted to scream it, to sing it right in Kiara’s face just to see the look on her features, but I pushed that thought away. Right now, this wasn’t about my ego or my spite. It was about Princess.
Kiara looked like she was about to say something snarky, but Beam grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the exit. Both of them walked out.
Finally, we were the only ones left in the room. The silence felt massive after all that shouting.
I stood up from the bench and moved so I was right in front of her. I bent down, getting on her level so I could see her face. I reached out and held her hands, gently stopping her from hurting her nails any further. Her skin felt cold despite the warm room.
"Pancake, what’s wrong? You’re having second thoughts, aren’t you?" I asked.
I couldn’t help but feel worried. Of course she would be feeling this way. She had never entered a cage fight before. This wasn’t a gym session or a light spar. This was her first time stepping into that environment with cameras and a crowd. She should be feeling nervous. Even if she was an Alpha, even with all that power and status, she was still a person with real feelings.
"Last night, me and the girls watched all of Yuki’s matches," she whispered, finally looking up. Her voice was shaky. "She has never lost. Not once. Even against that Alpha she defeated. I know this is a friendly match, but..."
She trailed off. I placed my palms on her cheeks, lifting her head slightly so she had to look me in the eyes. I saw it clearly then. She had that deep, paralyzing fear of losing. All that confidence and pride she had shown yesterday was gone, replaced by a raw vulnerability.
"Do you want to forfeit? You don’t have to stress yourself out like this. After all, you are not an athlete," I suggested. I meant it. I didn’t care about the money or the views. I just wanted her to be okay.
"I did think of it," she admitted, her breath hitching. "But then Gramps called this morning. He said he was watching the match from home. He told me he was expecting me to win." frёewebηovel.cѳm
Her voice was thick with worry now.
"Oh darling, are you trying to impress your grandfather? You don’t have to do that. This is just a game, Princess. It’s not some school grade or a life or death situation."
"It’s not about the game," she said, shaking her head. "Kiara is right about one thing. It’s about the Kings’ reputation. Leo doesn’t have any support from Gramps anymore. Even though Gramps told us all to make a living on our own, he completely cut Leo off because he went past his three strikes. Adam has never lost any of his strikes because he’s the perfect grand child. He does whatever he’s told."
She took a shaky breath and continued. "I have already lost two strikes. I got someone pregnant, and then there was the sex tape. If I lose this fight on national TV, he is going to see it as a failure of character. He is going to cut me off."
I listened to her, trying to process it all. I didn’t fully understand how their family worked, but I could see how terrified she was. The strike system sounded like something out of a twisted nightmare. It was Kiara’s fault our sex tape got leaked in the first place, and yet Princess was the one paying the price for it. I had never met the Alpha leader of Oakland, but the more I heard, the more I hated him. He sounded like a tyrant. Why would he make a friendly match such a massive deal? And what the fuck did these strikes even mean in the long run?
First Leo pressure on Princess’s empire, and now this strict Alpha rule was hanging over Princess. I felt a surge of protective anger. I couldn’t wait to meet that man. How dare he make my girl this worried over a sport?
"Princess, listen to me," I said, gripping her hands a little tighter to ground her. "You have your own family now. I am your family. We will create our own world, our own life. I don’t care about your reputation or your power or Kings protection. We will protect eachother...."
I leaned in closer so she could see I was dead serious. "This is just a fucking game, not a war. Don’t think too much about what he thinks. Win or lose, I am right here waiting. I will always be by your side no matter what happens out there. All I can say is just do your best, okay? Do it for you, not for him."
She looked at me for a long time, the tension in her face slowly beginning to melt away. A small, genuine smile finally touched her lips and she nodded. She leaned in, pressing her lips against mine in a soft, lingering kiss.
"As long as you are by my side, I have nothing to lose," she said softly against my skin.
Just then, a loud, muffled voice boomed over the speakers in the hallway. The announcement was being made. The crowd outside roared, the sound vibrating through the walls of the locker room.
It was time.
