[Discontinued*] The Darling Princess [A Twisted Wonderland Fanfic]

🦁 Chapter 54

"Then, let our meeting about the October Inter-Dorm Magical Shift Tournament commence." 

Crowley was standing in front of the Dark Mirror, watching all of the dorm heads, save one, with a careful eye. They had all gathered in the mirror chamber for their meeting, though it looked like some would rather not be there. Leona yawned and glared at Crowley, half-asleep as he had just been woken up before he was whisked away to the meeting by Ruggie, and though the others looked slightly more willing to be there, none of them seemed to enjoy standing. 

"First, Octavinelle Dorm's Mr Ashengrotto has an announcement as the manager for the tournament."

Azul stepped forward, introducing himself to the group, despite that they had all known each other for years. "I'm Azul Ashengrotto, the tournament manager. Thank you for your time. To begin, for the installation of food stalls around the coliseum venue, all slots for both external enterprises and internal club activities have been filled."

Kalim, who was dressed noticeably more casual than the other dorm heads, smiled excitedly. "Oh! Very nice! It's going to be super lively!"

"Royal guests from every country have all been sent their invitations. General attendance tickets are also selling well. And applications from TV stations and newspapers are coming in like they do every year."

"This tournament is a big deal worldwide," Kalim said. "I got super excited for my invitation every year before I came here." He turned to the peeved lion brooding in the corner. "Since you're royalty, you would have gotten one too, right, Leona? Maybe we passed by each other when we were little."

The lion groaned, clearly uninterested in all this setup conversation. "Who knows. I don't care." He turned away from the joyful Scarabia Dorm Head and glared out one of the windows. The sky around the castle was starting to grow dark, and though he had already spent most of the day sleeping, he felt another wave coming and wanted this meeting to end as quickly as possible.

Vil took a strand of hair in between his fingers and rubbed it thoughtfully. "I have to make sure my foundation is in perfect form for the ultra vision. Physical activity means I have to spend that much more time fixing it."

Riddle scowled at the side of Vil's head. "Huh... Pomefiore is the only dorm to take timeouts to fix their makeup."

The floating tablet in the room started to pulse with light as a crackling voice started to speak. "How can you all be so proactive about being in front of a bunch of people? Just thinking about it makes me wanna vomit."

The head of Octavinelle, who had been standing quietly to the side for some time, silently glaring at everyone as they interrupted his every attempt to regain attention on the floor, coughed loudly. Everyone shut up immediately and turned to the lilac-haired boy. 

"Everyone, quiet please."

"Ah, sorry 'bout that!"

"As soon as every dorm has decided on their player lineup, please make sure to submit all the paperwork. If the paperwork is late by even a day..."

"You'll be disqualified, correct," Riddle asked.

The smile adorning Azul's face matched Crowley's boastful smile perfectly. He grinned at the small redhead. "No. I will accept a special processing fee. An express delivery fee, if you will."

"I think making a rule for exceptions like that is bad form."

Kamil clapped his hands in a child-like manner. "I'm grateful for it though!"

Crowley sighed in disappointment. "We're getting very off track. As for the tournament bracket... I'd like to share an idea."

"Idea," Riddle asked.