I'm Trapped Inside a Prince as the Most Powerful Entity-Chapter 180: An Opportunity for Revenge

The moment Eric’s declaration registered in her mind Monica was so completely taken aback that she just stood there. Her mouth was slightly agape.

Her mind was a complete blank. It took a few long silent seconds for the full import of his words to sink in. And when they did her shock was immediately replaced by a fresh wave of indignant fury.

She pointed a trembling accusatory finger at Eric. Her voice rose in a sharp incredulous shout. "How could you make such a decision without even asking me first?!" she demanded.

Her voice echoed in the now-silent training hall. Everyone was watching her.

Eric however had anticipated this reaction. He had known with an absolute certainty that Monica would not take kindly to his unilateral decision. He had known she would be angry.

He looked at her his expression now one of a calm almost apologetic sincerity. "At this moment," he said his voice quiet but firm "I see no one else in this entire class who I could partner with besides you."

His words were so unexpected so direct. They seemed to catch Monica off guard. She was momentarily at a loss for words. She looked away from Eric.

Her gaze swept across the other students in the large training hall. She saw their expressions. They showed a mixture of fear resentment and a clear undisguised desire to have nothing to do with him. She then turned her gaze back to Eric. Her own expression was now a mixture of confusion and a lingering defiant pride.

"But what makes you think," she challenged her voice still sharp though now laced with a hint of genuine curiosity "that I would want to team up with you?"

Eric was once again at a loss for words. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know how to respond to her direct and entirely valid question. He was about to say something anything to try and convince her when another voice cut in.

It was Gold. She was standing a short distance away beside her sister Silver. And she was looking at Monica with a strange knowing smile. "Monica," she said her voice a soft melodic whisper "this is a great opportunity for you. Have you already forgotten?"

Monica turned to look at Gold. Her expression was one of pure confusion. "An opportunity?" she repeated. "What are you talking about? What opportunity?"

It was Silver who answered her. Her voice was identical to her sister’s a perfect harmonious echo. "Have you forgotten what Eric said to you on the day of the induction program?" she asked. Her own smile was just as enigmatic as her sister’s. "You wanted to have a match with him then did you not? And now," she continued her voice taking on a slightly more persuasive tone "you have the perfect opportunity. You can show everyone here just how strong you really are. You can easily defeat Eric right here in front of everyone."

The moment Silver said the words a memory sharp and vivid flashed through Monica’s mind. She remembered Eric or rather Adam standing before her his expression one of bored condescending amusement. She remembered him dismissing her as "weak." The sting of that humiliation the memory of her own impotent rage came rushing back to her.

A slow predatory smile spread across Monica’s face. An opportunity indeed. This was more than an opportunity. It was a chance for redemption. It was a chance to prove once and for all that she was not weak. She was in fact the strongest most talented student in the entire Academy.

The prospect of spending an entire year partnered with the boy who had so publicly insulted her of having countless opportunities to challenge him to defeat him to prove him wrong... it was an idea that was she had to admit incredibly irresistibly appealing. She would make him take back his words. She would make him pay for his disrespect. This was the perfect way to do it.

Eric was genuinely surprised to see Gold and Silver so readily coming to his aid. Their words were so perfectly timed. They were so expertly crafted to sway the proud volatile princess.

They had played on her pride her anger her desire to prove herself. They had given her the perfect excuse to agree to his proposal. He looked at them a small grateful smile touching his lips.

He was thankful for their help. They both smiled back at him their expressions enigmatic yet undeniably friendly. They seemed to enjoy helping him.

Monica her mind now completely filled with the tantalizing prospect of a year-long rivalry of countless opportunities to prove her strength and to humiliate the boy who had so publicly insulted her made her decision. She raised her hand. Her gaze was now fixed on the instructor Leon who was waiting for her answer.

"I am ready," she declared her voice clear and firm for all to hear "to team up with Eric."

As she spoke the words a silent internal monologue a conversation with herself was playing out in her mind. It was a desperate attempt to justify the strange unexpected surge of... happiness she felt inside. The only reason I’m teaming up with him, she told herself repeating the phrase over and over again like a mantra is because I need to show him how strong I am. He insulted me. That’s why I want this partnership. Yes that’s the only reason.

She was a little troubled by her own reaction. Ever since she had heard Eric choose her as his partner a strange inexplicable joy had been bubbling up inside her. It was a feeling she couldn’t quite understand. And she certainly couldn’t admit it to anyone even to herself. And so she clung to the more palatable more prideful explanation.

This partnership was about revenge. This was about breaking Eric’s arrogance. That was all it was. It had to be. There was no other reason for her to feel this way. She was sure of it. She would use this year to show him her true power. And she would enjoy every moment of his defeat. That was the plan.

The truth of course was that Eric himself knew with a certainty born from their brief brutal sparring match in the garden that Monica was incredibly strong. If he had been making the choice on his own without the [System Window]’s direct intervention he likely would have chosen her as his partner for that very reason.

However, Eric feels that Monica would not want to join the team with a nobody like him because he is not as strong as Monica is.

But Eric does not know that Monica thinks just the opposite; she considers Eric to be stronger than her and feels that Eric did not match her with full power.

She was a powerful ally. But the one who had so thoroughly insulted her on the day of the induction program the one who had dismissed her as weak that hadn’t been Eric. That had been Adam. And Adam truly did not consider Monica to be of any real consequence to him.

However at this moment Adam seated comfortably in his internal domain saw a golden opportunity. He had been the one to instruct the [System Window] to push Eric to choose Monica as his partner.

It was a strategic move a calculated risk. It was a way to fulfill the Emperor’s condition and to secure his personal sponsorship. This was a crucial step in establishing his own power base within the walls of the Academy. He needed the Emperor’s backing. And Monica was the key.

Hearing Monica’s ready agreement Eric let out a quiet almost inaudible sigh of relief. I didn’t think, he thought a sense of profound almost disbelieving relief washing over him that she would agree so easily to this. I thought she would refuse.

The other students in the class were also quite surprised to see Monica agree to the partnership. They had all witnessed her earlier animosity towards Eric. They had seen her anger. Her sudden reversal was unexpected.

But no one dared to say anything. No one dared to question the decision of the princess of the Empire. And so the matter was settled.

Eric and Monica were now partners for the entire first year. It was a pairing that was for all intents and purposes the most unlikely and potentially the most explosive in the entire Academy. Their year together would be anything but boring.

The entire class was now eager to see what would happen next between these two very different individuals.

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