Anna-veil’s heavy-hitting declaration left the audience in yet another state of shock.
A martial tournament for marriage, star sigils, crossdressing, coming out in public, hardcore simp energy… The eldest daughter of House Alpharius had gone harder than Milora—becoming Valhalla City’s undisputed queen of drama.
“Another lesbian? They’re all lesbians now…? What do you think this is, some kind of lace club?”
Morai had just recovered a bit and almost passed out again from rage.
“She likes women? Anna-veil does…? Eh? Huh? She’s serious??”
Rei hadn’t even processed her daughter’s identity reveal before being hit with this next shockwave.
“Captain, was this part of your plan too?”
Patty whispered.
To this, the famously brilliant Torina replied:
“Abababababababababababababababababababababa…”
She was completely babbling.
Torina had met Anna-veil·Alpharius back at the academy—Torina, then an arrogant villainess, and Anna-veil, a prideful rich girl. The two were classic fire and ice—clashing in every way.
Maybe it was their evenly matched talents and looks sparking rivalry, or maybe Anna-veil (coming from a merchant family—nicer phrasing—or a nouveau riche household—less nice phrasing) simply couldn’t stand a pure-blood northern noble like Torina. Whatever the case, Anna-veil constantly opposed her. She showed up everywhere Torina was: competing over dresses, grades, blocking boys from asking her to dances…
When Torina got bored of academy life and started an adventuring party, Anna-veil was the first to tag along, insisting she be vice-captain. She was impossible to shake off, so Torina reluctantly accepted her.
If this were an anime, this kind of girl always orbiting you and pulling childish antics to get your attention would be obviously into you.
But Torina knew this was real life, not some dumb anime. She figured Anna-veil just plain didn’t like her.
And yet—
What the hell, tsundere is real in this world??
I thought you were just a classmate, a colleague, a rival—and you wanna smash?? What next, you’ll tell me Patty, Laxis, Ji Xue, Naji are all raging lesbians who wanna eat me alive??
And Anna-veil, having just outed herself, kept going:
“I’ve never forgotten her birthday! Every holiday I gave her a gift! Always in public! And always the best, the most expensive stuff!!!”
Torina was stunned.
Huh? No wonder she always got weird crap from Anna-veil on her birthday—from oddly shaped antiques to overly avant-garde clothing. She’d just assumed it was flaunting wealth… Turns out it was actually heartfelt gifts?
“One time she got hurt in combat class! I stayed with her in the infirmary for two nights! Two nights! And got her the best medicine!!”
Huh? That was caretaking?? But she’d spent the whole time mocking her bruised head and calling her a bobblehead…
“At the academy ball, anyone could ask for dance partners. Tons of guys pestered her! I worked my ass off chasing off every guy—and every other girl too!”
Huh?? That was… protecting her? What kind of vintage shoujo manga nonsense is this? She thought Anna-veil was just being a pain!
“To go adventuring with her, I left all my family crap behind! I hated that house anyway! I don’t care about money! Torina is the first person I’ve ever loved! Just being with her is enough!”
Huhhhhh??? Isn’t that a bit much…
“Milora Sistema, I envy you! I’m jealous of you! I hate you! That blockhead Torina ignores everyone’s affections—but you? She actually got close to you! Why?! Why you?!”
[Anna-veil, don’t let your emotions take over—calm down and follow my instructions—]
“SHUT UP!!! That’s enough! You want to know why? There! I said it! Milora Sistema, laugh if you want! My spot in the tournament’s definitely disqualified anyway! You win! Go ahead, mock me! Gloat all you want!!”
“…………”
Milora stood there, mouth agape, eyes full of shock.
But quickly, she closed her mouth, lowered her eyes in thought, then—
“…No. I haven’t won. And you haven’t lost.”
“…Huh?”
“Honestly? I’m a little happy to hear how you really feel.”
“Huh?”
“I never understood you, vice-captain. I had a vague sense, but I couldn’t be sure. But now that you’ve said it all so openly, that’s a good thing. I’ve already learned the hard way that cryptic people suck, so just saying it straight is best. So—let’s fight.”
Torina raised her twin swords, stance serious.
“Let’s fight, Anna-veil·Alpharius. Forget about family politics or arranged marriages. Just you and me, a one-on-one, under your own name.”
“…You’re serious?”
“Morai said it: ‘Only the strong deserve a beauty.’ So… now that you’ve confessed, prove you’re stronger than me. Win her heart fair and square!”
“……!”
Anna-veil was stunned—but the system immediately shouted:
[Don’t listen to her! What’s this ‘fair and square’ crap? Just launch another ultimate and crush her! She won’t dodge this time!]
“………………”
[She’s provoking you! Don’t fall for it! Think—]
“…Shut up.”
This time, Anna-veil didn’t listen.
She inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly. She picked up her spear and took a practiced stance.
“No need for your big cosmic spell setups this time. Just shut up.”
[But—]
“Shut. Up.”
Anna-veil fully ignored the system.
Milora’s words seemed to have helped her figure something out.
“You’re right. I’m tired of dragging this out. So—I’ll prove that my feelings for her run deeper than yours through this fight!”
“As you wish!”
Milora charged forward—
Anna-veil raised her spear to meet her—
CLANG!!!
Spear and sword collided. The spearpoint thrust toward Milora’s chest, but Milora parried it with a short sword and countered with a heavy slash. Without the system, Anna-veil couldn’t use advanced spells—only scattered starlight, but she used timing and force to disrupt Milora’s sword, sweeping with her spear as Milora raised rock barriers.
Now it was pure melee—magic woven into close-quarters combat. No more blinding bombards, no more system chatter—just two girls clashing hearts and steel.
Intense. Brilliant. Electric. Beautiful.
“So nice… two pretty girls fighting over you.”
Patty whispered beside Torina’s ear.
“Uh… yeah…”
Torina had no idea how to respond.
Anxious.
Stunned.
But maybe… secretly pleased.
And in that tiny bit of pleasure—was also a faint unease.
“…I need to get ready.”
