[Aestrea’s POV]

I simply walked away from there.

No direction or plan.

Just… forward.

My fists were clenched so tight my nails dug into the skin.

I could feel the sting, but I give a single fuck.

Couldn’t.

The cheers, the gasps, the looks…

All of them meant nothing now.

My boots scraped against stone, then shifted over dirt, grass. I barely noticed when I stepped into the garden.

The flowers swayed in the breeze.

But my body wasn’t.

Haaagh—!!

I stumbled to one knee, clutching my ribs as a mouthful of blood burst from my lips. It hit the grass in splatters—dark red against the soft green.

“Guh…”

I groaned, wiping my mouth with the back of my sleeve.

My vision blurred for a second.

Not from the blood loss.

But from something deeper.

That attack from Lucas… it wasn’t clean. It had traces of divine energy or whatever the golden energy inside my body was called.

It had burned deep into my veins, deeper than even my mana could instantly wash away.

But that’s not what made my chest tight.

It was that look.

That damn look in her eyes when she lowered her gaze.

Like I was some wild dog she couldn’t afford to let off the leash.

“…Tsk.”

I sat back, breath shallow.

Then, I whispered.

“Check lifespan.”

Ding.

A soft flicker of light appeared before me.

The system panel blinked once.

Then settled.

[Remaining Lifespan: 1 month, 11 days.]

“…Hah.”

I let out a short laugh.

No joy in it.

Of course.

Of course, it’d be like this.

…One month and eleven days.

That’s all I had left.

I leaned back against the old stone bench, feeling the cold press into my spine.

“…Fuck.”

Groaning, I covered my eyes for a moment before bringing my hand towards my forehead, where I could still feel an aching spot to scratch.

“…I need to find another way to increase my lifespan,” I added to myself, relaxing my body a little as I stared at the garden’s flowers.

Honestly, there were a few things I could do to get more lifespan, but all of them were considered unethical.

And of course, I will only resort to them if I truly need.

“Agh…”

Lucas’s attack… was a divine ability, huh?

No wonder…

Even when I tried to stop time, I was simply unable to do it. It was an attack that broke the laws of space and time itself.

And it was also an attack that could easily reach the peak of the SS-rank if not more.

That’s what it means to be a Hero, huh?

Being able to surpass everything and anything, even though you’re clearly much weaker than whatever you’re confronting.

Ahh…

I was about to use my sixth sword move if Headmistress Ruby hadn’t stopped me. Lucas would’ve probably died from that blow.

“Pfft… who am I kidding?” I laughed out loud.

Excalibur would probably activate some kind of defense feature to protect him.

Step…

A single footstep in the grass made me turn.

I turned slightly, squinting past the blur and sunlight.

And then, a long, cyan hair, soft and light as silk, was stirred by the breeze. Ears upright—flicking just once as if sensing me too clearly.

A single tail swayed behind her, casual but not careless. She wore the fourth-year black uniform, trim and clean.

Despite not knowing her, just by seeing the tail and ears, I already knew who it was, mainly because of James.

‘A divine beauty, huh?’

My eyes met her shimmering ocean ones. But what attracted my attention was the mole under her lip that seemed oddly attractive.

“Fuuu…”

I didn’t speak at all.

Just exhaled and lowered my gaze to the grass again, to the blood still drying where I’d coughed it out earlier.

The metallic sting still clung to the back of my throat.

“What do you want?”

The words escaped my lips.

Her body twitched at my words, but then she crouched—graceful, without showing any alarm—and pulled a small cloth from her sleeve.

A folded white square with clean embroidery.

I blinked.

“You seriously planning to get that dirty for me?”

She didn’t answer.

Just reached forward, slow, and dabbed the corner of my lip.

The cloth came away stained red.

At that moment, my nostrils twitched as an intoxicating smell reached them. Oddly… she wasn’t wearing perfume.

That was her.

Her natural scent.

It clung to the air like smoke from a slow-burning incense—sweet, sultry, with the faintest hint of something wild. Like crushed rose petals soaked in wine and shadow.

A scent that warmed my chest and chilled my spine at the same time.

“At least say something,” I couldn’t help but speak, frowning.

She lifted her head, staring directly into my eyes.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

And instantly—instantly—I understood why she’d said that.

Her voice…

It wasn’t soft.

It was pleasant.

Like a devil’s whisper in a cathedral.

Like silk dragging across bare skin in the dark.

It was the kind of voice that could make someone drop a blade in the middle of a battlefield—or walk off a cliff with a smile on their face.

My breath caught for a half second.

She tilted her head, her long cyan hair falling like a sheet of moonlight across her shoulder. The mole beneath her lip shifted slightly as her mouth curled just a little.

She hadn’t moved closer.

And yet, it felt like she had.

“Fuuu!”

I exhaled sharply.

One blink.

Two.

The scent faded, and the warmth dulled.

I stared at her—really stared this time.

Her tail swayed once, idle and elegant. Like none of this mattered to her.

Then, with a neutral voice, I asked, “What… do you want from me?”

Selene raised an eyebrow.

Her lips perched up thoughtfully as she pressed her index finger gently to her cheek. It wasn’t an innocent gesture—it was measured, like she was choosing a mask to wear.

Then she smiled faintly.

“How about you?”

My eyes turned cold.

Most people would’ve flushed, stammered, or gotten flustered at her words. Even I would be a bit taken aback.

But Selene wasn’t exactly normal.

She was a kitsune.

And her natural element is Seduction. Who knows what tricks, what passive abilities she could unleash with a glance or breath?

I didn’t trust it.

Didn’t trust her.

Especially not now. Not when I was already on edge, burned out, and dragging this broken body around like a sack of regrets.

Besides… I had too much to do.

I have too many enemies waiting for me to make a single mistake and attack me.

The Star Society, the Emperor itself, not to mention, the fucking Dark Order.

And from what I’ve peeked at the future…

The church.

With those kinds of enemies, each one of them being able to even danger to entire countries with a mere flick of their fingers, I needed to get stronger.

At least…

Strong enough to slaughter a peak SS-rank with ease.

Strong enough that I didn’t need to sacrifice my lifespan just to survive another fight.

So I spoke again.

“I’ll ask one more time.”

“What do you wan—”

But before I could finish, her voice slid through the air—sharp, clean, slicing through my sentence like a blade through parchment.

“I want you to help me kill the Emperor.”

Silence.

Even the wind stopped.

Her tail fluttered lazily behind her, like she’d just asked me to fetch water.

Like it was nothing.

I didn’t exactly react to her words.

“…Why me?”

Selene’s ears twitched.

Then came that smile again—not soft this time, but sly.

A little too knowing.

The kind of smile that said she’d already won, and was just waiting for me to catch up.

“Hmm…” she hummed, stepping lightly to the side, her tail swaying behind her like a metronome.

“That is the question, isn’t it?”

She put a finger to her lips, tapping once—those shimmering ocean eyes glancing up like she was pretending to think.

Pretending.

I didn’t fall for the act.

She knew exactly what she was going to say.

“Oh, I could tell you I think you’re strong,” she said, circling me slowly now, voice laced with teasing.

“That you have potential. That you’re dangerous and mysterious and tragically charming…”

Her breath touched my ear.

“But that’d be a lie, except the charming part of course~”

I turned my head slightly, watching her from the corner of my eye.

She giggled—quiet, almost musical.

Then she stepped forward—not much, just enough to make it clear this wasn’t a joke.

“You really don’t know?” she asked, her voice softer now.

Less seductive and more… curious.

I said nothing.

And that’s when her eyes narrowed just a little. The faintest smirk curved her lips, like she was about to reveal a secret no one else had the right to know.

“I know what you did to him,” she said.

Still soft.

But every word dropped like a pebble into still water.

“I know that you were the one who attacked the Emperor a few days ago.”

Her smile faded.

“You scarred him.”

A gust of wind brushed past.

The garden’s flowers swayed gently, like they too were holding their breath.

Selene’s gaze sharpened.

“You traumatized him,” she whispered.

At that moment, the glow in my eyes intensified for a moment.

Swoop!

『 Ice Generation! (✦ 1st-level Spell ✦) 』

And immediately, I grabbed her wrist, throwing her against the grass as an ice sword formed on my right hand, standing right in front of her neck.

A little bit of her blood oozed, sliding down the sword’s blade.

“How do you know that?”

My voice was cold as ice.

But she…

She only smiled instead.

As if remembering something.

“I’m glad that you’ve remained the same, Aestrea.”

“I’m truly glad.”

She giggled madly.

…Fuck.

Another crazy bitch.

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