"Mmf..."
Jeanne's little fists had started out pounding "furiously" against Leon's chest in embarrassed anger, one strike after another, again and again...
But as the kiss deepened, the force behind those little fists gradually went soft. Before long, that clenched fist loosened on its own, her palm coming to rest gently against his warm chest, like a bird that had finally found somewhere to perch.
"Mn... mmh..."
"I... I can't breathe!"
Only when her breathing had turned ragged and her legs had gone weak, when she was nearly leaning into his support just to stay upright, did Leon finally release the large hand pressed against the back of her head.
"You... bastard! Scumbag! Taking advantage of me when I'm... when I'm down...!"
The moment she caught her breath, Jeanne, cheeks flushed crimson and eyes shimmering, glared at the "culprit" in front of her, stammering out her accusation with her pitifully limited "vocabulary of insults."
But this utterly toothless scolding meant nothing to Leon, who had long since grown a thick skin weathering storms of every kind. It was like a gentle breeze drifting across a hilltop... not only painless, but it only made him think she was kind of cute.
Seeing that Leon looked completely unbothered, Jeanne grew even more flustered and furious, and beneath that black gown with its deep, barely-there V-neckline, her pale skin rose and fell visibly with her quickened breaths.
First she'd been "bullied" like that in front of everyone, leaving Jeanne so mortified she wanted to find a hole to crawl into. Then she looked up and met the knowing, appraising gazes of Margaret and Irisviel...
"Nngh!"
That scorching, fingertip-trembling sense of shame surged to its peak in an instant.
Jeanne abruptly threw both hands up to cover her face, completely unable to face anyone anymore.
Expression unchanged, Leon swept an arm out and gathered the mortified Jeanne back into his embrace, letting her bury her burning cheeks against his chest. With one hand gently smoothing down her slightly mussed hair, he looked up and raised an eyebrow at the two figures beside him who were watching with rapt, gossip-hungry faces, the goddess of justice and the moon goddess:
"Lady Astraea, Kaguya's in a lot of pain, isn't she?"
"Don't worry, just leave it to our Iri!"
"Huh?"
With a single line, Leon deftly steered most of these two gossip-loving goddesses' attention back to the matter at hand.
"Iri, hurry and use that unbeatable magic of yours to heal Kaguya!"
Leon waved over Irisviel, who stood off to the side with flushed cheeks and a wandering gaze.
Iri's condition right now could honestly be called even worse than Jeanne's.
In all her "long" life, when had she ever witnessed such a blatant, intense kiss? Leon and Jeanne's shameless French kiss had hit her like a nuclear blast, scorching her little head into a blank slate and bringing all thought to an instant halt.
If she hadn't been biting down hard on her lower lip, using the pain to force herself to stay conscious, she probably would have fainted from sheer embarrassment long ago.
W-was this even something a "baby" like her was allowed to watch?!
Too much!
But... Jeanne didn't seem to mind it just now. She even looked a little... like she was enjoying it?
...No! When we get back, I-I'm going to find a chance to try it too!
Naturally, Leon had no way of knowing the startling thoughts churning through Iri's mind. Right now he just wanted to redirect everyone's focus as fast as possible, so he could pull himself free and devote his full attention to dealing with his women.
"C-coming!"
Forcibly suppressing those blush-inducing fantasies, Iri took a deep breath, tugged tighter at the slim-cut fur coat that lent her such a noble air, and walked over to the unconscious Kaguya on her white high-heeled boots, heels clicking.
First she gave a slight nod of acknowledgment to the goddess Astraea, and then, without even needing to crouch down and make direct contact with Kaguya, Iri simply stood quietly to one side, waved the wand in her hand, and began the chant of an extremely short incantation:
White Grail, sing!
The watching gods, who had been heatedly debating the chaos of the Demeter Familia's love-triangle drama, Leon's audacious way of breaking the deadlock, and "could I pull off that move myself"...
All at once, every voice cut off.
With Iri at the center, an exquisite silver rhombus magic circle unfurled beneath her feet in an instant! A cold, holy radiance spilled out like quicksilver, covering the surrounding space in a heartbeat.
Then a warm energy, so soothing it nearly drew moans from everyone, draped over every person within range like a soft veil of light.
White Grail!
"Huh?"
"Th-this, this, this, this..."
"Another spell?! If I'm not mistaken, that's the third spell she's shown us now, isn't it?!"
"Is this for real?"
"Are you sure she's human, and not the descendant of some elf?!"
"Hold on... the last human mage to hold three spells, as I recall, was that one... the Incarnation of Talent..."
"Hss..." Someone sucked in a breath through their teeth.
"Would you shut up?"
"Doesn't that mean her future could possibly..."
"Don't even think it, I don't dare think it..."
"Damn it! I'm so jealous it hurts!"
Naturally, this scene also drew the gazes of certain "green-eyed monsters"...
Loki, who was being dragged across the snow by the back of her collar in Riveria's grip, bit down hard on the hem of her own clothes, her eyes bloodshot, the envy and jealousy and resentment around her practically condensing into something physical, on the verge of bursting out.
"Boohoo... that damn Demeter! She makes me so jealous my teeth itch!"
"Why?! Why isn't Iri one of my kids?!!"
Riveria's face darkened, and the supreme staff in her hand rapped down without mercy on the crown of Loki's head.
"Calm down for me, Loki!"
"Even mama's started bullying me now?! Damn it!"
There was a sharp crack as the staff struck home.
"Ow, that hurt!"
...
White Grail:
Group healing, restores stamina, removes negative status effects
Healing, curse removal, poison removal, cleansing
Wide-area recovery magic
White Grail, as the highest-tier recovery magic, the instant it activated...
The ominous red-black aura coiled around that hideous wound on Kaguya's back, like ice and snow exposed to the blazing sun, melted and evaporated away at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In the space of just a few breaths, that eerie curse had been completely purified, not a trace left behind.
Seeing this, the worried tension that had gripped the goddess Astraea's face finally eased. Watching Iri, who continued to mend Kaguya's wound with a gentle light now that the curse was lifted, she softly asked Demeter beside her:
"A wide-area healing magic that can instantly purify even a curse that tricky..."
"Demeter, don't tell me you're saying... this child's potential in the field of healing is already enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with those two, Heith Velvet and Airmid?"