???
What is this crazy woman going on about all of a sudden? Is she trying to cut someone again?!
What if she actually comes at me? I just used up all my blood packs yesterday and have not had time to restock yet!
Without blood packs, how am I supposed to pretend to be injured if Alexia attacks me? She will not even be able to break through my defenses!
Should I strike first and give her a heart attack… wait, does Alexia even have a heart condition?
Forget it. I will just make something trigger and knock her out, then send her straight to the hospital.
Under Alexia's gaze, Cid kept a clueless expression on his face, while all these thoughts ran wildly through his mind.
The longer she stared, the more determined he became to act.
Just as he was about to make a move, Alexia suddenly withdrew her gaze and let out a sigh.
"I actually suspected you, Pochi. You, who would throw away your noble dignity for money. What was I even thinking? Has something gone wrong with my head?"
So she finally realized something is wrong with her brain? If she knows that, she should just go see a doctor herself.
Staring at Cid's confused, innocent-looking face, Alexia could not find a single trace of pretense. More importantly, she could not see what qualifications he had to join the Cult of Diablos.
In terms of status, he was just a baron's son, and most likely would not even inherit the family.
As for talent… she could not see any at all. If being completely shameless for the sake of gold counted, then maybe that was one.
As for strength, she was confident. Based on what Cid had shown so far, even if he was hiding something, she could still crush him. Even if he somehow got stronger once, and then took something to boost himself again, she was still sure she could beat him easily.
After going through all that, Alexia completely dismissed the idea that Pochi had secretly joined the Cult of Diablos behind her back.
Still, she would keep an eye on him. If Pochi really did turn out to be involved with the Cult of Diablos, then she would just have to knock some sense into him by force.
Even if she could justify it as being cautious, she still felt like she had been incredibly stupid just now.
Covering her face in her thoughts, Alexia stood there, while Cid was still thinking about how much force he had used earlier. The atmosphere fell into silence.
"Alexia, who is this gentleman? You two seem quite familiar. Could you introduce him to me?"
A voice broke the silence, drawing both of their attention. It was Beta, smiling gently.
After calming down, she had already given up on the idea of killing Alexia. The main reason was that she was not confident she could hide it from Shadow-sama.
It was not worth risking a drop in Shadow-sama's favor just to kill an ignorant princess who had only, by sheer luck, received his attention and briefly enjoyed the honor of being his girlfriend.
Hearing Beta speak, Alexia frowned slightly. She was annoyed, but she knew Beta had a point, so she suppressed her irritation and introduced them.
"Cid, Cid Kagenou, the second son of the Kagenou family, barons of the Midgar Kingdom.
He used to study with me at the Midgar Royal Spellsword Academy. After the world fusion, he trained hard to keep up with me and transferred into the academy I currently attend, Saikai Academy.
Natsume, just call Pochi 'Cid.' Do not go giving him strange nicknames."
As she finished, Alexia subtly shot Natsume a look.
"Um, I do not remember… never mind."
Cid opened his mouth to correct her. He had not transferred to keep up with Alexia, he had been forced to transfer by her sister. The way she put it made him sound like some kind of desperate hanger-on.
But Alexia shifted slightly, blocking Beta's line of sight, and from an angle she could not see, she pulled out a gold coin with a deft motion.
You think a single coin is enough to buy my dignity and make me go along with your story?
Cid wanted to say that.
But she was offering too much.
"This is Natsume, a novelist. Nothing special."
Compared to how she introduced Cid, where she tried to tie in every possible connection to herself, her introduction of him to Beta was extremely perfunctory.
"Cid, may I call you Cid?"
"Yeah, of course, Natsume."
Beta, you did it. You really did it. Not only did you call Shadow-sama by his name, but the magnanimous Shadow-sama even allowed such an offense. Alexia, this might be the only good thing you have ever done in your life.
"Tch. I told you to call Pochi 'Cid,' but couldn't you be a little more reserved? Where's that attitude you usually have when you go against me?"
Ignoring Alexia's complaints, Beta suppressed the excitement in her heart and continued gently,
"Cid, you don't have to call me Natsume. My real name is Beta. Natsume is just my pen name."
"Beta? Hey, Natsume, how come I didn't know that?"
"There are plenty of things you don't know. Where do you get the confidence to say that?
Also, our relationship isn't that close, so you should keep calling me Natsume."
Unable to hold back, Beta shot back at her. Knowing she was in the wrong, Alexia clicked her tongue and changed the subject.
"Alright, introductions are done. Natsume and I have something to discuss, so we'll be leaving first."
With a mix of guilt and certain complicated feelings in her heart, Alexia, who would normally stay for a while whenever she ran into Cid, now just wanted to quickly pull Natsume away from him, worried that this Elf, who overlapped with her in too many ways, would influence her.
"I don't mind, actually. In fact, I feel like I get along quite well with Cid.
Hmm… I would like to spend a bit more time with him. How about bringing Cid along too, Alexia?"
"You're serious?"
Alexia stared at Beta in disbelief. They were supposed to talk about the Cult of Diablos. Bringing Pochi along was basically asking for his death.
"No, no. If Pochi is here, he's probably waiting for someone, so he likely doesn't have time to accompany you. Natsume, if you're feeling lonely and want to find a man, I can recommend a few after we're done."
"Do you want to die?!"
Alexia immediately rejected Beta's suggestion and even came up with a reason, saying that Cid had something else to do.
"Actually, I'm pretty free right now. The person I was supposed to meet ran into some trouble, so I probably don't need to wait for her anymore."
As he said that, Cid glanced at Beta. Beta lowered her head, not daring to meet his eyes.
"Of course, I believe my friend didn't do it on purpose. Something unexpected must have happened."
Beta lifted her head again, her eyes seeming to shimmer.
"This was originally a gift I planned to give her, but it looks like I won't be able to now. And I'm not really into this kind of book.
If you don't mind, I'll give it to you, Beta, as a gift for our first meeting… or rather, our reunion. What do you think?"
Cid raised the book in his hand so both Alexia and Beta could see it, then handed it to Beta, giving her a subtle hint.
"Of course… I mean, I'm honored to receive a gift from you, Cid-sama.
I really like this gift. I'll treasure it as a symbol of our bond. I believe today will be a day I will never forget for the rest of my life."
Ahhh!!!
This is a gift from… no, from Cid-sama. A gift from Cid-sama. This might be the first time he has given me such a formal present.
Could the other Seven Shadows do that? Could they receive a gift from Shadow-sama? No, they could not!
Yes, I alone am the heroine of The Chronicles of Shadow-sama. Only me!
Thinking that, Beta accepted the gift Cid handed her with slightly trembling hands.
The moment she fully took it, she, who usually prided herself on her acting skills and could easily fool all sorts of cunning high-ranking figures, completely failed to suppress the smile on her face. What appeared was a heartfelt smile, pure beyond measure.
Yes, in Alexia's eyes, the smile Beta showed at that moment was her real smile.
It was different from the standard smile they had both polished through etiquette and socializing. This one held no disguise at all. It was simply the smile of someone who was happy. Maybe because they were the same type of person, Alexia could tell.
It sounded simple, but for people like them who constantly moved through social circles, taking off the mask was harder than anything.
Without that mask, how were they supposed to smile in front of people they did not know, or even disliked?
Why had she been worrying about Natsume? Was not she the one who should be worried right now? It looked like her Pochi was about to be stolen away by someone else!!!
At some point, the initiative that had originally been in Alexia's hands had already slipped away. Most of it had passed to Cid, and a smaller part to Beta. As for her?
Judging from the atmosphere between those two, she was just an outsider now.
Annoying. Extremely annoying.
Even though she knew the two people in front of her were, respectively, an ally who currently provided most of her intelligence and a friend who knew her true self, she still felt deeply irritated from the bottom of her heart.
Under the influence of those emotions, Alexia even felt as if her head had grown heavier.
"Hey, hey, hey. If I remember right, this is your first time meeting, isn't it? Natsume, do not act like you and Pochi are already that close."
Seeing the two of them staring at each other so tenderly after the gift exchange, at least from Alexia's and Beta's perspectives, Alexia could not take it anymore and directly cut off their gaze.
"And Pochi, I suggest you stay away from this woman. She is not a good person."
After interrupting them, Alexia turned and started badmouthing Beta to Cid, hoping to lower his opinion of her, without noticing that Beta behind her was staring with lifeless eyes.
The scene where the hero and heroine of my The Chronicles of Shadow-sama exchange tokens of love was interrupted… and now this damned woman is even speaking ill of me to Shadow-sama!!!
Her mind had not caught up yet, but her body had already acted on its first impulse.
The slime instantly formed a black blade that extended from her palm in secret. She gathered all the magic power in her body into one point and swung at Alexia's back.
The moment Beta realized what her body had done, she tried to pull back the attack, but she could not.
The strike was already too close to Alexia, less than a centimeter away, and Beta had realized it too late. With the force already in motion, there was no way to stop it.
Even if she ignored the damage to her own body and forcibly dispersed the power while pulling back her magic, Alexia would still end up either dead or severely injured.
So... all she could do was pray Alexia would not die that easily. As for an explanation afterward, she would just say she had suddenly been controlled.
Having worked everything out in an instant, Beta was just about to forcefully retract most of her magic power regardless of the strain on her arm when her body suddenly felt restrained... no, not restrained. It felt as though she had been buried in concrete. She was clearly still alive, yet she could not move at all. She could not even draw the outside air into her body.
"The World!"
Time stopped.
Cid looked at Beta with a slight headache, pressed a hand to his brow, and asked,
"Have you calmed down now, Beta?"