"Sorry, girl, but Leo and I are lovers now. So you'd better not try to hurt your brother~"'

Those words echoed inside her skull, repeating with the venom of a curse, when 'that woman' spat them at Valra.

It was a curse, truly—a real, twisting curse. No matter how fiercely she tried to shut it out, those words swirled in her head again and again, an endless loop of shame and defeat, until finally she broke and wept at her own powerlessness.

She sobbed in her bed, face buried in the pillow, streaks of mascara and tears soaking the fabric. Her hands balled the sheets, her shoulders shaking. She never imagined—never in her wildest, most reckless dreams—that she would end up crying over a man.

Why?

Why cry for someone like him?

It's not as if he were a legend or some celestial prince.

In fact, the boy she was watching from afar… yes, she was simply watching, sometimes exchanging awkward words, never anything more. This boy—this Leo—was, by all outward signs, nothing remarkable.

His beauty was plain, his body slight, almost fragile. Nothing about him should have drawn her gaze, nothing should have made her heart stutter.

Nothing… He was like a face in a faceless crowd, someone you pass in a bustling market and never remember. He was forgettable. And yet… yet she could not forget the way he refused to yield.

No matter what fate threw at him, no matter who mocked or scorned him, no matter how battered he became, Leo never surrendered... Just like her!

Compared to her family, she was no more than a shadow on a sunlit wall. Most would overlook her; some would not even recall her name unless the bloodline was mentioned. She was nothing to them, just another child in the long line of their house, offering nothing that could make her stand out.

Not talented in the ways her kin were, not a prodigy with magic, not a prodigy with sword or spell. And yet, she had something: she refused to break. She would not surrender, not even to fate itself.

That was why she felt a strange kinship with him, a bond quietly woven between souls who endured, a connection only the stubborn ever understood.

She rose, again and again, from her defeats, clawing her way back to stand tall. She wanted to be worthy of her family's name. That was why the day she managed to summon her champion, joy swept her like a storm. She was over the moon, boasting to her family—even though their responses were bland, half-hearted, a mere shrug. Still, she was proud; finally, she could strengthen her magic and show them all what she could become.

Without her family's reputation propping her up, she would become someone they would remember. She would force them to remember her.

That was her dream… until that boy stepped back into her world. The heart she'd painstakingly tried to mend, that she'd convinced herself to move past, latched onto him once again.

It was… she couldn't find the words. Was it destiny? A cruel joke?

Maybe a second chance.

She told herself she wouldn't act desperate, that she wouldn't let her feelings show. That resolve shattered the moment she saw Sakura embracing the boy she had watched so long…

What…?

What the fuck? Was this bitch lying?

He was already taken by someone else!

Yet… yet… when Valra saw her chance, she couldn't help herself. She seized it with both trembling hands.

Maybe… maybe this was fate, she thought. Maybe fate itself was determined to tie them together, no matter how many times the threads unravelled.

She wondered if some unseen force wanted this... wanted him for her.

So she lied.

Yeah, she lied and twisted the truth, wove her words around him until he was tangled in her longing. Manipulated him, pulled him close, desperate to make him love her too.

She forced her way into his life-if she'd wanted, maybe they could have stayed just friends. Maybe things would have been simple. But everything shattered again, and in her desperation, she chose the lie. Just for a taste of the happiness she'd been starving for.

And sure, Leo loved her back, or said he did. His love—maybe she could see, deep down, that he didn't even understand what love was anymore.

How could he? What kind of person could, after waking with amnesia and suddenly finding himself with two women who claimed his heart?

Of course, he was lost. Leo was lost, too.

But he tried to understand, and most of all, he smiled at her in a way he never smiled at anyone else. He looked at her, truly looked, and in that gaze she saw a miracle.

Still, she lied. She manipulated him, twisted the truth, but those sins felt so small compared to what she had now. She wished... honestly wished that this could go on forever, that nothing would change.

That's what she hoped for… but fate had other plans.

Plans that forced her to choose... between him and… herself.

It was something she'd never imagined. Something she'd never let herself believe could happen. But now, fate cornered her, demanded her answer.

Him? Or herself?

After all the lies, after the manipulation, after dragging him into danger... did she even have the right to think of herself?

She wasn't sure.

Did she love him more than her own life?

She didn't know.

But if she asked him, if she looked him in the eye, he would always choose her. Whether he truly loved her or not, whether he understood love or not, Leo always chose her.

After all, even at the edge of death, when darkness closed in, when they both knew the end was near—even then, he shielded her. Because she loved him... That was the reason.

That was the only reason!

…So, yes. She sacrificed her mana circuit, the core of her magic, to cast this enormous, high-level spell—a spell only Stage 4 Mages, those who could conjure three magic circles at once, could attempt.

What did everyone think, that she could just conjure this out of thin air, with barely any mana left, exhausted, still only a Stage 2 Mage?

Impossible!

Unless someone was willing to sacrifice their mana circuits, the very thing that made them a mage, to activate this high-level spell.

Azrael stared at her in blank disbelief, mouth parted as if the right words would never come.

"You… You actually used your family's secret spell? By sacrificing your mana circuits?" Her voice trembled, "Girl, have you lost your mind? There had to be another way—something, anything else we could've tried—"

"What other choices did we have?" Valra replied, voice ragged, as she lay back against the broken stones of the ruined street. She stared up at the cloud-choked sky, every breath scraping her lungs,

"If we ran, that thing would've just gone after someone else. And think about it—right now, it's only Ophis and Essa who can actually use magic, and if we all burned our energy for this fight, what about the rest of the Fallens? Pride? Dracula? They're even stronger… and they're waiting. This… this was the only way." Her words faded as she coughed, a thread of blood seeping from the corner of her mouth.

The recoil from the spell battered her insides.

Azrael watched her, eyes wide with awe and sorrow, as if she saw a girl turning into legend right before her.

How could someone smile after destroying their own future?

"If Leo finds out about this… he'll be absolutely devastated."

Valra's lips curled into a weak, trembling smile.

Azrael shook her head as she slumped down beside Valra, tossing her still-hot gun aside.

She inhaled, "You really love him, don't you?" Her voice was soft, raw as she stretched her battered arms, pain flaring along every nerve.

Valra only shrugged, "Don't know," she muttered, turning her gaze away.

Azrael's jaw dropped. "What? So you threw away your whole damned future… not even sure if you love him?"

Valra's smile flickered, small and sad. "I don't know anything for certain. But I do know… I want to spend the rest of my life with him, whatever's left of it."

Azrael looked at her, a glimmer of gentle respect softening her features. "That's love, girl. Whether you see it or not, that's what it is."

Valra's breath trembled out of her, her chest finally relaxing.

"Honestly… this is for the best. From now on, there's no more Asterra Household. No more names to hide behind. It's just me. Just Valra." She gasped, the confession lifting a weight she'd carried since childhood, as if her ancestors' shadows finally faded.

For the first time, she felt light, as if her soul could float up into the evening clouds.

A hesitant smile, almost childlike, broke through her exhaustion, and tears slipped free, glinting in the dying light.

"T-This is… freedom?" She raised her hand, fingers trembling, clenching them into a fist, feeling and finally free of her family's chains.

Azrael, watching Valra, couldn't suppress her own crooked smile. 'My son really does know how to choose them,' she thought, 'He always did have a gift for finding impossible women.'

"Well, I shouldn't be surprised… Now I finally get why Leo kept pestering me to check in with you before making any decisions. He wanted to make sure everyone was at peace, that no one got left behind."

Valra blinked, brow furrowed with confusion. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

Azrael's lips quirked into a sly, teasing grin. She leaned close,

"It's a little late, but… It's nice to meet you officially. My name is Azrael. Leo's third girlfriend—officially approved by his second, Sakura. Please take care of me, fellow sister~"

Valra nodded automatically, her brain struggling to process the words. Then, as the meaning landed, her face transformed in shock, horror stretching her features.

"SAY WHAT!!"

Meanwhile,

Thuck!

The next petal unfurled, opening with a sound like a heart cracking, and a shimmering wave of power rippled across the battered province. At the far edge of the land, a flash of yellow fire erupted, lighting the horizon with its hungry glow.

Those flames looked so much like the inferno that had once ravaged this place, the kind of fire that left scars not only on the earth... but in memory itself-

"HUH!!"

Leo jerked upright, a gasp tearing from his throat as his eyes snapped open.

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