Schicksal Far East Branch, St. Freya Academy.
A girl with long white hair sat in the dorm room that now felt somewhat empty, a look of bewilderment etched onto her delicate face.
Not long ago, this dorm had been quite lively.
Four people lived here, and they were frequently visited by a certain overaged female teacher, the St. Freya Academy mascot, and a certain someone who came to scrounge for meals.
But now, all those people were gone.
Bronya had returned to Anti-Entropy to receive instruction from the Sovereign.
Mei had gone to Mexico, supposedly to discuss with her father whether she should participate in the Artificial Herrscher Project.
And Seele had been taken away by that certain someone to carry out a mission for Chaldeas.
None of them had returned yet.
Now, the only one living here was her, having just rushed back from her old man's place.
The reason she had hurried back was actually quite simple.
A few days ago, she had received an email from Seele.
In that letter, the girl named Seele had explained that she and Zihan were now officially dating.
It was sudden, but it wasn't entirely without warning.
Seele liked Li Zihan. That was something anyone could figure out with just a little thought.
Seele was a pitiful girl who had been sacrificed in a human experiment and imprisoned at the bottom of the Sea of Quanta. And Li Zihan was the hero who, in her moment of utter helplessness, had stepped into the Sea of Quanta and pulled her out from that endless void.
In this world, how many girls could refuse the hero who saved them?
Kiana thought to herself silently.
Seele liked Li Zihan. Anyone who was willing to think about it for a second would arrive at that conclusion. It was just like how a lonely girl would find it difficult to refuse the person who suddenly broke into her life to bring her warmth.
Kiana understood completely why Seele liked Li Zihan. Just as Seele and Bronya could understand why she liked Li Zihan.
But, if they were to force the issue, their relationships would very likely sour because of it.
Kiana felt that her current life was wonderful.
She had her bestie to cook all her meals, an Auntie Himeko who acted more like a real aunt than her actual great-aunt Theresa, a shorty frenemy to bicker with all day, and a love intere… a backup boyfriend to treat her to meals and play games with…
It would have been great if things could have just stayed that way.
Mei would never bring up the engagement, she would never bring up promoting her backup, the shorty would just remain that bastard's secretary, and Seele would just continue being a little fangirl.
As long as no one brought up feelings, they could all stay good friends, couldn't they?
As long as that balance could be maintained, they could all preserve the status quo and continue living happily together.
Therefore, just as Mei would turn a blind eye to certain things, she had always avoided a certain category of problems.
That's what the white-haired dango, who had chosen self-deception just like Miss Mei, had thought before.
But the turning point had finally arrived.
That little shorty Bronya's sister, seemingly unable to read the atmosphere, had confessed directly to Ah Li when they were alone.
And then—
Ah Li had accepted immediately.
They became a couple.
Even though she, Mei, and even Bronya wanted to maintain the status quo as much as possible, the matter of their romantic entanglements had been dragged out into the open.
Even if she didn't want to understand, didn't want to know, it was no longer any use.
Their relatively stable environment had just been GG'd.
"That pervert Ah Li definitely just agreed because he saw how cute the shorty's sister is," the white-haired dango muttered to herself, grinding her small, pearly-white teeth incessantly, as if she wanted to take a bite out of something.
Her voice was thick with deep resentment.
Ah Li was a lecher. Kiana had known that not long after meeting him. It was something anyone with eyes could see.
Although Li Zihan was always smiling, looking magnanimous and sunny, and always spoke calmly, giving off the impression of being very easygoing… that was all a facade.
Li Zihan wasn't sunny at all. He was super vengeful, and his methods were ruthless.
Take "Walter" for example. That guy had blocked his path when he was leaving with Mei, demanding he hand Mei over, and had been insolent.
And then—
And then there was no "then."
He had been dealt with on the spot.
It was said that when he died, his arteries and veins had been severed and then forcibly reconnected at random, completely destroying his circulatory system. It was an incredibly ugly death.
And her own first meeting with him involved smashing the car he was sitting in and provoking him relentlessly. The impression she had given off was probably even worse than Walter's.
But, Ah Li had only fought her symbolically before taking her to find Mei. After she realized it was all a misunderstanding, he didn't press the matter, only asking her to compensate the driver for the car repairs.
She was broke as a joke and had no money for compensation. In the end, he had paid for it himself.
She still hadn't paid him back for that money.
Kiana thought about it.
And then—
It was as if all her offenses against him had never happened.
He helped her without asking for anything in return, helped her find her old man, helped her find her great-aunt, and was even going to help her find her old man's illegitimate daughter next.
Ah Li had a total double standard.
The favored girl recalled these past interactions, and a sweet smile bloomed on her lips.
But that smile didn't last long.
As Kiana reminisced, her thoughts turned to how the guy who called himself her backup had immediately accepted a confession from someone else.
The thought made the smile on Miss Kiana's face gradually fade.
The guy who called himself her backup, practically her reserve rations, had just been snatched up and put in the pot by that little shorty's sister.
"You're my backup, at the very least. Do you have that little self-control?"
The young woman, who had just received a notification from someone with the ID "Irene Adler" that a certain someone had returned from five hundred years ago, stood up.
She took a deep breath and exhaled, calming her mood like a samurai through controlled breathing.
The unspoken agreement they all had was now broken.
From now on, restricting herself to a single role, that whole self-deceiving act, was useless.
If it had been Mei who had succeeded, Kiana probably would have accepted it. Her relationship with Mei and Ah Li had always been great. If those two got together, she would have gladly prayed for their happiness.
But it wasn't Mei who had succeeded.
It was the shorty's sister.
Well, in that case, if I go to get my backup back, it wouldn't be letting Mei down, would it?
Kiana, who wasn't very keen on giving Li Zihan up, thought to herself.
A large part of the reason she had never made a move was her fear of upsetting Mei. The white-haired girl stood up and pushed open the dormitory door.
She was going to go fight for the person she loved.
---o---