Compared to the others, Wendy, who had also waited for three years, wasn't in such a hurry.
In her eyes, from the moment she was captured and taken to the World Serpent headquarters three years ago, her fate was already grim.
Otto had tricked her, implanting the Gem of Desire into her body, which resulted in her being unable to walk again.
After that, World Serpent, which had abducted her, was constantly scheming while also trying to make her awaken as a Herrscher when necessary.
Although Wendy at the time kept trying to calm her heart and stop herself from falling into complete despair, she knew very well she was just barely holding on.
That was why, after she discovered Otto Apocalypse standing on the enemy's side in Abyssal City, she fell so quickly into the abyss of despair and immediately underwent her Herrscher Transformation.
Of course, although she completed her Herrscher Transformation, when she thought back on it, she felt that even as a Herrscher, she didn't have the power to threaten other experts.
After feeling powerless in Abyssal City, she fled, only to be caught and soundly beaten by her Senior Brother, Leo Ash.
Her Senior Brother could have killed her, but he chose to save her using the gentlest means possible.
Because of this, after she calmed down, she began to develop feelings for the Senior Brother she had always admired.
Of course, due to the changes her body underwent after the experiments, Wendy's thoughts became more delicate at times.
Upon realizing she couldn't have Leo Ash all to herself, Wendy immediately changed her strategic thinking.
Compared to the foolish ending of wanting Leo Ash for herself but failing, then hiding alone in her room crying miserably, Wendy felt there was no need to be so strict about many things.
Leo Ash was an outstanding, handsome, and capable man with a good personality.
In Wendy's eyes, it was perfectly normal for him to be surrounded by many beautiful, powerful, and good-natured women.
In this situation, Wendy would have to be crazy to think that a little girl like her, with a bad figure and who wasn't even that close to Leo Ash, could snatch him away from other girls who were more outstanding than her.
After setting her operational objective, Wendy began to prepare and work hard.
But facts proved that, much of the time, just preparing to work hard was useless.
If your luck wasn't there, no matter how much you prepared, you might still fail to achieve your strategic goal for various reasons.
After Leo Ash successfully killed Otto, the only Herrschers the Honkai side had left to deploy were the hardest-to-guard-against Herrscher of Corruption and the Herrscher of Finality, whom they would have to face in the end.
With a great war approaching, if Wendy jumped out at that moment and said to Leo Ash, "Senior Brother, please spend your life with me," she felt the consequences would be obvious.
Leo Ash was indeed very gentle to his comrades most of the time, but in the end, he was an Avenger seeking revenge against the Honkai.
For Wendy to suddenly jump out and obstruct his revenge just as it was nearing its end...
...from any perspective, public or private, that was not something she should have done at that time.
For this reason, Wendy chose to wait.
Wendy, who wanted to wait until after the great war to confess, finally saw the day the war ended.
The good news was that Honkai Energy was gradually disappearing from the Earth.
But at the same time, she received incredibly terrible news—Leo Ash had flown into Imaginary Space and engaged the Cocoon of Finality in a one-on-one battle.
Wendy, who had been eagerly awaiting that day, was suddenly filled with regret for her procrastination.
And now, Wendy, who had regretted it for three years, discovered her Senior Brother had returned from the moon to Schicksal HQ as if nothing had happened.
If she hadn't seen her Senior Brother catch up to Kiana, and known he would be seeing other people first, she wouldn't have wanted to disturb Leo Ash. Otherwise, Wendy would have definitely rushed up to him to pour out her heart at the first opportunity.
But now, knowing Leo Ash had other matters to attend to and other people to meet, Wendy, a Junior Sister who wasn't fundamentally that close to him, could only suppress the yearning in her heart.
After all, while they were indeed Senior and Junior Brother/Sister in name, looking back on their past experiences...
After Leo Ash knocked her out and injected her with the HSN serum, he had an explosive confrontation with Kevin and disappeared on the spot.
After that, Wendy went to Mount Taixu, and only after Leo Ash returned did she get to meet him a few times.
Following that, Leo Ash became the Schicksal Archbishop. While not busy with countless daily affairs, he was still very occupied tracking down the Herrscher of Corruption.
And after successfully killing the Herrscher of Corruption, Leo Ash announced he was entering seclusion to prepare for the battle with the Herrscher of Finality.
It could be said that although she was full of feelings for Leo Ash, Wendy also knew perfectly well—this was all her one-sided affection.
In the past, Wendy was too worried about Leo Ash to think about these things, but now that he was back, she had to face one question.
If Leo Ash... didn't like her, what should she do?
"I really have to hand it to you."
Leo Ash, who had been lurking in Wendy's room for a minute using the power of the Herrscher of Wind, couldn't help but reveal himself after hearing Wendy's inner voice with the Authority of the Herrscher of Sentience.
"You really haven't even considered the possibility of me rejecting you until now. I don't know whether to call you confident or what."
"S-S-S-S-S-S-S-Senior Brother?!"
Completely caught off guard by Leo Ash actively coming to her room, she turned to look at him in a panic, her mind instantly going blank.
Looking at the man she loved, Wendy felt a vague sense of unease.
Right now, Leo Ash wore the same poker face he always did when discussing serious matters.
Leo Ash had come to her room privately at night to talk about serious business, and he hadn't shown any reaction after hearing her inner thoughts...
"Sigh, such baseless confidence. It's really a letdown."
After a soft sigh, Leo Ash moved closer to Wendy with a cold expression, saying something that made her even more worried.
"One after another, what do you all take me for? A wish-granting machine that answers every prayer?"
*So... it really has come to this?*
*It was just my one-sided wishful thinking. Senior Brother doesn't feel this way at all. It makes sense...*
Before Wendy could even begin to wallow in self-pity, she suddenly noticed that Leo Ash, who had been straight-faced just a moment ago, now had a teasing smile on his face.
"Alright, I'll stop teasing you."
"I knew you were waiting for me, so I came over after I finished up a few things."
"Senior Brother...!"
Wendy, just realizing Leo Ash was joking, immediately started pounding on his chest in mock anger.
"You... You nearly scared me to death!"
"Well, how should I put this..."
Watching Wendy hammer his chest with her little fists, Leo Ash said helplessly.
"You all keep imagining me as something I'm not. It makes things difficult for me."
"At the end of the day, I'm just a normal guy. When I see a cute Junior Sister waiting for me in her room, I can't help but want to tease her a little, can I?"
Honestly, as Wendy heard Leo Ash's tone gradually fill with affection, she truly felt the scene before her was just too wonderful.
So wonderful that it even made her think she must be having some strange hallucination.
That Leo Ash hadn't actually come to her room at all.
That the man before her was purely an illusion born from Wendy's excessive longing...
The instant that thought formed, Wendy felt herself being roughly pulled into Leo Ash's arms.
As their bodies pressed tightly together, Leo Ash whispered to Wendy.
"Now, do you feel that I'm 'real'?"
"Silly girl, don't overthink it. I am, without a doubt, the real me."
"Besides, since I came here on my own initiative, I definitely didn't run over in the middle of the night just to reject you. You can relax a little."
"After all, I'm very greedy. So greedy that I want to take everything I desire into my own hands."
"So..."
Feeling the warmth from Leo Ash's body, Wendy asked him softly.
"Does the 'thing' that Senior Brother wants... include me?"
"Mhm, of course. And it's too late to say 'I want out' now."
"I won't let you escape, Wendy."
"Actually..."
At this moment, Wendy suddenly said something she shouldn't have said at a time like this.
"Senior Brother, you have so many outstanding partners. To you, is a Junior Sister like me, who you're not even that familiar with, really something you want?"
"Senior Brother, you're too gentle. So gentle that you even want to respond to someone like me with kindness."
"If I respond to you just like this, Senior Brother will gently accept me, I'm sure, but..."
"—What about your own feelings, Senior Brother?"
"...I knew this would happen."
Looking at the still-worried Wendy, Leo Ash gazed very seriously at the girl who had grown in many ways, but whose anxieties had also grown with her.
"One after another, you all feel you're not charming enough to be by my side. My teasing you about 'baseless confidence' was just a joke. At times like this, I really wish you'd be a little more confident."
"You're an adorable, beautiful girl, and I, Leo Ash, am a ravenous pervert. Under these circumstances, treating me like a saint is kind of looking down on me, you know."
"Oh, come on. A 'ravenous pervert'?"
Looking at the man who was clearly talking nonsense, Wendy said, exasperated.
"With your power, status, strength, and achievements, Senior Brother, you could just beckon with your finger and hold a massive 'developer conference' every day at Schicksal HQ."
"But not only did you not do that, you treat every colleague in Schicksal with almost equal respect. If a 'ravenous pervert' has such good 'table manners,' can he even be called a 'ravenous pervert'?"
...No, wait, how come none of them are jealous? Instead, they're actively making excuses for me.
I'm a scumbag! You guys aren't even getting mad. This is making me lose face!
"Besides, in the end, what everyone cares about isn't 'who is by Leo Ash's side,' but 'can *we* be by Leo Ash's side'."
Wendy looked up into Leo Ash's eyes and responded with utmost seriousness.
"As long as I can be by Senior Brother's side... I'm already more than satisfied."
"...Hah, really. I'm not as good as you imagine."
Faced with Wendy's incredibly direct confession, Leo Ash suddenly brought up a topic that the two of them had tacitly avoided.
"For the sake of the bigger picture, I am willing to sacrifice the personal interests of others."
"Gray Serpent and Jackal gave you a terrible time back then. Logically, as my Junior Sister and a Schicksal Valkyrie, I, as your Senior Brother and the Schicksal Bishop at the time, should have taken revenge for you."
"But because World Serpent later took the initiative to ally with us, I never brought the matter up again."
"You have every right to be angry, Wendy."
"Ah, about that..."
Hearing Leo Ash's apologetic words, Wendy suddenly giggled.
"Senior Brother is right. For a time, I was very unhappy with those two World Serpent operatives."
"But what you don't know is, after you left for Imaginary Space, Senior Kevin came to me on his own initiative and offered a sincere apology on behalf of his subordinates."
"He intended to compensate me with something, but I wasn't interested, so I refused."
"He's such an old senior, he's worked so hard for so long, and yet he still came to me, swallowing his pride to apologize for his subordinates. After he went that far, my anger naturally dissipated."
*Huh, that happened?*
*After the Honkai was eliminated, Kevin, who was already incredibly gentle, seems to have become even more so.*
"So! This wishy-washy behavior is not the style of us Shenzhou Sword Immortals!"
Seeing the stunned Leo Ash, Wendy forcibly pushed him down onto the floor and said with a grin.
"Hmph hmph hmph, this heroine has been waiting for this day for a long time. At least for today..."
"—Until this heroine collapses from exhaustion, this heroine will not let you have a chance to rest, Senior Brother!"
*Woah, no way. Again?*
*One after another, they're all virgins, yet they all act like they're going to squeeze me dry.*
*Even with the Power of Finality, I'm starting to feel a little panicky.*
*My future married life... I guess these stimulating sessions will be unavoidable.*