Bang!
The ornate, carved European door was violently kicked open with extremely blunt force, slamming hard against the wall with a tremendous noise, completely shattering the intimate and quiet atmosphere inside the room
Gold City was leaning against the door, arms crossed and an expression of disgust that clearly screamed:
"I'm here to catch a cheating spouse"
Her gaze swept across the room like a scanner, first cutting through Kaito like a knife and finally landing on the Overlord who had been immersed moments before but had now quickly regained her vigilance on the sofa.
"Oh, isn't this our great Overlord?"
Gold City curled her lips into a provocative sneer.
"What's wrong? Are you already so cornered that you can't even utter your magnificent verses?"
TM Opera O immediately put her mask of arrogance back on, elegantly adjusted her skirt, and responded with a cold laugh.
"My dear Miss Gold City, it seems your rehabilitation training has been quite a success, since you now have the energy to barge in anywhere; however, my stage is not a place where any stray cat or dog can step, much less a defeated enemy"
The air between the two women was once again charged with gunpowder.
But this time, Gold City seemed prepared.
Instead of getting angry when criticized with the term "defeated enemy," she smiled even more radiantly.
"Really? Then I want to see it with my own eyes"
She entered the room, every word like a poisoned needle, precisely and viciously stabbing the deepest wound in TM Opera O's heart.
"The Overlord whose winning streak was interrupted by a nobody in an insignificant race... can she really keep singing with the same confidence as before?"
This comment hit the mark.
Color instantly drained from TM Opera O's face.
Her body immediately stiffened like a marble statue, and a flash of deep, defeated pain crossed her purple eyes.
Her pride, her legend, her everything, was built on that undefeated myth.
The interruption of her winning streak was the ugliest crack in that myth, the worst nightmare she never wanted to mention to anyone, and which haunted her in the darkness of the night.
Just as she was preparing to retaliate with even more intense and hurtful words...
A warm and firm figure unexpectedly appeared in front of her, completely blocking Gold City's malicious gaze.
It was Kaito.
He stepped forward, shielding TM Opera O behind him.
He didn't turn to comfort her, but looked directly at the stunned Gold City, his tone calm but with an undeniable strength.
"Gold City, you can be angry with me and you can be upset that I came here, but you cannot insult her this way"
"A single defeat cannot negate the countless glorious moments that TM Opera O personally created; you know that better than I do"
Gold City was left speechless by his words.
And Kaito made a move that surprised her even more.
He turned around, not looking at TM Opera O's expression, but simply extending a hand, wrapping her hand—which had grown cold from anguish and pain—firmly and gently within his warm palm.
Then, with a voice so soft it seemed capable of piercing the heart, he whispered:
"A true Overlord never needs to prove anything to anyone"
"Because your stage will always be here"
He used his free hand to gently tap his own chest... TM Opera O stared at the figure in front of her, who wasn't particularly tall but seemed incredibly reliable at that moment.
She heard those words that touched her soul.
She felt the reassuring heat emanating from his palm, banishing all the coldness.
All this time, she had used magnificent rhetoric to build walls, she had used an arrogant attitude to hide her vulnerability, and she had used an endless performance to force herself to keep going.
But at that moment, all her strength, all her pretense, and all her pride could no longer be maintained.
"Plop"
A crystalline and burning tear slid from her beautiful eye, tracing her cheek and falling onto their joined hands.
This was the first time off-stage that she truly cried for herself, not for a plot or a performance.
Suddenly, she tightened her fingers, clutching Kaito's hand with strength and force, as if it were the only piece of driftwood she had managed to grab in a raging tide: her entire world.
[ Ding—! ]
The familiar and pleasant system notification sound rang with a triumphant fanfare in Kaito's mind.
[ Congratulations, host! Target [ TM Opera O ]'s psychological barrier has completely collapsed and her trust level has reached 100% ]
[ Target completely healed! Mental and physical status evaluation: Perfect! ]
Kaito knew he had succeeded.
He no longer hesitated, immediately pulling the girl behind him into his embrace, allowing her to bury her face in his shoulder and completely release the vulnerability she never showed anyone.
He completely ignored Gold City standing beside them, who was utterly stunned by the scene before her, her eyes instantly filling with shock, confusion, and overwhelming jealousy.