The Girls Are All Coveting Me

"Senpai, can I ask you something?"

Laura looked up to see the hesitant gaze of the little foodie.

Fratiss had never shown such an expression in front of her before. Curious, she nodded in agreement:

"Go ahead, what do you need help with?"

Fratiss looked around warily.

Seeing this, Laura snapped her fingers, and a Silence Barrier unfolded.

"Feel better now?"

Only then did the little foodie let out a breath and say:

"Senpai, I-I have a friend who encountered something..."

"This friend you're talking about isn't you, is it?"

"No, no way!" the little foodie said reluctantly. "It's just that my friend was bullied by her good friend and is feeling very upset, but she found out her friend didn't mean to bully her. She wants a reason from her, but she just won't say it."

As she spoke, the little foodie suddenly got a bit bashful.

Was her description a bit too specific?

She glanced up at her senpai and found that Laura wasn't looking at her with any scrutinizing gaze.

This allowed Fratiss to exhale in relief.

After thinking for a moment, Laura said:

"There are many situations like this."

"Like what?"

"For example, in families like mine, where a Chosen One was born, we usually don't easily speak ill of the deities our ancestors believed in because the deities might always be listening."

"Hmm? Why say bad things? Saying bad things is not good..."

"... But what if what's said is the truth?"

"..."

"Haha, don't worry, I'm not talking about the Child of the Sun Chaser."

"..."

"In short, I want to tell you that there are many situations where we might remain silent, because the more concealed the information, the higher the presence probably knows about it."

"Is that true?"

"Yes, depending on the level of historical secret involved, once spoken, it could bring trouble, or even result in being killed outright."

"Then, how much can actually be revealed?"

"Generally speaking, if the secrecy isn't too high, you can say something like on a certain year, month, and day, a certain deity caused an incident. However, it's risky to say exactly what they did."

"What if not a single detail is revealed?"

"Then I suggest you don't ask," Laura said without hesitation, "because it means once you know about the matter, your life is on a countdown."

Seeing that Fratiss seemed unaware of the seriousness, Laura sighed and explained:

"Did you know that Rephya once accidentally entered a Maze of historical echoes?"

"Yes, I heard it was very dangerous inside."

Fratiss thought to herself:

[And Lilith collapsed after the Maze opened]

Laura, seeing that Atis had a general understanding of the matter, nodded and said:

"Did you know? The school actually sent strong individuals into the historical echoes, trying to solve the problem, but the first batch of staff to exit the echoes were all wiped out."

"Huh? I thought historical echoes wouldn't cause death!"

"They didn't die because of the echoes," Laura said calmly. "They died because they encountered some unspeakable secrets inside the echoes. Returning to reality with these memories violated certain taboos, which summoned an Angel to claim their lives."

Fratiss was stunned.

Seeing the little foodie seemed frightened, Laura reassured her:

"But you don't need to worry too much about this kind of thing. Generally, you wouldn't encounter such high-risk information at your level."

"Then, was the senior attacked after entering the echoes?"

"No, junior Chloe has a Forbidden Magic that can lock his brain's information, preventing any memory leakage.

It's precisely because of this that he managed to bring out some teachers and students who got caught up in it."

Laura didn't mention that even with Chloe's assistance, several teachers and students still died in that Maze.

Laura just didn't know.

The death list actually included another group of people.

They were there to assist Chloe, entering the history echoes, witnessing the true "history and heritage" of the Ethereal Emblem.

Including all the three elders, who, after providing the blueprints for future technology to all nations of that era, either exhausted their life force and died of old age in the Maze or fought in the final battle, disappearing completely.

A relay spanning over 7100 years, exchanged for one opportunity.

...A chance for the Filthy Sun Demon Monarch to reincarnate.

It's just a pity.

The only people who knew about this were those who experienced the battle and the two principals of the Ethereal Emblem.

Even though Laura did not know these things, Fratiss could still tell from her words how serious the matter was.

Somehow, she felt the bitterness in her heart seemed to have dissipated a lot.

[So, it's because you're afraid I'll be hurt that you didn't tell me?]

...

Meanwhile.

Elsewhere.

Chloe slowly walked onto the path.

Seeing Lilith sitting there with a slightly dejected expression, he spoke:

"What are you doing?"

Suddenly hearing her lover's voice, Lilith looked up in surprise.

Seeing Chloe standing not far away, she instinctively wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes.

"Don't sit there, come over here and rest in the room."

Lilith hung her head, enveloped in an aura of gloom.

She got up and walked to Chloe, hugging him tightly.

"So? Did it get resolved?"

"It seems... not. I feel like such a fool, almost cried."

"Seems like you've already cried."

"I worried for so long, only to say three words, 'I'm sorry'..."

"Looks like our president isn't great at real-world scenarios."

"Even I felt that apology was so lame, didn't say anything meaningful, yet hoped for forgiveness."

"...Yeah,"

"And it's not entirely my fault either, now crying like this, I must be so foolish."

"..."

"What am I doing... Why was I like that back then... I must be out of my mind."

"Don't cry, just go back and rest first."

...

In the room.

Lilith lay on the bed.

Chloe was quite surprised.

"So there's a hidden little house here in the safe zone besides the camp?"

"When I came here last year, I found the living situation uncomfortable, so my family had it expanded."

"Huh?"

"I thought they always like to make noise all night."

"It seems like you're really afraid of noise."

Chloe rubbed her nose.

Lilith hummed softly and said, "Don't you want to ask how our communication went?"

"I am quite curious about it."

"So, do you want me to tell you?"

"No need, whether you all have resolved things or not is for you to judge, I just..." Chloe gestured, "laid it all out, leaving you all to make your own judgments."

"Hmm?"

Lilith caught on quickly that Chloe might have done something else.

Chloe smiled but didn't speak, clearly having no desire to elaborate.

"I, I just apologized, but whether she understands, I don't know."

"That's why I don't need to know either. The standards for judging right or wrong still have to be set by you all."

Chloe looked at Lilith, who was sprawled on the bed, gently stroking her soft hair and said:

"When you two can laugh and hold hands, then come and tell me. Take a good bath, and get an early sleep."

Chloe got up, intending to leave.

"Wait."

"Hmm?"

"Are you going out?"

"I feel like I didn't eat enough, so I'm planning to whip up something more to eat."

However.

The president, who usually liked to maintain a serious demeanor, now extended her hands with teary eyes, saying:

"Stay here and have me, isn't that good?"

Chloe was beguiled by her multitude of charms.

Soon, strange sounds echoed from the artificially carved bath.

The sudden rain had just stopped.

Lilith lay in the bathtub, her mood still somewhat low.

Chloe, sitting across from her, said:

"You hope Fratiss can accept your apology, right?"

"...I don't know, maybe it would be better if she continued to hate me, at least she wouldn't be dragged into the final battle."

"..."

"Besides, even if she would forgive me, we probably can't return to the way we were then. If that's the case, we might as well... not accept the apology. In any case, I've already secured her well enough."

Chloe couldn't help but chuckle at this.

Lilith pouted and said:

"You're really hurting me by saying that~"

"But if she truly refuses, it'll be even more painful for you, right?"

Lilith froze there, subconsciously pursing her lips tightly:

"So what should I do? If it were me, I wouldn't want to accept such a senseless apology either..."

"What would you have Fratiss think? That kid is also struggling now. Sister, you made her suffer so much, and now you just want to run away directly?

Why not wait a bit, let her make a decision first, and don't jump to conclusions on your own.

You both are really good girls. I believe that even without stating the truth, you can understand each other."

Chloe was actually in no position to get involved.

Back when Fratiss was still Kasha, she was that kind of innocent and kind-hearted but somewhat sensitive girl.

And Lilith... he actually noticed quite early on that Lilith wasn't good at dealing with her own emotions.

Much like experiencing it for the first time, she cared too much, rendering herself helpless and losing her judgment.

However, he always believed that with both of their personalities, they would eventually find an opportunity to understand each other.

—Not to mention he wasn't completely passive in watching.

There's a time to push when a push is needed.

Just as he was contemplating how the two would see the future, Lilith already hugged tightly, clinging to him.

Perhaps out of confusion, today's senior sister was especially clingy.

Chloe softly said:

"Do you really not want Fratiss to accept your apology?"

"...I hope she accepts."

"Then why did you say that earlier?"

"Because I'm really scared... It's my first time experiencing something like this..."

"Are you referring to apologizing? Haha, with your situation, it seems like it's always others apologizing to you..."

"Not really..." Lilith murmured, "Do you, you remember the first time we met?"

"Which time?"

"I don't mean the walnut incident."

"Oh, you mean when you came back from the past."

"Yes, I seem to... lack some understanding of emotions in this area... Actually, I wanted to comfort Annie at that time, but I ended up saying something really hurtful..."

Lilith looked cautiously at Chloe.

She originally wanted Annie not to be so sad; she didn't want to see Annie so upset.

But as soon as she spoke, it came out as:

"Tch, so why not just get another one?"

In the end, a fight broke out between the two.

Ashamed, she couldn't strike back and ended up severely beaten.

"After, later, after meeting Fratiss, I seemed to understand a bit more."

She was utterly confused.

The sudden burst of emotions really left her at a loss.