This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

Maple Syrup closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly.

The sound of sighing in the palace was so loud and synchronized that it was almost comical.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Mistblade, Wither Monarch, Bone Shade, Flowering Edge—every one of them, whether they had participated in the Card Swap game or stayed behind in Lania Kaia to oversee BlueStar's descent—were all inhaling and exhaling in perfect rhythm.

She would bet anything this was the single most harmonious moment in Lania Kaia's history.

Mistblade cleared her throat, her tone calm and refined. "Let's continue."

Maple Syrup regained her composure and spoke evenly. "This round of the Divine Game is unusual. The players who didn't participate this time were exempted from punishment, but next round, every single one of them will have to join. The number of players in the next Divine Game will skyrocket. We need to—"

Everyone went on discussing how to deal with Dawn as if nothing had happened.

No one even mentioned going after BS-Rita—not because they didn't want to, but because none of them were confident they could actually catch her.

More importantly, everyone silently understood one thing: once BlueStar fell and merged into Lania Kaia, BS-Rita could be used to fight against Dawn.

Faced with that greater threat, none of them truly wanted to kill her anymore. Their first instinct was to get her on the team as fast as possible.

As an opponent, she was a nightmare. But if she became their ally in the war against Dawn, every single person in that room would happily slide over and make room for her at the table.

Since none of them wanted to kill her—at least not yet—the best plan for now was simple: play dumb.

...

Leaving B8017913 behind in BlueStar to watch over the cat, Rita used Absolute Freedom and landed on an uninhabited floating island near Dragon Island.

It was close enough to be convenient, but far enough that she wouldn't have to visit the elders there.

At that moment, the sky above Lania Kaia was still raining down dungeon portals. The three BlueStar descent notifications hadn't even finished echoing when she heard the roar of dragons in the distance.

"BS-Rita. Come."

Rita froze. Holy Cup's voice?

That was unexpected. Holy Cup had never been the chatty type. The last time Rita and Nivalis had visited Dragon Island, Holy Cup had only talked during their first formal meeting. Every visit after that, she was quiet and cold, not out of hostility, but simply because she was that kind of person—reserved and peaceful.

That was precisely why Rita dared to pass nearby without landing. Without Nivalis around, she didn't want to intrude.

Still, she couldn't just ignore her. With a sigh, Rita adjusted her course and flew toward the island. The glowing BlueStar symbol on her brow merged back into her skin as the golden rain followed her descent.

While flying, she quickly prepared a few gifts. By the time she reached Holy Cup's nest, she had both hands full of freshly made three-star dishes.

But the moment her left foot stepped into the lair, she froze. Holy Cup was staring at her with an expression somewhere between anger and disgust.

Rita slowly pulled her left foot back—and tried again with her right.

Holy Cup gave a cold, humorless chuckle.

Rita: "..." Not good.

So this was an ambush? Was it because Nivalis had almost died in the BlueStar War? Or had that little dragon done something else behind her back again?

She placed the gift neatly on the icy table. The golden rain around her pooled and formed a chair. Sitting down gracefully, she asked, "May I ask what I've done wrong to anger you, senior?"

Before Holy Cup could answer, North Year and Lidian entered one after another.

Now three dragons surrounded her, silently watching. Even though they had reduced their size to fit within the lair, they were still as tall as a building. The sheer pressure made Rita's heart pound.

Rita: "......"

Inwardly, she screamed for help. "Nivalis! Dragon Island! Emergency! Your mom, your dad, and your aunt are about to beat me up!"

Nivalis's voice came back flat and unhurried. "Oh no, I'm really busy right now."

That was definitely a bad sign.

Rita forced a polite smile at the three dragons and gave a tiny wave.

A second later, a flash of gold split the air. A figure cloaked in lightning burst out of the lair, her every step across the sky leaving behind spiderweb cracks of glowing thunder.

The three dragons followed, unleashing torrents of multicolored dragonfire.

Wait a minute—why did this scene feel so familiar?

Dodging bolts of lightning and fireballs, Rita shouted as she fled, "When did I ever toy with her feelings?!"

Holy Cup didn't want to hear a word of it.

North Year had a simple philosophy—if his wife hit someone, he'd hit them too.

And Lidian? She just wanted an excuse to stir the pot and help Pine Bloom save face.

Seeing that none of them were even interested in listening, Rita stopped trying to explain. After taking a few symbolic hits, she dove into the waves guided by the sound of the deep blue helm and fled far from Dragon Island.

Now that Lania Kaia was under invasion, Wither Monarch and the others wouldn't have time to set traps for her. She decided to go see Apache instead.

Outside Dark City, she used This Cat Right Here to transform into a calico. The golden rain dissolved into her eyes, turning them into twin pools of fragmented gold.

Unfortunately, the BlueStar emblem on her forehead was still glowing.

Rita rummaged through her dimensional pouch until she found a velvet pajama sash that 1-Bamboo had tossed into Magician's Wisdom Tooth earlier that morning after bathing. She wrapped it around her head several times, making sure the emblem was hidden. Satisfied, she trotted cheerfully into the city.

...

On the wall, the minotaur-shaped clock was telling another one of its awful jokes.

"Not funny," Apache said coolly.

Behind the counter, Kayden was checking the ledgers. "You've said that about every joke since Ravenclaw left."

"Really? Who's Ravenclaw? Never heard of her." Apache poured a carefully prepared potion into the cauldron. "Is there any Ashveil left? Bring me a box."

"Come on, she was in that newspaper you read last week. You even toasted when you found out Lania Kaia's invasion of BlueStar failed—though I still don't know if that made you happy or upset."

"I drink every day. What's that got to do with her?"

"You just said you didn't know who she was."

"If only you talked as little as the number of high-tier potion formulas you actually know... Ashveil! Now."

There was a rustling sound behind her. Apache stirred the cauldron with one hand and stretched the other behind her without looking.

A potion box was placed into her palm—but the other end of it, brushing against her fingers, was warm, soft, and furry.

Apache froze. A moment later, the undead's cold hand snapped shut like a trap. The potion box fell to the floor as she clamped down on the paw, then turned her head to look.

Behind her stood a ridiculous-looking calico cat, its forehead wrapped in a dark green velvet sash. It was frozen in a slightly awkward pose but didn't struggle, letting Apache hold its paw. In those golden cat eyes shimmered a mix of laughter and longing.

That strange, silly calico purred softly and said, "That joke wasn't that bad."