When Gold City stepped out of the isolation room, her heart was still a mess.
The traces of crying on her face had not entirely faded, and the sweetness and dependence she felt after being fully understood flooded her like warm water.
She wanted to see that man again, she wanted to say something to him, even if only... just to smell that comforting scent on him once more.
But the first scene she saw when she opened the door instantly froze that softness into ten thousand years of ice.
In the hallway, she saw that woman—as extravagant as a strutting peacock—using that flashy feather fan to flirt... lifting his man's chin!
The moment the thought "His man" flashed through her head, Gold City's rationality snapped with a "pop."
Her gaze turned cold instantly; the moisture that had been clouding her pupils had now condensed into sharp ice picks.
Just as TM Opera O was about to take her first step to leave, she heard the slam of the door along with Gold City's shout.
"What are you doing to my exclusive masseur?"
Gold City's voice wasn't loud—it could even be described as calm—but beneath that silence, a volcano was suppressed, ready to erupt, filled with a cold and undeniable warning.
She took a few strides with her long legs, approached Kaito, and without even looking at him, reached out and pulled him back. Her posture was exactly that of a lioness protecting her cub.
"W-What kind of development is this?! (Q ﹏ Q)"
Kaito, shielded behind her like a chick, looked completely bewildered.
TM Opera O turned around, her face still wearing that serene smile, as if Gold City's hostility were merely a harmless breeze.
"Oh my! So another leading actress has made her entrance!" She said in an operatic voice.
" However, my dear Miss Gold City, hasn't your scene already ended? Or perhaps... do you have some new perspective on the role of 'Sore Loser' that you wish to share with me?"
Sore loser.
This title, like the cruelest curse, struck Gold City's most painful scar with precision and harshness.
Indignant, she laughed, and a cold curve appeared at the corner of her mouth.
"Heh, heh, whether I am a sore loser or not is not something a third-rate actress like you, who only knows how to put on a show, can judge"
She took a step forward, protecting Kaito even more completely, her gaze like two unsheathed swords staring directly at TM Opera O.
"I'm only warning you once:
"Stay"
"away"
"from"
"my"
"exclusive"
"massagist"
The last six words were practically spat through her teeth, each syllable loaded with possessiveness.
"Wait, wait! Exclusive what...? When did I become your exclusive property? The contract hasn't even been signed! No, that's not the point!"
Kaito was so anxious behind her that he felt he was about to burst into smoke.
"Yours'?"
TM Opera O seemed to have heard the funniest joke of the century.
She covered her mouth with her feather fan, letting out a series of tinkling, yet deeply mocking laughs.
"Hahaha... What a ridiculous statement! How can a common object without an owner speak of exclusive ownership? This Overlord simply reserved the most suitable role for my script in advance"
Her tone shifted, and arrogance flashed in her purple eyes.
Her gaze swept over Gold City and rested on Kaito, behind her.
"Do you really delude yourself into thinking you can claim the Belno of the sun for yourself?"
With a single sentence, she elevated Kaito to an extremely high position and lightly dismissed Gold City's "petty" possessiveness as completely ridiculous.
"The sun? Me?! Big sister, don't put that tall hat on me! I just want to be a quiet sunflower! ( / ϖ \ )" Kaito felt he was about to explode on the spot.
"Whether the sun will shine only for me, I don't know", Gold City replied immediately, refusing to yield.
"But I do know that, no matter how bright the sun is, if a bunch of buzzing flies surround it, it only causes disgust!"
She bit down hard on the word "flies".
Flies!
Invisible sparks clashed fiercely and exploded where the gazes of the two women met!
One was direct and dominant, radiating the strong aura of "Mine, mine, all mine".
The other was magnificent and arrogant, showing the tyrannical style of "All things under heaven are for my use" in her words.
The air in the hallway seemed to have been sucked out and solidified by this terrifying aura, turning it suffocating.
And Kaito, the center of the storm, was as small as a speck of dust in the verbal confrontation between these two top-tier fierce umas, unable to interject a single word.
[Warning!]
[Warning!]
[Detected that the Host is in the center of a high-intensity conflict zone!]
[The concentration of hostility continues to rise!]
The crisis intuition was sounding the alarm frantically, and huge, bold red letters spelling out "Danger! Danger! Run!" kept flashing in Kaito's mind.
No!
If he allowed them to continue arguing, the Fierce uma musume Division would be torn down today!
He took a deep breath and made a decision that could cause his death on the spot.
He had to intervene!