113~ So Which One Then?
“What’s going on here?” Just as the audience was still hoping for the professionals from the academy to quickly fix the projection crystal malfunction, a crystal-clear voice announced the competition results. Instantly, all the mentors and students present had a dumbfounded look on their faces. It was akin to a group of people gathered around a flickering black-and-white TV, tapping and fixing it, and when it finally works, they find out the ball game had already ended—leaving them with that inexplicable mix of helplessness and frustration.
“So it’s over already? Who won?”
“They said contestant number 45 lost.”
“Number 45… Am I mistaken? Didn’t Princess Aistride have that number? Or was it a mistake on the announcer’s part?”
“…You ask me? Who should I ask?”
Everyone present knew the announcer couldn’t possibly make such a basic error; they were just finding it hard to accept the reality.
This year’s anticipated Crown Cup champion, Princess Aistride of the Silver Moon, got eliminated in the finals, narrowly missing the championship.
The two much-hyped rising stars weren’t the champions. An unexpected dark horse emerged to break through the barriers, overcoming obstacles and claiming the highly coveted championship title.
“Did we really win… Did I win?” mumbled the Bald Male God in a mystical tone. “Aistride and Princess Filisia were both defeated by her…”
As initially believed, Tillysha wasn’t supposed to lose—that was more of a half-joke, because everyone understood that no matter how talented, there’s always someone better. Tillysha might be powerful compared to ordinary mortals, but against T0-level deities, she was still a step behind. However, Tillysha had managed to surprise them all.
From her seat, Princess Filisia blinked her beautiful eyes in light surprise. Her face flickered with keen interest, and a faint smile curved her lips as she quietly stood up amidst the murmuring crowd.
“So, how on earth did Tillysha win?” The audience scowled, shaking their heads and feeling like they missed the best part, their bodies tingling with regret akin to ants crawling all over them.
At this point, many had already caught onto the vibe and quickly left their seats.
Seeing this, the rest of the crowd also got the hint and hurriedly left the premises.
“Hey, Rat… Borton, what’s up with you? Why are you leaving already? Didn’t we agree you’d celebrate our enrollment and pay for the dinner tonight?”
“What else should I do? The champion is already decided. Plus, don’t start giving me lines, something about paying for dinner? We agreed on going Dutch, didn’t we?” The bald rat man swatted away his teammate’s hand.
“And why are you all still here? Haven’t you noticed everyone’s already leaving?”
“Let’s go, what’s the rush about?”
“Are you kidding? The soon-to-be swarmed champs and runners-up will be coming out of the rest area soon—those eagerbeaver gods will want to rub shoulders with them!” Borton’s words jolted his three teammates awake.
True, not all teams were like their group of four, who remained amicable even after failing. There were plenty who’d had disagreements the day before—pointing fingers, yelling at teammates, breaking up in a mess. Hardly any of them were entirely content with their previous teammates.
Since they weren’t satisfied, the priority now would be to find fresh teammates who matched their ambitions.
After all, for the next academic year, the teammates would be mostly fixed, barring any unforeseen circumstances—this squad would likely stay together for the duration of their studies, becoming a major part of each other’s social resources.
Importance was obvious, so no room for carelessness.
Now that the champions and runners-up had been decided, those ambitious opportunists couldn’t hold back their moves anymore. They were rushing to make acquaintances with the winners lest future encounters become awkward or abrupt.
Aistride was off-limits for recruitment, known by all. Thus, the attention of nearly all the male gods focused on Tillysha.
This divine champion, who had claimed the top spot alone, clearly had immense potential. Having her in the team would make them kings of kings, the best of the best! And who wouldn’t want a beautiful, competent, and polite young lady on their side?
Before long, the outer perimeter of the rest area was packed with spectators who wanted to win favor, others just looking for a spectacle, and of course, those there purely for the champion herself. The reasons were countless.
Since the champion had been decided, even seniors from upper grades wanted to witness the triumphant return of this year’s champion.
At this time, being still within the school hours, the number of attendees was relatively small, but at the formal award ceremony, the entire school would be present, including teachers and students.
If it weren’t for the security maintaining order, some students would’ve already stormed into the rest area by now.
Meanwhile, inside the rest room.
Butterfly-like golden eyelashes fluttered up and down as a moment passed, and the girl’s dazzling blonde hair akin to platinum opened her eyes. She looked around and realized she was inside an opulent room.
Velvet beds, carpets woven from Dream Silk, and light yellow satin curtains enhanced the light streaming in, giving her a warm hint that it was midday.
The previous moment was evening and night, but in an instant, it had returned to the warmth of midday. The pale-armed elf girl leaned up, rare laziness etched across her face as she stretched, stifling yawns.
The competition had ended.
After a long absence of sunlight, and a long absence of Caleburn, she had returned from the Secret Realm.
What the final result was, Tillysha didn’t know. Even if she had defeated Aistride, the other clumsy one could still have knocked her out while she was unconscious.
Nevertheless, Tillysha didn’t feel any regret. She hadn’t lost to anyone, not even come up short against anyone, and that was enough.
Though the injuries from the competition were minor, the tokens had blocked any critical wounds, the consumption of energy and stamina was still unavoidable. Tillysha now simply felt immensely tired, so tired she wanted to collapse and sleep, but she knew she couldn’t. Not yet.
There was still a mess to clean up.
In the thought of a moment, Tillysha got up from the plush velvet bed, her eyelids heavy with fatigue. She looked at her outfit.
The two bows she had used were broken and left in the Secret Realm. The dress she wore wasn’t her usual Realm attire but the white sleeveless gown and high heels she had worn before entering there.
Feeling the sunlight that poured in from the window, Tillysha pinched her forehead lightly, the gap between the realities confusing her.
No, both were realities, just in different spaces.
She patted her waist and legs where she had stored the potent potion vials—only a few bottles of strong light agents remained. All other potions had been consumed in this Crown Cup journey.
Giving her all, doing her best.
Turning the doorknob, opening the door, Tillysha stepped out, nearly colliding with a silver figure passing her doorway.
“Sorry, it was my fault.”
“Excuse me, I should have been more careful.”
At the same instant, both apologized, but after hearing each other’s voices, they both froze, then looked up.
The atmosphere froze.
“…” A fleeting complexity flickered across Aistride’s calm face.
The competition had ended, and her state wasn’t much better—she was only managing to continue the conversation by sheer willpower.
Recalling their exchanges and battles in the arena, meeting again was awkward, leaving Aistride unsure of what to say.
“Forgive me, Miss Aistride.” Interrupting Aistride’s hesitation, Tillysha took the lead, bowing deeply and offering a respectful salute, her face adorned with a usual elegant and graceful smile.
“Some unbecoming words were said on the battlefield, and I hope you won’t take offense.”
“We have no right to impose our thoughts and principles onto others. All we can do is strictly discipline ourselves. The words earlier, in my irrational state, I hope you can forgive them and consider them as if I’ve never said them.” Finishing, Tillysha extended her hand, her lips curving into an elegant smile.
“It was an honor to face you, Miss Aistride, and I also thank you for the convenience and help you provided during this match. I shall always remember it.”
Seeing Tillysha extend her hand first, Aistride paused for a moment, then also extended her hand, joining Tillysha’s in a shake.
“No, Lady Tillysha, you’re right.”
“The love of the elves has always been pure, but looking back, I had been convinced of the contrary… You were right, I’ve always been running away.”
Hearing this, Tillysha was quite surprised at Aistride.
To be honest, upon reflecting, recalling the words she had said to Aistride during the competition made Tillysha question her own judgment and reasoning.
Still, it’s unclear why, when she heard Aistride believe that love could be beset by so many obstacles, Tillysha, as if experiencing a stress reaction, voiced critical opinions about her perspective on love.
Upon reflection, Aistride was entirely correct. No love in this world was completely easygoing. Love abandoned under various concerns was countless, not to mention her past life as well.
Furthermore, what Aistride felt for her was likely more gratitude than love.
Tillysha didn’t want to say it, but in the face of the brutal reality, love was frail. Reflecting afterward, her own words weren’t without problem.
However, Aistride, upon listening to Tillysha, not only felt regret but humbly accepted her advice.
Tillysha gradually realized an issue: the ideologies of elves and humans are vastly different.
To abandon family, even everything, for love was perceived as stupid in human views—too unrealistic and overly idealized. But in an elf’s perspective, it was perfectly natural. For love, they could discard all else.
Possibly because of the physical memory within Tillysha’s body, those critical words spoken to Aistride in the Secret Realm were likely what Tillysha truly wanted to say, not from Dillin’s consciousness.
Afterward, Aistride did not find Tillysha’s words unfounded, but instead felt quite ashamed, precisely because Aistride was a typical elf. Her value system was that of the elves, not humans.
Ultimately, whether it was Tillysha or Aistride, they were elves. Their value systems were hard for Dillin, a human, to comprehend, making any attempt to understand them from a human perspective, or based on personal values, rather foolish.
The worldviews of these two races were fundamentally different.
Now, Tillysha had many questions. Such as, where did the original soul of Tillysha go to? Why did she survive despite Bilodis’s revival failure? And why did she carry the ‘corpse’ of her sister?
Could it be that the resurrection of the dead violated the ethics of life and d*ath, resulting in some unintended deviation causing this outcome?
That seemed to be the case now.
Even though it seemed strange, even incomprehensible to Tillysha, the outcomes appeared to be positive.
It might be Tillysha’s illusion, or not, but the confusion that often lingered in Aistride’s eyes seemed to have faded away at this moment.
“Excuse me, might I ask you some somewhat private questions?” After withdrawing their hands, Aistride clasped them together, her cheeks flushing a somewhat unnatural color, as if finding it hard to speak.
“Oh? Please go ahead.”
“Y-you, what exactly is your relationship with Dillin?” Though Aistride had long guessed, asking others’ privacy wasn’t polite, but she couldn’t help herself and had to ask.
“Ah~ Was it this question?” Tillysha nodded slightly, looking at the flushed-cheeked Aistride, who awaited her answer with both anticipation and a touch of fear, and suddenly felt like teasing her a little.
“Well.” Tillysha leaned against the doorframe, crossing her arms, her white fingers lightly touching her lips with a hint of mockery. “We share a bed, you know~”
“Share a bed?” Aistride froze momentarily at Tillysha’s answer, then her radiant face instantly bloomed with a red flush. “Share a…bed??”
Aistride pondered this phrase again and again, but couldn’t find any ambiguity in it. It seemed to only mean one thing.
“How could you…?” Aistride covered her cheeks with both hands, peeking from between her fingers, and for the first time, became stuttering and incoherent.
The usual ice queen image was vastly different from her now red-faced, wide-eyed, and inarticulate appearance, forming a delightful contrast.
“What do you mean how could we? Or does Miss Aistride intend to teach me how me and Mr. Dillin should act?” Tillysha tilted her head, her golden hair cascading over her exquisite collarbone.
“No, I… you, you aren’t married yet, how can you… do… do that…” Aistride clenched her hands together tightly, her head lowered, her hair falling forward, resembling a discarded albino hamster.
“That? Which that?” Aistride spoke so vaguely, Tillysha feigned comprehension difficulties with her usual puzzled expression.
“Well, that one.”
“So which that?” Tillysha seemed entirely uninformed of what Aistride was asking, her face curious and smiling, continuing to ask until Aistride was speechless, her entire face flushed red.
