Myles could only gape at the green-haired woman in front of him—adorable, smug, and infuriatingly unbothered. He blinked once. Twice. Still, his mind couldn't wrap itself around how his life had spiraled into this.
First there had been assassination attempts masquerading as "tests." And now? Now he was expected to lift a fully grown, trussed-up bull with nothing but his own strength.
"You didn't think your penalty was going to be easy, did you?" Verdure grinned, patting his shoulder with the kind of confidence only a coach—or a sadist—could wear. With no visible effort, she hauled the massive, snorting beast off the ground and lowered it onto his back. The animal's absurdly oversized weight pressed down on his frame until his knees nearly gave. "There. See? You can do it."
What is this monster—and why is she so damn cute?! Myles' inner voice shrieked as every nerve in his body rebelled against the load.
He tried to step forward. Nothing.
"Moving is basically impossible," he muttered aloud, his voice already strained.
"Come on, Myles. We have to get Clav home before noon," Verdure chirped, her radiant smile shining like sunlight through glass.
To Myles, though, it felt less like sunlight and more like a sunburn.
He gritted his teeth and forced a foot forward, then another. Each step dragged pain through his body, jagged and merciless, like shards of glass tearing beneath his skin.
"Do… you… mind… if I ask a question?" he wheezed, each word clawing its way out between gasps.
Verdure paused, tilting her head back toward him, her expression wide-eyed and innocent. "What is it?"
"How… did you get this strong?" His voice cracked on the last word as he fought to lift his head against the weight.
She blinked at him, considering. "Mmm… hard work?" she said at last, her tone genuinely uncertain. "Isn't that how anyone gets strong?"
Myles let out a breathless laugh—half humor, half disbelief. "You know… my body shouldn't be able to do any of this."
He halted, letting his legs tremble under the crushing strain. Above him, Clav gave a lazy snort, oblivious to the agony of his carrier.
"Normally, a human would be crushed trying to carry Clav," Myles muttered, glancing up at the beast. "And yet… here I am."
Verdure's smile softened, fading into something quieter as she watched him.
"One day I woke up… and my planet—everything I knew, everyone I could've known—was just… gone."
His throat tightened as he shifted Clav's weight.
"And worse?" He gave a brittle laugh. "My body can do things it shouldn't. I can heal from almost anything. Lost an arm? It grows back. A leg? Same story. Hell—" he chuckled again, dry as dust—"a few months ago, I was nothing but a head."
Verdure said nothing, her eyes unreadable but fixed on him, listening with a patience he hadn't expected.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is… I don't know if any of this is right. If this is some second chance… do I even deserve it?"
The confession left him drained, both from the burden he carried and from the weight of his own words.
"Aargh—do you even get what I'm saying?"
"Of course I don't understand," Verdure replied quietly, lowering her gaze. "You don't even understand what you want to say. But… I think I understand enough."
She turned and began to walk, gesturing for him to follow.
"All my life, I've had everything handed to me," she said softly, her eyes fixed on her hands as though weighing them. "Or at least… that's what people liked to think. Power. Influence. Resources. Strength. All of it. 'My birthright.'"
She glanced back at him with a gentle, unguarded smile. "But one day, I realized something."
Myles' gaze lingered on her, and for the first time he felt like he was seeing her—not just the smug surface, but the truth beneath.
"I am alone," Verdure said simply. Her tone carried no sadness, only a calm certainty. "And that means the only strength I can truly rely on—the strength to love, to protect the people I care about—has to come from me."
Her breath escaped in a steady sigh.
"It doesn't matter what others say after that. My strength is mine. And I'll use it."
Silence followed. Not empty silence—something heavier, fuller. The kind that carried meaning.
Myles blinked slowly, letting her words sink in. For once, Verdure wasn't just the teasing powerhouse. She was something more. And maybe… maybe he wanted to see that side of her again.
Terrene paced, her boots tapping a restless rhythm across the floor. Tema lounged off to the side, following her like a spectator at a tennis match.
"Give it a rest," he sighed at last. "You did what you did."
Terrene exhaled sharply—not guilt, but pure frustration. It wasn't regret that haunted her, but confusion. Myles had looked genuinely blindsided by her proposal, and she couldn't make sense of it.
"Did I say something wrong?" she muttered, half to herself.
"No…" Tema drawled, already sounding worn down by her spiralling.
"Then did I do something?" She turned to him, eyes narrowing with real puzzlement.
"Oh, you've done plenty," he said with a smug grin.
Terrene folded her arms, brow raised, her posture sharp like a lecturing professor. "Well? Out with it."
"I'll keep it simple," Tema said, stretching lazily. "You don't know how to express yourself. Remember when you were too shy to even look at that 'handsome, black-haired devil' Lia brought home?"
Her face ignited red, brighter than a signal flare. "Tema!" she snapped, quickly hiding behind her hands. "Even if we're alone, don't say embarrassing things like that out loud."
He smirked. "Why be shy? He is good-looking, isn't he?"
Terrene lowered her hands slowly, glare sharp enough to cut through steel. Tema flinched.
"Alright, alright—I'll stop," he said quickly, rattled. "Stars above…"
Then the idea slipped out of his mouth before he could stop it. "Ask him on a date."
Terrene froze, eyelids twitching. "…But Lia."
"A friendly date," Tema corrected, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he lifted his hands in surrender.
Terrene stared off, her expression unreadable, thoughts running somewhere far beyond him. Then, without a word, she spun on her heel and bolted.
Tema blinked, dumbfounded. "What in the world…?"
His voice trailed off as his form flickered and dissolved into the air.
"Hey, Verdure… can I stop now?" Myles croaked, dragging his feet toward the mansion gates.
At the entrance, Verdure turned, her green hair catching the light as she smiled. With one effortless motion, she lifted Clav from his back as though the massive beast weighed no more than a cloak.
"A ladies' man, huh?" she chuckled under her breath, disappearing past the gates with a grin.
Myles blinked, half-wondering if he'd really heard her. Either way, his instincts screamed at him—rage or love was coming. Probably both. Frozen in place, too sore to move, he simply braced himself for impact.
And impact came.
Within the span of a single breath, he was tackled to the ground by two figures who descended on him like comets. Warm lips pressed against his cheeks from both sides at once.
His brain short-circuited.
"Wha—?!" Heat rushed up his face as he struggled to process what had just happened.
"You jerk," Lia scolded, jabbing Myles in the arm with just enough force to sting. "You didn't even wake me before you left."
Before he could defend himself, another voice chimed in—quiet but steady.
"Go out with me."
Both Myles and Lia froze, turning toward Terrene.
Her eyes, as always, remained closed, the faint purple glow beneath her lids a constant reminder of what lay hidden. But this time, it wasn't her eyes that stunned them.
It was her smile.
Soft. Awkward. Beautiful. A little unpracticed, like a fragile thing learning to stand on its own legs. And yet it was genuine, utterly unguarded in a way neither of them had ever seen from her before.
For Myles, the sight warmed something in his chest he hadn't known was cold. For Lia, it was a shock that rattled her to her core—seventeen years by her sister's side, and never once had she seen Terrene smile like this.
In that moment, the air itself seemed to soften around them.
The realisation struck like lightning.
Lia moved first, rising abruptly to her feet. She extended a hand, pulling Terrene up with surprising gentleness. Then, with effortless strength, she hoisted Myles upright as well, cradling him as though he weighed nothing.
"Well?" she said, her tone light but her eyes sharp. "Are you going to keep her waiting?"
"What?" Myles stammered, utterly thrown.
"Oh, yes," Lia added suddenly, a sly smile tugging at her lips. "But I'm coming too."
Both Myles and Terrene snapped their heads toward her, equally flustered and bewildered.
"What are you up to?" Myles demanded, as Lia carried him away, leaving an eyelidtwitching Terrene standing in their wake.