The moment between them was warm and gentle, the kind of reunion that made bystanders smile and look away, embarrassed to witness something so private.
Erza was looking elsewhere, her face turned deliberately away from Yuuta and Elena, but she couldn't hide the warmth that spread through her chest, a strange, unfamiliar feeling that she still didn't understand.
Yuuta laughed softly, his voice rough with exhaustion but filled with genuine happiness, because Elena was safe. That was all that mattered.
Elena clung to both of them, her tiny arms stretched as wide as they could go, trying to hold her parents together. "Papa! Mama! Elena doesn't want to get lost again!"
Security teams moved efficiently around them, arresting the men who had tried to take Elena and terrorize the Headmaster.
The bald man, still clutching his shattered hand and whimpering with pain, was dragged away in cuffs, his scarred face pale with shock.
Ban, the mountain of a man, was carried out on a stretcher, his jaw still hanging at that wrong angle, his eyes closed.
The lean man followed, bleeding and barely conscious, supported by two officers. They shook hands briefly with the Headmaster's assistant, exchanged a few quiet words of professional respect, and then disappeared toward the exits, their job done.
The shopping center began to return to normal, or as normal as it could be after such chaos. People emerged from hiding, whispers spread, phones were lowered. Life, as it always did, continued.
Then a cough broke the silence.
Cough. Cough.
The gentle moment shattered like glass dropped on stone.
It was the old man, the Headmaster, who had closed his eyes during the family reunion, giving them privacy, and now opened them with a gentle, apologetic smile.
He held himself with the dignity of someone who had seen much of the world and learned how to navigate its complexities, someone who understood when to interrupt and when to wait.
"Forgive me for breaking the moment," he said, shaking his head with genuine regret. "But I must sincerely apologize for what happened. This situation got out of hand because of me."
Yuuta scrambled to his feet, suddenly aware that he was sitting on the floor in front of a stranger who radiated importance.
"No, no, Mr. Sir, it's nothing much," he said quickly, not understanding why this obviously wealthy and powerful man was bowing his head to him.
Behind the Headmaster stood three assistants, all of them built like guards, their expressions carefully neutral but their eyes watchful. They radiated competence and danger in equal measure, the kind of men who had seen violence and knew how to respond to it.
The old man continued, his voice heavy with sincerity.
"Please, I am sorry. Because of us, your daughter was put in danger. Because of me and my past, those criminals came here today. Because of us, you had to fight those men and put yourself at risk."
He shook his head again, the motion weighted with genuine shame. "It is shameful to think that I brought a loving family into such danger."
Erza's head snapped toward him.
"Loving family?" she repeated, the words sharp with disbelief.
She was shocked, genuinely shocked and Irritated, by the description.
Her face flushed slightly, and she immediately looked away, crossing her arms in that defensive posture Yuuta had come to recognize as her "I am absolutely not affected by this" stance.
Yuuta leaned toward her, his voice low and hurried, desperate to smooth things over. "Erza, look, they just got confused, okay? It's a misunderstanding. Just go along with it. Please."
The Headmaster watched this exchange with keen, observant eyes, filing away every detail. Then he turned his attention to Elena, kneeling down to her level with a grace that belied his age. "Truly, your father and mother are exactly as you described," he said gently, reaching out to pat her head with a grandfather's tenderness. "You have wonderful parents, little one."
Elena beamed at him.
He looked up at Yuuta, at the man with crimson eyes that seemed to burn with their own inner light, eyes that didn't belong in this world. Then at Erza, at the woman whose beauty rivaled angels, whose presence felt like something from another dimension, whose very existence seemed too perfect for ordinary life.
That's why their daughter is so adorable and smart, he thought, the pieces clicking into place. With parents like these, how could she be anything else?
He straightened and gestured to his assistants. "Give them the invitation."
Yuuta froze.
Erza's brow furrowed with suspicion.
Elena smiled brightly, thinking the nice old man was going to give her more chocolate.
The assistants exchanged nervous glances. "Headmaster, are you sure about this?" one of them asked, his voice tinged with panic. This was unprecedented. This had never happened before.
Yuuta didn't understand what that meant. What invitation? Why were the assistants so nervous? He stayed quiet, watching, trying to gather information from their expressions.
The Headmaster turned to look at his assistant.
Just looked.
But that look said everything: You are nothing more than hired help. Do not question me. Do not cross the line. Do your job.
The assistant paled and immediately stepped forward, producing a card from his inner pocket with trembling hands.
It was gold.
Not golden-colored, actually, genuinely gold. The card gleamed in the shopping center lights, catching reflections and scattering them like treasure. It was heavier than it looked, worth more than most people earned in a lifetime, and it glowed with an importance that was immediately obvious to anyone with eyes.
He placed it in Yuuta's hand with the reverence of someone handling a holy relic.
Yuuta looked down.
The invitation was for the Morning Star Elite Academy, the most prestigious educational institution in the entire world. The place where the most powerful families sent their children. Where future leaders were forged. Where connections were made that lasted lifetimes. Just holding the card felt like holding a piece of another world, like touching something that ordinary people never got to experience.
His mind raced.
Why would he give this? Who was it for?
He looked up, confusion clear on his face. "Mister... I think you're mistaken. There's something wrong here."
The old man smiled warmly, his eyes crinkling with genuine pleasure. "Allow me to introduce myself properly."
He straightened, and for the first time, Yuuta saw the full weight of his presence, the authority, the importance, the quiet power of someone who had shaped generations, who had built something that would outlast him.
"I am the Headmaster of the Morning Star Elite Academy," he said, his voice carrying the weight of his position. "And I am personally inviting your daughter to take a direct interview for admission to our school."
Yuuta's jaw dropped.
His daughter.
Elena.
In the most powerful, most luxurious, most prestigious school in the world.
It was unbelievable. Impossible. The kind of thing that didn't happen to people like him, to families like theirs, to a four-year-old who had only been in this world for a few weeks.
Erza, however, was not impressed.
"Inviting who?" she said, her voice flat and cold. "And who decided we are accepting?"
The Headmaster blinked.
This was new.
In all his years of extending invitations, he had seen only one reaction, gratitude. Tears of joy. Families falling to their knees, overwhelmed by the opportunity. People offering anything, everything, for this chance. But this woman... she was questioning him. Challenging him. Acting as if his invitation meant nothing, as if he were offering something worthless.
Erza reached out and plucked the golden card from Yuuta's hand. She examined it for a moment, the weight, the craftsmanship, the obvious value, and then held it out to the Headmaster.
"Here. Take it back."
Yuuta's soul nearly left his body.
"WHATTTT?!" he screamed, the sound echoing through the shopping center.
But he wasn't the only one shocked.
The assistants' jaws dropped.
The Headmaster's eyes went wide.
They stared at Erza like she had just committed sacrilege, like she had thrown a holy relic into the gutter. This woman, this impossibly beautiful woman, had just rejected the most valuable educational opportunity in the world. She had handed back the golden invitation like it was trash.
Yuuta grabbed Erza's arm and pulled her aside, his voice a desperate whisper. "What are you doing?! Don't you know what that school is?! It's the most elite academy in the world! The best education anyone could hope for! Why are you acting like this?!"
Erza crossed her arms, unmoved by his panic. "Why are you making such a fuss about it?"
"A FUSS?!" Yuuta's voice cracked. "You don't understand! This is the best school ever created! It's more luxurious than any palace! The opportunities, the connections, the future"
"And?" Erza's voice was ice.
Yuuta stopped.
He tried desperately to explain, to make her understand. "And... and she'll be happy there! She'll learn so much! She'll tell us stories every day about her classes and her friends and"
"So?" Erza said again, her voice carrying that same flat indifference.
Yuuta's words died in his throat. "So... so..." He trailed off into silence.
Erza pinched the bridge of her nose, a gesture of pure exasperation. "I knew you were an idiot, but to this extent? To the point that even a goblin would seem smarter than you? I didn't believe it until now."
She sighed heavily.
"Why are you doing this? Why are you trying so hard to convince me when you're living on borrowed time? You'll be dead in a year, yet you're spending your remaining days like a madman, throwing away every resource you have."
She looked at him, her violet eyes searching his face.
"You Moron, YOU have one year to live. One year. So tell me, why are you wasting money on her education? Why are you trying to give her happiness that you won't be around to see? I just can't understand your human brain at all, Instead of living happy You...."
Yuuta looked up at her.
And for the first time, she saw something in his eyes that made her breath catch.
Not desperation.
Not fear.
Love.
Pure, uncomplicated, fatherly love.
"Because she's my daughter," he said quietly. "And even if I only have one year, I want that year to be the best year of her life. I want her to have everything. I want her to be happy. I want her to have a future that I can't give her any other way."
Erza was silent.
The words hung in the air between them.
Heavy.
Accusing.
True.
She didn't want to agree. She could see it clearly, the golden card, the way the Headmaster and his assistants spoke, the obvious cost of this opportunity. If they accepted, Yuuta would be broke within a day. His entire wealth would be gone within an hour. Everything he had worked for, everything he had saved, would vanish.
But he was standing there, shaking his head, making himself humble, throwing away his pride
For Elena.
For their daughter.
Meanwhile, the Headmaster stood a short distance away, watching the heated discussion between Yuuta and Erza with growing fascination. He was biting his nail, a habit he thought he had broken decades ago, resurrected by the unprecedented situation before him.
He had never expected to meet a family that could reject the best academy in the world like it was nothing.
In all his years, through all his tenure, he had extended invitations to royalty, to billionaires, to the most powerful families across every continent. Every single time, the response had been the same, gratitude, tears, immediate acceptance. Sometimes people fainted. Sometimes they screamed with joy. Sometimes they dropped to their knees and thanked every god they could name.
But this?
This woman had handed the invitation back like it was a piece of junk mail.
And yet, instead of being offended, he found himself impressed.
Impressed by their pride. Impressed by their refusal to be awed. Impressed by the way they stood apart from everyone else who had ever received this honor.
A small tug at his pant leg pulled him from his thoughts.
He looked down.
Elena was there, her tiny hand wrapped in the fabric of his expensive trousers, her crimson eyes looking up at him with genuine concern. "Old man," she said softly, tugging again. "Old man, what happened? Are you worried?"
The Headmaster stared at her.
At this impossible child.
He had witnessed her brilliance firsthand, the way she absorbed chess like a sponge absorbed water, the way her mind worked at speeds that shouldn't be possible for a four-year-old, the way she adapted and learned and grew in real-time. If she was this impressive now, with no formal education, what could she become with the resources of his academy behind her?
She could think faster than AI.
She could learn faster than any student he had ever seen.
If she was guided properly, nurtured correctly, given the right opportunities
She could rise above entire nations as a hidden genius.
But if he lost this opportunity here, if she went to a different school, one of two things would happen. Either she would make that other school shine bright, elevating them to heights they didn't deserve. Or worse, she would never achieve her worth at all, wasted by people who didn't understand what they had.
He was looking at a black stone that he knew was not coal but diamond.
The question was whether these parents would let him forge it.
He couldn't offer money. Couldn't offer position. It went against everything his academy stood for, against the noble values he had spent a lifetime building. Students were admitted based on merit, not wealth. That was the foundation of Morning Star's reputation.
But merit alone wouldn't convince parents who didn't understand what they were being offered.
His assistant leaned close, his voice a low whisper. "Headmaster, I don't think they understand the value of the academy. Especially that white-haired woman. She seems completely unmoved by everything."
The Headmaster listened, not interrupting.
"If word leaks out that the Headmaster was personally rejected by some random parents, it will make huge headlines. The media will have a field day. Our reputation could suffer." The assistant's voice grew more urgent. "Headmaster, please understand, we should walk away now, before this becomes embarrassing."
The Headmaster was silent for a long moment.
Then he shook his head slowly.
"No. Wait. Let them decide." His voice was calm, certain. "If we walk away now, it will make our image look worse than anything they could say about us. It will look like we gave up. Like we weren't willing to fight for a brilliant student."
The assistant nodded and stepped back, signaling for someone to bring water and refreshments for the Headmaster while they waited.
The Headmaster continued watching the couple.
They were arguing, yes. But it wasn't the kind of argument that tore people apart. It was the kind of discussion that happened between people who actually cared about each other, who valued each other's opinions, who needed to reach a decision together before moving forward.
He smiled.
How wonderful, he thought. They discuss things before accepting anything. They respect each other's views. They fight for what they believe is right.
They are deeply in love.
He didn't know how wrong he was about some details.
But about others
Erza hit him hard on the head.
Yuuta stumbled sideways, rubbing the sore spot with a pained expression. "Ouch! Why did you do that?!" he protested, his voice carrying the genuine confusion of someone who had no idea what he'd done wrong.
Erza rubbed her own temple, the gesture one of pure exasperation. "You stupid idiot. Open your eyes for once."
He blinked at her, uncomprehending.
She grabbed his ear, actually grabbed it, twisting slightly, and pulled him closer, her voice dropping to that cold, controlled tone that usually preceded violence. "Can't you see that the dream you're chasing has consequences? Not every dream is meant to be achieved. Some are far higher than you think. Far more dangerous."
Yuuta's face twisted with confusion. "What are you talking about? This is Elena's future we're discussing"
"Listen to me." She cut him off, her voice sharp. "If you let her enroll in this school, you will lose all your wealth."
Yuuta froze and paused for a second.
His mind, which had been racing with possibilities and hopes and dreams for his daughter's future, suddenly ground to a halt. The words hit him like a physical blow.
All his wealth.
Gone.
He hadn't thought about it. Not really. In his excitement, in his desperate hope to give Elena everything, he had completely ignored the practical reality of what this opportunity would cost.
The fees.
He remembered now, vaguely, distantly, seeing an article online about the Morning Star Elite Academy. The tuition was rumored to be ten million dollars per year. Ten. Million. Dollars. It was the reason so many students dropped out within their first year, unable to sustain the financial burden even with scholarships.
Ten million dollars.
He didn't have ten million dollars.
He didn't have ten thousand dollars.
He had a broken apartment, a car that barely ran, and a gaming fund that Erza had already emptied.
Silence stretched between them.
Yuuta stood there, frozen, his face cycling through emotions, hope, realization, horror, shame. He had been so happy, so blinded by the possibility, that he hadn't thought at all. Erza had seen what he couldn't. Erza had protected him from his own stupidity.
Again.
He looked at her.
At the queen who had just saved him from destroying himself.
"Did you really worry about me that much, my queen?" The words came out soft, almost wondering.
Erza looked at him like he had grown a second head.
"Don't look at me like I've fallen in love with you," she said coldly, her voice dripping with disgust at the very idea. "I'm doing this because if you sell that broken apartment, where am I supposed to stay until your one year is up? That's the only reason I'm letting you see the other side of your pathetic brain."
The words were ice.
Cruel.
Dismissive.
Yuuta's expression flickered, just for a moment, with something that might have been pain. For a second, he had allowed himself to hope that maybe, just maybe, she was starting to care. That the warmth he sometimes felt from her was real.
But no.
She had made it clear.
There was nothing between them but circumstance and obligation.
He smiled.
It was a broken smile, the kind that looked forced, the kind that hurt to wear.
"Well," he said quietly, his voice steady despite everything, "looks like I don't have another choice."
He turned away from her.
Walked toward the Headmaster.
The Headmaster stood with his assistants, watching Yuuta approach with keen interest. He had seen the couple arguing, seen the young man's expression shift through various emotions, and now he waited to hear their decision.
Yuuta stopped in front of him.
The Headmaster smiled warmly. "Ah, I believe you have made your decision, young man."
Yuuta took a breath.
Let it out.
"Sorry for making you wait, Mister." Yuuta shook his head slowly, regret clear on his face, his voice carrying the weight of a decision that cost him more than the Headmaster could ever know.
"I am truly grateful that the Headmaster of such a prestigious academy would extend an invitation to my daughter. It's an honor we never expected and can never repay."
The Headmaster's smile began to fade, uncertainty creeping into his ancient eyes.
"But we are not worthy to be there." Yuuta met his gaze directly, and there was pain there, genuine, soul-deep pain, but also acceptance. The kind of acceptance that came from recognizing your own limitations and making peace with them. "So please... we humbly reject it."
Silence.
Complete, absolute, deafening silence.
The assistants stared, their mouths slightly open, their minds struggling to process what they had just heard. This didn't happen.
This never happened. People didn't reject the Morning Star Elite Academy. They begged to get in. They sacrificed everything. They moved mountains.
The Headmaster's face went through several unreadable expressions, shock, confusion, disbelief, and something else that none of his assistants could identify.
He had been so confident, so absolutely certain, that no one in the world would reject him. He had walked into this shopping center knowing he would leave with that brilliant child secured for his academy.
But standing before him now was a family who had rejected the most prestigious invitation in the world like it was junk mail.
Erza crossed her arms, watching the scene with cold satisfaction. A small part of her, a part she would never acknowledge, felt proud of Yuuta.
He hadn't made a fuss. He hadn't begged or pleaded or tried to negotiate. He had accepted his flaw, acknowledged the reality, and made the hard choice. It was a habit she admired in him, this strange ability to accept things and try to solve them rather than running away.
He was still an idiot, of course.
But he was her idiot.
The Headmaster found his voice. "Are you sure you want to reject this?" he asked, the words coming out before he could stop them.
Behind him, his assistants leaned forward, alarm on their faces. "Headmaster" one of them began, reaching out as if to physically stop him from continuing this conversation.
The Headmaster turned.
Just looked at them.
But the look on his face was one they had never seen before, a rage so deep, so controlled, so absolutely terrifying that they immediately stepped back and lowered their eyes. This was not the gentle, grandfatherly Headmaster they knew. This was the man who had built the most powerful academy in the world, who had faced down governments and corporations and walked away victorious.
When he turned back to Yuuta and Erza, however, the rage was gone. In its place was curiosity. Genuine, burning curiosity about these people who defied every expectation.
"Please, young man," he said, his voice softer now, almost pleading. "Think about it. Are you really willing to give up your daughter's future like this?"
Yuuta looked at Elena.
She was playing nearby, completely oblivious to the conversation that would determine her future. Twirling in circles. Chasing imaginary butterflies. Being a child.
His heart raced.
He wanted to see her in a school uniform. He wanted to see her carrying a backpack, running toward a yellow bus, waving goodbye before embarking on adventures he could only imagine. He wanted her to make friends, to learn things he couldn't teach her, to experience the joy and pain of exams and projects and all the small moments that made up a childhood.
But dreams cost money.
And some dreams cost more than you could ever afford.
That was the reality of being human. You could have all the desire in the world, all the hope, all the love, but without the fuel to power those dreams, they remained just that. Dreams. Unreachable. Unattainable.
And Yuuta, he realized with painful clarity, was one of those humans.
He smiled at the Headmaster, a warm smile, a genuine smile, but one that carried the weight of everything he was giving up. "No," he said quietly. "I don't think Elena is worthy enough to be in that academy."
"What the hell did you say?" Erza's voice cut through from behind him like a blade.
Yuuta whipped his head around, panic flashing across his face. "Erza, please" he started, but she was already crossing her arms and turning her face away with a dismissive huff.
The Headmaster watched this exchange with growing frustration. He was trying, genuinely trying, to understand what was stopping these people from accepting his offer. What could possibly be more important than their daughter's future?
"May I know the reason, young man?" he asked, his voice carefully neutral. "Help me understand."
Before Yuuta could respond, Erza snapped.
Her patience, already thin, evaporated entirely.
"You old fossil, listen to me." Her voice was ice wrapped around steel, the voice of a queen addressing something beneath her notice. "First of all, Elena is more worthy than your closed-room school could ever handle. She has more potential in her tiny finger than all your precious students combined."
The Headmaster blinked.
"And second" Erza's eyes narrowed. "Your fucking fees are too much for us to afford. So stop pushing."
The words hung in the air like bombs waiting to explode.
The assistants gasped.
The Headmaster stared.
Yuuta stared at Erza with an expression that clearly said thank you for ruining this in the most worst way possible. His eyes were practically crying, begging her to understand the social disaster she had just created.
Erza glanced at him, caught his expression, and shrugged. "Don't look at me like that. I was just irritated by the way you were rejecting him. So pathetic. So weak." She crossed her arms again, turning her face away. "Someone had to do it properly."
The Headmaster stood frozen, processing everything.
The fees.
They couldn't afford the fees.
The Headmaster looked at Yuuta's family with fresh eyes, his earlier assumptions crumbling around him like a house of cards. He had been so certain, so absolutely, arrogantly certain, that they were wealthy.
Elena's dress, though simple, was made of quality fabric that spoke of careful selection. Her face, with those impossible crimson eyes and that silver hair, looked like something out of a fairy tale, the kind of child only the richest families could produce. And Erza, Erza moved like royalty, spoke like royalty, was royalty in every way that mattered.
Her confidence was absolute. Her elegance was effortless. Her emotional maturity, the way she cared for her family, the beauty that made people stop and stare, all of it had convinced him beyond any doubt that they belonged to the upper echelons of society.
He had never once considered they might be anything else.
He hit his own head with his hand, a sharp gesture of self-reproach. How could he have judged a book by its cover? How could he, after all these years, have made such a fundamental mistake?
Yuuta saw the gesture and misinterpreted it completely. His nervous laugh bubbled up, high and strained. "Okay, Headmaster, it was really nice meeting you. We'll be going now." He grabbed Elena's hand and began walking, his heart pounding, his mind already racing through the consequences of Erza's bluntness.
They had insulted a powerful man. A very powerful man. And now they needed to leave before things got worse.
Elena waved back at the Headmaster with her free hand. "Bye-bye, Old Man! Thank you for the chocolate!"
"Wait!"
The word cracked through the shopping center like thunder.
Yuuta stopped.
The Headmaster's voice had been desperate, not angry, not commanding, but desperate. The voice of a child who had spotted a toy in a store window and couldn't bear to leave without it.
Yuuta's blood ran cold. I'm done, he thought, his mind spiraling into panic. This is it. Because of Erza, we're doomed. You never insult rich people. You never, ever insult rich people. I should have just accepted gracefully and left. I should have
His thoughts were a whirlwind of self-recrimination and fear.
Erza, however, was unbothered. Completely, utterly unbothered.
She recognized the look in the Headmaster's eyes because she had seen it a thousand times before. It was the same look that appeared on the faces of merchants who came to her kingdom, offering land and gold in exchange for favors. It was the look of someone who had found something they wanted, no, needed, and would do anything to possess it.
Desire.
Pure, unfiltered, desperate desire.
She smiled. A small, cruel, satisfied smile.
It had been so long since she had seen that look. So long since she had the pleasure of crushing someone's hopes, watching their face fall from eager anticipation to devastated defeat. Her instincts sharpened. She was going to enjoy this.
The Headmaster laughed, a strange, breathless sound, and raised his hands in apology. "I am truly sorry for not clarifying the details earlier. Please, young man, let me explain."
Yuuta stopped, turning back with cautious confusion. "What do you mean? Not clarifying what?"
The Headmaster's eyes gleamed. "When I said I was interested in your daughter, I meant I am offering her a scholarship interview. A full scholarship. Tuition, books, uniforms, everything covered."
The words hit Yuuta like a wave.
Scholarship.
Full scholarship.
His mouth opened. Nothing came out.
Behind the Headmaster, his assistants exchanged alarmed glances. This was unprecedented. A direct scholarship offer without board approval? The elder teachers would revolt. The student council would demand explanations. This was not how things were done.
But the Headmaster didn't care.
Hope surged in Yuuta's chest, bright and fierce and terrifying. He had given up. He had accepted that Elena's dream, his dream for her, was impossible. And now, suddenly, impossibly, it was back.
Erza's smile faltered.
She had been ready. Ready to watch the hope drain from the Headmaster's face, ready to deliver the final crushing blow, ready to savor the familiar satisfaction of breaking someone's dreams.
But Yuuta turned to her before she could speak.
His eyes were shining.
"See, Erza?" His voice was soft, almost breathless. "Elena can attend. We don't have to pay. She can go."
Erza froze.
The words she had prepared, cutting, dismissive, absolute, died on her lips.
She looked at his face.
At the hope there.
At the light in his eyes.
At the father who had just been given back something he thought he had lost.
Erza Vely Dragomir had shattered the hopes of countless people. She had watched generals fall to their knees, merchants weep in despair, rulers beg for mercy. She had taken pleasure in it, once. It was the privilege of power, the right of a queen, to decide who rose and who fell.
But Yuuta's face
Yuuta's face had become her nightmare.
She couldn't do it.
She couldn't take this from him.
Something stopped her. Something she didn't understand. Something that made her chest ache and her throat tight and her heart beat in ways it shouldn't.
She looked away.
"I don't care," she said coldly. "Do whatever you want. It's not my problem."
But her voice lacked conviction.
And somewhere, deep in the frozen wasteland of her heart
Something was thawing.
After the Headmaster saw the hope flickering back into Yuuta's eyes, he understood immediately that this conversation needed to continue somewhere more private. Somewhere away from the chaos of the shopping center, away from the lingering stares of curious onlookers, away from the assistants who kept glancing at their watches with barely concealed panic.
He escorted them through a discreet side entrance, past a security checkpoint that made Yuuta's eyes widen, and into a private lobby reserved for the most important guests of the shopping center, the kind of place where deals were made between politicians, where business moguls closed billion-dollar agreements, where the powerful conducted their affairs away from the eyes of the ordinary.
The room was stunning. Marble floors that reflected the soft lighting like still water. Walls paneled in dark wood that smelled of age and money. Furniture that looked like it had been imported from palaces, each piece probably worth more than Yuuta's entire apartment. A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, scattering light into rainbows that danced across the walls. In the corner, a uniformed server stood ready, a silver tray balanced on one hand, waiting to serve whatever was requested.
The reason for all this extravagance was simple: the Headmaster wanted Elena in his academy. It was not common on Earth for a random four-year-old child who had only recently learned to speak not only spoke fluently but could beat chess bots like it was child's play. And it wasn't as if she had secretly played chess before, her age made it clear she was simply born to dominate. As they said, a diamond expert could differentiate a rock from a diamond, and the Headmaster had done exactly that.
Yuuta and Erza sat in the lobby, a luxury waiting room specially created for the rich and powerful, where a single cup of coffee cost three thousand dollars. Yuuta sat stiffly in his plush armchair, his hands folded in his lap, afraid to touch anything, afraid to breathe too loudly, afraid to do anything that might reveal how completely out of place he was.
Erza sat beside him, her posture perfect, her expression cold, her presence a shield against the overwhelming opulence.
Then she got up.
Yuuta's hand shot out and gently caught hers, a reflex, instinctive and desperate. "Where are you going?" His voice was nervous, higher than he intended, and he hated how weak it sounded.
He truly needed her. This was his first time in a place like this, sparkling, luxurious, filled with the kind of people who could kill someone and get away with it like it was nothing. The thought made his stomach churn. The only person he could rely on in this insane situation was the Queen of Atlantis herself, because she was royalty. She knew how to navigate this world of power and privilege. He was just a university student who talked to his car when he was lonely.
And now she was leaving.
Erza looked down at his hand touching hers without permission, her expression cold. "What are you doing?" she asked, her voice flat.
Yuuta's face flushed. "Well, you see, we're in an expensive place. And there are important people here. You can't just walk out like that. It would be disrespectful to the Headmaster."
Erza glanced at the old man, who was politely pretending not to notice their exchange, then back at Yuuta. She sighed. "I have urgent matters to settle somewhere else."
Yuuta's grip tightened slightly. "Urgent matters? What could be more urgent than this opportunity?"
Erza's eyes narrowed. "You idiot mortal. He only needs your signature. It has nothing to do with me. You can handle this much."
But as she said the words, she saw something in Yuuta's eyes, genuine panic, genuine fear, genuine helplessness. He wasn't just being clingy. He was terrified.
She looked at his hand still holding hers, at the slight tremor in his fingers, at the way he was trying so hard to be brave and failing.
He's scared, she realized. Not of me. Not of the Headmaster. Of himself. Of messing this up. Of not being good enough for this opportunity.
She had thought he was weak. Physically, emotionally, in every way that mattered to a Dragon Queen. But now she understood, he wasn't weak. He was just human. And humans, she had learned, sometimes needed to be reminded of their own strength.
His grip loosened. "I see," he said, his voice low, and he started to pull away.
Erza raised her finger and tapped him gently on the temple.
Yuuta blinked, confused, his face flushing slightly at the unexpected touch.
And then a voice appeared.
Not outside.
Inside his head.
"Pathetic."
Yuuta's eyes went wide. His mouth opened. "What, what's happening?!"
"Telepathy," Erza's voice said inside his mind, calm and cold. "I thought you were weak, but I thought at least you were mentally strong. Now I see you're just pathetic, a weakling who loses his confidence the moment he sees a shiny marble floor."
Yuuta's thoughts scrambled. "It's not like that! I just got scared. These people have power, they can rule the entire system. This is my first time meeting someone this powerful"
"Power?" Her voice was sharp with disdain. "What power? You are making them powerful by your own thoughts. They don't rule over you."
Yuuta's eyes widened.
"Don't show them your weakness," she continued, her words cutting through his fear like a blade through fog. "Don't let them use it against you. Have a spine. Face it. You disgusting mortal."
Yuuta's mind raced. "You can say that easily. I can't."
Erza's voice went cold, colder than he had ever heard it. "I never thought you were this weak. You speak to me, a royalty, without fear, and I thought you feared nothing. When I saw you fight against beasts several times stronger than you, I thought you were a courageous fool."
She paused.
"But I was wrong. Humans are nothing but weak."
Yuuta's eyes snapped open.
He understood.
For anyone else, these words would have been an insult, a cruel dismissal of everything he was. But he could see how Erza had framed it. She wasn't mocking him. She was reminding him.
He could talk to a Dragon Queen who was capable of destroying planets. He had thrown himself into a lion's den to protect his daughter. He had faced death and walked away. Why was a room full of expensive furniture making him tremble?
He looked up at the Headmaster.
And for the first time since entering this place, he felt something strange.
Confidence.
He looked at Erza, his eyes bright, his smile genuine. "Thank you, my queen." His voice was soft, warm, grateful.
Erza stared at him.
Something flickered in her chest, something warm, something uncomfortable, something she didn't understand.
She looked away. "I will return within the hour."
The words came out automatically. She didn't know why she said them. She didn't know why she felt the need to promise her return, to reassure him, to give him something to hold onto.
Yuuta smiled, a real smile, warm and steady. "Sure. You can go. Take care of yourself, my queen."
Erza's cheeks went pink.
She yanked her hand free.
And fled.
She rushed out of the lobby, down the hallway, disappearing around the corner before anyone could see the color rising in her face.
Yuuta watched her go, confused. He crossed his arms. "What was that? Why did she run away like that?"
Elena, who had been watching everything with the intense focus only children could muster, crossed her tiny arms and tilted her head in perfect imitation of her father. "Hmm. Mama does act weird, doesn't she, Papa?"
The Headmaster, who had been pretending to study a document during the entire exchange, looked up with a knowing smile.
The Headmaster chuckled softly from his chair, watching the exchange with knowing eyes. "Young man," he said, his voice warm with amusement, "you are truly clueless about a woman's heart."
Yuuta caught his expression. "What?"
The Headmaster chuckled. "Nothing, young man. Nothing at all."
But his eyes said everything.
To be continued...
[Credit Scene – After the Chapter]
Yuuta: leans into the frame with a grin Hey hey, amazing readers! If you've made it this far, I just wanna say, you're the real MVPs. But uh… maybe, just maybe… hit that collection button? Pretty please?
Erza: raises an eyebrow, arms crossed How greedy can you be? Begging for collections now?
Yuuta: pretends to be offended I'm not begging! I'm just… humbly requesting eternal support and unconditional love!
Elena: pops her head between them.... Papa worked really hard! Vote for us, okay Human Uncle? And don't forget the collection too, Elena said so!
Yuuta: See?! Even Elena knows the drill! Who could say no to that face?
Erza: sighs dramatically If they don't collect after this, I might just freeze the next chapter myself.
Yuuta: laughs Threats from a Dragon Queen? Now that's what I call reader motivation.
Elena: Bye bye Human uncle~ See you next chapter! Don't forget, okay?