The Jealousy of Two Women
The ground shook with a deafening boom as a blinding pillar of light slammed down near the Academy.
“Eek!”
“W-what the hell?!”
“Is it an attack…?”
People startled by the dazzling flash and thunderous roar began to panic. But the woman who emerged from the light paid no attention to the stares around her. She simply stretched with a leisurely sigh.
“Ugh… Did I come too fast?”
The beautiful woman with mysterious sky-blue hair was none other than Elisha. Having grown at an terrifying pace during the break, she had sprinted all the way to the Academy using nothing but her pure physical ability. To ordinary people, it had simply looked like a streak of light.
Elisha savored the familiar scent of the Academy for the first time in months and strolled toward the main gate. Thanks to her growing fame from handling numerous incidents, a few students sent her admiring glances. Yet she ignored every gaze and walked right past them.
What mattered to her right now wasn’t her fans.
‘Haa… I’m dying of thirst… Have I been away from him too long?’
A sweet sigh escaped her lips, followed by a soft smile. Just imagining his face after so long made her heart flutter uncontrollably. After all, it was only natural to become completely obsessed once you fell in love… Right? Absolutely!
With that thought, Elisha’s steps grew even lighter. The breeze and the cheerful chirping of birds lifted her spirits. The whole world seemed more beautiful, but she felt no dissonance at all.
Even though this was a cursed world where, no matter how hard regressors struggled, everything still ended in the worst possible outcome… the moment she thought of him, it all felt beautiful. She was utterly, hopelessly in love with him.
At some point, her sky-blue hair had begun to sway and dance in perfect sync with her emotions — clear proof of just how deep her feelings ran. It was a rare phenomenon usually only seen in supremely talented individuals like Hestia or Arie, who could perfectly control their own aura. The fact that Elisha could now do the same was undeniable evidence that her talent, honed through countless regressions, was every bit as monstrous as theirs.
Instead of rushing straight to him, Elisha first stopped by her dormitory. No matter how desperately she wanted to see him, she refused to appear disheveled. It was a very girlish side of her.
She carefully tidied her hair, changed into casual clothes that looked natural yet highlighted her charm, and prepared to meet him in her most confident state.
Slap!
“Perfect!”
She lightly patted her cheeks with both hands to create a faint, lovely blush. Then she conjured a mirror with magic and examined herself.
“This should be fine… right?”
Despite possessing near-perfect beauty, she never thought of herself as special. Part of that was because Hestia and Arie were around, both comparable in appearance. But the real reason was simpler: her looks didn’t seem to affect the one person she actually cared about.
In her mind, “outstanding beauty” meant nothing more and nothing less than “something he likes.”
Still, she dressed up for him. She wanted him to see her in the best possible light. After all, who doesn’t want to be remembered fondly by the person they love?
Having left the dormitory in peak condition, Elisha headed toward his dormitory with a confident expression. Since he stayed at the Academy even during break, finding him was as easy as closing her eyes.
After such a long wait, she would finally see him again. What should she do first when they met? Should they grab a meal together? Imagining his cute, slightly flustered reactions every time she teased him, Elisha walked with light, bouncy steps.
But as she drew closer to his dormitory, what entered her eyes was…
“…Shall we head to a café first?”
“Yes, let’s continue our conversation there.”
It was his back, walking off somewhere with some thieving stray cat of a woman.
At the same time, someone else was watching the scene.
CRACK!!!
A massive tree shattered, its center caving in with a horrifying crunch. The sound was so violent it seemed like someone had cast a spell on it, but the one responsible was a beautiful, golden-haired woman with an expressionless face.
“Huu…”
After taking a slow, deep breath and brushing her hair back, she removed her hand from the tree. What remained crumbled into powder and rained down in clumps. The woman who had pulverized solid wood with nothing but raw grip strength was none other than the Hero, Hestia.
She stood beside the now dangerously unstable, hollowed-out tree, quietly swallowing her rage.
‘…How irritating.’
Her most precious friend was walking alongside some strange woman whose name she didn’t even know. Seeing the girl dressed neatly and pretending to chat innocently — clearly trying to seduce the pure-hearted man — Hestia couldn’t hold back. She had ended up destroying an innocent tree instead.
She irritably brushed the wood dust from her hands and continued watching them. The pair headed toward a café, saying they wanted to talk somewhere else. Yet Hestia didn’t follow. She simply remained where she was, staring silently.
…With an utterly blank face and eyes burning with murderous intent.
Anyone who met her gaze would have instinctively taken a step back without realizing it. That was how fiercely her anger boiled inside. Even so, she wasn’t truly angry at him. On the contrary, she felt grateful that he was safe and healthy. She was thankful for even the smallest things when it came to him.
But in the end, Hestia was still a person with emotions. A little sulking was unavoidable.
‘Am I… not enough for him right now…?’
The thought that she was too lacking to satisfy him made her feel pathetic. The negative emotions that had built up inside her all poured toward the snake-like woman cozying up to him and pretending to be close.
How dare she… take advantage of his kindness and try to take advantage of him?
Forgetting for a moment that one shouldn’t judge others too hastily, she swallowed her fury. Turning away from the unpleasant sight, Hestia clenched her fists tightly. Then she whispered a vow so quietly that no one else could hear.
“Please wait just a little longer. I will…”
I will do whatever it takes to become the woman who can win your heart…
Her back as she turned away looked more resolute than ever before.
Yulia had shown up out of nowhere. Curious about what she wanted to talk about, I agreed to chat for a bit and headed to a café with her. For a second I felt a spine-chilling aura, but my instincts screamed that I absolutely should not acknowledge it, so I chose to ignore it.
We moved to a quiet, nearly empty café. Unfortunately, we ran into an unexpected landmine.
“……”
“……”
“Mmm~! So delicious~.”
The woman sitting right beside me was loudly sipping her drink with an obnoxious slurp. She was clearly in a bad mood — ominous blue energy was leaking from her — yet her expression remained brightly cheerful in a way that sent chills down my spine.
Familiar sky-blue hair. The uninvited guest wedged between us was, of course, Elisha.
Yulia, sitting across from me, kept looking back and forth between us with a face full of question marks. She clearly wanted an explanation, but I had no idea what was going on either.
Where the hell did this woman pop out from…?
Yulia and I stayed silent, watching Elisha carefully. Elisha simply kept drinking her beverage without saying a word. An awkward, strangely long silence stretched between us.
“……”
“……”
“……”
…This is so painfully awkward, seriously…
I wanted to ditch everything — Yulia, the conversation, all of it — and bolt from this table. Should I just spam my authority and run? Why weren’t the terrorists showing up at a time like this?
I ran through various escape plans in my head, but every option had some fatal flaw. In the end, I gave up.
Coldly speaking, Elisha wasn’t the sharpest when it came to reading the room, but she was still a regressor. I had to be extremely careful around her. I had no idea what might happen if I wasn’t.
I tried to sound as natural as possible.
“Um… Miss Elisha? What brings you here?”
“Before that, don’t you have something you should say to me first?”
What? Did she somehow find out I fell asleep cuddling with Hestia?
“…That is…”
“A greeting. A greeting. It’s been so long since we last saw each other. Aren’t you even going to say hello?”
“Ah, it’s been a while, Miss Elisha…”
“Yes. I missed you too.”
…I never said I missed her though…?
“Haha, I’m grateful you feel that way.”
“Hmmm~.”
When I laughed awkwardly, Elisha leaned toward me with a seductive smile. The situation was getting way too heavy, so I subtly turned my head away. Her smile only grew darker.
“Wow…”
“Who is that woman?”
“You don’t know? She’s the one rumored to have talent comparable to the Hero…”
Whispers praising Elisha’s beauty drifted over from the surrounding tables. To them, her smile might have looked more beautiful than any jewel. But to me, it looked like the wicked grin of someone who had just found an interesting new toy.
Cold sweat poured down my back as I avoided her gaze.
…It doesn’t seem like she came here with good intentions at all.