She moved.
Seeing that subconscious protective gesture Annabell made toward her wife, the jealousy in Ai Weier’s eyes could no longer be suppressed. Mana began to stir restlessly around her.
Ai Weier forced down her fury and said coldly, “I’m preparing to return to the academy. Before I leave, I just wanted to stop by to remind someone of something.”
Their gazes clashed violently in midair, sparks of mana friction practically crackling in the air between them.
“What is it?” Annabell asked.
Ai Weier cast her icy gaze toward Charlotte. “Charlotte, don’t tell me you’ve forgotten the three-year pact we made a few days ago.”
Charlotte poked her head out from behind Annabell, her expression calm and fearless. “Of course I haven’t forgotten. Three years from now, I will personally set foot on Sky College and challenge you.”
Annabell’s brows furrowed.
A three-year pact? Isn’t this the classic good-for-nothing broken engagement trope?
“What’s this all about?” Annabell turned to ask Charlotte.
Meeting Annabell’s inquiring gaze, Charlotte felt a twinge of guilt.
She then recounted everything that had happened a few days ago—how Ai Weier had come to her door to forcibly break off the engagement, and how she had made the three-year pact to protect her family.
After hearing the full story, the killing intent in Annabell’s eyes surged instantly.
Ai Weier sneered darkly at Charlotte. “Don’t celebrate too soon. If you improve too slowly, if your strength is too weak… three years from now, on the Duel Platform, I won’t show any mercy. I’ll kill you with my own hands in front of the entire academy.”
Charlotte’s expression turned serious. She was about to retort when Annabell yanked her behind her.
Annabell stared directly at Ai Weier, her red-blue dual pupils seeming to condense ten thousand years of glacial ice within them.
She spoke word by word, her voice soft yet carrying absolute dominance:
“No need for three years. If you dare harm a single hair on her head, I will kill you right now.”
The moment those words left her mouth, the air around them plunged to freezing point.
Charlotte hid behind Annabell, her heart pounding wildly, her cheeks flushed crimson.
Being shielded so dominantly by the one she loved most—that sense of security was almost enough to drown her.
But those words became the final straw that shattered Ai Weier’s sanity.
The peak Level 7 mana within Ai Weier erupted completely, flames dyeing half the sky crimson.
The thread called “reason” inside her snapped entirely. Jealous rage consumed her whole being.
“You would kill me… for this worthless piece of trash?!”
Ai Weier let out a shrill, manic laugh. “Oh? Is that so?! No need for three years! I’ll kill her right now—let’s see how you protect her!”
Ai Weier suddenly extended her pale hand, gesturing toward the sky.
Heaven and earth shifted.
The temperature around them skyrocketed. What had been a clear morning instantly felt like being trapped inside a furnace.
As the current President of Sky College’s Student Council, Ai Weier’s strength was absolutely terrifying.
She wasn’t just a High-rank Mage—she was a super-genius with one foot already through the door to Level 8.
As she chanted her incantation, a massive fire dragon dozens of meters long coiled into existence in the sky!
The dragon bared its claws and fangs, radiating the force of annihilation, poised to descend from the heavens and burn Charlotte—along with the entire Weir Family gate—to ashes.
Annabell stood firmly in front of Charlotte, her expression grim.
Although she possessed the legacy of the First Magus King, she had just recovered from a severe illness, and the internal injuries from her earlier life-force depletion hadn’t fully healed.
Taking this attack head-on would indeed be taxing.
But in front of her wife, how could she possibly back down?!
“Charlotte, step back.”
Annabell shouted coldly, giving her right hand a casual flick.
“Come forth, mithril floating blades!”
These were the peak-grade magic implements she had obtained from Rosalind’s affection level treasure chest.
Seven floating blades radiating ghostly blue cold light instantly shot out from her storage space, spinning at high speed around her.
It was the end sword array she’d gotten from Rosalind’s affection level chest a few days ago!
Annabell swept her sword fingers through the air, and the seven floating blades transformed into seven dazzling auroras, surging skyward.
Extreme-cold mana clung to the blades, weaving into a massive ice-blue shredding net in the sky that slammed straight into the howling fire dragon.
The fire dragon was strangled viciously by the sword net formed from the floating blades.
The ultimate collision of ice and fire triggered a blinding, dazzling burst of light!
The fire dragon shattered in midair, scattering into a rain of fire.
The seven floating blades, their mana spent, tumbled haphazardly to the ground at Annabell’s feet.
The violent shockwave became a gale, sweeping across the entire street.
Ai Weier, suffering magical backlash, let out a muffled grunt and staggered back several steps, her face instantly turning deathly pale.
At the same time, Annabell also retreated half a step.
She forcibly suppressed the churning blood in her chest, but a thin trickle of crimson still escaped uncontrollably from the corner of her pale lips.
It looked like a draw on the surface, but in truth, both sides were badly hurt.
Annabell had aggravated the old wound left by the Ruins.
“Annabell!”
Seeing Annabell bleed, Charlotte’s heart ached as if it were being torn apart.
She rushed forward, grabbing Annabell’s arm as tears burst from her eyes.
She frantically pulled out several high-grade recovery potions and shoved them all into Annabell’s mouth.
“I’m fine. It just aggravated an old wound. Don’t cry.” Annabell drank the potions, then reached out to grip Charlotte’s trembling hand, speaking softly in comfort.
Not far away, Ai Weier steadied herself and happened to see that stinging flash of blood at the corner of Annabell’s mouth.
Her mind, which had been clouded by jealousy, miraculously regained a sliver of clarity at the sight of that blood.
She had actually hurt Annabell?
Watching the genius girl she obsessed over, revered like a deity, now bleeding because she was protecting another woman—a sharp, inexplicable pain and panic surged through Ai Weier’s heart.
She couldn’t bear to strike again.
If she kept fighting, she would only push Annabell further away.
“Hmph!”
Ai Weier forcibly suppressed the turmoil in her heart, maintaining her last shred of pride. She shot Charlotte one last deep, venomous look and spoke through gritted teeth:
“Three years from now, I’ll see exactly how far your strength has come. When that time comes, I’ll tear apart your pathetic disguise with my own hands—right in front of her!”
“We’re leaving!”
In her agitation, Ai Weier swept her mage robe and left without looking back, the trembling Student Council members trailing behind her.
All that remained was the wreckage in front of the Weir Family gate.
Charlotte supported Annabell, her face full of self-reproach and guilt. “Annabell… I’m sorry. It’s all because I’m so weak that you aggravated your old wound. I even made you sever ties with the Student Council and the academy…”
“Stop overthinking.”
Annabell reached out and booped her nose. “That crazy woman Ai Weier was always consumed by jealousy. This score was bound to be settled eventually.”
Charlotte still kept her head lowered, tears welling in her eyes.
“If only I could be stronger…”
“I don’t want to keep hiding behind you, watching you bleed for me.”
Seeing her look so pitiful and helpless, Annabell suddenly felt at a loss.
She could never handle girls crying.
Charlotte suddenly lifted her head. In those emerald-green eyes, tears had already been replaced by unprecedented determination.
She looked into Annabell’s eyes and spoke her vow, word by word:
“Annabell, wait for me.”
“One day, I’ll become stronger than anyone. I’ll become the towering tree that shelters you from the wind and rain!”
“I’ll protect you the way you’ve protected me—with everything I have, shielding you behind me!”
“From now on, it’s your turn to hide in my arms!”
Annabell froze for a moment, staring at her little sweet wife who had suddenly radiated such overwhelming boldness. She couldn’t help but let out a proud, tsundere snort.
“Hmph, big talk. Who would want to hide in your arms.”
She said that out loud, but the corners of Annabell’s lips curled upward in a smile she simply couldn’t suppress.