Seeing their hesitant expressions, Kabe naturally understood what the two girls were worried about.
Without the slightest concern, he directly wrapped an arm around Erza's shoulders and smugly lifted his chin toward them.
"Come eat already. Selene brought plenty."
"Uh… okay."
Only after seeing the intimacy between the two, and confirming there wasn't even a trace of discomfort on Erza's face, did Cana and Levy finally relax.
After eating together for a while and chatting enough to verify Erza truly wasn't angry, the atmosphere gradually returned to normal.
"Erza, you probably still don't know yet, right?" Cana suddenly brought up the topic excitedly.
"The Fiore royal family is preparing to hold a giant Magic Games tournament."
"Because of that, Master even postponed the S-Class Exam and plans to combine it with the event."
Erza, who had been eating curry rice, froze mid-bite and looked up blankly.
Clearly, this was her first time hearing the news too.
"The exam was postponed?"
"This is the first time something like that has happened since I joined Fairy Tail."
Not only Erza was surprised. Even Selene, who had only just learned about it herself, became interested.
"Ooh~ this tournament thing actually sounds pretty fun."
"What kind of format is it?"
"Bring me along too."
"The royal family still hasn't announced the exact rules yet. We'll probably only know once it starts."
"As for you…"
Kabe proudly tapped the silver cross insignia pinned permanently to his chest and arrogantly declared:
"Take a good look at who your man is."
"I guarantee I'll get you the best seats possible."
"Oh~ oh~ very manly of you~"
Selene immediately rewarded him with exactly the kind of praise he wanted, perfectly satisfying his vanity.
After breakfast, Cana patted her slightly rounded stomach and asked everyone:
"Ultear and the others still don't know the S-Class Exam got delayed."
"I'm planning to head to the guild and discuss training plans before the tournament."
"Anyone coming with me?"
Levy immediately raised her hand.
"I'll go too. I'm pretty confident about becoming S-Class myself."
"Alright, figured you would."
Cana nodded before looking toward the others.
"I'll pass."
Erza yawned and waved lazily.
"I spent the whole night on the train and haven't properly slept yet."
"I drove all night too. I'm tired as hell, so you guys go ahead."
Kabe answered with a completely straight face despite the blatant innuendo, immediately earning synchronized eye-rolls from every girl present except Selene.
Erza reached over and pinched his waist hard as punishment.
"I don't object to your relationship with Irene."
"But she's still my elder."
"So stop saying weird things like that in front of me."
"Yes ma'am. I'll never dare again."
Since neither Kabe nor Erza planned to go, Selene, who wasn't even a Fairy Tail member, naturally had no interest in following along either.
After saying goodbye to each other, Cana and Levy left the manor together.
Erza also returned upstairs after helping clean the living room.
Now alone with Kabe in the living room, Selene very naturally reclined half her body across the sofa and casually loosened the front of her robe, exposing a large stretch of snowy-white skin.
"You know…"
"I helped connect you with Irene."
"I helped maintain harmony in your little harem."
"I've contributed quite a lot."
"Now that the others are gone, shouldn't you show some gratitude?"
"At the very least, you shouldn't waste the effort I put into choosing this outfit for you~"
Having finally recovered some of his energy, Kabe instantly felt temptation flare up again at the sight of Selene's seductive posture.
"Forget making contributions."
"Even if you'd done absolutely nothing…"
"How could I possibly let a beauty like you go?"
Selene nodded in satisfaction before curling her finger at him invitingly.
…
Upstairs, Erza had just removed her outer clothing and was preparing to wash up when her ears suddenly twitched.
"Hm?"
"Is that… a cat?"
Confused, she instinctively listened more carefully.
But only moments later, her curiosity vanished completely.
Her face instantly turned bright red as she fiercely spat toward the living room downstairs.
"T-those idiots… they're seriously doing that in the living room?!"
In embarrassment and irritation, Erza quickly grabbed a nearby piece of clothing to cover herself and stormed toward the door, fully prepared to rush downstairs and stop the two shameless people immediately.
But the moment her hand touched the doorknob…
She hesitated.
"…Forget it."
"No matter what, they really did help Irene a lot."
"I'll let them off this once."
Thinking about the Irene she admired and respected from the bottom of her heart, Erza ultimately softened.
In the end, she chose to pretend she knew nothing.
She tossed the clothes aside, turned around, entered the bathroom, and switched on the shower, allowing the sound of running water to drown out every other noise.
…
In the blink of an eye, the end of December arrived.
With the S-Class Exam supposedly approaching, guild members who had carefully scheduled their jobs ahead of time gradually began returning one after another.
But as December neared its end, there was still no sign whatsoever of the exam everyone had waited an entire year for.
Naturally, people slowly began growing suspicious.
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