"Cloud, you... what you just did..."
A worried voice sounded beside him.
Mai Shiranui.
She stared at him, her gorgeous almond eyes filled with exasperation.
"That was way too impulsive! That guy's the Crown Prince! Publicly humiliating him like that... things are going to get complicated."
"She's right, Cloud!" Yuri Sakazaki tugged anxiously at his sleeve. "Maybe you should... I don't know, apologize to him later?"
Looking at these girls genuinely fretting over his wellbeing, Cloud felt a current of warmth flow through his heart.
He smiled, reaching out with both arms to pull his two "little vinegar jars" into an embrace.
"Relax."
His voice brimmed with unshakeable confidence and a hint of swagger.
"The person who can cause me trouble hasn't been born yet."
"As for that 'Crown Prince'..."
His lips curled into a disdainful smirk.
"In my eyes, he doesn't even rank as high as a pile of shit."
"At least shit... can be used as fertilizer."
This crude but oddly reassuring declaration instantly calmed Mai and Yuri's racing hearts.
They gazed at this man—eternally confident, eternally powerful, no matter the situation—and stars sparkled in their eyes once more.
...
Just as Cloud was enjoying this cozy "one arm around each beauty" moment, a figure appeared behind him.
Cold as an iceberg.
Leona.
Her expression remained perfectly blank, those ice-blue eyes as still as a frozen lake.
But Cloud's keen senses detected something—a subtle tremor of unease and agitation hidden beneath her composed exterior.
"Something wrong?" he asked.
"Mm." Leona gave a slight nod.
Her gaze flickered briefly to Mai and Yuri, who were eyeing her with the wary vigilance of guard dogs spotting a trespasser. After a moment's hesitation, she lowered her voice until only Cloud could hear:
"The power inside me... it's becoming unstable again."
"Hm?" Cloud's brow furrowed.
He knew exactly what power she meant—the Riot of the Blood, that berserker fury inherited from her Hakkesshu lineage.
"When did it start?"
"Since... those two women appeared." Leona's eyes drifted imperceptibly toward the Yagami Team's rest area.
Cloud followed her gaze.
Mature and Vice—those two mysterious, dangerous femme fatales—were observing Leona with the predatory interest of hunters sizing up prey.
Their lips even curled with knowing smiles that seemed to say: One of us.
"I see."
Understanding dawned immediately.
Mature. Vice. Leona.
All three carried Orochi blood.
Though they belonged to different "factions" within the Hakkesshu, their powers shared a common source. They resonated with each other. Interfered with each other.
Like three magnets crammed into a tiny space—even without doing anything, their invisible fields would push and pull until everything became... unstable.
Mature and Vice, those fully awakened veterans, could naturally control their power with ease.
But Leona, still in her "newbie phase," couldn't handle the interference.
"Don't be afraid."
Cloud's voice softened as he caught the flicker of fear hidden in those ice-blue depths.
He slowly raised his right hand.
Then—right in front of Mai and Yuri, who had instantly shifted into "red alert" mode—he placed his palm against Leona's forehead in a gesture that was entirely natural... and entirely intimate.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!"
Mai and Yuri were about to lose it.
They looked like wives who'd just caught their husband with his hand in the cookie jar.
Off in the distance, Athena was gripping her light-stick so hard it nearly shattered.
But Cloud ignored their murderous glares completely.
A stream of pure, warm, protective golden flame flowed from his palm. It condensed into a tiny seal—a swastika pattern inscribed with arcane symbols—that flashed briefly before sinking into Leona's consciousness.
Instantly, the raging, untamed power thrashing inside her like a wild horse went quiet, as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over it.
A sensation of unprecedented warmth and safety wrapped around her entire being.
It felt like a drowning sailor had finally grabbed hold of an unsinkable life raft.
Her heart, strung tight with tension, finally relaxed.
"What... what is this?"
Unconsciously, her hand rose to touch her forehead—still warm from his touch—and disbelief swam in those ice-blue eyes.
"A GPS." Cloud withdrew his hand, the roguish grin returning to his face. "With this, no matter where you run in the world, I'll be able to find you instantly."
"And also..." His voice turned impossibly gentle. "When you're about to lose your way... it'll help you find your way back home."
That cheesy, double-meaning pickup line sent Leona's barely-calmed heart racing all over again.
A rare flush of color crept across her eternally stoic features.
[Ding! Target Leona Heidern Affection Change: +20, +30 ("He... helped me again... He... really does seem to care about me...")]
Meanwhile.
Mai and Yuri watched this saccharine scene unfold—complete with pink bubbles floating in the air around the "ice princess" who'd clearly caught the lovesickness—and felt their teeth practically dissolving from the sugar overload.
They exchanged glances.
Then simultaneously resolved in their hearts—
This cannot stand!
Fire prevention! Theft prevention! Best friend prevention!
This blue-haired newcomer is definitely... a formidable rival!
From now on, we need to keep Cloud on a much shorter leash!
Cloud surveyed the brewing "battlefield royale" atmosphere and felt deeply, deeply exhausted.
All he wanted was to peacefully build his harem.
Why...
Why was it so hard?
...
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