I ran.
I kept running, chasing the image of the woman I had liked for a long time as she ran through the halls. While I ran my mind was flooded with different scenarios playing in my head as I pondered on what to say when and if I caught up to her.
'Hey, Velzard! Let's talk' no that was a bit too cringe.
'I love you! Please go out with me!' No, that was a good way of scaring her off.
'Come with me if you want to love!' I thought before shaking my head with reddened cheeks. I had embarrassed myself just thinking that corny line.
'Wah! I want to die of cringe right now!' I yelled I my mind before I came to a screeching stop in front of another golden gate floating in the middle of the hallway.
I hesitated for a moment seeing it floating there. Its existence meant that Velzard had fled to another world other than the Heavenly Star Palace and if I went through it and Velzard left without me, I could be trapped in one of a nearly infinite number of parallel worlds, not just the Cardinal world. Even Veldanava wasn't omniscient anymore so, if Velzard had chosen at random and didn't remember where it was when I got lost, there was a good chance I'd be trapped there forever, however, I also knew that there was a very good chance Velzard had run in there and I knew I needed to talk with her. I felt like if I didn't then I'd lose something.
A thought flashed through my mind. It was the fact that Velzard ended up with Guy in the canon of the web novel. The mere idea that Velzard could end up falling for that asshole filled me with a deep pit of jealousy and I hadn't noticed that I had already passed through the gate on instinct, as though my heart wouldn't allow that to happen even before my mind had made up its mind.
I appeared in an open field in some distant land far away from anywhere I knew. It was dark, however, I could see clearly due to my [Magic Sense]. I looked up into the sky for a moment to see the light of a familiar moon hanging in the sky. It appeared I was in the Cardinal World which relieved me a bit but also concerned me too, as I didn't see Velzard anywhere around me.
I closed my eyes and stretched my [Magic Sense] as far as I could. I noticed a small crevice in the distance which leaked an enormous amount of magicules and which seemed to be recently chilled if the small amounts fo ice crystals on the entrance were any indicator.
I immediately thanked my lucky stars for learning {Spatial Magic} from Twilight these last few years, as it allowed me to instantly teleport to the entrance without having to waste any more time in finding her. Teleportation was impossible in the Heavenly Star Palace unless you were Veldanava, so I couldn't use this method there, but now that I was in the Cardinal World, I would definitely catch up to Velzard now.
I appeared by the entrance and was immediately hit with a deep-set feeling of cold. I had trained with both Velzard and Velgrynd in the past, so I had naturally acquired resistance to fluctuating temperatures and even acquired [Natural Effects Nullification] upon finally evolving into a Saint, so I should not have been able to feel cold at all, but this was different. It was biting and threatened to freeze me solid if I didn't keep my wits about me. Furthermore, Velzard's aura was leaking out from the cave and was so intense that it blocked my [Magic Sense] from being accurate at all, so I couldn't teleport directly to her either.
I grit my teeth as I started to trudge my way inside the now iced-over cavern, taking care not to slip on the iced-over cave floor. As I made my way in deeper and deeper into the cavern, I noticed that the cave itself was getting narrower and narrower until I was just barely squeezing through the gaps in the stone. My clothes, which were just normal robes had begun to catch more and more as I went further in until I got fed up with them and ripped off my white robe, leaving nothing but my black shirt and pants to shield my body from the biting cold.
After a few more minutes of this, I finally emerged into a wide-open underground cavern packed full of snow and ice. I noticed that the walls themselves, after bathing in the magical aura of Velzard, had already been purified into pure Magisteel that was tainted with her frosted aura. Strangely, thought, unlike the rest of the cave where the wind was fridged and blowing constantly, the air around here was still, though the occasional snowflakes did fall from the ceiling. I began to look around the cavern, as my [Magic Sense] definitely detected she was in here somewhere, but the cold was messing with it heavily so I was forced to squint and look around with my eyes instead.
There, in the middle of the room, sat the most beautiful girl in the world. The white-haired beauty sat in the middle of the room hugging her knees. The beautiful blue eyes that had first enraptured my heart were hidden behind her legs as she held her head downward.
I felt both great relief in my heart and a twinge of sadness too as I approached.
I was about to call out to her when I heard her mumbling to herself. "Stupid. Why did I run away? He's probably laughing at me right now... Probably thinks I'm weird..." Velzard muttered hugging her legs even more tightly.
"I don't think your weird at all," I commented as I reached her.
Velzard's head shot up in surprise; shock written all over her face. She clearly didn't detect my approach and was surprised that I had managed to catch up with her. I didn't allow her to answer my comment as I continued on to what I wanted to say.
"As a matter of fact, I think your flustered face was really cute. You're normally already beautiful, even in your dragon form, but that was the most adorable I'd ever seen you." I stated, baring my honest feelings to her.
"C-c-c-cute!?!" Velzard stammered a bit and held her cheeks in her hands which were now bright red as well.
"Yup, and you're continuing to be adorable even now." I said, walking past her and sitting down behind her. Velzard, seeing what I was doing, adjusted herself to sit with me. We were now facing away from each other, resting our backs against one another as we both thought about this situation in silence.
After a few moments of this, Velzard began talking. "This place is where I was born." She said.
I didn't say anything and allowed her to continue her story. "Us True Dragons spawn somewhere randomly in the world when we are first born. Other than big brother, I was the first. He didn't know about me for a while after I came into being so I stayed here for a long time all alone. I was so young then and it was so scary, being alone in the dark for so long, but then big brother came and rescued me." Velzard said, beginning her story.
"It was wonderful. The world he created. There were interesting beings. A fairy that thinks too highly of themself. A man who tried to lay with anything that moved. An Angel who hates listening to other people's opinions and jumps to conclusions over such small things... A prideful human who bumbles around with a smug look on his face constantly yet acts super cool when the time is right..." Velzard said.
"Who is that guy? Do I have a rival?" I asked, jokingly.
Velzard chuckled a bit before composing herself and going back to her story. "However, I am not someone who can deal with interacting wit such energetic people all the time and the constant shifting and changes being made to the world...
My concept isn't exactly Frost, per se. Its fixation. Stability, patience. Maybe that's why I ran back to this place, since it was known to me and seemingly unchanging after all these years, but... That's me. That is what I'm supposed to be all about, all I am supposed to care about. However right now I have all these emotions running through me. They run counter to my nature and make me want to run out of control. I want to seize what isn't mine immediately and without hesitation... This isn't how I am normally supposed to be. I am supposed to be patient and never change my viewpoint. This was why big brother gave me the role of Tuner after all. I am the one who ensured nothing ran amok or out of control to ensure the stability of the world he created." Velzard began to explain before pausing.
"I think... I always resented it. Resented them." Velzard continued, holding her open hand in front of her face. "I wanted to live freely like Velzard or Twilight. I wanted to be free to go on adventures as you do and to fight powerful enemies on a whim one day and then laze about on another like big brother does." Velzard paused before talking, more to herself than to me. "In my resentment, I even gained such a Skill... I'm such a bitch." Velzard mumbled with a shaky voice.
"Skill?" I asked aloud, more to myself than anything.
Velzard went silent for a moment and tensed up before sighing, letting go of all her worries and doubts, and began to speak freely once again. "The Unique Skill [Envy]. When I saw Ramiris kiss you, I earnestly wished doom upon her. She had so casually stolen the lips that I loved and you hadn't resisted it at all. I knew you probably didn't mean to, as you were just as shocked as me, but at that moment... I don't know. It felt like you were going to be going far away from me and I was being forced to stay where I was because I was supposed to." Velzard commented before sighing loudly.
"You're a smart guy Alaster. You probably don't want anything to do with me after this, right? I'm sure someone like Velgrynd or Luminous would be a better fit for you than me." She said with a mildly shaky voice, not wanting to believe the words that came out of her own mouth.
I sat in silence for a while after Velzard had said that and ruminated over the words and meaning of her speech. There really wasn't much I could come up with, so I decided to trust Velzard like she trusted me and let go of any planning in how I would talk to her or any secrets I was keeping.
"Velzard, I'm not going to lie to you. I'm not the greatest guy out there. I'm selfish, entitled, immature, and greedy. Hell, before I reincarnated I was even more of a total loser than I am now." I said, speaking for the first time in this world about my experience in the life before this one. "God (Veldanava) knows I've made my fair share of mistakes in the past that I am ashamed of, however..."
I said, turning to look at Velzard in the eyes. "Loving you is one of the few things I'm NOT and will NEVER be ashamed of. Velzard you are one of the kindest, most caring, most reliable women I have ever met. You are absolutely beautiful. The most beautiful thing Ive ever seen. And I am not just talking about your appearance, I'm talking about that bright and cheerful personality which captured my heart."
I paused for a moment to let my words sink in before continuing. "And no one. NO ONE! Is allowed to call the woman I fell for a bitch. Not even her. Do you understand me?" I said with a serious face.
Velzard was a bit flabbergasted by my speech but seemed to be blushing regardless of how cringy my lines were. "I want you to apologize! Say sorry to yourself!" I commanded.
Velzard began to chuckle, covering her mouth with her cupped hand to stop herself. Seeing that put my heart at ease and I unconsciously smiled. Her mood had lightened after her laughter and she decided to play along. "Alright then."
"Good, now repeat after me!" I commanded in a light-hearted tone. "I am sorry Velzard, for calling you a bitch!"
"I am sorry Velzard for calling you a bitch!" Velzard repeated with a smile on her face and a cheerful but obviously facetious tone
"I will never do it again!"
"I will never do it again!"
"Velzard is a beautiful angel dragon!"
"Velzard is a beautiful angel dragon."
"And Alaster loves her!"
"A-and Alaster l-loves her." Velzard hesitated a bit when repeating my confession. A mischievous thought ran through my mind as my eyes shone brightly.
"Velzard wants some lovin'" I stated with a confident smirk but the bit of red on my cheeks probably gave away how awkward I felt.
Velzard hesitated slightly but repeated it. "V-Velzard wan- no- deserves some love-lovin'..." Velzard said with a deep blush, changing my quote slightly and gaining confidence out of nowhere.
"Well, if you say so!" I said with a smile as we embarrassed each other in a deep kiss.
The moment our lips met, a powerful shock rushed through us both, temporarily stunning the two of us before we continued with our deep makeout session. The two of us began to melt into each other's embrace as we both let our minds go blank for the duration and we wrestled passionately with our tongues, neither one of us being able to dominate the other.
After what felt like a long time, we separated to catch our breaths. We technically didn't need to, since we both didn't need to breathe, but we needed to cool ourselves down a bit. Both of our faces were burning bright red in embarrassment. We had fallen over during the course of our battle with Velzard laying in the soft snow underneath me.
"G-good. Now that we've gone this far, you better not back out on me. We're partners from now on!" I said, a bit shyly. I wasn't exactly a pro at expressing my feelings yet.
Velzard smiled softly at my words and put both of her hands behind my head and hung from my neck while looking into my eyes. "Right back at you. I won't allow you to look at any girl other than me."
I smirked. "Well, there goes my harem plan," I said jokingly.
"Oh? You want more women, do you?" Velzard parried my comment half-jokingly but with a dangerous glint in her eyes.
"The only woman I want is right below me," I replied coyly as we began to kiss once again.
...
(3rd POV)
"You think we should stop watching now?" Ramiris said with bright red cheeks.
"Yeah... it's a bit... intense," Veldanava replied.
"Good for you sister!" Velgrynd commented cutely.
"Wait wait wait! Let's not be hasty! They're getting to the best part right about now!" Twilight hastily argued.
"I'd rather not have to watch my sister being deflowered, thanks..." Veldanava said, swiping his hand and dismissing the magic screen the group was using to watch the drama unfold.
Feldway clicked his tongue and everyone began to stare at him. He noticed everyone's eyes for a moment before looking back at them confused. "What?"
Twilight smiled happily and put his shoulder over his comrade. "Feldway! I always thought you were so uptight, but it turns out you're into watching too!?!" he commented.
Feldway's eye twitched at Twilight's comment. "No, I just was just hoping he'd botch it and Velzard would turn him into an icicle." he tried to correct twilight but everyone still looked at Feldway with a face of disgust.
Feldway noticed this and began to panic a bit. "No really! It's true! I'm not into watching them!" He tried to argue but everyone except Twilight took an unconsious step back.
"Feldway... you..." Veldanava said with hesitation.
"Veldanava-sama!?!" Feldway called out.
"Don't worry about them, my brother in arms!" Twilight said with a voice full of conviction. "I understand your vouyer tendencies! I too, have fallen into that temptation! I've even watched as my daughters have engaged with their partners! this path is a lonely one, but it is filled with great pleasures at a distance!" Twilight began to preach.
Everyone else took a step back, looking at the two of them like they were trash.
"No wonder they hate you," Velgrynd muttered.