"So, Mina, want to just go out into the city and relax a little before our semester starts?" Rustling in their new closet, she pulled out a new dress. "Okay, I wouldn't mind!" Mina cheerfully says. "Wow, they even managed to get my size right!" Mina scurried to their shared bathroom, changing right away. As she changed, Harold leaned into a cabinet while he waited. "By the way, I'm pretty sure we're the first ones to be admitted into the school. The other participants are probably doing their admissions test somewhere else."
"Does that mean we're special people?" Mina asked. "Maybe? I don't know if we would be considered special..." Harold replied. Swooping in came a familiar voice and a feathered body perched on Harold's head. "Yes, indeed, you are special!" exclaimed Konge.
"Oh, Konge, you're back. Where have you been?"
Immediately, Konge began pecking Harold's head. "You dumbass, I had to save you from death again!" Harold winced at the sharp pains gnawing away at his skull, beginning to plead for mercy. Konge fluttered before Harold's eyes, giving him a face-to-face talk. "Listen, Harold, every time you're near death, I have to do some magical bullshit to save you at the cost of my life! That giant explosion in the engine room took away a huge chunk of my life force, and now I'm on death's door!"
"Could we figure out a way to get that life force back?"
"No, it's impossible. Originally, I had so much Rysen that I could've supplied an entire nation with it alone. Now it's barely any since I had to keep using it up over the years!" Konge screamed, pecking at Harold's forehead. Harold, covering up his forehead, asks, "So, does that mean if you lose all of your life force, you die?" Konge suddenly paused at the question, surprising Harold on why he had stopped his assault. Looking back at Konge fluttering in front of him, he saw a look of sadness in his eyes. "No... I'll cease to exist. I won't be able to go to the afterlife. And honestly, I'm terrified at the thought."
He saw the sadness in his eyes. It felt similar to the sadness and despair Harold had when his mother suddenly left, and the constant ridicule his family had to endure for her disappearance. "Listen, Konge, I'll be more careful next time, I promise. I won't allow you to use that ability ever again, okay?" His tone was determined, and the look in his eyes was genuine. The spark in his eyes was familiar to Konge. It was the same spark that the previous users of Grand Radiance carried. "A promise, huh? I haven't had a promise like this in decades. Well, kiddo, if you say so, then keep that promise." Konge perched on his shoulder.
Mina left the bathroom, her aura emanating a warm light. "I'm ready, Harold!" Her bright smile and cute dress shined in the room, giving both Konge and Harold a sense of comfort. "Whoa, that fits you a lot, Mina." Harold murmured, almost relaxed at her adorable appearance. Twirling in her dress, she looked at herself. "I know, right? This looks great on me!"
Soon after, they proceeded out of the academy and into the streets of Argon City, where the sun shone brightly throughout. Airships soared in the sky, vehicles traversed the streets, and civilians and clockworks walked amok. Mina, gleefully walking beside Harold, attracted everyone's attention. Her appearance stood out to everyone due to how cute she was. "This attention is more annoying than I expected..." Harold stated with a sigh.
"Oh yeah, Konge, about what you said a while ago about Grand Radiance. You said the Artifact was reawakened due to an emergency, right?"
"Yeah, if they need to reawaken your Artifact, that means it's dire. I'd say first thing we should go to is the nearest church in order to contact the angels. That's so we can figure out what's going on."
"There's a church near the academy. We can go there tomorrow if you want." Harold told him.
"As long as you remember!"
A clockwork street cleaner bumped into Mina, making them accidentally drop their broom. Mina, seeing this, quickly helped the clockwork pick up his broom with a face of concern. "A-Are you okay? I'm sorry!" she said, apologizing. The clockwork, analyzing her for a moment, took the broom and began petting her head. Coming out of its vocal box, the clockwork says, "Don't worry, little girl. I am doing fine." In a monotone voice. Mina started to pout and hit against the clockwork's wooden leg. "I am not a little girl! Don't recognize me as one!"
Witnessing the dumb situation unfold, Harold sighed. "I was thinking of taking her to some cool places, but it seems that just walking in the street can be annoying." Konge chuckled, seeing Harold's reaction. "That's surprising; you got a gem of a woman right in front of ya' and you're not the very least happy about it? The previous users of Grand Radiance were gathering as many women as they were cattle."
"Those dudes were damn womanizers!" Harold shouted. He then looked at Mina, still conversing with the clockwork. "Well, I used to have a girlfriend. Even though we didn't do much, I still tried my best to make her happy. In the end, she dumped me because she loved someone else... I guess because of that, I just don't feel tempted to be in another relationship."
Konge slapped Harold with his feathers. "You idiot, that was just one girl; why should that be your finale?!
"Because I tried everything to appease her! I took her on dates, gave her flowers, gave her gifts, and came whenever she called me; I even planned out my future with her! And yet, the farthest we've gone was just holding hands with her!" Harold fell in agonizing despair, remembering the moments he had tried to make her happy. "In the end, I think I'm just not a good boyfriend... I lost all motivation to fall in love with another woman, anyway."
Konge sighed, seeing how pathetic he was. "If you're seriously sad about one person dumping you, your predecessors will be very disappointed." Harold pulled his head back up at Konge. "Now hear me out, you dumb bird-" He met face to face with Mina, who curiously looked him in the eyes. "Harold, are you okay? Why are you on the floor like this?" she asked as her face neared his. He jerks his head away, trying to not show the tiny blush that emerged on his face. "N-Nothing, we can start walking again..." Konge chuckled, seeing how stupid Harold's face appeared. "Whimp." he whispered. Ticked off, Harold kept his composure, stiffly walking beside Mina, trying his best to shrug off the sudden insult.
Meanwhile, from a distance, an unusual person stalks the two of them. It was Esmeralda Yaltan, hiding in the alleyway nearby. "That girl named Mina... I'll uncover her true identity as a demon once and for all! She can't keep up that act forever." As Harold and Mina proceeded forward, Esmeralda followed suit. First hiding behind a streetlight, then hiding behind a tree—her actions were odd to the surrounding people, especially as her intent was solely focused on Mina and Harold, which was blatantly obvious. A child holding her mother's hand pointed at Esmeralda. "Mommy, what is that strange lady doing?" The mother was quick to drag her child forward as she gave an uneasy look at Esmeralda, telling her child, "Ignore that weird person, dear. Never grow up to be like her."
Even with the perception of her being odd to the public, she locked in and focused deeply on Mina. First, she witnessed Mina and Harold stumbling upon a fat squirrel on a tree. "Wow, Harold, look at that! That squirrel is fat!" Mina happily exclaimed. "Geez, why are you so happy about a squirrel being fat?" he replied, not understanding the intrigue. Esmeralda stares at her, confused about her reaction to a morbidly obese squirrel. "Is she a dumbass?" she thought.
Mina, answering Harold, tells him, "Cause it looks super adorable!"
"Okay, but Mina, if you think about it, that squirrel is unhealthy. There's no way a squirrel can be that morbidly obese." he says as the squirrel picks up another nut and starts to eat it. "Oi, stop it, you fat squirrel! You're going to die at this rate!"
Mina's eyes light up. "H-Harold, can we keep her as a pet?!"
"No! Would they even allow us to keep it in our dorm?!"
With the quick denial, Mina teared up. By the quivering of her voice, she seemed to be nearing her crying point. Harold reacted swiftly to this and gave in. "Okay, fine! But this will be the last time I'll be spoiling you." Mina cheered in her victorious demands, suddenly climbing up the tree at a rapid pace. Both Harold and the squirrel were shocked at Mina's sudden advancement, leaving the squirrel screaming at the top of its lungs before Mina snatched it from the tree. As Mina takes the squirrel into the clutches of her hand, it desperately tries to escape, only for it to make no progress due to its overbearing weight. Continuing to walk off, Mina scratched the squirrel's head as she talked with Harold about it. "Harold, what should we name it?"
"I dunno, not my squirrel." Those words didn't sit well with Mina as she stood in front of Harold, pouting. She stuck out the squirrel in front of Harold's face, its fat blubber making gelatinous noises as she did. "This is our child Harold; you need to treat her as such! You need to name her right now!" Taking the squirrel into his hands, he clutched it against his body. "When did she become my child? You're the one who adopted her..." Yet, even his words didn't sway her mind, as her face still held an attitude towards him. "O-Okay, fine, her name will be Livia; how about that?" He didn't give the name much thought, but even if that was the case, Mina's face brightened up. "I love the name!" She squealed, petting Livia's fuzzy head. Livia was distressed, but was too tired to freak out. Instead, they fell asleep in the clutches of Harold's arm, nestling in comfortably against his body.
With the both of them moving on, Esmeralda bit her nails from behind the streetlight. "What the hell was all of that? Is she thinking of eating it or something?! Could she be getting the squirrel's hopes up before eating it? That poor creature!"
Arriving at their first destination, Esmeralda could see them entering an ice cream shop. "They're getting ice cream?" she wondered, observing them going inside. A few minutes later, they came out again with ice cream in hand. Livia nestled comfortably in the bosom of Mina, letting out an enormous yawn. Seeing the adorable yawn, Mina scratched Livia's head, smiling. "Sleep well, Livia." Mina said in a gentle tone. Yet, in a sudden move, Livia tried to reach for Mina's ice cream, catching Mina off-guard. "H-Huh, I thought you were going to sleep! N-No Livia, you can't eat this, you're going to get a heart attack!" Recoiling her arm back, the ice cream fell out of her cone and dropped to the floor.
Splat!
A depressing wind flew along the streets as that moment was photographed in Mina's mind. Rapidly, her face scrunched up. You could tell she desperately was keeping back her tears as her eyes welled up. Harold, rushing over, told her, "Here, you can have my ice cream; in fact, I'll treat you to something better!" he said in a panic. As Harold clasped her hand, he dragged her alongside him, and all Mina did was look down in utter sadness, struggling to not break down in tears.
Moments later, Esmeralda witnesses their journey to a popular restaurant spot in which, after 10 minutes, they come to one of the outdoor tables to eat. Mina furiously gobbled down the roasted pheasant, all while simultaneously licking the ice cream Harold gave her. Crying as she ate the food, Harold used a handkerchief to wipe her tears and mouth. "Mina, take your time eating; people are staring at us." he told her. Responding with a mouth full of food, she sniffled, saying. "B-But, I'm so sad and happy right now, I don't know what to say! I've never had a meal this good in so long!" Continuing to clean Mina after her sloppy eating, he realized he had forgotten an important detail about her. "Oh right, she was a slave."
Esmeralda was just one of the multitude of people, witnessing the displeasing sight of Mina eating her food like a pig. "Even then, she still seems quite cute when eating in desperation... this must be the works of demon magic!"
After their meal, Mina yawned alongside Livia. The food had made her quite drowsy and satisfied. "H-Harold... I'm sleepy..." she said, rubbing her eyes. "If you weren't sleepy after eating all of that food, I'd be surprised." They were inside Argon City's public park where gentle winds brushed the alongside the trees. In this calming and quiet area where no cars or people could be heard, he led her to one tree, making her sit with him. "Let's just rest here for now, okay?" She gave a slow nod before resting her head against his shoulder. "Yeah..." closing her eyes, she fell asleep. Her quick breaths soothed Harold, who also felt the weight of his eyelids overpowering him. "I might as well take a nap too..." and dozed off.
Esmeralda continued her stalking, this time on top of a tree branch and looking past leaves to watch her victims. "What the hell is this lovey-dovey type bullshit?! This entire day, she had been acting like a complete moron! Does this mean I've been wrong this whole time...?" She felt a guilt wash over her, tightening her chest. "Did I nearly murder an innocent person?"
That's when Mina suddenly woke up, surprising Esmeralda by her sudden upbringing. Sorrow emerged in Mina's hand, speaking to her. "Mina, what are you planning? Feeling out your soul, something seems odd about you," she asked.
"I've thought about it." Mina whispered, leaning in closer to Harold's body.
"Huh?"
Her eyes lit up red as her face turned blank, empty as if it was soulless. It gave Sorrow and Esmeralda chills, having Esmeralda covered up her mouth as she witnessed a shocking sight.
Mina gave a devilish grin, clutching up against Harold's body. "I hated being abandoned; I hated feeling alone, so now I've come up with a solution." Snuggling up against Harold, she held a satisfying smile, saying. "Yes, I realized Harold is the perfect somebody that meets my necessities. As if fate brought us together, him saving me was truly a gift!" Coming close to slumbering Harold's face, she gave him a small kiss on the cheek, her eyes full of desire. "M-Mina, what has gotten into you?!" Sorrow stated in a panicked tone. Looking deep into Mina's heart, she would never act like this nor even say any of this to begin with. "Nothing, this is all me. This was truly the answer I was looking for. He's my savior anyway, I couldn't give myself to anyone else but him." Mina boldly replied. She kissed him on the lips this time before closing her eyes and letting Sorrow melt back into her soul.
Esmeralda dashed away, taking the forbidden secrets that were unfolded alongside her. "I swear, she has to be a demon, but she also couldn't be one at the same time! It's so confusing!"
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Mina came out of the shower in her nightgown. Harold, already lying in the bed, turned over to see her. "Hey Mina, you sure you're fine with me sleeping here?" Mina crawled into the bed and tucked herself in. "Yes, I'm fine, don't worry!" she stated with a bright smile. "B-But, I'm fine sleeping on that couch right there-" The sudden placement of Livia cut him off in between them. Mina had also tucked Livia into the bed, scratching her chin and rubbing her fat squirrel belly. Suddenly, the abrupt touch of Mina startled Harold. "Stay here, please stay here." She asked with pleading eyes. Not even Harold could resist blushing at the cute sight. "O-Okay then..." Harold told her, tucking himself in as he closed his eyes. With a devilish grin, Mina smiled. "Thank you, Harold." She whispered, as her eyes glow a crimson red.