"Please don't reject us. Going into this valley is better with a group." Samuel strongly insisted with a smile.
"Excuse me?" Anna furrowed her eyebrows, showing her displeased. She had told them that she didn't plan to go with them. Everyone already knew that her character, which was different from what she had shown to Noel the whole time. This was just her past character that she had changed, but since the other party didn't back down, she had to show them.
Samuel flinched and tried to explain. "I don't mean to be rude to you. But the valley is extremely dangerous. We might not be stronger than you, but our group is by no means weak. We can give you some help."
Surprisingly, Kirika stepped up and said with hostility. "As expected from the famous Anna Stargaze. You're as cold as ever. I wonder how much torture Noel has received from you. I'm starting to pity him for getting paired up with you."
Even Anna didn't expect this hostility from Kirika. She had felt Kirika's cold gaze whenever they met in the barrack, but Kirika never did something as if she knew that she wasn't strong enough to challenge her. She seemed to want to defeat her to break the pair, saving Noel.
But if she didn't get stronger first to the point where she could defeat her, she wouldn't be able to challenge her again since she only had one chance.
"What right do you have to get involved in my matter?" Anna asked coldly.
Kirika gritted her teeth and clenched her fists.
"Let's stop, shall we?" Misha came between them to stop the arguments. "We're simply thinking that it's safer if we stick together since meeting here must be fate."
"That's right." Samuel nodded in agreement.
"There's no need for it. You should be the one to worry about your safety, not me. I'm not here to carry others through this valley." Anna harrumphed, turning around.
"You…" Kirika gritted her teeth and stepped forward, glaring at her. "Anna Stargaze!"
"What's wrong?" Anna maintained her cold face. Their heads were only a few inches away as they were glaring at each other. She smirked evilly and said, "Ah, you must be the one that Noel saved back then, who I accidentally saved as well. What's wrong? Have you fallen to that guy and want to avenge him? Sorry, you're not strong enough.
"!!!" Kirika widened her eyes when Anna emphasized the word 'Miss' as if she knew about her noble identity. "You…"
Anna smiled coldly as if her plan seemed to have worked. She could now see the hesitation in Kirika's face. She added inwardly, 'Well, they should now see how horrible I am. Even if they try to report to the people on their back, they'll be spreading how bad I am. This way, my father won't realize that I've changed and won't send any people to kill Noel. This should be enough to fool him for a while.
'I can simply 'change' in the future because of some mysterious causes. But I have to be this hateful for now.'
Of course, Anna couldn't let out such a thought and no one knew about this thought.
"If I need to cut you down, then I'll cut you down." Kirika reached for her sword on her waist.
Anna smirked and also reached her sword. "If that's the case, I won't show you any mercy."
"Stop, stop, stop! We don't need to fight." Samuel immediately went between them to stop them.
Anna glanced at him coldly before turning away as if she didn't care. She had wasted a lot of time with them.
"Don't bother me. If you bother me…" Anna released her Spiritual Energy and her lightning. Her sheer pressure alone cracked the ground, making them feel dread. "… I won't spare any of you."
"!!!" They trembled because they could see the killing intent that seemed to have killed thousands of people instead of demons. They never expected that Anna to be able to release this kind of killing intent. At the same time, even if Marquis Stargaze was a doting parent, he wouldn't allow Anna to murder so many people.
That was why they wondered where this killing intent came from. At the same time, they realized that Anna was out of their reach.
Anna walked away after scaring them, heading straight to the valley by herself.
Kirika gritted her teeth, glaring at her back. She couldn't help but remember all the past memories.
When she was seven years old, she was left alone in a middle of a banquet. Everyone scrutinized her because she was chubby. So, she left to cry by herself in the garden, but she met a black-haired kid who was sitting in the garden this whole time. He was none other than Noel Ardagan.
"You are… the noble kid from the Muivell Kingdom."
"So?" Noel glanced at her before turning back to his book.
"Are you here alone because others don't accept you as well?" Kirika asked.
"Huh?" Noel raised his eyebrows since that obviously wasn't the case.
"Ah, I apologize… You must be disappointed to be talking to a fat girl like me, right?"
"I don't care. I'm simply too lazy to bother with you and the rest of the people."
"But you have to talk to them to make a connection."
"I said I'm too lazy. If I have to make a connection, then I simply have to make them go to me themselves. I'm too lazy to go to them. I already have a job which is to succeed the house and make it better, so why do I have to work more to make relationship when I can do just that by making my family better?"
"That's…" Kirika was stunned. This was the first time she met Noel and his words actually changed her. She realized that she just had to change and improved herself to the point no one could ignore her anymore.
After that day, she improved by leaps and bounds and those who were mocking her actually went to her with their flowery words. Although Noel had changed and she realized that Noel's plan was actually a flawed plan, it didn't change the fact that she was saved by those words.
But after the destruction of the Ardagan Family, she was forbidden to help him even though she wanted to thank him so much. In the end, she ran away and hid her identity to meet Noel.
She could see Noel changing by putting more effort like herself. And when he showed his brilliance by using traps, she knew that Noel had been doing his best.
She thought she could pair up with him. But that was when Anna Stargaze appeared. A strong force that could make everyone feel helpless. She wanted to help but the moment she made a move, she would lose the chance to do it in the future, so she had been trying hard to get stronger to defeat her.
She took a deep breath and thought, 'No, I still have a few months. There's still a chance.'
Anna didn't know yet there was someone who had been haunting her back this whole time. One would wonder what Anna would feel and do when she realized Noel and Kirika's relationship. But more importantly, Noel didn't realize that his life had been filled with misunderstanding even though he just wanted to live lazily.