By the time Princess Xynalia regained her senses, she found herself lying on the ground, cold rain falling over her body.
As a succubus, she had fairly strong resistance to the elements. But whether she kept those resistances after crossing over to Zion’s dream slipped from her mind, feeling too cold to remember.
The rain felt like liquid ice falling from the sky, permeating deep inside her.
Knowing she couldn’t stay under the rain for long, she propped herself up and scanned her surroundings to find a shelter from the rain.
Fortunately or unfortunately, she saw a single tree in her surroundings, which seemed like a good place to wait out the rain until it ended.
Princess Xynalia ran in that direction and sighed in relief upon finding out that the leaves were thick enough to prevent the rain from falling on top of her head.
After regaining her bearings, they made a discovery.
She wasn’t the only one who had taken shelter under the tree.
A young lady with long blue hair sat a meter away from her and stared blankly in front of her.
Suddenly and without warning, the blue-haired lady cried out in frustration and scratched her hair as if she had gone crazy.
"I will never use this Lottery Shop again!" the young lady shouted.
Princess Xynalia subconsciously took a step back as she looked at the young lady, who was shouting and cursing. Her reaction made her look like a madwoman, and the Princess wondered if she had accidentally crossed over to the wrong dream.
But she shook her head because that was impossible.
Once she had cast Dream Walker, she would only be inside the dream of the person on whom she had cast her skill.
Just as Princess Xynalia was thinking whether she should run away or not, she heard a robotic voice inside her head, which sounded familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.
"I told you that gambling is bad, Kate," the voice said in exasperation. "You should’ve just purchased a weapon within your budget instead of taking a gamble to acquire a Legendary Weapon."
Although the voice sounded different, Princess Xynalia strongly believed that the owner of the voice was none other than Zion!
"But that’s a Legendary Weapon, you know?" Kate argued back. "You already know my motto, right?"
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained," the robotic voice commented. "But you already know that your luck is sh*t, yet you keep on playing a game highly dependent on luck. If that’s not being stupid, then I don’t know what is!"
The robotic voice, which Princess Xynalia believed to have come from Zion, sounded fed up, as if a similar incident had happened multiple times already.
Princess Xynalia froze in place, torn between curiosity and disbelief.
The name she had just heard was Kate.
It was the same name that had caused Zion to erupt in a rage during his confrontation with Sixty-Nine.
Her heart pounded against her chest as if trying to forcefully imprint this name into her soul.
The Succubus Princess held her breath, not wanting to interrupt the strange exchange that was happening between the young lady and the voice she was hearing inside of her head.
Kate pouted and kicked at the ground in frustration, her voice sharp but tinged with helplessness.
"Ugh! Why is it always ? Why is it that every time I try to take a chance, it blows up in my face?!"
"You’re cursed with bad luck," the robotic voice replied without hesitation. "If there was a stat for misfortune, you would have maxed it out by now."
"Shut up!" Kate shouted, flailing her arms. "You’re supposed to support me, not roast me!"
"I am supporting you," the voice countered, dry and detached. "By reminding you of your incompetence before you dig yourself into a deeper hole."
Despite the sarcasm, Princess Xynalia felt something stir within her.
Although the voice that she was hearing inside her head sounded cold and mechanical, it still held a semblance of warmth. A familiarity that reminded her of Zion whenever he talked to someone in contempt and disdain.
Kate huffed, crossing her arms. "You really are heartless sometimes, you know that?"
"I prefer the term logical," the voice answered. "Unlike you, I don’t get swayed by shiny objects dangled in front of my face."
Princess Xynalia’s mind spun.
Was this... Zion? No... Thirteen?
If it was him, then who was Kate to him?
The question gnawed at her heart.
For the first time, she felt like she was intruding on something far more intimate than a simple dream.
Kate fell silent for a moment, her expression softening as the rain eased outside the cover of the tree.
Her lips curved into a faint smile, a fragile one, like someone who had long carried both loneliness and hope.
"...Even if I’m unlucky," Kate whispered, "as long as you’re here, I don’t really mind losing."
Princess Xynalia’s breath caught in her throat.
The silence that followed was almost unbearable, but the robotic voice soon replied—quieter, gentler than before.
Kate laughed heartily. "I’ll take that as a yes." Official source is novel{f}ire.net
The succubus princess clasped her hands together, a knot forming in her chest.
She didn’t know what this scene meant.
She didn’t even know if Kate was real or just another fragment of Zion’s—or Thirteen’s broken dream.
But one thing became certain in her heart.
Whoever Kate was, she mattered to him.
And that truth alone made Princess Xynalia’s chest ache in a way she had never experienced before.
Kate glanced to her side as if sensing something beside her.
This action almost made Princess Xynalia jump up in fright, but the young lady’s gaze seemed to go past her.
The Succubus Princess didn’t know if she should feel relieved or disappointed about Kate not seeing her.
Kate and the robotic voice, whom the princess believed to be Thirteen or Zion, once again exchanged barbed words with each other.
As she continued to listen, the princess felt her chest become heavy with emotions that she could not name.
She knew what these emotions were, but simply decided to ignore them.
Princess Xynalia wanted to ask—no, demand—what Kate meant to Zion. But she couldn’t bring herself to interrupt their discussion.
Instead, she bit her lip, struggling with an emotion that frightened her, which was none other than jealousy.
"Hey," Kate suddenly said, her gaze drifting to the side, though not directly at the succubus princess. Her tone softened, wistful. "Do you think... if I had been born in a different world, I wouldn’t have been so unlucky?"
The voice responded after a long pause. "Luck has nothing to do with it. Even if you rolled the worst dice every time... you still kept going. That’s not luck. That’s you."
Kate blinked, then chuckled under her breath. "That’s... the nicest thing you’ve said to me in a while."
Princess Xynalia felt her breath quicken. The tenderness between the two of them was undeniable—so much, it made her feel like an intruder in a sacred place.
In fact, she felt like swapping places with Kate, allowing Zion to nag at her for failing something so simple.
The rain finally began to ease, and yet, the sky was still covered in dark clouds.
Kate brushed her damp hair behind her ear and once again glanced at her side.
Her sapphire-blue eyes landed directly on Princess Xynalia.
The succubus princess froze.
This time, she realized Kate wasn’t looking through her but right at her.
And yet... she didn’t look surprised.
"Oh," Kate said softly, as if recognizing an old acquaintance. "Hi there."
Princess Xynalia’s breath caught in her throat. "Y-You can see me?"
Kate smiled faintly, a mixture of sadness and acceptance. "I felt you earlier, but this is the first time I’m seeing you."
"Hey, Kate, who are you talking to?" Thirteen asked. "Are you hungry? Are you starting to see an imaginary friend out of despair from your bad luck?"
"Imaginary friend?" The corner of Kate’s eyes rose as if she found her partner’s words quite amusing. "That’s right. I just found an imaginary friend."
"... Are you serious?" Thirteen asked in an anxious tone. "Oh no. This is bad. You are now in the first stage of grief—denial.
"Kate, get a hold of yourself. At most, we can just hunt monsters and earn you more System Points again, yeah? Don’t worry, I will disable this blasted lottery shop for you!"
Princess Xynalia clenched her fists against her chest.
Thirteen’s mechanical voice sounded alien to her, and yet, she felt warmth in his voice.
The succubus princess finally understood.
Kate wasn’t just some random girl.
She was someone Zion cherishes. Someone who held a part of him that Princess Xynalia couldn’t reach at this point in time.