More than just a Training Sword?

"A-As long as you're aware! Hmph!" Bella struggled to retort, finding it even harder to avert her eyes from him. 'It wasn't like I wanted to say something so mean, but if his confidence grows more than it needs to before our marriage, the bitches will be swarming him in droves!'

'Under no circumstances can I allow that to happen! Even if my hubby thinks less of me now, he will certainly understand why I did what I did in due time! S-Surely…'

She couldn't help but feel hesitant about the way she was doing things, but this was not the time to be getting cold feet. As long as she could hold out for another few months without caving in due to her own behavior, then her lifelong dreams would come to fruition! Just a while longer!

Bella and Cassius were quiet most of the way back, but somewhere in the middle of the trip, he recalled that thing he had to do.

Turning to the ethereal woman beside him, his pupils registered something that astonished him. Yet, as if it were all just an optical illusion, the crazed expression and aura he just witnessed vanished without a trace.

Bella tilted her head in confusion, seemingly wondering why he was looking at her as if he had just seen a ghost.

"Why are you staring at me? Are you perhaps… enamored by my beauty—"

"No, it isn't anything like that," replied Cassius. "I just thought I saw something there. But it must have been my imagination."

"I see…" Bella's eyes flickered a little out of focus; she was doing her utmost not to show how frustrated she was over his response. That was when she noticed the uncertain look in his gaze. "Is there somewhere you need to be? We aren't in C-block yet…"

Bella was hoping to spend more time with Cassius, but if he had to go, then it would only make her seem weird if she stopped him. And much to her dismay, he responded with a nod.

"Yes, there is somewhere I have to go before returning home. I am sure that I have already kept you here for long enough, and my presence is likely making you very uncomfortable… I know that you only trailed beside me because you thought it would hurt my feelings, and I appreciate it, but you don't need to do something like that again. I can handle things like that, just the same as always."

Seeing that warm smile had Bella's heart beating like crazy. Yet she also felt a painful stinging sensation upon repeating his dispirited words inside her head.

'I know that he is only this way because of what I did to him, but I still feel like such a monster… Love really is so very agonizing…'

She forced a perfect smile on her face, then said, "I have no idea what you are talking about, but if you have somewhere you need to go, then be on your way. I won't hold up your womanizing adventures any longer!"

Bella spoke such things with a playfully disappointed expression, so it was no surprise that the weaker Cassius was unable to discern the truth of her feelings. He simply nodded before turning around.

"You are wrong," he said while waving behind him. "Someone like me can only wonder what it would be like to call a woman my own. Someone pretty and nice like you, perhaps…?"

"Haah… What am I even saying anymore?"

Cassius awkwardly scratched his head before turning around a corner. However, before completely vanishing from view, he spun on his heel and looked at the indiscernible expression of the black-haired goddess standing a few dozen feet away.

"Would you like me to take you home first? I have something I need to do, but I can make time if it's for you."

Still utterly shell-shocked by what she had just heard come out of his mouth, Bella was left even more at a loss for words by the nonchalant sweetness oozing from his pink lips. She stood there, trembling in place. But with her sanity on the line and that irresistible man making his way back to her, she had to think fast.

Covering her face with her hair, Bella waved her hands ahead. "T-There is no need for that! I am a C-Rank Awakener—don't you remember…?? Why would I need you to walk me home? Plus, it's not even past 4 p.m. yet! What are you—my dad??"

Cassius stopped in his tracks, finding everything she said to make perfect sense. "I understand. Then have a nice rest of your day, Bella."

"Y-Yes, I will. You as well…" Bella mumbled the last part, but he could still clearly hear it.

'Although she is harsh with her words some of the time, she is too nice for her own good,' thought Cassius. 'I have no idea what that uneasy feeling was all about earlier, but it was probably nothing…'

With that, he retraced his steps and once again turned around that corner, this time disappearing for good.

Bella, on the other hand, was left in the middle of a desolate neighborhood street, with only the whistling wind and her thoughts to keep her company. There was also a black and orange cat prancing atop a brick wall, but it quickly recoiled and got the hell out of there as soon as it saw the deranged woman creepily mumbling to herself.

None could understand what exactly she was saying, but it was most certainly a curse of some sort.

*Achoo!*

Cassius rubbed his nose after releasing a violent sneeze, wondering just who could be talking behind his back. Yet, after a second or two, he shook his head to disperse such distracting thoughts, instead putting all his focus on the matter he had been waiting for all day.

"This will be my first regular Gate Experience, but I'm not really sure how I should actually go about it," he said thoughtfully, with the wooden sword by his side resonating for blood.

"...What??" Question marks rose above his head. "You're more than just a Training Sword…?"