"Feeling sad because you lost to Lily? You always took it easy when you sparred with someone close to you," asked Peter.

  "Not— exactly. It’s something else," I replied as I sat down with my head slumped.

  I sat next to Daisy, who was poking my arm and pouting. She must be upset that I had lost to Lily. But hey, at least she got to see her mum in action. I lifted her and placed her on my shoulder so she could get a better view of the arena.

  "Colour me intrigued, did you argue with her because you lost?" he asked.

  "No, I’m not that petty. Truth be told, I had no idea as to why she behaved the way she did. I just bought her a drink, some food, and told her that I wanted to spend more time with her. But she got mad, angry, but she looked sad and depressed too. I'm so confused as to why she said those things," I answered with a sigh.

  "Lily? Mad and angry? At you? Come now, what did she say exactly?" asked Peter as he seems to be strangely curious on what happened between me and her.

  "I don’t even… she said that she have a partner of her own, can't spend as much time as we used to, her training takes up most of her time, something like that," I mumbled as my thought were all jumbled.

  "Partner? Ah, I get the gist of it," chuckled Peter.

  "What do you mean? If she has a partner, I understand that she wants to spend more time with him. But there's nothing wrong with spending some time with old friends, isn't it?" I asked him.

  “Ah, Zen, despite being hailed as a genius in this lifetime, you were always slow in realising the behaviours and interactions of those around you," he sighed.

  I kept quiet as I understood what he meant. Daisy was clear evidence that I sucked at noticing things until someone pointed it out for me. But what can I do? I know I’m not perfect, but I strive to be a good husband, father, and person. Nothing else matters to me as from those.

  "Give Lily some time. She'll come around. In fact, she’s probably regretting what she said by now," he chuckled.

  "Either that or her partner is gonna beat me up for making her upset," I chuckled.

  "You can count on that not ever happening," he responded almost instantly.

  How can he be so sure? Her partner has every right to hate me for bringing her mood down. Sigh, what’s done is done; the announcer had finally taken the stage and was about to make his announcement. I passed Daisy a hotdog as she was still sitting on my shoulders. I warned her not to drop any ketchup or mustard on my head, otherwise I’ll return her to her seat. She asked me to pass her the paper tray where she placed it on top of my head as she ate. Since when did I become a table for her? The things a father does for his beloved daughter.

  "Ladies... and… gentlemen!! As promised, we will be announcing the secret event that we all had in store for you. Are you all excited?! Let me tell you, it is my great honour to announce to you that the true final match is about to begin! If you were disappointed by the previous fight, we have a contestant that is well-beloved and renowned to people from all around the world. And, she will be fighting with our champion!" shouted Oliver.

  Wow… way to bring my mood down even further. Was my fight with Lily THAT disappointing? I'm already feeling down in the dumps after what just happened with Lily. I carried Daisy down and placed her seated on my knees while hugging her from behind. Daisy noticed my odd behaviour and asked what was wrong. I told her everything was fine and was just excited to see Rose sparring with Lily. She looked up towards my face and placed her hand on my cheek. She assured me that everything will be alright and she’ll take care of it.

  I smiled when I heard what she said. Even though she didn’t know what was going on, she tried her best to cheer me up, which I really appreciate. I petted her head, and she began shaking her head side to side cheerfully.

  The announcer had already finished Lily's introduction, and she appeared from the entrance. She was dragging her feet into the arena with her shoulders slumped. I guess Peter was right after all. She may have regretted what she did earlier.

  Do I hate Lily? No, of course not. I still want to talk to her and make amends if possible. She’s my saviour who brought me back from the dead. How can I possibly hate her when I still have feelings for her? I can never bring myself to hate her no matter what; she’s one of the first friends that I bonded with, along with John. But I guess I should let Rose have some girl talk with her first to shed some light on her strange behaviour.

  Lily stood in the middle of the arena feeling confused. It is always the champion that appears later than the contestant, but she was completely alone inside the arena. She turned towards Peter's direction but noticed I was sitting next to him along with Daisy. With a surprised gasp, she turned away quickly. I guess she was shocked to make direct eye contact with me after what had happened. A moment later, she placed her hands together and bowed towards my direction. I guess she’s asking for forgiveness from me, which I am eager to do so.

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  "Told you," chuckled Peter.

  "I can sense the crowd getting confused as to why our champion is alone in the arena. Now hold your horses, allow me to introduce to you her opponent that she’ll be facing. Coming into fame due to her heavy involvement during the Demon Queen's war, she has continued to make a name for herself by being a saint. Helping folks from all walks of life whenever and wherever she went, it is a wonder she has not started her own church or religion by now. I would have been first in line if she had started her own religion. Ladies and gentlemen… I bring you... the one… the only… WHITE— ANGEL!!" shouted Oliver.

  The Colosseum roared with cheers and applause when Rose entered the arena with her fox mask and white garments. Before she climbed up the arena zone, she removed her white cape that she had never worn before and allowed it to flow to the ground. As she stood opposite Lily, she removed her mask and tossed it aside skilfully. Lily, who was standing directly opposite Rose, burst into laughter at what had just happened. Rose, with an expressionless face, told Lily to stop laughing as she was just doing what she was told to do.

  Lily tried to stopped herself from laughing but snorted when she recalled at what just happened. Oliver had announced “Begin” but things were still awkward between the both of them. Rose removed her left glove and began chanting the spell for Focused Blessing. Seeing this, Lily immediately snapped out of her laughter and clapped her face cheeks to get serious. She activated Concentration and flicked her wrist. Well well, so she knew how to use Sunder. Had she learned how to use Rend too?

  Two beautiful gauntlets enveloped her fist up to her forearm. All it took was one look, and I knew full well that those gauntlets were legendary. They weren’t shiny or coated with gold or silver, but their design was unique. They did not have spikes, unlike her previous one, nor did they look heavily armoured. But there was a unique pattern on the gauntlet that stood out. Amongst the bluish-white colour of her gauntlets, there was a lightning bolt symbol etched on the portion of the forearm.

  I can’t believe I got beaten without getting a chance to see her new powers. Now I’m invested in this fight. Obviously, I want Rose to win because she’s my wife. But I do want to see Rose getting pushed around sometimes. Just because she was praised for being a prodigy or got more famous than me, doesn’t mean she doesn’t need to improve herself. Am I being jealous? Ehh… yes. Yes, I am.

  ***

  Using focused blessing right off the bat? Unlike Zen, Rose doesn’t mess around when it comes to sparring. Sad to say, Zen is actually a horrible person to spar with as he just doesn’t take things seriously when it comes to his close ones. I really wondered how Rose actually trained or sparred with him in the first place. That’s not to say that I’m belittling him or anything. I’m sure if we were enemies, Zen is a nightmare to face. His fight with Tom had made me realise that he’s on a whole other level than all of us. And according to Peter, he had yet to unlock his full potential despite being this strong.

  Alright, stop thinking about him. I don’t understand why you’re still hung up on him, Lily. He has made it very clear that he doesn’t want a second wife, and I am tired of thinking otherwise. But what I don’t understand is why can’t I move on. I’m sure there are plenty of great guys out there, better ones even. But I just can’t help comparing them to him.

  Just… why? He’s not perfect, not at all. He’s full of flaws. Talking about weird things that don’t even exist, even when he’s sleeping! A moron that stole my heart when I was young and first ventured out from the elven forest. And to top it off, he chose his little sister over me! Wasn’t I his first crush? Didn’t he have a fetish for female elves? I even made sure to maintain my beautiful figure to meet his standards, which he was still ogling at earlier! Argh… it’s so frustrating to even think about it!

  Sigh… quit it, Lily. Rose is in front of you right now, and she has already finished her casting. I need my complete focus if I wish to stand a chance at defeating her. No more thinking about that asshole any longer. Although, I’m really sorry about what I said to him earlier. It was not his fault that I am feeling frustrated that I wasn’t chosen. Love is unpredictable after all. I must apologise and make amends to him after this. I even lied to him about having a partner, even when I don’t. Why do I need to make him feel miserable the same way that I’m feeling?

  Rose unsheathed her rapier, and wow, does it look gorgeous. I’m sure Peter had gifted it to her that legendary weapon, the same way that I was gifted mine. He had a whole vault of collections kept in his secret stash that he was willing to hand over to any of his favoured students. I’m surprised Zen went for a red dragonhide cloak instead of a legendary weapon. Well, what am I saying? He already had three of them. I’m sure if he gets even more, then the universe would implode on itself.

  Hang on, what’s happening? Her rapier looks… weird? Why is the blade portion a blunt rod instead of a sharp blade? Oh, here she comes.

  She aimed for my shoulder, which I blocked with my gauntlets. I’m certain my legendary item will not let me down, as Peter had vouched that this is one of his prized possessions and was awaiting someone suitable to wield it.

  “Hey, it’s been a while,” whispered Rose.

  “Hey, yeah, it has. You doing well? Is he giving you a hard time?” I whispered back.

  “I’m doing well. He’s fine; you know him as much as I do. We’ll talk more later, alright?” she asked me.

  “Yeah… we’ll talk later,” I mustered a smile.

  Despite Rose marrying him, she still treated me like her real sister. Never once did she rubbed it in my face that she was superior or that she was the better woman for winning the man. Whenever we talked, she was her true self with her real personality, which was warm and kind. How can I push her away after all that we’ve been through together?

  That aside, I’ve never really bonded with anyone of either gender this closely before, not even with my own race. Sure, there’s Zen and John, but they are of the opposite gender, and there are things that we can never connect with. But it was never with Rose. We can talk just about anything, literally anything at all, and we enjoy it. And apparently, she became unhinged after she tasted the forbidden fruit for the first time. Was Zen that good? It felt… “normal” when we slept together that one time. Maybe it was because I was the one who pounced on him. Sigh, not like I had a chance for it to be the other way around.

  I blocked another of her attacks, and she leaped back. She warned me that she would be taking things up a notch. I stood ready, and she charged towards me. In an instant, she cast Accelerate and Light Blessings on herself, which boosted her speed significantly. It was purely luck and combat instinct that I managed to block in time.

  Focused Blessing is the perfect state for her as a supporting spellcaster. It enhances all of her spell buffs drastically, and it gives her a state where she can be on par with those that use Concentration. That is what makes it scary to fight against her when she can buff herself with all sorts of beneficial spells and enhance its potency. I’m glad that she had found an alternative to using State of Mind when she couldn’t use any.

  I am panting horribly now. Her sudden boost in speed is pushing my body to its limits. I never had high agility like Zen in the first place, but this is on a whole other level. I shudder to think what Rose is capable of if she uses Grand Blessings or Sacred Wings while Focused Blessing is activated. She will literally be teleporting all around the battlefield.

  Alright, calm yourself, Lily. You had been practising for this day. A chance to be stronger than the others with your own strength. Rose may be fast, but I have a trick of my own. Time to show everyone as to why I earned my new nickname. I bumped my fist together and grinned at her. All bets are off now.

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