Gardenia’s Heart

When Annona’s furious scream tore through the room like an explosion, it was as if a chain reaction had begun.

“Fiancée!? Your Highness Thelira, you got involved with a taken woman!?”

Whirling toward the golden-haired elf in agitation, Selene shouted in disbelief.

“W-Wait, what?! Lady Selene!?”

Her cheeks burning so red the flush spread to the tips of her pointed ears, Thelira stammered, darting her gaze between Selene and Annona.

Unsure how she was even supposed to react, the elf froze in place. That hesitation—natural as it was—only fed the flames rising within the impatient princess.

“That’s enough! If you won’t tell me willingly, I’ll tear the answers out of you!”

As though even one more second was unbearable, Annona lunged forward, both hands reaching for Thelira’s throat.

In that instant, accompanied by a powerful bluish flash, it was as though the entire room had been painted in cyan.

“Argh!”

Even with her teeth clenched tight, a groan of pain escaped Annona’s lips as her body slammed into a solid, expansive surface.

The sharp sound of shattering glass rang out as the bee-woman’s body was hurled through the window, rolling across the lawn outside. Thrown dozens of meters in a single instant, Annona lifted her gaze in confusion toward the broken window of the room she had just occupied.

Heavy footsteps thudded against the ground as an enormous cyan-ink mammal strode out after her.

Two massive ears draped along its shoulders as its quadrupedal body advanced. From its face, a huge trunk swayed side to side, emphasizing the tusks that jutted from its mouth.

“Okay, let’s address the elephant in the room first.” The lively voice came from atop the creature. Seated on her conjured cyan ink beast, Selene extended her palm toward the bee-woman, who was rising from the ground, her golden dress now smeared with dirt. “You remember your ex’s scent? I’ll be honest—there are limits to certain things.”

Leaping down from the cyan ink elephant—no, being forced to leap—Selene barely had time to roll across the grass before watching her ink creature explode under a beam of light.

A whistle of surprise escaped the rabbit-eared girl as her pinkish eyes snapped toward the bee-woman.

Teeth clenched so hard a vein bulged from her forehead, the beautiful woman in the golden dress delicately manipulated a small object in her hand.

When closed, it looked like nothing more than an elegant accessory—golden ribs aligned with precision, subtle engravings tracing its metallic surface. But when it opened, its true nature was revealed.

With a sharp snap, the inner blades of bluish crystal unfolded into a threatening arc. Thin, razor-sharp edges caught the sunlight and reflected their imposing brilliance.

Wielded with deadly grace, the golden fan sliced through the air once more, releasing a barrage of crescent-shaped beams of light toward Selene.

“Is that luminite? Why would you turn the stuff we use in lamps into a weapon!?” Swinging her stardust brush, Selene raised a wall of greenish ink before her. Using it as cover, she shouted toward the princess.

“That’s the problem with you commoners. It’s like casting pearls before swine. You are so tragically limited in genius—truly, such a lack of class!”

Laughing sharply despite the fury still burning across her face, Annona continued firing arcs of light, melting through the ink wall.

Knowing her defense was about to collapse, Selene acted immediately.

White ink streamed through the air in fluid lines, slipping past the greenish wall and slithering across the ground.

“Tsk! Snakes now?”

Clicking her tongue, Annona snapped her fan open and shut repeatedly, beams of light firing toward the zigzagging serpents. Realizing quickly she couldn’t hit them all, she leapt backward—retreating toward the forest.

“Turning the stuff we use for lighting into weapons—is that how the rich think?” Selene protested as she gave chase.

After spending decades in a land shrouded in mist, Selene understood just how vital that small light-emitting mana mineral was to everyday life.

Just as stardust could amplify a spell during its preparation, Annona was using luminite within her fan to intensify her light magic at the moment of release.

The result was nothing short of devastating.

Ducking behind a tree, Selene barely shielded herself from the beam of light that silently engulfed part of the forest.

Along with the ink serpents that were instantly reduced to ash, several trees were charred into blackened husks by the yellowish pillar of radiance.

“[Radiance Strike]”

The words—just as furious as the woman who uttered them—marked the disappearance of at least a dozen trees.

“That’s a bit of overkill, don’t you think?” Selene remarked, wide-eyed, as she stepped into the clearing now stained with soot. “Come on, we already have enough problems with the dragons. Let’s not start a war with the dwarves too.”

As if the tension between the Fang Clan and the Wing Clan wasn’t enough, a member of the dwarven delegation attacking the leader of the elven delegation could not have happened at a worse time.

Still, that didn’t mean all hope was lost.

Selene was a school principal. She had dealt with rebellious students and furious parents dozens of times. This was certainly unusual—but surely it wasn’t more complex than a large-scale political crisis. If she applied everything she knew, she could resolve this.

“Let’s be reasonable here, okay? You’re spiraling because you suddenly found the daughter of the woman who left you at the altar. That makes sense! It’s okay to be angry! But we don’t have to turn that anger into bloodlust, right? Now let’s take a deep breath and try to solve this like civilized peo—”

Chest puffed out modestly and face full of confidence, Selene swiftly clamped her hands over her rabbit ears and dropped into a crouch—just in time to avoid a crescent blade of light that sliced through the air above her head.

“I’ll tear you apart!”

Annona’s furious scream was all Selene needed to know it was time to run.

“Why does it always fall to me to deal with the unhinged ones!?”

Protesting as she darted deeper into the forest, Selene leapt between branches, dodging the relentless beams of light. At the very least, she had succeeded in dragging the fight away from the city.

As though she were displacing light rather than air, Annona continued sending lethal rays toward the rabbit girl with every flick of her fan—even beneath the forest canopy.

“So that girl really is her daughter, isn’t she!? Tell me where Rhei is, or I’ll reduce your body to charcoal!”

“Probably far away from you, you psycho!!”

Even above the sea of clouds, the mountain terrain remained uneven. Throwing herself into one of the forest’s ravines, the red-dressed girl with twin-tails managed to use a large rock as cover.

“She’s not a bottomless well of mana like Lady Gardenia. Sooner or later, she’ll run out of battery.”

Watching Annona fire beam after beam of light across the crater in search of her, Selene frowned. “But it’s not like I can just keep running forever, is it?”

Fighting to restrain and fighting to kill were two entirely different things.

Once, Selene had faced a crowd of her own academy students who, under Orlaith’s control, had tried to kill her. But crude movements and simple spells were not something the rabbit girl couldn’t handle. Even with a severe wound, she had managed—through sheer effort—to immobilize them all despite the difference in numbers, without causing serious injury. That had only been possible because of the gap in strength between them.

Opponents like Belladona—so powerful that a single mistake could be fatal—were different. Against someone like that, she had to fight with killing intent, or she would lose her own life.

Annona was strong.

If Selene didn’t take this seriously, she would be the one at a disadvantage. But if she seriously injured the bee princess, it would only worsen her delegation’s already dire situation. With everything happening, claiming self-defense wouldn’t be so simple—and dialogue clearly wasn’t working.

“Ah! What a pain in the ass!”

She leapt from behind her cover just as a beam of light obliterated the rock she had been hiding behind.

[Polychrome Overflow] might give her an opening—but it would erupt without restraint, and she wouldn’t be able to control how far the destruction spread. And while the jaws of the leviathan created by [Prismatic Deluge] could undoubtedly focus solely on Annona, that would, without question, kill the princess.

She had to end this before it escalated further.

There was only one option left—the difficult one.

Climbing swiftly up the crater’s edge and hurling herself back into the trees, Selene spun her ink brush through the air with precision.

Annona, wings beating as she took flight, pursued her.

“What sense is there in continuing to protect that traitor? You’re not even an elf! What do you gain by siding with that delegation?” Annona shouted furiously, slashing her fan through the air and shredding thorned trees in her path. “Aligning with me and the dwarves is the only way you’ll survive the wrath of the three clans!”

“My wives are elves! And besides—I don’t betray my own!”

Twisting midair, Selene pointed her brush directly at Annona. From the stardust tip, a jet of red ink tore across the sky.

“Devour.”

With her firm command, two wolves leapt toward Annona.

“These irritating beasts again!”

Twisting her body midair and beating her translucent wings harder, the princess dodged the first set of claws. The inertia from a risky spin saved her—but the wild predators did not relent.

Using a tree branch as a springboard, both wolves launched themselves upward again, jaws wide to seize the bee-woman.

Clicking her tongue, Annona stopped flapping her wings.

Letting her body drop into freefall, her amber eyes watched as both wolves collided midair when their target abruptly changed trajectory.

“Stupid beasts!”

Laughing as she snapped her golden fan open, a single lightning-shaped beam of light shot downward, cleaving both ink animals in half.

Then, with the elegance befitting royalty, Annona landed softly upon the forest floor. She casually used her fan to waft away the single drop of sweat that traced down her beautiful face.

Exuding calm disdain, she surveyed the dense forest.

“What animal will you send next, you ignoble creature?”

“A rabbit will do.”

Her black antennae trembled.

Lowering her gaze to the ground, Annona felt her heart skip in sudden panic.

Pulling away a thin layer of grass-textured ink that had concealed her body, the red-dressed rabbit girl rose from the ground—her fist already driving straight toward Annona’s face.

“—!?”

A panicked gasp died in the princess’s throat as she threw herself backward at the last possible instant, barely avoiding Selene’s punch.

Annona flicked her wrist, trying to snap her fan open.

But the very moment her fingers began to separate, a single high heel struck the golden ribs from the side, forcing the fan shut.

Using the same momentum that had launched her upward punch, Selene flipped backward. Her first kick prevented the fan from opening; her second drove straight into the princess’s chin.

“Argh!”

Her jaw snapping shut violently, Annona tasted iron flooding her mouth. The sudden vertigo from her skull whipping back threw her off balance, forcing her to her knees.

“I’ve always noticed that even though nobles look down on others, they rarely bother looking at the ground they step on.”

Selene’s carefree voice echoed as she landed on both hands, momentarily upside down, her smile widening.

“Seems like nobility’s the same everywhere, huh?”

Even on her knees, Annona could not tolerate such provocation.

Like a miniature sun igniting between them, a brilliant yellow light exploded outward, momentarily blinding the rabbit girl.

Spitting out the blood pooled in her mouth, Annona spread her wings and leapt upward to gain distance—

Until—

“What!?”

Her brows shot up in panic.

In a single motion, a soft yet iron-strong thigh wrapped around her neck.

With nothing but raw physical strength, Selene dragged the princess down, slamming her flat onto the forest floor.

Like chains, white serpentine forms coiled around every curve of Annona’s body, binding her wrists and ankles in an instant.

“Last time, I didn’t have much time to process and react. But the same trick won’t work on me twice.”

As the yellow glare faded, Annona found herself staring up at a twin-tailed girl sitting squarely on her stomach, smiling proudly, rabbit ears swaying.

“From how easily the elephant hit you earlier, you’re not very good at close combat, are you?”

Selene had deduced that just as she used her fluffy ears to sense her surroundings, Annona was likely doing something similar with her antennae.

By perceiving the spatial environment around her—even with her sight overwhelmed by light—the princess could maneuver freely. That advantage had made her overly confident she could escape even if her opponent closed the distance.

Now seated atop her restrained enemy, Selene hesitated.

Dragging her back didn’t seem wise. If looks could kill, the bloodlust and hatred Annona was directing at her would already have shredded her organs.

With arms, legs, and even her mouth wrapped in white serpents, the bee princess clenched her teeth as muffled, furious sounds escaped her.

Restraining a mage’s movements didn’t necessarily eliminate their ability to cast spells. But without her fan as a focusing catalyst, Selene was confident Annona couldn’t unleash another precise spell without risking hitting herself.

“Just calm down, okay? I don’t want to hurt you anymore, Princess. We can talk this out! It may not look like it, but I have three wives—I can give you relationship advice!”

Selene didn’t know what had truly happened between Annona and Rhei, nor what circumstances had led to the abandonment. But she was certain everything could be resolved through proper dialogue.

It was precisely while thinking that… that she noticed her shadow suddenly vanish from the forest floor.

A look of genuine terror crossed her face.

It wasn’t a sound.

It was pressure.

Raising her head and looking up, Selene saw a white point—brighter than the midday sun—beginning to widen directly above them.

It was as if a portion of the blue sky were turning into a milky, opaque white. The heat radiating from the forming pillar of light sent sweat streaming down the faces of everyone present.

“You’re insane! You’ll vaporize yourself too!”

Spinning toward the woman beneath her, Selene grabbed Annona by the dress and began shaking her.

Even with the serpent restraining her mouth, Annona’s smile stretched wider. She would break free by force—even if it meant fatally injuring herself alongside Selene.

Panic swelled in Selene’s chest as she desperately tried to think.

Run? No. The magic had already locked onto them—it would pursue even if they fled. And if she released Annona to force her to cancel the spell, she’d have to capture her all over again. Should she form a shield with ink? Would her ink withstand something of that temperature?

And in that moment—so fixated on the attack descending from above—not even the rabbit girl noticed the presence approaching.

“If my mother didn’t choose you, it’s because she didn’t love you!”

Leaping onto the princess, a small girl with pointed ears shouted at the top of her lungs.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!”

Clamping her mandibles down with such force that she crushed the serpent wrapped around her mouth, Annona let out a violent scream of pain.

Grabbing both black antennae in her hands, Cherry—who had just arrived—yanked upward with all her strength. A sickening crack echoed through the forest along with the princess’s agonized cry.

With one of the most sensitive parts of her body being pulled so brutally, Annona couldn’t process a single coherent thought. Not even she could continue preparing her spell.

Watching the forming magic dissipate in genuine shock, Selene’s gaze darted between the small elven girl and the woman screaming beneath her.

“Cherry, what are you doing here!? You’re far too young to get involved in something like this!”

“Professor Selene, please be quiet.” Cherry’s response was so sharp that even the three-star mage recoiled. She continued pulling on the woman’s antennae. “This isn’t a conversation for someone who defends polygamy.”

“C–Cherry!?” Selene cried out in panic, staring at the small elf.

Perhaps the blinding light had damaged her eyes. Or maybe her ears had grown exhausted during the fight. Because the sight before her didn’t align with anything she thought she knew.

Where was her timid little student who only asked questions after everyone else had left the classroom? The gentle girl who watered the garden plants even when it wasn’t her turn?

It felt as if her world had collapsed and been rebuilt into something entirely different in an instant.

“Love is something beautiful!”

Oblivious to Selene’s internal collapse, Cherry continued striking Annona.

“Being with someone who truly loves you! Smiling beside her! Talking about the things you like with her! Love is the most important thing there is!”

Faced with Annona’s furious expression, Cherry’s grew even fiercer.

“It’s because I didn’t have the courage to go with Rose to greet Tiamat that all of this happened!”

Using her small fists to punch Annona, Cherry kept shouting so fiercely that her clenched teeth showed with every word.

”As if those wretched motherfuckers accusing Rose of something she didn’t do wasn’t enough, this bitch is trying to attack my mothers!”

Grabbing both of Annona’s cheeks, Cherry leaned forward, bringing her face so close that their pupils nearly touched.

“I will never let someone like you deny the love my mothers feel for each other! Never! Never! Never! Never! Never! Never! Never! Never!”

She repeated the word as her grip tightened, her small fingers digging into the princess’s skin.

Suddenly, her slender waist was seized.

“C–C–Cherry! W–We can’t do that, she’s a princess!” Selene stammered, scooping the elf into her arms and trying to reason with her in a flustered tone.

“Don’t worry, Professor Selene. This idiot isn’t smart enough to have told the dwarves what she came here to do.”

Cherry spoke with disturbingly flat eyes as she pointed at the blood trailing down Annona’s cheek.

“In fact, she probably didn’t even tell them she was coming here in the first place. If we dispose of her and clean up the areas she destroyed with magic, nothing about her disappearance will lead back to us.”

Without a trace of emotion, Cherry brought a hand to her chin, thinking deeply before tilting her head.

“Actually, we could just dump her body in the Wing Clan district. If the blame falls on them, we can make the dwarves ally with us. They’ll understand how it feels to be accused of something they didn’t do.”

The frightening naturalness of those words made Selene’s stomach drop.

“Get… off… me… you wretches!”

A grinding sound echoed—so harsh it felt as though bones themselves were trembling.

Spreading a dense layer of mana across her entire body, Annona flexed her muscles with such intensity that every white ink serpent binding her snapped apart.

Jumping back with Cherry in her arms—just in time to avoid a beam of light fired straight at them—Selene watched the furious woman rise to her feet.

Cursing herself for not layering more ink to immobilize Annona, the rabbit-eared girl prepared to reengage.

“Fufufu… I thought something like this might happen, but not that it actually would.”

A new voice drifted through the forest.

A tall, slender figure emerged, wrapped in a meticulously tailored outfit of layered black and yellow. Even amid the trees, her presence stood out—not only for her height, but for the flawless elegance of her stride.

Long antennae crowned her short black and dark-gray hair. Black gloves covered her hands. Translucent wings extended from her back, along with a long stinger—and a large pack resting between them.

“Rhei…”

The blood-streaked princess whispered the name in disbelief.

“I learned the general outline of the situation from my king,” the elegant woman said calmly. “So I asked to handle it.”

Speaking as though Annona’s presence were of no consequence, she stepped toward the rabbit-eared girl.

“Lady Selene, thank you for managing the situation. I apologize for involving you in this matter. I assure you, I will compensate you properly for your assistance later.”

A thin smile rested on her nearly frozen face as her black eyes examined the small elf in Selene’s arms.

“Cherry, dear, you’re letting your animosity take over again.”

Her tone was firm, yet gentle. Rhei calmly brushed her daughter’s two-toned hair with a warm hand.

“Do you remember why the first spell I taught you was a barrier?”

At the simple touch of her mother’s hand, it was as if the raging flame inside Cherry had been extinguished. She lowered her head.

“Mm… So I could protect myself…”

Her voice was so quiet that even Selene—who was holding her—widened her eyes in surprise. Timidly, Cherry lifted her gaze to meet her mother’s.

“Exactly.”

With a satisfied note in her voice, Rhei began walking forward, removing her gloves and slipping them neatly into a pocket of her tailored suit.

“So, dear, step back and leave this to Mommy. You don’t need to dirty your beautiful hands with trash.”

Gracefully, one hand reached into the large pack on her back and withdrew a wooden instrument.

Its spruce-shaped body gleamed faintly, four strings shimmering with a subtle bluish light.

Perfectly sized for her tall frame, Rhei set the instrument between her shoulder and chin, steadying it with practiced elegance. A bow slid across the strings and a soft, resonant tone filled the forest air.

“Every beautiful confrontation deserves an appropriate melody.”

Humming along with the notes that rippled outward, the elegant woman holding the violin prepared herself for battle.