After a few seconds, The blue light intensified until it completely disappeared, leaving behind a single blue haired girl. Talia appeared in mid-air, causing her to start falling down. Her sharp eyes swept over the room before locking on Sanya. The moment her feet landed on the ground her figure faded as she immediately appeared next to Sanya. She pulled Sanya closer to her with her hand on her hips. Her eyes filled with a sliver of hostility glared at Lord.
“What do you want from Sanya, you big lizard?!”
“It’s been less than a day, you glutton. Also, don’t call me like this. I don’t want my surname to be this. I just wanted to have a nice chat with your girlfriend. Is it bad?”
“...What did you talk about?” Her face a bit tense. Sanya could read the uneasy on her face. In response, Lord waved his hand.
“Don’t worry, I just told her to not use her influence over you to bring this world to an end.” Talia’s face relaxed a bit, but she maintained her glare
“Why would she do this? What kind of nonsense is this?”
“It’s just in prevention. Now I know she would not do it, so you don’t have to worry. Even more, you know I can’t do anything through an Astral Projection.“ Lord looked at his own slightly see-through hand.
“I know, but why did..you..have...Why is the Radiant Bell active? And from the look of it, it’s not the automatic mode. What is going on?” Talia, with her eyes wide open, looked at the barrier around her. Then, she turned her glance to the girl in her arms, or more precisely to the bell attached to her neck. Meanwhile, Lord was looking at the scene.
“It took you some time to notice. You are lucky that she unconsciously allowed you to enter. Otherwise, you would have crashed into it. The girl that you always mentioned as super cute, kind-hearted and lovely might not be so simple. She is capable of using the Radiant Bell at a higher level than you, and everything in a single day. Well, some unlock their potential under great pressure, so I’m a bit to blame.”
“Wait, what did you-!”
“Talia.” It seemed that Lord was responsible for the Bell’s activation, so Talia wanted to know what happened. However, Sanya interrupted her. When Talia lowered her head to look at her, Sanya was on her feet tips with her face close. Her lips landed on Talia’s cheek, making a soft sound as she kissed it. After accomplishing her objective, she hugged her tightly. Talia took a second to process before blushing without knowing what to say. Meanwhile, Sanya’s face was turned in Lord’s direction. Noticing her stare, Lord focused on her, a bit confused by her behavior. Then, Sanya lightly stuck out her tongue with an expressionless face.
‘...Ah, I see. She is marking her territory. Don’t tell me, is she jealous? What an over-possessive girl. Don’t worry little girl. At most, I think of Talia as a daughter.’ it was precisely this. Sanya was jealous of the fact that Talia had lived 50 years with Lord. Of course, she knew that Talia had always been in love with her, but making sure that Lord got the message could never hurt.
Meanwhile, Talia was looking alternatively at each other, wondering what really happened. Lord finally broke the ice. “You got yourself quite a nice girlfriend.”
‘Even if she overreact quite a lot.’
“...Thanks.” Talia decided to drop her interrogations for the moment as the two of them seemed to not have an apparent problem between them. In the end, she could only act bashful before the person that took care of her for half a century. her earlier tone had been aggressive because she was worried about the situation. But, now that she knew that it was somehow ok, she could calm down.
“Also, you should have told me you were going to confess today. I would have only contacted the head of state another day. What did you do?” Lord had monitored Talia from time to time during the day. So when he had seen she had not gone with the army, he instantly understood what she was going to do.
Talia lightly answered. “I said I took the day off”
“... You shameless girl. Well, knowing your new position they can't really do anything. Ahahah, I sure wanted to see the face of this annoying fellow ” Lord chuckled.
“You mean the head of state, right? How is he?” Talia would have to meet him tomorrow, so knowing in advance who he was would not hurt. Of course, she had known it 50 years ago, but she forgot about it. Lord's face cramped as he started to laugh tiredly.
“You know I have the bad habit of fixing my stare on the things that make me interested when I appear in an Astral Projection. The thing is that it's the same for this guy. So, when I appeared, we ended up looking at each other in the eyes for ten full minutes…”
“...That must have been quite weird to watch.”
Sanya, who was still in Talia’s arms, tucked her clothes with her mouth open in surprise. Lord and Talia focused their attention on her.
“When you say the head of state, you mean Demetrio Allocca? THAT head of state.” Talia didn’t remember this name, so she turned toward Lord. Noticing her, he replied.
“Yes, I believe he was named something like this. Why? Is he famous?” Sanya took a second before finally explaining.
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“Calling him famous is an understatement. Even if his ability is not battle-oriented, he is known as one of the most powerful S-ranked ability users. At the age of 36, he is one of the youngest head of state in the world and regarded as the one who made of the Union the center of the world. he is often depicted as a cold and calculative man who has the control over everything with an iron grip.” Talia was not so amazed by the description, even if his young age was quite impressive knowing what he has done. She asked one more question.
“Do you know what is his ability?” Sanya thought a bit as she seemed to recall.
“If I remember correctly, his ability is called Supercomputing. He is able to analyze all kinds of information far faster than the normal limit of the brain, making him also have an almost eidetic memory. It’s thanks to this ability that he became famous when he was a child for being a genius among genius in a lot of fields. I heard some scientists saying in a documentary about him that if he had specialized in the field of science, instead of the politics, research would have advanced by leaps and bounds.” Lord and Talia listened with a calm face. They were not so surprised by his capability as the two of them, especially Lord, could be considered as even more amazing.
“So, he is like a sly fox that doesn’t miss an opportunity to take the control over the situation.” Talia concluded as she turned toward Lord. He grinned as he looked at the pair of girls.
“You will surely not have difficulties tomorrow. Well, this world is quite peaceful for the moment, so enjoy yourself with your girlfriend. You have strived for it. Unlike you, I’m busy, so if I slack off too much I will be scolded.”
“Don’t give Turiul and the other Ylas too much work.” Lord turned his head in the other direction to avoid eye contact.
“A-Anyway, see you next time.” Lord’s figure, along with the other transparent things, faded out as he dismissed the Astral Projection. The room returned to normal like it was a dream. However, Talia’s eyes were still glued to the place where Lord was. Her expression was a bit complicated as she didn’t know how to feel.
‘If nothing wrong happened, I will not see him and the others at Stellar Temple before a long time..I knew that it would be the case and I already did my goodbyes, but it still feels strange.’
Sanya, who was still hugging her, could see Talia’s expression. She didn’t know a lot about the other Protectors, but from the conversation between Talia and Lord, she could guess that the members were close to each other. Her hug tightened as she tried to somehow comfort Talia.
“Sanya…” Talia noticed and understood Sanya’s motives. A small smile blossomed on her face as she patted her head.
“Let’s go eat, shall we? Apparently, we have leftovers to finish.” Sanya released Talia but still held her hand. Sanya was happily surprised.
“You eat here tonight?”
“Yes, Cathia called at my home to tell them.”
“Is that-”
“The two of you, stop flirting like lovebirds and come eat before it gets cold!” A cheerful voice resonated from under.
Talia and Sanya both froze for a second. When Lord left, he also stopped the Time Cradle, making the world time outside of the room flow normally. Talia’s back was covered with cold sweat as she was afraid of turning toward Sanya. Meanwhile, Sanya was expressionless as she looked at the door. Then, she opened her mouth.
“Let me guess, mom pressured you to tell her.”
“Y-Yes! Sorry, I also didn’t know if it was a good idea to tell, but it was too late.” Talia was afraid that Sanya would be mad that she had told her mother that they were going out. However, Sanya was not Cathia’s daughter for nothing as she could guess that she had not the choice.
‘Well, I am not mad and from her tone, she seems to accept it. So,’
“Talia, close your eyes.” Talia was surprised for a second before closing her eyes with a resolute face. When she felt that Sanya’s hand left her own hand, she was a bit sad. However, she sensed something wrapping around her neck. Sanya circled her arms around Talia’s neck and leaned her body on Talia’s. She increased her small height by standing on her foot tips. Talia shot her eyes open because of the warm sensation on her lips. Sanya’s face, with her own eyes closed, was close as she kissed her beloved.
Talias didn’t try to resist. Instead, she put her arms around Sanya’s hips as to make her come closer. Their second kiss lasted longer than the first, making their face flushed with happiness and shyness.
When they parted, Talia brought Sanya into a hug. Her face was in Sanya’s sunny blond hair, making her able to smell her natural sweet odor. Sanya’s mouth was just near her ear. Knowing this, Sanya whispered silently with the gentlest voice that she could have.
“Don’t worry, Talia. I am not mad. In fact, I don’t want to have the time to be angry at you. If I have time to scold you it means that I have the time to hug you. If I have the time to ignore you out of anger, it means that I have the time to kiss you. if I have the time to be angry, it means that I have the time to love you.”
Talia was so happy that she put more strength behind her hug. Sanya suddenly felt a pressure on her back.
‘Ugh! I like the fact that she is happy, but I will also need to watch out for her new physical strength!’ Sanya taped weakly on Talia
“L-Let’s go eat.”
“Yes” Talia released her, but still held her hand. Their fingers intertwined as they made their way to the door. Sanya also made the barrier disappeared and the bell returned to its silver color.
--------------------------------------
In front of Sanya’s house.
Talia and Sanya faced each other. The moon was already high as the sun had set for a moment. The temperature in May was not cold, making the night breeze quite nice. Talia decided to not stay too late after dinner. Cathia still had work tomorrow. Sanya let out a sigh.
“Aaah, mom kept teasing us the entire time.” Talia also smiled wryly. She then looked at one direction.
“I should go now.”
“Are you sure that you don’t need someone to pick you up?” Sanya was not very worried about Talia as she knew that no normal things could harm her, but it was not the same for Talia’s family. In response, Talia shook her head.
“Don’t worry. It’s not so far away. Then, see-”
“Wait, you forgot something!” Sanya interrupted her. Talia was a bit surprised as she could not recall what she forgot. Sanya approached her and raised her chin. her cheeks were a bit red.
“M-My goodnight kiss!” Talia’s face heated up a bit. Nevertheless, she put her left hand on Sanya’s cheek as she kissed her. Nobody in the silent street was here to witness their love.
Talia smiled as she turned toward the direction of her house. “Then, I will go now. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight” Sanya was all smiles as she finally received a kiss from her lover. She blinked her eyes, and Talia was already not here anymore, leaving behind a gust of wind. Sanya turned around in order to come inside her house. Suddenly,
“I forgot to say this. Put something like a short under your skirt tomorrow.” Talia’s gentle, almost inaudible voice resonated next to her ear, making her turn around abruptly. However, there was nothing but the empty road.
“...Eh?”
Today sure had been a long day.