Beneath the night sky, Elise held Sylvia in her arms. With a single turn, the scenery around them began changing at incredible speed, transforming directly from the open-air park into an indoor room.
This happened to be Sylvia's private dorm room at the academy. Elise had visited this place once during a school festival last semester, so teleporting here wasn't difficult at all.
Elise looked at Sylvia's profile, her expression still deeply conflicted.
Clearly, a short period of reflection wasn't enough for Elise to figure out what exactly her relationship with Sylvia should become.
As though worried she might disturb the sleeping princess in her arms, Elise gently placed Sylvia on the bed, then slowly pulled the blanket over her.
However, after finishing all of this, Elise didn't leave. Instead, she sat down beside Sylvia's bed and looked at the sleeping face of the world-famous songstress.
"As expected, you're stronger than me when it comes to this, Sylvia."
"You understood your own feelings so quickly and expressed them to me without trying to hide anything..."
Elise's small hand gently caressed Sylvia's cheek, feeling the softness of her skin.
"Since you've already gone this far, I definitely can't fall behind. I need to make my decision as soon as possible too..."
Elise slowly closed her eyes, and her expression gradually became solemn.
"So I'm sorry, Sylvia."
"I can't accept your feelings."
Although Elise truly did harbor special feelings toward this close friend of hers, she also knew that the possibility of them being together was incredibly small. There were simply too many reasons standing in their way!
For example, there was the difference in lifespan. Elise was a long-lived being. As long as she wasn't killed, she could practically live forever. Sylvia, however, couldn't. At most, she would only live for around a hundred years...
Then there was the difference in strength. Elise had already surpassed the world of Asterisk by far. With Sylvia's current strength, she couldn't provide Elise with any meaningful help.
One had to remember that Elise would be traveling to countless worlds in the future, and the dangers she would encounter would undoubtedly be far greater than anything in Asterisk!
Admittedly, Elise had already proven something. Through a contract, it was technically possible to exploit a loophole and bring Sylvia into Lord God Space...
But after thinking it over carefully, Elise gave up on the idea.
Rather than dragging Sylvia into Lord God Space, she would prefer for her close friend to live out her entire life in peace.
That was why Elise had to reject Sylvia's confession.
A saintess would never remain lost and hesitant, and naturally, neither would Elise. Although she felt she was still very far from her dream, as long as she kept moving forward one step at a time, she would eventually reach it someday, right?
"So, Sylvia, before I leave this world, I'll arrange everything properly. You will be happy!"
After saying that, Elise lowered her head and gently kissed the sleeping Sylvia on the forehead.
Although it looked like nothing special on the surface, Elise had actually infused that kiss with the Divine Power of the God of the Bible!
"This is my blessing. It will protect you forever."
"Other than me, no one is allowed to bully you, okay?"
As her words fell, points of starlike light appeared throughout the room. At the same time, Elise's figure vanished into the long night as she returned to her own dormitory.
However...
Next came the part that left Elise confused.
"Where's Orphelia? And Est and the others?"
At the concert venue, one hour after the performance ended.
"Where did Big Sister go? Why is she missing?"
"Lady Saintess?"
Although the venue had already closed, quite a few students were still gathered around the concert grounds.
Among them, one small group stood out considerably.
At the front was a white-haired woman, but following behind her were three children, perhaps students from the junior division.
As for why they were here, there was only one main reason...
They had lost track of her!
Tonight, someone was destined to lose sleep.
...
Although it felt like a long time had passed, only a few weeks had gone by since the start of the semester. The freshmen who had just arrived in Asterisk were still adapting to their new surroundings.
Queenvail Girls' Academy was naturally no exception. After all, their academy was filled with young girls chasing dreams of becoming stars.
Inside the director's office, Petra was looking sternly at the report in her hands.
It contained the results of several investigations into Queenvail's female students over the past few weeks.
"This one won't do either."
Petra casually tossed the report onto the desk. Although her expression didn't change much, inwardly, she was already sighing.
Ever since Sylvia's condition had begun deteriorating, Petra had started preparing follow-up measures.
After watching Sylvia perform for so long, Petra had also realized what Sylvia's problem was—her personal emotions...
If it wasn't resolved, there was a very high chance it would affect her future career as an idol.
In the worst-case scenario, Sylvia could even be dealt with by the Foundation!
One shouldn't assume Sylvia held some exalted status simply because she was a world-famous songstress with fans all across the globe. In reality, Sylvia was still under the authority of the Foundation.
Although she had brought the Foundation unimaginable profits, the quality of Sylvia's recent concerts had declined, and people had already begun questioning her online. Revenue had started falling as well.
Although Queenvail's covert organization, Benetnasch, had deleted quite a few of those posts, the core problem remained unresolved. The critics outside the academy were still there.
If this continued, the Foundation might truly make a move against Sylvia, even if she was the number-one songstress in the world!
This was exactly what Petra was worried about. Over the years, Queenvail had produced quite a few promising talents, but there were simply too few capable of becoming world-famous like Sylvia.
Now Sylvia's condition was clearly unstable. After Petra argued on her behalf, the Foundation eventually decided to let the songstress take a proper rest and gave her a one-month vacation.
Publicly, they announced that the songstress was feeling unwell and needed a period of recuperation.
Petra also had to consider the worst possible scenario. If Sylvia retired, what would they do?
Naturally, they would have to find someone among the students below who could succeed her.
But how could someone like that possibly appear so easily?
In Queenvail's entire history, there had only ever been one Sylvia.
The bands among the lower-ranking students were quite good as well, but reaching Sylvia's level was simply far too difficult.
"Forget it. I'll go outside for a walk..."
No matter how healthy Petra's body was, she couldn't withstand this much mental pressure indefinitely. Every once in a while, she still needed to go outside, take a walk, and clear her head.
Although Queenvail Girls' Academy had the smallest campus and the fewest students among the six academies, that didn't mean its living environment was poor.
After all, this was an academy dedicated to cultivating stars. Its living conditions could practically be described as luxurious.
There was even an open-air stage inside the academy grounds for students to use, although normally, hardly anyone did...
As Petra happened to walk past from a distance, she unexpectedly noticed that someone was actually using the stage.
"Since I have the chance, I might as well take a look."
Wanting to relax, Petra decided to head over and see what was going on. However, she didn't hold much hope, because she had already investigated the backgrounds and abilities of these students. None of them had seemed particularly noteworthy.
But the moment Petra saw the figure standing onstage, her pupils suddenly contracted.
Coincidentally, the lyrics reached Petra's ears at that exact moment.
"The genius idol herself!"
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