Lila POV

"...who's that behind Mel?"

Lila mumbled to herself; her grip over her stave strengthened in sparks of anger.

From below her curved waist, ice of wrath glittered as it bloomed across the twigs of ka-broom, eliciting a slight shudder of pleasure.

Lila clicked her tongue; her senses stretched beyond the horizon of her vision, each snowfall a sneaky omniscient glimpse.

All to fall upon the blushing Mel, fidgeting with her back hunched and her thighs clasping over one another against... someone.

That person was invisible, but her teasing of Mel was so obvious!

As if she were not trying to hide it to begin with!

A shadow crossed Lila's eyes, the frost breeze fluttering in correspondence to her rage.

Serious consideration sprouted in Lila's mind.

A lift of her finger.

That's how easy it was to freeze the entire Kingdom, all for the sake of venting.

"No no no no!"

Lila shook her head, flustered. "What am I thinking?! Mel would leave me at this rate!"

Her knee raised as she stomped hard on the ice, and she pouted.

"Mmm... Mel never reacted that way to anyone, even to me..."

Alert flashed in the form of swirling snows, caressing against her frustrated cheeks.

She could confirm very few strong figures could escape her detection, and whoever was behind Mel was one of them.

"Well..." Her brows knitted together. "As long as she's helping Mel, I'm fine with it..."

Her voice lingered, however, upon a snow that briefly slid on Mel's skirt.

Then, her calmness was utterly flushed upon feeling the wet sensation.

"Ha?"

She gasped, her cheeks so reddened that they almost glowed in the white scenery.

"Uh-wai-wait!" She raised her hand. "Something's off. Something's really off!"

Even against the confident Rosana, Mel never backed away from teasing or dominating the other!

Then what is this? How could the experienced her lose in a battle of flirt against someone else?

So, Lila came to a small conclusion.

"Playgirl! Bad woman!"

She screamed to the sky, more embarrassed than shocked.

Her pure, loving, adorable Mel finally met her match! A playgirl with more experience than even the Witch herself!

"Mel, don't be tricked by that bad woman! Hey!"

Staring at Ka-broom under her, Lila patted the poor twig. "Don't just stay here as my chair! Go and get me to Mel! Right now!"

Unfortunately for Lila, the broom twirled the twig's tip as if rolling its eyes.

It fully supported its Master's decision, whether dom or sub!

Gritting her teeth, schemes began brewing in Envy's head.

"Guess..." She sighed.

"Ri-right. I have to discipline them. Discipline all who came Mel's way!"

A resolve burned in Lila's heart; all who wished to snatch her Mel away must pass through her first!

That included whoever was behind Mel, whom she'll force Mel to answer!

"And for that..."

A grin, first subtly flashing by, then fully blossoming across her face.

"I have to force out the answer from Mel in bed... hehe..."

If Mel didn't lie, her stamina should be plentiful for their nights together.

Imagining Mel as she begged for mercy under her straddling thighs, Lila's lips almost watered; her emerald eyes shimmering with an uncontrollable heat.

"Well, for now..."

Swiping off her saliva, a serious glint crossed her expression as she glared at the forest.

"I was going to stay put but..." The Witch stood up. "I can't leave all the work to my... senior over there."

She lifted her knee, a staircase of ice forming right as her foot hovered over the air as she stepped on it.

The staircase was laced with intricate patterns, her palm gliding over the air as the breeze sang and materialised into ice handrails for her.

"Time to clean up a little."

She briefly tipped her hat down, deciding to greet the mysterious protector whom Mel trusted.

------------

Wrath POV

Calina tumbled over, her uniform catching snow as she leaped back up and readied her sword.

Wrath squinted with slight disappointment; the blue-eyed Knight panted in extreme exhaustion, her grip loosening over the lack of resolve to defeat its opponent.

"Calina Forgevein."

Her indifferent voice, now tinged with a lace of disappointment, stared as Calina's posture broke; her knee buckling as it smacked into the ground.

"Damn it..." Calina panted. "Why have someone... someone as strong as you were guarding the source of this disaster?"

"Oh? So you could at least sense it." Wrath raised her brow, a little impressed. "Very good. But it would be far from enough."

She recalled those phrases back then, the moment someone she deeply admired made fun of her.

The golden eyes that locked onto hers were curving, and the lips she wore that night were trembling as if to hold back a laugh.

For the first time, Wrath's eyes wavered a little.

Then she coughed twice; for Calina's sake, she didn't mind embarrassing herself with the most... literary phrase possible.

"Foolishness, Calina. Foolishness."

Calina froze, more confused than insulted; the phrases sounded oddly... unfitting for the situation.

"What... part of me is foolish?"

An awkward pause in the air, then Wrath coughed twice again.

"Might controls everything. And without power..."

Her thumb brushed over the hilt of her katana, her lips pursing in her flickering embarrassment and sentiment.

"You can protect Embervale, let alone yourself."

Calina's eyes shook, then narrowed in a conflicted emotion.

Survival of the fittest. That's what she's been taught since she was 'made' into this World.

But as the Knight pondered over the meaning of her life, Wrath merely slapped her palm over her unfeeling face.

The phrase she undertook... she could understand a little why that Witch was laughing now.

As she was flinching against her audacity, the leaves around quivered, subtle enough that only Wrath 'heard' it.

Noticing a presence, Wrath's brief introspection shattered as she shifted all her attention deeper into the forest.

One glance, then she scowled.

White fog accompanied the steps from the 'intruder', her white hat tilting slightly to show only an emerald eye.

The emerald white hair fluttered down as Lila raised her head and smiled at Wrath. "Hello! I came here for a greeting!"

The lighthearted tone... as if every finger of hers owned the World...

Wrath's scowl loosened; Lila's attitude, mirroring Mel's, almost relieved her.

Envy was no longer her enemy, not for now, not this time.

"Hello." She bowed. "It's an honour to meet the Third Awakened Witch, Envy."

She eyed Calina, whose eyes flicked everywhere but at their locations.

While Wrath had already slashed the world's perception of her figure, Envy's method differed.

She glanced at the hazy white mist; the embedded fog 'froze' the scenery to everlasting, unchanging.

The scenery would not even perceive a leaf falling, or 'hear' the breeze sliding against the frozen bark.

"You're quite violent with your newfound power."

Wrath's finger clasped over her hood before setting aside.

Only Mel could admire her beauty, and she couldn't risk angering Envy when she had just awakened.

As if proving her suspicion, Lila chuckled darkly.

"Oh, I'm very sorry." Her fingers smoothed over the stave's crystal that Mel gifted her.

"Thanks to my lack of practice, I have to hide my identity this way. And..."

With a raise of her finger, the fog rushed at Calina.

The Witchhunter, unaware, snapped her gaze before her body... stilled, her hands paused mid-swing.

"There!" Lila's face beamed, pleased with the extent she could control her volatile power.

"I've managed to freeze her senses just fine. What do you say about this, uhm... Miss Witch?"

Wrath's grey eyes swept over Lila to the 'frozen' Calina, unharmed and too peaceful compared to other 'would-be-victims' from a Witch.

A dissonance stretched in her heart, as she compared the Envy she 'knew', and the Envy now standing before her.

"Quite satisfactory."

Wrath mustered up a small smile. "Mel... would be proud of you."

A blush bloomed on Lila's cheek as she tilted her hat down to hide them.

"Yo-you're welcome, Senior..."

Lila's fingers twirled in a fidgety nervousness, unsure what to speak about.

As Mel's (self-proclaimed) first wife, she was sure this 'Witch-looking' person was one of them.

And judging by how strange cracks appeared around her, barely obscuring her vision to 'perceive' how she looked like...

"Ugh." A groan escaped her lips as she whispered. "I can't believe Mel has such a strong friend..."

This won't do. She must establish her authority as the first wife, right now!

Her finger tapped her chin, contemplating.

Then with a slight smirk, Lila's neck craned high in a fake-arrogance.

"First, Senior."

Her right hand waved the stave, breezes fluttering her robe as her emerald eyes locked with Wrath's.

As Wrath's lips parted, slightly confused, Lila's smirk only widened.

"Shall we have a little spar right now?"

As Lila's voice echoed in the moonlit iced-forest, this time, it was Wrath's grip that loosened in shaken resolve.

"Ha?"

Has Envy lost her mind again?

A doubt sprinkled in Wrath's mind, as her knee buckled and prepared.

Not to attack.

But to run.