Celestina's [unique skill] was never revealed this early in the book. And there was a reason for that.
A reason that led to her almost dying multiple tis in the story.
Even with the term "revealed," it didn't an Azriel truly understood what her [unique skill] was—not even its na.
He only had theories.
Why was Celestina so reluctant to reveal her [unique skill] in the book?
The answer was simple: trauma.
When she was just a child, a void creature attacked in public, forcing her to use her [unique skill].
She killed the void creature.
Only to be branded as one herself.
Though Ragnar sohow managed to erase the mories of the humans who witnessed it, word still spread to the clans.
And the clans began to theorize.
Almost everyone had forgotten by now. Ti erases most things.
Except Azriel.
She had been a child back then, but since that incident, she had beco afraid to reveal her [unique skill] and face hatred again.
At least... that's what Azriel had thought.
Until now.
Sothing had changed. She no longer seed afraid to reveal her [unique skill]—at least, not to him. Perhaps because it was for a ans to an end.
But whatever this was, it shattered every hypothesis Azriel had ever ford about her.
There had never been a "fox version" of Celestina in the book.
In the story, her form was described as a hybrid—a mix of human and void creature.
So naturally, Azriel had expected to see that version of her—the form that had made so many people fear her.
But this?
...Azriel was left speechless.
There was absolutely no way anyone would look at her now and think she was a void creature.
At least, not in Azriel's eyes. He couldn't even comprehend the thought.
All notions of fighting her vanished from his mind as he continued staring, awestruck.
"Beautiful…"
The word slipped out before he could stop himself, so soft it barely existed. No one would have heard it—except for the way the ears atop Celestina's head twitched ever so slightly.
Azriel clenched his jaw shut, swallowing hard. He forced himself to look into her eyes.
Celestina, who had been nervously twisting her fingers, seed frozen in place. She should have attacked him—they were still in the middle of a duel, after all. Neither of them had declared it over.
Yet she didn't.
She stopped the mont Azriel stopped, sensing the shift in him—the unwillingness to continue.
And Azriel noticed that.
He especially noticed her silver eyes, trying and failing to hide the traces of anxiety flickering within them.
"Are we still going to duel?" she asked hesitantly.
Azriel slowly shook his head, his gaze unreadable.
The ambiguity of his expression made Celestina more anxious, though she forced herself not to fidget.
"…Are you afraid of ?"
"Huh?"
Azriel blinked, snapping out of his daze.
He quickly shook his head, this ti much faster.
"Only a fool would look at you and feel sothing so preposterous."
"Oh…"
Celestina's face shifted into an expression of uncertainty, as though she didn't know how to respond. Yet the anxious light in her eyes seed to dim, just a little.
And perhaps, seeing the lack of fear in Azriel's gaze—sothing she couldn't quite understand—she decided to ask another question.
"But… don't you see as a void creature?"
Her eyes practically scread the words she didn't say aloud:
You should be afraid.
You should be repulsed.
Azriel's brow creased slightly.
'She really needs more confidence in herself,' he thought.
'With it, she could beco unstoppable.'
He exhaled softly and began walking toward her—slowly, cautiously.
As he moved closer, he held her gaze and gave her a sad smile.
"When I was in the Void Realm, there wasn't a single day I didn't have to fight void creatures. So were beautiful yet deadly, others hideous and revolting. But they all had one thing in common—their souls were dark, unholy, and repulsive."
"...."
"You, Celestina… your soul is perhaps one of the purest I've ever seen."
He hesitated, turning his head away as if avoiding her gaze suddenly beca too much to bear.
"And… you certainly don't look hideous or revolting."
Hearing his words, Celestina blinked a few tis, caught off guard. Then, as if by instinct, she turned her head to the side, avoiding looking at Azriel's face.
"I-I see."
Her voice was soft, and she could feel the heat creeping up her face.
An awkward silence hung between them, stretching for a mont too long. Celestina closed her eyes and took a few steady breaths, calming herself. The nervousness and anxiety that had gripped her earlier seed to fade away.
Suddenly, she giggled.
Raising a hand to cover her mouth, she turned her head back toward Azriel, smiling. He was staring at the plain sparring room, his eyes scanning the flickering lights with a seriousness that made it seem as though the room held so profound mystery.
Azriel eventually noticed her laugh and looked at her, a bit confused. Celestina kept smiling.
"For soone who spent his childhood avoiding people, except for his family, you sure have a surprisingly smooth way of talking sotis."
Azriel's eyes darted away again as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Well, when you have a sister who'll physically abuse you for saying the wrong thing, you learn a thing or two."
Celestina chuckled again, shaking her head slightly.
Azriel let out a long, audible sigh, running a hand through his hair.
"Well, I've seen what I wanted to see. Let's call it a day. I'll see you tomorrow—and I guess I'll tag along for that faction eting thing you're all having."
With that, he turned and started walking toward the door, not bothering to look back.
Celestina watched his retreating figure in silence, her smile fading into sothing more thoughtful. Then, an idea struck her—a mischievous glint flashing in her silver eyes.
Before Azriel could take another step, she moved.
In an instant, she was in front of him, blocking his path.
Azriel flinched back slightly, his eyes widening at the sudden appearance of Fox-Celestina in front of him.
"I-Is sothing wrong?"
Azriel didn't know why, but for so reason, he couldn't bring himself to look Celestina straight in the eye anymore. His gaze kept darting elsewhere, and he suddenly felt incredibly on edge, hyper-aware of her presence.
Celestina, standing with her hands behind her back, tilted her body forward, a mysterious smile on her face as she revealed her sharp, small fangs. The way she was looking at him only intensified his discomfort.
'Ugh, I tried to boost her confidence, and now I'm the one feeling embarrassed!'
Maybe he'd gone too far.
He definitely felt that now, seeing the way she was acting.
...Words could indeed be sharper than blades.
"You seem to be in a hurry, Azriel. Why's that? I thought you wanted to have a proper look at my [unique skill]. Are you really satisfied with just a glance?"
Azriel forced himself to et her silver eyes, giving a small, soft smile.
"Of course. Besides, it's not like you'll reveal too much to , right? This is enough to satisfy my curiosity for now."
"Huh, is that so?"
Celestina tilted her head, placing a finger on her chin in a way that was almost too adorable. Then, suddenly, she squinted her eyes—an expression that made him feel uneasy—and smiled teasingly.
Before Azriel could react, he felt sothing incredibly soft and ticklish brush against his left abdon.
"Huh!?"
A high-pitched scream escaped his throat as he jumped back from the sensation.
Azriel imdiately placed a hand over his abdon and glared at Celestina.
"W-What do you think you're doing?"
"P-pffft! Hahaha! You seed so tense, I thought one of my tails could help you relax."
Celestina turned her head away, holding a hand against her mouth to stifle her laughter, clearly failing. Her effort to keep it in only made Azriel's eyes narrow further.
'T-this...! Hasn't she beco too confident!?' Enjoy new adventures from My Virtual Library Empire
Was she trying to provoke him?
Azriel gritted his teeth.
The scream was going to haunt him in his dreams!
'This is her revenge for bringing up that engagent, isn't it...!?'
Or was it for trying to make her mad earlier?
Groaning internally, Azriel shook his head, ignoring the sound of Celestina's failed attempts to hold back her laughter.
He hurried out of the sparring room, hoping to leave his sha behind.
With a soft click, he closed the door behind him.
...But the sha didn't vanish.
*****
Wiping the tears from her eyes, Celestina glanced at the closed door.
"Ah, he left…"
She chuckled softly, her smile widening.
She had noticed how he tried to hide his embarrassnt after complinting her, and it made her want to tease him.
How did she know he was embarrassed? It was hard not to notice with his ears turning bright red. Despite the room being dark and flickering on and off, Celestina could see perfectly in the dark in this form, along with a multitude of other things.
She hadn't expected her teasing to be so effective.
Her tails swayed behind her, and she brought one in front of her, gently stroking it.
"...Cute."
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