Reborn: Apocalypse Ready. War Goddess by My Side novel Chapter 26

Reborn. Apocalypse Ready, War Goddess by My Side

Chapter 26 Brewing Grudge

Their eyes met for just a fraction of a second.

Lilliana looked away first, her expression perfectly composed and utterly indifferent.

Two people who had spoken just yesterday, now moving past each other like strangers.

Steven found he didn’t mind that arrangement at all. Distance suited him fine.

After he passed, Lilliana’s seatmate and closest friend nudged her elbow gently.

“Lilliana? What happened yesterday?”

Lilliana kept her expression neutral. “Nothing. He moved on. That’s all there is to it.”

The girl’s eyes went wide. “There’s no way. You’d actually believe that? I sure don’t.”

Lilliana went still for a moment.

She’s right. Has he really moved on?

Finished

He’d pursued her for so long, more persistently than anyone. People didn’t just let go of that overnight.

Steven crossed the room and dropped into the seat beside Bianca with the ease of someone who’d been doing it for years.

He grinned at her. “You’re here early.”

Bianca made a small, shy sound of acknowledgment.

Steven didn’t hover. He chatted with her for a little while and then slumped forward onto his desk with nothing to do, his mind drifting back to the beast crystal problem.

Beast crystal was the central issue right now.

It directly elevated his physical stats, and he had no idea whether those stats had a ceiling. If they didn’t, the implications were staggering.

Which meant he needed beast crystal badly, and he needed a lot of it.

The morning crept by. Steven drifted in and out of paying attention.

Bianca absorbed every word of every lesson with her full, unwavering focus, and Steven made sure not to interrupt that.

Lunchtime came.

Steven looked over at Bianca, who showed no signs of standing up.

He leaned forward and put his face directly in front of hers.

Bianca let out a startled sound and lurched backward.

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Chapter 26 Brewing Grudge

She hadn’t expected him to appear that close without warning,

Another inch and their lips would’ve touched.

Her cheeks went scarlet in an instant.

“S–Steven, what are you doing?”

Steven rested his chin on his hand. “What? Do I have to get you out of your seat physically?”

“Huh?” Bianca blinked at him.

“Lunch. It’s time.”

“I…I brought something to eat.”

Steven’s brow pulled together slightly.

“Looks like you weren’t listening yesterday.”

Bianca looked flustered. “I was! It’s just…you keep paying for everything, and I feel terrible about it.”

Steven laughed. “If you feel that bad about it, just make sure you protect me down the line.”

“But I…I…” Bianca kept her eyes down.

Deep down, she was afraid. She didn’t believe she was the type to awaken an SSS–rank Divine Sigil.

Finished.

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And it’s kind of the only thing we can think to do….

Steven’s grin came easily and without hesitation. “Of course. If your mom’s inviting me, I’m absolutely

there.”

Bianca looked at his open, genuine smile, and her own gaze dropped back to her food before she could stop it, her ears burning red.

In a shadowed corner of the cafeteria, two pairs of cold eyes tracked Steven and Bianca as they left.

“You won’t be smiling for much longer.”

“Timothy. You actually set it up?

Timothy slid a flat look sideways at the person beside him.

“Why are you still talking? Are you in or not? You want payback or don’t you?”

“I’m in. You call it, I’m there. Let’s make him regret it.”

Timothy’s expression didn’t change, but something ugly moved behind his eyes. “He humiliated me in front of everyone. I’m returning that a hundred times over.”

The afternoon combat training session started right on schedule.

Steven took up his usual spot beside Bianca and picked up where they’d left off.

The future Ember Eternal’s grasp of technique was genuinely startling to watch. He was certain that with a few more days of guidance, Bianca’s combat ranking would climb straight to A–rank.

What held her back wasn’t ability. It was circumstance.

Once her nutrition improved and her stamina built to where it should be, everything else would follow

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Chapter 26 Brewing Grudge

naturally.

And once she awakened that SSS–rank Divine Sigil and walked through the doors of an Awakened Academy, she’d receive the most elite treatment the institution had to offer.

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