Ezabel
"What did you say to me?"
She was furious—just by looking at her face, I could tell she was ready to kill me at any moment.
Nevertheless, the reason I said it to her was simple: I wanted to break this egoist personality of hers.
.
She sounds mature, yet she's acting like a little kid.
"You're just bailing out. 'It's none of your business' means it's none of your business. And you dare to tell her not to go out with a guy? Who do you think you are?
If you care about that kid, then go do something for him. Stop bothering her—she has her own life."
The leopard jumped onto my back, its claws sharp enough to slice skin—my neck bled instantly.
Ezabel looked me straight in the eyes.
Zia went completely crazy, screaming she'd destroy Ezabel's family.
She shouted, "Let him go, you monster!"
I smirked while all this happened.
"Hihihi... you know what? Why don't you cosplay her and help him out? Or why don't you become his lover?
Maybe you're thinking you're not as good as she is for him to pick, so you wanted to play from the sidelines. Come now—do you think we're all stupid here?"
Her face tightened, dead serious, as if I had just killed someone she deeply cared about.
"Ugly mag."
The leopard she's so proud of seemed ready to catch her and run every time I smirked.
"Ugly...? Me, ugly? Come on... I said why don't we talk here. Look at you, messing around. We're not kids."
She got even more irritated.
"You started the whole thing, damnit!"
I kept a neutral expression. Making her feel stupid was the point.
"Nah... I'm pretty sure you're not wounded, are you?"
Zia calmed down and clung to me as she sat.
"I'm the reason for all of this... Sorry I had to drag you here promising fun."
"Nah, don't sweat it. It's okay. Now, you too, Ezabel—sit down. Let's talk.
Guys, tell me what happened. The connection between you two—no, you three."
Ezabel sat down, crossing her arms and legs while shaking one.
And finally, she told me the truth.
---
Ezabel
"It was a long time ago, when we were kids.
A very handsome boy came to play with us, wrapped in a blanket. He was hot—bold.
We all loved this game called Bride or Groom. Everyone would cover their eyes, and the one whose turn it was would choose their preferred opposite gender type.
When they said 'bride' or 'groom', the chosen person had to answer.
That day, he kept picking me out of all the children.
Then Zia's turn came, and she picked him. I can't blame her—she was a kid after all.
Things began to change. He visited often, and his family became cheerful and delighted with Zia and his meetings.
Days passed. She slowly walked away from him, but he approached her again. She walked away again—just avoiding him.
Then, his thinking shifted from 'I'm suited for her, she's just not in the mood' to 'I'm not good enough'.
And then... he became a freaking psycho, deeply obsessed with her."
---
That was a funny story—I never thought it was this simple.
"Hey, quick question, Ezabel."
"Yeah, what is it? It's not some kind of bluff—you're so good at story-telling crap, right?"
"Yeah... well, did you think you could protect me? From that kid stalker, Nobel? Thanks, but it's okay. All you can do is help both sides."
She stood up and slammed the table.
"But how? There's no way—"
I cut her off before she could start blabbering useless things.
"There is a way. It's all about rejection."
Zia seemed doubtful.
"What are you guys planning? Rejection?"
I tapped my fingers on the table.
"Zia, listen. The reason Ezabel kept asking you to go out with him was for one reason only—so you could reject him.
When that happens, she'll try her luck with him. But... will he even be alive? As it stands, he's obsessed with you."
Zia's pupils widened. Her smile fell to the floor—face red—before she awkwardly walked up to Ezabel.
"So, Eza, do you like him? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
'Eza'? A nickname? Pretty common these days.
Ezabel froze—terrified that she'd been caught in a mess her own plan created.
---
Ezabel
"Wha... at... noo... wa.. y... Me...? I don't... lo... ve... or... huh... huh..."
---
I clapped my hands.
"Zia, focus. Our next job is simple: call that jerk here."
Ezabel freaked out for real, biting her nails.
"Wait—no way! Why are you going to call him?"
"For you to confess, obviously."
"For what reason?"
"He must confess and get his answer. You must do it first, dummy—before he confesses to her."
Zia understood, I think. We were on the same page.
But her hand trembled under the table until I grabbed it.
"Don't be scared. Just kill him and let's go out, okay?"
"That's not motivating. You're making it sound worse."
"Sorry, that's just my style."
"It's okay, I was kidding too. He must be reborn."
"That's the Zia I know."
---
Ezabel used her other tamed eagle to send a message. It could send and receive.
A while later, we got a black-inked letter:
"I'm coming right away, using all the magic I have! My lovely Zia is there—woohoo! Lucky me..."
That's just how it is—either they become a couple, or break each other's hearts.
But weirdly enough... I was sensing a high love probability here.
Wait a second... who loves who?
The thing is about to get complicated.
Nobel—the stalker—is obsessed with Zia.
But she doesn't feel the same way.
And then there's Ezabel, who likes Nobel... but he doesn't like her.
So yeah, it's a love triangle. Damn.
I have to take care of all this. I have to finish it perfectly—or else there'll be hell to pay.
But does that mean I have to go meet that loser Nobel first?
Yeah, whatever. At this very moment—
Ezabel is almost finished turning red, while Zia is trying to get a hold of herself, preparing what to say and what to not say...