Cagalli was in high spirits today, so much so that she didn't even mind wearing a dress—something she rarely did.
Her usually makeup-free face was now lightly adorned, and a smile lingered on her lips.
With light, cheerful steps, she weaved through various stores, experiencing the joy of shopping for the first time.
As a result, many shops she would have previously ignored now bore witness to her delighted presence.
And yet...
Behind her, the once dashing and handsome Wang Hu now looked as pale as parchment, utterly drained.
Especially when you noticed his dark, sunken eye circles and his lips, pale to the point of gray.
At this moment, Wang Hu probably thought even lying in a hospital bed would make him look a hundred times better than he did now!
"I'm tired. Let's find a place to grab a drink, Brother Wang Hu~"
Perhaps it was an innate talent for all women?
After some guidance from Yongmei the saleswoman, Cagalli—who wasn't stupid, just stubborn—had transformed. Now, she turned to look at Wang Hu with a refreshed demeanor.
"Okay." His voice trembled as he instinctively clutched the thick stack of receipts in his bag.
He let out a long, relieved sigh. Tea was good. Tea was very good.
Tea didn't require receipts!
But who would have thought that when Wang Hu saw the teahouse Cagalli had somehow found—despite supposedly never having visited this satellite before—his vision darkened.
He stared at the small, elegant entrance and the hostess standing by the door...
"What's wrong? Can't handle it?"
With the most casual tone, she uttered the most lethal words to a man's pride. A mischievous glint flashed in Cagalli's bright eyes.
Serves you right for how you treated me before. I'll drain you dry!
"Of course I can handle it!"
Summoning his last ounce of strength, Wang Hu glared at the teahouse's facade. Robbers. Swindlers.
That was the best description for a place like this. But now that they were here, there was no turning back.
With a resigned sigh, Wang Hu—both hands full of shopping bags—followed behind Cagalli.
As he stared at the beautiful girl's back, the same question echoed in his mind over and over.
The tomboy Cagalli?
Or the little devil Cagalli?
If given the choice, he'd take the tomboy Cagalli back in a heartbeat!
Once they entered the private room and the server left after taking their tea order, Cagalli—her face still slightly flushed from the exhilaration of her shopping spree—finally voiced her doubts.
"Who are you? Why are you here? Are you with the Allied Forces?"
Instead of answering, Wang Hu took a sip of tea, his complexion improving slightly, and countered, "What about you, Miss Cagalli? Why have you come to this satellite?"
"Hey, I'm the one asking questions here! Answer me, you scumbag! You disgrace!"
Fake was fake, after all. They say it's easier to move mountains than to change one's nature—how could Cagalli's personality truly transform?
Slamming the table, the girl instantly erupted into her usual fiery temper.
"Cagalli Yula Athha, first in line to succeed as the next representative of Orb. It seems your father has kept far too much from you."
"Seeing you like this, I can't help but worry for Orb and its people."
Seeing the girl finally acting as he remembered, Wang Hu's mood lifted.
He took another slow sip of tea before speaking calmly.
"What? How is that possible!"
Her good mood vanished instantly when the man before her exposed her identity, and Cagalli's previously relaxed emotions tensed up again.
"How did you know who I am?"
She glared at Wang Hu angrily.
"Huh?" Wang Hu let out a mocking laugh, the corner of his mouth twitching as he pulled out his phone, unlocked it, and slid it toward the girl.
"Orb's traditions are quite feudal. Though they call it a representative system, it's practically no different from royal succession."
"To pave the way for the next generation's rise to power—and because you're relatively close to the people—news about you has been all over Orb's networks."
"I just searched your name. Didn't expect so many results, including high-definition photos."
Staring at Cagalli as she looked at the phone, Wang Hu murmured,
"Not bad. Compared to those heavily edited online beauties who look terrible in real life, your actual appearance holds up well."
Of course, Wang Hu hadn't actually recognized her this way, but there were news articles about Cagalli online.
Using this as an explanation gave him a plausible reason—one that was easier to accept.
"Wang Hu, Captain of the 3rd Unit, Nova Resource Satellite Garrison Special Training Unit, East Asian Army!"
"Nicknamed 'The Prodigy of New Star'! 'Fangs of the Alliance'! 'The Strongest Natural'! A super ace pilot who emerged from the Allied Forces in the last war."
"It's true! Someone like you appearing here... Dad... Dad lied to me!"
Cagalli's voice trembled with tears as she looked at the search results she had just pulled up, mimicking his method.
She raised her head to look at Wang Hu's handsome face—though it was now a bit pale, like drained medicine residue—then glanced back at the photos on the screen.
She wasn't blind. There was no way she could mistake him!
And for an elite soldier like Wang Hu to appear on a neutral Colony Satellite...
Combined with the fragments of conversation she had overheard at Orb's central government residence...
The answer was obvious, wasn't it?
"Dad lied to me!"
Muttering these words over and over, Cagalli's pupils dilated, her entire demeanor looking utterly broken.
"Hey? Snap out of it! Wake up!"
Seeing the girl's state, Wang Hu was startled and quickly rushed over.
Don't you dare collapse here. And what's with this look—are you trying to frame me?
If anyone sees you like this, I might as well be socially dead!
"Where? Where are those things?"
Revived after Wang Hu pinched her philtrum, Cagalli stared at him, her face inches away.
"You're here to receive the Mobile Suits, right? So where are they now?"
"Didn't they swear to remain neutral? To protect their citizens?"
"Right... It's all because of you! It's your pressure that forced Dad into this decision!"
Her eyes slowly focusing, Cagalli grabbed Wang Hu and began hurling wild accusations.
For her, shifting all the blame onto the Allied Forces was perhaps the easiest explanation to accept right now.
"..."
Feeling the girl's breath so close, Wang Hu's gaze turned cold. With a sharp shake of his arms, he broke free from her grip.
"Don't push all the responsibility onto others. If Orb itself had no such intentions, the Allied Forces' temptations wouldn't have worked."
"And where is this place, anyway?"
"Where?" Cagalli winced in pain from Wang Hu's sudden movement earlier, her pretty brows furrowing as she bared her teeth in response.
Judging by her expression, if Wang Hu couldn't give a proper explanation, she was ready to fight him!
"Space—the Heliopolis Colony Satellite, the strongest Coordinator stronghold within the entire gravity sphere!"
Wang Hu smirked coldly, dipping his finger in tea to sketch a diagram on the table.
It depicted the current distribution of various factions.
"Look closely. Is there any better place within the gravity sphere to build a Gundam than this Colony Satellite?"
"Gundam?"
Staring intently at the diagram Wang Hu had drawn, her large, sparkling eyes blinking rapidly, Cagalli couldn't make sense of anything.
Instead, she was far more intrigued by the term "Gundam" that had slipped from Wang Hu's lips.
Was it another name for a Mobile Suit?
"Gundam—it's the acronym I extracted from the system."
Wang Hu glanced at the utterly clueless Cagalli.
Blonde hair, headlights that usually went unnoticed but were absolutely reliable in crucial moments, and a killer figure.
But her brain just didn't work right—fitting perfectly into certain stereotypes among specific groups...
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