Parallel Memory

404  Love Rivals [2]

The next morning, Mia felt bashful upon seeing Zero. The conversation she had with Amelia the previous day had stirred up emotions within her, leaving her feeling self-conscious in Zero's presence.

"What's the matter?" Zero asked, noticing Mia's change in behavior. He sensed that something was amiss with her.

"N-nothing," Mia replied hesitantly.

She was feeling shy after admitting her own feelings and didn't know how to approach Zero. In the past, she would interact with Zero as teacher and student. Now, she was confused as to how to communicate with Zero.

Zero nodded understandingly, though he couldn't shake off the feeling that there was more to Mia's uneasiness than she was letting on. He respected her boundaries and decided not to pry further, but a part of him wished he could help alleviate whatever was troubling her.

Mia seemed to be struggling to know how to act around Zero. On the other hand, Amelia was very proactive.

"Hey, what are you two talking about?" she asked, wrapping her arms around Zero. Zero felt slightly uncomfortable with Amelia's sudden display of friendliness but decided to endure it.

He already noticed that Amelia was acting differently with him. Zero assumed it was because he saved her and she no longer has the previous prejudice against him.

Moreover, thinking about what Amelia went through, Zero didn't say anything to Amelia and let her do whatever she wanted. Though even if the situation was different, it would have yielded different results.

Saintess Amelia is a beauty and having such beauty trying to become close who would ignore it?

But her friendliness went beyond friends and she would do things like wrapping her arms around his. Well, it was better than being hated, Zero thought.

But her friendliness went beyond mere friendship, as she would do things like wrapping her arms around his. Well, Zero thought, it was better than being hated.

As Amelia had declared the day before, she was going all out to get Zero's attention. And with this gesture, she was demonstrating to Mia that she was ahead of her when it came to making such moves.

Mia was startled for a moment by Amelia's behavior, but she soon realized that Amelia had begun making her move while she was contemplating how to approach Zero herself.

Seeing Amelia's hand wrapped around Zero obviously soured Mia's mood. Unconsciously, Mia even unleashed her Ice energy, causing Amelia to shudder. Zero was unaffected since he was immune to Ice Energy.

"Let's go have breakfast!"

Zero said.

"Okay!"

Just like that they went to have breakfast. Along the way, Amelia obviously stayed beside Zero making Mia quite upset. However, there was nothing Mia could do.

Unlike Amelia who could change her behavior immediately, Mia couldn't. She believed it would be incredibly awkward for Zero if she began behaving similarly towards her former students.

Furthermore, Mia herself was incapable of such actions. Even if she felt jealous of Amelia, there was no way she could behave in the same manner. Her only option was to endure the situation for the time being.

However, Amelia's actions made Mia realize that she needed to step up her game if she wanted to win Zero's heart.

(Hehe... I've won!)

Amelia thought to herself.

Just as she had mentioned yesterday, Mia was more significant to Zero than Amelia. They had both decided to compete for his affections, but they were starting from different points.

Mia was already familiar and close to Zero due to their teacher-student relationship. Furthermore, they had experienced life-threatening situations together and had even sacrificed their lives for each other.

Amelia knew that if she remained passive, there was no chance she could surpass Mia or any other girls who might be her rivals.

Therefore, without much thought, she did her best to capture Zero's attention, even if it was just on a physical level. Of course, her plan would have failed if Zero had immediately dismissed her.

Nevertheless, even though they were not as close as Mia and Zero, Amelia at least knew that he would not treat her that way. Despite her being useless in the incident involving Cardinal Hildred and the ambush by Devil Contractors, she had faced the problem alongside Zero.

They were at least close to each other and she knew that Zero wouldn't mind a simple touch.

And not to mention that she was by no means ugly. Even if she doesn't want to know, she was at least aware that her physical appearance was good and that men find her attractive.

Thus, she wanted to leverage this advantage, although it wasn't much compared to Mia, who was also beautiful. Though she can't use that to win against Mia, she could use it to get closer to Zero.

Regardless, Amelia herself was inexperienced in matters of love and lacked knowledge about relationships. All she possessed was the determination to do anything to win over Zero's heart.

Moreover, this movie was the advice from her friend Adeline.

"Mistress, if you wish to capture a man's heart, seduce him with your beauty. You need to be more proactive and use every opportunity to get near him."

Saintess Amelia recalled Adeline's guidance.

Amelia was just like Mia, clueless about how to approach Zero and make him fall in love with her. She discussed this with her maid, Adeline, who enthusiastically offered her assistance.

Adeline was aware that it was the first time her mistress had experienced love. She perceived it as a princess who had finally discovered her prince. Adeline felt an overwhelming excitement in assisting the princess in attaining the love she truly deserved. She likened herself to a fairy godmother, similar to the one who aided Cinderella.

"Mistress, as long as you make an effort, you can easily charm any man. Stick by his side and be kind to him, and he will be head over heels for you in no time," advised Adeline.

It should be noted that Adeline herself had never been in a relationship and acquired her knowledge solely from the novels she read in her free time.

Unbeknownst to Saintess Amelia, she was unaware of Adeline's lack of experience and blindly followed her every word.

But she believed it. And it also seemed to have worked!

On the breakfast table, there was enough food to satisfy three people. The scarcity of food was due to the destruction that had occurred, and even Saintess Amelia had the same amount and variety of food as everyone else.

However, Mia and Zero didn't mind the lack of extravagance. Zero had grown accustomed to eating only jerky, and Mia had also experienced similar situations during long expeditions.

Nonetheless, as they began their meal, they engaged in conversation.

"Amelia, when will the Pope return?" Mia inquired.

The presence of Saintess Amelia had improved the situation at Sanctum Aurea, but for a more significant impact, the leader, the Pope, needed to be present. Furthermore, with the Pope's return, the safety of the sanctum would be greatly enhanced.

They were still unaware of whether there was any ongoing danger in Sanctum Aurea.

"Perhaps in a day or two! They should have already made their way to Sanctum Aurea," Amelia replied.

Pope had already been on his way to Sanctum Aurea before Mia had even known about the situation. However, unlike Mia, they couldn't run full speed all the way back to Sanctum Aurea.

They had to match the slower pace of the Holy Knight accompanying them, and conserving energy was crucial to avoid any potential encounters with enemies. Consequently, they were much slower than Mia, who ran unrestricted all the way to Sanctum Aurea

"That's better!"

Mia said.

"Professor Mia, may I ask something?" Zero inquired, once their discussion about the Church had concluded.

"Certainly," Mia replied.

"What happened to Hiro and others?" Zero wanted to know if the main characters were still following the events of the novel.

"Hiro, Sylvia, Zion, Lisa, and Misha have been called upon to join the war."

Mia answered.

"What?"

Amelia was the one who voiced her concern. Even though she was aware of Hiro's genius reputation, she never expected that they would send such young individuals to war.

Zero, on the other hand, appeared composed. He had already anticipated that and the novel also tells that they joined the war.

"How could they do such things?"

Amelia asked.

"How could they make such a decision?" Amelia asked.

"Sigh! I understand. I tried to intervene and alter this hasty decision, but it seems that The Authority has already reached their verdict," Mia replied. As their former teacher, she was well aware of the strength possessed by those kids. However, she still believed that they were not emotionally mature enough to be sent off to war.

She had attempted to revoke the decision, but it appeared that The Authority had already arrived at a final judgment.

"They explained that it was intended to enhance their capabilities and that they would be relocated to a safer region under the protection of capable individuals," Mia added.

Zero listened with interest! It appeared that the given explanation was carefully crafted to deceive unsuspecting individuals. However, in reality, it was a cunning ploy orchestrated by influential figures within The Authority who held a grudge against Hiro and sought to eliminate him.

(Those individuals are truly despicable and inviting their own demise!)