Ayaka felt very awful at the moment. She was very busy with the company as they were rebuilding the Kudo Group once again and it wouldn't be done anytime soon, since they were also trying to send the members from United Asia to this place after they settled the company matter.

And a few hours ago, she just got a message from Kai together with the money she lent him. Even though it was lending, she by no means thought it was like that. She was also thanking him for saving her family.

Their family was on the brink of destruction after her grandfather died while his son and daughter-in-law, as well as his disciples, wanted to perish together with the enemy. It was Kai who changed their minds and brought them to this place.

Especially when he was forcing the teleportation magic despite having passed his limit. Luckily, the Graham family came in time. If not, they would probably have already disappeared from the Earth and the Kudos would have ceased to exist.

And when she got a message about this, it felt as though Kai didn't think about her or what she was thinking.

She felt useless. Maybe if they were in Tokyo, she might be able to use her influence to help him somehow. But in this place, the company had yet to be established. So, the only thing she had now was her money. In other words, she wasn't a Kudo's group princess, but a normal person that was somehow wealthy enough.

But before she could think more, she suddenly heard a voice inside the room. The room that only had her inside. She suddenly stood up and took out her spear as she looked around.

"Who?"

"Me." A blonde-haired woman appeared behind her. She was wearing an all-black attire while using a mask to cover her mouth and nose, just like an assassin. The only thing others could see from her was her crystal blue eyes and beautiful blonde hair.

Ayaka immediately swung her spear toward her. "That voice, you…"

"You're too weak. I might be a fool to even consider you as a candidate. With just a single thing, you become so dejected like this," Michelle said coldly as she disappeared again.

"I don't need you to tell me!" She swung her spear in another direction where she felt Michelle. Even so, she still failed to hit her.

"I can see that you like him, but that's all. You won't use any extra effort on him because you're useless." She snorted. Her shadow suddenly rose from the ground before turning into two single-edged swords in her hands. She appeared beside Ayaka and placed her sword in front of her neck. "You would've died once by now. At this time, he might need to protect you once."

"Shut up." Ayaka gritted her teeth and swung her spear at Michelle again. "You don't know a single thing."

"That's right. I don't know you since you only appeared in front of me a few days ago. But I know that you will only become his burden, not his support." She glared at Ayaka.

"Firebirds." She suddenly made a magic circle and shot out a few Firebirds.

"Shadow Blade." Michelle raised her weapons as she fueled them with more magic power. She stepped forward and struck all the Firebirds before they could explode.

"!!!" Ayaka was startled and jumped back because Michelle immediately charged at her after dealing with the Firebirds. Even so, her movements were far faster than Ayaka's, so her blade once again arrived on Ayaka's neck. "This makes two."

Ayaka bit her lips as she blew away both of Michelle's swords. Even so, it didn't let her gain an advantage against Michelle.

Michelle only let her swords fly as she stomped the ground. She didn't stomp it hard, but Ayaka suddenly couldn't move.

"Shadow Manipulation Doll," Michelle smirked.

Ayaka finally realized what was going on and turned her head back. Her shadow had come out of the ground and was holding her.

Michelle simply grabbed the two swords that were blown away earlier and placed one of them on Ayaka's neck. "Three."

Ayaka's face became redder as she became angrier. A pair of wings suddenly appeared behind her back, but this time, it suddenly enveloped the shadow that was holding her and completely burned it.

Michelle only smiled when she watched this. She knew Ayaka was starting her transformation. This was her original aim. She wanted to make Ayaka stronger and push her to her limit by manipulating her heart. All of this was for Kai.

Because of her anger, Ayaka didn't notice that she managed to do something she previously couldn't even think of. At this moment, her only thought was to burn the shadow and defeat Michelle.

She immediately attacked Michelle with her spear as soon as she was freed from the shadow. She was trying to fight her with close combat.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Michelle kept blocking her attacks with ease. However, she also realized that a few people started to wake up or feel something off with the situation. That was why she decided to end this soon.

"You don't know anything about me! I can keep getting stronger and stronger." Ayaka gritted her teeth.

"Hmph." Michelle only harrumphed. She shifted her stances a little bit to change from defensive to offensive. In an instant, she started overpowering her. The last surge of strength from Ayaka suddenly vanished and all she could do was defend. Even so, she knew that she was bound to lose if she couldn't turn the situation around.

Michelle took advantage of this situation to make a full swing with all of her strength.

It was parried by Ayaka's spear, but Michelle simply let go of her sword and punched Ayaka's abdomen.

"Gah!" Ayaka tried her best to endure the pain and stay on her feet, but she ultimately fell to her knees. Michelle won once again. She had won four times. The first one was with her surprise attack. The second one was with her magic that could slash her Firebirds. The third one was her uniqueness to make a shadow become a living doll. And this last one, with her weapon prowess. Ayaka lost to her in every aspect, and she was aware of that.

She felt devastated.

"You can't win against me and your existence is unnecessary in his life. However, I do agree with you on one thing. You can keep getting stronger.

"That's right. The only thing you can do is keep getting stronger. If you don't want to become his burden, then you need to think about what he can't do and do something about it. You might find this rare since he's far stronger than you think. He's even stronger than me, but that doesn't mean he's perfect. Even he still has his flaws and weaknesses. At this time, I will go and solve it.

"I'm telling you this not as someone from the Graham family, but as his fiancée. Think hard whether you truly have feelings for him and want to be with him or not. If you don't truly have feelings for him, then please leave his life and never come back.

"If you like him, then never give up and chase him. You don't need to care about other points and just chase his back. I can get stronger faster than anyone else because I have that motivation. As long as you can walk beside him, not behind him, I will recognize you.

"However, shall you try to do anything funny to him, My blade shall be the first one to cut your neck. Even if he hates me for the rest of my life, I won't hesitate to point my blade.

"That's why, think about this matter carefully. If you finally decide to chase him, come to room 420 in school and join my group." Michelle said as she disappeared, just like a shadow.

Ayaka couldn't move her body or even utter a single word. She just sat on the floor, falling into deep contemplation, carefully thinking about it. She was wondering if she truly had feelings for him and whether she had the resolve or not.

She stared with empty eyes as her mind wandered somewhere. And the night passed by just like that.

...

The next day.

Kai, Tasha, and Ayaka went to school. Sadly, all of them were in different classes. Tasha thought she could ask Michelle to enroll her as a first-year so she'd be able to go to the same class Kai went to, but she was rejected. Fortunately, they could form a group with students of different grades. If not, she might do something about it.

As for Ayaka, although she was also a first-year student, she was enrolled in another class. Michelle used her status this time. She wanted some quality time with Kai in class, despite it being only studying or whatever.

Meanwhile, in Michelle's class, Kai was introducing himself.

"Kai Carter. Nice to meet you all."

There were around forty people in this class and almost 30 of them were girls. The teacher was, of course, Mano Yuki, Michelle's exclusive teacher. They were excited to see another boy coming to their class, so they immediately raised their hands and asked.

"What is your magic rank?"

"Do you have a woman in your heart?"

"How is your family?"

The barrage of questions seemed as though it wouldn't end so quickly, but suddenly, they heard a loud sound from the back of the class.

Bam!

They turned their heads instantly. It turned out that the sound came from Michelle slamming her table. She used her left hand to support her chin while her right hand was pointing at Kai. She made a smug smile as she said, "I appreciate how you guys are eager to know him, but please keep in mind that he is my fiancé when you ask him questions."

The class became silent after her statement. Kai shook his head helplessly while the teacher leaned on the wall while covering her ears. Both of them knew that she was just too happy being together with him in the class.

"Whaaatttt!"