Fate To Fake: Loved by the Fallen; Fated to Kill the Divine

After she ran back inside the house, Leo stood up, brushing off a bit of dust from his hands. He turned his attention back to the orange ruin stones in the box. This time, he didn't just grab one blindly. He crouched down slowly, eyes narrowing with focus, then picked one with care—testing its texture with his thumb, weighing it slightly in his palm.

'Alright... steady,' he told himself silently, holding his breath as he applied just the right amount of pressure, cracking the surface gently.

The faintest fracture appeared, a glowing line running down the middle. Without hesitation, Leo stepped forward and hurled the stone toward the scorched wooden mannequin standing at the edge of the training hall.

Thud!

The stone struck the mannequin dead centre. For a brief, tense second—nothing happened.

Then—

BOOM!

A surge of fire exploded from the impact point, bright and hot, engulfing the mannequin in a burst of flames that danced like wild snakes in the air.

Leo stared for a second, then nodded slowly, lips pressed into a thoughtful line.

"Hmm... not bad," he murmured, almost impressed.

He reached for another one. This time, he clenched it tighter in his palm, cracked it with a bit more force, and threw it again without delay.

But—

BOOM!

It detonated midair, far before reaching the target. The blast was closer than expected, throwing a gust of heat against his face and chest.

"...Looks like it really needs practice,"

He scratched the back of his head, then sighed and looked at the large box still filled with dozens of ruin stones.

'Guess I'll be here a while…'

Meanwhile, deep within the mansion's walls...

Steam curled softly through the bathroom like a warm misty veil, wrapping the space in a gentle haze.

Valra leaned her back against the cool bathroom wall, her wet brown hair plastered to her skin. Hot water cascaded down from above, tracing every line of her body like thousands of tiny fingers. Her breathing was unsteady, short and shaky. Her chest rose and fell, her face flushed in deep pink as vivid memories flooded her mind.

'He… saw me… all of me…'

Her hands subconsciously moved to her chest, fingers brushing over her soft, dripping skin as she remembered how close Leo had gotten.

How his eyes—just for a moment—glanced at her bare form before flickering away with panic and restraint.

"He… turned away..." she whispered, blinking rapidly as heat rushed to her cheeks again. "He really did… like a true gentleman."

But the thought didn't calm her down—it made her heart beat even faster.

Still, she never expected she'd end up revealing so much to another man. Not like this. Especially not today.

"Ahh!!" she suddenly groaned out, hands covering her blushing face. Her voice bounced off the misty walls. "This is so embarrassing!!"

She stepped forward and faced the mirror. Water slid down her body in glistening lines. She stared at herself, at the reflection of her curves, her glistening skin, the faint pink hue still on her cheeks and chest.

"...It's not weird, right?" she muttered to her reflection, brushing her fingers across her collarbone. "It's not like I showed him on purpose…"

But her eyes flicked lower, and her expression softened. Her lips parted slightly, eyes widening as she saw herself properly for the first time in a while.

The smooth skin. The gentle curves. The way water trickled down between her breasts and clung to her hips.

"I… I'm not bad-looking, am I?"

Her voice was quiet, trembling, as if the steamy air was holding her secret.

"H-He thinks I'm hot...?" she whispered again, fingers covering her lips this time as she gasped. Her face was burning.

"He almost saw everything… Who else is going to marry me after this?

It's gotta be him! Right?!"

Her blush deepened as she imagined Leo again—his shocked face, the way he panicked, the way he looked at her before quickly looking away.

Steam filled her vision.

"L-Leo, you need to take responsibility!!" she declared with a pout, stamping her foot softly on the wet tiles.

"You saw too much! You... you owe me!"

She shook her head rapidly, water flying from her hair as she tried to calm down. With one last splash of water across her face, she finally moved to dry off and change.

Her hands trembled as she picked out her clothes—something soft and cute, maybe a little fluffy, something that clung in the right places.

She wanted to look… nice. No! more than nice.... She wanted him to notice.

She stepped into a medium skirt that twirled like Cinderella's when she spun, her cheeks still rosy. Her room was a disaster—clothes piled across the bed like a fashion storm had passed—but she ignored it and walked straight out.

She needed to see him.

She wanted to see his face when he saw her like this.

What would he think? Cute? Beautiful?

Or maybe... just maybe...

Gorgeous~

With her heart thudding in her chest and a storm of wild thoughts swirling in her head, Valra made her way back to the training hall.

"Leo, I freshened u—"

Her voice caught in her throat.

The entire training hall was drenched in smoke, scorched black marks, and flames still flickering across the walls. Dust clung to the air like fog, and in the middle of it all stood Leo… shirt half-burned, face covered in soot, his smile exhausted but proud.

"I got the hang of it," he said casually, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish grin.

Valra's eye twitched. Her jaw dropped slightly.

"..."

She stared at the chaos. The flames. His clothes.

And he was smiling like it was nothing?!

She had spent hours getting ready. Hours preparing her words. Now she couldn't even get them out.

Sure, she was happy he'd learned something but—

'He was supposed to need my help! I was going to teach him gently, slowly, maybe even touch his h—ahem—his arms! Like a proper teacher! Getting close but....

What the hell is this?!'

"Sigh… I can't believe yo—"

Before she could finish her sentence, Leo cracked another ruin stone and casually flicked it toward her.

Her eyes widened in alarm, but the stone exploded mid-air between them, erupting into a warm flare of fire that quickly faded like fireworks.

When the smoke cleared, Leo was walking toward her with a confident grin on his face.

"How is it?" he asked, pride practically radiating off his entire body.

Valra blinked, stunned. Her mind was trying to keep up.

"How did you… how did you do that?!"

She wasn't just surprised—she was shaken. It took her years to learn that control. A full year under her father's gruelling training to even crack one correctly. And here he was, casually tossing them with precision?

No, it's not easy to understand the stone just by cracking it... It depends on the time, throwing, speed, distance... everything considered.

It didn't make sense.

No… wait.

Her thoughts flashed back to the first time they fought. Back then, she thought he was just running around randomly—but now she remembered. His movement wasn't random. It was calculated. He used tricks—timing, observation, deck cards to cut precise lines from far away… his control, his rhythm…

That wasn't luck.

That was skill.

That was years of experience....

But why?

What did he train for?

She didn't know.

But... One thing He knew was...

He was a thief.