Tila could only say one thing:

  “SON OF A BI—”

  After thirty minutes of trying not to explode, the three of them sat on the floor, silence broken only by the sound of their racing hearts, until someone finally spoke.

  “Why would she do that?” Tila held her head in her hands. “She… she KISSED him. And so passionately… like she owned him.”

  Anaalyn, who had already kicked a chair, a table, and almost Seralyn herself minutes ago, glared at unconscious Bruno lying on the cot.

  “Another thing Bruno hid from us… damn it, Bruno!” she pointed at him as if he could defend himself. “How long have you been hiding this relationship, huh? How long have you been going around kissing ice princesses and didn’t tell ANYONE?!”

  Tila huffed, irritated.

  “He can barely talk about what he had for breakfast. Imagine romance…”

  “That doesn’t make sense,” Seralyn murmured from the corner, knees hugged to her chest. The image of the kiss still burned in her mind. “She was young. Way too young.” The elf frowned. “She looked like… eighteen? Nineteen? At most. There’s no way he had a relationship with her and we never saw anything.”

  Anaalyn crossed her arms.

  “So you’re saying she came from the future? Because that’s the only explanation.”

  “No… I’m saying something is wrong.” Seralyn stared at Bruno. “She looked at him like she knew him deeply. Like… like they already had history.”

  Tila swallowed hard.

  “But he didn’t look at her. He was unconscious.”

  “That’s the worst part.” Seralyn closed her eyes. “She didn’t need his consent. She just… did it.”

  Anaalyn punched the wall.

  “AAND I’M PISSED!”

  Tila sighed.

  “I’m pissed too… but…”

  She looked at the door Elaris had walked through.

  “If she came all this way for him… with a royal carriage… with that impossible cold…”

  “…then we just gained an enemy on another level,” Seralyn finished.

  “Not an enemy.” Tila clenched her fists.

  “A RIVAL.”

  Silence fell over them.

  Even Anaalyn, who was breathing like a bull about to charge.

  Then Seralyn added:

  “Volume two starts with an ice princess kissing the man we love.”

  “I DON’T LOVE HIM!” Anaalyn yelled instantly.

  The other two looked at her.

  Tila raised a brow.

  Seralyn smirked.

  “I—I just admire him as a WARRIOR! That’s all!” Anaalyn tried to defend herself, getting redder by the second. “And I am NOT losing to some fancy ice princess doll-faced—”

  “—who kisses like a drama romance heroine,” Seralyn added.

  Anaalyn threw a shoe at her.

  Tila sighed again, looking at Bruno.

  “Bruno… when you wake up… the three of us are going to want a LOT of answers.”

  She breathed deeply.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “…before the princess comes back.”

  They all stood up, legs shaky but finally holding.

  Tila leaned on the wall, breathing hard.

  “Gods… so much. So much to think about… so much that happened in ONE month.” She stared at the floor. “First the explosion in my village… then Revan… then the clone… and now a PRINCESS?”

  Anaalyn stretched her back, teeth grinding.

  “Yeah. I wanted at least ONE week of peace. One!” She pointed at Bruno. “But no, he attracts every kind of disaster, demon, monster, princess, ice, death and—”

  “Kisses,” Seralyn added casually.

  Anaalyn fell silent.

  Tila inhaled long and slow.

  “And the worst part… we don’t even know why she kissed him like that.” Tila stared at Bruno. “She looked so… sure. Like she had every right.”

  “If she touches him again, I’ll rip her hand off,” Anaalyn growled, accidentally kicking the cot.

  Seralyn, finally back to normal, crossed her arms.

  “The truth is simple: we know nothing about his past. Nothing. All we have are… fragments.”

  “Yes,” Tila agreed. “And every time someone from his past shows up… it’s bad.”

  Anaalyn snorted.

  “Bruno should come with a manual. ‘Warning: contains mysterious past and dangerous women.’”

  Seralyn chuckled.

  “In several languages.”

  Tila glanced again at the door Elaris had vanished through.

  “What worries me is what she said…”

  The other two looked at her.

  “‘I’ve already won in one thing.’”

  Silence grew heavy.

  Seralyn exhaled.

  “That was a declaration of war.”

  Anaalyn spun her axe.

  “Good. I know how to fight.”

  Tila tightened her fists.

  “And I won’t lose to his past.”

  The three nodded — a silent pact.

  Behind them: chaos, rivals, and a mysterious Bruno about to wake up.

  Ahead: a cold princess… and a kiss that changed everything.

  “HAAHAHAHAHAHA if you keep this up I’m going to die laughing!”

  Kearlin spun in circles, laughing like a happy idiot.

  The three girls turned slowly, still emotionally shredded.

  “I don’t get one second of peace, do I?”

  The voice came from behind them.

  Calm.

  Irritatingly calm.

  “You girls look awful. What happened?”

  Their ears refused to believe it.

  Impossible.

  Not now.

  Not after EVERYTHING.

  “You seem tense.”

  He spoke so casually — as if he’d just woken from a pleasant nap.

  Tila turned first.

  Then Seralyn.

  Then Anaalyn.

  The three screams came at once:

  “Bruno!”

  “Bruno!!”

  “BRUNO!!!”

  There he was.

  Standing.

  Alive.

  Normal.

  Zero ice in his hair.

  Zero strange aura.

  Zero deranged clone.

  Just… Bruno.

  Wearing that expression of:

  I don’t know why you’re making a scene, but okay.

  Kearlin was rolling in the air laughing, nearly choking on his ghostly giggles.

  “I SWEAR— HAHAH— IF YOU GIRLS WERE ANY MORE DRAMATIC THE WHOLE VILLAGE WOULD BE HERE!”

  Bruno blinked.

  Once.

  Twice.

  “…Why are you looking at me like I died and came back?”

  Tila went pale as a ghost.

  Anaalyn too — but with rage.

  Seralyn didn’t pale.

  She simply shut down and collapsed like a rag doll.

  THUD!

  Bruno opened his mouth to ask if she was breathing, but—

  WHAM!

  A kick to his leg nearly took him down.

  “OW— TILA!? WHAT—?!”

  Before he could balance—

  YANK!

  Anaalyn grabbed his ear with enough force to make even Kearlin gasp.

  “OW OW OW— HOLD ON—!”

  “HOLD ON MY ASS!” Anaalyn screamed, pulling like she wanted to take his ear as a souvenir. “YOU BASTARD, YOU MADE US GO THROUGH HELL!!”

  “What—?! I— THE PAIN—”

  Tila kicked him again.

  “YOU’RE ALIVE! YOU’RE IN ONE PIECE! YOU— YOU—!”

  She trembled so much she looked ready to burst into tears or punches.

  “YOU’RE HERE, YOU IDIOT!”

  Bruno tried to defend himself, but it was hard with one elf unconscious on the floor, one dwarf ripping off his ear, and a cow-girl kicking him like a ritual drum.

  “DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT WE WENT THROUGH!?”

  Anaalyn yelled, pulling harder.

  “I— HAVE— NO— DAMN—”

  Bruno tried to answer, but each word came with an ear yank.

  Kearlin was crying…

  from laughter.

  “GODS ABOVE, I’VE WAITED FOR THIS MOMENT SINCE THIS MAN WAS BORN!”

  He cackled, spinning wildly.

  “HE COMES BACK FROM DEATH AND GETS KICKED, PINCHED AND TRAUMATIZED IN TEN SECONDS!!”

  Tila finally stopped kicking.

  Just to jab a finger into his chest.

  “Bruno.”

  Shaky breath.

  Eyes shining.

  Rage and relief mixing.

  “You have… SO much to explain…”

  Anaalyn released his ear — only to slap his arm.

  And Seralyn…

  …still unconscious.

  Bruno looked around.

  Looked at them.

  And finally realized:

  “I… missed a lot, didn’t I?”

  They eventually revived Seralyn and sat down, waiting for the not-at-all-perfect warrior to explain.

  “About the sacrifice thing — I knew he’d try to blow himself up to take me with him. I didn’t have a choice. I’m sorry.”

  Bruno sat on the edge of the cot, arms resting on his knees, looking exhausted… but not defeated.

  The three watched him like judges waiting for a guilty verdict.

  Tila’s tail stiff, eyes still watery.

  Anaalyn’s jaw tight, arms crossed.

  Seralyn calm but sharp, like a blade lying across a table.

  Bruno sighed.

  “Okay… let’s start from the beginning,” he said, voice still rough.

  “About the sacrifice: yes, I knew he’d try to blow everything up. He made that clear before. And I… I knew if I didn’t stop it from inside, someone would die. You. The children. The village. Anyone.”

  He rubbed his face.

  “I didn’t have a choice. Either I broke his magic from within… or he won. I’m sorry.”

  Silence.

  Tila whispered, trembling:

  “You… could’ve died, Bruno… you almost died…”

  Anaalyn snorted, but her voice cracked:

  “And you didn’t tell us. Again. Always alone. Always hiding things. We can’t help you if you don’t let us.”

  Seralyn leaned forward.

  “You didn’t lie to us… you just didn’t tell the truth. Now — about Revan…”

  Bruno sighed deeply.

  “Revan didn’t care about fame. At all. He told me he’d break my thumbs if I ever talked about him, so I… didn’t. It wasn’t important.”

  Seralyn nodded slowly.

  “Okay… that one’s believable. But what about your evil clone?”

  Bruno blinked.

  “Evil clone?”

  Tila jumped in.

  “Yes! That thing smelled like demon magic! Probably something Revan made!”

  Bruno scratched his neck.

  “Revan did mention something about a perfect soldier spell… once. I just didn’t know… I was the template.”

  Tila laughed weakly.

  “He’s probably dragging a cart over here right now, ready to hang himself out of guilt.”

  Before Bruno replied, Anaalyn crossed her arms again.

  “Now the final question. Who was that brat calling herself princess?”

  Bruno blinked.

  “Sorry, but you DO remember I was unconscious until five minutes ago, right? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  Anaalyn nearly screamed.

  “Bruno. Elaris. The ice princess. Recognize the name?”

  His whole body froze.

  His stare went blank.

  And then… a tiny smile formed.

  “Elaris was here? Damn… I hope she didn’t say anything embarrassing.”

  The three shouted at once:

  “BRUNO!”

  “SHE KISSED YOU!”

  “SHE KISSED YOU, YOU IDIOT!”

  He froze.

  And then—

  Something none of them had ever managed to provoke:

  Bruno covered his face with both hands.

  And turned red.

  Bright red.

  From neck to forehead.

  Seralyn’s eyes widened.

  Tila gasped.

  Anaalyn grinned like she had found treasure.

  “Oh this is PERFECT. Bruno is BLUSHING.”

  Bruno hid further behind his hands.

  “Bruno, you are the densest human being alive. I don’t even know how you function anymore!” Kearlin laughed, holding his stomach.

  Bruno still couldn’t answer.

  Anaalyn leaned forward.

  “Now, Bruno — you’re going to tell us who she is, who YOU are, and especially what happened between the two of you.”

  Bruno inhaled deeply.

  “…I suppose that’s my duty, isn’t it?”

  He lowered his hands.

  His face returning to normal Her skin was regaining the color of a healthy person.

  Calm.

  Serious.

  Ready.

  "It all started around 13 years ago when I was just a boy with a big dream."