Kawaii princess's Arc

Chapter 33 of 54

The bell at the amphitheater had barely stopped ringing when the duel ground was reset. Kawaii Princess walked to her side and found only a flat sheet of frozen water between packed snow walls. No banners. No risers. Just a bare glacial arena, smooth as glass, waiting for a voice she had never trained to throw. Across the divide, her rival's side was already built. Carved ice pillars framed a wooden stage dusted with snow, and at its center stood a crystal microphone hung with icicles, raised on a plinth like a trophy. A scout polished its grille. The crowd murmured at the sight. Raw vocals would win here, and the microphone said so without a word. Kawaii Princess stepped onto the ice. She opened her mouth and tried to push a long note across the arena. It cracked at the top. She tried again, softer, and it thinned to nothing against the snow walls. Her rival sang one clean line into the crystal microphone and the crowd gasped. The head scout marked the round. Kawaii Princess had lost. She stood on the bare ice while the rival's supporters cheered. Her throat burned. She had no fans on stage with her, no torn pages to hand out, no chorus to call. The head scout rang the bell and announced the score: one round each. The final round would be sung again, tomorrow, on the same stages. Kawaii Princess looked at the empty snow walls around her and understood she would have to find a way to sing — alone, with the voice she had — or lose everything she had built.