Kawaii princess's Arc

Chapter 61 of 74

The borrowed beams blinked out, and the scattered stars on the pavilion walls died with them. But across the field, a tall frosted-glass beacon flared up white and clean, drawing every face upward. The crowd gasped and pointed at it. They thought the stars had come from there. Kawaii Princess heard the cheer build for the wrong source. A stone watch tower rose beside the beacon, and her rival climbed its spiral stair, lifting her arms above the glowing pole. The crowd roared her name. No one looked at the small podium where Kawaii Princess stood empty-handed. She dropped the dim mirror and pulled a crystal star chart from the shelf under the podium. She held it flat to her chest, then tipped it up so its painted constellations caught the beacon's white glow. The chart threw real, fixed stars onto her own stage floor — a map, steady, while the rival's tower only spun blank light. A girl near the rail pointed at the chart. Then another. Heads began to turn back. The head scout walked to her podium and tapped the chart's rim. He lifted the crown token toward her, not the tower. The crowd's cheer cracked in two — half still calling the rival's name, half now calling hers. Kawaii Princess held the chart steady. The credit had split, but the stars on her floor were finally, plainly, her own.