Kawaii princess's Arc

Chapter 66 of 74

The placard clicked round complete, but the crowd's cheer thinned fast. They had nothing to hum on the walk home. No tune, no words — only the picture of her sooty handprints fading on a drum. Kawaii Princess lifted a weathered bronze bell from beside the platform. Its surface was cracked, its rim hung with thin icicles. She swung it once. No sound came out. The crack swallowed every ring. She set it down on the slab and stepped back, breathing hard. Her followers had already begun stacking pale stones where they stood, building a low marble shape with thin columns — a small victory monument rising in the snow. Beside it, a dark monolith was set with ice-carved figures, marking the spot where the crowd had watched. Both stood quiet. Neither sang. The head scout walked between them, touched the silent bell, and nodded. The round was hers, sealed in stone. But people drifted off with empty mouths, and Kawaii Princess understood: she had won a round that left no song behind, and her rival's next banner was already snapping in the wind.