That was absolutely embarrassing,

She thought, after she had calmed down. Crying like a fifteen-year-old girl. Oh wait. She is a fifteen-year-old girl. Gah. Her image must be in ruins now.

In front, Yuri was chatting with Estelle and Judith, as always. Look at them, acting as if nothing strange had happened. Probably they're thinking about how, for all her talk about science and blastia and intelligence and being mature, she still acted so...so... girly. God, they will remember that one time when she lost control in front of everyone, won't they? Well, not everyone, just Yuri, Judith and Estelle, but theirs are the only opinions that count.

Still, Karol and Raven must not hear about this. They'll never let her hear the end of it. But how can she stop them from finding out? She can't force these three people into silence. Judith is far too scary to threaten and Estelle was her friend. But they're women too, so maybe she can count on their sympathy to leave it hushed up. That leaves Yuri.

Oh, bugger. Yuri. Right, she was in love with him. She had hoped, she had damn near prayed, that it wasn't really love love, but nope. It's still there, that feeling of not wanting him to be gone ever again, wanting to always be close to him. To keep him for herself and take care of him and blast him with a fireball every time he flirts with another woman-

This is a disaster. Everyone knows he and Estelle are together. What's going to happen to their relationship now? Estelle doesn't seem upset or anything, but really? If the princess knows that she likes him likes him, will that make them-shudder-love rivals? (I must stop reading those romance books for teenage girls, she mentally notes.) Wouldn't that compromise their teamwork?

And Yuri himself. Fortunately, he seems clueless - for now. God, she can just imagine how he would react. Well, it wouldn't be too bad; probably something along the lines of 'Sorry, but you're not my type,' and then he'd chuckle while patting her head. Patting her head...

Estelle touched her forehead and she almost jumped.

"Your face is really warm, Rita. Are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm fine," she said. She couldn't push her hand away because it felt so nice. "Really. You should worry about Yuri more."

Estelle kept looking at her with those beautiful eyes. She was obviously concerned and unconvinced, but she apparently decided to trust Rita.

Yes, the young mage thought, watching the princess's back. There is also the problem of my slight crush on you.

She briefly thought about how ridiculous it would be to be a bisexual that was infatuated with two people who were already in love with each other.

Yep, that's pretty damn absurd, if she may say so herself.

There is only one solution to this situation, and that is for her to withdraw. Not that she was in any competition to begin with. Just...bottle this up and never speak of it. Ever. There would be no point in it. As long as she hides it well and nobody realizes, there will be no problem. She'll buy some time and then this love thing will disappear. Hopefully. She can't risk a love triangle when the world is in danger.

That's it, then, problem solved. She let out a breath of relief.

Now, of course, Rita was a genius. But she was an expert in blastia, not people, much less romance.

The possibility that Estelle, Yuri and Judith already knew never crossed her mind.