Valentina was staring out into the space at the bright orbs through the tiny window as she sighed lightly. She never thought that she would be all alone now that Akane, James, and Kawa were gone.

Sure, there were Venusian samurais around on the Cupid spaceship to keep her company, but it was not the same anymore.

She was trying to remind herself that she did it for Venus’s sake… no, the entire solar system’s sake. The whole lord and lady government system was not working out very well. They got jealous of each other easily… especially, when most lords and ladies were jealous of Earth’s beauty.

She shook her head furiously, trying to snap out of such ridiculous thoughts. She did her job. She eliminated Lord Terra of Earth. Sooner or later, the districts without lord or lady would fall under Venus’s rule.

As for Europa? They still had not known about Venus’s plan yet. Valentina was curious about what their plan would be next.

But first, she had to stop by and see Lady Aurora and give her the ten-year-old plan reports. She smiled at the thought of Lady Aurora’s cute face lit up when she heard that her plan had been very successful. 

As much as she refused to admit, there was still a tiny part in her heart that felt very guilty about what happened to Kawa and James… and most of all, Akane. She saved her life because Akane had never done anything wrong.

It was such a waste when Akane fell in love with Kawa, which was not part of Valentina’s plan. It was an unexpected situation but then it had been unexpected constantly since the day they met Kawa and James.

When Akane requested for her sacrifice, Valentina was honestly and seriously reconsidering her own mission. But instead of being a true friend to Akane, she chose her own mission over her. That resulted in her death.

But if Akane had not died and Kawa had not gone mad, then maybe they would have lived peacefully on Ceres while Valentina would have finished her mission guilt-free.

She shook her head as she chuckled softly because of how funny and ironic it was about how the Earthling, Martian, and Lunan were able to be friends or lovers, especially when they were fighting each other in the war. She would never have thought that it would be possible.

“Are you ok, Major General?” One of the Venusian samurais waved his hand in front of Valentina’s blank face.

“Oh!” She was startled by his voice. “Y-yeah, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure, ma’am? I’ve been calling you over and over again.”

Valentina got up and wiped her black pants with her hands. She asked coldly, “What do you want?”

“I wanted to let you know about Europa’s next phase in their plan,” the Venusian samurai said nervously due to the fact that Valentina’s attitude changed suddenly.

“Ah, is that so? Isn’t it a little bit early?” Valentina raised an eyebrow in suspicion. The news should not have reached Europa, as their own spaceship had not left yet unless they left right after Valentina and her Venusian samurais left.

“Shit.” She cursed at herself. It was quite stupid of her to think that Europan samurais to stick around on Mars without any objective. They must have been called back to their home.

“Ma’am? I haven’t told you what their plan is yet.”

“What?"

“According to our samurais in disguise as Europans, they plan to send their troops to Mars first in order to take the entire planet. As soon as their objective is complete, they will go after Earth next.” The Venusian samurai joined his hands behind his back. “Any thoughts, ma’am?”

“There is no need to be concerned.” Valentina smirked at him and shrugged her shoulders carelessly. “If they are going to use violence, then Martians and Earthlings will only resist them. They will then turn to us for our aid. Meanwhile, our approach will be completely different. We will be assisting them as long as they accept Lady Aurora as their Lady.”

“You’re right, ma’am… you’re right.”

~EARTHxMARS~

It had been a long decade since the day Valentina left Venus. She was sixteen years old around that time.

When Lady Aurora got wind of Valentina possessing a rare ice-type sword, she ordered her own samurais to seek and find her.

She resisted at first but was defeated due to her sword fighting inexperience. Even at such a young age, she was still able to defeat the first two Venusian samurais. She was knocked out eventually and was brought to Lady Aurora. 

Instead of Lady Aurora demanding Valentina to give her the icy sword as she expected, she asked about her personal life.

Wondering why the Venus Lady would want to know about her, Valentina told her anyway.

Two years ago, she was kicked out of her parents’ house only because they plainly hated her. Valentina worked so hard to be good to them. She got excellent grades and was one of the top students at her school. Eventually, she realized that her own parents were jealous of her. Who would have thought about them being jealous of their own daughter and her accomplishments?

Valentina pleaded that she would do anything they wanted, but they demanded that she got out of their house. So, she did.

That was when she first learned that the world was cruel. Nobody was kind to her even though she was walking on the streets as homeless. She applied for jobs but never had any luck with getting hired.

Days later, she began to believe that some of the outsiders were right. Venus was hell, as the way it was described. There was nothing around here but volcanoes and rocks. So, the water and food were very scarce and pricey, high as nearly two hundred pounds, which she would never be able to afford.

She desperately turned to people who suggested she become a drug dealer in order to earn money. She had no choice but to do so in order to at least stay alive.

She began selling illegal drugs at first, being very determined that she was never going to try them. 

Boy, how wrong she was. She decided one day that just one dose would not hurt at all. Each day, it became two, four, and then eight. Before she knew it, she was practically living with the drugs in her own body. Soon, she began getting care less and less about everyone. And even herself.

She had no absolute idea about how long she had been dealing and doing the drug. Some days she was going in and out of her consciousness drawing into the drug. Other days she was awake and sober but also was shaking and panicking for no reason.

One day, she opened her green eyes, much to her relief that she was still alive and that she was not killed by the drug. Soon, she spotted something lying next to her. She blinked her eyes a few times trying to get clear vision until she realized that it was a katana.

She looked around, wondering if someone forgot the sword there or just left it there on purpose. But that did not matter to her as it must have been worth so much money. 

As soon as she grabbed the handle, she quickly pulled back. It was so cold. For her entire life, it had always been so hot here on Venus, so the coldness felt quite foreign to her. 

She reached out to grab the handle again but this time she did not let it go. She shivered at the coldness.

She picked it up, and suddenly, the tip of the katana shot a small amount of flakes. She quickly threw it at the floor and crawled backward until her back hit the wall of the alley.

Remembering that there was a book about Earth where it discussed snow, she frowned at the sword. She went back to it and picked it up again, but nothing happened this time.

She smiled lightly when she realized how ironic it was. This katana was so cold, just like her own heart. 

So, she decided to play around with it. She tracked across the wall, creating the path of ice in progress. She was both amazed and fascinated that this katana could create ice. So, she reconsidered about selling it. Rather, she decided to keep it so that she could defend herself.

But a few weeks later, she got caught by the Venusian samurais and was brought to Lady Aurora.

So, here she was.

Lady Aurora offered her to become one of her samurais which meant a lot of money, so Valentina accepted the offer right away. Because she and her icy sword were special, she was sent on the mission alone as soon as she turned sixteen.

Valentina sighed lightly after she inhaled the hot man-made air as soon as she got off the Cupid spaceship. She was more than eager to get out of the most boring trip ever.