Legacy World 2.12 A Gift For Alice

Finally, the dance segment of the party came. It was the final line-up of the event before it ended. BaoBao reported to Alice the number of envious and disappointed gazes directed at Stephan and Ethan. Being a Blessing, Stephan was naturally more popular but the number of Ethan's admirers was not small either. She instructed BaoBao to keep an eye on all of these people.

[Sure, but why?]

/Just to be sure of something./ Alice gave him a noncommittal reply. 

BaoBao felt tempted to ask her for more details but decided that it was better to focus on his task as a couple of them already began moving around.

Stephan took Violet's hand and headed to the center of the field while slow music played. Ethan looked at the dancing couple and felt a little solemn. However, the longer he stared at the dancing couples, a different desire slowly surfaced in him that made him forget his solemn feelings. He shifted his gaze onto Alice who kept her gaze on the dancing crowd.

Alice could feel his expectant gaze on her but she kept on a straight face. She already did him a favour by attending the event, she was not going to give in this time.

"Technically... You did Violet a favour by attending this event. Dancing with me now would then be doing me a favour. I listened to your request last night." Ethan whispered into her ear.

/In other words, he asking me to pay him back for "not sending" me back to my room./ Alice gritted her teeth.

BaoBao giggled. [He's despicable. You can't reveal to him that you knew he was tailing you.]

Alice lightly sighed inwardly but an idea popped in her mind. "Sure." Alice said with a light smile.

Ethan was surprised that she really gave in. His gut was telling him that she was up to something but he decided to just give it a try.

Alice peacefully let herself be guided to the dance floor. When they started dancing, Ethan quickly guessed her aim to bruise his feet by the end of the dance. She stepped on his foot many times and tripped him several times. Each time, she would also smile slyly and ask him if he wanted to continue. Each time, he would grin and keep dancing with her. This little pain was nothing compared to getting a chance to be this close with her.

After the dance, the two couples bade goodbye to each other. The boys were about to walk the girls back to their dorms as was the customary practice after the dance, when a girl Alice had not seen before approached them.

"What do you want now?" Stephan asked as he stepped in front of Violet.

The girl lightly humphed while smirking when she saw his protective stance. "What are you so afraid of? Like I would be interested in wasting my time and effort. I just wanted to confirm with you if that's your answer."

"I've already sent a letter. I'm sure that I clearly made my point in it." Stephan confirmed.

"Alright. We just wanted to be sure if there were no third parties involved in the letter." She shrugged. "You can't blame us for the need to clarify when you can't even be bothered with the basic respect of doing the rejection in person." Then her tone became scathingly cold and harsh. "This, I will hold against you. Nobody disrespects my family and me. Our families will no longer be on friendly terms from now on." She turned to leave.

Violet looked worriedly at Stephan but he had a carefree and reassuring smile on his face. "Let's go." And he sent Violet back to her dorm.

Alice looked at Ethan to find out about the girl's identity. He filled her in with everything he knew of Rosalyn on their way to her dorm.

"She never gave Violet or you or Stephan any trouble?" Alice clarified.

Ethan thought deeply then replied, "She only makes things difficult for Stephan but she never bothered herself with Violet and me." Ethan maintained.

Alice nodded. Ethan wondered about her sudden and rare curiosity in a person but decided to not probe. Meanwhile, Alice was already receiving BaoBao's report about the movements of all the women who had their attention on Stephan, Ethan, and Violet. 

Some knew each other, some seemed to be isolated. A few of the isolated ones spent the entire event looking while the rest only occasionally looked over. BaoBao pointed out a few people he thought were notable for the intense gaze they held. He also clarified that Rosalyn one of those who looked at Stephan and Violet and that she had the coldest gaze. However, she only looked at them once and for a mere few seconds. 

By the time BaoBao was done reporting, she had reached her room. As she was distracted, she went in without saying goodbye to Ethan.

[So what's your verdict?]

BaoBao asked excitedly.

/...I think things are more complicated than it seems in this world./ Alice voiced her suspicions.

[What is it? What is it?]

BaoBao asked.

Alice considered explaining to him then had another idea. She grinned. /You already know my guesses. But let's play a game BaoBao. It's been some time since we last played, right?/

[Yes! Is it another prediction game?]

Alice nodded. 

[Let's do it!]

The next day, Leah appeared at lunch. She sheepishly apologised for the night before and reverted back to how she was before. However, Leah could tell that things were now different. Violet was a little uncomfortable and awkward with her. Stephan competed with Leah for Violet's attention. Violet could not tell that he was doing it on purpose but Leah could. Leah tried to chat with Ethan but it was hard to do so, as usual.

Realising that things will probably be this way from now on, her heart felt greater despair as she grew further from her goal instead of closer. She subtly gripped onto her spoon until her fingers turned white while she kept a relaxed look on her face. /I'll make all of you regret treating me this way. /

The rest of the day proceeded as usual for Ethan and Alice. He went to find her after lunch then again in the evening. 

After drying her skirt in the pavilion, Ethan suddenly held onto Alice's hand before she could walk away. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Here's a little something for you, as thanks for the dance last night."

As he stepped away from her, a strong gust of cold wind blew. Alice used her hand to shield her face and she closed her eyes at the same time. When Alice opened her eyes, what she saw was simply magical. She was surrounded by several kinds of forest animals made up of frost. There were deer, birds, rabbits, squirrels, and more. They filled the pavilion, prancing around her and chasing each other. More frost were scattered around randomly and carried by the light and cold breeze constantly blowing through the pavilion.

Her heart started to beat fast, but she clenched her hands tight and her expression became increasingly cold. She did not like how her heart was reacting.

"Do you not like it?" Ethan asked worriedly from outside the pavilion.

Alice closed her eyes for a good while and steadied her breathing. When she opened her eyes again, her gaze was clear. She looked at him and gratefully said, "No, I like it. It's really beautiful. Thank you."

Alice felt calm and relaxed again. She had successfully separated this experience from the giver, so she was able to fully enjoy this without caring about the person who orchestrated it all. Ethan got thrown to the back of her mind. Now, it was as if she was simply watching a show that was put on for anyone to see.

Ethan looked at Alice's gentle smile and calm eyes. She was indeed enjoying it. She was not lying. However, he felt that this was not it. Something was missing. Suddenly, an inspiration flashed in his mind. The first day they ate together under the plum blossom tree popped up in his mind.

While the scattered frost remained blowing in the gentle cold breeze, Alice watched as the animals made of frost changed into the water element. They also now took the form of various underwater sea creatures instead. Fishes, turtles, jellyfishes, whales, seals, and more.

The sight tugged at her heart strings. Her eyes widened and her breath got hitched in her throat. She could not help but reach out a hand to touch one of the fishes. The fish dodged her hand but proceeded on to swim around her hand. She turned to face her palm up and the fish swam in circles above her palm. Alice smiled brightly and revealed the dimples that had never shown itself before in this world. She got teary-eyed as she thought of her original world and how Erica would be jumping with joy if she could see this. /If only she could see this.../

Ethan was finally satisfied. He looked at her dazzling smile. /This is it. This is her smile./

BaoBao gradually felt sad for Alice as he shared her memories and observed her reminiscing her time with Erica. She thought of all the ridiculous grandiose plans Erica had came up with such as travelling through every sea, ocean, river, and lake there was. Scuba diving and swimming in each and every one of them. Keeping a catalog of the specimens in each water body. Alice had suggested creating some business around this idea since it was her passion, instead of simply following in their mother's footsteps. Erica had been hesitant and that was when Alice brought up the idea to go as a family so that their mother could voice her opinion. Since then, Erica would often talk about the places that would be nice for a family vacation.

[Alice... You do want to go back, don't you? It looks like you have unfinished business there...] BaoBao asked tentatively. 

The sad smile that had been on Alice's face while she was reminiscing gradually disappeared. /...Want? I don't know what you're talking about./

Ethan had been watching Alice for the past five minutes and saw how her dazzling smile turned sad. He felt curious and bothered by it. He really itched to know and to probe but he did not want to invade her privacy. So, he decided to wait for her to open up to him. He saw her close her eyes again and take a deep breath before exiting the pavilion.

"Was the design of this pavilion by you?" Alice asked.

Ethan was surprised by her sudden question but nodded his head.

"That explains it." Alice realised that the romantic was not his brother but was Ethan himself.

Ethan did not understand and cocked his head. However, Alice ignored him and walked off. He made everything disappear then walked her back to her room as usual.

Only BaoBao knew that her random change in topic was done to signal to BaoBao to stop probing any further. 

[Why? Why is she like this? Why is she so different from the other hosts I hear of? Is there any way I can help her?] BaoBao could only wonder about these questions by himself.