Meanwhile, somewhere deep in the forest outside, Vlad held onto Vanora tightly. The moment he saw the bangles, he instantly knew they were bad news. So, he teleported themselves out of the house, no longer caring about the farce they were supposed to keep up. However, it was still not fast enough.
"No, no, no, no, no. Stay with me, stay with me!" His eyes opened wide in fear. Tears filled his eyes as one hand cradled her face tenderly.
Vanora's body glowed dimly with white sparkles that occasionally left her body and disappeared into nothing. Each time it did, the edges of her body faded away, like she was an elusive painting being erased.
Vanora gritted her teeth hard to tolerate the burning sensation. "Vlad...!"
Vlad could hear her fear and sadness in her strained voice. Hardening his heart and holding back his tears, he hushed her and stroked her head. "Hold on, I'll make you feel better soon. What you're going through now is the obliteration of your s
After experiencing pain like never before, Luna suddenly found herself back in the dark space with BaoBao. She really wanted to find out the reason for that torturous experience, but she was still reeling from the pain, so she could only glare at BaoBao who was floating in front of her.BaoBao immediately explained himself with tears in his eyes. "Luna! I'm sorry, I had to do it! I felt a tremor in our bond so I checked back on you only to see that you were being consumed by Vlad! That can't happen! Your soul being obliterated such that it can never be reincarnated in that world did not matter but Vlad cannot absorb your soul into his! You would have went rogue and lost. I had to activate the emergency evacuation which is always kept as the last resort because it endangers your soul and I know it causes great pain! I had no other choice!"BaoBao was also still reeling from the shock he received since he was met with such a dangerous situation when he believed tha
Luna opened her eyes, but everything was a blur. No matter how many times she blinked, her vision did not clear up. /Am I shortsighted in this world? Do I need my glasses?/When she tried to move her body to look for her glasses, she finally became aware of how odd her body in this world felt. She was so weak that she could not turn or flip her body. Her arms and legs were of no help. After struggling for quite a while, she finally thought to bring her arms up to her face to inspect what could possibly be wrong with her. To her surprise, she found that her arms and hands were very small and chubby./BaoBao! BaoBao!/When there was no response, her heart beat quickened and she felt herself getting flushed./Bao-!/[I'm back!! Sorry that I disappeared for a while! I tried to negotiate for you but as you can see... It was not successful... You got sent into a punishment world...]/As much as
Over the years, Eva found herself incredibly pampered beyond reason. Her parents fed her very well and never expected her to do anything. In fact, they dissuaded her from doing anything at all, saying that it was not needed.She could not understand why she was worth all the pampering, especially since she could not add much value to her family's profession as compared to her sister. Nonetheless, she copied how her family trained their bodies. They had routine physical exercises and intentionally did more of the heavy work in the estate. Although this meant that her fitness would never catch up with her family's, she had no other choice. She had no privacy to herself in this life. She could not afford to practice her martial arts, personalise a training regime for herself, or suddenly know how to read or write. So, she could not break the image of a helpless little girl.Once every few months, her parents carried out an assassination, leaving Briana behind with Eva. Howe
Another year passed. Everyday, they went through the same routine.In the morning, Briana and Eva cleaned the house, while Esmerelda studied. Esmeralda was home schooled. Different tutors came on different days to teach her whatever that was befitting of her status such as languages and the arts. She also learnt the basics that would be needed to support a husband's work and to manage the household, such as mathematics and accounting.After their masters had their lunch, Briana and Eva had theirs.During Esmerelda's teatime, which came after their lunch, they studied with Esmeralda. Her afternoon was usually kept free to attend tea parties or gatherings to build or maintain relationships with other families. Whenever there were no events, Esmerelda took out her old materials that her parents kept for keepsake to remember their daughter's growth by, and used it for Briana's and Eva's learning.After that, they returned to their work, then headed home for a
Not long after the birthday party, Briana requested to try and read the letters that her parents kept. She was only able to read around half of each letter but all her parents seemed to care about were the names, which happened to be a part of what Briana was able to read."Benjamin Bynes and Jasmine Bynes?" Her mother said with surprise evident in her voice."THE Duke and Duchess?" Her father was equally surprised."No wonder the reward is so high.""Who're they?" Briana could no longer hold back her curiosity."They're very close to the royal family, so they carry a lot of influence in politics. They actually came for the party too." Her father explained."You've met them, Briana. They're Austin's parents." Her mother clarified."Then... If we do execute this out... Won't Austin become an orphan?""But we'd get a lot of money." Her father said matter-of-factly."Also, don't forget that he isn't and wil
News of the death of Austin's household and the miracle of his survival dominated the headlines and people's gossip for months. In light of their good relationship with Austin's parents, the royal couple gave Austin new servants to fill his house, bestowed him with riches, assigned strong bodyguards to him, and promised that they would help him find the culprits who killed his parents. Many people went to his parents' funeral to give their condolences. His parents had formed a lot of connections and everyone liked them for their upright and strong nature. However, thanks to the power and position they held, it was inevitable that they would have enemies as well. For those fighting to replace his parents in the political scene, they insensitively used the funeral as another chance to network with the important figures, especially since the royal couple would be present as well. They pretended to have been on good terms with his parents by saying pr
"Good afternoon." The deep and alluring voice Eva dreaded to hear traveled from the doorway. As usual, she was careful to not let anything she felt show on her face."Austin! How are you faring?" Esmeralda chirpily greeted him. While their masters stood up, Eva and the other servants kept their heads lowered in a small bow as their greeting.Austin strolled in and chose the grey single couch beside Esmeralda. Saddie looked a little peeved at being so far away from him. Now, Esmeralda was in the position that she wanted. Austin on one side, her brother on the other. Since Dylan shared the long couch with Esmeralda, Saddie felt a little excluded. So, she inched as close as she could towards Dylan. Dylan noticed her fidgeting and seemed to know that she was in distress, for he patted her head. Saddie's smile immediately returned and Dylan turned his attention back on the conversation."The same as usual. How about you?" Austin had kept his reinvestigation into his
/It won't be good to sleep in damp clothes./ With that thought, Austin went to the room that used to be his parents' to get one of his mother's old dresses. It would still be in a good condition since he ordered for the room and everything in it to be kept in good condition despite him never taking a step in it.He stopped right before the door and hesitated going in. A maid happened to pass by and saw him hovering in front of the door deep in thought. She decided to grab onto the rare chance to talk to him."Is there something I can help you with?" She asked in the nicest voice she could manage.Austin looked at her and walked away without a word. /How stupid of me, if others saw her in different clothes, they'd still know that I'm treating her differently. Defeats the purpose of me not asking the maids for a change of clothes./He returned back to the room and stared at Eva with a frown. He felt like he could not leave her
RenRan began napping. A lot. Souls did not need sleep, but they could choose to do so. FanHai was one of those who seemed to never catch a wink of sleep. While RenRan slept, he stayed by her side, always keeping himself busy with something. This carried on for a good time before she began to catch him with his guard lowered after waking up. ‘A while more.’ RenRan did not believe that a man like him could keep himself entertained this long and resist a cat nap with her. At this point, BaoBao cried out in frustration. There were a few times she could have slipped away because he had already fallen asleep with her! He even dared to cuddle with her. That spot was only reserved for two people! Him and the familiar soul! “Is it really too much to assist by waking her up?” He challenged the elder one. “Is it so hard for her to stay awake in a world that doesn’t need sleep?” He challenged BaoBao back. “...That’s easy for you to say.” Then, BaoBao puffed his cheeks and returned to gl
RenRan’s eyes opened wide. No matter how hard she pushed against him or how much she pounded his chest, shoulders, or head, he persisted on. She tried to bite him, but he avoided using his tongue and skillfully moved his mouth in tandem with her attempts. With his hand cupping the back of her head, she could not break the kiss either. She was at his complete mercy. ‘I should have dropped the act earlier. This isn’t worth it!’ Fear slowly gripped her heart as she wondered how far he would take it. Then, he stopped, just as suddenly as he started. “Enough?” He grinned and meaningfully applied greater pressure on her lower back. His move made RenRan conscious of the rock hard member against her abdomen. Immediately recognising what it was, she fiercely pushed against his chest and demanded, “Okay, let me go! I’ll properly spend some time with you first!” He smiled with satisfaction. “Like I thought.” Then, he let her go. “You wouldn’t have to waste so much time and energy if you jus
RenRan’s heart jumped but she poised herself promptly, ready to grapple with whoever had manhandled her. “Why’d you run away from me? Didn't we have deal?” The somewhat familiar deep voice cleared up the situation. “I’m not running from you.” RenRan explained as she attempted to pull her arm out of his strong grip. “You know you can’t lie with this within us.” He pointed at his chest and kept on his tight smile. “You got to try harder than that to convince me.” RenRan frowned. “And I was precisely following that to find you, as agreed.” His smile gradually disappeared as his gaze dropped to study her entire body. “…You’re weaker than the last time I saw you.” RenRan had nothing to say in response. Instead, she attempted to twist her arm free again. “Even so, I’ve never heard of a compass malfunctioning because of this before.” Annoyed with his accusations, RenRan tuned in
RenRan headed for a condensed group of swirling sparkles that was just a little larger than her. ‘So, my mission is to achieve my dream no matter the cost. What’s my dream? To find YingTao? No, I’ll definitely find him. It’s just a matter of time. Then, I’ll find out that YingTao doesn’t want me anymore. And I’ll want him back...’ RenRan thought of everything that had happened in RenRan’s life. ‘I can only hope that her dream’s that simple...’ She began to think of all her misdemeanors, then ways to right her wrongs. [I should stop you right there. If it wasn’t clear enough before, as long as you’re in the story scenes, you’re supposed to do and say all the things the original character did.] ‘What? You didn’t say that earlier.’ [I mentioned earlier that it's risky to provoke this world’s consciousness into doing anything. So, we can only observe this world. What do you think this mea
Luna was right. She had inhabited Luo RenRan’s body. RenRan’s family belonged to the working class, but her gripe was not their standard of living, it was her parents’ favourtism for her brothers. She was the only girl, and she was the oldest. Anything her brothers did, she was responsible for. Any wrong they committed, they were let off with a more lenient punishment, while she was supposed to forgive and forget. Their expectations for her and the restrictions they imposed on her could not be compared to the standards they held her brothers against. The only solace she had was that her siblings never directly crossed her line, even when she was old enough to start working. If only it stayed that way forever. “RenRan... Forgive your brother, okay? You know he only took it because he needed it and only you can help him. If you have someone you need to blame, blame your father.” A gentle motherly voice coaxed her. “If your father helped, none of us would be
“Wh- What am I doing here?” BaoBao looked around in shock. He recognised this place. The last time he was here, it was to defend Luna. “Why am I back here?”The elder one sighed. “Why did you do it?”“D- Do what?”Gasps were heard around him.“It lies.”“It truly deceives.”“Surely, that’s bad.”“This can’t go on.”“It’s always this one system.”“Clearly there’s something wrong with it.”All the administration looked at the elder one, waiting for the go ahead. The elder one looked at BaoBao so intensely as if BaoBao was a specimen under his microscope. BaoBao gulped. He felt exposed. What was with this elder one? Whatever the case, Luna had already been sent to the next world. He could not dilly dall
“Don’t ignore me! I know you’re awake!” Someone pushed Luna’s shoulder hard. Her eyes flew open, and a purple and black galaxy unfolded before her. Her bottom left whatever she had been sitting on, but she did not fall. There was a resistance that made her body glide instead. Luna blinked a few times, stunned. "I dare you to say it again.” The same voice challenged her. Luna turned towards the source. There it was again. The sensation when she moved was familiar. However, she had no time to make sense of it. The deep voice belonged to a burly woman, instead of a man like Luna had assumed, not that it made anything better. Her guest looked as friendly as a starving lioness. Luna straightened her neat celestial-like robes while she quickly collected her thoughts. It shimmered and shone brighter than the glow emanating from her body. The fabric was so silky to touch that it was like water. Although it was transluc
“LUNA!” BaoBao jumped onto her. Luna grunted from the impact. It reminded her of how much he had grown from the first time she met him. ‘How is he so weightless but so heavy at the same time?’ “Hi BaoBao,” she laughed lightly, “Is this your new way of sending me to the next world?” “Huh?! No, no! It’s far too soon to be sending you to the next world, isn’t it?!” Luna laughed even more. “I was just teasing.” BaoBao blinked innocently. “Oh.” Luna looked at him endearingly. “You’re still so much like a kid.” She rubbed the top of his head lovingly. “Don’t systems live for eternity, if nothing goes wrong?” “Mmhm, what about it?” “It still felt that long to you?” “YES!” BaoBao confirmed without a second thought. Luna laughed. “Let’s spend some time together before heading to the next world.” BaoBao’s heart warmed and h
Nozomi closed her eyes and thought hard about his request. It did not feel right or good to take his years, but she had no right to dictate how he should live his life.‘Since he’s really fine with it...’Nozomi pushed her hands forward to cup his cheeks. “Okay...”Hikaru’s eyes brightened up. He promptly retrieved his book and readied himself. Nozomi watched Hikaru activate his magic with interest. The way his book’s ribbon splits and transforms into a robe and staff never got old. “Thank you, for going along with my wishes.” His heartfelt gratitude was reflected in his eyes as well. Nozomi smiled in understanding and squeezed his hands that were once again holding onto hers. Hikaru closed his eyes and focused on her presence, then said the incantation that he had memorised by then.Green glowing vine marks appeared