The new butler of Esmeralda's estate received Austin and Eva at the front gate.
"Austin?" Esmeralda appeared at the doorway to the sitting room on the first level. There was no cheer or liveliness in her tone. Her eyes were dull. There were dark circles around her eyes. It was obvious that she was still mourning her parents death. After a short pause, Esmeralda acknowledged Eva's presence as well. "Eva."
Esmeralda took in a measured breath. "This is rare. What brought the both of you here?" She asked with a small smile.
"Sorry that I did not turn up at your parents' funeral... I should have known better than anyone else that you'd need support the most at this time."
Esmeralda shook her head while she sat down with them. "Don't mention it. You and Eva were having it rough too, isn't it? While the both of you had to deal with things by yourself, at least I have Dylan here with me. He helped me settle and rebuild everything while I was down and out." <
After Saddie did as promised, Dylan hesitantly voiced what had been bugging him since Esmeralda's question to Saddie. "Austin... You DO love Esmeralda, right?"Everyone looked at Dylan either weirdly or in surprise, while Austin frowned at suddenly being called out only to be asked something like that. "What?""It doesn't sound like Esmeralda is sure of your love. After all that she's been through, I'd like to give her a peace of mind, if possible." He sounded a little timid but his eyes showed his determination.Austin felt irritation bubbling up inside him. Somehow, he did not like all this talk about his feelings and engagement with Eva right behind him listening to it all. Before he could say anything, Esmeralda jumped in to pull Austin to the side. "Austin, Austin, I have to speak to you."Once they were both standing apart from everyone else, Esmeralda pulled him down lower by his arm so that she could whisper into his ear. "What do you honestly thi
Within the palace grounds, Austin's entourage stood before the royal couple who remained seated on their raised platform. The two guards handed Eva's parents over to the royal guards.Since her parents knew that they were on their way to their deaths, they acted boldly and tried hard to drag another down with them. "It seems our daughter will be let off.""They must have liked her smarts. Didn't we experience it ourselves when she tried to advise us in our schemes? ""I didn't know that simply not staining your hands in blood makes you less guilty of something."However, they were met with silence. Even a cricket's chirping would be heard in the large room of people. Somehow, this made them look, sound, and feel stupid. They turned red in the face and gritted their teeth."Well done, Austin, you've caught the murderers and avenged your parents." The old king with wrinkles and a head full of grey hair commended him."Perhaps I'll
Days after days passed.Now that Eva was Austin's bodyguard, she followed him around wherever he went, along with his other bodyguards. Since Eva stayed the closest to Austin, it did not interfere with or change the way the other bodyguards functioned. They were the kind that kept a small distance from Austin, ensuring that no one entered a certain perimeter behind him.Eva found that her job as his bodyguard was pretty easy.Her mornings started earlier than everyone else's. She would wake up just before dawn broke to practice her marital arts, play with the weaponry at her disposal, practice shooting, then experiment with whatever she could before it was lunchtime.When Austin incidentally found out that she had been waking up early to practice, he woke up early to practice as well. After he had caught her parents, he began neglecting his physical training regime. Now that the fire was lit again, he resumed his daily sparring sessions with his bodyguard
When the doctor saw the new guests being ushered into the house by his wife, he quickly finished up his consultation with the current patient he was seeing so that he could attend to them."What happened?" The doctor asked while he readied the instruments needed for the removal of the bullet in Eva's shoulder."An attack near the harbour. The person got away." Austin said through gritted teeth. "How's she?""Don't worry. She's lucky, it's only a flesh wound. A simple procedure is all it needs. It'll hurt though. Would you like to use local anesthesia?""Yes." Austin replied in her stead. However, Eva shook her head."I listen to the patient." The doctor shrugged then proceeded on to remove the bullet. He did not want to waste time and let the wound fester while they argued about whether to use anesthesia or not.Austin frowned. "Why did you reject it? It's not like money is an issue for me. Is it not painful?"Eva shook her head
Around the time when they would normally leave in the afternoon, Austin came out as expected. Having regained his composure, he acted as he normally would and went about business as they normally did.It was only after dinner did Austin do something different. Normally, Austin and Eva would retire to their rooms, while Edwin got busy with other matters in the house. Tonight, Austin stayed in the shower for an unusually long time, deep in thought. When he finally came out, it was to go to Eva's room.Austin knocked on her door and Eva opened it almost without any delay."May I speak to you for awhile?" Austin sounded a little hesitant.Eva nodded then stood aside to let him in.Although Austin said that it would only take a while, they ended up sitting at the table near the window in silence for quite a long time.He gazed out the window, clearly still deep in thought. Now that it was winter, the sky had long been dark. There was
[Eva! Wake up! Eva!] Eva's eyes flew open. She immediately raised her guard and looked around her dark room to check if there was something wrong while BaoBao filled her in. [Someone's breaking into the mansion. He's currently at the front gate.] /Keep me informed./ With the winter cold being the least of her concern right now, Eva merely put on a pants and shirt, equipped herself with her different weapons before heading out of her room. The entire house was enveloped in darkness but Eva made her way around and out of the house without a hitch. [He's heading towards the carriages.] /I can't tell if he's a coward or just stinking slippery./ Ever since they placed a bodyguard or two to watch the carriage, nothing happened to the carriage or the driver again. He had also taken flight so quickly when he first shot at them. He seemed to be avoiding any confrontation. Yet,
Time passed and Eva fully recovered from her wounds. However, it was to get poisoned almost immediately. The moment she ingested a mouthful of food, BaoBao warned her that there were signs of poison in her body.Just as she found it weird that she would be the one poisoned when the target was Austin, an idea flashed in her mind. She hastily snatched the utensils from Austin's hand. However, he had already taken two more mouthfuls than her.Later that night, everyone in the household fell sick like Eva expected. They puked so much that they continued to lurch even after there was nothing left to puke out. They itched so badly that they would have scratched their skin off in their delirium if they were not bounded up. Eva was the least affected, followed by the others who were at the table with Eva that night. Since they were only lightly poisoned, their symptoms were more bearable. Unfortunately, the doctor's wife was weaker, so she had to be restrained like the others.
"This is for you." Austin gave her a large brown box. Eva stared at the gift in surprise. Then, she quickly took out her notebook and scribbled messily. "I didn't prepare anything for you." "You don't have to. You already gave me something precious on my birthday. This is just something small in return." Austin said with a smile. She sighed lightly, then carefully took the box from Austin. Austin looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to open it, so she did. Inside the box was a pair of brown boots that would reach up to her calves. Just as she reached for it, Austin placed his hand over hers and whispered, "Be careful. There are hidden blades in the soles and here..." He moved his hand to take the boots up for her to inspect more closely. "You can store your smaller weapons." Eva's eyes sparkled. She had considered creating something like this for herself but she had shelved the idea, prioritising ones that would help the bodygua
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