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.
Days passed by slowly. The relationship between Ethan and Alice stayed the same, while Stephan and Violet got closer. Now that Stephan had settled the issue with Rosalyn, he made bolder moves on Violet and eventually asked her to be his. Violet had shyly agreed. Ethan was aware of the progress in the relationship between Violet and Stephan and felt a little ache and sting in his heart. However, he also realised that everything would feel alright whenever he was with Alice. Although the little ache and nagging in his heart remained, he was at peace with it at the same time. It simply felt right to be around Alice. Leah had lost the hold she had on Violet but she continued to follow Violet on her 'patrols' to save people who are being bullied. Violet's reputation continued to soar among the oppressed and plummet among the strong. Nobody asked about Alice. They also stopped trying to find Alice anymore. Half a year passed like that and the final exam
Multiple carriages had already gathered at the entrance to the North forest when the carriages that Leah and Alice were in reached the destination. Alice immediately headed to the side of the crowd to leave the sea of people while Leah wondered seemingly aimlessly around the crowd. It took quite awhile before each of them found what they wanted. Alice jumped up onto a low tree branch to take a breather. Leah had the expression as if she finally found their rendezvous point with the other three. "Sorry for taking so long! There are just so many people." Leah apologised then peeked at Ethan only to see that he was paying attention to anything else besides her. "Nothing to worry about. They still have not signaled the start of the exam." Violet reassured her with a small smile. "But they would anytime now." Stephan said without hiding his irritation. Leah lightly bit her lower lip. Just a few seconds after Stephan talked, a loud explo
Sky blue lightning rained on everyone. Fire raged all over. Water slicers covered any remaining area. The opponents defended once more. Earth walls and stone pillars were raised, rocks flew, water barriers were raised, water slicers and bullets flew, plants raged and flower petals became as sharp as daggers, and many more. Explosions filled the air, along with the snaps of traps getting activated. The people who had to dodge attacks landed in areas that Alice had predicted. They ended up blown up or captured in spiked nets or pierced or maimed. Alice witnessed all the chaos around her while she got carried by the water bubble. It flew her around the perimeter of the battlefield and skillfully dodged any stray attacks that flew towards her. By then, she realised that she was not caught in a water ball but a literal bubble, with air inside. She could breathe. There was only one person who would do this to her. After the trio had dodged the flurry of carel
"Hey, hey, please tell me at least one of you two have some trump card I don't know of!" Stephan whispered through gritted teeth. He had his hands full trying to occupy the Blessings as much as he could while Ethan and Violet dealth with the remaining Talents. However, it was much easier said than done. Violet was agitated and it made her slip up more than once. Ethan was equally distracted. Half his attention was on Alice. He was ready to risk his life and rush to her aid, but an unknown force kept him rooted to this side, causing him great distress.As a result, the trio got covered in bruises and cuts. "We have to figure out something quick! Alice needs us!" Violet cried. Alice had started fighting on her end. Ethan remained silent, his lips drawn into a firm line, and his mind going into overdrive to come up with a move on the spot. A deep laughter sounded, interrupting Ethan's thoughts. The familiar deep voice mocked, "What's the matter? Losing your
BaoBao warned Alice of the attacks from above, instantly calculated probabilities and rates, then concluded that Violet would not escaped unscathed even with Ethan's protection and Violet's fire ability. Alice chose to accept death, then threw Violet back using her water ability. Ethan witnessed Alice's death with wide disbelieving eyes. Numerous icicles and spears impaled her. Parts of her were cut off by swords. Tears had already begun to flow before his brain has registered her death. His heart wrenched as the gory sight consumed his mind. It somehow felt like a painfully familiar scene. His voice that felt stuck in his throat, gradually came out as strangled moans, before he yelled out loud in agony. His eyes became blood shot red, and power surged from his body. It broke him free of the force that had been controlling his body. He roughly pushed Violet off of him and scrambled to Alice's mangled body. He ran through and broke any spears and weapons that
"Luna? ...Luna? Are you okay?" Luna kept her eyes closed and her face was slightly pale. The pain of dying had been intense this time round and she felt that it was truly quite a horrifying way to die. She'd rather bleed out like she did in her original world and in the previous world. "...Luna?" BaoBao was slightly worried. /I'm fine. Just... give me a while./ BaoBao kept quiet and let Luna rest. He knew how weary she must be feeling since she still talked to him telepathically. Luna drifted off to sleep. Around 2 hours later, she woke up to find herself in darkness. She was momentarily confused until she remembered that she had died. BaoBao appeared by her side the moment he knew that she was awake. "Luna? Feeling better?" Luna nodded. "How did this world go?" "You avoided forging a friendship with Violet and the others where the original soul was completely dependent on them. You avoided being the on
Luna woke up feeling incredibly weak. Her lips were dry. Her throat was parched. Her stomach hurt and growled at the same time. She laid crumpled on her side near a big tree. The surroundings were vibrantly green and warm sun rays filtered through the dense canopy. /Am I.../ Her stomach growled and hurt at the same time again. /Actually dying from starvation?/ Yet another sharp pain coursed through her through her stomach. /When was the last time this person ate...?/ With that, BaoBao quickly transferred all of the original soul's memories into her. The original soul was born as a white rabbit shapeshifter in a peaceful and quiet village filled with herbivores. She was named BaiXue due to her snow white fur. They have low fighting capabilities but excelled in escaping, especially when they were in their animal forms. The original soul had 4 other siblings, half of them were also rabbit shapeshifters, while the other ha
[FenFang is approaching.] BaoBao informed BaiXue. /At this time? If they were predestined to meet and FenFang was the one who nursed the original soul... I can already see how this would pan out and disrupt her revenge plans./ BaiXue frowned. /No wonder this original soul needed help./ She looked in the direction that FenFang would be coming from. Perhaps she could learn something new from FenFang that the book did not contain. So, she stayed where she was. After a short while, a young elegant beauty emerged from the plants. Her long luscious creamy white hair and sky blue robes swayed gently in the refreshing breeze. Her deep dark brown eyes immediately locked on to BaiXue. Even in her rush towards BaiXue, she looked as glamourous as ever. "What happened? How are you?" Her voice sounded like clear gentle bells. BaiXue looked at her flatly. "...Food." Her voice was weak, and she panted, as if talking itself took a lot ou