Cakrawala sudah mengguratkan sulur-sulur oranye di angkasa saat Shad dan Venus bangkit berdiri. Mereka bertatapan selama beberapa saat, sebelum akhirnya Shad mengangguk dan tersenyum. “Kau tidak pernah jahat, Ven. Ingat itu,” Shad berujar. Anak laki-laki itu membelai lagi pipi Venus dengan lembut, dan Venus menggenggamnya di sana selama yang bisa ia lakukan. Suara berdenting menarik mereka perlahan kepada kenyataan. Shad menoleh sekilas, tangannya masih menempel di pipi Venus. “Para Pengaman,” sebut Shad sambil lalu. “Sudah cukup, Nak!” seru salah satu Pengaman. “Kembali ke kelasmu! Sebentar lagi Pesawat Darurat akan tiba di sini!” “Bolehkah aku melihatnya saja?” pinta Shad. “Tidak.” Shad menghela napas. Ia menoleh pada Venus yang masih memandangnya. “Sampai jumpa, Ven. Aku tidak akan pernah melupakanmu, aku janji,” Shad bersumpah. Satu belaian terakhir, dan Shad menjauhkan tangannya dari Venus. Ia tiba-tiba berlari, tidak berhenti hingga ia tiba di dalam lift. Bahkan, Venu
Suara berisik tiba-tiba membangunkan Venus. Gadis itu bersusah-payah membuka matanya dan berkedip-kedip memandang jam dinding. Pukul delapan malam. Venus mengeluh dan merutuk dalam hati sambil memeluk kembali bantal gulingnya. Sedetik kemudian ia duduk terkaget saat pintu kamarnya digedor dari luar. “VENUS!” Venus mengeluh lagi. Itu suara ayahnya. Dalam dan besar. Gadis itu tersaruk-saruk menuju pintu untuk membukanya. “Apa-apaan kau ini?!” bentak sang ayah begitu melihat Venus. Venus mengucek mata sambil mencoba merapikan rambutnya menggunakan tangan. Gadis itu merengut sebal pada sosok tegap nan galak di depannya. “Yang apa-apaan itu Ayah,” gerutu Venus. “Kenapa, sih, membangunkan aku malam-malam begini?” “Rapikan dirimu, ganti baju dan sandalmu, lalu pergi ke kamar Ayah.” Ekspresi datar sang ayah mengganggu Venus. Apa ia akan dihukum karena sudah membentak Sella? Namun, kenapa penampilan harus begitu rapi? “Kena—” “Sekarang!” Laki-laki itu kemudian meninggalkan Venus ya
Venus pikir mereka juga akan diantarkan ke dalam bangunan itu setelah Meres membuka pintu. Namun, ternyata ada seseorang yang sudah menunggu di balik pintu untuk menyambut, atau lebih tepat, mencoba mengintimidasi mereka. Orang itu adalah seorang lelaki paruh baya berbadan besar dan kekar. Tatapannya begitu dingin dengan bibir yang senantiasa merengut. Di mata Venus, Meres bahkan tampak lebih ramah dibandingkan orang ini. “Sudah selesai?” Pria itu bertanya pada Meres dengan suara berat. Meres cuma mengangguk, lalu ia keluar bersama Lan tanpa berkata apapun. Dan, dengan berani Venus mengganggu pria seram berpakaian serba putih di depannya itu. Tentu saja dengan perasaan agak keder. “Siapa Anda?” Suara Venus terdengar kecil, tapi ia tak peduli. Lelaki itu memandangnya, seketika menguarkan hawa dingin yang menakutkan. Gawat, Venus bakal ditelannya bulat-bulat! “Rokuga.” Venus membuang napas lega tanpa kentara. “Ayo,” ucap Rokuga seraya berjalan pergi. “Jadi, kita harus memanggiln
Malam itu Barbara kembali bermimpi tentang hutan gelap tempat ia bertemu dengan nenek menakutkan. Ia kembali ketakutan di kegelapan hutan itu, tapi ada sesuatu yang tampak berbeda dari mimpi yang sama sebelumnya. Seorang cowok seumuran Barbara tampak berdiri diam di bawah sorot rembulan, bagaikan lampu panggung yang menyorot seorang artis. Barbara mempertajam penglihatannya dan melihat bahwa wajah cowok itu cukup… imut. Sesuatu seperti menggelitik pikirannya, seakan-akan otaknya sedang berusaha mengingat sesuatu. Namun, sekeras apa pun ia mencoba, ia tak dapat mengingat siapa cowok itu. Cowok itu tiba-tiba menoleh dan menatap Barbara yang langsung terkesiap saat melihatnya. Mata cowok itu berubah menjadi merah dan darah tampak mengalir lambat ke pipi. Ia mengulurkan tangan ke depan seperti akan mengajak seseorang. “Bara, kau dari mana saja?” cowok itu berkata dengan suara parau. Barbara tak bisa mengalihkan pandangannya dari mata cowok itu yang terus-menerus mengeluarkan darah hi
"That much?" Xingsheng exclaimed in surprise. "And they… Lord Immortal brought them all here?" The three Beauties nodded slowly. However, a few seconds later, the petite woman in the orange dress shook her head. Her facial expression was neutral. "If only the Portal could be closed forever," the woman said, her eyes staring into empty air, "Lord Immortal wouldn't be able to do this anymore." "I don't understand," Vina interrupted suddenly. They all looked at her. "I mean, this guy did a lot of evil deeds, didn't he? Why do you have to address him so respectfully like that?" The three Beauties looked at each other in three directions. Vina rather wanted to feel what it was like to glance at each other in three directions. Again, the woman in the orange dress answered, while Nawa could only smile awkwardly and Astha didn't put any expression on her face. "He has a special relationship with the royals," she said in a casual tone. "You can't go too far or you will lose your head."
Nawa closed the door of the Hall of Beauty slowly, then turned to Heuras and smiled sweetly. The emaciated man who had just received a smile from one of the Seven Beauties simply nodded, while he sat on the ledge leaning against the post, his hands tightly gripping the iron rod. "You shouldn't be so nice to them," Heuras muttered in a deep voice, but it sounded so bitter to Nawa's ears. The mature woman who had a near-perfect stature walked over. She stood in front of Heuras, her hands on the ledge, her head tilted up, gazing affectionately at the cornflower blue flowers. Nawa finally looked down again after a while, and then looked at the man who was as pale as a corpse calmly. "Father doesn't have to worry like this all the time. They, however, wouldn't have ended up like this if Lord Immortal hadn't committed this crime ever again." Heuras, Nawa's biological father, snorted as sarcastically as he could. He gripped his sharp iron rod tightly. "Why do you go along with calling hi
"You can't just walk into a room and say you want to kill someone all of a sudden just because they didn't say their name," said Vina flatly but piercingly. "Vina!" Xingsheng warned quietly. The emaciated man looked at her so sharply. "You could say that if I really were your enemy right now." Xingsheng frowned with a questioning expression. "Who are you?" The man as pale as a corpse walked over. Vina couldn't help but think about how the steps taken by that figure could seem so heavy, even though his body looked like it was only made up of bones. She blinked in surprise, as the figure got closer to them. The small rod with the sharp tip seemed to glisten slightly as the light from the open ceiling hit it. It was made of metallic iron; looks small, but dangerous if the wearer knows how to use it. The figure suddenly pointed its eccentric weapon towards Liu Xingsheng's neck, to which he half raised his hand, alarmed by the threat of the strange man in front of them. "I'll ask you
"You speak so confidently, as if you've experienced this before," Vina squinted, her eyes fixed on the patch of clouds in the sky that was visible from the open ceiling. Liu Xingsheng half turned his head and let out a sound like he was chuckling softly. He moved to lift the bamboo chair with light steps, but had to be surprised and almost fell backwards because it turned out that the object to sit on was quite heavy. He wondered why that was. The man glanced over, but Vina didn't seem to notice him. He let out an imperceptible sigh of relief. "Well," Xingsheng mumbled lowly, his muscles bulging slightly as he returned to where Vina was lying carrying the bamboo chair. "I have to admit, I've never had anything quite like this happen, but I've been imagining, speculating, whatever you say; and it turns out to be facing something that makes me… kind of dumbfounded. Although what I suspected wasn't something bad." Vina turned her head to the side when she heard Xingsheng lower the ch