“Do we have everything ready? The delegates will be arriving in the Rocx valley any minute now and we need to make sure we have everything ready. Aurora, you don’t need to be here for all this so you can return if you want to.”
Rex sounded worried when he asked Aurora to return. Maybe he was responding to Aurora’s dark-circled that were visible under her eyes now.
For the past few days sleeping had not been easy for Aurora. If it was not the time for her medical treatment with the nymph, it was one nightmare after another.
Aurora could not even remember when was the last time she had a good night’s sleep. Subtle emotions and memories from the second core inside her body were pulsing.
And then there was the fact that Aurora could still not access her core. It was locked out of her reach inside her body.
“No, I will stay here with you. Since Lady Mei is coming, someone familiar should be here to guide her away.”
This was just an excuse for Aurora to justify her choice of not going to sleep. And Rex likely knew that as well.
But he did not point it out to Aurora which she was thankful for. She did not want to get into a verbal match with him right now.
“Au~ro~ra. I am here.”
Mei was the first one to touch the ground. She ignored everyone and everything as she jumped into Aurora’s arms.
It would have been a heartwarming scene had Aurora and Mei been close. But for now, it was all an act to keep up appearance.
As the only goddess invited for this occasion, Mei had to show that she had some kind of bond with Aurora and they had settled on friendship for now.
It was not entirely unthinkable since Astoria’s presence was well-known across the world and so was her association with the Rocx Academy.
“Wow, so this is Rocx academy? It is more ordinary than I thought it would be. I am so glad that I got to visit here.”
Mei’s words might seem mocking at first hearing but the wonder in her voice more than made up for it. She was excited to be here and she was letting everyone know.
“It is nice of you to be here as well. I am sure that both the students and the other participants would love to have you here.”
Aurora made light talks with Mei as well. She signaled Rex to take care of everything else while she took care of Mei.
A goddess coming to such a festival was not a big deal but Lady Mei was an exception. She hardly ever interfered in the academy business so her presence was especially noted in these times.
Aurora could already see a lot of curious eyes keeping a tab on Mei’s moment and trying to approach her.
Since Mei looked like a teenager, a lot of people mistook her mental level as such as well and tried to take advantage of her.
‘I cannot tell which one I am protecting at this point. Is it Lady Mei or the people who could become her prey?’
Aurora sighed as she stopped the overly excited teenager from wandering off alone in such a big place.
“Hey, Aurora I need to ask you something important. Is Seraphina nearby or does she live on the outskirts of the Rocx Valley? I am just asking because I cannot feel her presence nearby.”
“She’s not here and you will not seek her out either. Don’t forget that you promised me not to cause trouble while you are here.”
Aurora was not sure if Rex’s blood pressure would be able to take this much excitement all at one go.
He was surprisingly delicate at weird times and tough at the others.
“Ahhhh, did I promise anything like that? No, don’t worry. I will not do anything suspicious like that. I don’t want to make you angry. It’s just that, Seraphina disappeared a long time ago so I was worried about her. Despite what happened between us, we are both goddesses.”
Aurora did understand where Mei was coming from. Some bonds could not be served no matter what one did.
And this seemed like one such bond that Mei had forced herself to be in with Seraphina.
“I will pass on your message to Seraphina but I am not sure if she would respond to you or not. But for now, please stay put in your room.”
Aurora had no plans to visit Seraphina before but now it seemed like she would be visiting the GoV soon enough.
‘The time of her origins death is also nearing. I wonder what would happen next.’
Aurora had planned to help GoV out but it was not looking very hopeful right now. After all, Aurora had spent no time taking care of this mess in her free time.
“So, what else do you have planned for me, my dear hostess? Will we meet the kids? Or will you take me out on a tour? I am looking ahead to what will happen next.”
‘Of course, you are Lady Mei. I would not have expected anything else from you.’
===========================
“You are getting so good at sneaking into places Clove. Your talent makes me jealous. Where did you learn so many of your tricks?”
The more time Clove spend with Asami, the more she understood what the other goddess thought.
And the more she was sure that it was impossible to ignore Asami. If Asami had decided to annoy you, she would annoy you to death at all costs.
Things like rest and calm did not exist in her dictionary.
“Why don’t you pull your weight as well? Can you not do anything other than scam people?”
It was rude of Clove to talk with a goddess like this. Had it been the usual her, Clove would have died of embarrassment at her behavior.
But Lady Asami was a special case of ‘nut-job’ and her presence made Clove’s life difficult.
“Well, I can help you out but then we’ll have no chance of landing a successful negotiation. The relationship between me and Lady Dehva is already rocky enough.”
‘Gees, I wonder why that is so? How many times did you try to trick her into a scam?’
Clove wanted to ask that question but then thought better of it. She was not sure she wanted to know the answer to that question either.
“Ohhh, we’re finally here. I can feel that scary aura from anywhere. It makes me so excited to face her.”
‘Lady, you have some massive issues.’
This was what Clove wanted to say but she shut her mouth and entered the room. Lady Dehva was waiting for them inside, just as she had said she would.
“Hi! We found our way here finally. Now can we have the pleasure of talking with you? My companion here has an idea that you might like.”
Asami sounded so cheerful that one would think that this was a meeting between friends. But the lack of any verbal communication from the lady sitting in front broke that illusion.
“What is it that you want to purpose? Be quick about your request or I will reject it without hearing you out.”
Clove gulped her nervousness down. It was now or never for her.
“I heard that you have a way to kill the gods and want to know what that way is. I want to put an end to this hellish nightmare known as the abyss and I need your help in achieving that.”
The blue-haired lady sipping the tea stopped short after hearing this. Her eyes were hard when they looked at Clove but Clove refused to flinch under that glare.
She would not bend, nor would she cover in front of her.
“I see. So you are one of ‘those types.’ But what makes you so sure that you will succeed where everyone else failed? What think it is that makes you so special?”
“It is not ‘me’ who is special but someone else. There are some things that I am about to tell you that might change your perspective about this world and the abyss so please hear me out.”
The lady did not look interested at first but Clove still told her about Aurora and the last gate of the abyss anyway.
The more Clove spoke, the more interested the Lady looked until there was a spark in her eye that was too bright.
“I see. So that is what you are planning? Then, let me ask you this? Why are you doing all this for someone you do not even know that well? I don’t think my daughter is worth all that to be honest.”
“Wait, your daughter? What the hell is going on in here?”
“Well, when I heard your story I thought that you approached me because of my familiar face. Don’t I look like my daughter, Aurora? People said that we looked alike all the time.”
Of course, Clove had seen the resemblance but she had not wanted to make an uneducated guess.
‘But it seems like I am the fool here.’
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