Even after a week of being taken, Dan had not come to school. Lux had decided to bring him to his group but as he had not arrived at school, he couldn't contact him so easily.
Today also, Lux was going to school as usual. He and his group members were finally getting used to the new routine of 3 hours of sleep with the fatigue down spell that Lux had taught.
Lux met with Killian on the way to the school and headed over there with him talking about various kinds of stuff. When they entered the classroom, the whole classroom was filled with silence. Nobody even noticed Lux and Killian getting inside the classroom.
Lux didn't know what was going on, so he calmly analyzed the environment. All the students were looking at Crystal with a surprised look. It seemed that the environment in the classroom was like this because of Crystal's sudden change in fashion.
All the black marks that were there in Crystal's body had disappeared completely after a week of training, so she had decided to change into her real self. No one in the entire class had expected Crystal to be so beautiful with just a little change in her looks.
Crystal was not used to such kind of commotion, so she was feeling really nervous. She was thinking on what she should be doing when she spots Lux and Killian at the door of the classroom. She becomes kind of relieved to see them.
'Wait why am I feeling relieved to see this creep Killian and this pervert Lux ?', she questions herself.
Lux realizes the situation that Crystal is trapped in and also sees her looks of discomfort. She was basically screaming to Lux to help her and settle down this commotion.
'Hahhh! All the other times, she never listens to me and now, she wants me to help her.' Lux sighs looking how shamelessly she was asking for help after always arguing with him in every small matter.
Lux was going towards Crystal to save her when he suddenly saw Alice approaching Crystal.
'Well maybe Alice will make things better for her or even worse. Now it all depends on her luck. Maybe I should help her a bit if things go too off wards.'
"Crystal you look really gorgeous today. I didn't ever realize that you were so beautiful. It's like you were purposefully hiding your beauty to surprise everyone after a while of getting attention away from yourself. Really why did you hide your true self ? Were you insecure or something ?"
Crystal was nearly dead by nervousness even before Alice approached her and now that she asked her such a question, she felt like her soul had finally left her body. Alice also realized that Crystal was struggling from the question she had just asked and thought that it was really inappropriate to ask such private matters.
"Ohh, I sorry Crystal. I should probably not be asking about your private matters like this. Sorry for bothering you.", Alice said with an apologetic look on her face.
Looking at Alice apologizing so sincerely, Crystal realized that she was just trying to inquire about her problems as a friend. So, she took up the courage to speak with Alice who was treating her so nicely. She thought that Alice certainly was a very kind and caring girl.
"No, its not bothering me. It's that I had some health problems before but now those problems have been resolved. Also thanks a lot for caring about me. You really are a very good friend."
Alice blushes a little by hearing such a sincere appraisal for Crystal. Although Alice had a very good reputation in the school and her family was one of the noble families of the nation, she didn't have any friends. Other people only viewed her as a person with high status, so they became nice to her to gain her help in the future.
Seeing Crystal calling her a friend, she really felt good but, she could not believe even Crystal fully. It was because many people had come to her just like that but, she had heard them speak bad about her behind her back. So, even though she treated everyone with kindness, she was scared to get too close to people after that incident.
Lux was viewing the whole situation and it seemed to go very nicely. He was shocked that even a girl like Crystal was able to speak in front of Alice. Really the influence of Alice and her kindness was really great.
'I think I should call her to the group. She can really help everyone unite and also handle some hard situations nicely. She can help to boost everyone's cultivation.', Lux thought.
Later during the classes Alice felt like Lux was staring at her many times. Sometimes, she even caught him but Lux didn't even ignore her eye when she looked. Rather, he locked his eyes to hers and even gave a smile sometimes. She was really confused as to why Lux was staring at her so much.
'Do I have something stuck on my back ? Why is he staring at me like that ? Does Lux like me ? Well he is quite handsome and all or is he also trying to think of a way to get close to me for status ? Oh no I shouldn't think like that.', Alice mind was going berserk with all those questions.
Lux was only thinking about the benefits of bringing Alice to the group and was thinking about the method to bring her to join the group. So, when Alice looked at him, he didn't ignore her eyes and just looked at them and gave a smile. He was even thinking of the perfect cultivation method to help her cultivate fast and build a good foundation.
After the classes for the day finished, Lux approached Alice. Alice saw Lux coming her way and she was starting to panic. 'Does he really like me? Why do I feel like he is going to call me to confess ?'
At that time, Alice was with her group of girls who always stuck to her like glue and gossiped about different stuff. Alice could already tell that none of these girls even cared about her as a friend but, only as a tool to gain status. She felt really lonely after thinking about that.
"Hello Alice. Mind to join me for a short conversation ?"
Alice who was probably expecting something like this was startled. Now, she was clear that Lux was going to confess to her. She had not thought of what to answer if he did that. Alice herself didn't ever think about these feelings of her. So, she was not yet clear if she even had feelings for Lux or not.
Alice was considered to live a life of noble status from her early childhood. She was taught to be ruthless to people with smaller status than her. Her mother was the only one who taught her to be kind to others. So, she had always followed her advice. But, unfortunately even her mother had died from the hands of the enemy kingdom's Mage when she was very little.
She knew that her mother didn't deserve this kind of death. So, she always desperately wanted the war to stop and peace to come so that kindness could be followed by everyone in this world.
After her mother had passed away, she had always been kind to others and thought as everyone was her friend. But, after that incident she began doubting everyone. They all had the looks of getting only benefits from her. That was the only reason they were her friends.
After thinking about all that stuff of her mother and the betrayal from her friends, she resolved herself to decline on Lux's offer if he brought the topic of confession front. She thought that Lux was also no different than others trying to seek benefits from her.
"Sure." , Alice said with great determination.
All the girls from her group gave Lux an insulting stare. It was like the eyes were yelling towards Lux to go away. But, Lux didn't mind those stares and went along with his things.
"Then would you like to come somewhere private. Umm, I think the school garden should do."
"Yes, Let's go.", Alice again gave a straightforward answer.
Lux was pretty confused looking at Alice's behavior and her answering style. She was different from the other times he talked with her. He had a feeling that Alice was thinking something completely different than what Lux was trying to say to her.
Alice and Lux go to the school garden. They both sit by the bench over there. The environment was very beautiful as the sun was getting closer to the horizon and the rays diverging from the sun were really beautiful. The whole garden was shining from those rays.
Many people had already left for going home, so the garden was nearly empty. Alice, who was from the noble family, would be picked by her attendant so she didn't have much time, so Lux decided to make it quick.
"Alice I want to tell you abo.."
"Wait", Alice cuts Lux before he even completes saying what he wanted.
"I want you to be clear that I don't have any kind of feelings for you.", After saying this, Alice feels all those anger that she had bottled up by everyone becoming close to her for benefits. She remembers all those things and starts talking unknowingly.
"I know that you are here to take benefits from my status as a noble. This is not the first time I have seen people like you. I thought that you were better Lux. Now, I don't even see you as a friend. So, keep your confession to yourself. Don't even think about it ever.", Alice yells and says all this to Lux. But, she feels a little relieved to get all the things off her chest.
'I am not wrong. Mom, the kindness you taught me exists nowhere in the world. Even I forgot your lessons and dumped all these bottled feelings to Lux. Now, I will get the cursing from Lux too and be freed from this non-existent kindness.', Alice thinks to herself in her mind.
During all this, tears start falling from Alice's eyes. The one thing that she wanted to keep on believing. The kindness was shattered to pieces.
Lux calmly hears Alice and also sees the misunderstanding. He wasn't there to confess to her in the first place. But, looking at Alice's condition, he realizes the pain that she had felt. He had known that Alice lost her mother when she was very young.
But, he didn't ever realize the pain Alice was going through after she lost her mother and when everyone went to her for benefits. She didn't have even a single friend. Lux becomes even more compelled to stop the war after seeing Alice in this condition.
'I need to show her the importance of true friends. She seems to have lost the belief in kindness she believed so much in. I need to show her true kindness. This is more than any reason why she should join our group now. I must stop this war. I will even endure all the pain if I have to in order to stop this war. ' , Lux thinks.
Alice was expecting Lux to curse her and call her a bitch. She stops crying after some time and waits for some minutes for hearing the curses. But, instead Lux offers her a handkerchief.
"Sorry Alice. I never thought about your emotions or the pain you endured all this time. I think you misunderstood me a little. I never came here to confess to you in the first place. I wanted to ask you if you wanted to join our group that cultivates in the night. You may not believe it but, it has produced some incredible results and we are growing at a tremendous rate. This was the reason I was staring at you at class time. I am sorry to make you misunderstand this.
I see that you also want to stop this war somehow. Even if you deny it, I know that at the innermost places of your heart, you have some determination to do so. You are a truly kind person. Thanks a lot for showing me that kindness still exists in this world. Now, its my turn to show you that real friendship and trust still exists in this world. Real friends don't want your property or status, they are the people who help you grow and become happy at your achievements. This is more than any reason why you should join our group. I promise that I will show you true friendship and also I promise that I will never let tears come to your eyes ever again."
Hearing Lux's short but, heart filling speech. Alice was shocked she got the complete opposite response than the one she was expecting. Lux endured all those negative things she said to him. She didn't even try to listen and said so many bad things to him.
She poured all the anger to a person who was trying to help her. She felt like Lux was one of the only people she could trust.
Looking at Alice thinking, he decided to close this topic with a good joke.
"Don't worry I will never think about confessing to you. I will remember that I was rejected without even confessing. Haha"
Hearing Lux tell Alice that, she became really embarrassed. She thought of herself as an idiot to say something like that.
"EHhh?!?! Forget that I even said that to you.", Alice panicking says that to remove the embarrassment.
"Huh? How can I ever forget getting rejected for the first time in my life without confessing. Hahaha", while Lux jokes on this topic even more.
The current mood was certainly removed by this joke that Lux brought forth. He was happy to see this and also was having fun teasing Alice.