Chapter 17: Pinky Promise
"But it also comes with a great danger," Alex sighed.
He never revealed his nickname to his friends, so why would he risk any information about his castle? If he invited an NPC here or player with a gardener class, he would danger Celia, Sara, and Stella, to say nothing of dangerous Schnee.
It would give her more reasons to turn her sisters against him.
Elias Deathwill was famous, and so was his kingdom. As he thought, other kingdoms and nobles could give players quests to find Alex and his castle.
It was hard to tell what was going on outside.
Alex also understood that those gardens would take a lot of time. They had been withered for years, and his castle was by no means a normal place. Perhaps, even those gardens hid mysteries that only a skillful gardener would be able to see through, to say nothing of him taking care of those plants.
"It makes the first option even less appealing," Alex clicked his tongue.
But as he skimmed through his system, Alex clicked on his large quest log. In that window, he searched for the gardener person. And as he had suspected, Elias Deathwill had managed to bring one of the best gardeners to his side.
Worse, he showered her with empty promises! In the end, the gardener left him with a broken heart!
That gardener was the forest fairy queen's daughter, Remia.
"It's impossible for me to do everything alone… I should go outside and find Remia, then help her and ask for father-in-law's forgiveness…" Alex whispered beneath his nose.
After reading the quest log, Alex knew what had happened between Elias Deathwill and Remia.
It was one-sided love.
Remia loved the hypocrite father-in-law, but her feelings were never reciprocated. Worse, Elias Deathwill made some promises that sounded as if he would take her as one of his wives.
Alex couldn't tell whether it was intentional or not, but he leaned toward the former.
However, only women with powerful strength could enter Elias Deathwill's eyes. It didn't matter whether their backgrounds were powerful; only women whose own strength was high could charm the hypocrite king.
Unfortunately, Remia was not one of those women due to some reasons. Even though she could lay out a powerful garden that would bring many valuable effects to the castle and Elias' lands, she never entered his eyes.
"It's worth a try…" Alex concluded after reading the quest log.
From the description, Remia was a naive lady, but she was also a kind-hearted woman.
He believed she wouldn't succumb to anger or thirst for revenge. But that much was easy to check.
Alex's mission was to see the forest fairies' home and learn whether they searched for Deathwill Castle or Elias Deathwill himself.
If they didn't, then it would be good for him to search for Remia and talk with her.
Alex more or less had a plan.
'It's a good reason for me to go outside and check the game world with players… I also should meet Olivia. I can't leave her alone for too long.' Alex's girlfriend needed him as much as the sisters did.
He confirmed his plan and turned toward Celia.
"Eh? Are you crying?" Alex froze and asked in a soft tone.
Before him, Celia held her demon egg tightly, her eyes welled. Due to gathered tears, Celia's beautiful eyes shone brighter.
She stared at him deeply while trembling no end.
"Y-You will return?" Celia stuttered, then bit her lips.
To such a side, Alex couldn't stay still. He went onto his knee then hugged Celia tightly. He just couldn't help himself as she seemed in deep sorrow.
But he understood the crux of her pain. She never had friends, and she was also abandoned by her father. In fact, Celia didn't even remember him. It was impossible to tell whether magic was in a play or it was due to her young age.
Alex ruffled Celia's hair, "I will return. Of course, I will. I also plan to bring back some presents. What would you like?"
"You must return, Alex! Don't leave mom and me alone!" Celia pressed her little nose on Alex's shoulder, then wiped off her tears.
She didn't want any presents. All she wanted was him returning to their side!
"Let's make a pinky promise, then. If I dare to break the promise, I will suffer the incurable disease! Oh, I know! My head will fall off like dullahan, and only dullahan princess, Celia, will be able to fix me. That is only if I get her forgiveness!" Alex promised.
He extended his pinky finger.
Celia stared at him, then extended hers. As their fingers were coiled, the promise had been made!
Alex added, "There will never be any disease as I will return as fast as I can."
"Okay…" Celia nodded slowly.
"Still, I will bring presents to everyone," Alex reassured his little friend, then stood up.
Since Celia didn't tell him what she wanted, he could only ask around people in the big cities. If no one could help him, he would buy a big plush toy that would be a giant version of Kubo.
As for Sara, Alex also felt like he wouldn't miss his present.
Celia told him before that Sara liked to relax in baths. After a bath, she would paint her nails and play around with makeup. That was quite surprising as Alex had never seen her in makeup.
But then, Celia explained.
Sara would only spend a few minutes at most in her makeup. That was because she couldn't imagine herself fighting in makeup or painted nails. She would always wash all cosmetics off her body in just a few minutes after getting them.
For some reason, Alex found it immensely cute.
And now that Alex was here, Sara had more time for herself. Of course, she still trained her skills for most of her free time. Nonetheless, Alex felt like he would find a good present for her.
"What about Stella and Schnee?" Alex thought out loud.
Celia shrugged.
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"Golem," Stella said.
Alex's eye twitched, "Golem?"
"Golem," Stella repeated.
Why would this lazy girl want a golem?