<☆Few days passed☆>
Ring! Ring!
"Hold onnnnn!" Kari exclaimed as if someone could hear her.
Kari rushed out of the bathroom in a baby blue bathrobe, one hand trying to dry her hair with a small-sized towel as she made her way over to her bedside table drawer.
Looking at the caller ID, it read 'Amelia'. Kari immediately picked it up, getting an earful of squeals and loud hi's which made her wince.
Kari sat on her bed, got a phone stand and placed her phone on it, turning on the speaker so she could hear Amelia's voice while she was trying to dry her hair.
"What is it, Amelia?" Kari questioned.
"KARIIIII! OH MY GOD. SOMETHING HAPPENED!" Amelia screamed loudly from the other side.
Kari raised an eyebrow, "What happen?"
Taking a water bottle out of her space storage, she drank it as she waited for Amelia to tell her.
"I-I! I WAS KISSED BY DAMON-"
Pfffttt! Cough!
Kari wiped her mouth roughly as she widened her eyes, "WHAT!?" She aggressively shouted in surprise.
Kari could hear a 'meep' from Amelia, but her brain wasn't processing right. Kiss? KISS!? They. KISSED.
AND SHE DIDN'T GETS TO SEE IT.
"When did you guys even kiss?!" Kari said in alarm. Were they not like, in different countries or something?
"Well...yeah...But you see, I tried to go back early...and accidentally bought the wrong flight ticket and ended up in Dirus. So I called Damon...since I only knew him at Dirus. And he came to pick me up, and I stayed at the palace for like a few weeks now. But then, yesterday...there was a party. I didn't want to join it so I just didn't go. I only stayed in my room, but I went out of my room to get some water since I was thirsty. Then, I bumped into Damon who was drunk. And then he started mumbling some words and...he...he confessed that he liked me for a while and just kissed me and fainted!"
Amelia rambled on and on as she recited the memory, remembering each and every detail.
"Karriiiiiiii, what should I dooooooo!?" Amelia wailed, exasperated.
"What did you feel when he confessed to you, Amelia?" Kari asked with a knowing smile.
On the other side, Amelia blushed bright pink like a cherry blossom. She started fiddling with her dress as she started mumbling incoherently.
A few minutes before Amelia fell silent. Kari's smile grew wider.
"I...felt really embarrassed but... happy..." Amelia confessed, blushing extremely hard.
Her mind going back to the memory, Amelia hugged her pillow tightly, hiding her bright pink face as she let out a muffled squeal.
"I don't know what to do Kari! How can I face him tomorrow!?" Amelia exclaimed.
Kari let out a small laugh, "Confront him about it. Maybe you guys can get together. But before you do actually get together, how about you guys go for like a trial? See how it works out. If it ends up good, then you guys can officially date!"
Kari looked at the time, it was quite late already. Tomorrow, she had to go to that bastard's castle early in the morning.
"Hey Amelia, it's super late on my side right now. I gotta go." Kari said. Amelia, expressed an 'ok' and said goodbye as Kari hung up.
Lying on her bed, Kari sighed. Oh god...let's hope it's not gonna be an eventful day for her tomorrow.
____________________________________
"Sazuki! Cyox! Are you ready?" Kari called out, she was waiting patiently in the space room for them.
They both stumbled out of the forest room. Their hair filled with multiple leaves as a deer's nose popped out from the door and nudge them forward.
"We're here Big sister!" Sazuki called out with a smile on his face. He ran to Kari with his arms outstretched, giving Kari a hug.
Kari gave a chuckle and ruffled his hair. She shifted her gaze to look at Cyox who was eyeing Sazuki with jealousy.
Kari let out a sigh and called out to Cyox, "C'mon, you want a hug too? Yes?" She opens her arms.
Cyox hesitated before a wide grin blossomed on his face as he dashed towards Kari. He crashed into Kari, almost making her fall.
After a while, he finally let go. His cheeks were bright red. He was embarrassed.
Sazuki gave a giggle as he looked at Cyox's bright cheeks which earned him a huff from Cyox.
"Now, now. We have to go. Are you ready?" Kari asked with a smile.
"Yes, older sister!" They both exclaimed at the same time. They couldn't wait, a new friend!
Kari told them their new friend was a little awkward, might be cold, and doesn't know how to socialise. He had a stone face, but that's okay! They would do the chatting and were extremely excited to become friends with him.
Kari nodded with satisfaction as she looked at their eyes which were filled to the brim with excitement.
Waving her arm, a purple magic incarnation circle appeared below them, earning a few 'wows' and 'oohs' from the boys.
Kari felt smug, she added the magic circle as a prop. She just wanted to look good.
They soon disappeared into the void and appeared in front of the barrier of Oscerstan where they found Zayd, Sugo and Henrik waiting for them.
Sugo gave a smile as soon as he saw them appear. "Welcome, Kari."
Kari greeted Sugo back, turning to look at Zayd, then at Henrik who was warily looking at her, shifting his gaze to the boys who were looking at him with bright stars in their eyes which made him a bit nervous.
"Well, let's introduce the boys first, shall we?" Sugo said, trying to maintain the atmosphere at a natural level.
Kari nodded and gestured for Sazuki and Cyox to move forward which they did so a bit too eagerly, scaring Henrik who hid clutching his sword tight. He never met people like this.
Normally, whenever people see him. They would turn, avoid or even run away from him. Which he admits, made him a bit sad. But now, there're two boys who seem to not be scared of him one bit?
Henrik's stoic expression changed to one of uneasiness which earned him even more excitement and overly greeting expressions from Sazuki and Cyox.
"Hi, there! My name is Sazuki!" Sazuki gestured to Cyox, "And this is Cyox. It's nice to meet you! Let's be friends!" He held out a hand, making Henrik look at him as if he was crazy.
However, Sazuki didn't back down one bit. He held out his hand until Henrik reached out to shake it.
"Uh...My...name is...Henrik...nice to meet you..too?" Henrik muttered, he looked down to the ground, his cheeks blushed.
Sazuki cheered internally at his first success. Without warning, he grabbed Henrik's hands with excitement, "Nice to meet you, Henrik! Let's get to know each other! You know, I really like animals, ice cream and..."
He rambled on and on, making Henrik unable to catch up as swirls appeared in his eyes.
Sugo chuckled at the heartwarming scene as Zayd smiled gently, glad he could see Henrik making friends. And such enthusiastic and nice ones at that too.
However, a cough soon took his attention away. He turned to see the culprit and internally sneered.
Kari raised an eyebrow at him, she knew what he was thinking. "Don't give me that unsatisfied look. You're the one that made the deal so shut up and deal with it."
Kari humphed and turned her attention away from Zayd which made him feel salty.
He couldn't refute her, because what she said was right. Sugo sweat dropped over the two of them. Ahh...He felt like a third wheel. Perhaps he should get a girlfriend soon...
"Whatever, can we go in now?" Kari asked, her annoyance gone.
Sugo nodded, he snapped his and four shadows appeared. In a flash, they were at the castle.
Kari whistled, "Nice trick...can I learn it?"
"You wish! Hmph!" Zayd interrupted, making Sugo feel helpless.
Goodness...They were fighting like cats and dogs. If only the image in his head didn't always transform into one of a married couple bickering.
"Jeez! I didn't ask you!" Kari refuted back. She turned her back on him. Ignoring Zayd, she turned to look at Sugo. "I'm going to go explore. See ya."
Before Sugo could reply, she disappeared into thin air. Sugo rubbed his temples in exasperation. This was going to be tiring...He really should retire and find a girlfriend.
___________________________
They were in hot water for a while until they gradually began to butter up.
After all, it was getting rather tiring arguing all the time.
1 month later...
"DAMN IT ZAYD! I CLEARLY TOLD YOU TO ATTACK HIM AT THAT SPOT! YOU DIDN'T LISTEN TO ME AND WE BOTH DIED!" Kari complained loudly, they were both in front of a digital hologram screen.
"Jeez... You didn't need to scream at me like that... I-...I'm sorry, okay? I rarely apologise so forgive me for the lack of emotion in my voice." Zayd mumbled, although his voice didn't sound sorry, his eyes were filled with regrets.
Kari sighed. She really couldn't stay angry at him any longer if he looked like that.
Kari waved it off, "It's fine, just do it next time."
Zayd nodded and showed a forced grateful smile. He bit his lips unconsciously.
His attitude to her had changed drastically since last month. He had gotten soft with her. -Sigh- What was she doing to him?
Suddenly, a ring tone could be heard. Kari put down the controller in her hands and dug through her bag to fish out her phone.
Looking at the user, Kari answered it with a smirk. "Hello, Amelia? How was the trial?" She asked in a teasing tone.
From the other side, Amelia was already blushing, stuttering, "W-well...we decided to officially get together! I'm meeting his parents tomorrow... Even though Damon reassured me that they are quite open and easy-going, I still feel nervous... " Amelia softly voiced out her problems that had been stacked on her mind for the past few hours.
Kari puckered her lips, 'Looks like Damon wants to assert dominance on her fast...'
"If it helps you, I heard from my father that they are quite friendly. For your information, I heard that the king used to be a commoner."
Kari heard a gasp from the other side, "Really!? Wow! I didn't know that."
Kari grinned, "Many assumed that he comes from some noble lineage. People knowing that he used to be a commoner are quite a few around here."
Amelia nodded, taking in all the information. A smile appeared on her face, her worries had been appeased. "Thanks, Kari. I feel better now!"
"No problem. Well, I got to go now. I'm in the middle of a game and I think my partner is getting a bit impatient..." Kari sighed, her gaze shifting to the grumpy Zayd.
Amelia giggled, "Okay! See you next month!"
Kari nodded and hung up, keeping her phone. She turned to look at Zayd, "Hey, are you okay? You seem quite grumpy."
Zayd kept quiet, although he seems calm and just grumpy. His mind was in inner turmoil.
He was panicking due to the fact that he just felt a foreign feeling.
The moment he heard Kari talking happily and way too friendly with Amelia over the phone. He almost lost himself.
He felt like all the logic and good reasoning he had in his body just disappeared in an instant. Only being replaced by hatred, irrational anger and resentment towards 'Amelia'.
Luckily, Kari had hung up just in time. If she hadn't, Zayd was really worried that he might have actually attacked her, ripped the phone out of her hands and destroyed it to pieces.
Zayd gritted his teeth and shut his eyes tightly, that feeling... it was so...uncomfortable.
He then heard a familiar sweet voice, pulling him out of his thoughts.
"Zayd? Zayd? Can you hear me? Hello?"
Zayd blinked his eyes, and then stammered, "Y-yes. Sorry. I was just in my thoughts."
Kari gave a sigh of relief. 'Thank God... He was acting so weird, I wonder what he was thinking about.'
Flashing Zayd a relieved smile, "Let's continue our game, shall we?"
Zayd nodded unconsciously, captured by her voice and beautiful smile.
A̴̡̳̳͉͒̇̿̐͆̈͝ ̶̛̝̠̭̣̬̘̄̒͂͆̉͛̓̏̋̚͘s̶̛͇̙̻̖̘͒̒̐̍̌͆͋̈́͛̓͘͝ͅm̶̲̫̙̻̯͔̜̙̗̝̳͑̀̉̏͘ī̷͓̟̤̖̱̽̀́͐̈́̋͜ͅl̵͚͕̯͔̅̀͂͑̔̿̎̒̀̊̈́͘̕e̸̦̩̗͓͕͈̮̪̮̔͋̽͗͒ ̸̢̩͍̦̙̓͐̓̈̃̈́t̷̛͔̻̼̟̭̖͙̳̐͂̍̈́̍̊̀̓͋͜h̴̻̺͎͐̈a̴̫̘̼͈̝͎̭̣͖͎͑̐͘͜t̷̟͙̝͉̲͚͊̐ ̷̨̧̨͙̳͓̳͓͓̠͎̼̔̈́͐̂̇ͅö̷̻̺́̌̓̎́̈̊͐̈́̀ͅǹ̴̬̯͕̗̗̀̆̒͋́͗̃̎͋̉̽̋̈́͘ͅl̶̨̳̻̝̪͈̜̍y̶͇̭͇̑̀̉͆ ̸̨̛̺̱͕͎̩̖̩̹͔̬̟̺̗͗̀̈̀̚͘b̸̢̮̳̫͕̙͇̝̩̗̋̋̕͝e̶̡̡͍̼̰̘̳͗̋͊̇͑͂͒l̵̨̡̤̫̲̞͕̯̣͉͖̗̈́̍͂̆̄͜ǫ̶̨̹̹͍̖͔͉̀̉̄͊͛͐͘ͅn̵̳̳̜̤͙͎̮̪͙͉̥̍͒͜ͅg̸͓̦͕̭̱̲̹͕͆̈́̑͋͘͝e̸̛̳̬̔̉̎d̷̜̦̣̮͔̟̳͇͒̄͑̽̃̌͝ ̸̰̰͈̣̯͈̻̦̝̹͇͔̆̄͗͊́̄̔͆́͝ṱ̴̡̺̟̞͉̬̻̲̻̌̂̈́̀͆͌́͗̌̔̂̄͝͠ȏ̴̘͙̮̹̲̍̽͗̋̂̽ ̵̢̧͕̤̟̱̤̤̦̞͈̩͈̒͋̈̇͠͠ĥ̷͇̣̩͇̻̺̤̳̌͗̾̅̂́̾̔̈́͜͝ͅį̸̯̙̹͇̖̝̝͈̯̘͎̣̯̀͌̈́͊̃̋̿̎̿͊͒̑̚͜͝͝m̶̡̨̹͙̍̾̽͝ͅ.̴̧̛̭̩͙̱̺͎̏̅͑̅̓͊̑͆̚̕͠.̶͉̠̮̬͉͐̆.̸̪͈̫̦̬̝͕̭͋̎͑̂̉̍̽͛͋͂͗͗͐͊
Zayd clutched his head, seemingly scratching his left chest where his heart was located.
He gave an exasperated sigh and a frown befell upon his face.
'Just what the hell is happening to me?'