Chapter 65: Enough Bitterness For A Lifetime

Deon blinked again, trying to move his body.

The sensation was unfamiliar, even though it was supposed to be his own body, it was like the feeling of a retired veteran stepping back into the game.

When he finally got all his senses working, Deon realized that his hand was still pressed against the rough root of the Velvet Rose. But what he failed to get working, were his legs, as his knees nearly buckled.

"Deon!"

Someone grabbed him before he could fall...Hana.

Her hands barely managed to catch his arm and shoulder, holding him upright. Her dove mask tilted, but even beneath it, he could tell her face was beyond pale.

"Deon! Are you okay?! Can you hear me?!"

He blinked at her. "...Why are you yelling?"

Hana simply stared at him, before unleashing a series of small punches at his chest. "Why am I—What do you mean?! You just froze!"

"Ow, ow, hey. I used [Playback]! It’s the same as when we were in the Master Office, don’t get so worked up!"

"No, it wasn’t like before!" Hana exclaimed quickly. "After you touched the flower, you went completely still. Your eyes were open, but the pupils were completely gone. You weren’t answering us...Hell, you weren’t even blinking!"

Deon frowned, muttering to himself more than to Hana. "Hmm, could it be a side effect of using it at half charge...?"

Vivian stood a few steps away with her arms folded, though even under her black cat mask, Deon could see a trace of worry.

"Hana’s underselling it," Vivian nodded. "You looked like someone had scooped your soul out and left the body standing."

"Damn...how long has it been since I was like this?"

"Roughly an hour, give or take."

That long? Too much could happen within that time frame. I’ve got to reorient myself.

"Give me a rundown," he glanced at Vivian. "What happened when I was gone?"

"Tch..." Vivian clicked her tongue, pointing at the center of the garden. "See for yourself."

The three of them emerged from the side path. The contestants were no longer scattered around the party, as most— if not all of them— had made their way into a gathering in the middle.

Yet as Deon narrowed his eyes, he could tell that they were...tense, to say the least.

"Why—?" he started.

"People started panicking," Vivian explained, cutting him off. "The gardener said the flower was toxic, and you had touched it."

"The majority of them thought you were trapped by the room, causing them to go into a frenzy now that ’Mr. Rank One’ had been neutralized."

Hana chimed in from the side. "They said we needed to clear the event quickly to save you..."

That’s an awfully convenient excuse...though from their perspective, it might not be all too wrong?

"Alright," Deon nodded. "What did they decide?"

"..."

"They’re going to serve her again."

"Wait what? Really? What did they decide on?"

"If I remember correctly," Vivian put a finger on her head, recalling. "It was something like strong black tea? Oh, and apparently it should be steeped as bitter as possible."

"Hmmm, and how did they come to that conclusion?"

"Well, the others said that amongst the people that they’ve asked, that answer came up a lot and seemed to be a common denominator."

Deon frowned at the answer, yet he couldn’t really judge it. Even within the memory, he hadn’t managed to figure out what her favorite tea was. All he witnessed...was a tragedy, and not the answer itself.

Still, it made sense somewhat. She kept going on about ’bitterness this, and bitterness that’. So it wouldn’t be completely out of the ballpark...

But even as he thought about it, Deon felt like it was wrong somehow...like it was only a part of the equation and not the answer itself.

"Strong black tea..." he repeated under his breath.

Hana looked at him nervously. "Is it wrong?"

"I don’t know yet," Deon shook his head. "Even the memories I saw pointed toward it somewhat, not to mention the testimonies given."

"Though, that’s exactly why I’m hesitant..."

He turned his gaze toward the pavilion, where Lady Rosaline sat in silence, waiting for a cup that would either satisfy her or earn a strike two. And just for a second, a piece of information popped up in his mind—the mission itself.

’Serve the Lady her proper tea.’

Proper...the wording itself is intentionally vague. Damn it, I was going about this wrong!

It never asked for her ’favorite’ tea, or the tea that she usually drinks. But then again, the word ’proper’ seems to be too vague.

It’s almost as if...the mission was specifically designed for us to fail.

Deon’s eyes moved back to the gathered contestants, who was already starting to whisper to themselves about something.

"Who’s serving it?" he asked.

Though, Vivian’s answer came too late. "Already started."

"Shit..."

At the center of the garden, a contestant in a wolf mask had already placed a teapot onto a nearby attendant’s silver tray.

And now, all they could do was watch. Some stared with hope while others...desperation. A few looked like they were already preparing to

run if the Lady reacted badly again.

Near the back of the gathering, Joshua watched quietly, hands folded, expression unreadable. But Deon didn’t have time to probe further.

"Everyone! Wait!" he yelled, sprinting toward the pavilion with the other two just right behind. "Someone stop that attendant!"

The crowd turned at his voice, but the attendant didn’t. The ghostly man simply continued up the pavilion steps, reaching the Lady and picking up the teapot with his hand.

"Hey!" Deon shouted again. "I said stop!"

A few contestants stepped back in confusion while others froze in place.

"Deon Day? Wasn’t he—?"

"What’s wrong? Didn’t we decide already?"

"That’s the answer, isn’t it?!"

Deon pushed through them, but the garden itself seemed to resist him. The distance to the pavilion suddenly felt longer than it should have, like the room was stretching just enough to make him late.

Fuck...I’m not gonna make it.

"Hana!"

She flinched beside him. "What?!"

"Boost me!"

Hana’s eyes widened for half a second before she immediately pulled out her Card. "[Physical Boost Minor]!"

Green light wrapped around Deon’s body. The sluggishness left his legs at once, causing his feet to feel like loaded springs. Deon kicked off hard, launching himself across the venue as the crowd blrured around him.

"Move!"

A contestant barely jumped out of the way before Deon passed right by them, one hand already pulling out the katana from [Blade].

His eyes locked onto the teapot in the attendant’s hands.

I need to...break that thing!

But the attendant simply tilted the pot, pouring the dark liquid into the cup in front of the Lady.

"No—! Don’t drink that!"

Deon swung, but by that time, the pot was already empty. He turned around, trying to swing at the cup in the Lady’s hand. But by that time...it had already turned incorporeal.

She lifted the cup to her lips...and drank.

"..."

For a second, nothing happened. A few contestants exhaled in relief while some others almost seemed to be jumping in joy.

"Did it work?"

"That has to be it..."

The wolf-masked contestant who had brought up the tea took one shaky step forward. "M—my Lady...?"

Rosaline lowered the cup.

"...Bitter," she whispered. "But I’ve had enough of it for one lifetime."

She let go of the cup. And a few seconds later—

CRASH!

The cup shattered as black tea spilled across the floor like ink. Rosaline’s head snapped up before raising her hand once more.

"WRONG!"