Chosen By The Lover's Constellation-Chapter 27: The Highest Bidder, Part Two

Dark, slightly frightened, purple eyes met Lianna’s own.

"Mel, was it?" Lianna asked, extending a hand. "Sorry to bother you, but I wanted to say hi."

She was actively trying to be as smooth as she could, due to the unfortunate fact that this girl very well could just get up and run away if she’d heard the rumors surrounding Lianna.

The look she received after her sudden greeting was one of pure, raw confusion. As though the girl wanted to ask something like "why in the world would you want to do that?" but didn’t have the confidence for it.

"I don’t know if you remember it from our class but, my name’s Lianna. It’s a pleasure to meet you."

Lianna brushed some of her crimson hair away from her eyes. Mel remained just as shocked as she had been for a while, until, as Lianna wondered whether she should just go or something, she finally said:

"I-It’s... It’s nice to meet you too..." Lianna struggled to hear her. Her big, unblinking, purple eyes stayed fixed on Lianna as she gathered the courage to ask, "why are you here?"

[Cause The Lover asked me to talk to you.]

"Cause I wanted to talk to you," Lianna replied. "I can leave you alone, though, if you’d like to get back to your nap."

[Or, if you’re scared of me which would be completely understandable.]

"N-No, I mean..." Mel took a deep breath. Lianna only noticed it just now, but her right hand was gripping her left wrist rather tightly. After gathering even more courage, she asked, in the quietest of light voices, "aren’t you afraid of me?"

Lianna blinked.

[Um... What?]

Out of everything Mel could have said, Lianna had not been expecting to hear anything quite like that. She, a cute, shy girl with big, wide doe eyes was asking Lianna, an alleged killer, if she was scared of her.

"..."

[Am I speaking to someone dangerous right now?]

Going against her principles, Lianna took a quick glance at the girl’s status.

Mel

MP: 400/400

---

STR: F

END: F

DEX: F

MYS: D

L: D-

---

Traits:

Child of Mana

{Born from a mana storm. Gain a boost to mana.}

Instinct:

?

Upon seeing that, Lianna’s eyes widened. There were various parts of Mel’s status that naturally warranted some attention. Such as the fact that she didn’t have a last name, her incredible mana, and the fact that her Instinct was hidden. But, what jumped out to Lianna was:

[She’s... Like me?]

The part before that did not go unnoticed, though.

[That’s the second time information’s been withheld from me. Is she... No, it probably means something else.]

Finally, just as it looked like Mel was getting ready to get up and leave, Lianna asked:

"Because you’re a child of mana?"

Mel flinched.

Hands balled up into fists in front of her, she somehow curled up into herself even more, looking slightly smaller as she nodded, saying:

"Y-Yeah..."

[She didn’t even ask how I knew. Maybe I’m one of the only people in this guild that didn’t know. I’m beginning to think I should try to do some research on the other students.]

Regardless, all this did was make Lianna genuinely interested in her now.

"Nah," she replied, sitting down beside her. Mel pulled back, while Lianna told her, "I’m a child of mana too, after all."

For the first time, all of Mel’s caution and anxiety vanished from her face and all that was left was great surprise.

"What?"

"Yeah," Lianna told her with a smile, eager to share her story. "I was born in a mana storm too. I mean, I didn’t end up with the same features as you, for some reason, but, seriously, I was!"

Slowly, that invisible wall Mel had put up between herself and Lianna started to fade away.

With that being the case, Lianna collected her reward.

Quest Completed!

RP Gained: 10

RP: 20

[Okay... It’s done.]

Lianna didn’t want to overwhelm her, though. So, she decided that maybe this would be a good time to go, saying:

"Feel free to say hi to me if you see me walking around. I won’t bite... Unless you want me to~"

She gave Mel a wink and left, leaving the girl flushed on the floor.

[Wow... So, she’s a child of mana too, huh? Small world.]

---

Lianna came back to her dorm to find Enverna sitting on the couch, covered in sweat, fanning herself with her hand as she looked down at her phone.

The way Enverna was clearly not very comfortable with the object yet, taking centuries to tap on the things she wanted to see, was so endearing that the sight produced a big grin on Lianna’s face as she approached.

"Hey, had a nice workout?"

"I did... Though, it was interrupted," Enverna responded, reaching for an envelope that had been sitting beside her. "Seems we have gained quite a bit of attention."

Taking the letter, Lianna ripped the envelope open and sat down beside Enverna, who uncomfortably shifted away from her.

"Hm?" Lianna hummed out, raising a brow at her.

"I-I just exercised..."

"So?"

"I’d rather not have you smell me at the moment. Let me go-"

Before Enverna could stand up, Lianna casually turned in the couch and laid her head on Enverna’s lap.

"LIANNA!?"

"Okay," Lianna said, ignoring her and focusing back on the letter, "so, what’s this about?"

"Ugh, goodness..."

The letter went over an event titled the Player’s Gala. It was a social gathering that would take place on September 30, where Players from all over Telvan would meet. This year, the Shields of Saren guild were sponsoring the event and that guild wanted Enverna and Lianna there.

"I don’t know... Could be-"

A message appeared.

Quest Gained!

{Prevent the ascension of the Storm Fiend during the Player’s Gala on September 30, 239 2E}

{Reward: Luck: B}

[Hm. Well, guess we don’t have much of a choice, then.]

"We should probably go."

"Really?" Enverna sounded surprised, understandably. "But..."

Lianna could understand her anxiety, given their current reputation. Hell, she pretty much was in agreement. That said, one reason why The Lover probably wanted them there became obvious. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"Jack Caldwell has the ability to absorb other players," Lianna said, looking up at Enverna from the girl’s lap. "And, he absorbed someone who was super powerful not too long ago. He’s probably going to want to keep increasing his strength. What sort of place do you think would allow him to do that?"

Enverna thought about it and nodded.

"... A gathering, perhaps."

"Yeah," Lianna replied. "Even if we try to warn them ahead of time, no one’s going to take us seriously, since everyone thinks we did the crime. We’re never going to be able to beat him in a fight either, but if we show up and he tries something..."

"Maybe we could help," Enverna finished for her.

"Wow, my fiance’s so quick-witted!"

Enverna rolled her eyes but Lianna could tell she was in agreement of the plan.

[... I just hope it works out well.]

"Now, could you please get off me, you barbarian? It would appear I dislike my own scent right now more than you do. I must take a shower."

"Sure, sure."