Chapter 1384: 1384 Don’t Break This Moment, Don’t Calculate the Future

Rita silently looked away.

She firmly believed there was still a difference between herself and Deceitful Bloom.

At the very least, she did not deliberately stir up trouble.

A few days later, Deceitful Bloom sat beside her as usual, studying the draft, when she suddenly asked,

"You’ve visited other timelines."

"In those timelines... did I ever go see her?"

The moment Rita remembered the idiotic act of collecting a tiny bottle of Variational Quicksand from every timeline, she immediately became irritated again.

Still, she answered honestly.

"No."

"Not a single one."

That answer would probably make Youwo laugh out loud.

And it also made Deceitful Bloom smile faintly.

Rita instinctively asked,

"You already know she wouldn’t want to see you in Graveyard of Bones, right?"

The smile vanished.

The softness in Deceitful Bloom’s eyes slowly faded as she lowered her gaze toward the painting in her hands.

"Mm."

Even the flowers on her vines drooped slightly.

So now she was upset again?

Rita instantly regretted asking.

Sensing her regret, Deceitful Bloom finally pulled her gaze away from the painting she never seemed capable of growing tired of.

She looked at BS Rita with an amused half-smile.

"Sometimes you’re far too obedient."

"You were more interesting back when you were covered in thorns and trying to kill me."

Ah.

So now she wanted to pick a fight again. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Rita’s expression cooled immediately.

She turned back toward her work and decided she would not speak to Deceitful Bloom again for at least a while.

Lightchaser, who had been sitting nearby watching Rita draw, could not help giving Deceitful Bloom a strange look.

Deceitful Bloom looked back lazily, one eyebrow lifting.

Problem?

Lightchaser curled her lips into a fake smile that clearly said she could not be bothered arguing with Vineborne.

She had asked around about quite a few things already, yet she still could not understand how this unnecessary extra teacher’s brain worked.

Her understanding of Vineborne was limited.

All she knew was that vines and Vineborne personalities were deeply connected.

So in the end, she simply blamed it on Flower of Deceit naturally craving excitement.

But only a few days later, she realized something.

This tendency to dislike overly obedient people apparently had very little to do with Flower of Deceit specifically.

That day, Lightchaser and Cinders sat beside BS Rita waiting for her to finish the last part of a painting.

Today was New Year’s Eve in BS.

Their student had promised that once she finished the final details, they would all head back to BS together to celebrate.

At that moment, Quiet Mountain Rita and Quiet Mountain Cicada just happened to walk past nearby, their argument drifting clearly over.

"So you really plan to make Lynx Duke your official teacher?"

"You already have Deceitful Bloom!"

That was Quiet Mountain Cicada’s icy voice.

Quiet Mountain Rita replied slowly,

"Deceitful Bloom agreed to it."

"And besides, didn’t you say Deceitful Bloom belongs only to Vineborne? Isn’t finding another teacher a good thing?"

"...Yes, but that’s completely different."

Quiet Mountain Cicada sounded frustrated.

"Anyway, you’re not allowed to learn bad habits from Starsea Rita."

"Look at her now. Every time she calls someone ’teacher,’ half the ship turns around."

"Does that sound normal to you?"

"You want to become like that too?"

Rita, who had merely been quietly painting: "........."

Like what exactly?!

She immediately looked up, ready to angrily yell at Quiet Mountain Cicada.

Then she met the deeply meaningful stares of Lightchaser, Cinders, and Deceitful Bloom.

Rita blinked twice slowly.

Then lowered her head again.

Forget it.

She could not be bothered dealing with Quiet Mountain players.

Meanwhile, the argument nearby continued, though the direction shifted unexpectedly fast.

Quiet Mountain Rita still sounded calm, but there was sincerity in her tone now.

"I’ll think about it seriously."

"By the way, are you still coming to BS with me for New Year’s?"

"Mistblade and Maple Syrup are already there."

"And Frost Deer promised me she wouldn’t swear for the entire day."

After hearing that, Quiet Mountain Cicada suddenly lost most of her aggression.

She stayed silent for a long while before muttering,

"Why aren’t you arguing back?"

"You’re way too weak-willed lately."

"Has my temper been too good recently?"

Quiet Mountain Rita sounded genuinely puzzled.

"Cicada... are you questioning me?"

Quiet Mountain Cicada immediately fell silent.

Then Quiet Mountain Rita asked once more,

"So are you coming to BS to celebrate New Year’s with me?"

"..."

"Cicada."

"...I’m coming."

Lightchaser: "..."

At this point she genuinely could not tell whether the problem was with the Vineborne race or with people named Rita in general.

Rita hurriedly finished the last section of her painting and began packing up her things.

Then she looked toward Deceitful Bloom.

"Do you want to come to BS and celebrate New Year’s with us?"

"All the Vineborne are there. Cicada and Smoke Tune are staying at my place too."

"But BS New Year traditions mean no fighting and no causing trouble."

Deceitful Bloom withdrew her gaze from the spectacular stupidity unfolding between Quiet Mountain Cicada and Quiet Mountain Rita.

Then she frowned slightly.

"Fighting? Causing trouble?"

"You should know I have the highest emotional intelligence out of all your teachers."

Rita: "..."

That part she actually admitted.

The problem was simply that she hated the way Deceitful Bloom used her emotional intelligence.

Several Flower Crown Murder petals drifted onto the three teachers.

Another floated across the deck and up into the sky, lightly brushing Foolishness, who was sitting atop the mast enjoying the view.

The scenery blurred.

The next second, everyone appeared inside Rita’s home.

She had directly transported them all back to BS.

After dinner, Rita personally escorted each teacher and friend to the guest rooms she had prepared for them.

Then she climbed onto the rooftop with Nivalis and lay down beneath the night sky.

Nivalis could tell Rita was genuinely happy today.

Ever since entering Divine Game, Rita’s loud carefree laughter had become increasingly rare.

She hardly did stupidly funny things anymore either.

Like spinning Nivalis around while playing embarrassingly outdated music.

Or exchanging meaningless nonsense with Shadow.Q just to argue for fun.

But throughout dinner tonight, Rita had worn a smile so bright that "radiant" was honestly the only fitting word.

Sea Pony had secretly asked Nivalis several times,

"Is she drunk?"

Toward the end of dinner, Smoke Tune had even quietly replaced Rita’s champagne with fruit juice.

Rita rested both hands behind her head and gazed up at the night sky.

Golden stars crackled softly overhead.

Those were her companion lightning bolts woven into Quiet Mountain’s night sky.

Of course she had heard Sea Pony asking whether she was drunk.

Mistblade had even secretly slipped a sobering gemstone into her pocket under the table with her tail.

For a moment, Rita almost wondered whether she really had gotten drunk without realizing it.

But no.

She was simply happy.

It had been far too long since she had felt this happy.

In the silence, B80 suddenly spoke from beside her.

"Will we become enemies someday?"

"Shh."

Rita’s voice was so gentle it felt as though a breeze could scatter it away.

"Don’t break this moment."

"And don’t calculate the future, B80."

"That’s something for ninety-eight years from now."

No matter who she might eventually oppose.

No matter how many people survived in the end.

Those were problems for the distant future.

They should not disturb this moment.

"Okay."

"I promise."

"But you have to promise me one thing too."

"What?"

"If someday in the future I raise a weapon against you..."

"You have to remember."

"That won’t be me."

"...Okay."

Their conversation drifted quietly through the palace windows alongside the soft night wind.